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  • The Scions of Shannara

  • The Heritage of Shannara, Book 1
  • By: Terry Brooks
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (150 ratings)
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The Scions of Shannara cover art

The Scions of Shannara

By: Terry Brooks
Narrated by: John Lee
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Summary

New York Times best seller 

Since the death of the Druid Allanon, the Four Lands have changed profoundly, with magic strictly forbidden in the Southland, now under totalitarian rule. Yet Par still has some power of the Wishsong. When he accidently brings a mythic horror to life, a man calling himself Cogline drives it away. Cogline brings a message from Allanon: venture to the dread Hadeshorn, along with the other Scions of Shannara. For in the future, all life in the Four Lands will be destroyed. To prevent this terrible fate, Allanon commands Par to recover the long-lost Sword of Shannara, a task that is next to impossible. 

Thus continues the enthralling Shannara epic, a spellbinding tale of adventure, magic, and myth....

©2000 Terry Brooks (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"If Harry Potter has given you a thirst for fantasy and you have not discovered the magic of Terry Brooks, you are in for a treat." (Rocky Mountain News)

"If you were delighted and entranced by Michael Ende's The Never Ending Story, you will definitely want to sample one of more of Terry Brooks' books." (Santa Cruz Sentinel)

What listeners say about The Scions of Shannara

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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I really realy enjoyed this! Excellent Narration!

I really enjoyed this. It was fast paced with good complex characters--the characters were very well expressed by John Lee. Thankyou!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Listen to a sample first

I had to quit this audio book after barely 5 minutes of listening to the narrator.
Sadly to me at least, it was a jarring and stilted performance that hugely detracted from the book itself.
Listen to a sample first to decide for yourself.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Awesome book but the narrator isn't great.

The book is as great as I remember, the series one if my favourites of all time, but the narrator isn't great. He has essentially two character voices and read the lines in a quick matter of fact way with a pause in between but no emphasise on any part of the sentence. you do get used to it after a while, or maybe he gets better over time but it still comes in way short of what other narrators on audible manage.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Killed By Narrator.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

In printed format, Yes, I would recommend this and the other books in the series. In Audio format, NO. Not unless they re-recored them with a different, more capable narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It has been decades since I read these books, and I didn't listen long enough to this audio version, to either make a decision, or remember any of the characters from the books.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of John Lee?

Andrew Wincott. Rupert Degas. Simon Vance. There are many good narrators out there. In my opinion Mr Lee isn't one of them..

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Not sure. It would depend on the cast.

Any additional comments?

This is just one more of my favorite books tortured to death by an awful narrator. Its depressing to think of all the books I would have loved to listen to, that I just can't stand to hear, thanks to the wrong people reading them. I've already tried and returned the first three books of the Shannara Series, as they too were ruined by another poor narrator.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Who chose this narrator?

I've read all the Shannara books & I'm not revisiting on audible.

The story is great but the narration is terrible. The brisk & halting narration style is very irritating & the voices chosen for characters don't seem to match, everyone sounds the same. I'm at a loss to understand how he got the gig.

Disappointing. I'm not even sure I can finish the first chapter. Do yourself a favour by listening to a sample before you purchase, I'll not make the same mistake again. He has completely ruined it for me.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Killed by the narration

The narrators choice of style retelling the story of this great book just murders it.

I

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good listen

Really enjoyed this audible book, I've read all the Shannara books and have been slowly making my way through the audible versions.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The voice guy 😆

I have read all of the shannara books and hold them all highly in the high fantasy genre. So I decided to listen to them this being the first one with John lee. Well wow I love his distinct short and clip sentences. It will not be for everyone but it definitely works for me. Loved every minute. Well done

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Who signs off on these narrator’s?

I’ve read the Shannara books before and really enjoyed them all, and I thought it’d be nice to revisit them on here. But this narrator has all the charisma of a week old mouldy teabag! This guy has managed to remove all danger and emotion from this book, and nearly put me to sleep in the process. There are only about three character voices, and all of them sound like parodies of captain James. T. Kirk! “You…must go…and …find….the sword….of shannara “ . Kate reading used to be my least favourite narrator ( when I first heard her in the storm light saga, I redownloaded the audio book as she sounded like the iPhone Siri, and I thought the file was corrupted 😅😂) but now this guy is, by quite some way! Unfortunately I’ve still got 6 hours to get through… happy days….

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good story ruined by the narrator.

My title says it all but I will detail it a little more.

The narrator has a voice perfectly suited for reading historical works but he is not suited to this type of fiction. He speaks with a strange cadence and ends sentences in an oddly clipped way. I would absolutely love to hear him narrate the history of WW1/2 and/or numerous military campaigns. I do not however understand why he was employed to read this work of fantasy fiction.

John Banks or someone like him would have been a superior choice.

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