Dear Readers,

Every so often in this business, you have to try something different. Artistic growth requires it, and if you are lucky enough to have a series like SHANNARA working for you, your readers require it, too. So in a couple of weeks, Del Rey Books will release DARK WRAITH OF SHANNARA, an original graphic novel set in the SHANNARA world.

The decision to adapt SHANNARA to a graphic novel format was not arrived at easily. As you probably know, I am very protective of my work and have only allowed a few adaptations of the book form over the years. But with the surge in popularity of manga, comics and graphic novels, both original and adaptations, it was clear even to me that if ever the time was right to expand the SHANNARA world into a new format, this was it. Del Rey suggested the idea a couple years ago, and after thinking it through a bit, I agreed to give it a try. Visual media can do some amazing things with storytelling, expanding beyond what books allow. While I would never stop writing in the SHANNARA series, this doesn't mean that there aren't new and different formats to consider for certain stories.

That was true with DARK WRAITH. I had not intended to write anything more about Jair and Brin Ohmsford after doing the novella "Indomitable" for Legends II. But when confronted with the task of finding a place to start with an original storyline for the graphic novel, the characters immediately suggested themselves as candidates. There was never a complete resolution of the lives of the Ohmsford siblings, and it seemed to me I hadn't quite finished with Garet Jax, the Weapons Master, either. What happened after Wishsong and then Indomitable? Jair's magic had mutated, but where was it going and how would it effect his life?

Creating the story was much easier than I had hoped. Writer Robert Napton and artist Edwin David were familiar enough with the SHANNARA saga that once they had the plot and character descriptions written out they didn't need much further help from me. My own reservations disappeared sometime during the rough draft process, and the finished book makes the whole story come alive.

I think you might enjoy this. Please let me know.

Best Wishes,