Terry Pratchett is so good at satirizing real life without making me sad about real life and I love him for it

Terry Pratchett is a legend who will live in our hearts

Terry Brooks was my introduction to adult high fantasy novels. My dad is a Shannara fan and I picked up the series sometime in middle school. I agree that "The Sword of Shannara" was really derivative of The Lord of the Rings and aged poorly because of it. It's no accident that the MTV adaptation started with the second book instead. The series developed a much stronger identity of its own starting with the second book, but I kind of dropped off it after 8 or so books. I think Brooks deserves a place in fantasy literature history for building on Tolkien's foundation and helping usher in high fantasy as a major genre. He's hard to recommend nowadays, though, just because the first book is so derivative of LotR and how his influence on other authors makes his stuff look generic now. It's an unfortunate place to be. Goodkind was a similar situation. I pulled "Wizard's First Rule" off my dad's shelf (and I was way too young for it). I was really into them as a teenage edgelord, but as I got older, I read read more critically, my ideology changed, and I developed more of my own taste in books, I didn't just drop off the series. I turned against it. I didn't read Terry Pratchett until I was in college and an internet friend recommended him. Ironically, Terry Pratchett was also on my dad's bookshelf, but we never really noticed. There was an anthology that we bought for a Terry Goodkind novella, but it also contained stories by Pratchett and George R. R. Martin--both of whom I completely overlooked in this anthology and went on to "discover" years later. That was a serious missed opportunity and I wish I had sampled every author in there when I was younger. Pratchett is by far my favorite of the three. Now we've come full circle and my dad borrows Pratchett books from my shelf.

I've been meaning to start reading Terry Pratchett for a while, but didn't know where to start so this is really helpful. Thanks!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who really enjoyed the earlier Discworld books. I read them in publication order and honestly loved the first 2. They didn't make me laugh much, but they were a fun adventure that felt more epic than I was expecting

Agree so much with your review of the first 2 books. I read the SoS as a kid. I’m sure I’d feel the same if I read it now. SoT review is so spot on. Agree 100%. I’ve never read any Terry Pratchett so I guess I need to go try him out soon.

I haven't even watched the video yet (was looking up Goodkind and Brooks after them being mentioned in reviews of Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy), but I already want to subscribe from reading the comments. So much interaction and love from both you and the viewers. I was just trawling comments for a general consensus while my partner sleeps beside me, so glad I did! Look forward to watching this tomorrow

Excellent video. I love Terry Pratchett and I want to get all of his novels on my kindle. I have read Good Omens, The Colour of Magic, Equal Rites, Hogfather and The Carpet People.

The Color of Magic was a definite 5-star read for me. Phenomenal. Pratchett's Discworld is so very cool. As usual, and as an aside, you're are crazy beautiful in this video. Keep reading and keep posting. 😃

I read Sword of Shannara when I was a teenager (as well as the two other books in the trilogy). I would agree with you on the first, but Brooks himself has said he wanted to write something like Lord of the Rings, but without all the complicated lore and linguistics, etc, that he just wanted to write The Lord of the Rings as a good, fast-paced adventure. The books do get better as Brooks expands his world creating his own lore. Years after reading the original trilogy, I returned to Brooks, but decided to start at the beginning, chronologically, with Running With the Demon which is the first book in the Word and the Void trilogy. These are fantasy, but set in the present day world. For a time, people thought this was a standalone trilogy until he wrote the Genesis of Shannara trilogy which connected The Word and the Void to the rest of the series. Genesis is set in a post-apocalyptic world as we see the beginnings of the races and the elements that would end up making Brooks' Shannara universe. I really enjoyed these, as well as the Legends of Shannara duology, which were the next ones. Next up for me in chronological order is First King of Shannara, then I return to The Sword of Shannara after all these years, so that should be interesting. I would try Running With the Demon and it may give you a different perspective on Brooks.

I highly recommend you read more of Terry Brooks. Elfstones of Shannara is way less derivative, and Terry himself acknowledges that and recommends that book as a starting place. I’ve read the first 3 major Shannara series, and I’m absolutely hooked. I’m definitely wanting to read more Pratchett. I’ve only read Color of Magic so far.

Pratchett!!!!! I started with “Color of Magic!” and total loved it. Read them all from there.

