April 1977 saw publication of The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks.
It was an important book in the fantasy genre, maybe one of the most important. Before The Sword of Shannara, epic/high fantasy did not exist beyond Lord of the Rings. Publishers did not think readers wanted more of what J.R.R. Tolkien offered in his opus. The quest. The dark lord bent on conquering the world. The everyman going up against the gravest of evils. The hero’s journey. The magic. The talismans. The races. All of it.
Those publishers were wrong, of course. But in the mid-1970s, Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn were willing to take a chance. They knew readers wanted more epic/high fantasy. They looked for a great debut novel to launch a new imprint at Random House called Del Rey Books.
It didn’t take long. They found The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks.
Thirty-five years have passed since Sword’s publication. Thirty-five years is an important anniversary. Don’t tell Terry. He’s in denial about the passage of time. Ha! But seriously, this is a significant moment because Sword—whether for good or bad—influenced the genre for decades to come and gave dozens of writers the platform to break into the industry.
In November 2011, Del Rey Books asked me if I’d be interested in contributing annotations to a 35th anniversary hardcover edition of The Sword of Shannara. Terry is in the middle of arguably the busiest writing year of his career and adding one more project—no matter its significance—would put him over the edge for deadlines. Therefore, he suggested I help annotate Sword. I’ve been Terry’s webmaster and continuity editor for almost thirteen years and know his first book better than most. And over the years, I’ve heard him talk about Sword more times than I can remember, and each time I absorb a little tidbit that the fans don’t know.
As of last week, I finished my initial draft of annotations I’ll be contributing. I’ve also asked Terry dozens of written questions in relation to those annotations which should lead to at least 100 additional comments from Terry that the fans will be interested in knowing.
Here is the first, unedited annotation:
Thus begins The Sword of Shannara, which took me more than seven years to write. I drew on inspiration from the European adventure storytellers Sir Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Alexander Dumas, but it was only after reading The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien that I realized the fantasy genre held the grand tapestry I needed to tell the tale of The Sword of Shannara.
More on this throughout the year. I’ll be writing several posts like this one, highlighting the various steps we are taking to publish this book. Next up? Terry and I sit down to edit the first draft and he gives me his annotations.
Here are all of the parts currently published of Creating The Annotated Sword of Shannara:
- Part I – Why I was hired to work on this project!
- Part II – Interviewing Terry at his Oregon home!
- Part III – The final annotations being edited by editor Anne Groell!
- Part IV – Placing the annotations where they belong in the finished book!
Needless to say, it has been a fun project to tackle. The Sword of Shannara is the reason I am able to do what I do for a living. Without Terry and the Del Reys, I would likely be a bio-chemist or a doctor.
And guess what? This is infinitely more enjoyable.
More next month!
Shawn, I am looking forward to reading this volume. Can not wait to see your notes and also Terry’s as to why he wrote what he did and also insights into the characters.
I’m excited for it too, more specifically what Terry has to say about his work with Lester del Rey. I really hope when Terry and I get together next Saturday that we talk a lot about how Lester shaped the book, how it changed, and how powerful a great editor can be.
Sounds like an extremely rewarding and fun project for you Shawn and I’d hesitate to even call it a job! When will the annotated book be on shelves?
A great question Rob, one I don’t know the answer to. I’m sure it will be sometime in October or November of 2012 though. I’ll try to find out and let ya know!
Great timing for a Christmas gift it seems!
[...] talk Terry about the history behind Sword’s publication. As I wrote back in January’s Creating The Annotated Sword of Shannara: Part I article, I was hired by Del Rey Books to do the initial annotations on a 35th Anniversary edition [...]
I have put in my pre-order and cannot wait for this to be released. Storytelling is an important role in my life from the stories I tell friends and children to the way I play my bard in D&D(yes lame I know). And Terry has been a major focusing point in my literary life, Scions was the first book I read and it opened me to a whole new world of reading.
Wow, I always felt that SoS drew not only from Tolkien but Robert Louis Stevenson as well. Especially in the first 50 pages or so. Very cool book. Can’t wait to read it myself. Will “Elfstones” and Wishsong come out in this format as well?