History Literature / Shannara

A few decades later, in ''The Elfstones of Shannara'', Allanon returns, having spent the intervening years in magical sleep, and conscripts Shea's grandson Wil and elven princess Amberle to save the world. It seems that long before human history, the Elves (revealed to be the real thing, not mutant humans) and other good faeries locked all the evil faeries, known as Demons, [[SealedEvilInACan inside the Forbidding]], using a magic tree called the Ellcrys. Now the Ellcrys is dying, and the Demons are beginning to escape. Amberle, as the last of the Ellcrys Chosen, must make the journey to the Bloodfire, to fertilise one of the tree's seeds. Since Allanon will be busy helping the Elves defend their homes from the Demons, he convinces Wil, who has inherited the anti-dark magic Elfstones that the Druid gave to Shea, that he must protect Amberle on her dangerous trek.

* ArtifactTitle: Many of the books' titles are only "of Shannara" because one or more of Jerle Shannara's Ohmsford descendants is involved, and in the prequels that's not even the case. The constant use of "of Shannara" is the main reason for people mistakenly thinking that Shannara is the name of the world.

** Inverted with Truhls Rohk, whose father was human and whose mother was a shapeshifter.

* {{Mutants}}: Ubiquitous in "Gensis of Shannara", though technically they'd be "mutates"--we learn that the first "Freaks" were born human but mutated into their new forms due to [[NuclearMutant exposure to radiation]], their changes getting passed on to their offspring. By the time of the "Four Lands" era, the Freaks have developed into the races of Dwarves, Gnomes, and Trolls.

This was a single story in four volumes, taking place three hundred years after the first trilogy, when the elves have vanished, and an authoritarian Federation rules both men and dwarves. It begins with the ghost of Allanon summoning the Ohmsfords descendants. He tells them about [[BigBad the Shadowen]] infesting the Four Lands, and gives them three missions: restore the lost Druids, return the vanished elves, recover the Sword of Shannara.

In ''Druid'', [[DungeonMaster The King of the Silver River]] sends Walker on a quest to stop an independent BigBad and retrieve the Black Elfstone, a magical object that he needs to fulfill his mission.

In the final volume, ''The Talismans of Shannara'', the heirs manage to reunite (despite the Shadowens' best efforts to kill or subvert them), barely manage to avert the BigBad's plan to pull a GrandTheftMe on TheHero and gain unlimited power, but eventually triumph.

This trilogy, set in the modern day, [[CanonWelding was only later retconned into the series]]. The Knights of the Word [[WalkingTheEarth walk the earth]] performing missions for [[DungeonMaster the Lady]], and each night they dream of what will happen if they fail. They are locked in a secret conflict with the demons of the void, once-human {{shape shifter}}s dedicated to the destruction of all things, distinct from the demons locked behind the Forbidding. The trilogy tells the story of a Knight named John Ross and a girl named Nest Freemark with special powers, who is important to the coming apocalypse.

Grianne has become the High Druid, but one of her subordinates stages a coup by [[TrappedInAnotherWorld trapping her in the Forbidding]] with all the faerie demons, releasing a single shapeshifting demon in exchange. The coup was actually [[TheManBehindTheMan instigated by a demon-lord]] in the Forbidding, as part of a plot to release all the demons. Grianne's nephew Pen manages to rescues her, but his girlfriend is turning into a spirit. Grianne volunteers to take her place, which frees her from all guilt due to the LossOfIdentity.

This trilogy links 'The Word and The Void' with the main series. Sometime in the near future, the once-human demons are winning their war. Civilization is collapsing with scattered havens of order surrounded by wastelands full of dangerous mutants, paranoid survivors, and lawless scoundrels, but there are a handful of heroes standing against the tide. Only two Knights of the Word remain: Logan Tom and Angel Perez. While Logan searches for Nest Freemark's son Hawk to help him fulfill his destined savior role, Angel's quest is to find the last remaining Elves and ensure their survival into the new world.

A duology that starts 500 years after Hawk led humans, Elves, and mutants to safety. The cocoon of magic that has protected their valley is coming undone. One Knight of the Word is left and must find a successor.

100 years after ''High Druid'', new information leads Khyber Elessedil, the new Ard Rhys, to launch a dangerous search for the lost Elfstones of Faerie.

A few decades later, in ''The Elfstones of Shannara'', Allanon returns, having spent the intervening years in magical sleep, and conscripts Shea's grandson Wil and elven princess Amberle to save the world. It seems that long before human history, the elves (revealed to be the real thing, not mutant humans) and other good faeries locked all the evil faeries, known as Demons, [[SealedEvilInACan inside the Forbidding]], using a magic tree called the Ellcrys. Now the Ellcrys is dying, and the Demons are beginning to escape. Amberle, as the last of the Ellcrys Chosen, must make the journey to the Bloodfire, to fertilise one of the tree's seeds. Since Allanon will be busy helping the Elves defend their homes from the Demons, he convinces Wil, who has inherited the anti-dark magic Elfstones that the Druid gave to Shea, that he must protect Amberle on her dangerous trek.

A generation later, in the third book, ''The Wishsong of Shannara'', we discover that using the Elfstones gave Wil's children Brin and Jair the inherent magic of the [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] Wishsong. Unable to penetrate the GardenOfEvil known as the Maelmord to destroy the Ildatch, the TomeOfEldritchLore that corrupted the Warlock Lord, Allanon recruits Brin, believing that she may be able to succeed where he has failed. Easily the darkest of the three, it explores the idea of the inherent unpredictability of magic and the addiction to it in far greater detail than ''Sword'' or ''Elfstones''.

* TitleConfusion: Shannara is '''not''' the name of the world the books are set in; it is the name of an Elven royal family.

** The Stiehl - A [[CoolSword Cool Knife]] which [[AbsurdlySharpBlade cuts through]] ''[[AbsurdlySharpBlade anything]]'', even magic, as if it were paper.
* CouncilOfAngels: Unique, benevolent Faerie creatures, such as the King of the Silver River come close.
* CrapsackWorld: "Genesis" era

* DarkIsEvil: Constantly used, and {{Justified|Trope}}, as overuse of the dark magic, can and does warp a person's mind and physique in equal measures.

* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Findo Gask in the "Genesis" trilogy, the Dagda Mor in ''Elfstones'', Tael Riverine in the "High Druid" trilogy. Some powerful, ancient, and malevolent Faerie creatures that weren't sealed in the Forbidding, such as Uhl Belk (The Stone King) and the Grimpond, edge on this trope.

One of the first second-generation fantasy series, and among [[LongRunners the longest running]], ''Creator/TerryBrooks''' series Shannara began in 1977 with a {{doorstopper}} called ''The Sword of Shannara'', but is now a nineteen-volume series which includes a trilogy of urban fantasies. It should be noted that ''The Sword of Shannara'' was the first high fantasy novel to become a mainstream bestseller, demonstrating to the publishing industry that there was a market for fantasy; the genre, at least as we know it, might not exist otherwise. The series was later adapted for television by MTV as ''Series/TheShannaraChronicles'', based on the second book of the series and premiering in the United States on January 5, 2016.

* {{Tsundere}}: Erisha in "Genesis of Shannara", who may very well have been LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya in a past life.

* YouWillKnowWhatToDo

** To elaborate: the Sword's power is to force anyone who touches it (including the wielder) to see and accept the complete and total truth about themselves. The BigBad of the first book is undead and in denial about it. Put two and two together. This same power is used in ''Heritage'' and ''Voyage'' to help [[ManipulativeBastard Rimmer Dall]] and the [[EvilMentor Morgawr]]'s victims see through the web of lies the two have created.