Wards of Faerie
(Dark Legacy of Shannara #1)
by Terry Brooks
Nick Lethbridge / consulting dexitroboper
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"The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you." … B.B. King
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fantasy
copyright 2012
read in February 2020
rated 6/10: read to pass the time
"If you haven't read Terry Brooks, you haven't read fantasy". That's what it says on the cover. A claim by the author of the worst hugely successful fantasy book ever.
Brooks writes fantasy. He has done a brilliant job of linking a post-apocalyptic world of science to a long running world of magic. Very well done, sometimes forced.
This book continues the faerie saga.
The cover makes it clear, this is "book one". So I'm not surprised when the end is inconclusive. Yet I still dislike the cliffhanger ending. Nothing is resolved, every character is in imminent danger.
The pace of the book reflects its trilogy nature: it is slow. Sure, things are happening yet there is a lot of time-wasting discussion. Why do so many characters need to be told that the quest is dangerous, that they must stay at home... only to join the quest anyway.
Yes, it is a quest. With an odd twist... One person says, This is a quest so go out and look for people to go questing. I mean, whatever happened to the accidental meetings as the quest team builds?
Apart from that, the story is standard fantasy. Including the essential seer who predicts doom in terms which can easily be misunderstood. Lots of monsters, lots of magic, lots of fighting. All good fun.
It's an easy-read fantasy set in a familiar world. If I see book two I will be happy to read it. If I never see it, I won't be worried.
Nick Lethbridge / consulting dexitroboper
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"The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you." … B.B. King
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