Thanks for the review. I have been getting into the second Dune book. I decided to wiki the author, and found that Herbert had worked with Brooks on a few books. Given I have really enjoyed the first Dune, book I wanted to see what the reviews were for Books novels. That led me here! As someone who “read”, listened on audible, to 18! Terry GoodKind books in the Sword of Truth series, I have strong opinions, your review of the first book was really going to reveal how similar our book taste would be. I respect your take on the book. I really loved it. Most reviewers that have a issues with with the book seem to coalesce on the BDSM events with Dena and Richard. I get that its one of those things in life related to sex that some people are really put off by. Its good that its a strong event in the first book because its a ironic metaphor the entire series. Every book is Richard being the most powerful war wizard in the world but he is terribly handicapped by something early on and is tormented through the entire story. Tortured as things become worst and worst, more bleak with each passing chapter, until the last few chapters when he turns it around and is a badass, and then its over. Goodkind never lets you relish in the happiness of his characters. They only get very short breaks before they are being tortured, metaphorically, again. The world is more fantastic than you could every suspect in the first few books. The premise of the story as a whole is excellent. Characters are fantastic, the motivations of all the antagonist are very grounded and the final bad guy really fills the shoes for a final boss. Many books are way to long, and totality written in a way to sell more books and this is very annoying. Khalen is a Badass. She is an absolute unit of a woman. She leads a military campaign of terror against a massive and endless human campaign army of death. She uses hit and run technique, night raids and even lead an entire night battle naked with glowing war pain in order to terrorize her enemies. She is filled with blood rage over the capture of Richard who she feels helpless to save. The thing is, is a confessor. Like some legal judge and executioner in her part of the world. She has the backing of the highest governing body. One that kings and queens fear. But in a system where all that is gone, she has little power to just apply her magic to. Individually she is not that strong, any ape man can kill potentially kill her. But imagine a woman walking into a castle and every man or woman she touches becomes inextricably loyal to her. Willing to die for her at a moments breath. She can walk through a place and build an army of zealots at her command. Literally my wife’s favorite female character of all time. A world in the remnants of a 3,000 year old Wizard World War. This story takes place after wizards tore the world in half, using the void of death to form curtain barriers and borders to split the world in two halves. The land of no magic and the land of magic. Richard is on the side with magic, accept his side has been split into three parts. The world reveals itself through Richard and Khalens adventures and struggles taking them to new lands and discovering magic weapons, tools, and forces created 3,000 years ago in a forgotten battle. Most of the monsters and terrible things are weapons created by wizards to try and kill the other side. This is the backdrop of this world and its very very cool and fleshed out concept. No two books are alike and for better or worst it keeps the story fairly fresh the entire time. There not the best books by any means but for something to listen to while working with your hands and listening to on audible they were a nonstop listen for me. I listened to one book a week for 18 weeks straight. I could not stop and two books were absolutely a terrible drag but many good ones were to follow. Its an easy 7.5 out of 10 book series. Though I probably think its an 8 out of 10 for my personal taste. Thanks for letting me know about the Third Terry, I will definitely check him out. I do a lot of graphic design for work so I get to just sit at a computer and listen to books all day while I work. Cheers!

I've only read Sword of Truth, but by reputation alone, I figured it was going to end up either being Goodkind or Pratchett.

I'm an adult reading Shanarra for the first time - I tried 3 times to read Sword when I was younger but just couldn't do it because of the LOTR scene-by-scene. I recently decided to give the books another go (after watching the TV show), starting with Elfstones and it's a lot better. I've read 4 books now, going through them chronologically, and I'm finding them enjoyable, but they all seem to follow the same formula so far. I'm hoping this changes soon or I may have to quit the series. Pratchett is amazing, but not really my type any more. I've read most of Discworld and some of his others (Bromeliad trilogy and Strata (which is like a pilot for Discworld)). He is a genius as you've said. Without reading any of Goodkind (enjoying the cheesy TV show but being very put off by all the reviews and comments I've seen on the books), I would rank the Terrys thus: Pratchett, Brooks, Goodkind.

Pratchett definitely takes the cake. Discworld is such an amazing creation. Brooks is great for young readers or new to fantasy readers. Shannara is really repetitive and most of the subseries follow the same basic plot and plot twists (Druid learns of a long forgotten threat, and Omshord who is living in a quiet life in a village somewhere contains magic that must be used to defeat this evil, a member of the Leigh family is also recruited, the king of the silver river makes an appearance and gives some knowledge or a token to the protagonist, an elfstone is lost and must be found etc..) Rinse and repeat. Despite this, Brooks got a lot of people on the genre and the majority of his books are wholesome and are free of a lot of the problems that many books from that time period have. His books outside Shannara are interesting for what they are. Particularly The World & Void series which was originally not tied to Shannara.

