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| Home > Media > Books > Raymond E. Feist, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, George R.R. Martin - Legends: Short Novels by the Master of Modern Fantasy |
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Raymond E. Feist, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, George R.R. Martin - Legends: Short Novels by the Master of Modern Fantasy |
Overall Rating: 
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About the Author |
A little bit of this, that and the other!
Written: Sep 03 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Each story is well written with a good variety and excellent foreword.
Cons: Writing styles are very much an acquired taste. Some references lost me
The Bottom Line: A great collection by some great writers.
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| barongreenback's Full Review: Raymond E. Feist, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett,... |
Did you ever have a careers day at school? You know the one, were various professions would come and try and convince you to sign up. “Legends” is very much like a “careers day” in book form. Imagine a group of established fantasy writers coming round to your house and offering you snippets of their most famous works in an attempt to hook you on their world. Of course, if this should also make you go out and buy everything they have written then great!
You see “Legends” is billed as, “Eleven new works by the masters of modern Fantasy” but in reality it is a taster book of short stories. The editor, Robert Silverberg has cleverly assembled a collection of short stories by some of the most powerful fantasy writers alive, George R.R Martin, Robert Jordan and Terry Pratchett to name but three of eleven. Even more impressive is the fact that all the contributions have links to the writers most famous works be it Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series or Pratchett’s “Discworld” series. I consider thia a masterstroke of publishing by both the editor and contributors as fans of a particular series are bound to be drawn to this collection. Indeed, I was captured immediately by the promise of new contributions from Stephen King, Terry Pratchett and George R.R Martin.
However, what is also good about “Legends” (and I suppose another masterstroke by the collaborators) is that you get to enjoy and immerse yourself in new worlds, by new authors whom you may not have otherwise have encountered. This is a book with contributions from all the realms of fantasy. If your particular tastes cover anything from swords and sorcery , parody, political thriller or apocalyptic fiction then there should be something new in here for you. I was particularly taken by the bloody tactical battles of Terry Goodkind’s “Debt of Bones”, a short story set in his world from the “Sword of Truth” series and can see myself purchasing some full-blown novels. This is not to say every one was a winner for me. Some of the short stories were simply not to my personal tastes. For example, I was wholly unimpressed Robert Jordan’s story based on his “Wheel of Time” series.
As I have already mentioned this is a book that offers a bit of everything across the fantasy genre. This is both its biggest draw and its biggest flaw. Although the writing of all the authors is undoubtedly adept for their genre, the style can be a bit of an acquired taste. While I lapped up the silliness of Pratchett’s parodic “The Sea and Little Fishes”, I found Anne Mc Caffrey’s “Pern” overly complex and bogged down in clichéd characterisations. However, the joy of a collection such as this is that none of the offerings are particularly long allowing you to enjoy those that appeal and forget those that do not.
When I started reading “Legends” I did have an initial concern that each tale would be difficult to follow due to the strong links to each authors established series and at times there were some references that lost me. By the same token those that strangers to one of my favourite series Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” may well be left baffled by the numerous “Dark Tower” references in his offering “The Little Sisters of Eluria”. Fortunately, this is minimised by an excellent foreword by Silverberg prior to each tale explaining the events as they unfold in the series. These plot synopsis’s allow the reader to familiarise with the series and enjoy them both as standalone stories or as interesting additions to the series themselves.
Obviously “Legends” is a novel for fans of fantasy fiction although newcomers to the genre may find this a good place to start due to its rather eclectic collection of authors and writings. This makes “Legends” a rather bizarre reading experience as serious stories of political intrigue mix with tales of vampires and village fetes but also allows a new reader to find their niche and explore writers they might otherwise have never uncovered. With eleven offerings from eleven authors there is something for everyone although perhaps the only drawback is that this hardback collection was published in 1998. Not a drawback in itself but some of the stories are now available in other collections which you may already own. For example, I own “Everything’s Eventual” by Stephen King which includes “The Little Sisters of Eluria”.
However, if you do not already own the stories contained in this collection this is well worth hunting down. Unfortunately, buying the complete hardback collection is difficult as it is only available for inflated prices on eBay or in the Amazon marketplace (I was lucky I got mine in a charity shop). You can buy the paperback but it is split into two volumes at £4.79 and £5.59 respectively on amazon.uk. Those prices could be considered extortionate for a book that in hardback totals 591 pages for all eleven stories. However, if you can find yourself a hardback copy it is worth the purchase. Fantasy stories by fantastic writers.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
barongreenback
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Member: Dave
Location: United Kingdom
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 16 members
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