So while I bought this book mostly to read Martin, I have to say that I agree with the Publisher's Weekly review that the overwhelmingly best story in the book belongs to Elizabeth Haydon, whose fantasy series, the Symphony of Ages, is probably the youngest kid on this block. Her story absolutely blew me away; I never expected to meet, fall in love with and mourn the passing of five characters in the confines of a single novella, but I did. Her description is absolutely the best I've read, and from this story alone I will be buying any and all books she puts out from her on. If you had told me yesterday there was a better writer in the fantasy field than George Martin, I would have laughed. Now I agree.

Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, Tad Williams and Orson Scott Card also produced tales that made me feel I had gotten my money's worth. So I guess it's stingy to whine about the authors in this anthology who made me skip through their stories or bored me to tears. But I'm going to whine anyway.

First, Anne McCaffrey and Diana Gabaldon had no business being in this book. McCaffrey is writing almost everything including her grocery lists by proxy these days, and it shows. She may very well have at one point been a master of this genre, but her time has passed, and she is embarrassing herself. Diana Gabaldon is a romance author, and writes like one. She may be a master of THAT genre, but in epic fantasy/sci-fi she is unknown, and it's an insult to pretend that this is a series that belongs among the others in the book.

Next, Robert Silverberg, Terry Brooks, and Raymond Feist's stories all gasped for wind.

I wish Ursula LeGuin and Robert Jordan, both of whom originally promised to contribute to be in the volume, had made good on those promises. It would have been as stellar a book as the first one if they did. All in all, however, with Martin and Haydon in the same volume, it was more than worth the cover price.


Legends is one of the best fantasy collections   January 31, 2004
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

In 1998 Robert Silverberg edited a collection of fantasy stories titled "Legends". That collection included stories by some of the best and most popular fantasy authors of the time (Robert Jordan, Raymond Feist, Stephen King, George Martin, etc). It was one of the best collections I had read, and allowed me to revisit some familiar worlds and discover some brand new ones. Legends II is the second collection by Robert Silverberg and it is just as good as the first collection. There are some authors that did not return for this collection (Robert Jordan, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett), some that returned (Raymond Feist, George Martin, Robert Silverberg, Anne McCaffrey), and some that are making their first appearance in Legends (Terry Brooks, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Haydon). These stories are all mostly of high quality, and if you are looking for an excellent sampling of talented and popular fantasy authors, this is the volume for you.

What I like best about the Legends collections is that they give me the chance to revisit some of my favorite authors and see their worlds from a different perspective than that which is presented in their novels. Raymond Feist returns to Midkemia with a story set during the Riftwar. "The Messenger" is a story of the messengers who bring the military orders from one commander to another, risking their lives in the process. Some minor characters from the novels make an appearance, and some major ones are mentioned, and though this has a simple storyline, this is a well told story. George Martin continues the story of Dunk and Egg that he began in the first Legends. "The Sworn Sword" is one of my favorite stories in the collection and it is set approximately a hundred years before "A Game of Thrones". I haven't read one of Orson Scott Card's "Alvin Maker" novels in years, but I have thoroughly enjoyed both of the Alvin Maker stories that have been in the Legends collections. "The Yazoo Queen" continues the story of Alvin, and this time mixes in characters like Abraham Lincoln and Jim Bowie (yes, it is appropriate to the story, and yes, it does work). Reading "The Yazoo Queen" makes me want to go back and start reading the series anew.

I was surprised by the appearance of Neil Gaiman in this collection, but I can't say that I am disappointed. He takes the character of Shadow, from "American Gods" and tells a story that occurs two years after that novel. "The Monarch of the Glen" is set in Scotland, and while this isn't my favorite of the collection, it was a nice interlude until we get the sequel to "American Gods." Robin Hobb's story is set in the world of the Liveship Traders (more so than the regions of the Farseer). As I have not read the Liveship trilogy, I don't really know how that story connects to the main series, but Hobb's talent is undeniable. "Homecoming" is written as if it was the travel journal of a passenger on a boat who initially thinks that they are on a ship to help set up a colony of the Cursed Shores, but as the story continues, she discovers more about why she is there and then what this new land is like. The story that I was most looking forward to in this collection was "Indomitable", by Terry Brooks. Set two years after "The Wishsong of Shannara", this story follows Jair Ohmsford after he is visited by Kimber Boh telling him that Cogline believes that Brin somehow missed a page when she destroyed the Ildatch. While it was very nice to return to these characters, this story ended up being a little bit of a let down and anti-climactic (despite the action packed ending). I've always been a big fan of Shannara, but somehow this story felt rushed.