GNU Terry Pratchett! if you ever get comments like that its from Going Postal where Clacks operators would send someones name in the code An acconym used by Discowrld fans to commemorate people who have passed on. The origin is the novel Going Postal by Sir Terry Pratchett, in which semaphore operators send the names of their fallen comrades back and forth along the semaphore system, known as the clacks, with this code attached. The code translates as follows: G: General broadcast, send in all directions N: Do not log the mmessage U: Sent the message back when it reaches the end of the line By sending the code and the name the operators are asking to keep the persons name cycling the system for ever. Similar to the notion that a person is never gone while others still speak their name.

I never read the Shannara books but I did read a few of the Landover series. I found them mildly entertaining, but not compelling. I read the complete LoT series by Goodkind. By the end, what I'd hope to be explored wasn't, what I didn't care for was featured, and - in the end - the resolution was just lazy. Your comments regarding Terry Pratchett were spot on. He was witty, clever, and creative in ways few have been. There was not a single title I did not like (though I liked some more than others). With regards to the Rincewind story line, my favorite of the series was "Interesting Times" - the metal image of Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde had me in stitches.

As far as brookes books go, my favorite set is the voyage of the jerel Shannara. The word building is what lulled me in. In his books, the high fantasy world is thousands of years after a nuclear apocalypse. It takes place on earth. The high fantasy races are evolutions of humans that survived in different circumstances. The main villain of the Jerle trilogy, is an AI. It's amazing once you get into it, and they all have "lost world" settings. I recommend giving it a second chance. Every fantasy runs the risk of being branded a tolkien clone, but thats because they mostly all follow the "heros journey" (recommend reading jungs theory). That aside, I agree with your point of early exposure or reading at the right time. They adapted it into a decent (opinion lol) tv show a few years back called the Shannara chronicles. I'd recommend a watch of that aswell.

"Which fantasy Terry is the best?" Easily Terry Pratchett! That's not even a competition!

Also the Elfstones, as you mention, is the one to read. I have read Elfstones twice now and it still holds its value. I recommend checking it out for yourself. I am not sure you need to read any other entries, but try Elfstones. Part of Kahlan's issue is that her power effectively kills the person she uses it on. I do agree that the frequency with which all of the characters keep getting captured.

I read the Shannara series when I was younger, but still felt it was below my maturity level at the time. I did enjoy the story though. However, when talking of the Shannara series, at the time they came out the Book Publishing companies really were set that any epic fantasy coming across there desk had to mimic LOTR. So there ended up being a lot of authors/books that were loose rewrites of LOTR. I actually liked Terry Goodkind and the Sword of Truth series....at first. His world building and villains were epic to me. Richard's morals were in line with mine and I did like the fact that the Confessor's power could be conquered by love. Kahlan becomes a stronger character in later books, but you're right in that he didn't take advantage of her wisdom and know-how very well in the first book. However, as the books went on, Richard becomes too OP to be believable anymore and Goodkind becomes _unbelievably_ forceful and _extremely repetitious_ in force feeding Richard's morals and political views down the reader's throat. Like seriously repetitious! To the point where I don't think I could pick up his books again. Not only that, I've seen interviews with Goodkind where he belittles authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert Jordan and exudes a horrendous superiority complex for his own works. Turned me right off of him. I have not read Terry Pratchett, and am now very intrigued!

I read The Sword of Shannara when I was 13. It was my first serious fantasy novel ever (well, I'd read some Xanth novels and the Redwall series but those were pretty light in comparison), it was the most amazing thing I'd ever encountered. I went on to read the next 3 books in the Shannara series and enjoyed them all. I returned to the series as an adult in my 30's just to see if everything was how I remembered it. Honest assessment, since that time, novel writing has become a lot more sophisticated and as I've matured in my own life, I've read series that have spoken to me in a much more nuanced and impactful way. I can definitely confirm that the Sword of Shannara was still enjoyable (mainly because of the nostalgia), but not at all the the ground shattering work that I remembered as a young teenager. The Elfstones of Shannara was a much better book, both in it's pacing and in it's unique story. It's clear that Terry Brooks had truly began to come into his own.

I'm reading the Heritage of Shannara now and nearing the end of the second book. It's getting interesting now because you know some big showdowns are about to happen that have been building up and the characters are a bit less cookie cutter than usual for Brooks, at least some of them.

