[.ca] First King of Shannara (ISBN 0345396529)

From Amazon.com:
Dark forces are on the move from the Northlands, and Bremen, an outcast Druid, learns of the huge Troll armies on the march and the Skull Bearers who act as their spies. To save the Druids, Bremen must convince the people of the Four Lands that their only hope lies in uniting -- and in using the magic they fear above all else.

An excellent work of fiction...:
First of all, let me just state that I am so incredibly sick and tired of EVERYONE comparing Tolkien to Brooks. Yes, the writings are similar. Brooks has even stated in the past that Tolkien was an inspiration. But, the two are different. There are those that like Tolkien and those that don't. I personally do not. I find his fiction to be boring, drawn out, and highly unpalatable. I'm sorry if this offends some of the Tolkien aficionados out there, but guess what, some people in this world do not share your apparent narrow minded view...HEAVEN FORBID!!!! I had to fight through Fellowship 6 times to eventually finish it. Now, onto The First King. As a prelude, this book was not all that bad. It continued rather well in the same vein as the rest of Brooks' Shannara series. He did an excellent job with staying within the pre-determined guidelines of what he had already hinted at in his other books. Personally, I thought Bremen's end was a little anti-climactic, but that was the author's personal choice. All in all, not too bad of a novel. I the way that he continues to tell a marvelous tale of fantasy and wonder. If you are a fan of the Shannara series, you will like this book.

Shows Brooks' improvement after years:
I prefered the prequel than the Trilogy he wrote before. Here he manages to include the whole quest in fewer words, whereas The Sword of Shannara, at times it becomes a bit boring. The Fall of Paranor: a very violent attack, described beautifully especially when a heart is brought out of a body because of the victim's stubborness; the Search of the Black Elfstone: in which my favourite character dies (but I'm used to that now!) and the Battle for the Rhenn: the most beautiful battle I ever experienced sitting on a sofa looking at ink on paper; were those fantastic events that put me on the edge of my seat. I also recommend the book to those who would like to see how a small boy and an old druid can destroy an army's plans by one simple action: Druid Fire, in the Battle for the Rhenn. It is a very good fast moving book reflecting here a new type of fantasy.

Pretty craptacular:
Let's not even mention the contrived and imitated plots that Brooks includes in ALL of his books. Let's focus on his writing talent or lack thereof. Can we say "cheesy"? In an effort to capture a fantasy-world atmosphere his prose is a failed attempt at an elevated language. Narrative that is intended to be lofty comes off as tacky. And don't even get me started on his dialogue! Preia Starle begs Jerle Shannara to marry her (which, by the way, is a synthetic situaton in itself) and says: "Make me your wife. Make me your life's partner and helpmate, your closest confidante and forever friend." I know this is supposed to be fantasy but WHO TALKS LIKE THAT? Upon reading that line of drivel, I threw the book across the room and refused to pick it up again. The blame does not lie solely on the shoulders of that hack writer. I blame Del Rey publishers for putting this nonsense in stores and I blame indiscriminate readers for giving this book a 4 1/2 star rating and making this sorry excuse for an author think he has the talent and right to keep writing this rubbish. The thought of how much money this inept guy has from his lack of writing ability makes me want to jump off a tall building.

My First Shannara:
This was the first Shannara book I ever read, and it remains one of my favorite books. This novel introduces some really cool characters, like Tay and Risca, as well as one of the best non-valemen/Leah human characters: Kinson Ravenlock. Meeting Jerle Shannara, ancestor of the Ohmsfords and namesake of the series, was also quite amazing. I hope Terry writes another novel set in the early history of the Four Lands to show other members of the Shannara clan and other prominent families.

Average, Predictable....:
I listened to the audio version of Firstling of Shannara, and while I enjoyed the narration, I found the story a little boring and predictable. For some reason the plot just failed to grab me. In the story there are elves. There is a dwarf. There is a druid muttering some mystic mumbo-jumbo. They are out to find/forge the sword of Shannara, and everyone is reluctant. Reluctant to become involved, reluctant to believe, reluctant to wield the sword properly. Reluctant to fall in love. Relationships are passionless and handled poorly. The three major romantic relationships featured in this book are quite dysfunctional. Tay loves Preia, Preiea loves the king Jerle, the King loves Tay's sister who is married, Merrith loves the ranger who is supposed to be 40+ years old? Ech. The only person I actually really liked was Bremen. I felt sorry for him and the pain/sacrifice he bore at times. But the rest of the characters had as much personality as department store mannequins. Look. If a story is going to have romance in it. Make it ROMANTIC. The romances were hasty and very contrived. Not quite up to par with the rest of the books. And what's with all the female character's being called 'girl'? The author refers to Preia as 'the elf girl' and Merrith as the 'druid girl' but the male characters are all called 'men' come on now. These characters are WOMEN. Lets call them such, shall we?