November Ask Terry Posted

Patrick writes: My question is will we get a clue as to where the Skaar come from. Seems like there’s a lot of the world East of the Eastland that was never explored. Part of me envisions a whole race of magical beings growing up around my hometown, the Quad Cities.

Terry Brooks replies: Unfortunately, Patrick, I took out all the cities along the Mississippi some time back. It was tragic, but necessary in order to shrink down the world. At any rate, the Skaar are from somewhere else entirely. You will find that out this June when you read book two of The Fall of Shannara, which is titled, The Skaar Invasion. That should do the job, shouldn’t it?

David Salchow writes: Do you loudly bang a heavy staff on the ground twice each time Judine is about the enter a room?

Terry Brooks replies: No, that is just a rumor. I do no such thing. I do drop to my knees and lower my head to the ground so as not to gaze upon her majesty. But nothing else, just that.

Lennie Slack writes: I am wondering if Allanon’s Quest (e-short story), The Weapons Master’s Choice (e-short story), The Black Irix (e-short story) will ever be available in a more traditional format such as a collection of short stories, etc.? I am in the middle of The Black Elfstone and having a great time with it. Thank you for your hard works.

Terry Brooks replies: Your thanks are much appreciated. I do plan to publish all my assorted words of fiction in a collection sometime in the next five years. I need to write a few new stories first, and I hope to do some of that over the next few months. I want to also do a novella to act as a cornerstone for the shorter works. Del Rey is onboard, so hopefully this will come to pass sooner and not later.

Joyce Cali writes: I have been reading your books for over 20 years and love them all. In the Legends series, it felt that there was more to the story. Will there be? I want to know what happened to Pan and Prue as they went out into the old world.

Terry Brooks replies: Legends was the concluding set of books set in the Shannara prehistory. That set is concluded, but others will follow down the road. Perhaps we will pick up with Pan and Prue. Maybe. It does seem likely.

Angela Auterson writes: Although you’ve traveled extensively, what percentage of the Pacific Northwest and its regional beauty would you attribute to creating the lands in your novels?

Terry Brooks replies: That’s tough to measure. I grew up in northern Illinois and lived there for 42 years before moving to Seattle. During that time, I wrote the first three Shannara books and the first three Magic Kingdom books. But much of what I use now feels as if it came out of the Northwest. Same with the books I have written in Seattle. Most of those have echoes of other parts of the world. I would be safer telling you that living where I do has been a tremenous influence on me in more ways than I can count. Surely the geography, the social climate, and the people have impacted me greatly. But you draw on so many things from so many places when you write epic fantasy that it is hard to attribute any of to just one place, experience or set of people. It all comes into play.