All I can say is that Terry saved his worst book for last. Having read every one of Terry's books over the years I was totally crestfallen with this meandering, unfocused conclusion to 40 years of excellent story telling. I wish I had avoided this 'conclusion' and held on to the one in my mind....
My hopes were not high because I didn't like the earlier installments of "Fall" - too repetitive of stuff we had already seen, too slow in their pacing, too reminiscent (perhaps intentionally so) of Fred Saberhagen.
But to his credit, Brooks gets back to form in this last book. He obviously couldn't compensate for the weaknesses of the earlier entries in the sequence, and the plot remains quite forgettable - but he rounds up the story well towards the ending. In terms of series nostalgia, he pushes all the buttons, and the ending, which I guess most people will care for, is pretty masterfully told.
I think there are a few missed opportunities within the "Fall" sequence, besides the, overall, rather mediocre story, but those nitpicks are only minor: We don't get to see Shady Vale, again, which would have been nice. Also, to my generation, Walker Boh was everyone's …
My hopes were not high because I didn't like the earlier installments of "Fall" - too repetitive of stuff we had already seen, too slow in their pacing, too reminiscent (perhaps intentionally so) of Fred Saberhagen.
But to his credit, Brooks gets back to form in this last book. He obviously couldn't compensate for the weaknesses of the earlier entries in the sequence, and the plot remains quite forgettable - but he rounds up the story well towards the ending. In terms of series nostalgia, he pushes all the buttons, and the ending, which I guess most people will care for, is pretty masterfully told.
I think there are a few missed opportunities within the "Fall" sequence, besides the, overall, rather mediocre story, but those nitpicks are only minor: We don't get to see Shady Vale, again, which would have been nice. Also, to my generation, Walker Boh was everyone's favorite character. It would have been nice to see him get a nod, especially towards the ending. Or, for that matter, explaining Dar's lineage would have been a thing of beauty, as well - Paxon and Chrysalin were such important characters, they deserved a backdoor epilogue, in my mind.
I would have liked to see a more general epilogue to the Shannara universe - more radical changes of Brooks' world, towards the end, and more references to the series in its entirety. You know, the whole universe and its fictional history coming full circle.
As it is, "Fall" mostly brings "the universe that started with the Grianne novels" full circle. That's a bit of a weakness - but not a big one, as the way Brooks does it has some art to it, especially how he treats Tarsha, Dar, and Leah.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the book, and the ending. I haven't truly liked any of the Shannara books since the "Voyage" series, with the possible exception of "The Darkling Child". I think I might end up liking this one.