Customer Reviews

Legends: Stories By The Masters of Modern Fantasy

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I, like another, thought I was purchasing a book with 11 short stories with some of my favorite authors. I was disappointed to find ONLY 4 of the stories in this version. I went awry with the description in the Editorial Review, Amazon.com by Craig Engler, printed in conjunction with this text. Please include more accurate information!

There are 2 versions of this book in paperback. One has 4 stories (which unfortunately I bought by mistake) and the other has all 11 stories. I did enjoy 3 out of the 4 stories in the version I bought especially Stephen Kings and Raymond Feist.

This is a good across the board serious start to short stories. These types of collections are good because they expose people to various authors that they would not have read normally. Thinking back on some of these stories still brings a smile to my face in some instances and a very loud goanb in some others,

The strongest short stories in this colllection are

"The Hedge Knight" by George RR Martian-Its a good story and its nice to read a story by this author where the point of view is not shifting every 5 secounds

"GRINNING MAN" by Orson Scot Card-I probably wouldn't think it was so great if I didn't like "The Tales of Alvin Maker" so much. This tale is also fun too because it centers on Alvin and the antics of one David Crocket King of the Wild Frontier.

These are the two front runers I'll give an honorable mention to the "Gunslinger" short story because it was a good in me keeping my sanity in the long years between "Wizard in Glass" and "Wolves of Challa"

Terry Goodkind's "Debt of Bones" does its job but remember that with all of Goodkind's works it is very discriptive. Just speaking for myselgf wheneever i read one of his works I want to cheer and vomit at the same time.

The only "bad" story in the bunch is Anne McCaffrey's "Runners of Pern" who can you have a Pern story and not even throw in a dragon to keep us interested Mrs. McCaffrey?

Overall-solid and well rounded don't expect the unexpexcted where these authors are concerned.

When i bought this book i thought it would be teriffic. I was not disssopointed. Being fairly new to fantsy books this gave me many new seris to read

What would you expect from 11 short stories from 11 of the best selling famous of modern fantasy writers? The stories are set in the same worlds of the original best selling works. The results are pretty much the same as the originals, in other words best selling quality short novels. If you liked the original you'll enjoy the short story. The stories all add something without being crucial. If you're a fan of any of the authors listed, or just wanted to read something by them then you should check out this book. I give it an A on the StuPage Book Reviews.

Robert Silverberg's idea to collect short stories and novellas from some of this era's most notable and talented Fantasy authors is pure cream-filled joy for fans of the Genre. Despite having read the pertinent series by Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, Terry Goodkind, and Orson Scott Card, this book opened up new worlds to explore and new chapters in some of my favorite series.

My favorites were the ones by King, Williams, Silverberg, Feist, and McCaffrey. I have lost all interest in Terry Goodkind mostly because I find his characters to be wooden and uninteresting, and this story was no more compelling than the last book of his that I read. Goodkind also has a penchant for the "gotcha" ending, something that is frustrating to any reader who struggles to find logical connections between events and character motivation.

The best of this book, however, is The Hedge Knight by George R. R. Martin. I had never heard of Martin when I picked up Legends, and the first thing I did after finishing The Hedge Knight was to go pick up his novel "A Game of Thrones." Thanks to this book, I am now a fan of what may be the best epic fantasy series ever written, and yes, that includes Tolkien, Goodkind, and Jordan. The Hedge Knight is a simple tale of a young man recently knighted trying to make a name for himself in a tournament. The plain and honest style of Martin's prose hooks you in, and suddenly you care very deeply about this hedge knight, Dunk, and what is to become of him as he runs afoul of a vain and dangerous prince. Set approximately 100 years prior to the events that begin in "A Game of Thrones," this tale is a wonderful introduction to Martin's Westeros and the rich mythology and history he has built into it.

I was also intrigued by Feist's The Wood Boy, a tale that, for all it's positioning and setting as a chapter in a tale of strange alien invaders, is about nothing more complex than human nature and the compulsions that make us what we are as a species. Silverberg's Majipoor is also a very intriguing world, and I will be investigating it in the future.

Terry Pratchett's entry is also a key one, showing that not all fantasy need to be deadly serious or take itself very seriously at all. Pratchett almost recalls Douglas Adams' contributions to Science Fiction.

I think most Fantasy fans will be very happy with this book, largely becuase it is not a one-trick pony. There's something in here for every fan of the genre. Are you into fantastic worlds of extremes and mythology? Try Majipoor. Do you like to read tales that chill you and freeze your blood? The little sisters of Eluria are your ticket. Curious about an America that might have been? Orson Scott Card is yor man. Into knights and jousting, intrigue and politics? Martin and Jordan are for you. You can hardly go wrong buying this book, because if even one of the stories catches your interest, there's a new author for you to love. Thank you, Robert Silverberg.

There are many of us who have never read Jordan's "Wheel of Time", who indeed are overawed by the vast mass of his epic work. Herein lies the answer: "New Spring", a single story that can serve as an introduction to the whole of Jordan's world. It is marvelously entertaining in its own right; as well, it contains glimpses of the past and future that no Jordan aficionado should miss.

Within this volume, one can find not one, but eleven novellas by the finest talespinners of our age. Each represents an essential element of one of the world's greatest fantasy series. Were Tolkein alive today, doubtless a tale of Middle-Earth would grace these pages... but surrounded by this awesome store of treasures, his absence can be but scarcely noted.

I have no doubt that this is the finest fantasy anthology yet seen by my generation. Neither the collector nor the serious reader should permit it to pass by.

I would have to say Robert Jordan's submission to Legends is perhaps his best work. This was a short story, about 80 pages. It was almost a completely new writing style. Gone were his repetitive descriptions and explanations. For this story, Jordan assumes the Reader has read the series and creates a much more fast paced and interesting plot. It is also a change to able to finish one of his stories in one day. All of the information remains fresh, I never struggled to remember why something was happening. Additionally the plot was well constructed. Reading about Moraine and Lan while they were younger was quite interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Robert Jordan's writing.

If you're at all a fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time saga (and how could you not be!) then this book is worth the buy for that story alone. It details how Lan and Moiraine first met...awesome. The story is incredibly detailed and the plot doesn't stop twisting until the final sentence is read. Jordan is truly a modern master.
I haven't even read any of the other stories yet but it's got Terry Goodkind, Anne McCaffrey and Stephen King as well as about NINE others. After finishing the Robert Jordan story I immediately hoped on Amazon and bought the other two editions and can't wait to read those!

There are two stories contained within this book that I consider absolute must-reads, and worth the price of the book on their own.

The first is "The Little Sisters of Eluria", which is a Stephen King Dark Tower-based story. I've read the DT books three times each; they're easily my favorite King works, and like many fans, I'm going nuts waiting for the next book. This short story flew completely under my radar, until I accidentally happened across a reference to it on some random site. It's about Roland of Gilead, pre-The Gunslinger.

The second is "Dragonfly", and it is set as in the Earthsea trilogy, which I belive won the Nebula award. This story, and the original trilogy, along with the book IV "Tehanu" which came later, are similar to Harry Potter stories, i.e., about magic & easy reading, but they are much more dark and mature than the Potter books.