The Gardens of Life are a fictional location

Fictional location

Fictional locations are places that exist only in fiction and not in reality. Writers may create and describe such places to serve as backdrop for their fictional works. Fictional locations are also created for use as settings in Role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons...

 in the epic fantasy

High fantasy

High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...

 Shannara

Shannara

Shannara is an epic fantasy series of novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and continuing through Bearers of the Black Staff which was released on August 24, 2010, as well as a prequel, First King of Shannara...

series by Terry Brooks

Terry Brooks

Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...

. Being the home of the Ellcrys

Ellcrys

The Ellcrys is a fictional sapient tree with silver bark and crimson leaves that was "created by the bonding of earth and life". She appears in two novels of the Shannara series. She is the magical linchpin of the barrier that keeps the Demons that once overran the Four Lands trapped in an...

, the magical tree that keeps the Demons

Demons (Shannara)

Demons is a common name for many different creatures in the Shannara series of epic fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. The 'true' demons were sealed long ago within an alternate universe, named the Forbidding; this prison is 'maintained' by the Ellcrys, a sacred Elven tree; if she dies, the Forbidding...

 of old locked away in an alternate universe (the Forbidding), it was one of the central locations in The Elfstones of Shannara

The Elfstones of Shannara

The Elfstones of Shannara is an epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. It is the first sequel to The Sword of Shannara and the second book in The Original Shannara Trilogy...

.

Description

The Gardens of Life were surrounded by an "ivy-grown wall" that had a few "arched, wrought iron gateway[s] inlaid with silver scroll and ivory chips". Inside,

Role in The Elfstones of Shannara

The Gardens of Life played a minor role in The Elfstones of Shannara

The Elfstones of Shannara

The Elfstones of Shannara is an epic fantasy novel by Terry Brooks. It is the first sequel to The Sword of Shannara and the second book in The Original Shannara Trilogy...

up until the end of the novel; at the end, the "forces of good" were forced from the bluff where they had been holding the Demons

Demons (Shannara)

Demons is a common name for many different creatures in the Shannara series of epic fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. The 'true' demons were sealed long ago within an alternate universe, named the Forbidding; this prison is 'maintained' by the Ellcrys, a sacred Elven tree; if she dies, the Forbidding...

 for three days. They managed to disengage long enough to retreat back to the Gardens of Life for a last stand

Last stand

Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties or is completely destroyed, as happened in "Custer's Last Stand" at the Battle of Little Big HornBryan Perrett...

 due to an almost total sacrifice by Stee Jans and his Free Corps. The combined armies then managed to hold the Demons off long enough for Amberle Elessedil

Amberle Elessedil

Amberle Elessedil is a fictional character from the epic fantasy novel The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks. She was meant to be the "strong female lead" that was lacking in The Sword of Shannara....

 to return and become the new Ellcrys, therefore shoving the Demons back into the Forbidding.