Terry Brooks

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 130px
name = Terry Brooks
caption =
birthdate = birth date and age|1944|1|8
birthplace = Sterling, Illinois
nationality = United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = author, former attorney
genre = epic fantasy, urban fantasy
influences = JRR Tolkien, William Faulkner [ [http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002541093 Influences] ]
influenced =
website = http://www.terrybrooks.net

Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is a writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy,cite web |url=http://www.terrybrooks.net/novels/index.html |title=Terry Brooks' official website|accessdate=2008-05-19 |last= Speakman |first=Shawn |authorlink= |year=2008 |publisher= ] and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 22 "New York Times" bestsellers during his writing career, and according to some sources, he is the second-biggest selling living fantasy writer, behind J.K. Rowling. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6727885.stm |title=Studio plans "Shannara" film series |accessdate=2008-09-07 |work= |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-06-06 ]

Biography

Brooks was born in the rural midwestern town of Sterling, Illinois and spent a large part of his life living there.cite web |url=http://www.terrybrooks.net/bio.html |title=Terry Brooks' official biography|accessdate=2008-05-19 |last= Speakman |first=Shawn |authorlink= |year=2008 |publisher= ] He is an alumnus of Hamilton College, obtaining his B.A. in English Literature in 1966. He later obtained a J.D. from Washington and Lee University. He was a practicing attorney before becoming a full-time author, and now resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife, Judine.

Brooks had been a writer since high school, writing mainly in the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction. One day, in his early college life, he was given a copy of "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, which inspired him to write in one genre. While Tolkien inspired the genre, Brooks stated at the [http://www.charlotteliteraryfestival.com/index.html Charlotte Literary Festival] that he credits the inspiration of his style of writing to William Faulkner's works. With this inspiration, he then made his debut in 1977 with his first novel "The Sword of Shannara". This novel became the first fantasy book ever to appear on the "New York Times" bestseller list, where it stayed for five months.

After finishing two "sequels" (they were originally intended as stand-alone novelsFact|date=September 2008) to "The Sword of Shannara", Brooks moved on to the series which would become known as the "Landover" series. Upon finishing these novels, Brooks began to write a four book series that became "The Heritage of Shannara". For the next fourteen years, he wrote more "Landover" books, then went on to write "The Word and Void" trilogy. Continuing the "Shannara" series, Brooks wrote the prequel to "The Sword of Shannara", titled "First King of Shannara". He then wrote two series, "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara" and "High Druid of Shannara" and recently finished a third, "Genesis of Shannara". The second book of the series, "The Elves of Cintra", came out August 28, 2007, with the final novel The Gypsy Morph in August 2008.

Novels versus short stories

After writing "Indomitable", an epilogue to "The Wishsong of Shannara", Terry Brooks had this to say about the short story genre:

Bibliography

= "Shannara" series =

:"Note: The list below represents Terry Brooks' suggested reading order for those who are new to the series." [cite web |url=http://www.terrybrooks.net/readingorder.html |title=Terry's Suggested Reading Order |accessdate=2008-05-19 |last= Speakman |first=Shawn |authorlink= |year=2008 |publisher= ]

"The Original Shannara Trilogy"

# "The Sword of Shannara" (1977)
# "The Elfstones of Shannara" (1982)
# "The Wishsong of Shannara" (1985) (The short story Indomitable is an epilogue to "Wishsong")

"The Heritage of Shannara" tetralogy

# "The Scions of Shannara" (1990)
# "The Druid of Shannara" (1991)
# "The Elf Queen of Shannara" (1992)
# "The Talismans of Shannara" (1993)

Prequel

# "First King of Shannara" (1996)

Word & Void series

The Word & Void series precedes the action in "Genesis of Shannara" trilogy and serves as the very start of the Shannara saga.

# "Running with the Demon" (1997)
# "A Knight of the Word" (1998)
# "Angel Fire East" (1999)

"The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara" trilogy

# "Ilse Witch" (2000)
# "Antrax" (2001)
# "Morgawr" (2002)

"High Druid of Shannara" trilogy

# "Jarka Ruus" (2003)
# "Tanequil" (2004)
# "Straken" (2005)

="Genesis of Shannara" trilogy=

# "Armageddon's Children" (August, 2006)
# "The Elves of Cintra" (August 28, 2007)
# "The Gypsy Morph" (August 26, 2008)cite web | url=http://www.terrybrooks.net | title= Terry Brooks' Website | accessdate=2008-01-20]

"Shannara" related works

* "Shannara" computer game (1995) by Lori Ann Cole and Corey Cole
* "The World of Shannara" (2001) (companion book)
* "The World of Shannara (2nd edition)" (Fall 2009) (companion book)
* "Indomitable" (2003) (short story published in anthology "Legends II")
* "Dark Wraith of Shannara" (2008) (graphic novel) cite web | url=http://www.terrybrooks.net | title= Terry Brooks' Website | accessdate=2007-10-28]

="Magic Kingdom of Landover" series=

:"Note: This is not part of the Shannara series."
# "Magic Kingdom For Sale -- SOLD!" (1986)
# "The Black Unicorn" (1987)
# "Wizard at Large" (1988)
# "The Tangle Box" (1994)
# "Witches' Brew" (1995)
# Untitled Book 6 (forthcoming, September, 2009)cite web | url=http://www.terrybrooks.net | title= Terry Brooks' Website | accessdate=2007-10-28]

Novelizations

* "Hook" (1991)
* "" (1999)

Other

* "Imaginary Friends" (1991) (short story published in anthology "Once Upon a Time: A Treasury of Modern Fairy Tales")
* "Indomitable" (2003) (short story published in anthology "Legends II")
* "Why I Write About Elves" (2005) (short story published as an Amazon short")
* "The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference: An Indispensable Compendium of Myth and Magic" (Writer's Digest Books, 2000), with Michael J. Varhola
* "" (2003)

Film adaptations

The rights to a film adaptation for all of the Shannara novels have been sold to Warner Bros until 2010.cite web |url=http://www.terrybrooks.net/movies.html |title=Possible movie adaptations for the "Shannara" series |accessdate=2008-05-19 |last= Speakman |first=Shawn |authorlink= |year=2008 |publisher= ] "The Elfstones of Shannara", the first planned film, will be directed by Mike Newell, [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051220/ The Elfstones of Shannara (2009)] ] who was also responsible for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. [ [http://imdb.com/name/nm0001565/ Mike Newell at IMDB.] ] "Elfstones" is expected to start filming in 2009 and finished sometime during 2010. Terry Brooks believes that this is the best starting place for adapting the "Shannara" novels.

References

External links

* [http://www.terrybrooks.net/ Terry Brooks Official Site]
* [http://www.alitheia.org/shannarafiles/ The Shannara Files] - a Shannara fansite
*
*
* [http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002541093 Terry Brooks Has a Vision For His New Series]
* [http://www.fantasyliterature.net/brooksterry.html FanLit.net: Terry Brooks novel synopses and reviews]