Terry Brooks is an American fantasy author, best known for his best-selling Shannara series. He is a prolific writer, with numerous Doorstopper length works to his name. To understand how prolific, consider that his first novel came out in 1977, his second in 1982, and his third in 1985; he had at least one novel published in every year from 1985 to 2013, except for 1989, with two novels in 2013. He also has the distinction of being the author of the first fantasy novel to be a bestseller upon its release, making publishers realize that fantasy could be a profitable genre. It is not unreasonable to suppose that there might be no fantasy genre as such without him.
His best known works include:
- The Shannara series, a franchise of fantasy novels taking place in the Pacific Northwest After the End. Subdivided into numerous trilogies, series, and stand-alone novels including:
- The Magic Kingdom of Landover series, detailing the life of lawyer-turned-High King Ben Holiday after his purchase of the eponymous magical land.
- The Word and the Void: A trilogy of Urban Fantasy novels, consisting of Running With The Demon, A Knight Of The Word, and Angel Fire East. Later tied into the Shannara franchise through The Genesis of Shannara.
- Street Freaks is a departure from Terry Brook's usual fantasy novels and is instead Science Fiction. It follows Ash, a young man sent to a dangerous area of LA after a worrying message from his father.
He Also Did the novelizations for Hook and The Phantom Menace.
