Legion (#1)
Next: Legion: Skin Deep (#2)
Stephen Leeds is perfectly sane. It’s his hallucinations who are mad.
A genius of unrivaled aptitude, Stephen can learn any new skill, vocation, or art in a matter of hours. However, to contain all of this, his mind creates hallucinatory people—Stephen calls them aspects—to hold and manifest the information. Wherever he goes, he is joined by a team of imaginary experts to give advice, interpretation, and explanation. He uses them to solve problems…for a price.
His brain is getting a little crowded, however, and the aspects have a tendency of taking on lives of their own. When a company hires him to recover stolen property—a camera that can allegedly take pictures of the past—Stephen finds himself in an adventure crossing oceans and fighting terrorists. What he discovers may upend the foundation of three major world religions—and, perhaps, give him a vital clue into the true nature of his aspects.
Reviews
“Reality and illusion, sanity and insanity, are but subjective labels in this thought-provoking foray into a world where visions abound like the biblical demons the title evokes.”
“LEGION is a successful novella experiment […] a short, fun read. Sanderson’s experiment with urban fantasy was quite enjoyable, and now I can add a potential Legion sequel to my list of Sanderson works I’m looking forward to.”
“It’s a short read but an excellent one. Hopefully, this will lead to a whole series of Legion stories as there is so much to be mined about this character or is it characters?”SFcrowsnest
“[An] addictive joyride. Its biggest fault: the fun ends too soon […] Adventure, action, mysteries, twists, even love — it’s all here, and crammed into just 88 pages to boot.”Tonawanda News
“LEGION is a quick exciting read. This concept and plot is worthy of many more pages, though, so I sincerely hope that Brandon Sanderson will be writing more stories about Stephen Leeds and his legion.”
“LEGION thus succeeded in being a fantasy story that pushed my sf buttons. It was deliciously odd reading something that felt a little like a contemporary urban fantasy, but had me thinking about all the cool uses of Razon’s invention. It helped that Sanderson’s whip-smart dialogue and fast-moving story never let up. That’s not an easy thing to do when it’s also delivering some fascinating world building and offering up some thought-provoking ideas.”
“They say that good things come in small packages, and in this case they are absolutely right. LEGION is the opening chapter of what could well be Brandon Sanderson’s most fascinating creation yet!”
“It is very readable, quite accessible and no doubt will win Brandon more fans. I read it in a couple of hours and enjoyed it a great deal.”
"Our preference is that they weren't updating or expanding the Adventure Game at all, but that's probably not what we want to tell them. What I envision is that they're taking the current supplements and combining them into omnibuses. Adding "Skaa: Tin & Ash" and "Terris: Wrought of Copper" to the original game book, and combining the Alloy of Law campaign setting with "Alloy of Law: Masks of the Past". I see this as then being a reprint of those items but combined together in the two omnibuses maybe with different covers to distinguish them from the supplements sold separately. Is that what they were planning to do? I would prefer that they don't go further than that, but finding out their exact plans would be helpful. We would prefer if they're not making super-duper fancy versions of the books."Simon R. Green, New York Times bestselling author
“Based on this short teaser novella and Sanderson’s writing talent, Legion could be the starting point for a great contemporary fantasy/crime hybrid.”
“Brandon Sanderson has written a fun, thoughtful, and smart science fiction book […] full of brilliant character interactions and smart plotting.”
“In LEGION, we get the epic feeling that Brandon Sanderson is known for, but in a condensed and focused format. If you are a fan of Sanderson’s work, purchasing this is a no-brainer. It’s worth every penny.”
“LEGION is escapism literature at its finest […] I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in trying sci-fi, time travel, and speculative fiction.”
“[Brandon Sanderson] doesn’t need 1000+ pages to tell a great story, as it turns out he doesn’t even need 100…It’s a very quick read, but it left me very much wanting more.”
“Definitely check this one out […] it’s a good, relaxing, fun evening read with some provocative concepts.”
“LEGION is incredibly brief yet incredibly captivating. Sanderson’s effortless writing shines through even outside his typical genre in a way that you easily forget you’re even reading a book.”Fixed on Fantasy
“LEGION is the kind of story that totally defies genre. It’s simply a fascinating tale with an amazing character that should please anyone who has two spare hours and needs something fun to fill up that time. Don’t let any misconceptions of prejudices of genre writers to allow you to miss this fun little story.”
“In “Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds,” Brandon Sanderson steps away from the massive tomes he’s known for writing and embraces the much smaller novella, offering short, punchy and thoughtful adventures from the life and mind of one of his most brilliant (and maybe craziest) characters […] Quirky characters, thoughtful ideas and action-packed stories make it the perfect binge read for anyone who wants a dash of excitement with a tinge of insanity and introspection in their life.”
“This is an easy read, with lots of witty dialogue and really likeable imaginary characters. It won’t leave you hanging because resolutions are right around the corner. Each novella builds upon the last, making the stakes more dire and morphing Stephen’s worldview along the way. We might even have some revelations about the human psyche in the process.”
“If you enjoy any of Sanderson’s works you’ll love Legion, but if you haven’t had the chance to read any of his works yet this would be an awesome introduction to his style of writing which I hold to be the gold standard of quality.”