The story actually works on multiple fronts – like so much of epic fantasy in recent years, there is the surface plot (Shadea’s efforts to conquer the Four Lands) and the underlying “real” threat which hovers just out of sight. It’s an engaging, well-woven fantasy tale that eschews much of the graphic violence and sex often found in other fantasy epics such as those of George Martin and Terry Goodkind. Certainly for fans looking for an author who seems resistant to that trend, Straken is worthy of consideration.
[from Bill Wallo’s review of Terry Brooks’ Straken, third in the High Druid of Shannara trilogy]
