There are many good books on shade gardening with plenty of inspirational pictures. You can probably also find books about terraced gardens. Is your area all shade, is it deep shade or partial shade?

Are you interested in shrubs, perennials or annuals (or if all 3, what proportions)? Keep in mind that with deep shade, variegated plant foliage can play an important role for you. Also, consider different plant textures - bold hosta leaves juxtaposed with delicate fern foliage, for example. Deep shade provides some challenges if that is what you have, but there are ideas out there.

What direction do the slopes on the terraces face - NESW ? If the face south or west they will get a lot of hot sun and you can grow many of sun-loving plants. If north or east you will need to find shade-loving plants you like. For the terraces themselves plants for partial shade should do well.

My favorite colors in the shade garden are green and white - using both foliage and flowers. (obviously, those aren't the only colors I use there but I try to keep all the colors in the cool end of the particular colors.) I think the green/white combination looks cool and lush. I don't have terraces so I can't help with that but here's one of my favoite views in my shady backyard from late June last summer:
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i liked Ken Druse Book the Natural Shade Garden, its full of really nice photos for inspiration.

Dry shade or wet? Most recommended plant lists I've seen are for wet shade, because that's the easy 'woodland' plants. Dry shade is more difficult, so add that into the equation.

A good book to try is "Making the Most of Shade" by Larry Hodgson. I'm reading it now and am enjoying it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Making the Most of Shade

Well, my little woodland garden is not terraced but we do sit on the side of a hill so our property slopes to the east. I don't think you can see the slope in my photos though b/c the Blue Cohosh is so tall that it hides the slope. Here's a picture I took about a week and a half ago:

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Bloodroot:
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Wild Violets:
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Canadian Ginger:
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False Solomon's Seal:
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Ostrich Fern and Blue Cohosh:
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Royal Fern:
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Virginia Bluebells:
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