The name Terry Brooks invariably makes us think of the Shannara Chronicles, which has been recently turned into a popular TV series as well. However, reading the Terry Brooks books in order means also tapping into the author’s other magical series and books, including the Magic Kingdom of Landover, and the World and the Void series.
Here are the Terry Brooks books in order for his fantasy novels, including the original Shannara Chronicles and the new related and unrelated series as well.
The Shannara Chronicles will be listed by series in the reading order that Terry Brooks recommends for new readers of the series, with the publication order listed at the end of each book. If you are new to Terry Brooks Shannara, this is where you start.
Alternatively, you can also check out the Shannara Timeline for the proper chronological Shannara books order.
New Terry Brooks Books
Child of Light, 2021
Part of the Shannara Chronicles
The Shannara Trilogy
- The Sword of Shannara, 1977
- The Elfstones of Shannara, 1982
- The Wishsong of Shannara, 1985
- Indomitable (#3.25), 2011
- Dark Wraith of Shannara (#3.5), 2008 (graphic novel)
The Heritage of Shannara
- The Scions of Shannara, 1990
- The Druid of Shannara, 1991
- The Elf Queen of Shannara, 1992
- The Talismans of Shannara, 1993
Shannara Prequel
- First King of Shannara (prequel), 1996
Word & Void
- Imaginary Friends, 2011 (Word & Void #0.5)
- Warrior, 2018 (Word & Void novella)
- Running with the Demon, 1997
- A Knight of the Word, 1998
- Angel Fire East, 1999
Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
- Ilse Witch, 2000
- Antrax, 2001
- Morgawr, 2002
High Druid of Shannara
- Jarka Ruus, 2003
- Tanequil, 2004
- Straken, 2005
Genesis of Shannara
- Armageddon’s Children, 2006
- The Elves of Cintra, 2007
- The Gypsy Morph, 2008
Legends of Shannara
The Dark Legacy of Shannara
- Wards of Faerie, 2012
- Bloodfire Quest, 2012
- Witch Wraith, 2013
Paladins of Shannara
- Allanon’s Quest, 2012
- The Weapons Master’s Choice, 2013
- The Black Irix, 2013
The Defenders of Shannara
- The High Druid’s Blade, 2014
- The Darkling Child, 2015
- The Sorcerer’s Daughter, 2016
The Fall of Shannara
- The Black Elfstone, 2017
- The Skaar Invasion, 2018
- The Stiehl Assassin, 2019
- The Last Druid, 2020
Shannara Timeline
In the Terry Brooks books, the Shannara timeline that outlines the major events that took place in the world are listed below. If you want to read the Shannara books in order of the proper timeline and chronology, this is the list to follow.
It all starts with the Word & Void books, as they are the precursor of the apocalypse that ended with the world as see in the Four Lands, which is the home to the four different groups of people.
Word & Void
- Running with the Demon is the start of it all
- A Knight of the Word
- Angel Fire East
Genesis of Shannara
Legends of Shannara
The Sword of Shannara
The Heritage of Shannara
Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
High Druid of Shannara
The Dark Legacy of Shannara
The Defenders of Shannara
The Fall of Shannara
Not Part of Shannara Chronicles
Magic Kingdom of Landover
- Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold, 1986
- The Black Unicorn, 1987
- Wizard at Large, 1988
- The Tangle Box, 1994
- Witches’ Brew, 1995
- A Princess of Landover, 2009
Standalone and Other Terry Brooks Books
- Revelation, 1987
- Hook, 1991
- Imaginary Friends (novella), 2011
- Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life (non-fiction), 2003
- Street Freaks, 2018
- Child of Light, 2021
Terry Brooks Biography
Terry Brooks was born in Sterling, Illinois in 1944 and he lived there for many years. He started writing fiction novels from the time he was in high school.
He attended Hamilton College, where he got his B.A. in English literature in 1966. Next, he went to the Washington and Lee University, where he got his law J.D. degree.
While in college, he got to read a Tolkien novel, and this is the genre he started writing since then as well. After all that writing for himself, he published his debut novel, The Sword of Shannara, in 1977. He wrote the next two sequels to Shanara, which together would become known as the original Shannara series, following which he started a new series, unrelated to Shannara, called Landover.
Over the years, he alternated between writing Shannara stories and Landover books.
The World and Void series, while it is considered urban fantasy, is, in fact, the ultimate prequel to the Shannara Chronicles. However, it does not actually include any characters from Shannara.
The Shannara series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of our own called The Four Lands. Our Earth has been destroyed in a chemical and nuclear holocaust called The Great Wars, so the futuristic world Shannara is set in is very different from our own. In this world, magic and primitive technology are available and used by the people. The world is populated by elves, druids, and humans alike.
The Shannara Chronicles DVD (Shanara Chronicles), 2016
The Shannara Chronicles have been made into an MTV television series with the name Shannara Chronicles, starting in 2016. The show is an adaptation of The Elfstones of Shannara, the second Shannara book, since it included several strong female characters which were not present the author’s debut novel.
In addition, the first book had no love story, which is a recipe for losing all the female viewers of the TV show.
The second season of the TV series started airing in 2017 and is not based on any specific Terry Brooks book. While season one was produced by MTV, season two went to Spike.
The latest series, The Fall of Shannara, which will include four Terry Brooks books, will effectively end the Shannara Chronicles for good, much to the disappointment of the author’s readers. Terry Brooks mentioned in an interview that “The reason I’m writing the end is because I don’t want someone else to.”
Without sounding too morbid, it also means that now the author Terry Brooks can finally start on his long promise of writing the story’s past since the story’s future is already done.
Currently, Terry Brooks lives in NW Oregon with his wife.
