Reading Sword now. Elfstones better?

[AidanInNod]

Currently reading SoS and plan on doing Elfstones next. I hear the writing is much more improved in Elfstones as Sword is, well, not the greatest. Any truth to this?

 

[Kylara]

The first shannara book is motorway fantastic and is well known as, well, an homage to TLOTR (put kindly).
The rest are varying levels of excellence but elf stones is good, and most people love the word set.

 

[Adam Collins]

Just started rereading the trilogy myself. Almost finished SoS, still enjoyable all these years later. Read SoS before reading LOTRs many years ago, so as you can imagine I was pretty shocked by the similarities after reading both. Still have a big soft spot for SoS though.

 

[svalbard]

Elfstones is much better than SOS. Although his best works in my opinion are Running With The Demon and Magic Kingdom For Sale.

 

[Alexa]

I read all of them from pre-Shannara and Shannara seria, including the last one, The Sorcerer's daughter. If you are interested in Terry Brooks books, reading them in chronological order is important. So I would recommend to start with First King of Shannara, then The Sword of Shannara, followed by the Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. I agree that all of them have different levels of excellence.

Of course, if you didn't like The Sword of Shannara, no matter what others will say, maybe Terry Brooks style is not for you.

 

[TWErvin2]

I enjoyed the Sword of Shannara years ago, but I think the ElfStones of Shannara was a much better story. The Wishsong of Shannara sort of felt like a let down. Maybe between Sword and Elfstones in writing and story quality.

 

[ZroSkrd]

A little late to this one, but yes, Elfstones is a much better story. In my opinion (been a Shannara fan for 20 years) it's the best of the stand-alone books. The best story in the series is The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, but that one spans three books. Elfstones is a much better starting point than Sword, and you don't have to have any prior knowledge of the story before jumping in.

 

[TWErvin2]

A little late to this one, but yes, Elfstones is a much better story. In my opinion (been a Shannara fan for 20 years) it's the best of the stand-alone books. The best story in the series is The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, but that one spans three books. Elfstones is a much better starting point than Sword, and you don't have to have any prior knowledge of the story before jumping in.

Never too late
That is good information, (knowing the best in the series) should I find the time to squeeze in some additional reading. Fitting in three books might require some time (little time to read except during the summer, so that may be when it occurs).

 

[BAYLOR]

Elfstones is much better than SOS. Although his best works in my opinion are Running With The Demon and Magic Kingdom For Sale.

Ive Read Running with the Demon. It's an excellent read.

 

[Alexa]

If you really think so, come and play with us in the thread Trivia- The Word and the Void. I'm waiting for someone who read that book.

I'm sure ZroSkrd agrees with me.

 

[picklematrix]

Sword is, in my opinion, one of the weaker novels in brooks's bibliography. There are some fantastic adventures later on in the series.

 

[TWErvin2]

Sword is, in my opinion, one of the weaker novels in brooks's bibliography. There are some fantastic adventures later on in the series.

I believe The Sword of Shannara was Brooks' first novel, and he showed improvement with his next in Elfstones.

 

[picklematrix]

I believe The Sword of Shannara was Brooks' first novel, and he showed improvement with his next in Elfstones.

Yh im certain it was the first thing he had published. His writing matured quickly.