The Sword of Shannara

The Sword of Shannara

First hardcover edition (Random House)
Author	Terry Brooks
Illustrator	The Brothers Hildebrandt
Cover artist	The Brothers Hildebrandt
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Original Shannara Trilogy
Genre	Epic fantasy
Publisher	Ballantine/Del Rey
Publication date	1977
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	726 pp
ISBN	(First edition)
Preceded by	First King of Shannara
Followed by	The Elfstones of Shannara

The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. It is the first book of the Original Shannara Trilogy, followed by The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. Brooks was heavily influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and began writing The Sword of Shannara in 1967. It took him seven years to complete, as he was writing the novel while attending law school. Ballantine Books used it to launch the company's new subsidiary Del Rey Books. Its success boosted the commercial expansion of the fantasy genre.

The novel interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called the Four Lands. One follows the protagonist Shea Ohmsford on his quest to obtain the Sword of Shannara and use it to confront the Warlock Lord (the antagonist). The other plot shadows Prince Balinor Buckhannah's attempt to oust his insane brother Palance from the throne of Callahorn while the country and its capital (Tyrsis) come under attack from overwhelming armies of the Warlock Lord. Throughout the novel, underlying themes appear of mundane heroism and nuclear holocaust.