SHANNARA

'''Shannara''' is a fantasy book series written by Terry Brooks, set in a distant future where the world has reverted to a medieval state and magic has re-emerged to take the place of science. The series tells the generational saga of The Shannara family, who play an important role in the struggles that ensue.
The film rights to the book series were optioned in 2007 by Warner Brothers. Dan Farah of Farah Films & Management brought the project into the studio and will produce. The studio is out to directors and plans to be in production by end of 2008.^[1]

Contents

The Books

History of the Shannara World

Age of Faerie

Age of Man

The Great Wars

Birth of the Four Lands and The First Council

The Wars of the Races

The Shannara Family

References

The Books

===The ''Original Shannara Trilogy'' ===
Also called ''The Sword of Shannara Trilogy'', the first three published Shannara novels (''The Sword of Shannara'', ''The Elfstones of Shannara'', and ''The Wishsong of Shannara'') follow Shea and Flick Ohmsford and their immediate descendants.
===''The Heritage of Shannara'' Tetralogy===
The next four books, known as ''The Heritage of Shannara'', are set 300 years after ''The Original Shannara Trilogy''. This series consists of ''The Scions of Shannara'', ''The Druid of Shannara'', ''The Elf Queen of Shannara'' and ''The Talismans of Shannara''. They follow four of Shea's descendants: Walker, Coll, Par, and Wren.
===''First King of Shannara''===
The prequel ''The First King of Shannara'' is set during the lifetime of Jerle Shannara, an ancestor of Shea (about 500 years before the first book of the original Shannara Trilogy).
===''The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara'' Trilogy===
''The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara'' trilogy consists of the books ''Ilse Witch'', ''Antrax'', and ''Morgawr''. Set aboard the airship ''Jerle Shannara'' (named after the olden king), the story follows Walker Boh as he guides the crew across the ocean in search of an ancient source of power. This is set 130 years after ''The Heritage of Shannara''.
===''High Druid of Shannara'' Trilogy===
The ''High Druid of Shannara'' trilogy includes the novels ''Jarka Ruus'', ''Tanequil'', and ''Straken''. It focuses on the disappearance of the High Druid Grianne Ohmsford and is set 20 years after ''The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara''.
===The ''Word/Void'' Trilogy===
The ''Word/Void'' trilogy consists of ''Running with the Demon'', ''A Knight of the Word'', and ''Angel Fire East'' and is predominantly set in present-day Illinois. It follows Nest Freemark, a girl with magical abilities who has no known relationship to any ''Shannara'' character. Before the publication of ''Armageddon's Children'' it was unclear whether this trilogy existed within the ''Shannara'' universe. It has since been revealed as the "ultimate prequel" to the ''Shannara'' novels.^[2]
===''The Genesis of Shannara'' Trilogy===
''The Genesis of Shannara'' series connects the ''Word/Void'' series with the ''Shannara'' novels. It takes place eighty years after the ''Word/Void'' story, and approximately 1500 years before the events of ''The First King of Shannara''. The first book, ''Armageddon's Children'', was published in the summer of 2006. The second novel, ''The Elves of Cintra'' was published in September of 2007. A title for the third novel has not been announced, but has a projected release in September of 2008 on the official website.

History of the Shannara World

Age of Faerie

At the dawn of time, in what was known as the Age of Faerie, the earth was inhabited only by Elves and Demons, who both wielded magic. Like any power (be it wealth, technology, or physical strength), magic was used by some for good and some for evil. The kindly Elves used their magic to care for the earth, while the hateful Demons used theirs to dominate and destroy. When the Demons tried to eradicate the rival Elves altogether, the Elves proved victorious by creating a magical prison called the Forbidding, to which they banished the Demons. The integrity of the prison was upheld by a magical tree known as the Ellcrys. As long as the Ellcrys lived, the Demons would remain locked away.

Age of Man

Thousands of years later, the age of man came into being. The Elves still existed, but quickly found themselves few in numbers compared to the budding human race and decided to go into hiding. Thousands of years passed while man and science ruled. The Elves and their magic remained hidden, as memories of their existence become nothing more than “Fairy Tales”. And through it all, the Ellcrys stood strong.