PTerry is not just someone who uses fantasy as a setting - he's an overwhelmingly clever humanist who teaches lessons in a very subtle way while hooking you up with some unforgiving comedy mostly the lesson is that you went too fast

Terry Brooks does some interesting things in his novels. First, he continuously uses the 'average man' trope as Tolkien did. We see the fantastic through the eyes of the mundane, which helps us accept the wonder as well as the protagonist. Next, his central theme is magic vs science. That is a great debate to explore and he does that over 20+ books. The sciences of the old world (our world) led to the destruction of everything. Is magic any better? Who are the stewards of that power? Next, Brooks skips a generation in his series so you see civilization advance. He has flying ships. It is a wonderful step and a neat idea to explore. Lastly, as he gets older and his own family grew - you see his characters change. In the final three books of the Shannara series - almost all the main characters are female when in the early years' female characters were far rarer in his books. He has great character introductions. He will give you a paragraph and then you want to know everything about him. Garet Jax, Rimmer Dall. I love his fight scenes - it reminds me of Sam Rami fight scenes in movies - if you see it you know it's a Sam Rami movie. The best book is the second one, Elfstones - I always thought of is a fantasy Die Hard. Hands down. A lot of people say without Brooks and Donaldson, fantasy would not have had the resurgence it did in the 80s.

I first tried to read Shannara after reading the first half of WoT, DNFed had already the story before. I should have DNFed Goodkind, I am shamed that I kept reading. I will be tackling the great Terry Pratchett soon, been looking into the best way to get into his world.

I read all three of the authors back in highschool. Pratchett is the only one i still read. My favourite are the Wytch Books like Equal Rites and Weird Sisters. The Death books are also great. I did listen to the second Shanara book when the tv show came out and it was fun but not great.

A dislike for the sword of shannara is common. People will put it down and forget the series. The next book is one of the best books I've ever read, and I have re-read no. 2 like 15 times it's always getting a reread and it's nice to drop off too when I'm going to sleep kinda like a favorite pillow. The book is called "The elfstones of Shannara " please don't judge the series by the 1st book the series comes into its own in the 2nd book. If and when you get a chance give it a try. I promise it won't disappoint......

Brooks didn't really find his footing as an author until the Heritage series. That first trilogy was rough. He's special to me because I got to read Running with the Demon in preprint and that was my first exposure to his work. As a standalone book, I really enjoyed it. I've got mixed feelings about his later books and how Demon morphed from being its own thing into a stealth prequel.

I love Pratchett! I was introduced from reading Good Omens a few years ago

When you get to Going Postal and understand that a least one internet search engine has GNUSTP for every search will you understand the impact Sir Terry Pratchet has had on our society.

The Heritage of Shannara series is amazing. I never read LOTR so I can't base my comparison to the Sword of Shannara series. The High Druid, Dark Legacy and Defenders of... Shannara series are also great. 3 great trilogies and one great tetralogy make Brooks my favorite of the trio :)

Despite any flaws that Terry Brooks is guilty of, reading the Sword of Shanarra in 6th grade sent me down a rabbit's hole of fantasy for a good decade. I have read all of the Shannara books expect the final 4. Pratchett was fun to read, but I really have to be in the right headspace to appreciate things and certainly some Discworld was better than others. I also was a fan of Terry Goodkind, largely kept ignorant from the things he said by lack of ever following him or reading any interviews or quotes of his. I am seldom interested in what the authors have to say, so while greatly flawed, especially from book 7 onward, I did enjoy the Sword of Truth series.

Interesting and thoughtful review. Well done! I just want to add to your review of Terry Brooks. The one you read is indeed much like Tolkien's work. You mentioned the second one and that many say it is their favorite. This is true too. You said it was hard to find someone who has read it recently. I have, and I want to say that in my mind it's very different from Tolkien. It's my suggestion that a review of Brooks isn't complete unless you've read Elfstones of Shannara too. On the other hand, you have now talked me into checking out Pratchett, who I have not read yet. 😎 As for Goodkind, I'm not for the child sex abuse he includes. I read his first sword of truth book and I'm not really interested in any others.

Recently read the original Shannara trilogy. Going on an old fashioned adventure was exactly what I needed as a breather in between First Law books. Sword - It's ok. Very Tolkien derivative. Thought the 1st half dragged, then the 2nd half was better. Elfstones - This book rocked! Much more original story, better cast of characters and twists, great worldbuilding. This was classic high fantasy at it's most epic. It's not perfect, but this book made me so happy and I'm glad that I continued past Sword. Brooks definitely has a theme of earth conservationism and taking care of our planet to avoid disaster. That theme starts here and carries into the next book. Wishsong - Not as good as Elfstones IMO, but still a very solid fun read. Has a lead female protagonist that I enjoyed, which wasn't super common in the 80's. Seems to have set the stage for the next series, which I know takes places hundreds of years later, to have a different setting to work with. Taking a break before reading the Heritage series, but I'm looking forward to it.

