Elf Queen of Shannara: Amazon.ca: Terry Brooks: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Finely tuned and occasionally elegiac, this third volume of Brooks's projected Heritage of Shannara tetralogy follows Wren Ohmsford in her search for the last of the Elves, part of the quest set for her by the shade of the Druid Allanon as her role in saving the world from destruction by the mysterious Shadowen. Wren and her nonspeaking, telepathic Rover mentor Garth find the Elves in their city of Arborlon threatened by monsters they created themselves in an attempt to revive their ancient magic. After Wren's true lineage is revealed--she is a granddaughter of the queen of the Elves--the girl agrees to lead a small band of companions in a desperate gamble to save her people and fulfill her mission. Wren must overcome her fear of the famous Shannara Elfstones and then learn to manipulate their powers if she is to succeed. Meanwhile, her cousin Walker Boh succumbs to his destiny in the ancient Druid city of Paranor, while Par Ohmsford, with Walker and Wren the third of the "children of Shannara," is further endangered by the sinister Rimmer Dall. Brooks's prose becomes more fluid and his world becomes more complex, ambiguous and credible with each volume.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

The latest addition to The Heritage of Shannara tetralogy, the separate quests of Wren, Coll, and Par Ohmsford, and their uncle Walker Boh, proceeding as ordained by the dead Druid, Allanon. Wren, with her faithful giant deaf-mute sidekick, Garth, has been charged with restoring the vanished Elves; the latter, she discovers, are beset by evil beasties and hiding behind magical barriers in their city Arborlon on the island Morrowindl, which is destroying itself in a volcanic eruption. In Arborlon, Wren learns that she's actually an Elf, the granddaughter of Queen Ellenroh, and it is her task to bring Arborlon back to the mainland concealed inside a magic jewel, the Loden. Coll, meanwhile, escapes--or so he thinks--from the clutches of the evil Shadowen leader, Rimmer Dall, only to lead the latter straight to Coll's brother Par; and Walker Boh rediscovers Paranor, the lost city of the Druids, by becoming a Druid himself, albeit against his will. Fancy and mostly agreeable stage-setting for the showdown to come in book four. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

37 Reviews

5 star:		(23)
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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars not as good as the other shannara books, July 14 2004

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"supersavior" (San Fransisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Elf Queen of Shannara (Mass Market Paperback)

Elf Queen was somewhat boring to read. i didn't have the interest to read it like i did with all the other shannara books. Elf Queen wasn't very well written. What made it boring was that there isn't really any suspense or big battle scenes. The book is like reading a mario game. It's just going around to different places figuring out how to get to the lost elf kingdom.

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5.0 out of 5 stars My Second Favorite Shannara, May 7 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Elf Queen of Shannara (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favorite Shannara novels. Anyone who complains about LOTR-esque fantasy not giving women major roles and/or good characterizations should read this. The major character is Wren Ohmsford (although that is not her real name) and it is her charge to bring the Elves back to the Four Lands. Terry spends a great deal of time developing her and her past. We are also introduced to Stresa, the splinterscat (a cross between a cat and a porcupine), one of the most creative creatures to appear in Shannara. Although his hisses and growls are vaguely Gollum-like, he proves to be a reliable guide for Wren as she seeks the other elves and as she leads them back to the shoreline. Another interesting note concerns Garth, Wren's friend/teacher/bodyguard. He is both deaf and mute, a first for LOTR-style fantasy, and shows little if any arrogance that one might expect from one of his strength and stature.
All in all, an excellent masterpiece by Terry Brooks.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Boring, Mar 28 2003

By

Olly (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Elf Queen of Shannara (Mass Market Paperback)

This is without doubt the weakest of all the Heritage books.

Whilst the book is true to Brooks' usual descriptive & detailed style, for me, it represents a missed opportunity to do something really interesting with an adventure away from the Four Lands.

Don�¿t get me wrong, the book is relatively enjoyable to read, but is spoilt by Brooks' bad habit of constantly repeating the same thought narrative of the main character, which gets very boring. The other matter that lets this book down is the main character, Wren. Brooks has tried to create an inspirational, sensitive, yet no-nonsense female lead for the novel. However, as the story gets going, I found myself becoming less & less convinced by the overly-sentimental antics & thoughts of Wren to the point where she was becoming so corny & stereotypical I was beginning to lose patience. So then, when Brooks decided to introduce a small furry animal called a 'tree-sqeak' that lives in Wren's jacket (bringing to the book as much credibility as the Ewoks brought to Star Wars), I was seriously considering putting the book down for good.

However, the Heritage series on the whole, is excellent & I felt I owed it to Brooks to carry on reading, if for no other reason than to complete the picture regarding Wren & her Elven heritage. I needn�¿t have bothered really.

This book offers little to the series in the way of storyline development and the character Wren is just too cheesy - Its hard to believe that its been written by the same guy who wrote the engrossingly dark Druid of Shannara - but there is just about enough else here to keep you interested in order to move onto the final book, Talismans of Shannara

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Continuing drab storyline
While Brooks has improved the story flow and character development over the course of the original series of three books and the heritage series, he still gets bogged down in... Read more

Published on Mar 27 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but with questions
The questions you may think I have do not pertain to the overall series of books. But rather the syle of Mr. Brooks tale telling in this volume. Read more

Published on Jan 28 2003 by mheile1