High Druid of Shannara: Tanequil

In Jarka Ruus (Book 1), Grianne Ohmsford, struggled with the inner demons of her former evil life as the Ilse Witch and the politics of her new role as Ard Rhys, High Druid of Paranor. A faction of dissenting druids on the Council led by Shadea a'Rhu, succeeded in a Machiavellian plot to lock her behind impenetrable magic walls in the land of the Forbidding. Her trusted servant and aide, Tagwen, narrowly escaped Paranor, relentlessly pursued by Terek Molt, another rebellious Druid on the Council and Aphasia Wye, a deadly assassin. Tagwen sought help from the only people he could think of - Pen Ohmsford, Grianne's resourceful, young nephew and Ahren Ellesdil, a self-exiled elf Druid and master of no small amount of magic himself! The Trolls, led by Kermadec, a faithful long-time friend of Grianne's, have been blamed for her disappearance and have retreated for now to the safety of their fortified mountain homeland. The story continues in Tanequil (Book 2), as the small company of stalwarts - Pen Ohmsford; his blind, young love, Cinnaminson; Ahren Ellesdil, druid-in-exile and his apprentice neice, Khyber Ellesdil; Tagwen; and Cinnaminson's father, the Rover Captain, Gar Hatch - follow the cryptic instructions of the King of the Silver River. With the assistance of the banished trolls, they seek the Tanequil, a magic darkwand made from the branches of an ancient sentient tree in Stridegate who must be persuaded to willingly part with a piece of itself. They also strive to avoid certain cruel death at the hands of Terek Molt and Aphasia Wye who relentlessly track them using the residual trail of magic they leave behind them. The Tanequil is the only magic that will somehow open the doors of the Forbidding and allow Pen to enter in an attempt to rescue Grianne from the clutches of the banished Warlock Lord. In the meantime, a rather slimy Sen Dunsidan, Prime Minister of the Federation, fully revealed as a conspirator in the Druid's plot to eliminate Grianne, wages open war against the Freeborn elves to control the four lands and struggles for his political life with Shadea a'Rhu, now sitting as Ard Rhys of the Druid Council. If Jarka Ruus announced Terry Brooks' re-emergence as a master of the fantasy genre, then Tanequil pushes that envelope further and showcases his skills as a writer that can add realism, extended character development and thoughtful, probing philosophical discussion to an exciting, perfectly-paced action filled plot! For example - not being female myself, I couldn't swear that he got it right - but Brooks provided a thought-provoking discussion on a female's perception of violence and rape! His compelling portrayal of the sibling rivalry between Kermadec, the leader of the Trolls, and his younger brother, Atalan, added high drama and real life characterization to the Trolls' flight from their mountain hideout to Stridegate. When Shadea a'Rhu murders a co-conspirator, the evil that was psychopathic is made even more frightening b

The High Druid of Shannara trilogy is shaping up to be Terry Brooks' darkest series, yet. Tanequil, the middle novel, picks up where Jarka Ruus left us. It begins with PM Sen Dunsidan discovering a new weapon that an inventor has stumbled upon by accident trying to find a new way of harnessing more energy from diapson crystals. And from there, it is all down hill. In the search for the Tanequil, Pen enlists the aid of Kermadec and his trolls. They are defeated after the lost of Ahren Ellesdil. So deeper and deeper in the Northlands they search for the Inkrim, the forest that holds the Tanequil. With some chase scenes thrown in, Brooks keeps the action moving. They find the Tanequil and Pen and Cinnaminson travel into the island that it rests. Communicating with the tree Pen learns that he must give something of himself for a branch from the tree. What he gives up is both painful and heartbreaking. But afterwards it is all to find Grianne. Meanwhile, Shadea a'Ru has usurped the power in Paranor and also found Bek Ohmsford and Rue Meridian and wants to use Bek to find Pen. She knows that the Ohmsfords have a way of winning in the end and she wants to put a stop to it. In the Forbidding, Grianne has been captured by a Strakenlord. He puts her through unspeakable tortures and this is where the book takes its dark turn. She learns that in order for her to be here something from the Forbidding has taken her place in the Four Lands, a creature that must find a way to destroy the barrier between the two demensions. And she finds about the real reason the Strakenlord wants her. In the end everything seems hopeless, but it is the middle book. And like all middle books, it answers some questions but brings up more.

Hey, if it has Terry Brooks on the front, it'll SELL -- no if, ands OR buts about it. So WHY does Brooks sell so well?? He is a dang good author. Simply put. He is VERY much in touch with his readers, and if you have ever had the opportunity to meet this man, you know how much effort he puts into making you feel like the ONLY person in line, regardless of how many other people are waiting to see him. Not all authors treat their readers this well, and this is also one of the MAIN reasons why Brooks has been SO successful for so long. He never forgets who made him who he is today. So with that said, with all of the effort he puts into his books, not all of them have come out as Home Runs. Sure, I have liked each and every one, but some are better than others, which you can say about nearly every writer working today, especially if they have written enough books. Jarka Ruus started out a nice new Trilogy for the Shannara Universe. I seem to never tire of reading about what will happen next in this wonderful alternate existence. While Jarka was fun and entertaining, it wasn't up there with a large portion of the other Shannara tales. But I must admit that even so I really had fun reading it, which is one of the chief reasons why I read Brooks in the first place. However Tanequil took that fun story and built upon it in a really creative way. I VERY much enjoyed the alternate land in the Forbidding which made for a fun retreat for those of us familiar with the earlier Shannara stories. VERY well told if you ask me. Again, some people will like it more than others, but one of the big reasons why Brooks is so Universally liked is because he has set the bar so high himself by producing such fun Fantasy tales to begin with. It becomes difficult to surpass what you have already done, or at least one would think so after a while. Now while I long for the day that Terry will return to the land of Shannara with HUGE stand-alone Epic Fantasy novels like he did with his first three books, I will patiently await that day reading whatever is knocking around his noggin in the meantime. He is one of those MUST READ authors I have enjoyed over the years and after having the supreme blessing of interviewing him one-on-one a few years back, I feel like I enjoy his novels even more having personally met him. Why? I don't really know, he just has a way of making you feel special simply because you enjoy what he does. Face it, the man has talent, not just for writing, but for making people feel important as well. We are truly fortunate to have him writing new stuff all the time...now only if he could step up the pace a little...

This is the second book in Terry Brooks' newest series, picking up immediately after Jarka Ruus. Penderrin Ohmsford and his friends are running for their lives from the Druids, now led by unscrupulous Shadea a'Ru. The only hope for them and Grianne Ohmsford (erstwhile Ard Rhys of the Druids) is to make it to the Tanequil and fashion a darkwand, which will enable Pen to retrieve Grianne from her exile in the Forbidding. But, can Penderrin keep himself alive long enough to complete his quest, and what will the cost be? Even though this is the second book in a series, and as such has no true beginning and end, Terry Brooks succeeds in building a fascinating and suspenseful story. I have enjoyed this series so far, even more so than the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series. I found this to be a gripping and fascinating story, one that I highly recommend to all fans of fantasy literature. Buy this book!

If you are familar with Terry Brooks, then you automatically know you won't be disappointed. Brooks gives wonderful details of Shannarh that have not changed from the very first book. My only complaint would be that the story line has not changed much, only the characters. This second book in the trilogy continues with Pen running for his life from the Druids and to complete his journey to save his aunt Grianne. The book skips from Pen to Grianne (captured and tortured in the Forbidden) to the Prime Minister (bent on controlling the world reguardless on who he distroys in the process). I look forward to the last in this trilogy. Brook seems to be building up to an explosive ending.