Terry Brooks for me. Sword of Shannara was the first book I ever bought and read of my own $$$ as a kid. Was my start into fantasy. I wouldn't be a writer today if not for Brooks. Ive collected all the Shannara Series into adulthood and ya they grow kinda tiresome at times

Pratchett is technically fantasy, but in his later years he got damn close to historical fiction. Ankh-Morpork is London, and the period is that 1830-1880 period where everything changed. The Making Money book actualy had at least one footnote that was a reference to a real tool the early British central bankers used to make decisions.

I’m reading them now and I’m on the elf stones…..I totally agree about the comparison to LOTR

I had enjoyed watching Legend of the Seeker, so I tried reading some of the books. I didn't get too far. Goodkind's style was dense, with inconsistent story elements as you stated, and content choices odd. Funny, though, I did go back and read one of his later prequel books and the style was so much different and much more readable.

I'll admit I have read and own the sword of truth series by Goodkind. Despite the personal life views of the author infringing on the writing at times, his writing does move the story into places I haven't seen taken and I did care about the characters. Not a bad series but one I would only re-read maybe once every ten years. LotR and WoT will be read more often. But I do like to think about the adventures of Richard, Kahlen and Zedd. The cons you discuss about the book are resolved in the books later on but to each their own. Despite the very derivative of Tolkien first book, I like Terry Brooks fantasy series of Shannara even more (31 books!) because of the anthology aspect of it and creating a generational story that stretches throughout an enormous of amount of years(thousands!) and EACH book has a very clear and concise beginning, middle and end. It doesn't become silly, bloated run-on stories that just feed into the next books(cough..Game of Thrones...cough). These books make sure there is an end and the passage of time between each one. I don't really see many authors do that. And his stories have some of the most tragic and heartfelt characters I've ever read. Its a very accessible fantasy comparitively to others out there and the pacing is very fast. I ashamed to admit I haven't read any of Terry Pratchetts fantasy even though I have known about him for years.

Hi it was good to hear you explain that this was your personal opinion and preference that you were stating. I am afraid that you have sold Terry Brooks so very short I am an old man who has loved the Shannara books since the early eighties,there are more than thirty books in the story. For a long time from high school to the present The Lord of the rings and the Hobbit as well as the silmarillion were at the top of my list of favorite fantasy authors and books ( Robert E Howard, jr Tolkien, Terry Brooks ) I am an avid reader I just finished putting my Shannara collection together and I am rereading it in its entirety, he recently ended the series and I can tell you that Shannara for me has pushed past the Lord of the rings in my favorites. I have a range of aurhors I like and have read from Stephen King through Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Charles mulford, Louis Lamour and Edgar Allen Poe among others and the sword of Shannara did remind me ot the Lord of the rings I didn't find it to be a copy but as for me I did read the sword maybe three times before it grabbed me and ate me and I was ecstatic to discover there were more books in the Cannon, I am sixty years old and I forgot two orher characters I love reading odd Thomas from Dean koonz and Charlie Parker from John Connolly. I just love reading.

The 3 Terry's what an interesting comparison. Brooks I have dabbled in, but never really got hooked. It was occasionally ok. Pratchett: Great diversion when I wanted a laugh. I have never been disappointed, but not my usual fare. Goodkind: At one time by far my favorite. I love the underlying moral themes in each book. When I recommend them I always give a warning that they are graphic in the extreme. I can see your critique on ignorant Richard vs Educated Kahlan. I viewed both as very strong, but Richard is portrayed as a genius with a unique ability to get to the core of things, and is revealed to have prophesy as part of his gift. His ignorance of how magic is "suppose to work" actually serves to give him an advantage in using his gift. The one major downside I have about his stories is that his villans are fundamentally the same and have fundamentally the same character. By the time I realized that I had read everything he had ever written. I wish he could have written more on his Angela Constantine, Jack Raines series. I would have liked to see Kate meet Angela. In a way Richard is like Andrew (Ender) Wiggin. He truly loves even his enemies so understands and has compassion for them. He saw past the programming in Dena. Mord Sith are exceptionally compassionate girls whose compassion is turned inside out to make heartless killers. So he could love and forgive her triggering the white blade of love in the sword (that is what saves him from the sword's madness) to use to free her from her tortured life. It is also his love, compassion, and understanding that allows him to overcome the torture and abuse he has experienced. After affects of that abuse do manifest for several books afterwords so he isn't entirely un-scarred.

