The High Druid's Blade

The High Druid's Blade by Terry Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first installment of Terry Brooks’ Defenders of Shannara series opens with protagonist Paxon Leah chopping wood near his home in the Highlands, when he hears that his sister Chrysallin, colloquially Chrys, is in trouble, finding her captive of Arcannen, who wants ransom for her, with Paxon wielding the fabled Sword of Leah and freeing her. Life goes on, although one day, the Druid Sebec visits his home, inviting him to the Druid keep of Paranor, where the order’s leader, the Ard Rhys Aphenglow Elessedil, kept alive for a century and a half by the Druid Sleep, wants him to train to become part of the order.

Oost Mondara the Gnome is one of Paxon’s instructors, training him in melee combat against a magical mannequin called “Big Oost.” The Ard Rhys soon summons Paxon to go on a mission with Starks to where she senses magic, with Arcannen being involved, after which she sends them to the farming community of Eusta to make sense of supernatural killings. Chrys finds herself a captive again, and the government of the Federation is on the brink of changing leadership as well. An Elven woman named Mischa frees Chrys from captivity, with the young teenager Grehling aiding her escape.

Several twists about towards the ending, accounting for a satisfying addition to the Shannara universe, given its good fantastical action and as mentioned turns in the narrative. Granted, I found it somewhat difficult to keep track as to the races and appearances of certain characters (although early on Paxon receives description as a redhead), not to mention who is speaking during certain dialogues, given the distance between proper names and pronouns at points. There’s also scant reference to the world that preceded Shannara and serves as its key backstory, but regardless, I would definitely recommend this read to those who enjoyed prior subseries.

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