Review: A Sliver of the Old, Nothing New
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 25, 2012
I couldn't resist the allure of a 99-cent Terry Brooks story for my iPad.  Bought it and read it almost in one move.  Overall, I think it was money well-spent.  For 99 cents, I was transported to another world and took up a quest with Allanon, Brook's fabled druid.  That environment came alive around me and the pacing marched steadily along.I liked riding with Allanon as he was starting out on his great mission to find the last heir of Shannara, but so much of that story is already known, and has been known for a couple decades now.  Still, there was some good action and Allanon is one of those heroes that commands attention.On the downside, the overall story IS known.  I had no worries that Allanon was going to fail or get killed.  His ultimate success in finding the heir lies ahead of him at the end of this story, so nothing is truly resolved.The story reads like the initial series of events in Dracula, what became the short story "Dracula's Guest."  Only in Bram Stoker's case, that short story was cut from the novel.  This story could easily be wedded to The Sword of Shannara as a prologue although it was written decades after the fact.This is supposed to be the first of three such stories, but I can't find any information about the other two.  Presumably they will be along soon.