Product Description
The rightful High Druid of Shannara has been banished to the harsh world called the Forbidding by a treasonous fellow druid. Her only hope for rescue is her nephew Pen – but Pen is under seige as well. Both he and his parents are sought by the druids, who want to make sure that their magic will never help the real leader to return. Yet there is worse to come. For the dark magic that banished the High Druid into the Forbidding allowed the simultaneous transference of a fearsome denizen of the Forbidding back into the druids’ world. And now there is a terrible peril in the Four Lands – a creature that can take on any shape, can kill at will, and is only the harbinger of a much greater, devastating invasion to come …
Amazon.com Review
War threatens the Four Lands, and Shannara’s only hope lies in Penderrin Ohmsford, but it’s a dreadfully slim hope. To save his world, Pen must restore his aunt, the former Ilse Witch, to her rightful position as High Druid of Shannara. But first Pen must free his aunt Grianne from the Forbidding: the world of the demons. To have the slightest chance of freeing her, he must find the mystical tree called the Tanequil, and somehow craft a talisman from its wood. But Shadea a’Ru, the treacherous usurper of his aunt’s position, will do anything to stop Pen–and she has already captured Pen’s parents and forced them to reveal their son’s whereabouts. Sen Dunsidan, the monstrous Prime Minister of the Federation, has armed his greatest airship with a horrible new weapon. And Pen is just a boy, accompanied on his dangerous quest by only a Dwarf, a young Elf, and a blind Rover girl.
Filled with action, treachery, and sacrifice, Tanequil will enthrall Terry Brooks’s millions of fans as it roars to a shocking conclusion. However, newcomers to the Shannara series should not begin with Tanequil. It’s the middle book of the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, and the thirteenth novel of a complicated high-fantasy series with numerous characters and sentient races. Newcomers should start with Jarka Ruus, the first book of the High Druid trilogy–or, better yet, with The Sword of Shannara, the first book of the series. –Cynthia Ward
J. Ward @ 10:29 pm
I have been a long time Terry Brooks fan from the time the Sword of Shannara came out through all his other books including the Magic Kingdom and all the Shannara books. I have to say I am somewhat dissapointed with the last series of Shannara books (Isle Witch, Antrax, Morgwar) and the current series (Jarku Russ, Tanequil).
I seems many authors seem to lose their flair over time (Piers Anthony, others) and Terry Brooks appears to be suffering somewhat from the same fate. The more recent books (Tanequil is no exception) lack depth and subtlety. The character development is weak. The only characters we get to know very much are Pen and Grianne. For the most part all the other characters come across as nothing more than props to the story and have little life on their own.
The story itself comes across as being old and predictable. Terry Brooks uses the same formula that he has used in the previous Shannara books and there is little original material. Basically the story comes down to, next generation Ohmsford coming of age is forced on an adventure, meets the King of the Silver River who sends them on a quest to find an item to save the world. There were several instances that I found myself able to predict what would happen much further down the story, such as the death of Ahren (in the first book), to what would happen to the Moor Cat, to Cinnaminson’s fate and when the Druids would catch up to them.
The book does have some redeeming qualities, such as what happens to Grianne and her adventures, which I found to be refreshing and original. During Grianne’s segments we do spend some time with her and get to know here, something that is lacking with the other characters. I think Terry Brooks would do well to take some time to add more depth (detail) and subtelty to his novels, and spend some time with some of the other characters so we can really see what makes them tick.
I would give this book three stars, but I just feel that Terry Brooks can do better.
S. L Schmock @ 10:58 pm
TANEQUIL is the second installment of the story of Penderrin Ohmsford and his quest to free his aunt. Mr. Brooks has supplied Penderrin with a host of characters that are either out to stop him or aide him.
Overall, the book was a typical second volume – the go between. It picks up where the first left off and then leaves the reader waiting for the conclusion. This book is not for the first time reader of Mr. Brooks. My suggestion would be to start with the Heritage of Shannara and continue on to Tanequil. His earlier books are his best offering.
Also it is a typical offering from Mr. Brooks of late. His recent plots and characters have become flat. Penderrin lacks the dimension of his earlier ancestors from the Heritage of Shannara. I found story to be told, not as involving as in the earlier books. Surprises are in the character development or plot are minimal and rarely interesting.
Tanequil and a hot cup of tea is ideal for a winter night.
Kurt A. Johnson @ 12:17 am
This is the second book in Terry Brooks’ newest series, picking up immediately after Jarka Ruus. Penderrin Ohmsford and his friends are running for their lives from the Druids, now led by unscrupulous Shadea a’Ru. The only hope for them and Grianne Ohmsford (erstwhile Ard Rhys of the Druids) is to make it to the Tanequil and fashion a darkwand, which will enable Pen to retrieve Grianne from her exile in the Forbidding. But, can Penderrin keep himself alive long enough to complete his quest, and what will the cost be?
Even though this is the second book in a series, and as such has no true beginning and end, Terry Brooks succeeds in building a fascinating and suspenseful story. I have enjoyed this series so far, even more so than the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series. I found this to be a gripping and fascinating story, one that I highly recommend to all fans of fantasy literature. Buy this book!
