Terry Brooks

I've been captured again. I remember being 16 and looking for another 'Lord of The Rings,' replacement, and I picked up Terry Brooks' 'The Sword of Shannara.' I remember thinking, all right, this might be good and then it might not. My impressions while reading it, was, 'not bad, not bad at all, but the name Allanon, not the character, made me snicker a bit. But wait, did you know that Tolkien, when he was shopping around for names, nearly picked Bingo for Bilbo.  In the final analysis, I really liked 'The Sword of Shannara.' Now, here I am, thirty four years later reading Terry Brooks' books 'Armagaddon's Children,' 'The Elves of Cintra,' and 'The Gypsy Morph,' and I am wonderfully astounded how Terry Brooks has grown as a writer.  If you are looking for a 'how to' example of excellence, read the first few chapters of 'The Gypsy Morph.'  Very few writers have such excellent and impeccable timing as Terry Brooks.  If I have a wish, as a writer, I would wish that I could meet Terry Brooks and just simply talk about writing and humanity.