On March 11, 2014, The High Druid’s Blade by Terry Brooks will be published!
It is the first stand alone Shannara novel since First King of Shannara published in 1995. It features a Leah rather than an Ohmsford. It takes place about 100 years after the events of Witch Wraith. And it takes place largely in the Southland.
Here is the synopsis for The High Druid’s Blade:
From New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks comes the first stand-alone novel in his legendary Shannara series in almost twenty years—the perfect place for new readers to begin.
Paxon Leah never thought of the old family sword hanging above his living room hearth as anything other than an intriguing ornament—until his sister is kidnapped by a sorceror. Following the dark mage with nothing but this piece of steel to protect him, Paxon stumbles into a plot to remake the world . . . and accidentally unlocks the powers of the ancient blade.
As you can see from the synopsis and the cover, the Sword of Leah is featured prominently in The High Druid’s Blade.
What do you think of the cover? Like the new design?
Discuss!
39 responses to “Cover: The High Druid’s Blade”
Oh yes!!! Yes yes yes!!! A million times yes!!! I’ve always wondered if the Sword of Leah would be used again and whether it has power beyond what Allanon gave it, or if its original power morphed in some way!
Looks great! Can’t wait to read it! When can we pre-order signed copies? I want in line to be one of the first to get one.
The pre-order period for signed copies will start in mid-November 2013. So prepare for it! 🙂
Is it to much to hope for some info on what happen to the one Omhsford brother after his coma? I realm thought he would get with the shapeshifter girl.
Too much to hope. Terry never answers every single question at the end of a story. He likes to leave some things up to the imaginations of the readers. 🙂
Well then he went off to be a druid and got with her is what my mind is doing
The cover looks very modern. I like it.
In true Terry Brooks(and Shannara) fashion a cover worthy to adorn this book. In other words–I Love It!!! Pray tell…might there be a book signing tour for this fictionalized masterpiece of words? Keep us updated. Thanks.
A reader always–Rick Mohl
Terry will not be touring for The High Druid’s Blade. He will be doing two events more than likely though, in Seattle and in Portland. More next year about this.
Thank you for the info, Shawn. Look for my pre-order in November then.
Will Terry be coming to Toronto Canada any time in the near or far future?
Maybe you should check the EVENTS page of the website…
I have read everything Terry Brooks has ever written. I just finished The Witch Wraith, and enjoyed it immensely. I have to wait SEVEN MONTHS for High Druid’s Blade??? Oh well. I’m sure the wait will be well worth it!!
I’m so excited! The Leahs have always been my favorite family! The cover looks amazing; I can’t wait to have it on my shelf.
I finished reading Witch Wraith a week after it was published and I absolutely loved it. I’m glad I got hooked on this series in high school. I’m excited to see this change of view point from the Ohmsfords to the Leahs and I love the new cover. But I have a question: it says “Defenders of Shannara” on the cover and the website also reveals that there will be 3 books written as stand alone novels that loosely tie together. Will this stand alone trilogy be just about Paxon Leah or will it feature another person for each book?
Just a curiosity and I can’t wait for this to come out.
Can’t wait. Another Terry Brooks book to add to my collection.
It kind of looks like a flag. White bar on the top (gray), red in the middle and green on the bottom. The art itself isn’t bad, but it’l not really that good either (considering you can compare it to the million other fantasy book covers with a hooded figure holding a sword). That’s my semi-harsh critique anyway, seeing as that’s for what was asked.
That said, I’m really looking forward to this book and looking forward to how Brooks tackles a condensed story. He’s done short stories and 2/3/4-parters, but this will be something in between (as stated it’s been nearly 20 years?).
I think “The Defenders of Shannara” is an awesome concept. Hopefully we’ll get more stand-alone stories about the allied families who always seem to stand with the Ohmsfords and Elessedils. Maybe one about the Creels is in the works?
I wonder… did Todd Lockwood paint this one by any chance?
He didn’t.
Can’t wait. I”m in the middle of Witch Wraith right now. Always looking forward to the next book.
I love the cover. I’ve always liked the Leah’s sword that alanon made for them. Good job as always. I also love the witch wraith.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I don’t like the new cover. Yes, it is modern and that’s the problem. When I think of Shannara, I don’t think “modern.”
This is nore like it! Yes!!! Now I can’t wait!!! The Cover is great too, a nice change! Come then Mr Brooks get writing!
I bet England gets some dodgy cover with a sticker on it!!
A left handed swordsman….very dangerous this Leah is…
Really enjoyed Witch Wraith and all Terry’s work. My wife will divorce me if I keep ignoring her, just get so lost in all his books. Keep up the good work…. I think the Ilse Witch will be back soon.
This cover says “urban fantasy” to me. The color scheme is nice, and it’s definitely a fresh, “modern” take on a Shannara cover… but does not advertise the book as a “classic fantasy” novel. A story following one of the Leahs is a great idea, and one that I’ve been hoping for since I was a kid. However, I’m not a fan, at all, of the new wave of fantasy sweeping the nation. No interest in the Twilights and Hunger Games of the world… They say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover… so, I’m hoping that what is inside is just more of the same wonderful stories Terry’s been providing us with for years!
The cover definitely says “Twilight”. Not a fan at this point, but my view may change once I’ve read the book. The concept for the story sounds great, though. Can’t wait to read it.
I get an anime vibe when I look at it. Suppose I fall into the category of people liking the cover of the book I read. Can’t say that I’m a huge fan of it. The cover is certainly far different than anything in the Shannara series, at least where the 1st editions/1st printings/U.S. publications are concerned. But, this will in no way dissuade me from purchasing it. Terry’s created something in which he could go in multiple directions with multiple stories within the world of Shannara, cover be damned. As a huge fan it will be great to read some stories that don’t involve Ohmsford’s. That family has done enough to save the Four Lands. They must be tuckered out. They need a break.
heh, I don’t mean that people have to like the cover of the book I read. That would be silly. I meant to say that I’m in the “I like my covers, but won’t let it prevent me from purchasing it unless there are characters on the cover from a movie in which case I will walk away like the book was never on the shelf” category of people.
I like the cover. It’s a complete departure, but so what? Why do all of his books need to have “classic Terry Brooks” covers? It’s a stand alone book series. It as much as says that it’s geared at bringing in new readers so it makes sense for the cover to appeal to a new group. Those of us who are fans are going to read it even if it has a plain brown cover with darker brown writing on it. I think the covers are cool and important, don’t get me wrong, but if this helps bring in a new generation of Brooks fans and keeps us all in new Shannara books then I’m all for it.
Sorry to say but this is an awful cover. 🙁
Looking forward to the story, though.
I don’t understand the series title if it’s a stand alone book. Maybe I’m missing something. I love the cover though, and I am excited to read it. The Leah’s have long been my favorite.
The publisher needs to market the book, quantify the book, somehow. So they gave it a series title. Since the books are very loosely tied together by the villain, I guess it makes sense.
I too look SOOOOOOOO forward to this new book. Witch Wraith was AWESOME! I have read everything in the series and look forward to this new book.
Is he wearing a black druid robe?…..I’m so excited I may be reading into this cover more than I should.
The story is THE important thing so I will still buy but I am sorry I do not like the cover – it is not in keeping with the classy style to date of the Shannara series and comes across, to me, as being very generic and hip to keep the please the “twihard kind of crowd” happy.
I just finished Witch Wraith- and as usual Mr Brooks, left me on the hook wanting more. So many questions and only my imagination to answer them 🙂 I started reading the Annotated version of Sword, highly recommend it if you haven’t picked it up already.