July ASK TERRY Posted

Jesse Matilla writes: I wanted to know if it’s true that you are ending the Shannara series? Will the other Elfstones ever be recovered? And what of the Sword of Leah or the Sword of Shannara. Are they going to be part of the next series?

Terry Brooks replies: Now, really, Jesse – why would I tell you all that? Or anyone, for that matter. I don’t even have a personal connection with you.

Also, I don’t know that answers! But let’s see what I can provide in the way of useful information. Okay, yes, this is the end of the series – sort of. It marks the conclusion of the forward advance of the story from Genesis onward. It does not mean that after these books are done I will not write another word of the Shannara cycle. I fully expect to write short and long fiction in the series right up until I drop over. But I won’t take the story ahead after that. I will go back and insert things.

As for what those stories will be, you will just have to be patient a bit. Thanks for your contininuing loyalty to the books.

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Jo Grix writes: I want to start by saying thank you, not just for Shannara and Landover, but your non-fiction book, Sometimes the Magic Works. It made a huge impact on me as a writer wanting to publish. I guess my questions would be, did you ever regret leaving your law career to write full time? Are there any stories (from any ‘verse) that you didn’t get to tell that you wish you could have? (I remember from Sometimes that you had a different second book planned, but ended up scrapping it, were there any others like that, I mean?)

Terry Brooks replies: Very glad to hear that Sometimes the Magic had a positive impact on your writing. I think when we start out as writers we are all sort of thrashing around, looking for answers. I wrote the book to show how it ended up working for me.

I do not regret giving up the law. I was a lawyer for 17 years and by then I had been writing part time for 8 of those years. So I was fully ready to make the switch. As for stories I wish I had written, sure. You have to pick and choose from ideas and plots. There just isn’t enough time for that and life with a family and travels and such. I have also started and scrapped things along the way. That’s a part of what we do as writers trying to find the right story.

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David Hickenbotham writes: Do you have other series or worlds in your head (aside from those you’ve already written) that are begging for you to write them, but us rabid fans have prevented you from writing them because we constantly want more Shannara?

Terry Brooks replies: You did ask for more Shannara, but so did the publisher and so did I, seeing what they meant to the readers. So there is no blame here. None of this actually prevented me from writing other things. I got to do a whole bunch of stories – Word & Void, Magic Kingdom, Sometimes the Magic, Hook and Star Wards: Phantom Menace. Along with shorts stories and essays and such. So no regrets.

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Robert Dickson writes: As stated in one of your Ask Terry’s for May, the next season of “The Shannara Chronicles” is going to continue between the times of Elfstones & Wishsong. Any chance of seeing something in print about those times?

Terry Brooks replies: Probably not. At least, not about the stories told in “The Shannara Chronicles” TV show. Those belong where they are. But maybe in that area using established characters from the books. But this is not something I have given any thought to as yet. Got enough to do as it is, so I will think about it later. For now, enjoy the TV show.

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Jeff Boltz writes: I read and greatly enjoyed the three short stories that is known as the Paladins of Shannara. When will we see these stories in print? They belong on my shelf next to my other books and not entombed as a PDF on my phone. Are you waiting to write a few more short stories before printing them together or possibly donating them eventually to an anthology?

Terry Brooks replies: I am planning to write some more and then compile a bunch of Brooks short stories into a Brooks anthology of some sort. Not sure when all this will happen, but I definitely have a plan to do so.

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