The World of Shannara is the companion book to the bestselling Shannara series by Terry Brooks. Written by Brooks and Teresa Patterson and originally released in 2001, the book contained information about the Shannara series up to The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy, which was the newest set of Shannara novels in circulation at the time.
In 2009, an updated version of The World of Shannara was released. This current version includes information from the High Druid of Shannara and Genesis of Shannara trilogies, both of which were written after 2001, and addresses the connection between Shannara and the Word and the Void trilogy.
David Cherry, the original illustrator of the original edition of the book, was joined by Rob Alexander for the 2009 edition; Ann Burgess and James Clouse produced the maps found in both editions of the book.
Synopsis[]
Brooks shares candid views on his creation in this companion book, which is illustrated throughout with full-color paintings and black-and-white drawings. The guide ventures behind the scenes to explore the history, the people, the places, the major events, and the magic of the Shannara series. The book includes such detailed information as an Ohmsford family tree, a complete map of the Four Lands, and details on what happened to certain characters after the events of the books they appeared in had reached their conclusions.
Relationship to the Shannara Canon[]
In the foreword to the original edition of the book, Brooks makes it clear that The World of Shannara is not his creation, stating that when Patterson and Cherry came to him with questions or seeking directions and detail, he chose to give them a lot of freedom and artistic license to do as they wished:
This was going to be their baby, save in the few specific instances where I had very definite ideas, and they were on their own....
Teresa invented much of the background material you will find in this book, using what information I could give her, but calling mostly on her own talent. She devised the backstories of the main characters where they were not fleshed out in the Shannara series. David created artistic renderings of characters, creatures, castles, maps, and floor plans—you name it, he came up with it—all on his own....
I'd like to be able to tell you that I did more work on this book, especially in light of the results. But the truth is that I mostly just answered questions.
— Terry Brooks
Brooks' foreword in the 2009 edition cuts out most of this explanation but still makes it clear that the book is mainly Patterson and Cherry's creation.