Legends of Shannara is a two-book series that tells the story of how the world of the Four Lands begins to take shape, the beginning of the emergence of magic, and its role in that world. The world is transitioning from the contemporary, apocalyptic world we see in Genesis of Shannara to the traditional fantasy world we know from Brooks’ earlier Shannara novels. It’s seeing how the world of the Four Lands is born.

Unlike fantasy authors like J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) and C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia), who devoted only one book to the telling of how their fantasy worlds were born, Terry Brooks has devoted two full trilogies, plus the Legends of Shannara duology telling the story of how the world of the Four Lands came to be.

The two novels in Legends of Shannara are Bearers of the Black Staff and The Measure of the Magic. Five-hundred years have passed from the events of the Genesis of Shannara trilogy. While you still see elements of the old world from before the Great Wars, Legends of Shannara feels more like a traditional fantasy story than the Genesis of Shannara novels do.

There are familiar themes and story tropes in Legends of Shannara, but as it always does, Brooks’ prose carries the story and keeps you reading. It’s not just the world, the characters, and the story, it’s Brooks’ style of storytelling as well.

Maybe the most interesting aspect of all the Shannara prequels is seeing where the Druids came from. Legends of Shannara carries on the legacy of the black staff bearers that have been a staple in all of Brooks’ prequel novels, who in turn are the magic-using ancestors of Galaphile, Bremen, Allanon, Walker Boh, and the rest of the Druids we see later on in the timeline. You see the beginning of the emergence of magic in this new land, which begins to become the driving motivation of certain characters, good and evil.

Sider Ament is the most fleshed-out character in the story and is a worthy ancestor of the Druids of Paranor. The romance between Panterra Qu and Phryne Amarantyne in The Measure of the Magic seems awkward, and maybe a bit forced, but is consistent with how emotionally immature teenagers typically handle romance and attraction. However, the platonic, brother/sister relationship between Pan and Prue is more interesting. Unfortunately, this is something we don’t get to see a conclusion to in a third book.

Legends of Shannara, while a solid entry in the series, feels somewhat abbreviated. It seems if Brooks had really wanted to flesh out the story even more, there could’ve been a third book. This is a period in the Shannara timeline that he should seriously consider revisiting to fill in the gaps of what happens next between The Measure of the Magic and First King of Shannara. There’s too much we don’t get to see. It leaves the story feeling somewhat anticlimactic in its ending. It’s like telling the story of the Exodus in the Old Testament and stopping right before the children of Israel leave Egypt.

For newcomers to the Shannara series, there are better starting points to the series than Legends of Shannara. It will still be a good story, but context from past books in the series will be lost on the reader. For Shannara fans, while Legends of Shannara is not Brooks’ strongest work, it’s still well worth reading. Seeing how the wretched world we see in Genesis of Shannara transitions to the traditional medieval fantasy Brooks is known for is a compelling sunrise to watch come over the horizon.