The Great Wars

Sometime in the early 21st century, mankind all but destroyed itself through nuclear and chemical holocaust.

Birth of the Four Lands and The First Council

After 1,000 years, the earth more or less recovered from the cataclysm of the Great Wars, but with the exception of the shattered ruins of man’s greatest cities, the world as the human race knew it was gone. New races were born from the old, genetically mutated by radiation from the Great Wars. These mutant human races were given names from man's ancient fairy tales: Troll, Dwarf, and Gnome. No longer threatened, the surviving Elves came out of hiding. Chaos ensued as the four races each tried to declare their power over the other.
Fearing that the chaos would lead to the end for all of them, a group of learned men and women from all the races formed The Council. Under the order of The Council, the earth was divided up into The Four Lands, one territory for each race. The Council then sought out all the information they could on the arts, sciences, and history of the Old World, attempting to understand what had brought about such a terrible apocalypse, so that they might learn from those mistakes and bring lasting peace and order to the land. As time progressed, The Council’s plan seemed to be working and they hoped that, in time, all that was known of the Old World would eventually exist again. However, several powerful members of The Council became convinced that magic, not science, should be the guiding force of the new world, and that it was their destiny as Elves and magic-wielders to shape the future of the races. These Elves left The Council to form their own group, consisting of all races and led by an Elf called Brona, who took with him the Ildatch, a book with unparalleled evil powers that once belonged to the Demon leader in the Age of Faerie.

The Wars of the Races

After years of growing his legion, Brona, who had become known as The Warlock Lord, led a rebellion against the teachings of the Council. The rebellion soon widened into what became known as the First War of the Races (The Warlock Lord’s legion vs. all the races guided by The Council). Eventually, the combined power of the Council crushed the revolt, but The Warlock Lord escaped to rebuild his legion. Once strong again, The Warlock Lord and his armies returned multiple times, giving birth to two more Wars Of the Races, which spanned a century with years of peace in between (the equivalent of the World Wars during the time of man), until finally The Warlock Lord was killed.

The Shannara Family

Involved in nearly every key moment throughout the history of the Four Lands is the Shannara family. Their mixed heritage of man and Elf left them both blessed and cursed, with the ability to wield a timeless and powerful magic. Over the years, descendants of the Shannara bloodline have been continuously called upon to fight to reshape the Four Lands and the lives of its inhabitants.
In each of the three wars of the races, descendants of the Shannara bloodline led the armies of the Four Lands and used their magic to fight off The Warlock Lord and his army, until finally killing off The Warlock Lord at the end of the third war. (Each war and the epic adventures and battles are chronicled separately in The First King of Shannara and The Sword of Shannara)
Fifty years after the last war of the races, the world was at peace, when the Ellcrys began to die and the Demons from the Age of Faerie began to escape slowly from their magical prison, The Forbidding, thus beginning The War of the Forbidding (Chronicled in The Elfstones of Shannara). Once more the fate of the world was put in the hands of a descendant of the Shannara family. Young Wil Ohmsford (a descendant of the Shannara bloodline) sets off on an adventure across the four lands to find the one remedy that can save the Ellcrys. Will shares this adventure with Amberle, a young girl with a powerful connection to the Ellcrys. Along the way, their adventure turns into young love. Meanwhile, all the armies of the world work together to try to fight of the demons long enough for Will and Amberle to return. Ultimately, after days of epic battles and adventure on all fronts, Will and Amberle return and save the day, locking the demons away once again in their magical prison, but it’s a bitter sweet ending for the love story of Wil and Amberle for the extent of Amberle’s powerful connection to the Ellcrys was not know by even her. To save the world and reseal the Forbidding, she must not save the dying tree, but actually turn into a new Ellcrys herself.
As time went on, and as history unfolded, various events (Chronicled in the eleven other books in The Shannara series) continued to force members of Shannara bloodline into epic adventure and war with the fate of the world in their hands.
The familial relationships between the main characters can be seen in the Shannara family tree.

References

1. Variety: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966323.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Hollywood Reporter:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3iafcae22cb7023ba6f6f5a63e2d91531d
2. The Great Wars Shawn Speakman