Straken is a fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks , the third book in his High Druid of Shannara trilogy. First published in 2005, it takes place immediately after the events of Tanequil .
33-526: Shannara / ˈ ʃ æ n ə r ə / is a series of high fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks , beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and concluding with The Last Druid which was released in October 2020; there is also a prequel, First King of Shannara . The series blends magic and primitive technology and is set in the Four Lands, which are identified as Earth long after civilization
66-408: A broad term to include a number of different flavors of the fantasy genre, including epic fantasy , mythic fantasy, dark fantasy , and wuxia . It typically is not considered to include the sword and sorcery genre. High fantasy has often been defined by its themes and messages. " Good versus evil " is a common one in high fantasy, and defining the character of evil is often an important theme in
99-409: A childlike figure, but matures rapidly, experiencing a considerable gain in fighting/problem-solving abilities along the way. The progress of the story leads to the character's learning the nature of the unknown forces against them, that they constitute a force with great power and malevolence. The villains in such stories are usually completely evil and unrelatable. "High fantasy" often serves as
132-637: A common basis for many fantasy books and many other authors continue to contribute to the settings. Straken After receiving the darkwand from the Tanequil tree, Pen Ohmsford finds his companions—the Dwarf Tagwen and a small troll force led by Kermadec and his brother Atalan—captured by Druid forces under the command of the illegitimate High Druid Shadea a'Ru . Pen agrees to be taken prisoner in exchange for their release. The elf -girl Khyber Elessedil , however, manages to stow away on
165-570: A daring airship rescue, Bek and company save the Trolls and Tagwen from a marauding flood of wraithlike Urdas and return to Paranor, picking up a new army of Kermadec's Trolls along the way. Pen is imprisoned in Paranor and the darkwand is confiscated. Khyber soon springs him free, and together they make their way up to the High Druid's sleeping quarters, where the darkwand is secured. Pen grabs
198-455: A massive dragon , Pen found that the darkwand had awoken in him the magic of the Wishsong, the magic that both his father and his aunt possess, and that it has not fully revealed itself even yet. Together, Pen, Grianne, and Weka Dart travel back to the place where they can use the darkwand to return to the Four Lands. Unfortunately, Grianne is forced to tell Weka Dart that it is unlikely that
231-573: A tunnel of Tagwen's finding, while Kermadec and his Troll army besiege the keep. Using a secret passage to the Ard Rhys' chambers, they discover Khyber, who escaped her executioners, hiding in the shadows. They find that Shadea a'Ru and her followers have set an inescapable magic trap, called a triagenel, in the chamber to incapacitate Grianne should she return from the Forbidding. Through the combined powers of Bek's Wishsong and Khyber's elfstones,
264-660: A work of high fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings . The importance of the concept of good and evil can be regarded as the distinguishing mark between high fantasy and sword and sorcery. In many works of high fantasy, this conflict marks a deep concern with moral issues; in other works, the conflict is a power struggle, with, for instance, wizards behaving irresponsibly whether they are "good" or "evil". Role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons with campaign settings like Dragonlance by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis and Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood are
297-607: Is produced by Dan Farah, Jon Favreau , and Smallville showrunners Miles Millar and Al Gough , and Jonathan Liebesman . During the Shannara Chronicles panel at San Diego Comic Con in July 2015, a teaser trailer was revealed, giving audiences a first look at the sets and characters. A television version of the trailer was shown during the 2015 MTV Music Awards . The series premiered January 5, 2016. Season 2 began airing on Spike in October 2017. On January 16, 2018, it
330-581: Is the homeland primarily of the elves, while the Northland is mostly inhabited by trolls and the Eastland is the home mostly of dwarves and gnomes. The Southland is primarily the homeland of humans. The Word & Void series (also called The Word and The Void ) focuses on John Ross and Nest Freemark, forced acquaintances who use magic given to them from the Word to prevent mankind from being overcome by
363-458: Is usually set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world , rather than the "real" or "primary" world. This secondary world is usually internally consistent, but its rules differ from those of the primary world. By contrast, low fantasy is characterized by being set on Earth, the primary or real world, or a rational and familiar fictional world with the inclusion of magical elements. The romances of William Morris , such as The Well at
