MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles — NYCC 2015 Press Round Tables

December 16, 2015 Jamie Sugah

shannara chronicles

I’m not going to lie to you guys: The Shannara Chronicles is my most-anticipated television premiere of 2016. More than The Magicians. Even more than The 100 returning for season 3. It’s because I started reading Terry Brooks’s Shannara series when I was in high school, and The Elfstones of Shannara – the book on which season 1 of MTV’s new fantasy show is based – is one of my all-time favorite books (period, not just from the series). I am fully preparing to write a Shannara crash-course article telling you all everything you need to know before The Shannara Chronicles premieres on January 5, but until then I suppose I can tell you this much: in a post-apocalyptic future, the world looks very different but is still in danger. Half-Elven Wil must help Elven princess Amberle on a perilous trip in order to save the Ellcrys and stop demons from entering the world again.

I was thrilled to have the chance to speak to the cast and author Terry Brooks at New York Comic Con in October. Cast members Austin Butler (Wil) and Poppy Drayton (Amberle) talked about filming in New Zealand, their character arcs, and in the case of Poppy how to pronounce their characters’ names! (Turns out I’ve been mispronouncing some of these words for half my life! I don’t even know what to do with that information!) And as a huge fan of the books, it was such a pleasure to talk to Terry Brooks. It was an even greater pleasure to learn that I wasn’t completely oblivious not picking up on the post-apocalyptic hints in Elfstones of Shannara (spoiler: it’s because there weren’t any!).

Check out our round table cover of The Shannara Chronicles at NYCC, and make sure you tune in to MTV on January 5th for the series premiere!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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4 thoughts on “MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles — NYCC 2015 Press Round Tables”

  1. Good article. I’m really looking forward to this series. I wonder why they didn’t start with Sword of Shannara but perhaps it was felt it was too similar to Lord of the Rings. I don’t know if I’m getting my series mixed up but I always got the distinct impression that there was some kind of disaster in the distant past (perhaps our own present) and this world evolved from it. I don’t know if it was mentioned in Sword but I’m pretty sure there was strong indications of this happening in one of the books. Anyway can’t wait for Jan. 5.

    1. Terry actually talks about that in the interview! They started with Elfstones instead of Sword because it stands on its own more (Sword is connected to Wishsong). And it was actually revealed a few years ago that the world of Shannara is what happened after the events of his Word & Void series, but he talks about how when he wrote Elfstones, he hadn’t yet decided that. But you’re right, there are hints in some of the books, just not that early in the series.

      1. That’s another series I want to read. I’ve got them but never got around to reading the books. Thinking about it now I think there was hints in Sword and certainly another book down the line. I read Sword back when it was first published and forgot some of the details so it’s time to read it again.

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