Warner Bros. buys "Shannara" books

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Warner Bros. Pictures is bringing Terry Brooks' "Shannara" fantasy book series to the big screen.

The studio has picked up the rights to the series. Blending technology and magic, the stories take place in a world decimated by apocalyptic battles, with mankind splitting into races of trolls, gnomes, dwarves and men, and elves coming out of hiding. Against the skeletal remains of skyscrapers and subways, the survivors use magic to practice politics and wage war.

The first book, "The Sword of Shannara," was published by Random House in 1977. Written by Brooks to stave off the boredom he faced in law school, it was the first fantasy book to reach, and then top, the New York Times best-seller list.

Brooks wrote more than a dozen books in the series, most recently 2005's "Straken." The studio is eyeing the second book, "The Elfstones of Shannara," as the most likely jumping-off point for the film stories. Writers are being sought to adapt the material.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter