Customer Reviews

Legends Vol. 3 (Legends: Stories by the Masters of Fantasy)

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LEGENDS is a wonderful collection of new, short novels that tie into the most established, well-loved fantasy series, written by the premiere authors of the genre. Stephen King leads off with THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA, an ancillary to THE DARK TOWER line. There are prequels and additions to other wonderful series, and seeing some of them, like Ursula LeGuin's EARTHSEA addition and Robert Silverberg's MAJIPOOR, was like having old, dear friends come to visit. Also included are Robert Jordan's prequel to THE WHEEL OF TIME, which gives wonderful insight into the saga for anyone who did not get on board at ground zero, and even for the tried-and-true who did. Also among the winners are novellas by Raymond E. Feist [THE RIFTWAR SAGA], Terry Pratchett [DISCWORLD], Orson Scott Card [TALES OF ALVIN MAKER] Tad Williams [MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN] and George R.R. Martin [A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE]. Silverberg, also the compiling editor of the volume, has managed to coax new work out of the best fantasy writers, though it is not always their best work. I was disappointed primarily with the inclusion of Terry Goodkind's SWORD OF TRUTH offering, which depicts an earlier time in his series but has the same inane dialog and sense of constant, annoying desperation, and Anne McCaffrey's PERN addition, which I wanted to like but didn't. On balance, however, it is a fine collection and a must for every dyed-in-the-wool fantasy buff.