Jarka Ruus - by Terry Brooks

This is the first volume in the High Druid Of Shannara series, the fourth Shannara series from Terry Brooks. Here's a brief summary…

Twenty years have passed since the events told in the Voyage Of The Jerle Shannara trilogy. Grianne Ohmsford has renounced her former life as the evil Ilse Witch and is now the head of a new Druid Council. But there are those who cannot easily forgive Grianne's past actions, and when her enemies cause her to disappear, only a few loyal friends can help her.

The dwarf Tagwen; Grianne's nephew, Pen Ohmsford; and the Elf Prince, Ahren Elessedil, begin a desperate journey to find and rescue Grianne but their quest is perilous, for the darkest of magics have been used to spirit Grianne away and her enemies will stop at nothing to keep her from being returned to power.

Pen Ohmsford is descended from the line of Jerle Shannara, the first of the Elven Kings, but his own magic seems small and inadequate when measured against that of his aunt's enemies. And there is another danger. An ancient and deadly power has found its way into the world. and if things are not put to rights, the danger to the Four Kingdoms will be immeasurable…

I've read all of the Shannara books so far and this is yet another good one. I have to say that I didn't quite get so enthused with the Sword Of Shannara series but both the Scions Of Shannara and the Voyage Of The Jerle Shannara series were extremely addictive reading. It's set in a world where magic is a way of life and the Druids are the guardians of the land but it's also a world where a once powerful technology has been reduced to only a few, still working remnants, hidden or lost in the remoter areas. It all meshes very nicely together and the plots are very well written.

Sure, again we have a young member of the Ohmsford family setting out on a dangerous quest to inevitably save the world and there are some parallels with the earlier series but there's enough of a different plot going on here to keep the interest going. I don't want to give away too much but we're introduced to a range of new characters and species, political machinations are rife with both the Druid Council and Federation and Free-Born war still raging.

I've already started reading the next volume, Tanequil, and it's getting even better.

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Science-Fiction.
ISBN: 0-7434-1497-7
My Rating: 8/10