"It was ok" really does sum this up for me. I've read a number of the Shannara books, and some of them work for me more than others. The ones I like better tend to have more women in them for a start - Wren and Teel are only bit players here, and the beginning relationship between Damson and Par (who I cannot, cannot help but think of as Plum and Golf Boy, the names in this series are truly terrible) is something I find deeply unconvincing.

Mostly, though, it's the length (too long for what it is I think, but my tolerance for bloat in SFF becomes ever shorter) and, above all, the characters. Rather, the characterisation. The Shannara books I warm to least have a very "been there, done that" feel about them and this one's no different. I feel like I've read all these characters before, in other Shannara novels. The descendants are exactly the same as the ancestors; it all feels very cut and paste to me. Oh, look, it's Shea and Flick wandering through the woods with Menion Leah again. Wait, one of them has duck feet. The differentiation!

That said, I do find the Shadowen creepy so it gets extra points for that. And for the one stab of real emotion I felt when reading that the Meade Gardens had been destroyed. The Federation needs to die in a fire for that alone...