I really liked the second one, the Elfstones of Shannara, it really brings out the concept of sacrificing yourself for others. I reserve one of my 'pangs of awfulness' awards to Diana Paxson's 'Brisingamen', one of the few books I've ever tried to keep plowing through even after my eyeballs got numb from screaming for mercy. I guess I always found the first Shannara book 'adequate' at an age when I was less critical of stylistic merits. But, unlike other posters have claimed, I never saw it as such a blatant rip-off. Simple country folk, check.
Strange visitors promising adventure, check.
Black-robed creepy horsemen, check. I like the Shanara books. My favorite character out of all of the books is Morgan Leah, through out the tetralogy of The Scions of Shanara he figures prominently. Unfortunately epic fantasy follows a certain formula and Tolkien set the stage. Just e-mail me.