September ASK TERRY Posted

Richard Doyle writes: Hi Terry, big fan of your books since my early teens and have just begun reading your more recent entries to Shannara. And it’s been bugging me – is there a reason Allanon appeared to Khyber at the Hadeshorn instead of Walker Boh?

Haven’t finished the book yet (and I admit I’ve been away from the series for years so maybe it’s explained later) but I was under the impression that Walker took Allanon’s place as the Hadeshorn Shade? I may be a little biased – Walkers always been a favourite character of mine!

Terry Brooks replies: You are a little off base on this one, Richard. There isn’t any one Hadeshorn Shade or even any single Hadeshorn Druid Shade. All the dead are down there, but only the Druids have the power to rise from the Hadeshorn for purposes of communicating with the living. And then, I believe, I have limited that to living Druids only. But, to the point, Allanon is a much stronger figure in the canon than Walker, and in this particular instance it was important to the story that he be the one to face Khyber. You could argue this, but that’s how the writer felt about it at the time.

Stephen Pinney writes: What book is the Terry Brooks working on right now?

Terry Brooks replies: I am working on the first book in the final set of Shannara books, This set of three or four will mark the chronological end of the entire series. As I have said, I wanted to be sure I was the one who wrote it when it was time. And time slips away for me. Even though I thought I could, apparently I cannot live forever. Hence, finish the series now. But that doesn’t mean I won’t go back to other places in the timeline to write other stories, including the rest of the pre-history.

Casey writes: Can you tell us more about why the character Bandon is being introduced? And why you or MTV felt that the story needed another mystic type character on top of Allanon and why Allanon thinks his abilities will be a integral in saving the Four Lands? This is the only thing I have seen that seems to be way in left field when it come to the onscreen adaption of the book. I am having a hard time seeing how this doesn’t change the story here and in possible sequels.

Terry Brooks replies: Well, Bandon does have a purpose and it will become clear as the episodes continue. I would caution against assumptions you might be inclined to make about his purpose. He is a complex and interesting creation, and while it is a deviation from Eflstones, it does serve an important purpose. No more can I say without giving away too much.

Joe Burnett writes: Hey Terry! I’ve been a life-long fan of the Shannara series. Have you ever thought of writing any short stories based upon Morag and Mallenroh?

Terry Brooks replies: In all honesty, I have not. They were there for Elfstones, but I don’t have much else to say about them beyond that. We could write something of their pre-history at some point, and maybe when I get back to writing the early Shannara stories I can work something in there.

Robert Clark writes: I just re-read The Elfstones of Shannara. How true to the book is the show and is there a lot of character development that takes place prior to the first chapter?

Terry Brooks replies: You might want to watch the show and decide for yourself. I will say that I told Al and Miles, the screenwriters, early on that to me an adaptation is not a paint by the numbers expression of a previous work. It is a retelling in which the central characters and plotline remains intact, but which is told somewhat differently. Important to be able to do this when you go from one artistic medium to another. A TV show necessarily has to work differently from a book. So changes need to be made. As well, I encouraged changes because that is what makes the new creation interesting. So I approved everything they did as they went along and if there were problems, we ironed them out. As to character development, that should take place throughout the story telling process, with all of our major characters changed in some measurable way by the conclusion.