Paul Weiss @ 2:05 am
In Jarka Ruus (Book 1), Grianne Ohmsford, struggled with the inner demons of her former evil life as the Ilse Witch and the politics of her new role as Ard Rhys, High Druid of Paranor. A faction of dissenting druids on the Council led by Shadea a’Rhu, succeeded in a Machiavellian plot to lock her behind impenetrable magic walls in the land of the Forbidding. Her trusted servant and aide, Tagwen, narrowly escaped Paranor, relentlessly pursued by Terek Molt, another rebellious Druid on the Council and Aphasia Wye, a deadly assassin. Tagwen sought help from the only people he could think of – Pen Ohmsford, Grianne’s resourceful, young nephew and Ahren Ellesdil, a self-exiled elf Druid and master of no small amount of magic himself! The Trolls, led by Kermadec, a faithful long-time friend of Grianne’s, have been blamed for her disappearance and have retreated for now to the safety of their fortified mountain homeland.
The story continues in Tanequil (Book 2), as the small company of stalwarts – Pen Ohmsford; his blind, young love, Cinnaminson; Ahren Ellesdil, druid-in-exile and his apprentice neice, Khyber Ellesdil; Tagwen; and Cinnaminson’s father, the Rover Captain, Gar Hatch – follow the cryptic instructions of the King of the Silver River. With the assistance of the banished trolls, they seek the Tanequil, a magic darkwand made from the branches of an ancient sentient tree in Stridegate who must be persuaded to willingly part with a piece of itself. They also strive to avoid certain cruel death at the hands of Terek Molt and Aphasia Wye who relentlessly track them using the residual trail of magic they leave behind them. The Tanequil is the only magic that will somehow open the doors of the Forbidding and allow Pen to enter in an attempt to rescue Grianne from the clutches of the banished Warlock Lord. In the meantime, a rather slimy Sen Dunsidan, Prime Minister of the Federation, fully revealed as a conspirator in the Druid’s plot to eliminate Grianne, wages open war against the Freeborn elves to control the four lands and struggles for his political life with Shadea a’Rhu, now sitting as Ard Rhys of the Druid Council.
If Jarka Ruus announced Terry Brooks’ re-emergence as a master of the fantasy genre, then Tanequil pushes that envelope further and showcases his skills as a writer that can add realism, extended character development and thoughtful, probing philosophical discussion to an exciting, perfectly-paced action filled plot! For example – not being female myself, I couldn’t swear that he got it right – but Brooks provided a thought-provoking discussion on a female’s perception of violence and rape! His compelling portrayal of the sibling rivalry between Kermadec, the leader of the Trolls, and his younger brother, Atalan, added high drama and real life characterization to the Trolls’ flight from their mountain hideout to Stridegate. When Shadea a’Rhu murders a co-conspirator, the evil that was psychopathic is made even more frightening by its presentation as stunningly banal. Grianne’s imprisonment and torture is convincing, to say the least, and demonstrates the depths of despair to which someone in her position can plummet! The exciting climax to Cinnaminson’s and Pen’s search for the Tanequil in Stridegate provides an inspiring example of how love, of necessity, often means sacrifice. His physical descriptions of the ephemeral, fluid magical landscape of Stridegate are … well, magical … I don’t think any other word does it justice! Sheer poetry.
This time, he also got the ending right! The second novel ends at a precise turning in the plot and provides a natural starting point to leap into the third installment Straken – which I will be eagerly looking for! He’s set the bar mighty high this time but, if he can clear the standard he’s set for himself with the final part of The High Druid of Shannara, this will be a trilogy for the ages!
Paul Weiss
Joe Sherry @ 2:55 am
“Tanequil” is the second volume in the “High Druid of Shannara” series by Terry Brooks. It continues the story which was begun in “Jarka Ruus”. The former High Druid of Paranor, Grianne Ohmsford (the Isle Witch from the last trilogy) has been betrayed by one of her druids and sent into the Forbidding. The Forbidding, if you remember “The Elfstones of Shannara”, is the demon dimension which is sealed shut by the power of the Elcrys. It is a nasty, nasty place and Grianne is now stuck there. Her nephew Pen Ohmsford is on a quest to find the Tanequil, a tree which holds the key to rescuing Grianne. Like many other Shannara novels, he was put on this path by the King of the Silver River, a mythical creature who has guided many Ohmsfords over the course of the Shannara series.
While Pen is searching for the Tanequil, he and his companions (there are always companions) are also running for their lives. They are being tracked by a fearsome killer which has already killed one of their own. Grianne is left by herself to find her way in the Forbidding when she is captured by some of the demons. Rather that slaughter her like an animal, there seems to be something of a culture (such as it is) among the demons. Dealing with torture and captivity and isolation, Grianne fears that she may once again become the unfeeling Isle Witch which once terrorized the Four Lands. She doesn’t want to, but it may be the only way to survive. At what price is survival worth it?
The previous trilogy, “The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara” was something of a disappointment, but “Jarka Ruus” and now “Tanequil” have been something of a return to the earlier quality of the “Scions of Shannara” quartet. Nothing has matched the original trilogy, but these are fast paced, interesting stories set in a familiar world. What makes this new trilogy so interesting is the reintroduction of The Forbidding. Unfortunately, “Tanequil” spends much less time on Grianne and the Forbidding as I had hoped. There was much less Grianne than I had expected. There is a theory that less is more, but in this case, less is less. “Tanequil” is good, though “Jarka Ruus” promised perhaps more than Terry Brooks was going to deliver. One thing I know, I am looking forward to seeing how Brooks ends this trilogy with “Straken”.
-Joe Sherry