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#1732779793658396-589: The Dechtera , the airship that bears a devastating crystal-powered fire-launching weapon prototype. Unshaken, Prime Minister of the Federation Sen Dunsidan commissions the building of another such weapon, but continues to refuse the advice of his vizier Iridia, who wants him to attack Arborlon , the Elven capital. He finds out too late that Iridia is a Moric , a changeling Demon who escaped from
429-536: The Shannara universe. It has since been revealed as the "ultimate prequel" to the Shannara novels. The Genesis of Shannara series consists of Armageddon's Children , The Elves of Cintra and The Gypsy Morph . They cover events during The Great Wars, which are alluded to often in the Shannara series. The Legends of Shannara series consists of Bearers of the Black Staff and The Measure of
462-772: The Druid airship before it leaves for Paranor . Meanwhile, Trefen Morys and Bellizen, Druids still loyal to the banished Ard Rhys, help spring Bek and Rue from Paranor's dungeons. After barely escaping with their lives, Bek is directed in a dream by the King of the Silver River to seek Pen's abandoned friends in Taupo Rough. He is told that Pen has made it into the Forbidding in order to save Grianne Ohmsford (the banished High Druid) and Bek will have to work together with each of Pen's companions to ensure their safe return. In
495-581: The Forbidding when Grianne Ohmsford was banished, and is killed along with the weapon engineer Etan Orek. Taking the Prime Minister's form, the Moric takes the newly created weapon upon the airship Zolomach towards Arborlon, with the intent of destroying the Ellcrys tree-the only barrier keeping the armies of Demons from the Forbidding from flooding the Four Lands. Grianne Ohmsford, meanwhile, escapes
528-686: The Four Lands to be located in the modern Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. Much of the landscape has been changed by a future nuclear holocaust called The Great Wars, but some landmarks remain. For example, the Columbia River still exists. Each land is named after the compass point it faces: the Northland, the Southland, the Eastland, and the Westland, and is the primary home of different peoples. The Westland
561-786: The Jerle Shannara trilogy consists of the books Ilse Witch , Antrax , and Morgawr . It is set 130 years after the Heritage of Shannara . The High Druid of Shannara trilogy includes the novels Jarka Ruus , Tanequil , and Straken . It is set 20 years after the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara. This trilogy is set 100 to 120 years after the events in Straken , consists of Wards of Faerie , published August 21, 2012, Bloodfire Quest , published March 12, 2013, and Witch Wraith , published July 17, 2013. Set 100 years after
594-777: The Magic . This is the prequel to the Original Shannara Trilogy. Also published as the Original Shannara Trilogy by Del Rey Books , these were the first three published Shannara novels ( The Sword of Shannara , The Elfstones of Shannara , and The Wishsong of Shannara ) The next four books consist of The Scions of Shannara , The Druid of Shannara , The Elf Queen of Shannara and The Talismans of Shannara . These books are known as The Heritage of Shannara , are set 300 years after The Original Shannara Trilogy . The Voyage of
627-421: The Moric and the darkwand back into the Forbidding. The Moric is then presumably devoured by Pen's giant dragon. Finally, Grianne, having negotiated an arms treaty calling for the elimination of all crystal-based weapons research, retires as Ard Rhys. She travels with Pen to try to save Pen's girlfriend Cinnaminson, who was transformed into an Aeriad spirit of the Tanequil tree. She is able to, but only by taking
660-502: The Wishsong had never before been this powerful or irrepressible. She speculates that her recent forced psychological transformation into a Fury may have awoken this frightening power in her. Escaping the catacombs, Grianne and Weka Dart are found by Pen, who has been guided to her location by the darkwand. Pen, too, has discovered magic within him, magic more powerful than the simple animal communication skills that he had been previously blessed with. Having survived several encounters with
693-622: The World's End , set in an imaginary medieval world, are sometimes regarded as the first examples of high fantasy. The works of J. R. R. Tolkien —especially The Lord of the Rings —are regarded as archetypal works of high fantasy . The term "high fantasy" was coined by Lloyd Alexander in a 1971 essay, "High Fantasy and Heroic Romance", which was originally given at the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians in October 1969. Many high fantasy stories are told from
