Wow it’s only the middle of January and I am already two books in. I took a break from the scifi and went back one of my favorite series. The book is “The Black Elfstone” by Terry Brooks

The Black Elfstone, published 2017. It’s book one of the Fall of Shannara four book series. Supposedly this is the end of the very long lived Shannara saga.

(Obligatory Fanboy-ish rant)
I have done my share of Shannara books in the past. Read, and reread the Original series and it’s following Heritage series many times over,, but then I kind of fell away from them.

So admittedly I was hesitant to jump in to The Fall of Shannara knowing that there was double digit numbers of books that I have not experienced, as many other may also feel the same.

But all went well. I didnt feel out of the loop, and never once was confused. But if you are worried, I would say that only the minimalist minimal, basic knowledge of things Shannara is enough to jump in.

But on to the review.. and of course I try to keep out spoilers, but you never know. Especially here as I might not know what are spoilers.

Set in the same lands as all the Shannara settings, an unknown enemy is slowly making it way through the Northlands. Notably killing everything in its southernly path, including wiping out multiple powerful Troll armies with little trouble.

A few Druids (ok, ex-Druids to be precise) of the south are taking notice of these attacks as they are getting word that strange magic is involved, but are choosing to keep out of such things.

But Drisker Arc, one of those ex-Druids, finds himself targeted in multiple assasination attempts, and eventually ends up being drawn into a plot that leaves not only the Druid order Destroyed, but the entire ancient Druid Keep missing!

On the outside, looking at all of the descriptions, I was thinking that maybe the whole Shannara saga had stayed just a little too long, and had resorted to rehashing old rehashed story plots.

And yea,, it felt a bit like this at the start. But small things started to grab my attention. Nothing ground breaking, but the pace, the feel, the actions just kept building.

The next thing I know, I’m hanging on every word. I even once stopped to comment to myself of how much Terry Brook’s form has changed since my last go with Shannara. A full on cliffhanger for example. Whatever or however it changed, I am in favor of it.

I was quickly invested in the story, and felt firmly attached to all of the characters, who for me were completely unknown mere hours before.
I consumed this 352 page installment in record time. I just couldnt stop.

To be fair though, there were a few things, some major and some subtle, that were strikingly left out of the end of this book. But obviously will need to continue somewhere.

As I mentioned at the top.. I knew going in that I had missed a lot, and I think there were times that knowing something of those other books might have given clearer context to a few things. But those things recieved more than enough attention to just keep chugging along with little notice.

The Black Elfstone is a fantastic book. Very much as good as any reviews you may have seen, and definitely worth a read if you are even the slightest bit of a Shannara fan.I not cannot wait to hit the next in line, and my interest in this universe has been 100% recharged.