There are also several authors whom I had heard of, but had not yet read any of their work. I'll start with the editor of this collection, Robert Silverberg. He returns to the world of Majipoor with "The Book of Changes". This story is set in the early history of the gigantic world of Majipoor. I don't know how this relates to the series as a whole, and while it did not make me want to rush out and start reading the Majipoor novels, if I ever start to run low on new fantasy novels to read, I may give Majipoor a chance. This is also the first time I have read anything by Elizabeth Haydon and her "Symphony of Ages" series. This story is one of the best of the collection and focuses on the destruction of Serendair and the men who were the last defenders of the city. I'm sure this ties in somehow into the larger series, and this story is good enough that "Rhapsody" will be placed on my future reading list. Tad Williams also makes an appearance in this collection, telling a story of "Otherland". "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World" is a story of Orlando Gardiner who had died of a debilitating illness but is able to live on in the Otherland computer simulated worlds. Since I have not read the Otherland novels, I don't know if knowing that Orlando died spoils anything or not. I thought the ideas presented in this story were fascinating, and I am definitely going to read "Otherland" now.

This leaves me with two stories left unmentioned. I saved them for last simply because I thought they were rather bad, though for different reasons. The first is by Diana Gabaldon. Her story of "Lord John and the Succubus" did absolutely nothing for me, except bore me. I was not able to get interested in any of the characters of this story, nor did I care what happened. I've not read any of Gabaldon's novels, but then I have not read Tad Williams or Elizabeth Haydon before, either. This story just did not work for me. The last story to mention is by Anne McCaffrey and is set on the world of Pern. The Pern novels have long been some of my favorites, which is why I hate to say that this wasn't a good story. "Beyond Between" tells of what happens when a dragon (and rider) go Between, but never return. "Between" is that place where the dragon goes while it is teleporting from location to location. It is icy cold, and it is death when the dragon fails to return. While, I suppose I have always been interested in what happens Between, I've never wanted a story about it. I'm not even sure the story should have been told as some things are best left to the reader's imagination. The other problem with this story is who it is about: Moreta. Readers of the Pern series will know that Moreta was a legendary Queen Rider who died when she exhausted herself and the dragon so much trying to deliver medicine to halt a plague that she failed to return from Between. Her death was a huge sacrifice and a powerful moment in that novel (as well as Pern's history, as a song was made of it). This story nullifies that power and that sacrifice and removes the importance of the event because it changes how we view what happened. As she is already dead, a story of Moreta's further adventures was simply disappointing both as a Pern story, as well as just being a story that was not terribly interesting despite my love of Pern.

With the exceptions of the two stories which I did not like, this was a fantastic collection and if anyone is looking for a new fantasy author to read and doesn't want to experiment with an entire novel, this collection is the place to look. I can only hope that Robert Silverberg will edit another Legends collection.


Legends II   February 3, 2004
 5 out of 9 found this review helpful

Here's a caveat: I only read about half of the stories in this anthology, because only about half of the authors do work that interests me. I don't know exactly why the "masters of modern fantasy" couldn't include CJ Cherryh, or Tanith Lee, or Mary Gentle, or Ellen Kushner, or Chaz Brenchley. But apparently they don't.

Quibbles with the selection process aside:

I liked Robin Hobb's Rain Wild story. Though it doesn't reveal anything readers of the novels won't know, it is a strong character-driven work with plenty of tension.

