A writer since high school and heavily influenced by William Faulkner, it took Terry Brooks seven years to finish writing The Sword of Shannara, which published in 1977. It became the first work of fiction to ever appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.

He published The Elfstones of Shannara in 1982 and The Wishsong of Shannara in 1985, both bestsellers.

Since that time, he has written numerous novels in the Shannara, Landover, and Word/Void series, including being hand-selected by George Lucas to write the novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.