Terry Brooks and Stephen Donaldson books

[sandcracker21]

has anyone read anything by terry brooks or stephen donaldson?

i was a HUGE fan of the DT series (and most of kings work), lord of the rings series, etc...

i hear these two authors are good 'fantasy', adventure writers as well...just looking for some opinions.

Thanks!

[<ô> bango skank <ô>]

terry brooks did nothing for me (for my full rant see "books you never finished" thread, regarding Sword of Shannara tril.) It you are a lord of the rings fan you will, in my opinion, find only a cheap imitation here.

[ManOfWesternesse]

Terry Brooks did'nt do much for me either. I read the original 'Shannara' trilogy a couple years back & was unimpressed. My son loves his stuff though.

Donaldson, on the other hand, is a completely different story.
Go get yourself the entire 'Thomas Covenant' series (8 books & 2 more to come).
- 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - The Unbeliever' (series of 3 books)
-Lord Foul's Bane
-The Illearth War
-The Power that Preserves

- 'The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant' (series of 3 books)
-The Wounded Land
-The One Tree
-White Gold Wielder

- 'The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant' (series of 4 books - 2 already published)
-The Runes of the Earth
-Fatal revenant
-Against All Things Ending (2010?)
-The Last Dark (2013?)

One of THE best fantasy works out there. I've been reading (& re-reading) this series since the early 80's.
As a LotR & DT fan I have no doubt you'd love this one.

[sandcracker21]

terry brooks did nothing for me (for my full rant see "books you never finished" thread, regarding Sword of Shannara tril.) It you are a lord of the rings fan you will, in my opinion, find only a cheap imitation here.

that is what i have been reading here any elsewere...that terry brooks doesnt bring much to the table...

One of THE best fantasy works out there. I've been reading (& re-reading) this series since the early 80's.
As a LotR & DT fan I have no doubt you'd love this one.

this is very exciting, i have heard great things about this series and to hear that it is this good is exciting, lol i will have to pick up the first book after i finish the eyes of the dragon by king

[sandcracker21]

anyone else have any experience with these two authors?

[Gris]

I liked the Brooks "Magic Kingdom for Sale... SOLD!", Landover series when I was young. I never made it to the last one though.

I tried the first book again a few months ago as audio (I rarely get to read nowadays) and stopped it 1/4 through.

I'll have to give the Donaldson series a shot.

[Frunobulax]

Terry Brooks is one the few few authors who got the "too shitty to finish" treatment from me. I advise avoiding his works like the plague. Donaldson, I've only read sections of his books when I was working at B&N. I have to say, it's incredible material.

[futuramaguy07]

I like Terry Brooks. However, The Sword of Shannara is highly criticized as being a LotR knockoff, and it really is. If you start with the beginning, remember that book and that trilogy is his first 3 novels. I think he has gotten much better, and i know I love the Heritage of Shannara series. (Im a little biased, since Brooks really got me into fantasy (hell, even back into reading for that matter) in general. But I enjoy his works.

[Bev Vincent]

I've read almost all of Donaldson's work. The only series I couldn't get into was his Gap series. The characters were just too despicable and I gave up after book two (of five).

However, I discovered the Thomas Convenant series back in the 1980s, at the time the second Chronicles was being released, and I loved them Covenant is a hard protagonist to like, but if you can get past his dour attitude, the creativity and imagination is hard to beat. I was very pleased to discover that Mr. Donaldson had decided on a third Chronicle and have been patiently waiting for each new installment as they come out.

I also like his Mick Axbrewder crime novels ("The Man Who Killed His Brother," etc.). Axbrewder is another difficult protagonist to like, but I think that's part of the books' charm. Donaldson's short story collections are also well worth seeking out.

As for Terry Brooks, I read and enjoyed the first couple of Shannara books, but I didn't keep up with them.

[lowdown]

i see he dosent get much love up here but ...i loved terry brooks .......try the landover series and the word/void series .....word /void is kinda like the purpose and the random

i found shanarra kinda boring with older age ....... i loved it when i was young ....''elfstones of shannara'' book...i liked that one

i would at least give it a try.....im trust worthy

[CPU]

I tried a few of Terry Brooks' book, they were ok, but they didn't really inspire me to read more.

I highly, HIGHLY, recommend the Thomas Covenant books if you're into fantasy, which like some others here I started reading back in the 80's. I think I've re-read the first and second chronicles several times. Personally I loved the Gap series as well, and if you're into SciFi you should check it out.

[jhanic]

I read Terry Brooks' first book, Sword of Shannara when it first came out and found, as has been mentioned here, a pale imitation of The Lord of the Rings. I never tried any others.

John

[Xanthus]

I liked the Landover series very much by Brooks, but couldnt get into Shannara either. I read the 1st 2 series of Thomas Covenant and really enjoyed them. Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series in my opinion is an excellent modern epic ala LotR. I also liked Mark Anthony's "Last Rune" series too.

[lowdown]

thanks folks ....i love fantasy books ...and i go in the library lost ....then just get a King book i know is good ......but I'm more inclined to read fantasy then horror ....some of King stuff turns me off.....not such a strong stomach and such....except for whiskey

[Bev Vincent]

The first chapter of Book 3 of the The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Against all Things Ending) is now up at Donaldson's web site. The book is due out in October.

[frik]

anyone else have any experience with these two authors?

You bet. I've read quite a few of Terry Brooks' books, but as each new book became more-of-the-same to me, I gave up on him.
Now, Donaldson is quite another story. I've read all of his books -except for the current Thomas Covenant chronicles- and I think he is amazingly good. I love his Covenant books, but also Mordant's Need and The Gap I find excellent. There's just no one quite like him.

sk

[frik]

For anyone who's read the first two Last Chronicles books: how good is this final series (so far)? As Donaldson will release a new addition to this quadrilogy every three years there's no way i can remember what went before..So, I'm buying the books faithfully, but will read them sometime in 2013 - so come October 2013 I'll be ready for the final Thomas Covenant.

So, without any spoilers, can anyone wet my appetite?

sk

[Bev Vincent]

Here's the cover of the final book, due out in October. Another series I started reading in the early 1980s.

[CurtSeattle]

I collect both authors in addition to king, burroughs, Anthony, Heinlein, barker, norman...jeez I need help.

I grew up on Brooks and give credit for fueling a large part of my fire for the genre. I will say that I seem to recall that when I was older and reread them I leaned towards Donaldson, but I think I might have to reread them all again. It's been a long time for me.

Thanks for the post, Bev. I'll start with Donaldson!