I found the "Magic Kingdom for Sale" books considerably less unbearable than Shannara -- not that they were in any way GOOD, mind you: the characters are still just as cardboard, the prose is still just as clunky, the setting and plots just as generic and predictable. But they at least don't involve EVERY SINGLE PAGE having things in it that scream "I am not even bothering to try to file off the serial numbers from Tolkien, I'm just covering everything up with hastily-applied Post-It Notes and a little duct tape!".