Terry Brooks (1944- )

His Life:

He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.

In college, and later law school, Brooks dabbled in fiction as a hobby. He taught himself to write while working for seventeen years as an attorney at a law firm in his hometown.

Many says that he started off by "copying" Tolkien, but from a somehow shaky start you could already see from his second book that he was starting to develop his own style.

He is currently living in the Pacific Northwest with his wife Judine.

His Books:

The first novel, with its chapters on warring elves and wraiths contrasted with one young man's search for a talisman to use against the evil, is very reminiscent of Tolkien's work.
Living in peaceful Shady Vale, Shea Ohmsford knew little of the rest of the world. Then the giant, forbidding Allanon revealed that the supposedly dead Warlock Lord was plotting to destory the world. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness was the Sword of Shannara, which could only be used by a true heir of Shannara. Soon a Skull Bearer, dread minion of Evil, flew into the Vale, seeking to destroy Shea. To save the Vale, Shea fled, drawing the Skull Bearer after him....

With the second book, The Elfstones of Shannara, is a very environmental novel. The focus of concern being the magical tree, the Ellcrys, which protects the lands from the ancient demons. The tree is old and dying and a complex ritual is required to restore it. The protagonist, Wil Ohmsford, is recruited by the druid Allanon to keep Amberle, the elven maiden responsible for the ritual, safe until she has completed her mission. Amberle is unsure of herself, and Wil needs to keeps assuring both himself and the girl of the importance of their quest.

Brooks's third novel, The Wishsong of Shannara, was the first to have a female as the main character. Brin Ohmsford shares the limelight with her brother Jair, but it is her power that is ultimately tested and her decision that affects the outcome of the plot. Brin is the focus of the story in a way that no female character had been in fantasy literature before.

The first book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series: The Landover books (beginning with Magic Kingdom for Sale/ Sold! and The Black Unicorn) are humorous tales. Landover is a magical realm whose throne is offered for sale in the Christmas wishbook of a New York department store, for a trifling $1,000,000. The buyer is a boed, widowed Chicago lawyer named Ben Holiday. On getting to Landover, Holiday finds that his two closest companions are an incompetent wizard and a talking dog who used to be human, and the sale of the throne is part of a scam by the wizard's half-brother and the rightful heir to the kingdom.

The second book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series:
A year has passed since Ben Holiday bought the Magic Kingdom and claimed his throne despite the oppostion of the wizard Meeks. But when he returns to Landover after a trip to Earth, Ben discovers that in his absence, Meeks had taken on his appearance, and the role of king.

Heritage of Shannara Series -
Since the death of the Druid Allanon, magic has been strictly forbidden in the Four Lands. Yet Par still has limited use of the Wishsong. Then a dire message from Allanon sends Par and his brother Coll on an impossible task: to recover the long-lost Sword of Shannara - or all life in the Four Lands will be destroyed.

Heritage of Shannara Series - :
Evil forces remain in control of the Four Lands. To restore the Keep of the Druid Allanon, Walker Boh sets out on a journey to find the black Elfstone. He must venture into perilous, unknown lands with a strange band of fellow travelers - one of whom is hatching his own sinister plot.

Heritage of Shannara Series - :
Ordered by the Druid Allanon to find the Elves and return them to the world of Men, Wren is carried away to an island where Elves might still exist. Even if by some miracle she locates the Elves, can she convince them to follow her back through a demon-haunted jungle to the safety of the shore?

Heritage of Shannara Series -:
The descendants of the Elven house of Shannara had all completed their quests: Paranor, the Druid's keep, had been restored; the Elves had been returned to the Four Lands; and Par Ohmsford had found what he believed to be the legendary Sword of Shannara. But their work was not yet done. The Shadowen still swarm over the Four Lands, poisoning everything with their dark magic. Their leader is determined to destroy all the Scions of Shannara. With traps cleverly laid, the charges are doomed to failure - unless Par can discover a way to harness the power of the Sword of Shannara.

The third book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series:
Ben Holiday, the High Lord of Landover, is back in his rightful place. The evil wizard, Meeks, has finally been dealt with and all seems at peace. But even in a Magic Kingdom, the peace never lasts long.

The fourth book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series:
Horris Kew, conjuror and confidence-trickster, had returned to the Magic Kingdom of Landover, and a chorus of disapproval rang in Ben Holiday's ears. Both Questor Thews, the court wizard, and Abernathy, the court scribe, urged Ben to lock Horris up or send him away.

A sequel to The Tangle Box:
Former Chicago lawyer Ben Holiday is proud and happy. The Magic Kingdom is at peace and he's free to watch his daughter Mistaya - born of the soils of Landover, Earth and the fairy mists - grow up. Alas, these idyllic days are not to last.

This book tells the story of what came before The Sword of Shannara, the first title in the series. It is Bremen's tale, of how he found himself an outcast among the Druids for continuing to study Magic instead of devoting himself to the Old Sciences as the other Druids did. It is also the story of how Allanon came to learn the Magic from Bremen and receive for safe-keeping the black elfstone. Read this at the end of the other books since parts of it tell the history in a running list of names and trades and future towns.

