The Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks is the second book of the Heritage of Shannara series set in the Shannara universe. This book deals with four characters journey to deal with the threat posed to the world by Uhl Belk a stone spirit who wants to change the whole world to stone. The first of the character is Quickening who is a the elemental daughter of the king of the silver river. As such she has great magic but was created fully formed for a purpose. The second of the four main characters is Morgan Leah who eventually falls in love with Quickening. I feel a deep empathy for this character even if he is not the focus of the book as I also often wonder if anyone I love can truly love me back. The third main character is Pe Ell who is a federation assassin who plans to eventually kill them all as soon as he gets what he can from them. This character is by far and away the most complicated character that Brooks has put into the Shannara series up to the point that the book was written as he is a villain but yet their are a few things about him that make him slightly sympathetic. The last and in many way main character is Walker Boh the man who does not want to fulfill Allanon's mission for him. The story more than anything is one of self discovery for him as he realizes that he must be honest with who and what he will become in order to fulfill his goal. In the end we must all look at ourselves and discover how we are trying to deceive ourselves in order than we might better be prepared to go out and do good in the world. Overall a good book much better than any of the first three Shannara books.
This novel is the second book in the Heritage of Shannara Tetralogy. It follows as Walker Boh; along with Pe Ell, Quickening, and Morgan Leah go in search of the black elfstone to restore Paranor. It also briefly continues the story of Par Ohsmford, Coll Ohmsford, Wren and Garth. It also expands the Shadowen. The plot was overall very good. I found it action-packed and unique. I liked how Eldwist was protected by two creatures; one born of evil and one a mechanical monster. I also liked most of the characters. The amount of thought and description that went into each one made them interesting to read. The thoughts of each character as they come to terms with the quest, their fears and/or their feelings for each other was very well written. In some places however (mainly the middle) I found that this went too far. For example, there is a section where Pe Ell, Walker Boh, and Morgan Leah each think about how they feel about this quest. This took 5 pages which was way too much. It could have been written in 1.5 pages; especially considering their feelings for the quest hadn't changed very much from how they felt 30 pages previously. Overall I am glad that I read the novel. It was very well written and more unique then The Original Shannara series. It would have been better (would have gotten 5 stars instead of the 4.5 that I currently rated it) if there was less feelings in it. Although the characters thoughts about the mission helped to expand the characters it just made the plot drag a little in certain sections. I would recommend this novel to anyone who wants to continue the Shannara series.
Of all the works of Terry Brooks that I've ever read, this is my favorite. There is no other book like this book in the world.With The Lord of the Rings, I wanted to know more about Gandalf. So much is hinted at, so much is implied. And the Silmarillion gives only the barest bones of fact.His book delivers what Tolkien never did: We find out what it means to become an Arch Druid of the Land. I never wanted to wield the sword. I never wanted to draw back the bow. I was all about the staff.This book delivers what it feels like to carry the staff of the druid. This book explores the mindset of a character who becomes powerful, yet trapped by the responsibilities that come with that power.
—Joey Reed
Certainly not my most favorite, but in some ways better than one of the the original Shannara novels. If I had the ability I would probably grade my rating at 3.5 stars. Took me a while to read. I read half and went on to other books and a several months later, here I am finishing up another addition of the Heritage series. Was it a good installment following Scions? Somewhat on a level of continuation of storyline and character defining. One may find themselves identifying with Walker Boh and his quest to ignore his inner callings , though they are there subconsciously the entire time. Quickening in my thoughts, is still a very silly name for a character. Otherwise a decent enough read.
—William
This is the first book in the series that immediately followed the previous one. The major downfall this book had for me was that hardly any of the story from Scions was carried forward here. Par, Coll, and Wren had one or two chapters and that was it. Because of this, it seemed that to fill pages, the characters did a lot of wandering around without accomplishing anything.That being said, the characterization was very well done. Walker and Morgan were furthered along nicely. The overall story for this series is shaping up nicely, and I am still interested to see where it ends up.
—Jeremiah Johnson
