Rapid Reviews - Legends II Anthology

Legends II - Edited by Robert Silverberg (January 2004)

• Robin Hobb: Homecoming from Realm of the Elderlings

  This story grew on me, as I think it was supposed to. The "journal" style can be extremely cool when used effectively, and I think in this case its use was excellent as it showed the progress of the attitudes of the main character better than any other point of view was likely to. I hated the main character at the start, which I think I was supposed to, and grew to like her as the story, and the character, developed in circumstances that can only be described as horrific. I'm not sure I will seek out more from this series, but it was a very interesting story.

• George R R Martin: The Sworn Sword from A Song of Ice And Fire (also in Legends)

  Back to Dunk and Egg, a few years later than the first tale, after they've been traveling a bit. I really like the characters, and definitely wanted to see more of them, so this story was a delight. Dunk's continual development is nice to see, even if we've only got two samples of it in the two Legends stories. And he's an excellent straight man to Egg's trickster-like figure. I still want to see more of these two.

• Orson Scott Card: The Yazoo Queen from The Tales of Alvin Maker (also in Legends)

  I didn't like the first Alvin Maker tale I read, from the first anthology. This one was much more to my liking, perhaps because it touched on more serious topics and showed a little more of both Alvin and his apprentice. This one alone is enough to make me curious to seek out the Alvin Maker books at some point.

• Diana Gabaldon: Lord John and the Succubus from Outlander

  I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, as this story sprang out of a time-travel series. Thus the resolution was a bit unexpected and quite a ride for me. I liked the whole tale and might just have to seek out the original stories that this guy came from.

• Robert Silverberg: The Book of Changes from Majipoor (also in Legends)

  Majipoor is a place of thinking. Yeah, there's quite a bit of action there, but there's a lot of thought poured into what Majipoor is and what it ought to be. This is a heavy thinking tale, and a story about how the creative process works in some people. Being a bit of a writer myself once, I recognized what the main character went through to some degree. To some tiny degree. Ah well, it was interesting, at least.

• Tad Williams: The Happiest Dead Boy in the World from Otherland

  Wow, this is a fascinating world introduced in this story. However, as I read the story, I wondered if there was any point in going back and reading the original series. It seemed like too much about the whole storyline was given away, both in the introduction and in the story itself. I had the same problem with the Majipoor trilogy, in that "The Seventh Shrine" gave away the very ending of the story. So I'm not entirely sure if this story makes me inclined to read the originals. That's the problem with setting a short story after the originals.

• Anne McCaffrey: Beyond Between from Pern (also in Legends)

  Is this the first ever Pern ghost story? On a world that seems rather devoid of horror stories, this one story adds a whole new dimension. And fixes a continuity problem that I've wondered about for a long time. And one that I didn't wonder about for as long. It was like a piece of a tapestry is now showing that I didn't quite realize had been missing. Very nice.

• Raymond E Feist: The Messenger from The Riftwar (also in Legends)

  Ah yes, a nice, short coming-of-age story set in the midst of a strange war. I think I'm beginning to warm up to Riftwar, and this story (ironically enough) started the thaw. I may have to check these books out after all!

• Elizabeth Haydon: Threshold from The Symphony of Ages

  Terribly depressing story about a group of doomed people. Even the moments I hoped would lead to something positive ended up being slightly more depressing. The world seems like a world of magic, but almost everything in this story was very down-to-earth. Almost. I doubt I'll seek out the series on the strength of this story alone.

• Neil Gaiman: The Monarch of the Glen from American Gods

  I have an idea what this is about after reading it, but not enough to form a full opinion... just enough to want to read a lot more. What amazed me about this story was how much I understood from my own knowledge of mythology, and how much I learned from the story itself. If the whole book American Gods is like this, it might just be one incredible read.

• Terry Brooks: Indomitable from Shannara

  I've read the Shannara books. The original three, at least. A long time ago. But I remember nothing about them. None of this is familiar in the least. It's like I never read them at all. The result was initial confusion, as I kept thinking I should remember the characters, then resignation, then I actually got down to enjoying the story. It moved a little slowly for me, like the pace just needed to be pumped up one notch for me to really like it, but overall it was a strong tale.

So that's it. Another eleven tales from eleven masters of fiction, five of them returning to the same universe as in the first Legends Anthology, and one writer visiting another creation. While the quality of the stories was mixed, overall it was very strong, making this yet another book well worth getting. Each story did its job in introducing readers to it's parent universe, or at the very least the writing style of its author. As I've been heard to say, a bargain at twice the price. And so this collection also gets a solid four and a half starfish from me.