Skip to main content

First King of Shannara(Cont.): The Platypus Reads Part CCXXI

Today's post will cover chapters VIII and IX of Terry Brook's First King of Shannara.  Readers who wish to remain spoiler free should not read on.


*Spoily-schtuffs*



Chapter VIII effectively re-launches the narrative as we begin Tay's quest to find the Black Elfstone.  This makes for a clunk in the story machinery that has ramped up with the assault on Paranor and the attempt to recover the Eilt Druin.  Brooks attempts to smooth over this sudden change of pace by letting us get to know Tay a little better.  This chapter also serves as the great reveal of our titular character, Jerle Shannara.  Shannara is a butch "I'm the hero here ladies" so of guy.  Disappointing -except that we know there must be more, because if we've read The Sword of Shannara then we know that at the critical moment this elven beefcake will fail ... and that, that is interesting.

Chapter IX complicates our emerging ensemble and thus attempts to deepen the reader's stake in seeing these characters come through.  We learn that Jerle Shannara has a thing for Tay's sister and that she passed him over for a mere leather merchant.  We also learn pretty quickly that Arborlon is no longer Tay's home after fifteen years with the druids.  Now that Paranor has been sacked and all the druids there slain, that means that Tay doesn't really have a home in the world.  The quest for the Black Elfstone will henceforth be not just a quest for a magic rock but for Tay's place in the world.  Of course, in Brooks' universe that means that there's a strong chance the plucky elf won't make it.  Further fleshing out Tay Trefenwyd is his relationship with Preia.  Poor Tay, the girl he's carried a torch for all these years has a death-crush on his best friend, Jerle.  Preia also presents us with one of Brooks' (how shall we call them?)"strong women."  These feisty femmes are a stock and trade for Brooks since Eretria made her debut in The Elfstones of Shannara.  They always strike me as one-dimensional, but we'll see how Brooks does this time around.  At least she's not a moody teenager.

On the mission end of things, Brooks keeps the narrative surprisingly short.  The king seems more like an old uncle than royalty (Brooks always was too much of a West-Coast American to really write High Fantasy), but Brooks' skill a quick and likable character-sketches keeps things from falling into the ridiculous.  I'm surprised that we don't get a scene with the Elven council, but perhaps it would bog down the narrative at this point and we do really need to get going.

And on that note... so do I.... 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...
15 comments
Read more

SNES as Money Well Spent: Platypus Nostalgia

I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old.  That's a couple years after it first came out.  The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer.  I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit.  It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows.  With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play.  What was that first game?  It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past .  Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge.  It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing?  There were stretches when I didn't.  Many times, I've just been too busy.  There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games....
10 comments
Read more

Under the Moon: The Platypus Reads Part LXVI

My wife and I were discussing our favorite books from the Chronicles of Narnia on our way back from lunch.  My wife, true to her sunny personality, is a staunch fan of "The Voyage of the Dawntreader."  I can't argue with that choice but, when push comes to shove, "The Silver Chair" has always been my favorite. I have a bit of a theory.  I think "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" is Lewis' grail legend.  If that's so, then I'd hazard a guess and say that "The Silver Chair" is his "Pilgrim's Progress." -just think about the shape of Puddleglum's hat and the fact that he lives in the Fen Country and you'll see what got me thinking down this line. That brings me to why I like "The Silver Chair" so much.  When I was little, we had a children's version of "Pilgrim's Progress" that my mom used to read to me.  I lived in New England and the Christianity I was raised with had a heavy tin...
7 comments
Read more