Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy

Legends brings together 11 original novellas from major fantasy authors, each set within their established fictional worlds. Editor Robert Silverberg commissioned new works from writers including Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Terry Pratchett, Anne McCaffrey, and others. Each novella allows readers to experience standalone stories in beloved settings like The Wheel of Time, Earthsea, and Discworld. The collection serves as both an introduction to these worlds for new readers and an expansion of familiar territory for existing fans. The format of novellas provides space for substantial character development and plot while remaining more focused than full novels. Authors use this length to explore specific moments, characters, or locations within their larger universes. These stories demonstrate how established fantasy worlds can be vessels for examining human nature, power, and choice through different lenses. The collection showcases the breadth of modern fantasy storytelling while highlighting common threads that run through the genre.

Readers praise this anthology for bringing together multiple fantasy authors' contributions to their established series/worlds. Many note it serves as a good introduction to various fantasy universes without requiring full series commitment. Readers liked: - George R.R. Martin's "The Hedge Knight" story - Robin Hobb's "Homecoming" tale expanding the Rain Wilds lore - Robert Silverberg's curation and author selection - Length of stories allowing deeper world exploration than short stories Common criticisms: - Uneven quality between entries - Some stories require prior knowledge of the authors' worlds - High price for hardcover edition - Several stories later republished separately Ratings: Goodreads: 4.05/5 (13,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (180+ reviews) Multiple readers specifically mention using the anthology to discover new authors, with one Goodreads reviewer noting: "I found three new series to read thanks to this collection."

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🌟 Though published as one volume, Legends contains eleven separate novellas by different fantasy authors, including George R.R. Martin's "The Hedge Knight" - the first ever published Tale of Dunk and Egg from the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. 🌟 Editor Robert Silverberg personally selected each author for the anthology based on their having created a commercially successful and distinctively realized fantasy world - making this collection a showcase of some of fantasy's most beloved universes. 🌟 The anthology includes work from Stephen King set in The Dark Tower universe, marking one of the rare times King contributed to a multi-author collection during that period of his career. 🌟 Terry Pratchett's contribution, "The Sea and Little Fishes," features witch Granny Weatherwax being uncharacteristically nice - which terrifies the other characters more than her usual stern demeanor. 🌟 The book was so successful it spawned two sequels: Legends II (2003) and Legends III (2005), both also edited by Silverberg and featuring similar formats of novellas set in established fantasy worlds.