Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King by Robert SilverbergMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King bounds together short stories from five bestselling authors in fantasy in one-half of a follow up volume to the first Legends anthology. Edited by Robert Silverberg, this collection sees returning authors such as George R.R. Martin and Orson Scott Card with newcomers Terry Brooks, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Haydon. All are connected to the author’s best known established universe; however the success of each story is how the reader quickly understands the universe connected to it.
The first three stories in this volume are the best of the five, whether stand alone or part of a prequel sequence, they’re success was on how minimal the reader needed to be knowledge about the author’s established universe regardless of how long their story was. The last two stories while okay-to-good suffered from the reader trying to comprehend some aspect of the established world or in the case of one story having no clue about the importance of anything given that the story was an epilogue of an entire series.
The fact that the two weakest stories of the collection finish off the book gives the overall volume a bad rap when finishing it, however the first three stories make this collection for any first-time readers of their authors. For long-time or experiences readers of any or all of these authors, these stories will be well worth the read.
Individual Story Ratings
A Song of Ice and Fire: The Sworn Sword by George R.R. Martin (4.5/5)
Tales of Alvin Maker: The Yazoo Queen by Orson Scott Card (4/5)
Outlander: Lord John and the Succubus by Diana Gabaldon (4/5)
The Symphony of Ages: Threshold by Elizabeth Haydon (3.5/5)
Shannara: Indomitable by Terry Brooks (2.5/5)
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