The Shanarra Series Review

by Dane Shepherd
(Omaha, Nebraska)

I've been a fan of the fantasy genre for several years, since first reading The Hobbit. After reading Tolkien, I looked for other good fantasy novels in the same mold, and at first had very little luck.

Eventually, I came across the series of Shanarra books by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shanarra.

I had a little trouble at first finding the beginning of the series. There are a bunch of related novels in this series.

The Sword of Shanarra is the first, and it is packed full of action and natural beauty. It is very reminiscent of Tolkien, probably because it borrows heavily from The Lord of the Rings. The plot and characters are eerily familiar.

But the plot moves very quickly and the action is engaging and interesting. It is perhaps not the most original series out there, but they are really fun reads, and the books seem to get better as they progress.

The second and third books, The Elfstones of Shanarra and The Wishsong of Shanarra, are both better than The Sword of Shanarra.

And the four-book series called (collectively) The Heritage of Shanarra, is better yet. Brooks has written several more "Shanarra" novels in the past few years, but I haven't read them yet.

By the way - I love your site! Thanks for all the great information on Tolkien and his books.