I remember reading Brooks ages ago. Pretty sure I read 3 or 4 of them, can't remember anything anymore, except there was a character named Flick & Algernon, the Druid & some kind of adventure. My buddy got me started on Goodkind in high school. Yes, I've read all of them. I think there's more books then WOT. That was well, before I was aware of all the politics & other things of the world. My friend that introduced me to the series was right though, it did get very repetitive. Yes, Richard magically solves everything just in time! Pun intended. Yes, I did enjoy the series more when I was rather un-seasoned in the genre. Now, my buddy's trying to push Mystborne on me, haven't started yet, too busy watching KZfaq videos! lol

Isn't this like a foregone conclusion?

I know you don't like audio books, but there is a great BBC dramatization of of a collection of Terry Pratchett stories. BBC Radio dramatized the Lord of the Rings several years ago. I am convinced that Peter Jackson had the series in his mind when he made the movies. The plotlines were very similar, such as excluding Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Downs from the first book. The pacing is very much the same, except for the extended fight scenes.

Haven't read Brooks - didn't love LotR and wasn't looking for more of the same. Have read quite a few Goodkind. As a teenager the first few were quite good. There are some good things, some bad. But the more I read the more they seemed the same. The good things became repetitive, the bad just got worse. Terry Pratchett now.. he was just a fantastic author, full stop. His works easily blow most books out of the water - not just those by other Terrys, not just fantasy.. all of them. Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic are indeed already great, but the two of them form pretty much one story. And the construction and direction of the Discworld wasn't fully complete yet. In the later books the writing becomes even better - to most people at least- and Pratchett has really found his voice for these characters. And because those are all stand-alones, it's usually recommended to start outside the publication order. But yeah, I loved those books as well, and would certainly recommend anyone to read Pratchett. You can start anywhere and fall in love with this man's phenomenal mind.

I read First King of Shannara as a teenager. No idea why I decided to start with a prequel when I had (+ still have) the original trilogy at hand. I liked it but I'm overdue for another attempt. I did see the awful MTV adaptation tho. I tried listening to the audio book of Wizards First Rule on KZfaq and I was bored. I think that could've been the narrator tho. I dunno. It's been like a year or two. I'm more of an audio drama listener than audio book listener. I've only read Colour of Magic (just finished it) and if this is (one of) the "worst" that Discworld has to offer then I think I'm going to love this series. Especially since I love absurdist humour.

You got it right!

Shannara was a fun LOTR-lite fantasy world, even if it did get off to a controversial start. The storylines did get repetitive after awhile. The original four or five sequences of books remain the best.

I don’t know about Goodkind, but Brooks definitely gets better as he goes along. Comparing first books is honestly not a good way to judge which author is the best because any writer worth their salt will tend to get better after the first book, and some take a number of books before they develop a truly distinctive style.

You should read the magical kingdom of Landover by Terry Brooks it’s a 6 part series great books and if you haven’t read them I recommend the wheel of time series by Robert Jordan

I've read the Shannara books many times as a child and adult (mostly adult). I like them all, but like the Heritage of Shannara (books 4-7) the best. You need to move beyond SoS which is the worst of the series - they get better and an entire world and good characters are developed

You want a good Terry Brooks book? Read the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series, starts with the book Ilse Witch

Goodkind is following his favorite author: Rand. And like her, he only writes novels to have someone monologue his political views in a world specifically shaped by his views.

Pratchett is the best Terry I agree though I really like Terry Brooks as well. Goodkind is one of the few authors I have ever stopped reading partway thru a book; the SoT is horrible. least what I've read of it anyway and I have no intention of wasting any more time on it.

New sub here! Brooks is most famous for Shannara, but I would say that's the YA side of his work. The two series geared more for adults are: 1- Magic Kingdom for Sale, about a widower from "our world" who buys a rundown faerie realm and tries to become its first actually-useful ruler, and 2- his Word & Void series (Running with the Demon), about mostly-ordinary folks trying to save humanity* as the chaos of a near-future apocalypse unfolds. Both series feature nuanced, flawed characters amid tantalizingly not-quite-familiar worlds, and are a better reflection of Brooks appeal (and talents :). Shannara is Brooks' opus, and in its better sub-trilogies is very good, but even he acknowledges that the first book was way too Tolkien-derivative.

