I recently finished the second book in The Dark Legacy of Shannara, the sequel to Wards of Faerie called Bloodfire Quest by Terry Brooks. It was definitely a relief to read a book in a short amount of time that did not bore me with 1204 characters to remember (looking at you Wheel of Time).
The book was nothing mind-blowing, but it was your fairly typical Shannara story: adventure, magic, demons, etc. The group that set out in the beginning failed miserably and is now split into a few different groups. There are now multiple quests going on: one to save the Ellcrys, one to find Grianne, and one to save the members stuck in the Forbidding.
The final fight scene between Stoon and Cymrian (with three mutant monsters thrown in for good measure) was pretty awesome. Brooks switched POV from Stoon to Cymrian, which helped build some suspense. Brooks always does a good job of describing individual fights. You can pretty much visualize the battle as you read.
Also, it is nice that he is bringing back things that happened early on in his other books. Using some of the same weapons and whatnot. It is nice that the Ellcrys is failing again, it has been a long time, maybe this one is failing faster, but that could have something to do with the Straken Lord. Hell, him showing back up was also pretty cool.
If you are a fan of the Shannara books, this one will not disappoint and it will not be a long wait for the final chapter in this trilogy. The next one is supposed to come out in July. I realize that these books do not have anywhere near the page count as George R.R. Martin’s books, but it impressive how many Brooks can put out in a few year period. We will get the next ASOIAF book sometime in 2020.
