The Talismans of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Title:  The Talismans of Shannara
Author:  Terry Brooks
Format:  HC
Pages:  453
Genre:  Fantasy
Publisher:  Del Rey, 1993
ISBN-13:  978-0345363008
Series:  Shannara, Book 7

Favorite Quote:  His chest tightened.  Four riders.  The Four Horsemen of the legends, the slayers of mortal men come out of a time so distant it had been all but forgotten.  But he had read the tales, he repeated to himself, and he knew what they were.  Famine.  Pestilence.  War.  Death.

Synopsis (Amazon):   Although some of the goals to keep Shannara safe had been met, the work of Walker Boh, Wren, and Par was not yet done. For The Shadowen still swarmed over the Four Lands, poisoning all with their dark magic. Each Shannaran had a special death waiting for him- at the hands of The Shadowen-unless Par could find a way to free them all with the Sword of Shannara.

Review:  This was another fairly good read, but not anywhere near as great as the last one.  It is the finale of the tetralogy, "The Heritage of Shannara", and as such ties up the loose ends left from the previous 3 novels and gives a short wrap-up for the main characters still left standing.  For what it was, which is basically a 400+ page ending to a trilogy, it was easy to get into and a fast read.

I've been reading these novels in the order suggested by the author for readers who are new to the series.  Since I usually cannot tolerate short stories nor graphic novels, I skipped those entirely in the list.  It looks like next I should read a prequel, which I really hesitate to do since I really dislike reading out of the actual chronological order.

Rating:  3 / 5