Tanequil - by Terry Brooks

Having just finished Jarka Ruus, I was eager to get into this, the second volume in the High Druid Of Shannara series, the fourth Shannara series from Terry Brooks. Here's a brief summary…

Banished to the harsh mirror-world of the Forbidding, Grianne Ohmsford's only hope for rescue is her nephew Penderrin. But Pen and his family are in danger as well. The teacherous druid who took Grianne's place seeks to ensure that neither Pen's or Bek's magic will help her return.

To breach the Forbidding and bring Grianne back to the natural world, Pen has to journey into the dreaded region of Inkrim to find the fabled Tanequil and the darkwand that only it can provide. However, no one but Grianne is aware that her entry into the Forbidding allowed something dark to escape and she knows that this creature may be only the vanguard of a greater, more devastating invasion...

The tale continues with Pen searching for the means to enter the Forbidding and save his sister. Enlisting the help of the rock trolls, they head into the Inkrim, a dark and dangerous region, looking for the city of Stridegate where they hope to find the fabled Tanequil. Meanwhile, Grianne struggles to survive in the nightmare land of the Forbidding, a land where all the evil creatures of the world were once banished to.

I enjoyed this book immensely and it was a great follow up to Jarka Ruus. It just gets darker and darker and, while the Druids are still chasing Pen and his band while he searches for the Tanequil, the storyline set in the Forbidding is excellent. The political intrigue continues on both planes as Shadea a'Ru consolidates her power base, Sen Dunsidan finds a new means to win his war on the Prekkendoran and even demon lords of the Forbidding aren't immune to rivalry. I'm off to find the third book, Straken.

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Science-Fiction.
ISBN: 0-7434-1498-5
My Rating: 8/10