Terry brooks was one of the first: the reason it reminds you of everything is because he did it long ago to pave the way. The rest of the shannara books and handover series are great books. I re read them every few years just to refresh my memory. They always ruins stuff of Brooks with stuff like that junk series shannara chronicles. The sword of shannara was the first but elfstones was the best. I have every shannara book and read them in my 50s. Besides meeting terry brooks and enjoying the conversation with him. In the end, it always depends on the reader

No contest, Terry Pratchett.

Best thing about Terry Brooks is that without him and the plethora of authors like him who essentially copied Tolkien discworld would not exsist Pratchett's anger that so few people were creating original fantasy is why the colour of magic was written and judging by the sheer number of modern original fantasy authors who site pratchett as an influence i could be argued that much of modern fantasy wouldn't be if not for pterry

Terry Brooks was a big part of my childhood but... I agree I couldn't go back to the series as an adult and I tried. Never liked Goodkind. Pratchett is a legend. Best for sure.

Found myself here after picking up the Omen Machine, years after finishing the first 11 books of Sword of Truth and series countless books in the Shannara series. I definitely don't agree with Goodkind's politics, but found it easy to take a pro-humanist anti-organized-religion message from them, which resonated with me personally, and made the intended objectivist message easy to ignore. Definitely found Sword of Shannara to be a corny version of LOTR, but found his later books more original, especially the Word and the Void series. Haven't read Terry Pratchett, but he's definitely on the reading todo list.

Really is just between Pratchett and Brooks isn’t it? Can’t say Goodkind would be in the running

just discovered the channel lol

Want to be a great fantasy author? Legally change your name to Terry

Terry Pratchett hands down!!! He was so awesome!

Terry Brooks' writing improved greatly over the years. Terry Goodkind's did not. Terry Pratchett started awesome and even got moreso.

even before watching, it's Pratchett. No contest.

This is an odd one for me. Terry Goodkind's book I hated. I couldn't finish it, which is very very unusual for me. I thought the writing and characters were really poor. The other two are where it gets tricky as they are both authors whose books I read, and really enjoyed, when I was younger, but I stopped reading both as their series just kept going on and on and their books became far too samey. It got to the stage when their new books came out that I felt that I was rereading them, rather than reading a new book. I haven't read anything by either in probably a decade. So yeah, Goodkind is clearly at the bottom of the pile, the other 2 I could go either way with.

The Shannara series is actually earth thousandsof years in the future. You hear about remnants of it. The word and the void series is tied to it. The elfstones and the Wishsong of Shannara are great books plus the Scions of Shannara. The 3rd Terry isn't so great. I do highly recommend the following 6 books after the Sword of Shannara they are great books. If you do not read them you are seriously missing out.

i have to disagree on the sword of truth part myself, on both actually. where yes khalan is told to the reader to be very knowledgeable and all she's not a warrior. and her power is at best a once in a few hours thing, that's literally what the wizards were for. now i admit that the way she is in the tv show, is really coo,l and it makes some sense that in the absence of wizards, that the order shifted to a more melee as a way of defending themselves. but that is not the case. on the effects of the torture of richard ,it's actually more explained in later books.

As Sword of Shannara is to Lord of the Rings, so is Sword of Truth to The Wheel of Time

Never read Goodkind or Pratchett. I read a good chunk of The Sword of Shannara berries topping because of how much it was a LotR clone, though I’m going to pick up the 2nd book soon to see how it holds up this decade.

I haven't read Pratchett, so I can't really comment on his work. I listened to the several of the audiobooks from Terry Goodkind, but pretty much lost interest after the first 4. To me, his characters are relatively shallow. They feel like they're intended to represent one "pure" idea or concept and nothing else...and as you noted: Richard Ral is a total Mary Sue / Mr. Perfect. It really got annoying. As for Brooks, I think Terry Brooks tells a fantastic story. My chief complaint against Brooks' writing is that he doesn't seem to know how to write an ending. I've read all of the Shanara series (all 6 books) and none of them had an ending that I enjoyed reading. By the end of the 6th book, I was actually dreading the disappointment I was going to feel when I reached the final chapters.

What, the 100 pages of random BDSM in Wizard's First Rule didn't do it for you? 14 year old me was very (◯Δ◯∥). I think the main disconnect is that Goodkind was doing that mostly because he personally gets off on that stuff, not because it made sense narratively. I can't help but think he was shooting for "sexy Seanchan." He continues to have this problem, and this insertion of personal stuff into the narrative grows with his other views (book 5 resolves with Richard seeing into some spiritual realm that allows him to see beauty so well he carves a statue of him and Kahlan so pretty it defeats communism) in ways that get really frustrating. I got through them all as a teenager somehow though. Sorry for spamming all your videos at once. The content is fun, and I always hope the KZfaq algorithm notices when somebody finds and enjoys a new channel, even though one person probably doesn't make that big of a difference. :P

If by best you mean best at being the worst fantasy writer, Terry Goodkind wins by a landslide.