The Word and the Void Trilogy: Book 1
One Fourth of July weekend, two men come to Hopewell, Illinois. One is a demon, a dark servant of the Void, who will feed off the anger and frustration of the community to achieve a terrible goal. Whilst families picnic and fireworks explode only John Ross, a Knight of the Word, can change the fate of humanity and save the soul of fourteen-year-old Nest Freemark.

The Word and the Void Trilogy: Book 2
Five years after the close of the first book, John Ross has given up on being a knight of the word. John now works at a homeless shelter in Seattle, and though he still carries his black runestaff, he refuses to use magic in any form, not even to check for demons in his presence. He feels that by renouncing his position he can no longer be held responsible for whatever happens, and believes that the Lady will simply replace him with another knight. If he continues to turn his back on his power, he will be subverted by the forces of the Void, then the Lady will have no choice but to send another agent and have him killed.

The Word and the Void Trilogy: Book 3
As a Knight of the Word, John Ross has struggled against the dark forces of the Void and his minions for twenty-five years. The grim future he dreams each night-- a world reduced to blood and ashes--will come true, unless he can stop them now, in the present. John Ross and Nest Freemark are together again. Together, they have prevailed. But now they will face an ancient evil , a demon of ruthless intelligence and feral cunning.

The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Series:
The first volume of this trilogy, begins 500 years after The Sword of Shannara, although some of its characters had been introduced in the "Heritage of Shannara" series. As the new story unfolds, the Druid Walker--the last of his kind--sets off to retrieve an elfin treasure that is also coveted by the deadly and powerful Ilse Witch.

The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Series:
The fellowship of elves, dwarves and men led by Walker Boh has reached Castledown on their search for the ancient magic whose existence Walker has deciphered from the map held in the hand of a dead Elf Prince. Now they face magical terrors and Walker's nemesis, the Ilse Witch. Can they survive?

The concluding volume of the bestselling Jerle Shannara Series.
The forces of good and evil, vying against each other to possess an ancient magic, race towards an explosive clash - and whatever fate awaits the victor... and the vanquished. The Morgawr is master of the Ilse Witch, feeder upon the souls of his enemies, and centuries-old sorcerer of unimaginable might. With a fleet of airships and a crew of walking dead men at his command, the Morgawr is in relentless pursuit of the Jerle Shannara and the crew that mans her.

The first book in the High Druid of Shannara Series
Twenty years have passed since the events told in The Voyage Of The Jerle Shannara trilogy. Grianne Ohmsford, rescued from oblivion by her brother Bek, has renounced her former life as the evil Ilse Witch, and now serves as the head of a new Druid Council. Her purpose is to defend the Four Lands from anarchy and warfare. But there are those who cannot easily forgive her past actions. Grianne's enemies cause her to disappear, and now only a few loyal friends can help her.

Book 2 - High Druid of Shannara Series
The danger is increasing for Grianne Ohmsford, rightful High Druid of Shannara, who has been banished to the harsh world called the Forbidding by a treasonous fellow druid. Her only hope for rescue is her nephew Pen - but Pen is under seige as well. Both he and his parents are sought by the Druids, who want to make sure that their magic will never help Grianne to return.

Book 3 - The High Druid of Shannara series
The High Druid of Shannara trilogy draws to a thrilling close as a young hero nears completion of his trial by fire, a banished ruler fights for her life in a wilderness of dread, and forces of darkness and light square off in a battle unto death for the right to absolute rule. Prepare to be spellbound by the masterly hand of bestselling legend weaver Terry Brooks, conjuring at the peak of his skills.

But Pen's challenge grows greater when he learns that his parents, Bek Ohmsford and Rue Meridian, have fallen into Shadea's hands. He must try to help them-but once within the walls of Druid's Keep, where Shadea's minions and dark magic lurk at every turn, Pen's survival is far from assured. Yet it will all pale in comparison to the horrors that wait inside the Forbidding-horrors poised to break free upon the Four Lands when the time is right. . .

Book 1 - Genesis of Shannara series
Not so very far in the future, civilization teeters on the verge of collapse. Evil forces roam the ruined landscape of the former United States, recruiting the weak and enslaving the rest. Only pockets of resistance remain, with only a few heroes to protect them.

Once such hero is Logan Tom. His mission: to locate a group of Seattle street kids and guard them with his life. Because one of them carries a magic that might - just might - be powerful enough to save the world.

Book 2 - Genesis of Shannara series
Across the ruined landscape that is America - hopelessly poisoned, plague-ridden, burned, and besieged by demon armies bent on exterminating all mortal life - two pilgrims have been summoned to serve the embattled cause of good. Logan Tom has journeyed to desolate Seattle to protect a ragged band of street urchins and the being known as “the gypsy morph,” who is both mortal and magical, and destined to save mankind unless he is destroyed. Likewise, Angel Perez has her own quest, one that will take her from the wreckage of Los Angeles to a distant, secret place untouched by the horrors of the nationwide blight - a place where the race of Elves has dwelled since before man existed. But close behind these lone Knights of the Word swarm the ravening forces of the Void.