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#1732779793658726-600: The darkwand and is transported to the realm of the Forbidding, while Khyber is taken prisoner and sentenced to death. On the Prekkendoran Plains, Pied Sanderling, Captain of the Elven Home Guard, successfully rallies the remaining Elven army to repel the advancing Federation forces and take refuge in a besieged Free-born camp. He leads a daring raid on the Federation base and manages to destroy
759-420: The darkwand will be able bring Weka back as well, sending him into a frenzy. After being explained to about the world that Grianne is returning to, he decided not to go to the world after all. He leaves in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. Pen and Grianne prepare to transport back to Paranor. Having returned to Paranor to help Pen and Grianne when they return, Bek, Rue, and Tagwen sneak in through
792-504: The demonic forces of the Void. The trilogy consists of Running with the Demon , A Knight of the Word , and Angel Fire East and is predominantly set in present-day Illinois . It follows Nest Freemark, a girl with magical abilities who has no known relationship to any Shannara character. Before the publication of Armageddon's Children it was unclear whether this trilogy existed within
825-542: The events in The Dark Legacy of Shannara trilogy. The three novels are loosely connected, stand-alone novels, described as the setup for the conclusion of the entire Shannara saga. The trilogy consists of The High Druid's Blade (published July 15, 2014), The Darkling Child (published June 9, 2015), and The Sorcerer's Daughter (published May 24, 2016). The Fall of Shannara is a four-book series, set over 200 years after "The Sorcerer's Daughter", that concludes
858-469: The last minute by Kermadec and his brother Atalan, Grianne defeats Shadea and her followers and retakes her rightful name as Ard Rhys. Aboard the airship Swift Sure , Khyber uses the Elfstones to discover that the Moric has taken the form of Sen Dunsidan and is headed for Arborlon. They catch up to him, and under the guise of a diplomatic meeting, trick him into taking the darkwand which transports both
891-508: The overall story arc of the Shannara universe. It begins with The Black Elfstone , which was published on June 13, 2017. It is described as the chronological end, but not necessarily the last stories to be published. The second book, The Skaar Invasion , was published on June 18, 2018. The third book, The Stiehl Assassin , was published in June 2019. The fourth and final book, The Last Druid ,
924-466: The stronghold of the Straken Lord with the help of the Straken Lord's turncoat minion Weka Dart, promising him that she will take him back to the Four Lands if at all possible. They are chased through the tunnels under the fortress by a huge worm-like Graumth, and in a final stand, Grianne unleashes a powerfully destructive Wishsong that reminds her of her former life as the evil Ilse Witch, although
957-473: The two manage to weaken the triagenel so that Grianne will be able to break free when it collapses upon her and Pen. Pen and Grianne return to Paranor and, after the triagenel is sprung, Grianne unleashes the power of her Wishsong upon it. This not only utterly destroys the triagenel, but also obliterates one of the walls of the room. Grianne sends Pen with his family and Khyber to find the Moric, while she confronts Shadea, Traunt, and Pyson herself. Reinforced at
990-415: The viewpoint of one main hero. Often, much of the plot revolves around their heritage or mysterious nature, along with a world-threatening problem. In many novels the hero is an orphan or unusual sibling, and frequently portrayed with an extraordinary talent for magic or combat. They begin the story young, if not as an actual child, or are portrayed as being very weak and/or useless. The hero often begins as
1023-414: Was announced that the series had been cancelled after two seasons. Producers later announced that the series is being shopped to other networks. The series was later considered officially concluded. High fantasy High fantasy , or epic fantasy , is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters , themes , or plot . High fantasy
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1056-485: Was destroyed in a chemical and nuclear holocaust called the Great Wars. By the time of the prequel First King of Shannara , the world had reverted to a pre-industrial state and magic had re-emerged to supplement science. The Shannara series is set in a post-apocalyptic world called the Four Lands . This world is a futuristic version of our own, and not a secondary world. The Genesis of Shannara trilogy reveals
1089-430: Was released on October 20, 2020. In 2007, Warner Bros. optioned the film rights to the Shannara universe for producer Dan Farah, but the rights deal expired in 2010 and all rights reverted to Terry Brooks. Farah Films partnered with Sonar Entertainment to acquire TV rights to the Shannara universe in 2012. In December, 2013 it was announced an epic TV series based on the books was being produced for MTV . The series
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