Below is the complete list of Terry Brooks books in order. For each series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Original Shannara Books
Publication Order of Heritage Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Word & Void Books
- Warrior (2018)
Warrior was first published in 2018; within the Word & Void series, it is listed as book #5.
Publication Order of Voyage Of The Jerl Shannara Books
Publication Order of High Druid Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Genesis Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of The First Druids of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Legends Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Dark Legacy Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Paladins Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Defenders Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Fall Of Shannara Books
Publication Order of Shannara Graphic Novels Books
Publication Order of Shannara Companion Books
Publication Order of Viridian Deep Books
Publication Order of Magic Kingdom Of Landover Books
Publication Order of Standalone Books
Publication Order of Short Story Collections Books
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
Publication Order of Legends Books
Publication Order of Star Wars: Movie Novelizations Books
About Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks is an American fantasy novelist whose Shannara books became one of the most commercially influential bodies of epic fantasy published after J.R.R. Tolkien. Across a career approaching five decades, he has written multigenerational fantasy sagas, contemporary supernatural fiction, comic portal fantasy, film novelizations, and reflective nonfiction about the craft and discipline of writing. His work is known for accessible storytelling, clearly defined quests, damaged but resilient heroes, and recurring conflicts between destructive power and the responsibility to preserve a threatened world.
Born in Illinois in 1944, Brooks spent much of his childhood around Sterling’s Sinnissippi Park, a landscape he later transformed into the setting for Running with the Demon. He studied English literature at Hamilton College and earned a law degree from Washington and Lee University. Brooks had been inventing stories since childhood and writing seriously since high school, but his first published novel required years of revision. He spent approximately seven years completing The Sword of Shannara, which appeared in 1977 and became the first work of fiction to reach the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list. It remained there for more than five months.
The Sword of Shannara introduced the Four Lands, a distant future in which the remnants of modern civilization have given way to magic, new races, ancient orders, and recurring struggles over knowledge and power. Brooks continued the story with The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara, then expanded the world through numerous trilogies, quartets, prequels, and later-generation adventures. Rather than following one hero indefinitely, the Shannara saga traces families, druids, kingdoms, and magical traditions across centuries.
His other major fantasy creation is the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. Beginning with Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!, it follows lawyer Ben Holiday after he purchases what appears to be an imaginary kingdom and discovers that ruling it carries genuine political, personal, and magical obligations. The series allows Brooks to use more overt comedy and fairy-tale invention while retaining his interest in reluctant leaders learning that authority demands sacrifice.
The Word and the Void trilogy brought his fiction into contemporary America. Beginning with Running with the Demon, it centers on Nest Freemark and John Ross as they confront supernatural forces threatening humanity’s future. Brooks later connected this conflict to Shannara through the Genesis and Legends books, revealing how environmental collapse, warfare, and demonic influence transformed the modern world into the Four Lands. That connection gave his bibliography an unusually broad chronology extending from recognizable America into a remote fantasy future.
Brooks has also written the Viridian Deep trilogy, the memoir and writing guide Sometimes the Magic Works, and novelizations connected with major films. George Lucas personally selected him to write Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, which became a number-one New York Times bestseller. His screen-related work also includes the novelization of Hook.
His prose favors momentum, emotional clarity, and characters whose moral choices matter more than inherited power alone. Environmental destruction, misuse of technology, political ambition, family legacy, and the uncertain survival of magic recur throughout his fiction. Although the stories often begin with familiar quest structures, their larger interest lies in how victories become history and how later generations inherit both the achievements and failures of earlier heroes.
Brooks announced a semi-retirement after the publication of Galaphile, the opening First Druids of Shannara novel. He remains involved with the continuation of that sequence alongside Delilah S. Dawson, with Brona scheduled as their second collaboration. His bibliography is best understood as several distinct series joined by a consistent belief that fantasy should entertain while confronting characters with the consequences of power, fear, and responsibility.