The second book of the High Druid of Shannara series is arguably better than the first - Brooks manages to bring up the quality of the book by cutting down references to the previous series, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, and giving some air time to the Elves - and ends in a cliff hanger that had me reaching for book three immediately.The highlight of Tanequil is the character growth. Brooks has developed a trademark style of writing about teens who have no clue about their place in the world, and takes them on perilous journeys so they can figure it out, but with Pen, Brooks follows someone who knows his power and is comfortable with it, who is well versed in his ancestry, and who is politically and socially aware. Penderrin's challenge has been one of leadership and self confidence, and this book focusses on it by dropping Cinnaminson into his care and placing the lives of the small company in his hands. Pen adapts and learns refreshingly quickly, and doesn't wallow in his misfortunes like some of the other Shannara protagonists were prone to.Khyber Elessdil, determined to take over the role her uncle left behind, also undergoes some major developments, and she quickly becomes the voice of reason and caution for the group. It's a bit clichéd, given that she's an Elf, but given the sage-like qualities of her Arhen, with whom she was very close, I think it can be forgiven. Brooks finally allows us a look into the Elven kingdom in this book, and it's clear that the Elves are in trouble given their current monarch. I liked that the Elves aren;t impeachable in this scenario - perhaps after centuries of sustained contact with humans, they have become susceptible to human foibles. In any case, I'm a big fan of this incarnation of the Captain of the Home Guard, and interested in the tantalising details Brooks has dropped about his relationship with the Queen. I look forward to this angle being explored in the last book of the series.There are still far too much recounting of Shannara history for my liking - I know the rationale is that new readers and those who read the previous books a long time ago will benefit from the recaps, but I find them tiresome. The issue is that High Druid is set only 20 years from the events in Voyage - this is a comparatively tiny gap between Shannara series - and I feel like I'm reading one series spanning six books, rather than two that contain three books each. Brooks focusses a lot on what happened in the Voyage series: Bek and his wife reminisce about it, the Elves still haven't gotten over the betrayal they chose to see, and the world's politics has stagnated.Tanequil is a great sequel to Jarka Ruus and surpasses its predecessor for entertainment value. It doesn't suffer second-book-syndrome (when the second book feels like filler material until the finale), but does focus too much on retelling the past. The previous series left me doubting whether Terry Brooks could pull off any more Shannara books, but this novel contains the spark that I felt Voyage lacked. A must read for fans of the series, but interested newcomers would benefit immensely beginning the adventure with The Sword of Shannara and continuing the behemoth of a series in publication order (a personal preference, but you can also see Terry Brook's recommended reading orders for newcomers and revisiting readers, or read the books in the canonical chronological order).You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.
Pen continues the journey to find the Tanequil in order to save his aunt, Grianne finally faces her greatest adversary yet inside the Forbidding, the century-long war on the Prekkendorran takes a drastic new turn as the Federation invents a secret superweapon to crush the Free-born, and the two most powerful Druids left in Paranor become lovers while each also plots to dispose of the other.Forget Word & Void, Genesis, Legends, Heritage and Voyage. The High Druid of Shannara is the best series Terry Brooks has written since the early '80s. I'll take the chance of saying that now, before even starting the third book.The series has only one downside that's worth mentioning, and the name of that downside is Pen Ohmsford. Pen is the young, reluctant Ohmsford hero on his epic quest to save everyone and everything while actually not knowing a thing about what he's doing. If this entire story was written from his point of view, I wouldn't hesitate to give this two stars. His presence in the first book is tolerable, but he is playing a bigger part in the second, and in the end he was the only reason I did not give this a full five stars.The other parts of the book are more or less perfect. Grianne's story actually gets better, if at all possible, and she might be my new favourite character in the Shannara universe. The same is true for the storylines of the treacherous Druids at Paranor and the leadership of the Federation.In addition to that, the book adds another POV character to the already solid bunch: Pied Sanderling, the Elven Captain of the Home Guard. He serves as the only voice of reason among the advisors of a useless excuse for a king, and he must rally the Free-born army to fight a desperate battle in order to avoid losing the war in a single stroke.All in all, Tanequil is a solid sequel to Jarka Ruus, and a great continuation of the best Shannara trilogy yet.
What do You think about Tanequil (2005)?
Well, Good Reads lost my first review of this book. I won't likely be as eloquent this time.I was hoping that this book would kick the High Druid series into gear. However, I am left feeling that this series is likely targeted at a teen audience, as it is fairly predictable. Still, it is an OK adventure and worth reading if only for thoroughness.There have been some negative comments with regard to this series containing "sex". If you want to know non-spoiler details, read on.While indeed the first book contained a kiss on the cheek and the second has a reference to a kiss on the cheek and one on the lips. The only reference to sexual relations occurs in a single paragraph that implies the possibility of non-consensual relations.The paragraph boils down to a sentence or two that says in no more explicit terms: "If a young girl is held captive by a truly evil man, alone for weeks on end, do you really believe that nothing bad would happen?" There are no other references to "sex" in the book
—Brian Layman
As much of a rousing adventure as any Brooks book. The dialog seems more awkward at times, but I might just be noticing it more. Brooks has never been an author I've read expecting beautiful prose; I read him for a fun story. I didn't much care for the ending to this one. The build up to it was spot-on, but then the elements that made up the ending seemed to fall into place way too easily, to the point where it seemed wrong rather than natural. It was particularly bothersome because Brooks usually handles this sort of thing well. Anyway, I'm ready to start book 3 and see how this all turns out. I must admit though, so far, I've been a lot more interested in Pen's story than Grianne's, and it's probably a safe assumption that the third book will focus much more on hers. I must assume he'll be able to pull something interesting out of it though.
—Caius Roth
Another well-written book; Brooks has again done a good job with the second in a trilogy, drawing smaller plots to a close and leading larger ones to a suitable point of transition between the books. The last few pages in particular were very difficult to read slowly; I really wanted to zip through them and find out how things would be left for the third book. Although there are several roles that have been present in many of the Shannara books to this point, characters in those roles frequently deviate enough to prevent the story from being formulaic to a fault, but stay true to the roles enough to keep a sense of continuity throughout this series. I'm definitely looking forward to finishing the trilogy.
—Dave
