Reluctant Heroism

One of the main themes of quite a few books, especially fantasy novels, is about normal people being forced into a quest to save others. Typically, this is due to circumstances around their birth or heritage. In Sword of Shannara, the main protagonist, Shea is the only living direct descendant of the famous King of Shannara. If Shea does not find the Sword of Shannara, his family, friends, and entire land will be destroyed.

Numerous other heroes also emerge during the course of the novel because they are helping their family or friends or because they were born and trained to help. Flick, Shea's brother, ends up saving an Elven King and being a hero to the Elven people because he wanted to help his brother. He never had any intentions of "saving the world" but wants to support and protect his family.

Menion Leah, a Prince...