riptide4070

A couple of weeks ago I picked up "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Antrax" and I was blown away. I finished the series and started on the "Shannara" series. These books are great!

I would like to hear from other Terry Brooks fans, share your thoughts and feelings please.

Also, I want to know of some other authors and books that the Terry Brooks fans would recommend.

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hawkeye

I haven't actually read the shannara series, but I have really enjoyed his Magic Kingdom: [strikethrough]For Sale[/strikethrough]SOLD series, and am currently in the middle of his Knight of the Word trilogy. Good stuff for sure.
as far as other writers go, I'll have to get back to you on that.

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Kadath

Oof. I've mixed feelings on Terry Brooks. Elfstones is one of the most exciting fantasy books I've ever read. Sword is a solid novel for a rookie writer. Wishsong is not...not good. The second trilogy is not fantastic, overall. I did not read First King, and I never got past the first few chapters of Ilse Witch or whatever the first book in the new trilogy is called. What we have here is a guy flogging his moneymaker series to death, which is not unusual, just sad.

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mercury-hg

echo kadath...

brooks' first 6 shannara novels and the magic kingdom series were generally good offerings, but he's gone downhill. i sludged my way through the formulaic antrax, but couldn't get through the second one.

other quality fantasy series/authors -

generic recs:
George R.R. Martin
David Eddings (Belgariad/Mallorean)
Robert Jordan

slightly off-the-beaten-path authors:
Robin Hobb (Assassin series, Mad Ship Series)
C.S. Friedman (Dark Sun Rising trilogy)
Stephen R. Lawhead

mml

I am a big Terry Brooks fan. I have and read an original "Sword of Shanarra". Brooks can be a genius. I am not a fan of the magic kingdom series, but they do have an enterrainment value, which I can appreciate. I had given up on Brooks, but my wife recently bought the entire "Voyage of Jerle Shanarra" series for me and I really though it was great. Is it as good as some of Brook's early stuff? - No it is not. Is is good? Hell Yeah!

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riptide4070

Thanks for the replies. A girl at Barnes and Noble told me about George R.R. Martin but, I needed to be reminded of the name because I forgot.

To those who reply: We can also share other kinds of books of quality like "Davinci Code" by Dan Brown. I haven't read it yet but have read some other Dan Brown novels that were fantastic!

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Cubby

I am currently reading Antrax and quite like it. I have read all the Shannara series. And although they are pretty much formula books I do enjoy them. I read the original Shannara series close to 20 years ago and absolutely loved it. I have his entire first trilogy and 1 of the second trilogy signed by Terry Brooks.

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hawkeye

Yes!! His stuff is awesome.

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Cycler

I liked the Kingdom series haven't gotten into his other work. But, another good author, I think, Tad Williams his stuff is great and Stephen King's epic Gunslinger series both good reads.

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ally

Absolutly love Terry Brooks!!
I suggest the Landover serries and Running with the demon

bennyb

I love terry brooks, ive read every single Shannara book, and just read the recent one:
High Druid of Shannara: Jarka Ruus

I liked it quite a bit, but currently im deep into the robert jordan books which are TEDIOUS but entertaining i recommend those to anyone with a relitivly lengthy attention span.

guthmund

Terry Brooks can be pretty good, but most times it seems his stories are nothing more than creative exercises.

Some of his ideas are fantastic and Allanon is a favorite of mine, but there are so many other writers out there who are doing it much better.

David Eddings and Robert Jordan are solid choices. I like Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman(?) (the non-d&d stuff) and Stephen Lawhead (his Dragon King and Pendragon series were pretty good, but I dig his Song of Albion series) are both fantastic.

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Bluenoser

I love Brooks as well. But also RA Salvatore, Weis and Hickman, Jordan, Eddings, and definately Tad Williams (Dragonbone Chair series).
Just my 2cents

rogue49

I read the series a long time ago, when "Elfstones" first came out in 1982.
"Sword" had been out since 1977.
These are well worn in my library...
I never followed through to read the others...too much time between the old and new sets of books.
But a decent author...I've even read "A Kingdom for Sale"

My favorite fantasy authors are,
Raymond Feist
David Eddings
& Steven Brust.

They seem to catch my attention, and I read their books again & again.

MahlerIsGod

Tad Williams.........so much potential just wasted. Pages from a typical Tad Williams book: Page 1: "He is crawling the dirt........." Page 20, "Still crawling in the dirt......." Page 30, "Still crawling but wait I think I have found something.......its dirt." Page 40, "Crawling........" Tad is in serious need of a good editor then his stuff might be better.

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Arc101

Ok - Do not read Robert Jordan. His first couple of books are amongst the best books out their - but books 4 to 10 are bad. He just is not getting anywhere and it is very frustrating because they could have been one the best series of books so far.

Do read Terry Prachett - especially the Guards & Witches books.

Also David Eddings - Belgariad series and Raymond E Fiest books.

riptide4070

Thank you very much for all your replies! I now have a list of good authors that I will take with me to the ASU library when I need a new book!

Keep Posting!!!

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mercury-hg

nice picks arc101... i was going to suggest fiest as well, but he seems to have the jordan syndrome (great start, but his latter books have gone south). the "magician" books are excellent, though

Kadath

Apparently China Mieville's The Scar is stunning.

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rogue49

You should try the newer books,
The Serpent War saga, and his new one are moving forward with a bang.

reverendjay

If you like Terry Brooks, Check out Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Some of the later books do become a bit formulaic (first three are awesome, 4 and 5 are copies of #3, 6 get's back on track to being awesome again), but as a series it's a helluva read.

Oh, and don't forget that Dark Tower 5 hits your local bookstore today.

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guenwyv

All the above authors are my favorites, as well as Brooks.

I have been reading Robert Jordans series since the first book came out in 1990. After being so passionate about a series for 13 years, its really hard to be objective! Be ready for a long haul if you break into this series.

David Eddings welcomed me to the world of Fantasy, and RA Salvatore provided me with a great tatoo.(the panther)