The Black Irix (Short Story) (Kindle Single) - Paladins of Shannara

I love Terry Brooks and the Shannara series, and I know this was only a short story, but even the other two short stories in the series had a little more going on than this one. I was looking forward to more intrigue and participation from Shea and Flick.

The first two Paladins of Shannara short stories were popcorn entertainment; Black Irix is a bit deeper, but it lacks that enrapturing, punchy tone that a short needs to be fulfilling. This was a good character exercise for Shea, Flick and Panamon, but it feels unnecessary and underdeveloped without any highpoint or overcoming of a conflict.

I really loved this story Terry never lets me down. He is a fabulous author very nice & good hearted, he always now's what is a good character to make into a short story can't wait for the next. The next set of stories should be about the Kingdom for Sale series

I give Brooks kudos for giving us something during the lull between books. He's been putting content out faster than in the past. Unfortunately, it highlights why in his case at least, the one-per-year model may be superior - assuming he goes back to the "book resolves itself" method and not persist with the cliffhanger method he adopted with the Voyage series.

Black Irix is a side story detailing Shea and Flick Ohmsford (The Sword of Shannara: An Epic Fantasy) with a mini quest to retrieve a special artifact (The Black Irix) that was long lost from Keltset, a character from the aforementioned Sword of Shannara who perished saving them. Panamon Creel has identified someone who is in possession of the artifact and would like Shea to once again use the Elfstones to locate and retrieve it, so he can return it to Keltset's people.

Now mind, at a buck and change (with tax) I didn't expect an epic story. But I also didn't expect something rushed given how long it took to get this. It's not lengthy. You should be able to easily finish it in less than 30 minutes. But it's just not good. First off, Flick tries again to warn Shea away from this quest repeatedly, and then just shows up and decides to go along. That's fine - except he doesn't do anything for the story at all. If you're going to have the character involved, have him INVOLVED in some way. Second, without spoiling the story, the "climax" is anything but, since it makes no sense. The Elfstones show Panamon where the Irix is, yet in the book he says he knows exactly where it is and who has it. Later, he claims to not know where the vault is. Errr, the Elfstones just showed you where it was. There's more about the vault that doesn't make sense (i.e. how Panamon knew how to open it yet doesn't know its location), but again, I don't want to spoil things.

In terms of quality comparison this is far inferior to the previous books (Paladins of Shannara: Allanon's Quest (short story),Paladins of Shannara: The Weapon Master's Choice (short story)). At least in those we got to dig a small bit into Allanon and Garet Jax. Here, nothing. My opinion only.

For the final books in Terry Brook's Paladins Of Shannara series of novella we have a catch up with Shea Ohmsford, the legendary last heir of Jerle Shannara and have an all new adventure with him.

It's been a year since the events in the Skull Kingdom but all is not right with Shea Ohmsford, the half elven heir of Shannara. He's home back in Shady Vale but he's not sleeping, tortured by horrific nightmares of his battle with the enemy. His brother Flick is getting increasingly more and more worried about Shea, to the point that he visits a woodswoman in a bid to ease Shea's suffering. She gives him a potion to give to Shea and Flick in turn gives Shea the potion, hoping and praying that it will help his ailing brother., to a degree it does begin to work until Shea and Flick's old friend Panamon Creel appears in the Vale. Creel had helped Shea during his mission to defeat the Warlock Lord and his assistance proved to be invaluable. Now Creel has a mission of his own and needs Shea's help in retrieving a personal and invaluable artifact but is there more to this mission than meets the eye.

This is a novella is a bit of an oddity as it's the third book in the Paladins series but actually fits into the timeline before the second and just after TSOS. In this case I really think that you need to read this in conjunction with The Sword Of Shannara so that you have a good basic knowledge of the mission Shea and Flick undertake in that book with Creel's help to give you a better understanding of what Creel is asking of them in The Black Irix.

Final Thoughts:

As with the other books in the Paladins of Shannara series, this is another rich and detailed novella of just 40 pages. In this book we delve into the meaning of friendship, loyalty and duty to your friends and we see how these values effect your friendships in a more long term sense as we see Creel begging for Shea's assistance as payback for help he'd given them in the past and how Shea feel obliged to help regardless of whether he really wants to help or not.

