It's really a 3.5 rating but I'll give Brooks that half-a-star here. This is easily the best Shannara novel since maybe [b:Antrax|92846|Antrax (Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, #2)|Terry Brooks|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348722652s/92846.jpg|2990120] - definitely since [b:Armageddon's Children|15549|Armageddon's Children (Genesis of Shannara, #1)|Terry Brooks|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166673244s/15549.jpg|1112930] - and my waning faith in the series has been tentatively restored... but it isn't all the way back yet. The writing, for the first time, shows some serious flaws (with an overwhelming and obvious amount of unnecessary repetition) and while it's nice to have some characters speaking logically and rationally, I'm still a little stumped as to the impulse decisions that leader-characters are making here. But the pieces are put on the board to make this the most dynamic trilogy in a long time. There are elements from the best novels of the past all coming together to put the Four Lands at a real serious crossroads - one that has the potential to seriously and interestingly change things. Here's hoping that it does - because I finished this book (which started slowly) at a hell of a clip and am now impatient for books 2 & 3. Which, in an interesting and wonderful publishing coup, are both coming out this year. Anyway, more about my tentative excitement at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-En
