The Stiehl Assassin
-
-
4.4 • 38 Ratings
-
-
- $10.99
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • After The Black Elfstone and The Skaar Invasion comes the penultimate volume in the Fall of Shannara, a saga more than four decades in the making.
The Skaar have arrived in the Four Lands, determined to stop at nothing less than all-out conquest. They badly need a new home, but peaceful coexistence is not a concept they have ever understood. An advance force under the command of the mercurial princess Ajin has already established a foothold, but now the full Skaar army is on the march—and woe betide any who stand in its way.
But perhaps the Skaar victory is not quite the foregone conclusion everyone assumes. The Druid Drisker Arc has freed both himself and Paranor from their involuntary exile. Drisker’s student, Tarsha Kaynin, has been reunited with Dar, chief defender of what is left of the Druid order, and is learning to control her powerful wishsong magic. If they can only survive Tarsha’s brother, Tavo, and the Druid who betrayed Drisker Arc, they might stand a chance of defeating the Skaar. But that is a very big if . . . as Tavo now carries the Stiehl—one of the most powerful weapons in all the Four Lands—and is hellbent on taking his revenge on everyone he feels has wronged him.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The penultimate chapter of Brooks's venerable Shannara epic fantasy series (after 2018's The Skaar Invasion) doesn't suggest that the wrap-up will justify fans' investment. Both the storyline and characters fail to engage, despite the high stakes involved, as the people of the Four Lands try to fend off an invasion by the Skaar, whose own homeworld has been devastated by climate change. The hopes for salvation rest with one boy, Shea Ohmsford, and a weather-changing machine distractingly named Annabelle. The action centers on Druid Drisker Arc and his allies who include his apprentice, Tarsha Kaynin as they search for Shea. The highly derivative nature of the story is exemplified by the opening scene: as Tarsha avoids being killed by her brother, who's wielding the magical Stiehl blade, Drisker works some magic that will feel all too familiar to Star Wars fans. The shift from Tolkien pastiche in the series' early years to the current style, which is ersatz George R.R. Martin complete with political betrayals and beheadings, does not feel organic. Shannara seems poised to go out with a whimper.
