Oldsy Timsey: Scions of Shannara

It seems that with the New Year in full swing we are going back to the beginning.  This time, we are exploring one of the longest most important series in fantasy genre - Terry Brooks' Shannara series.  I will admit we are starting with the Heritage of Shannara trilogy rather than the books that started them all but I was digging around at my parent's house over the holidays and came across my copies of these books from the 90s when they were first published.

This book lands firmly in the moment when the Federation is taking over the Four Lands.  We meet again with the Ohmsford family and the current Scions, Par, Coll, Wren and Walker Boh.  Allanon's shade is sending imagery to their dreaming selves, summoning them for a congress with him at the Hadeshorn.

There he reveals a new threat to the Four Lands - the Shadowen and the tasks that the scions with magic, Wren, Walker, and Par face.  It is a very well written book, and the imagery of the loss of magic in the land is dishearteningly akin to how our world is currently looking with its dreary outlook.

I found it a little wistful to go back to Shannara after all these years.  I think that in fact this series really did get me interested in Druids in the first place.  Before you get all high and mighty on me dearest reader, for falling under an author's spell rather than the ancient Druids of old here on Earth, let me remind you that we all learn in our formative years the stories of the old via a story teller.  Whether that be Disney or Mr. Brooks, it always happens that we hear a story for the first time, which interests us in a topic that we continue to explore as we age.

Ahem, now that I'm done with my little tirade......  It was nostalgic and like a warm hug to get back into this series, and I am looking forward to the other two books in the series to arrive back to my home from the 'rents house after I found them.  (Media Mail is slow, dears).  I will keep you posted.

The Scions of Shannara (The Heritage of Shannara)
By: Terry Brooks
Published: March 1990, Del Ray
ISBN: 0-345-37074-0