August 13, 2001
Continuing the saga begun in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch
(2000), bestseller Brooks opens this slick, lightweight fantasy with our band of heroes (Druids, elves, shape-shifters, Rovers, etc.) trapped on an island ruled by the evil artificial intelligence Antrax. Antrax has lured this disparate crew to its underground lair in order to use their assorted magics to expand its influence across the world of Shannara. The expedition's leader, the Druid Walker, wants to steal Antrax's ancient technology, but to gain it, he must engage in deadly combat with the machine. The treacherous seer, Ryer Ord Star, and the young, frightened elven prince, Ahren Elessedil, join the fight. Meanwhile, Bek Ohmsford, a protégé of Walker's who's been left mostly in the dark about his own magical potential, must try to convince his sister, the dangerous Ilse Witch, that his version of their shared past is true, as he struggles to keep her from killing him or his friends. Also complicating the plot are the battles of the Rovers to reclaim the group's airship—the only means for the adventurers to return home. Some emotionally painful encounters occur with former friends who have been enslaved by Antrax, turned into cyborgs and forced to do the nasty AI's bidding. Brooks's fans are sure to be pleased with this action-packed yarn, which neatly weaves the many plots and characters into a coherent whole. Those readers looking for more depth or less predictability are unlikely to have started on this series in the first place. 12-city author tour.
July 1, 2001
Caught in a desperate race to discover a powerful form of ancient magic before it can fall into the hands of the Ilse Witch, Druid Walker Boh and his companions make their way to the city of Castledown. There, in the darkness below the city, Walker and the Ilse Witch meet in a confrontation that will change their world forever. Brooks continues his latest "Shannara" series in fine form, blending old and new characters and introducing a new element of eldritch magic to his tale of ordinary people gifted with the guardianship of their world. Libraries may wish to purchase multiple copies to meet patron demand. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/01.]
Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2001
The sequel to " The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch" [BKL Je 1 & 15 00] is the middle of a trilogy and part of the popular Shannara saga that Brooks began in " The Sword of Shannara" (1977). In it the secret of the Ilse Witch is revealed, as is the reason behind her murderous hatred of the druid Walker. Yet another revelation concerns her connection to Walker's companion, Bek, who wields the sword of Shannara. The Ilse Witch tracks and captures Bek after he disappears during a confrontation, then continues to Castledown to find and destroy Walker and gain the hidden Old World knowledge. When Walker and company approached Castledown in the preceding book, many were killed, the rest scattered, and what happened to Walker, who managed to enter the mysterious structure, was not disclosed. The sense of danger throughout this book is palpable as the heroes encounter peril and the entity that controls Castledown and its mission becomes known. The level of violence is high, and the heroics are larger than life, particularly on the part of Walker, whose powers are being slowly, steadily drained while he is maintained in a dream state, believing that he is desperately battling to escape Castledown. His rescue and discovery of the action he must take have mystical overtones befitting druidic legend. Brooks makes the characters and plot threads of a piece with the rest of the Shannara saga and, once again, concludes with a cliff-hanger that whets readers' appetites for the next book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)