DARK WRAITH OF SHANNARA (Shannara)

If you are expecting this to be the same as one of Terry's other Shannara novels, you will probably be disappointed. This short graphic novel format is more geared towards a short story, almost like a long comic book. I think of them as something that I could read on the bus or subway on the way to work. I finished this one in less than an hour. It was a good story and I would be interested in seeing more.

I finished reading Dark Wraith a day or two ago. First let me say/acknowledge that I've been a Brooks fan for, wow, about 20 years now. I've read all of his books except two -- First King, which for some reason I just cannot get into -- and Elves of Cintra, which is on my reading list for the summer. Except for First King, I've thoroughly enjoyed them all (the movie adaptations are a little iffy, yes). Terry has a great way of creating worlds and characters that are very believable and accessible. Even though his genre is fantasy, his character's situations and dilemmas are universal which makes his books all that much stronger. When Terry announced that there was going to be a Shannara graphic novel, I had mixed emotions. I read comics as a kid and have enjoyed some of the graphic novels out there. I'm not a graphic novel die hard by any means. I was worried that the graphic novelization of the Shannara world could taint it or corrupt it somehow. The world seems to be in a graphic novel loving frenzy these days and I'm sure that's part of the reason for the push at this time. I enjoyed the art from the Hildebrandts and I have the art compendium for Shannara. While it's fun to see artists' representations, it can sometimes hurt the imagination. Still, I was excited to see a new story from the Shannara world. I was also excited to see the sense of movement and excitement visually presented. As I dove into the pages of Dark Wraith, I was not disappointed. First, it contains a great welcome from Terry in the beginning as well as a great intro to the Shannara world to help make the story accessible to any new readers. It was a good overview since it's been many years since I read the first trilogy (something I plan to do again). The story begins with Jair working to thwart the powers of darkness and finding a strange new power in the Wishsong (I'm going to try to leave out spoilers without being too vague). The power, like most of Brooks' magics, is powerful to the point of potential consumption and Jair promises his sister he won't use the Wishsong again because it is just too dangerous and she doesn't want to risk losing him to the magic. The story continues in the same way many/most of the early Shannara books did, with Allanon appearing to give our hero a quest. Naturally, Jair accepts and the adventure begins. We meet up with characters familiar to us from other Shannara tales. It's cool to see how their personalities are slightly different in this time period due to more or less passage of time (depending on which book's version you're comparing them to). It's nice to see the characters progress and develop different traits through different adventures. One part of the quest is fulfilled and the final portion remains. Jair pushes on to fulfill his quest and is presented with difficult morale choices of keeping his promise to his sistetr or succumbing to the call of the magic, hoping he's strong enough to withstand it's

Ignore the reviews that say they didn't like it "because they thought it was a book." Graphic novels are a perfectly viable storytelling medium. I think no less of stories because they're told with words AND pictures. Besides, the product description states very clearly "GRAPHIC NOVEL." If people can't read that much, they don't even have any business reading books in the first place.

I was a little wary to say the least when I first heard about this grand experiment as Terry has called it. I am not what you would call a real fan of the format in general, and have yet to just *get into* the whole idea of reading a Comic Book (for lack of a better description). However, I tempered all of this with the fact that Terry has been one of the more consistently GOOD Fantasy Authors of the last 30 years and I decided to gamble on buying a copy. For me, I believe the gamble paid off. While I won't be putting Dark Wraith up there with the likes of pretty much ANY of Terry's large (and growing) collection of great novels, I WILL admit that the story and even the art-work was enough to keep me interested and above-all, entertained from beginning to end. Let me say that I am a gigantic fan of the Wishsong novel and the subsequent short story featuring Jair in the Legends II Fantasy collection and felt that Dark Wraith would be a nice continuation of events within that scope. I STILL feel that the character of Garet Jax is easily one of Brooks' best creations, and I think the whole idea behind using magic through song is one that potentially has limitless possibilities within the realm of a Shannara-themed story...add that together and I already felt like I was familiar with this story even before I began page 1. I have to say that getting re-acquainted with Slanter all over again was a sincere pleasure...after finishing the story, I have to say that I really wish it had been longer. For those who may purchase this book thinking that the story is as epic as the typical Shannara tale will be sorely disappointed. This particular tale can be read in one fairly short sitting--unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story, I just felt that the book barely got moving when almost as suddenly it ended...it's THAT short. Take that all into account along with the fact that this IS a Graphic Novel and NOT a typical story and I believe you may enjoy this shortened visit into the land of Shannara quite a bit...but for those who are strongly against Graphic-type novels, you may want to think twice before picking this one up. I guess it's just a matter of taste...and I actually enjoyed this one, but wish it had been longer.

In the Four Lands, the dream frightens Jair Ohmsford as he finds himself in trouble with shades like the late great warrior Jaret Jax the Weapons Master helping him survive his nightmare. However, reality proves even scarier when the shade of Allonon warns him an evil inhuman race the Mwellerts have a new scheme starting with the abduction of two of Jair's friends Kimber and Cogline. Jair knows he must rescue them, but no one wants to abet his cause out of fear of the enemy. Still he has power if he dares use the dark magic Wishsong that his father and his sister have cautioned as the price of employing this conjuring could be his soul. However, reluctantly he turns to the spirit of a deceased warrior for help as the enemy has come for him because he has proven with his sister to being the one to prevent the Mwells from making a nightmarish future for everyone. DARK WRAITH OF SHANNARA is a stand alone graphic comic book that is a direct follow up to Terry Brooks' WISHSONG OF SHANNARA. The story line is entertaining due to the prime character as Jair, not wanting to bring his sibling Brin into what he believes is his cause, has difficult magical choices to make to save his friends. The black and white artwork is well done as the pictures enhance the plot. There are several other background sections that might fascinate some readers like the "The making of Dark Wraith" and "The Artist's Sketchbook" but this reviewer has no interest (even with the art being top rate) in those sections so I only gave it a quick glimpse. Fans of the Shannara saga will enjoy this novel entry. Harriet Klausner