 The choice was an easy one when thinking about which book I wanted to make the first review on this blog. Terry Brooks released his debut novel, The Sword of Shannara in 1977, and it was a monumental release. In those days, there was very little in the way of fantasy on the market. Why? Simply put, publishers did not think anything not named The Lord of the Rings would sell. The Sword of Shannara proved these beliefs false, sitting atop the New York Times Bestseller List for months.
In the years since, Terry Brooks has written forty additional books, many of those in the Shannara series. The Last Druid is the chronological end of the series. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Brooks a few times, and he remarked at one signing, "Well, I figured I better finish this thing before Brandon Sanderson gets his hands on it." The Last Druid is the final book of a four-book set, following The Black Elfstone, The Skaar Invasion, and The Stiehl Assassin. Initially set for release on June 2nd, the release date was postponed to October 27th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That being said, I got my hands on an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and decided to put an early review out. This review will contain no significant spoilers for the events of the book. It may contain spoilers of the three books preceding it. Potential spoilers for the first three books start after this point. The Stiehl Assassin ended in a series of cliffhangers, leaving most of the main characters in rather precarious predicaments. This is especially true of the Druid Drisker Arc, along with his understudy Tarsha Kaynin and her mentally unstable brother Tavo. The trio walked right into a trap laid out for them by the traitorous former Druid Clizia Porse. Drisker was apparently banished into the demon-filled realm of The Forbidding. Meanwhile, Tarsha and Tavo might not have been lucky enough to escape with their lives. The bulk of this four-book set has focused on the invasion of the familiar Four Lands by an enemy force from Skaarsland, across the sea. Forced out of their homeland by perilous weather shifts, they have chosen the Four Lands as their new home. Removed from her command of their army, their princess Ajin D'Amphere had partnered with Dar Leah, Brecon Elessedil, Rocan Arneaus, Shea Ohmsford, and others to try to forge a peace treaty. Armed with a machine that can change the weather, they set out in The Stiehl Assassin for Skaarsland, hoping to end the need for war. Meanwhile, the traitor Druid Clizia Porse has her own plans. Wanting to rebuild the Druid Order under her own twisted leadership, she now has a new, powerful servant under her command. She is power-hungry and willing to kill anyone that stands in her way. The Last Druid picks up these storylines right where they left off. I don't want to give much away here, so I will not discuss characters whose life or death was uncertain at the end of The Stiehl Assassin. Drisker Arc has been my favorite character of this four-book set, and that very much continues in The Last Druid. He's found himself in some bad spots in this series, but none more perilous than in this book. He struggles to free himself from the trap that Clizia laid for him. To do so, he is forced to partner with some less than savory allies to do so. One of these allies is well-known to Shannara fans, and anyone that has read The Stiehl Assassin can likely guess who it is. On the other side of the ocean, the expedition to Skaarsland hits a fair few snags of their own. The end of The Stiehl Assassin found Darcon Leah and Ajin D'Amphere in considerable trouble. They have to overcome numerous enemies to reach Skaarsland, including the worsening weather conditions, and there is no guarantee of success even if they get there. From the opening page, this book takes off at a breakneck pace, and rarely slows down. There are a lot of plotlines from the previous three books that still need to be resolved, and Brooks wastes no time in getting to work on that. This book features a large ensemble cast of characters, though, as I said earlier, Drisker Arc stands out. His story takes up a large chunk of the book and does not fail to deliver quite a few thrilling moments. If I have a complaint, it would be that the storyline on the other side of the world in Skaarsland feels rushed at times. There are quite a few likable characters on that expedition, and I would have liked for a few of them to get more to do in this book. In particular, Brecon Elessedil was put to the side for quite a bit of this story, though he does at least get one chance to shine. There is also the matter of the ongoing war between The Skaar and The Federation back in The Four Lands. This conflict is seen mainly through the eyes of Belladrin Rish, a conflicted character that finds herself torn between two sides. It's a solid storyline, though overshadowed by some of the other, more intriguing characters in the book. Clizia Porse is still determined to kill anyone that stands in the way of her ambitions. However, her long struggle has left her tired, and she finds her new ally may not be as easy to control as she might have hoped. I have to say, Brooks did an outstanding job with this antagonist, as I spent most of the four-book set just waiting for someone to turn her inside out. As any good series does, this book ends in a final showdown between one of our antagonists and one or more of our main protagonists. Again, I'm not going to give away too much, other than to say that the battle itself does not disappoint. The big question is, does The Last Druid live up the task of concluding such a monumental series? I'm not going to give a star rating; rather, I am going to try to answer that question. Doing so while avoiding spoilers is hard, thanks to the multiple cliffhangers at the end of The Stiehl Assassin, but here goes. I feel like The Last Druid is a fitting end to the Shannara series. It nicely ties up the storylines from the first three books of its set. If my biggest complaint is some minor pacing issues with one or two storylines, I would not say that's bad. Brooks did a great job of creating a set of believable characters for this story, and I found myself liking all of them, except for those I was meant to hate. The book will leave the reader wondering, "What happens next?", though not in a true cliffhanger. It's more in the sense of the story is done, but I still want to know what happens next. It leaves the characters who are lucky enough to survive in positions of closure, firmly in control of their destinies. There is one final question left hanging at the end, leaving something up to the reader's imagination. I know not everybody is a fan of this, but I personally love it, especially in this case. Overall, I would call The Last Druid a satisfying conclusion to a long, epic series. It is a whirlwind of a story at times, and I mean that in the best way possible. As a long time fan of the series, I feel this is an ending that will please the majority of the fanbase. You will never be able to please everybody, but I think this book is the closest Brooks could possibly come. I hope I was not too vague with this review, but I feel with a series of this length, readers have the right to discover the ending on their own, free of spoilers. I strongly recommend The Last Druid to all fans of well-written epic fantasies and all diehard Brooks fans. ~Pete Follow me on Social Media!
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