From New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks comes a thrilling stand-alone novel in his legendary Shannara seriesmdashthe perfect place for new readers to beginAfter taking up his enchanted sword against the dark sorcerer Arcannen Paxon Leah has become the sworn protector of the Druid order Now a critical hour is at hand as a beloved High Druid nears the end of her reign and prepares to pass from the mortal world to the one beyond There is little time for Paxon to mourn his friend and benefactor before duty summons him For in a distant corner of the Four Lands the magic of the wishsong has been detected Paxon must accompany a Druid emissary to find its sourcemdashand ensure the formidable power is not wielded by the wrong hands But danger is already afoot in the village of Portlow Gentle traveling minstrel Reyn Frosch possesses the uncanny gift and curse of the wishsong And now his coveted abilities have captured the malevolent interest of none other than Arcannenmdashwhose quest for power is exceeded only by his thirst for vengeance The lone survivor of a brutal assault on a notorious pirate city the sorcerer is determined to retaliate against the Federationrsquos elite military guardmdashand use the devastating power of the wishsong as his ultimate weaponPraise for The Darkling Child ldquoBrimming with magic a bubbling cauldron of fantasy and intrigue This novel shines best through a full-bodied embrace of its most wildly imaginative magic and artifice which is careful not to overshadow the storyrsquos greater half fueled by a complex but well-constructed manifold of motives The intrigue grounded in a world that strays just enough from a traditional fantasy universe to elicit delighted curiosity guarantees a solid fantasy read especially for those already drawn into Brooksrsquos vast world of ShannarardquomdashBooklist ldquoBrooksrsquos fans and those who prefer their fantasy on a smaller scale will appreciate the more personal but still high-stakes turn in this famous worldrdquomdashPublishers Weekly Praise for Terry Brooks ldquoThe Sword of Shannara is an unforgettable and wildly entertaining epic animated by Terry Brooksrsquos cosmically generative imagination and storytelling joyrdquomdashKaren Russell New York Times bestselling author of Swamplandia ldquoIf Tolkien is the grandfather of modern fantasy Terry Brooks is its favorite unclerdquomdashPeter V Brett New York Times bestselling author of The Desert Spear ldquoI canrsquot even begin to count how many of Terry Brooksrsquos books Irsquove read and reread over the years From Shannara to Landover his work was a huge part of my childhoodrdquomdashPatrick Rothfuss New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind ldquoTerry Brooks is a master of the craft and a trailblazer who established fantasy as a viable genre He is required readingrdquomdashBrent Weeks New York Times bestselling author of The Night Angel Trilogy ldquoThe Shannara books were among the first to really capture my imagination My daydreams and therefore my stories will always owe a debt to Terry BrooksrdquomdashBrandon Mull New York Times bestselling author of the Beyonders and Fablehaven series.
