by Terry Brooks

Book Two of The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara
1. Ilse Witch
2. Antrax
3. Morgawr

After long break from fantasy books, and pleasure reading in general, one sunny afternoon I felt the urge to read again. Since Terry Brooks has always been a favorite of mine, I picked up Ilse Witch. Let me just say this. “Terry Brooks never fails to deliver.” Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get on with the book, shall we?

Ilse Witch begins with a mystery - Hunter Predd, an outpost Wing Rider, finds a half-dead elf floating in the surf near a small coastal town. On his body is found a indecipherable map as well as a ring belonging to the elvish royal family Elessedil! When all is said and done, the elves realize that, in order to solve this mystery, they must call upon the powers of the Druids - the one in particular that they wish they had nothing to do with. But when Walker Boh arrives on the scene, a bargain is struck that neither party particularly cares for. An expedition must set out to find what happened to the king’s brother, and to find the lost elfstones… and an unknown ancient power. But what of the Ilse Witch? Powerful beyond what anyone expects, she twists the future of the expedition. She longs to take this power for her own - but only so that she can kill the Druid, who she loathes with every pore of her being.

Redden Alt Mer, as a Rover airship captain, particularly stands out as one of the most memorable characters yet created by Brooks. Bek Ohmsford… I mean, ahem, Bek Rowe, is the standard hero of Terry Brooks. Young, unexperienced, with no magic that he knows of, he is called upon by the Druid, without completely understanding why, to join the expedition. Along with him come a tidy assortment of Elves, Rovers, a dwarf, a mysterious shape-shifter, an exiled elven prince, a haunting seer… and one of them is a spy for the Ilse Witch, who follows just out-of-sight with her airship full of cold-blooded Mwellrets.

Brooks portrays political reluctance and decisions with believability and graces his characters with personalities that could very well be seen anywhere today. Don’t think it’s all talk though - we’re talking more action than normal! And Brooks relieves my suspicions that this book is just like his others with his addition of solar-powered airships, bloody civil war, daring villains, and more gruesome battles than ever.

Did I like it? I loved it! Some people may complain that Terry Brooks follows the same pattern in every book, or trilogy. I can’t necessarily disagree with that. It’s true. But he makes it work with his imaginative characters, incredible new lands, and believable personalities. If you like Terry Brooks, you’ll enjoy Ilse Witch.