The imagery is as epic as usual with Brooks and Shannara and once again I'm amazed at how much detail Brooks can squeeze into such a small novella, it's truly impressive work BUT I do think that this books may be the weaker effort of the three as it feels a little disjointed to me, almost like two stories in one 40 page package, you get Flick trying to help Shea and then Shea trying to help Creel but they don't really merge together is a satisfactory manner for me personally. It's good but not quite as good as the previous two novellas.

Definitely NOT a standalone novella this time around, you need The Sword Of Shannara to give you the background needed to read and understand this novella properly.

I suppose it's only fitting that the final short story in this collection of three deals with the hero who started it all, Shea Ohmsford. Set a good year or so after the events of The Sword of Shannara and Shea still hasn't really come to grips with what he went through. Suffering nightmares, reliving the events of the quest, Shea seems to be suffering PTSD.

Soon Panamon Creel shows up with a need for Shea and his elfstones to help him bring some closure to his dead friend and companion. Shea, feeling ever indebted to the untrustworthy thief, agrees to come along with brother Flick's grave misgivings.

This is really Panamon's quest; Shea and Flick are just kind of along for the ride. The story deals a lot with issues of how trusting one can be towards someone who maybe doesn't have the sort of rep that deserves that kind of faith. It has been a while, but the characterization seems to fit what I remember of these guys.

This chapter is a little short on action; it's more of a "who's pulling what on whom" type of story that explains itself when all is said and done. As usual with these shorts, Brooks doesn't have a lot of time to tell this tale and it probably could have benefited from a few more pages. That might have helped the main gripe I really had, which is that Shea and Flick are kinda out of the action near the end and there's a lot of stuff that seems to happen off page that we hear about later.

Still, it was nice to spend time with these characters and it made sense that Shea really needed a mini adventure like this to work out all the stuff that had built up in him over the previous year. Just wish it had a little more room to breathe.

I've always wanted more short fiction from Terry. We are finally getting it. With Paladins of Shannara: Allanon's Quest (Short Story) and Paladins of Shannara: The Weapons Master's Choice (Short Story), Terry started writing short stories set in his Shannara world. He has long decried writing short fiction, saying he needs more room to work with. Well, he has gotten better at it and Paladins of Shannara: The Black Irix (Short Story) (Kindle Single) is a prime example of it!

It is set about 18 months after the events of The Sword of Shannara, where Shea and Flick Ohmsford are back in Shady Vale after their long quest. That quest has taken its toll on Shea. But when Panamon Creel shows up, Shea and Flick are back on the road for another adventure. Before I read it, Terry told me that it is a very different story from the other two he has written and he's right. Panamon is the driving force of the story but we are within the POVs of Shea and Flick. That might unsettle readers since some of the action takes place off screen but I found it different and refreshing.

The best thing about THE BLACK IRIX is the return of the familiar, seeing characters we have loved for decades once again. If you loved THE SWORD OF SHANNARA and you've always wanted to see those characters again, then you'll love THE BLACK IRIX.

I think the black Irix was on par with the rest of Terry's books, only it was took short. Hate to put down a Brooks book. I tend to seep into the story as I read it and my only disappointment is that it has to end. I normally tend to shy from short stories for just that reason. There is not alot of time to build up the characters nor take the story on a long journey and took quickly you come to the conculsion. I hope Mr Brooks will never stop writing his novels in my life time as I will be longing to read them when reading is the only thing I can do.

The Black Irix is an excellent read with interesting well developed characters. The story is fast moving with lots of twist and turns leading too an unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this novella too anyone who is looking for a quick read. Enjoy reading

Nice short story and a good read. it was nice to follow up on some of my favorite characters from so long ago. I read the original when it was first published and the late books started with decendants. Shea and Flick are well written characters and I always wanted something to follow up on their lives after "Sword".

I have read most of the writings of Terry Brooks & although they are out of this world ,they are fascinating. How can he think of these things to write in the first place. They can be tense and nail biting ans you can't put it down,or you can really not bear to find out what he has in store next. It doesn't matter which book you pick up, somewhere you know you will be biting your nails.
I am 75 yrs young and I love him. Margaret

It's very short. I'm use to Brooks' long, complex conflicts. I was hoping for more! Of course, I hope for more even when I finish one of his much longer novels. But I wanted to see Panamon do the thing he needed to do. But as always, Brooks can write!

I am an avid reader and I have been since I learned to read. I adore having the Kindle. I think it's the most wonderful invention. I have replaced most of my own paper library and put them on my Kindle. I just love Sci-Fi/Fantasy and this book was wonderful.