Brooks for me is the paragon of made-to-order commercial fiction. He spun a LotR redux with USA Today prose and nary an original idea into a 30+ year career, which he's continuing with yet another Shannara trilogy.
Wired interviewed him this week for their Geeks Guide to the Galaxy podcast. Audio link and write-up here:
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/...-terry-brooks/