In this previous blog, I talked Terry Brooks’s Dark Legacy of Shannara series, one of the main characters, Railing Ohmsford, and my inability to root for him and his quests. At that time, I was about halfway through Book 3 of the series.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished the book and the series. I could say that Railing’s traits changed enough for me to soften my stance on him.
But I won’t.
Without giving away too much of the plot, Railing found who he was looking for… but not what he was looking for. His stubbornness in that quest almost backfired in spectacular and bloody fashion. Even to the last page, he spent almost as much time bemoaning his situation (which was minor, compared to others that survived the series… and there weren’t a lot) as he did actually doing something productive… like, SAVING THE FOUR LANDS FROM AN INVASION TROUBLE.
Railing Ohmsford was a rare character for me: a protagonist that I increasingly had a hard time sympathizing with or rooting for.
The Nexus 