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grogu_djarin 's review for:
The Elf Queen of Shannara
by Terry Brooks
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Overall Thoughts:
For as fascinating as the premise of this book was, I found it really fell flat and had a lot of slow parts. Wren was not a good protagonist, despite learning quite a lot about her she feels one-dimensional and passive in her own story. It's a bad sign that the few chapters centered on the other scions (Par, Coll, Walker) were more engaging. The setting was both a high point and low point. Morrowindl was an excellent location and felt threatening with many dark horror moments and scenes of brutality. The scenes in Arborlon, however, tended to drag besides Wren's initial arrival. The book spends too much time distracted by elven society when they really have bigger things to worry about. This is probably the darkest and heaviest Shannara book I've read by far, but instead of balancing that with lighthearted moments, it has lore dumps.
For as fascinating as the premise of this book was, I found it really fell flat and had a lot of slow parts. Wren was not a good protagonist, despite learning quite a lot about her she feels one-dimensional and passive in her own story. It's a bad sign that the few chapters centered on the other scions (Par, Coll, Walker) were more engaging. The setting was both a high point and low point. Morrowindl was an excellent location and felt threatening with many dark horror moments and scenes of brutality. The scenes in Arborlon, however, tended to drag besides Wren's initial arrival. The book spends too much time distracted by elven society when they really have bigger things to worry about. This is probably the darkest and heaviest Shannara book I've read by far, but instead of balancing that with lighthearted moments, it has lore dumps.
Likes:
- Faun is a breakout character and quickly became my favorite character in the Shannara series.
- Morrowindl, despite being an island, is written almost like a character itself and the book has great examples throughout of man vs. environment conflict (woman vs. environment?). A lot of the worldbuilding on Morrowindl and the creatures that inhabit it was great.
- Garth is given one of the best scenes in the book and it's a strong character moment in a book that lacks many good ones.
- We finally getting some backstory on the Shadowen which helps give them an identity as an antagonist. I hadn't found them engaging in The Scions of Shannara as they seemed to be another generic evil like the Skull Bearers or Mord Wraiths, and they largely sat out The Druid of Shannara, so it was refreshing to learn more about them and that they're deeper than they initially appear.
- There is a good exploration on the costs of magic and the corruption it can instill in the user.
- It's nice to learn more about the elven Wing Riders after The Elfstones of Shannara, along with a handful of other references to that book like some scenes with the Ellcrys.
Dislikes:
- For being the book that was supposed to focus on Wren, I didn't find her engaging at all and she was mostly one-dimensional. At one point in the book, she even says to herself that her life has been a "blank slate". She's supposed to be one of the most capable of the Rover fighters and it's just not shown. While she's not helpless in this story, she's often paralyzed by indecision, fears, and doubts and the other characters frequently have to save her.
- Similarly, Garth is largely one-dimensional and isn't featured much. While I admire the book for featuring a deaf/mute character, I feel it missed a lot of opportunities for this to be used and to show how Wren and Garth can communicate and understand each other without words. Unfortunately, Garth also feels largely voiceless throughout the book because of this, excluding one standout scene.
- The reveal concerning why the elves left the mainland leads to Wren spending a lot of time feeling disgusted towards them and I really hated her whole thought process about this. As a Rover she already lived on the fringes of society, so I just didn't buy her judging an entire race and civilization as harshly as she did over things that happened centuries earlier.
- There is an awkward romance between Wren and another character.
- This book reads like an elven lore dump and there is a lot of down time in Arborlon where characters just discuss Elven history and politics.
Other Notes:
- There is an unfortunately named character Eton Shart. There also is a species of cat/porcupine hybrids called splinterscat, which is often abbreviated as "scat", though I think in this instance it's intentionally used as a slur.
- Morrowindl is fascinating to read about if you're an Elder Scrolls fan. Like Morrowind (from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind), Morrowindl is an island with a central volcano, multiple biomes including swamps and lava fields, Elven cities, bizarre and dangerous creatures, a magical wall to keep creatures out, and conspiracies no one wants to talk about. Of note, The Elf Queen of Shannara released a full 8 years before The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This book is a fascinating read simply to see how it helped inspire that game world.
Would Recommend To:
- If you enjoyed the previous books, The Scions of Shannara and The Druid of Shannara, this book continues the story.
Do Not Recommend To:
- Anyone who hasn't read the previous books, The Scions of Shannara and The Druid of Shannara, as this is the third book in that tetralogy and continues that story.