The plot is divided between four elements; Pen's quest, the machinations of evil Druid Shadea a'Ru, Grianne Ohmsford's struggle to survive inside the Forbidding, and the decades old conflict between the Federation and Free-Born. The stalled war is where Brooks diverts most noticeably from his fantasy roots, by allowing characters to develop what is essentially a laser cannon. This devastating technological advantage is given no counter, and feels awkward. Elves and lasers are not a comfortable mix. Yet the scenes in which Shannara's first weapon of mass destruction is developed and used are written with panache, and do add to the plot. Which is more than can be said for Tagwen, the former assistant to the Ard Rhys, who spends the entire book doing nothing much. He seems to be there because quest parties always include a dwarf. By far the best elements of the quest, for my money, are the Rover girl Cinnaminson, and the assassin Aphasia Wye. Cinnaminson is the Geordie La Forge of Shannara; a blind pilot of an airship, gifted with psychic sight. Aphasia Wye is the bestial, almost unkillable assassin, sent after Pen by Shadea a'Ru. It is with these two that Brooks lands a smack to the face, by strongly suggesting sexual abuse of the blind girl. Like the laser, this was not what I'd expected, but it did have the presumably desired effect of making me care. Grianne Ohmsford finally puts in an appearance after something over a hundred pages of story, and almost immediately gets into big trouble with a demon. There's also welcome development of the character Weka Dart, from Jarka Ruus, a lying little git who comes across as Gollum on amphetamines. Meanwhile, at Paranor, Shadea a'Ru is finding out that being Ard Rhys is not all she had imagined. In fact, she's beginning to regret ever taking control. While working to defeat any rebellion among the Druid factions, she is oblivious to the real threat which comes in the form of the Moric. This is a creature released from the Forbidding in exchange for Grianne Ohmsford. The Moric prefers to sleep in sewage, and goes around wearing a skinned human, as it works to further its master's grand plan to break the Forbidding wide open.

The Tanequil itself, as readers of the previous book will know, is an enormous sentient tree. It is located in a remote area known as the Inkrim, a splendid invention said to be as old as Faerie. Pen Ohmsford must first reach the tree, then persuade it to give up one of its limbs, to be made into a Darkwand. The Darkwand is the tool to open a portal into the Forbidding, for just one person. This is what feels a little shaky, as by the end of this book Pen is positioned as the reluctant hero, but had not convinced me as a character. Plainly put, he's less interesting than most of those around him. In particular, Cinnaminson, who has real potential. Brooks sidelines her character in a way that I found particularly annoying, perhaps because he also realised his supporting cast were outshining the lead. This is the biggest flaw of Tanequil, alongside a few badly telegraphed plot twists, and the author's insistence on homogenising the various races. In the world of Shannara Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and so on are not in and of themselves magical beings. They appear as merely divergent racial types from the human standard. The worst offenders are the Gnome Hunters, who are supposed to be a threatening force, the SAS of Paranor, but are hampered by their image. Gnomes, as most people know them, are cute little blokes that sit around fishponds with their rods extended. Only the Rock Trolls stand out as clearly being something other than large men. But, these issues aside, Terry Brooks is on entertaining form with the High Druid trilogy, and I have faith that the final book will provide a satisfying blend of climax and cleverness.