My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The book is part of a trilogy -- The Dark Legacy of Shannara. I have to be honest and say that I have not read the other two books.
The story is all about the weakening of the walls of the Forbidding which is the place where all the dark creatures, the Jarka Ruus, have been trapped by the Ellcrys tree. The tree is dying and is unable to keep the walls of the Forbidding closed. The Shraken Lord, Tael Riverine, is leading an army of demons out of the Forbidding to attack the Four Lands.
Railing is trying to lead a group of men on an airship to find his long lost aunt, Grianne Ohmsford also known as the Ilse Witch. He had been warned by the King of the Silver River, as well as the Grimpond that his quest will not turn out the way he planned. Railing needs to bring back Grianne to fight the Straken Lord in order to free his twin brother Redden who has been captured.
Arling and Aphenglow Elessendil are sisters. Arling has been chosen by the Ellcrys tree to bear her seed as the tree is dying. Arling will have to quicken the seed by taking it to the Bloodfire. She is aided in her quest for the Bloodfire by Aphenglow and their protector Cymrian. However, they are attacked by Federation forces and Arling is taken to Arishaig. She is being held by Edinja Orle who is the Prime Minister of Arishaig.
The book is an okay read. But there are just too many stories running parallel to each other and there are so many characters. Although the story is easy enough to understand even if the reader has not read the earlier books in the trilogy, it will definitely help to read the books in their proper order (which I did not -- stupid me).
I find the story, or should I say stories, predictable. As a matter of fact, I found them rather truncated or somewhat clipped short -- like they should have been longer and contained much more detail. For example, there is a character named Keeton who heads the defenses of Arishaig during an attack. His character just seemed to fall off the radar too quickly with nothing to connect it to any other story or part of the book. It is like he was created just to lengthen the story of the attack on the city.
Witch Wraith is an okay read but it is a book that I definitely will not waste time re-reading. I am still considering whether I will read the other books in the trilogy but I am not that excited to try.
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