Point of View

THE SWORD OF SHANNARA is written in the third person. This enables the reader to know what each character is thinking and feeling and to see the characters change throughout the novel.

For instance, Shea goes from a quiet, isolationist to someone more involved in others' lives. He learns to accept his own weaknesses and see his own worth. This viewpoint also allows information about the past as well as the present to be understood easily, either as dialogue or as stories. Locations can be described without resorting to characters expounding about a place. Being omniscient makes it much easier to understand events such as the defense of Tyrsis. If the reader had only one person's view, the battle would not have been nearly as interesting.

One lack in the novel is the inadequate description of Brona and his minions' motives and feelings. Sure, Brona is...