Bloodfire Quest by Terry Brooks

“The quest for the missing Elfstones has gone badly awry. The Druid Order has been decimated, and its surviving leader and her followers are trapped inside the Forbidding—the hellish dimension that imprisons the most dangerous creatures banished from the Four Lands. But now the powerful magic barrier that surrounds the Forbidding is crumbling, and an evil horde is poised to break free . . . unless one young Druid is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. “

The Bloodfire Quest by Terry Brooks continues the tale of Arlingfant, Aphenglow, the Ohmsford twins and the surviving Druids. Following the events of Wards of the Faerie, Arling, Aphen and Cymrian continue on the hunt for the Bloodfire to save the dying Ellcrys, while struggling against Arling’s impending destiny.

Meanwhile, Railing and the remaining druids must brave the Forbidding to save the Ard Rhys and Redden. Only, when their quest leads them elsewhere, Railing must choose between the guidance of a stranger, or those he travels with… Only, the wrong choice could kill his brother.

Bringing readers back to the familiar world of Shannara, with an expansive cast of characters – both new and old, readers will enjoy this latest installation in Brook’s vast world of Shannara. Brooks makes a great use of description and with characters both believable and relatable. While this sequel of the trilogy doesn’t have much in the way of plot development, it was still an interesting read – if a bit less engaging, but sets the stage for Witch Wraith (Book 3 of The Dark Legacy of Shannara).

In Bloodfire Quest, I found that the story’s development suffers in place of character development. Showing characters making decisions and struggling with internal battles that will affect the course of events in the next book. It wasn’t as fast-paced as the first book, nor was it as engrossing but by no means was it boring.

With some unexpected twists, and the appearance of familiar faces, Brooks not only continues the tale set up in Wards of the Faerie but also reintroduces lands, characters (or at least makes reference to some) that fans of some of his other series will recognize – A bunch of which I have yet to read — while at times it can be a bit of a puzzle, not knowing the entire back story of what’s being referred to, it’s still easy enough to pick up and follow along.

Bloodfire Quest is the 2^nd book in The Dark Legacy of Shannara and the 26^th installation in the Shannaran World by Terry Brooks. The Bloodfire Quest is set to be released March 13^th 2013.

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