Terry has answered your August Ask Terry Questions!
In other news, Terry has accepted an invitation to attend Dragon*Con 2011 as their Literary Guest of Honor over Labor Day Weekend 2011! It will mark the third time Terry has been to Dragon*Con in the last decade—and he might even be able to drag the ole’ WebDruid along for good measure. If you live in the South, definitely prepare to attend next year!
After the convention, Terry plans on doing a short tour in the New England region of the US where he hasn’t toured in over a decade. More information on that will be posted on the website in July 2011.
It also appears as though Del Rey will be producing a hardcover omnibus of the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, for release in 2012. More on this when it becomes available.
16 responses to “August Ask Terry Updated”
Having missed the online chat session I would like to post my question here in hopes of a reply. I started reading the Shannara series again in the recommended order and then having finished High Druid of Shannara series the Word and Void Trilogy was recommended to be read next. I am struggling through this trilogy as it is nothing like the previous books. Am I reading this trilogy out of order from the recommended order? Please advise!
Hi Nita,
First, here is the recommended reading orders: https://terrybrooks.net/works/readingorder.html
Second, if you look at that page, nowhere does it state that you should read the Word/Void series after High Druid of Shannara. If you are new to the series you should be reading the Word/Void books after Heritage of Shannara and First King of Shannara.
But that is all besides the point to your question. The Word/Void books are very different from Shannara. They take place long before the Four Lands are created and are set in our own time in America. They are a part of how our world becomes the Four Lands though and are part of that mythos. It is up to you to decide whether you can make the shift from the epic fantasy in the Four Lands to one of the best urban fantasy stories ever written, in my opinion.
Happy reading!
Hi Terry I was wondering, what’s a great way to start a book? And when should someone try to get them published?
Terry would tell you to start somewhere in the middle of the overall story. And to get published, don’t do anything until the book is finished, edited, and rewritten. Good luck!
Well… that settles it, I’m going to Dragon*Con next year. Especially if you are there Webby. 🙂
Oh yes, I’m such a huuuuge draw! Ha!
My name is SSG Matthew Hooper. I am currently deployed to Afghanistan. I am stationed at Fort Campbell KY. I was wondering if your organization would donate anything to raise morale out here. I am a huge Terry Brooks fan.
Thank you.
V/R,
SSG Matthew Hooper
JNN 32
FOB Orgun-E
APO AE 09311
Terry, I LUV UR BOOKS BT Found THEY BE COME SMALLER& STORIES MUCH SHORTER!!! WAT IS THE REASON4THIS??
The stories aren’t smaller, Mike. The books are smaller. That’s quite different. The Sword of Shannara, a self-contained story, is 700 pages. The Genesis series which was released a few years ago is 1200 pages in length. Back in the day it took Terry four or five years to write a story. Now he only takes 3 years and it’s a longer story but instead releases 1/3 of that story every year. In short, if you don’t like the “smaller books,” wait to read Terry every three or four years once the series are bound as an omnibus.
where is Dragon Con
Google is your friend. 🙂
Atlanta, GA
Dear Terry,
I just started Bearers of the Black Staff and am looking forward to another great story. You are one of the best story writers ever!
Are you going to write more stories about transformation of characters from not so good to good? It seems like most of the ones lately are about clumsy good guys versus even clumsier bad guys. I liked the Shannara epic better than the other books because of the inspirational change of the main characters. But then The African Queen is one of my favorite movies, so I guess I just like a lot of character development.
Guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out!
First of all I’m a great fan of ur books just finished bearers of th black staff and can’t wait for the next book .what I’d like to know is does the events of the bearersof the black staff happen before the first king of shanara?and does the land devasted in the book become the four lands?
Yes and yes. 🙂
Like many others I find Terry Brooks one of the better Fantasy writers. I have all of his books ad look forward to reading the next one in August. Most recently I watched the mini-series Pillars of the Earth based on Ken Follet”s novel. I was impressed. Is there any chance that Terry’s novels will be made into a series of movies? They did it with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series. Why not Terry’s series on Shanara. His writings are as fascinating as Tolkien’s.