In the scene that takes place in Mist Marsh, for example, the slow-paced narrative is effective in capturing the discomfort of the characters, their disorientation, and in suggesting that there is something lurking in the mist. There is a focus on describing the environments to establish their atmosphere.

Brooks builds each chapter with its own beginning, middle, and climax.

The narrative has an episodic structure, as is often the case with fantasy adventures. In the same sense, almost all of the characters are caricatures of what one would expect of the genre: the vile counselor Stenmin, for example, has “ shadowed eyes” and an “ angular face”, wears reddish robes to indicate the danger he represents, and is often seen stroking his pointed beard. The reader will not be surprised to discover that the Skull Kingdom is the home of the villain and that there is a lot of mist in the Mist Marsh. These are very suggestive names, whose main function is to easily define these places. The very names of the towns and valleys share this characteristic: there is the Shady Vale, the Skull Kingdom, the Mist Marsh. One can already tell by the name of the villain that the tone that permeates the story will be light and unpretentious. His mission is to form a party to recover the weapon and destroy the Warlock Lord.

The protagonist of the book is Shea, a half-elf who, one day, receives a visit from a mysterious Druid, called Allanon, who explains to the young man that he’s the last descendant of the elven king Jerle Shannara and, therefore, the only one capable of wielding the mythical Sword of Shannara. To make matters worse, its narrative is also marred by repetition and the author’s inability able to detach himself from his greatest inspiration: The Lord of the Rings by J. The Sword of Shannara, a fantasy novel written by Terry Brooks in 1977, tells a classic, derivative story that lacks elements to make it stand out in the crowd.

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks