In the fantasy country of Four Lands, good battles evil amid gnomes, warlocks, trolls, dwarfs and elves. The hero is a Druid magician who must find a magic jewel so the elves can defeat the warlocks.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
 
For five hundred years, the survivors of the Great Wars lived peacefully in a valley sanctuary shielded by powerful magic from the dangerous outside world. But the enchanted barriers have crumbled, and the threat of annihilation looms large once more. As he lay dying, Sider Ament, bearer of the last black staff and protector of the valley, gave stewardship of the powerful talisman to the young...

"The first book of the triumphant and epic four-part conclusion to the Shannara series...The Four Lands has been at peace for generations, but now a mysterious army of invaders is cutting a bloody swathe across a remote region of the land. No one knows who they are, where they come from, or what they are after--and most seem content to ignore these disturbing events. The only people who sense a greater, growing threat and wish to uncover the truth...

"Since the death of the Druid Allanon, the Four Lands have changed profoundly, with magic strictly forbidden in the Southland, now under totalitarian rule. Yet Par still has some power of the Wishsong. When he accidentally brings a mythic horror to life, a man calling himself Cogline drives it away. Cogline brings a message from Allanon: venture to the dread Hadeshorn, along with the other Scions of Shannara. For in the future, all life in the Four...

In a devastated world in which only a few imbued with magical gifts stand against the forces of evil, one hero flees Seattle with a group of orphaned street kids, while another leads a group to the Oregon wilderness to meet the long-hidden Elves of Cintra.

"Paxon Leah never thought of the old family sword hanging above his living room hearth as anything other than an intriguing ornament...until his sister is kidnapped by a sorcerer. Following the dark mage with nothing but this piece of steel to protect him, Paxon stumbles into a plot to overthow the Druids and remake the world...and accidentally unlocks the powers of the ancient blade. Now, he must learn to master the sword's power in order to protect...

The mysterious, magic-wielding Druid order has existed for long ages, battling any evil that threatens the Four Lands -- and struggling to be understood and accepted by outsiders. Their hopes of building goodwill are dashed when a demon's murderous rampage at a peace summit leaves their political opponents dead -- casting new suspicions upon the Druids and forcing them to flee. Paxon Leah, the order's appointed protector, knows that blame lies with...

"After The Black Elfstone and The Skaar Invasion comes the next chapter in the Fall of Shannara, a saga more than four decades in the making. The Skaar have arrived in the Four Lands, determined to stop at nothing less than all-out conquest. They badly need a new home, but peaceful coexistence is not a concept they have ever understood. An advance force under the command of the mercurial princess Ajin has already established a foothold, but now the...

For centuries the Four Lands have been protected by magic-enhanced borders from the dark dimension known as the Forbidding and the profound evil imprisoned there. But now the unthinkable is happening: The barriers have begun to erode, and generations of bloodthirsty, monstrous creatures are poised to spill forth. Young Elf Arling Elessedil possesses the enchanted means to close the breach. But Arling has fallen into the hands of the Federation's diabolical...