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    Review of HIGH DRUID OF SHANNARA: STRAKEN by Terry Brooks

    BOOK III in the HIGH DRUID Series

    Del Rey, September 2005

    With Grianne Ohmsford (the former Ilse Witch) exiled to the Forbidding, only Pen Ohmsford, with his newly created wand, has a chance to set her free. But the rebel druids have tracked Pen down and captivity seems the only option. Even if he weren't captive, though, what could one young man with minimal if any magical power, do against the powerful druids and their goblin-hunter allies. Meanwhile, the Federation has scored a major victory over the freeborn and is intent on pushing their advantage--possibly wipeing out the dwarves, elves, and other members of the freeborn community.

    The elf princess, Khyber Elessedil remains free--and initially undetected by the druids, but her elfstone magic is her only advantage--and the instant she uses it, the druids will detect her and capture her. Things look grim for Grianne and her entire family.

    Author Terry Brooks (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Brooks) wraps up the HIGH DRUID series with a story focussed on the young Pen and his capture, escape, and attempts to free his aunt. The power of the darkwand is intriguing and the questionable relationship Pen develops with a dragon adds a bit of humor to the story.

    Things seem to happen a bit easily--the druid dungeons just can't seem to keep anyone in and the druids are incompetent at managing executions--which is lucky for our characters. And it felt like there needed to be a bit more of something dramatic with Grianne's step between the Forbidding and the normal Earth, as well as with the ultimate resolution with the escaped demon (and am I the only one who thinks that poor Weka Dart got a very raw deal. Still, Brooks is a talented enough author to pull it off, to make even this relatively simple story fascinating.

    Three Stars

    Reviewed 9/25/05

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