Praise for Terry Brooks
Terry’s place is at the head of the fantasy world (Philip Pullman)
I can’t even begin to count how many of Terry Brooks’s books I’ve read (and re-read) over the years (Patrick Rothfuss)
The Sword of Shannara is an unforgettable and wildly entertaining epic, animated by Terry Brooks’s cosmically generative imagination and storytelling joy. (Karen Russell)
If Tolkien is the grandfather of modern fantasy, Terry Brooks is its favorite uncle. (Peter V. Brett)
If you haven’t read Terry Brooks, you haven’t read fantasy (Christopher Paolini)
Terry’s place is at the head of the fantasy world. (Philip Pullman)
Terry Brooks is a grandmaster of the fantasy genre, and his latest will both captivate and surprise readers. . . . It’s truly magical. (Associated Press)
References
- Terry Brooks official website
- author’s official publisher page
- Terry Brooks interview on the Demon series
Books Reading Order » Fantasy Authors »
Picked up a sale book in the book store, “Bearers of the Black Staff” and was hook just by the cover and intro. I discovered that it was part of a series so needed to order the entire series no matter how many before I could read it. I can never wait till the next volume comes out, so I always wait until the entire series is available and they once I have all, devour them all. Once I read that series I went on line to see what else Terry had written and was blown away by how many. I printed a list in numeric order of their publishing dates and ordered the earliest series, when I got to the last book I was reading would order the next printed series. I have them all, and let me tell you I was not a kid when I first started reading his stuff, and thank God that my latest place has enough room for all of the books. I don’t just read Terry’s works but he is my number one favorite. When I moved I couldn’t bring all books, too many, but did bring ALL of Terry’s. If like fiction even a little you must read his stuff, you’ll love them. My daughter is visiting for a couple of months and wanted something to read, wasn’t interested in anything current that i had until she saw Terry’s latest on my coffee table. I had printed her a list of all Terry’s books in order and this way she can order by series as she does like me. These series are timeless and appeal to both young and young at heart like me. I could bit get into the Harry Potter books with all those hard names and other stuff to remember . Love Love these books, am now going to get into the latest series now that I have all three and I am making the time to enjoy. Do yourself a favor and discover reading and syfy by the best.
On holiday in the 70s, I went into a bookshop and found The Shannara books, The Sword, The Elf stones and the Wish song. I couldent put them down so did’nt see much of Cornwall, I’ve been a Fan ever since, And I’m in my 70s now. Carry On Terry !
I have the huge condensed version. Not to morbid but, I told all that I wish to be buried with it clutched in my hands.
Though the world of Shannara may be dark at times, it is also filled with wonder and imagination we all could use.
oh yeah, that series was useless.
I love them all. First one from library and now collecting them.
Just reading this for the first time and Your Chronological timeline does not include Paladins of Shanara why is this?
These are the best books I ever read. From one book to the next I just could not put them down.
Me as well! The first 3 were gound at a thrift store! I’ve read many more.
There were some good parts & some not-so-good parts. In my opinion, The Last Druid did a pretty good job.
In the late 1970’s shortly after “The Sword of Shannara” was published I eagerly picked it up, hoping I was about to encounter a masterpiece on the order of the other authors: series I’d loved, including C.S. Lewis: The Narnia Chronicles, J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Richard Adams: Watership Down, Frank Herbert: Dune, Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles, T.H. White: The Once and Future King, Isaac Asimov: I Robot, Arthur C. Clarke: 2001: A Space Odyssey (both the novelization and the movie), Pierre Boulle: The Planet of the Apes, H.G. Wells: The Time Machine, etc. — well you get the idea, (and I should note that since then I’ve moved away from European male writers). But what I found in The Sword of Shannara struck me as very poorly written, trite and trope-laden and I just couldn’t get through it. I thought it was very amateurish and simply amazingly embarrassingly bad — on par with “pulp fiction” trash that somehow manages to be sold for summer beach reading. I was truly and utterly disappointed with it. I decided then to only spend my limited reading time (and I should point out I’m a slow reader, so this makes it even more important to me for) focusing on only high quality works.
I haven’t tried Brooks any further, though maybe I will since obviously some people have enjoyed his stuff. One thing I have to give him, he’s certainly been prolific. Maybe practice did bring him progress?
I found Terry Brooks’s books in a friend’s library and they have captivated me from the very first pages. Thank you for bringing the magic of the Four Realms in my home
His Shannara stories captivated my imagination, and has kept me so for years. I’m here looking for any that I have missed, and I have found some!
Terry Brooks carried my troubling heart through a time of incarceration and inspired me to write my first book called Athalia Queen of HELLNATION I completed it but to this day 20 years later do not know how to publish it but I just want to say thank you for insight and being there for me GOD BLESS YOU.
Love the Writting. Mr. Brooks makes easy work for our imagination to visualize the scene, character’s, and tone.. I got hooked when I was loaned Magic Kingdom for Sale from my Boss ST who is a big fan. I Learned he lived here in Washington State and got Character’s Name from exit signs. So since the very first I have enjoyed and still read the saga at least once a year. I have not read the Shannara Chronicle. I have since reading my first book of his kingdom for sale I have read the Magic Kingdom for Sale saga, Word of the Void saga. Onto the Landover series. Please keep in writing I wait patiently for his next Story.
I love his books because I can read them over and over and never get tired of them . No vulgar language and suitable for all ages! If my grandchildren pickup one of Terry Brooks Books I have no hesitation for them to read❣️ all of his books are in my library and in my audible library as well ❣️
I love Terry Brook’s books. I started reading them in the mid 1980’s. the story lines are great, and you fall in love with the people in the books.