A little known fact that some may not know is that Elfstones may have never been. After the success of Sword, Del Rey told Terry Brooks to start on a sequel to Sword, even though he never had intentions on doing so (and look where he has taken us since). So he set about doing just that. But he didn't write Elfstones. He wrote a completely different novel. It had no Ohmsfords in it and was about Menion Leah's grandson. It concerned him and a young woman whose magic was singing, like a siren (which he later borrowed from to write Wishsong). After finishing it and sending it to Del Rey, he waited. It was sent back and Lester Del Rey said it was horrid and start over. So he did and he wrote Elfstones. What he wrote, in my mind set him apart from Tolkien and a completely different story than Sword. Once again he picked up with the Ohmsfords. The Ellcrys, the tree that the Elves made thousands of years before is dying. And with her is the ability to keep the barrier between the Four Lands and The Forbidding still strong. Without the barrier the demons (who were pushed into the Forbidding years ago by the elves) will begin to issue their dominance on the world. So the druid Allanon summons Wil Ohmsford to first help him convince the elfgirl Amberle to take a seed from the Ellcrys to the Bloodfire. He then must protect her on this perilous journey with only the Elfstones to protect her and him. Elfstones that he can barely use. Tailing them is The Reaper a most feared demon. The aspects I like in this book are even though he is an Ohmsford, Wil can barely use the magic that Allanon gives him. We also meet the Rovers for the first time. They become very important in later books. Eretria is one of Brooks' most endearing characters. The battle between Allanon and the Dagda Moor is probably one of the best battle scenes in all his books (and the one that would look the best on screen, if it is ever a movie). And even though the ending is very heart-wrenching and leaves you kind of blah, but it sets up Wishsong, to me this is his best Shannara book.
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