I was a bit disappointed in George Martin's Ice & Fire story. It is well-written, but it doesn't attain the level of grimth his work often does. (Though there is a very cool fight scene.) The twist ending happens a bit too fast and wraps things up a bit too neatly for me.

Diana Gabaldon's Lord John story also disappointed me a bit, for three reasons: no actual speculative element; a somewhat confused plot that feels not quite put together yet; and NO romance, despite tantalizing hints. Unfair! Still, it's an interesting time period and a character with a lot of potential. I didn't know about the novel and I mean to go read it now.

Don't read Anne McCaffrey's Moreta story. That's all I can say. It totally spoils the tragedy of the novel Moreta, it has several internal inconsistencies, and it lacks tension. I'd reread the novel instead.

Neil Gaiman's Shadow story is very good -- in fact I think I liked it better than I did American Gods. It's atmospheric and skillfully written. I wanted to know more about the significance of the ritual, and more about what the freeing of the gods would mean, but it's still a good one.


Spotty "Legends"   September 1, 2004
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Robert Silverberg delighted fantasy fans with the "Legends" anthology, containing solid novellas by everyone from Stephen King to Ursula Le Guin. But there are only so many good fantasy series out there, and the sequel anthology "Legends II" has a deadweight of tepid stories.

Silverberg himself contributes a story in his classic Mahjipoor series, an eerie tale of Mahjipoor's early history; George Martin provides a solid prequel for his dark epic Song of Fire and Ice series, while Tad Williams gives an insight into the post-death activities of a supporting character from the Otherland series, complete with a funny Tolkien homage ("Fare thee well also, Tharagorn, Cuddler of Elves"), and Terry Brooks gives an enticing if rushed epilogue to "Wishsong of Shannara." And Neil Gaiman provides a short-ish sequel featuring the hero of his "American Gods" book, an eerie dark gem.

Unfortunately, there are some very sketchy choices to round off the volume. Elizabeth Haydon's cataclysmic novella is bogged down by her overdramatic writing and overemotional characters. Anne McCaffrey's story is weirdly anticlimactic, as if she changed her mind what she wanted to happen in the "Moreta" book. And what is Diana Gabaldon's bizarre "Lord John and the Succubus" doing in this? It's more historical romance than fantasy.

The problem with "Legends II" is that it feels cobbled together, as if Silverberg chose whichever bestselling fantasies he could find (short of the "Harry Potter" series), and ignored the quality. At least it includes a wide range of fantasy. There's historical fantasy (Orson Scott Card's alternate US), sci-fantasy (Tad Williams), and dark fantasy that verges on horror (Neil Gaiman).

Perhaps a few of these stories were last-minute additions, since apparently a couple of authors pulled out. As it is, it feels rushed -- there's little of the gut-wrenching horror of King's novella, or the minimalist splendor of Le Guin's story. The overall collection feels, in a word, bland, despite some fairly good offerings.

"Legends II" fails to live up to the promise of its predessor, but it would have been a solid anthology if a few of the novellas were trimmed away. But parts of it are still deserving of a second or even third look.


Mostly the masters   March 20, 2004
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

One reviewer asked why various authors including Mary Gentle and C J Cherryh were not included in this book of master of fantasy. I agree that they should not have been. The people listed here write fantasy for the most part, not science fiction or horror, and are for the most part better and certainly more popular authors than those. The only possible exceptions I see is Silverberg, who writes Sci Fi but is definitely a master of it, McCaffrey, who has lost her touch in a big way, and Gabaldon, who writes romance and should have been left off the roster altogether.

It's always wonderful to read Orson Scott Card when he writes the Alvin Maker stories. George Martin has a style that transcends much of the genre. I am really sorry that Stephen King didn't do another Dark Tower tale, as that is probably my favorite from the last book. Robin Hobb did a credible job, and Elizabeth Haydon was by far the hands down winner of this collection.

These definitely are the masters, if you can overlook a few of them. I recommend it as a great read if you are into series fantasy. If you aren't, you may still find it entertaining, but you have to really follow the series to get the ultimate enjoyment out of seeing these side tales.