Advertisement

Robert Silverberg's Legends II anthology brings together aliens and dragons, magic and time travel, all within the framework of the modern fantasy novel. Legends II, as its 1998 precursor, is an invitation to some of the biggest names in fantasy literature to write novellas in their most famous worlds with an eye to introducing new readers to their works and giving a gift of a new tale to their dedicated readers.

Several of the authors in Legends II also romped through the first anthology, but Silverberg has also invited new authors, sometimes including those who have only appeared on the scene in the last few years, such as Elizabeth Haydon, authors whose fantasy worlds are new, such as Neil Gaiman, or authors who are not known primarily within the fantasy genre, such as Diana Gabaldon.

Many of the fantasy stories also contain elements of science fiction, and so Raymond Feist has the alien Tsurani in "The Messenger," although they play only a minor role, while Anne McCaffrey, who has long maintained that Pern is a science fiction series, introduces that world's first supernatural elements in a tale which is a continuation of her novel Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. Whether time travel (Gabaldon), alternate history (Orson Scott Card), or aliens (Feist), all the science fictional tropes tend to be window dressing for the fantastic elements which appear in the stories.

Feist and Silverberg both introduce new concepts to their worlds, which allows them to provide a good introduction to their works. Feist examines the role of an earl's messenger in the Riftwar while Silverberg travels to the distant past of Majipoor to explore previously only legendary times. Orson Scott Card, on the other hand, has elected to publish "The Yazoo Queen," which is less an introduction to his world as it is specifically a prologue to his novel, The Crystal City.

In much the same way, Gabaldon's story "Lord John and the Succubus" serves not only as an introduction to new readers, but as a link between her long-running Outlander series and her new series which focuses on Lord John Grey. Her story is more successful as an introduction to her world than Card's, however. Silverberg has given his authors the length needed to develop their characters and stories as well as present their background worlds. Although far short of the often bulky novels many of these authors are known for, the stories are long enough for the reader to get immersed in their rich history and enjoy the strangeness and familiarity of their worlds.

While Legends II may not be quite the breakthrough that its predecessor was, it provides introductions to several fantastic worlds and the styles of some of the most important writers in modern fantasy. With luck, readers will discover new worlds to explore and Silverberg will, one day, come out with a third anthology with more worlds to explore.

Steven H Silver is a four-time Hugo Nominee for Best Fan Writer and the editor of the anthologies Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings (DAW Books, January, February and March, 2003). In addition to maintaining several bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven is heavily involved in convention running and publishes the fanzine Argentus.