I’ve been a fan of Terry Brooks’ Shannara series ever since the first book. The series is both interesting in its own right, yet wrapped in a familiarity that’s very pleasant to the fantasy reader. The main knock against the later books in the series is that Brooks’ characters tend to be very similar to previous versions. The entire Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series has suffered from this affliction. Not only that, but Brooks seems like he has been treading water with this series. The third and final book, Morgawr, is more of the same: comfortable, yet just a little too familiar. Rabid Brooks fans will definitely love it. Other Brooks fans will find that they enjoyed it, but it left them feeling a little bit empty, like having eaten some Chinese food and feeling hungry a couple of hours later.

The Story

This section contains spoilers for the first two books in the series.

The company that made the long voyage over the sea in search of ancient magic is scattered to the winds. Many are dead, others are in great danger. Antrax, the mad computer that controlled the city where the magic supposedly lies, is dead. Walker, the all-powerful Druid, lies dying and the Ilse Witch, his nemesis, is catatonic. The Sword of Shannara, the talisman that will show the user the truth, no matter how much it hurts, has caused her to see the evil deeds that she has done in her misguided hatred of Walker, and she can’t handle it. Bek Ohmsford, her brother that she thought was dead, is determined to bring her out of her catatonic state and reclaim the sister that he never knew he had.

But there’s no time. The Morgawr, the Ilse Witch’s mentor, has come across the Blue Divide to lay claim to the magic buried in the city and to take revenge on the Ilse Witch for betraying him. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and his minions pursue the scattered company to the ends of the continent. Everybody is on the run with no time to rest. Can Bek succeed in time for the final battle between mentor and pupil? And in the meantime, can the party survive the intense hunt?

What Did I Think?

The main problem with Morgawr is that it is basically a runaround. The main characters run, the Morgawr and his mwellrats pursue them. Some of the party runs into a monster, some action happens, and it’s over. It all builds to a final confrontation that’s obvious from the beginning, and it can take forever to get there. Doctor Who fans may be familiar with the “endless corridor” aspect of that show, where it seems like most of the story consists of the characters running back and forth down corridors. This book had much the same feeling, only on a larger scale.

There are also a series of coincidences and other illogical happenings that make the eyes roll. The party regroups in a much too easy way after being separated for so long. They basically run into each other. A few of them are better explained, having been found by Hunter Predd and his roc, a huge bird with very keen eyesight who has been patrolling the area in the air. However, the others are just a chance meeting that strains credulity to the limit. Not only that, but the Ilse Witch wakes from her catatonia in order to heal somebody, and gives Bek a vital clue that he needs, before returning to her catatonic state. The clue makes this happening very important, but I don’t really buy the ultimate reasoning for why it happened.

The characters in Morgawr aren’t bad, and Brooks has no qualms about killing some of them. This is a very bloody book (series, actually, since it started in the first book). Again, though, the characters are very similar to characters in past Shannara series, and the recognition factor jars. Bek is pretty much the same as previous Ohmsfords, Quenten Leah is like the Leahs of old, with his magic Sword of Leah. The Rovers are, as a group, similar to characters in the previous two series. At least the two main Rovers, Redden Alt Mer and Rue Meridian, are fairly distinctive, and interesting in their own right. This is not to say that the characters aren’t interesting, because for the most part they are. I just wish they were different. They’re comfortable characters, however, and fans of the series will like them. If this is the first Shannara series you’ve read, you won’t notice this and will probably enjoy them in their own right.

The final problem to mention is Brooks’ tendency to have his characters brood. They do this a lot, and the most annoying times are when the characters are in danger, or waiting for danger to come to them. It’s not unusual for a character to be on guard, or watching for something to come at them, and spend one or two pages brooding about his or her circumstances, what’s happened on this mission, friends who have died, or whatever. For me, it breaks the tension rather than adding to it. I kept saying to myself “would you please stop thinking and just get on with it?” And since the characters are usually brooding about similar things (the events since they arrived here), it also gets a bit repetitious as well.

Still, it is an enjoyable series to read, even more so if you’ve never read a Shannara book before. Brooks really has a talent for action scenes, and when they happen they are usually exciting. You do care for the characters and they are three-dimensional for the most part. You never know whether a character is safe or not, which also adds to the tension. Brooks kills off quite a number of them. I really enjoyed the finale, as the Morgawr, who has been shown to be much more powerful than any magic Bek or the Ilse Witch have, is defeated by brains rather than “a lucky shot” or something like that.

While I enjoy the Shannara books, and give this one just over 3 stars, part of me wishes Brooks would leave Shannara for awhile, or at least try to do something new with it. The concept of the Jerle Shannara series is new, with a voyage across the sea, but he wraps it in too many familiarities for this reader. If this is your first exposure to Brooks, then it’s not so bad, and you will be entertained. I guess that’s not a bad thing.

Other books by Terry Brooks
Antrax
Morgawr
Jarka Ruus
Tanequil
Straken
Genesis of Shannara Book 1: Armageddon's Children
Genesis of Shannara Book 2: The Elves of Cintra
Genesis of Shannara Book 3: The Gypsy Morph


Recommended: Yes