Jarka Ruus

I\’m currently re-reading the entire series from start to finish. I\’m on the 3rd book of this particular trilogy. \”Jarka Ruus\” takes us into the lives of the characters from the last set books, a couple of decades down the road. This is a first for this series as it\’s usually a leap of a few hundred years. You get to see the characters after their big adventures. Some of them have settled down into comfortable lives and others are still dealing with consequences of their past actions and responsibilities they shoulder. This book sets up the pieces for the second books which has had one of the biggest emotional impacts on me of any of them so far. All of Terry Brooks Shannara books are enjoyable, but not all of them make you feel strongly. That\’s true with many books. You feel sad, happy, etc… But with all the reading I\’ve done over the years, there are certain books that really make you feel strongly. You\’ll laugh out loud at something particularly funny or cry at something sad. It\’s a mark of skill when an author can get that kind of reaction from a person, simply through monochrome letters on a page. This is a solid book in one of his best \”mini-series\” within the Shannara world. Again, I\’m re-reading the series, because I\’ve gotten way behind, but I hope this marks an increase in the author\’s writing skill through the rest of the series and not a one off. This book is definitely worth the read. If you\’re starting off in the series, I recommend going from the beginning, but you should read the previous \”mini-series\” before this one, because you\’ll know where the characters are coming from.

Griane Ohmsford starts out the book as the leader of the druids but this does not last long. Brooks develops a lot of action and condenses his time to get it all in. New characters are introduced as well as old ones, from previous books, showing up as major characters or at least the Ilse Witch is, maybe she is the only one. A lot of references to the voyage of the Jerle Shannara are made and characters prominent in that trilogy show up in this, although Terry gets rid of two of them after they have shown promise of taking over this trilogy. From that we know we are being restricted to what characters we shall follow. But it is all done rationally. The Ard Rhys and her nephew take their places reluctantly, if left to their own devices they would rather have stayed at home and led a quiet life. Instead plots are laid to get rid of them, as well as a few others, and the book rocks on with its characters slaying one another or causing their disappearance but our sympathies are shown to lie along certain lines, with certain charaters. Pen and Cinnaminson are presented for our review, our sympathies aroused, and the plot begins to unfold. The Ard Rhys is magically transported to the Forbidding, the King of the Silver River appears and assigns Pen his duty, Tagwen is along for the ride, the comic relief, and we need that; misfortune falls on our friends fast and furious. The bad Druids are chasing them, to prevent the Ard Rhys\’s return. Gar Hatch, Cinnaminson\’s father, and crew are killed and Cinnaminson is captured, forced to search for Pen. Grianne is trapped in the Forbidding, looking for a way out. Pen and his crew had been found by the Galaphile but had fought their way out, exploding the warship but losing Ahren Elessedil. This knowledge had been learned by the conspirators back at Druid Keep and was being acted on. It is now time for Book Two,

Having not read any of the other series, I wasn\’t too sure what to expect in starting with the first book of \”Jarka Ruus\” Trilogy. However, after reading this, I cannot recommend this book ENOUGH. Terry Brooks does a great job of filling in the reader and making it simple enough to understand so that one does not have to read the other 10 books in this 13 book series to grasp what is happening. With Jarka Ruus Terry Brooks embarks on yet another journey with the legendary Ohmsford family. Jarka Ruus starts off with Grianne Omsford (formerly known as the Isle Witch) trying to unite the members of the Third Druid Concil. However, things do not go as planned and corrupt druids plot against her to send her into the Forbidding so that a new Ard Rhys (title for the leader of the Third Druid Council) may take over and bend the will of the council to their own agenda. The only one that can save her is her nephew, Penderrin Ohmsford, who ironically has no tangible powers in terms of magic. Pen along with Khyber, her uncle Ahren Elessedil, and Tagwen (Grianne\’s servant) set out with danger and their pursurers lurking at every turn, to find his Aunt and restore the rightful Ard Rhys to the throne. The book starts off a bit slow until the plot can really start to thicken and then the action starts to take off from there. If your looking for a book to kill some time this summer, pickup this copy ASAP! -Travis S.

I am a long time fan of the Shannara series and this new trilogy is a grand continuation of the series. I look forward to getting to know Pen more as well as his power which sounds roughly akin to Walker Bohs affinity for animals. Jumping into The. Ext book right now!!!

I think I\’m done with Terry Brooks. When I finished this book, I realized nothing much happened. It was all setup. Not to mention there\’s a lot of repetition, and the main character falls in love with another character immediately. I hate that crap. I refuse to read any more series. Terry could\’ve easily wrapped this story up in one book. There were some imaginative bits in the book, which is the only reason I\’m giving it three stars.

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