Long ago, the wars of the ancient Evil had ruined the world and forced mankind to compete with many other races-gnomes, trolls, dwarfs, and elves.

"The first book of the triumphant and epic four-part conclusion to the Shannara series, from one of the all-time masters of fantasy. Across the Four Lands, peace has reigned for generations. But now, in the far north, an unknown enemy is massing. More troubling than the carnage is the strange and wondrous power wielded by the attackers--a breed of magic unfamiliar even to the Druid order. Fearing the worst, the High Druid dispatches a diplomatic party...

Ancient evil threatens the Elves, for the Ellcrys-the tree created by long lost Elven magic is dying, loosing the Spell of Forbiding that bars the hordes of vengeful Demons from the Races of Man.

Wren & her friend Garth must survive the perils of the jungle to find the Elves & then persuade them to return to the environmentally endangered Westlands. "Find the Elves and return them to the world of Men!" the shade of the Druid Allanon had ordered Wren. It was clearly an impossible task. The Elves had been gone from the Westland for more than a hundred years. There was not even a trace of their former city of Arborlon left to mark their passing....

In the three hundred years since the death of the Druid Allanon, the mysterious, evil Shadowen have seized control and are ruining the Four Lands. Using Cogline as messenger, the shade of Allanon summons the four scions of Shannara: Par, Coll, Wren, and Walker Boh. To Walker Boh he gives the duty of restoring the lost Druid's Keep, Paranor. For that, Walker needs the black Elfstone, but his search leads him only to a trap. Meanwhile, the King of the...

The Scions of Shannara--Par Ohmsford, Wren, and Walker Boh--face a horrible fate unless they can complete the dangerous tasks assigned to them by the shade of Allanon and avert a horrifying future.

"In this, the third stand-alone Shannara novel in the Defenders of Shannara series (following The High Druid's Blade and The Darkling Child), the daughter of a reviled sorcerer, Leofur is nothing like her dreaded father. When her life-partner, Paxon Leah, leaves on a dangerous mission, Leofur protects Paxon's sister. When she is abducted Leofur is forced to choose between saving Paxon from a mission gone badly awry, or hiring the services of the best...

With the fall of the last cities, demons and other minions of the dark roam the ravaged landscape of the former United States, while a small band of survivors journeys northward toward a safe haven, led by a boy named Hawk, the legendary gypsy morph.