Review: Bearers of the Black Staff

Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara, #1)Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting and entertaining story from the Shannara world history. This one tells us of events that occur a few centuries after the time frame of The Gypsy Morph. It gets us closer to the period of Brooks's classic work, The Sword of Shannra, but we're not there yet. This book does end with a lot unresolved, so I'll need to push on to The Measure of the Magic to get those answers.

But that said, this one is enjoyable. There are a few characters that stand out as particularly interesting (Prue, Inch, and Mistral), while others are likeable but fairly typical Brooks heroes. The story is solid, and though predictable in places for Brooks veterans, there are a few surprises here and there.

I wouldn't recommend this to a newcomer to the Shannara books (too much would be missed that happened before), but it is a good way to spend a few hours for a fan of Terry Brooks and his series.

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