I had the same problem with Terry Brooks but for me he keeps getting better and better as he produced 19 Books. After the 1st 2 books it becomes really good. I tried to like Terry Goodkind and just could not. I liked Terry Pratchetts books very well. This is my order based on reading all of each series except I only read three of Goodkind's books because I did not like those. 1. Terry Brooks - Definitely although to me the first book is dated and simplistic. 2. Terry Pratchett - Overall it was entertaining for it's time. 3. Terry Goodkind- I just did not like any of it so I DNF'd.

You heard right young lady, the second book in the series was the best one, The Elvestones of Shannara. I think I will revisit it again. Oh and while I'm here, let me suggest that you read or re-read 1984 by George Orwell, and compare it to what they are doing to us on your side and my side of the pond. Ciao bella!

The Good, the Kind, and the Terry-ble. 😂

I enjoy Pratchett but Brooks easily for me. The Shannara books are consistently good, IMO. While the Discworld books are very uneven. Some really good ones and some filler. Never been a fan of Goodkind.

You are wrong about Richard. That torture will have big effect in the next Sword of the Truth series. Kahlan will someday mention that Richard had never been in the same state of mind after the torture by Mord Sith. He survived the expirience but was damaged after that.

How is this even a competition? Terry Pratchett all the way. He wrote the best characters and show our world through the lenses of satire. Terry Brooks is far from original. Terry Goodkind has said that he doesn't consider his books fantasy books.

Brooks was doing a great deal of copying off of LoTR, and Goodkind did a lot of copying off of Wheel of Time.

Oh yeah. The sword of truth is just garbage. The wizards first rule is about all you need to read, because that is 7 books compressed into 1. Just don't read anymore of it.

I've heard Terry Goodkind is just a very unlikable person. Implying Robert Jordan was weak for dying. Encouraging his fans to harass an artist who designed a cover for one of his books. He has a very strange obsession with Ayn Rand. Rants about how fantasy is tragicly moving away from portraying men as manly. Seems like a very not well-adjusted person haha

Terry Goodkind says he doesn't write fantasy 😂

Definitely Pratchett > Brooks > Goodkind. Wizard’s First Rule is my least favorite adult fantasy book ever. I thought it was awful in a multitude of ways (I tried twice and DNF’d it both times).

Wizards First Rule got even worse post excessive torture sequence. The villains (of course) consist of a gay pedo and a communist strawman and between all the lectures is basically Ayn Rand with a thin fantasy veneer. Coupled with the bad writing the only reason I stuck it out to the end was to hate read it and joke about it with friends. How this became a top series is even more a mystery to me than 50 Shades.

Pratchet hands down. Goodkind and brooks are plagiarizing fantasy larpers.

The Landover series is more interesting then the sword. elfstones and wishsong reigns way better. NOT THE TV SERIES.

Terry Brooks probably is the reason High Fantasy lived on beyond Tolkien. His writing is not that good, but still ...

Let me save you 7 mins... The best Terry is: Me. You're welcome.

Terry Goodkind was......just....just awful. Like, as a human being.

Terry Goodkind is the King 👑!!!!

From best to worst: -Pratchett -Brooks -Every other person named Terry. -Goodkind

When it comes to "Wizard's First Rule", you are mixing messages. The message *is not* that se#ual assault is okay; Far from it. The message is that, no matter the crime against you, even if you feel the person doesn't deserve it, your best option is forgiveness. That was the point being made. You don't like the message that forgiveness sends? That's sad. Forgiveness is something everyone needs, some more than others. That's probably why many people don't like this book; because perhaps they think forgiveness for such things is wrong, when in reality, it's the most right thing to do. That's why it's so difficult. Forgiving Denna does benefit her, but it was something Richard had to do for himself, to be able to move on and not remain captive to it. All se#ual assault victims will eventually have to forgive their assaulters if they want to be able to move on from it and begin to heal. If you had gotten past that part, perhaps you would have learned that. It's a shame that scene was a hang up for you. The series does get better. You shouldn't trust the word of naysayers.

Goodkind went from torture porn to right wing propaganda. Then when the series was supposedly done, he wrote a bunch more books in the series. But don't call him a fantasy writer. Also ripped off a lot of Jordan's ideas.