Legends by Robert Silverberg (Editor/Contributor)
Acclaimed writer and editor Robert Silverberg gathered eleven of the finest writers in Fantasy to contribute to this collection of short novels. Each of the writers was asked to write a new story based on one of his or her most famous series.
Stephen King tells a tale of Roland, the Gunslinger, in the world of The Dark Tower, in "The Little Sisters of Eluria."
Terry Pratchett relates an amusing incident in Discworld, of a magical contest and the witch Granny Weatherwax, in "The Sea and Little Fishes"
Terry Goodkind tells of the origin of the Border between realms in the world of The Sword of Truth, in "Debt of Bones."
Orson Scott Card spins a yarn of Alvin and his apprentice from the Tales of Alvin Maker, in "Grinning Man."
Robert Silverberg returns to Majipoor and to Lord Valentine's adventure in an ancient tomb, in "the Seventh Shrine."
Ursual K. Le Guin adds a sequel to her famous books of Earthsea, portraying a woman who wants to learn magic, in "Dragonfly."
Tad Williams tells a dark and enthralling story of a great and haunted castle in the age before Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, in "The Burning Man."
George R.R. Martin sets his piece a generation before his epic, A Song of Ice and Fire, in the adventure of "The Hedge Knight."
Ann McCaffrey, the poet of Pern, returns once again to her world of romance and adventure in "Runner of Pern."
Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga is the setting of the tale of "The Wood Boy."
Robert Jordan, in "New Spring," tells of crucial events in the years leading up to The Wheel of Time, of the meeting of Lan and Moiraine and the beginning of the search for the child who must grow to lead in the Last Battle.
I’m not sure this was the best idea for an anthology. For one, how many people would have read all these series? There is a short synopsis at the beginning of each story, giving the reader at least a little knowledge of its background, but even that isn’t always enough. Also, none of the stories pick up on the major plots of the series. Rather, each story mainly takes place in the same universe, but not with any of the known characters. If there’s some sort of connection, I didn’t pick up on it since it’s been so long since I’ve read any of them.
I had only read the King, Martin, and McCaffrey series. I never cared for KIng’s Dark Tower series, Martin’s still isn’t completed, and McCaffrey’s got too big and cumbersome, so not the best choices.
Still, I gave all the stories a go. The only one I felt compelling enough to create any interest in the original stories was Tad Williams’ The Burning Man, from his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. But the story is set hundreds of years before the other books, and completes Breda’s, the narrator, story. I may read one of his other books, because I did enjoy his writing. So in that regard it was a success. But given the size of the book, a very small one.
Mount TBR 2024 Book Links
Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.
1. Bone Walker (Anasazi Mysteries #3) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
2. Holly by Stephen King
3. Inferno (Inferno#1) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
4. Fallout (Lois Lane #1) by Gwenda Bond
5. The Secret People by John Wyndham
6. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
7. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
8. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
9. Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
10. Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts by Shanna H. Swan, Stacey Colino
11. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
12. Night Songs by Charles L. Grant
13. President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear
14. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
15. Mine by Robert R. McCammon
16. Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt
17. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
18. The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right by Sally Denton
19. The North Woods by Douglass Hoover
20. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
21. Upon Dark Waters by Robert Radcliffe
22. Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar
23. Escape from Hell (Inferno #2) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Jennifer Hanover (Illustrator)
24. Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller
25. The Portent by Marilyn Harris
26. Just After Sunset by Stephen King
27. The Lighthouse Keeper Kindle Edition by Alan K. Baker
28. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson
29. The Road Not Travelled : Alternative Tales of the Wars of the Roses by Joanne R. Larner
30. King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes
31. The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
32. Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques
33. Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde
34. Legends by Robert Silverberg (Editor/Contributor)
JUL - Mine, Again, Honey, Paradise, Still, Club, Train, Legend
Legends by Robert Silverberg (Ed.)