The Darkling Child

May 4, 2015
The second book in the Defenders of Shannara segment of Brooks’s legendary Shannara series (following The High Druid’s Blade) continues telling a story in which failure could cascade into catastrophe, though the main arc is far less grandiose than Brooks’s previous works. For five years, Paxon Leah has wielded his legendary ancestral blade, the Sword of Leah, as the defender of the Druids of Paranor—defending their leader, Aphenglow Elessedil, in particular. But now Aphenglow is dying. The sorcerer Arcannen Rai, who once kidnapped and traumatized Paxon’s sister to exploit her Wishsong magic, has survived an atrocity and vowed to take revenge by using the young singer Reyn Frosch’s Wishsong. Paxon and a Druid, Avelene, investigate Reyn and confront Arcannen, knowing that the two together would be all but unstoppable. Brooks’s fans and those who prefer their fantasy on a smaller scale will appreciate the more personal but still high-stakes turn in this famous world. Agent: Anne Sibald, Janklow & Nesbit.

May 15, 2015
The forces of good and evil converge to do battle in Brooks' (The High Druid's Blade, 2014, etc.) latest addition to the ever expanding Shannara series. The stalwart paladin of the Druids, Paxon Leah, protects Druid Avalene as she seeks out unsanctioned practitioners of magic. The Druid is pursuing both a malevolent sorcerer, Arcannen, and teenager Reyn Frosch, an untrained wielder of the magical "wishsong." Arcannen is also in hot pursuit of the magical musician and makes a bargain with the geishalike Lariana to train her in spell-casting if she seduces Reyn into working for him. Arcannen yearns to revenge himself on the meddling Druids and on a maverick wing of the government's army, which sacked a pirate village that sheltered him. This last seems oddly sentimental for a conniving villain, but shoving in an army means plenty of violent men entering the fray with ray guns and mutated hunting animals. Those gleefully gruesome battles brim with far more depth and detail than the characters. Between skirmishes, vulnerable Reyn falls hard for Lariana, while Avalene and Paxon manage to barely steer clear of a maiden-and-hero love story. Inducing eye rolls, the few women who appear are either exotic beauties or cold fish, and their worst sin is "dominance." Extensive exposition helps the reader unfamiliar with Shannara catch up on centuries of back story. Despite the reams of summary and the way all the characters sound the same whenever they open their mouths, Brooks' expert pacing moves the story along quickly. While retrograde and without much style, the novel will likely find an audience in fans of the series.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 15, 2015

Paxon Leah was an untried youth in High Druid's Blade, but he has now spent five years in service to the Druids. When the magic of the wishsong is detected, Paxon is sent to find the singer before he falls into the hands of the dark sorcerer Arcannen.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Brooks' new entry in the Defenders of Shannara series is brimming with magic. A young man in possession of a primal power drawn from his voice alone flees the trail of mischief and violence left behind him, all the while a powerful druid order and a mysterious sorcerer converge on the rogue. Add to the web of concealed intentions a zealous military captain tailing his sorcerer prey, and you have a bubbling cauldron of fantasy and intrigue. This novel shines best through a full-bodied embrace of its most wildly imaginative magic and artifice, which is careful not to overshadow the story's greater half, fueled by a complex but well-constructed manifold of motives. The intrigue, grounded in a world that strays just enough from a traditional fantasy universe to elicit delighted curiosity, guarantees a solid fantasy read, especially for those already drawn into Brooks' vast world of Shannara.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)