History Literature / Shannara

* {{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 [[ILoveNuclearPower 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.

* AngryBlackMan: Panther in "Genesis", though his race is incidental to his attitude.

* KnifeNut: Many. Brooks doesn't seem to have the usual stigmas about knives, and doesn't view them as particularly good, particularly bad, or even particularly badass. As such, knives in his books are simply a lightweight, reliable weapon, carried by both sides, good and bad.

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: Shea's biological parents. A lot of the Ohmsfords are like this, with Elves and Men marrying and remarrying.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: The Creepers and the unnamed monster from early in Sword. [[HollywoodCyborg Half machine]], half giant insect, all problem. The Wisteron in ''Elf Queen'' combines this with EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys and TheHeartless. Brooks is fond of this one.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Many of the monsters, demons, and other beasts in series are described as "scaled" or "reptillian." And then there's the Mwellrets or "lizards" a shapechanging Troll species that has yet to have a single "good" representative, and their master, the utterly vile [[EvilSorceror Morgawr]].

* GrailInTheGarbage: [[spoiler: the titular Sword of Shannara, contrary to the legends regarding its location.]]

** The Sword of Shannara - [[spoiler: which reveals the truth about anything it touches when used by one of the House of Shannara. This actually makes it a rather useful.]]
** The Sword of Leah - Can cut and parry magic

** 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 unaware of 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.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Relics from the time of TheFairFolk who are a lot more mortal than they used to be. In fact, the only thing that sets Elves apart from humans is their appearance and a natural propensity toward magic. And as ''Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara'' establishes, they are every bit as capable of monumentally screwing up as Men are.

* CaptainErsatz: A lot of the characters from the first book bear some resemblance to those from ''TheLordOfTheRings''. Brooks gets much better about not doing that in subsequent volumes, however.

* DerivativeDifferentiation: It series started off as fairly derivative of ''TheLordOfTheRings'', with the largest distinction being the AfterTheEnd setting. It even took its general plot structure straight from ''The Lord Of The Rings''. As the series went on, however, the books developed more original plots, including an urban fantasy trilogy.

* RuinsOfTheModernAge: They pop up every now and then, along with the occasional killer robot.

** The Mwellrets, a race of reptilian mutants, can stretch and mold their bodies (if not their faces) to disguise themselves as other races if they keep under wraps. The Morgawr, their master, can fully shapeshift.

** The Elves encourage the people that they are another race of these, but are in fact the last faerie people.

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.

By the time ''Sword of Shannara'' kicks off, Allanon is the only surviving good Druid. He arrived in a small village, told the hero, Shea Ohmsford, that he was actually the [[ChangelingFantasy last of the bloodline of the famous Elf King, Jerle Shannara]], and the only person able to use the titular McGuffin to kill the Warlock Lord. He [[YouWillKnowWhatToDo refused to explain how to use it, though.]] After a long journey, many mishaps, a lot of CharacterDevelopment, and one hell of a surprise ending, Shea manages to put the Warlock Lord back in his grave.

!!! ''Literature/FirstKingOfShannara ''

!!!Literature/HighDruidOfShannara :

* BigBad: One in each of the first three books and then one for each main series - the Warlock Lord in ''Sword'', Dagda Mor in ''Elfstones'', [[TomeOfEldritchLore The Ildatch]] in ''Wishsong''; [[TheHeartless the Shadowen]] led by Rimmer Dall in the Heritage series; [[EvilSorcerer the Morgawr]] in the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy, [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Tael Riverine]] in the High Druid trilogy and the dark legacy of Shannara trilogy, and [[HeroKiller Findo Gask]] in the Genesis trilogy. The ''Legends'' duology instead opts for a BigBadEnsemble, with the two biggest players being [[EvilOverlord Taureq Siq]] and [[DemonicPossession the Ragpicker]].

* KnifeNut: Many. Brooks doesn't seem to have the usual stigmas about knives, and doesn't view them as particularly good, particularly bad, or even particularly BadAss. As such, knives in his books are simply a lightweight, reliable weapon, carried by both sides, good and bad.

* SquishyWizard: Thoroughly averted by the Druids, and most villainous magic users, who tend to be ''tougher'' than normal people, with BadAss, KungFuWizard, {{Determinator}} and (for the villains) LargeAndInCharge being common traits. The Wishsong's users are much closer to the ideal, although before you can hit them you have to go through their magic, which is not an easy proposition.

One of the first second-generation fantasy series, and among [[LongRunners the longest running]], {{Terry Brooks}}' 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.

By the time ''Sword of Shannara'' kicks off, Allanon is the only surviving good Druid. He arrived in a small village, told the hero, Shea Ohmsford, that he was actually the [[ChangelingFantasy last of the bloodline of the famous Elf King, Jerle Shannara]], and the only person able to use the titular McGuffin to kill the Warlock Lord. He [[YouWillKnowWhatToDo refused to explain how to use it, though.]] After a long journey many mishaps, a lot of CharacterDevelopment, and one hell of a surprise ending, Shea manages to put the Warlock Lord back in his grave.


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 trees 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 Elfstone's 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''.

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 fullfill 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.

The Elves send a recently invented airship, named after the Ohmsfords' illustrious ancestor, in pursuit of an ancient library from our near future. Unfortunately they aren't the only ones looking for it, the psychotic Ilse Witch is after the same treasure. Upon finally reaching the site indicated on the map they have to get through the library's guardian.

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 for frees her from all guilt due to the LossOfIdentity.

These three loosely connected books dealing with the Druid Allanon and his relationship with three generations of the Ohmsford family, the Heirs to the House of Shannara.

* AllDeathsFinal: You can be brought back from the brink of death. You can be healed from gaping chest wounds, lethal poisons, you name it. But once you're dead in the Shannara universe, once you're all the way gone? You stay gone. Your shade can come back and talk to people, but the real physical you? That's all folks.

A generation later,in the third book, ''The Wishsong of Shannara'', we discover that using the Elfstone's 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''.

One of the first second-generation fantasy series, and among [[LongRunners the longest running]], {{Terry Brooks}}' 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.

A duology which 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.