Rapid Reviews - Legends Anthology

Legends - Edited by Robert Silverberg (October 1998)

• Stephen King: The Little Sisters of Eluria from The Dark Tower

  I didn't have to read much of this to realize that I didn't like it. I was trying to read the whole anthology cover to cover, and this story quickly derailed that effort. It was like wading through a swamp. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't for me at all. I read the whole thing, I'm not entirely sure why now, and after finishing it decided I'd probably never read another thing by King again. I was also much less certain about reading the rest of the stories by authors unfamiliar to me.

• Terry Pratchett: The Sea and Little Fishes from Discworld

  I'd always heard that Discworld was my kind of fantasy, but never bothered to get into it. I'm lazy that way. This story proved to me that I would enjoy the humor and probably the characters, but aspects of the writing would drive me bonkers. I can't quite put my finger on what irks me, but something in the writing style doesn't appeal to me. It's minor, however. The story was fun, and funny, enough to make minor irritations mean little. I may just have to read Discworld after all.

• Terry Goodkind: Debt of Bones from The Sword of Truth

  I'm a bit of a naive reader, in that I often don't see the obvious coming. At least, that's what I'm told by my more intellectually advanced friends who always say after reading a story like this, "Oh, I saw that one coming!" Whatever. I did not see the ending to this one forming, and I was quite pleased by the surprises. This is another series I'll have to hunt down.

• Orson Scott Card: Grinning Man from Tales of Alvin Maker (returned in Legends II)

  This is not the first story by Card I'd read, but it was one of my least favorites. Yeah, I like folk-talesy stories, but the characters never reached out to me. I didn't like any of them much. It's a tight piece of work, nicely crafted, but too distant for me to enjoy.

• Robert Silverberg: The Seventh Shrine from Majipoor (returned in Legends II)

  Majipoor is clearly a series I'm going to have to read. As a murder mystery this was far from perfect, but as a layered story telling us about a lot of different aspects of a fantasy world, this was great. I'm definitely going to have to read more of this world.

• Ursula K Le Guin: Dragonfly from Earthsea

  I read the Earthsea trilogy in middle school, and Tehanu much later. I was very disappointed with Tehanu for some reason, though I suspect I would get a bit more out of it if I read it now, as an adult. This story was pretty good, right up until the befuddled ending. I'm not sure what Le Guin is trying to say with her story, though I certainly don't deny her the right to say it the way she wants to. She's earned that much, at least. Still, I almost wish I had some footnotes for this one.

• Tad Williams: The Burning Man from Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

  Yow, this is a freaky story. Sad, even melodramatic, from the start. There are some unanswered questions about the world, though, that might drive me to check out the books in the series. When you think about it, that's the ultimate goal of an anthology like this. How does an immortal die? And what's at the top of that tower? Yeah, this one might just go on the reading list.

• George R R Martin: The Hedge Knight from A Song of Ice And Fire (returned in Legends II)

  A sad but strong tale of a young man who takes up his master's sword and becomes a hedge knight, a knight who travels and hires out his services. The characters came to life on the page, at least the main ones, and the ending hit hard. I found that after reading the story I wanted to read more about Dunk and Egg, and maybe more about the world they live in.

• Anne McCaffrey: Runner of Pern from Pern (returned in Legends II)

  This is the only reason I bought this anthology. Yup, I got it for the Pern story. I knew there would be some other good tales, but I was mostly just eager to read another story set on one of my favorite childhood haunts. This story did not disappoint me. I liked the main character, enjoyed the insight to a side of Pern we hadn't seen yet, and was happy with the nice romance tale. But then, McCaffrey's Pern has never let me down yet.

• Raymond E Feist: The Wood Boy from The Riftwar Saga (returned in Legends II)

  A painful little tale of occupation and murder. The narrator is the title character, and his story isn't pleasant but it is compelling. It's a stong little story, but doesn't leave me with any further desire to read more about the world it is set on.

• Robert Jordan: New Spring from The Wheel of Time

  Reading this reminded me why I enjoyed the Wheel of Time books when I first started to read them over a decade ago. Oddly enough, it also reminded me why I stopped reading them. I want to read the end of this story, and part of me doesn't believe it will ever be written... maybe because there isn't an end. In any case, it was an enjoyable story of the first meeting between two of the most important characters in the series. Maybe I'll go back and re-read the books someday. Maybe.

So, that's the lot. Eleven stories from eleven masters of the craft. Not all of them wonderful, but definitely a good collection. I enjoyed it, overall, and felt that I definitely got value for money. For that reason, I bought the second collection, which I'll be reviewing in the (hopefully) near future. In the meantime, despite its flaws, this collection gets a solid four and a half starfish from me.