Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara #1)

I feel like this book is the real beginning of the world known as Shannara. The Legends of Shannara series starts after \”our\” world has ended and a small enclave of various races and creatures have taken shelter within a magical foggy shield. The world has been kept at bay as it crumbles under countless disasters, but this small group has lived in peace behind their magical walls, forming the beginnings of the kingdoms and regions I\’ve grown to love over the vast Shannara series. But the walls begin to crumble, and the outside world comes calling in a rather vicious and bloodthirsty way. Having been protected for so long, the people of Shannara are not prepared and don\’t even really believe the scouts who spotted the intruders – and the invaders. The outside world has been struggling to survive, and the formerly sheltered valley looks like a place they want to call home as well. I found a lot of those traditional fantasy elements that I love so much. A handful of people slowly becoming a small part of 5 or 6. Different races and regions coming together, trying to save a world that doesn\’t even know (or want to admit) that it needs saving. Enemies and dangers hiding in plain sight and betrayal always a possibility with each new turn. By the end of the book, the lines have been drawn and many of the sides have been determined, but I haven\’t even gotten to the big fight yet. Things are still being prepared, and you never know what could happen next.

This is a necessary book in the series, tying together the (6) prequel novels with the rest of the Shannara series. It ties a lot of stuff together and I noticed a lot of things I thought were important. I noticed that when the world was destroyed because of the machinations of man and the remnants escaped to be protected until it was safer, they still didn\’t learn. You can see several places where greed and selfishness are causing the same types of problems as before and how no one seems to have learned from their mistakes. You get to see what has become of the Knights of the Word, as well. Also, while it\’s never clearly stated that I can see, it seems to me like a lot of their power is a precursor to druidic magic. I noticed that in the prequels, though it had more impact in these books that had a setting more closely resembling the Shannara world. The Knights of the Word shoot blue fire out of their staves and devote their lives to helping people. That sounds to me an awful lot like the basic tenant and the more powerful abilities of the druids, though some practice it more than others. The KotW are pretty badd*$$, but I can totally see Allanon as a KotW who is so awesome he doesn\’t need a staff. You also learn about the origins of the trolls and other creatures throughout the four lands. It\’s definitely worth the read and I recommend fans of the series jump on it. Assuming you\’ve read the (6) prequel novels.

Legends of Shannara PART 1 This is not a terrible book, but I wouldn\’t recommend it to anyone who isn\’t a hard core Terry Brooks fan. Even then it\’s far from I\’m used to from this author. I thought The Word & The Void trilogy was incredible, and the Genesis of Shannara trilogy was really good, too… This one was just kinda, \”Meh!\” Not surprisingly this book was inappropriately titled, Bearers Of The Black Staff. (This seems to be a recurring issue with Brooks.) This story had very little to do with the Knights of the Word. In fact, there was only one known remaining bearer of the black staff, and he was hardly a traditional Knight of the Word. Anyway, this story picks up about 500 years after Hawk turned himself into a magic force-field to protect and preserve the humans and elves who were to survive the end of the world. Now what? I couldn\’t really tell you. This book was not very engaging and even less memorable. Character development was meager at best. I found myself not caring very much about any of the heroes or villains within. Honestly, I felt that all the main characters in this one were pretty pathetic. I suppose one could argue that this (along with PART 2: The Measure of Magic) served to bridge the gap between the end of the old world and the world of Shannara. It doesn\’t make it a \’good book\’ JUST because it serves a purpose. I think a much better story could have been told. Finally, as expected, this book ended with a cliffhanger that would ensure that most readers would buy the next book once it was released the following year. This irritates me to no end, so I waited until both books from this series were available in Mass Market Paperback before reading. In all fairness, I will say that this cliffhanger was much more reasonable than the one at the end of Armageddon\’s Children.

In Bearers of the Black Staff we join the descendants of those humans, elves and mutants who followed the boy Hawk and gained the safety of the hidden sanctuary before a global apocalypse destroyed what was left of a civilization already devastated by nuclear war. Hidden safely away behind a formidable foreboding of magic, that community has thrived for five hundred years. But the curtain is failing and those outside the protective barrier have, for the most part, been changed into something else, something feral and altogether different. The world that is collides with the remnants of the world that was, igniting a spark that could wreak utter ruination once more, unless the only remaining Knight of the Word Sider Ament can do something about it… I really love the way Brooks has maneuvered the pieces on the board in this novel, for here at last we see the true seeds of those civilizations and magic bearers who go on to eventually make up the legend that is Shannara. He does so by way of subtle hints here, gentle pointers there; tiny revelations that pull the threads tighter and tighter, helping you spot how mankinds and indeed, every races greatest enemy managed to avoid annihilation, only to seek further ruination. Ingeniously clever, Brooks also lays the groundwork for the future by revealing more on the working of magic and the toll it takes on those who wield it, thereby providing a subtle clue of what the bearers of the black staff might go on to become as the two worlds collide. A most enjoyable sojourn through the mind of one of Fantasys best writers.

Am halfway through this book and it\’s great- it follows the descendants of hawk and the ghosts as they defend their homelands from a troll army. A great read, hard to put it down. I think you have to start reading from the word and void series( as that it about hawks mother and how he came into being,) to understand the layers of history behind each book.

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