The Wishsong of Shannara

By: Terry Brooks

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Fans of the Shannara epic will revel as the forces of good battle an evil book, the Ildatch, which sends the Mord Wraiths to destroy mankind. To overcome this dark force, the Druid Allanon needs Brin Ohmsford, for she holds the power of the wishsong, a magic invoked by singing that can make plants bloom instantly or turn trees from green to autumn gold.

As Brin reluctantly joins Allanon on his dangerous journey, a prophecy foretells an evil plan to trap the unsuspecting Brin into a fate more horrible than death. But she has the help of her brother, Jair, and the protection of Rone Leah, who takes his job very seriously, as the comic rustics, Weapons Master Garet Jax and Slanter the gnome, leaven the fantasy.

©1985 Terry Brooks (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Great book and Great reader

This is a great book. I wish I had heard the other 2 books unabridged (Sword of Shannara and Elfstones of Shannara). Hope they get more unabridged books for this series.

A fitting end to a great trilogy

I read this trilogy many years ago and was thankful that there was an unabridged version on audible that allowed me to revisit the Shannara stories. The Wishsong is clearly the darkest of the trilogy and the best written. Contrary to an earlier reviewers comments, this is NOT a LOTR knockoff. If someone writes a book that has a shark kill someone does that mean its a JAWS ripoff? Of course not. It's a fantasy book. There is going to be a good and evil character in it. Deal with it. Terry Brooks is an excellent writer and storyteller and the world he creates is dark yet full of hope. I also found the pace to be much quicker in this book then the other two and much less predictable to figure out who was going to die and what was going to happen. As for the narration, Scott Brick is the MAN! Anyone who thinks otherwise has obviously never heard Charles Keating butcher these novels. For those who venture into the Shannara realm you will be rewarded with some of the best storytelling of our time. Treat yourself and make sure you get the "unabridged" edition so you don't miss a beat.

Good story; terible narration.

Terry Brooks tells a terrific story. Even the filler is pretty good. The narrator leaves quite a bit to be dsired. His pronunciation of some of the words is incorrect and grateson the ears and nerves.
Add is inability to show a range of character voices caused me to wonder what character was speaking.

Scott Brick spoils a great story

Would you consider the audio edition of The Wishsong of Shannara to be better than the print version?

No, because I found the narrator hard to stick with.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Wishsong of Shannara?

The friendship that develops while facing hardships.

What didn’t you like about Scott Brick’s performance?

He reads like every word is the climax of the story.

Any additional comments?

I've read all the books & loved them. I thought I'd enjoy the audio version as well. But I will be skipping any more books read by Scott Brick.

20 years after reading

I read the Shannara series and Heritage of Shannara 20 years ago. It is a pleasure to listen to. I plan on catching up in the series and wanted to listen to the original trilogy before diving into this wonderful world again.

Well written as always from Terry Brooks

Excellent story telling as one would expect from this very talented author,.who gave up his legal profession to become one of the best fantasy author's of our time! ,Glad I was able to meet him in the Albany NY area!!

Best of the series

Hard to stop listening to to this story. Finally, the series delivers fully developed characters who have to overcome internal struggles against fear, lack of confidence, desire for ultimate power and fight a galant battle to save the 4 lands. The female character, Brin, is more than window dressing and wields terrific power. Jer, brother, delivers powerful support in bringing her back to herself. The supporting character are well developed also and it is easy to care about what happens to them. Great fantasy but also grounded in the earthiness of its characters. I think you will love it.

Fantastic author

Have read all his books that I can get hold of. I have never been disappointed with his writing.

My favorite of the three!

I loved every minute of this book! I felt a little more engaged than the other two, which were both excellent books! A must read for any fantasy lover!

Love the Shannara books

I have been a fan of Terry Brooks since I was a teenager,. it is great to be able to listen to his stories.

Wishong Of Shannara

When you go the whole hog and choose one of the 'unabridged' titles; especially when it is a large, large book, one wants to be justified. This was my first 'whole book' and I must say Scott Brick does a good job. Credit where credit is due. It was a relief that it was well recorded too, as the abridged Elfstones Of Shannara (which is a superb novel, had a reader who, though genuinely breathtaking at his job, was badly, very badly let down, by the quality of the recording. Not the story with the unabridged Wishsong Of Shannara. The third and last in the Shannara trilogy. The audio quality was fine and matched every bit by Mr Brick's fine narration. His character voices are believable and Terry Brooks's writing suspenseful, nicely paced and rewards with a worthy and well executed final two chapters.