Promotional Information

Terry Brooks was named "Outland" readers "Author of the Year" in 2002.

About the Author

Terry Brooks first novel, THE SWORD OF SHANNARA, began the post-Tolkien huge boom in epic fantasy in 1977. It was a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller for five months. Since then he has written seven more SHANNARA novels, five MAGIC KINGDOM light fantasies and the KNIGHT OF THE WORD dark fantasies series. Terry Brooks divides his time between Seattle and Hawaii with his wife, Judine.

Reviews

"A MARVELOUSLY PRAGMATIC INITIATION TO THE ART OF WRITING."
--DOROTHY ALLISON
Author of "Bastard Out of Carolina
""[A] SUCCINCT AND WARMHEARTED AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEDITATION ON THE WRITING LIFE."
"--Publishers Weekly
" "Terry Brooks is adamant about dedicating oneself to the craft, while showing awe and humility for the creative process. . . . Every serious writer should refer to this book regularly for inspiration as well as solid crafting advice."
--ELIZABETH ENGSTROM CRATTY
Director, Maui Writers Retreat
"A wise, warm-hearted book--part autobiography, part how-to-do-it manual, with some amazingly candid behind-the-scenes material . . . Fantasy fans, novice writers, and even veteran pros will learn plenty from it."
--ROBERT SILVERBERG
Award-winning author of
the Majipoor Chronicles

Fans of Brooks's fantasy titles (e.g., The Sword of Shannara) may be fascinated by this insider's account of how a book gets written, what thoughts and insecurities the author has, and the unique challenges faced by writers of fantasy fiction. Brooks indeed provides insights into how he names fantasy characters and creates realistic fantasy worlds. Unfortunately, those not familiar with his writings might find that he violates the best advice he gives in this short book: don't bore the reader. Only occasionally does Brooks linger long enough on a topic to provide valuable tips, and so much of this narrative is relevant to his experience alone that creative writing students might have difficulty applying his advice to their own struggles with craft, technique, and the creative writing process. Recommended for large fantasy collections only.-Herbert E. Shapiro, Empire State Coll., SUNY, Rochester Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.