BOOK REVIEW: Legends 3

If you are a fan of Science Fiction/Fantasy, the name Robert Silverberg may be familiar to you. His Lord Valentine books have been very popular, but he also has been known to edit some terrific anthologies. His three volume set entitled LEGENDS is worthy of your notice.

Each volume consists of three or four short novels which give a microcosmic glimpse into the larger-than-life characters that made writers like Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, George R. R. Martin, etc. famous…in other words, authors who are legends in the world of imaginary writing.

For example, my pick of the series was volume 3 because it contained stories by two of my personal favorite authors, Ursula K. Le Guin and Terry Pratchett, as well as including Robert Jordon and Tad Williams. 

 

Le Guin takes us on a side trip in the land of Earthsea to meet a young woman who wants to learn magic. After a journey of many difficult miles, she arrives at the school to discover that it takes only male students. With some help from several unusual mentors, she discovers that she had her own type of magic that may have descended from the old dragons who had been the ancient rulers of the land.

Terry Pratchett returns us to his Discworld and those lovable witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. The problem arises when Granny decides to be nice to everyone at the yearly fair. It is so out of character for her that the younger witches are intimidated and the older ones believe that she has put a curse on all of them.

I have visited Discworld many times and feel that Granny and Nanny are friends; it was nice to meet up with them again in this short piece. Meeting old friends in familiar places is the main point of LEGENDS.

The second point, and to me as important, was the editor’s Introduction. Robert Silverberg does an excellent job of explaining the importance of Fantasy as an art form. He states, “Fantasy is the oldest branch of imaginative literature – as old as the human imagination itself”. He goes on to cite The Odyssey, Beowulf , and the works of Lewis Carroll and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly.

I have tried to explain to friends and students the difference between Science Fiction and Fantasy; I wish I would have had this work to quote. Both genres give an idea of what the future might hold for us. I have seen many of the “far-fetched” ideas from early works come to be common today. I remember reading about a world where everyone carried around a device playing his personal taste in music, much like he wore his favorite scent. How wonderful that sounded to my teenaged ears. (No pun intended). Look how far that has come.

The difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction is simple to me. Science Fiction involves rockets, robots, space travel, things that are conceptually possible within the framework of scientific law. Fantasy involves pixies, elves, goblins, and things that are purely imaginative. The kicker comes when some of the things we saw as fantasy when H. G. Wells wrote of them become part of our real world. To me, the proper word is “Fantastic” and that covers all of the really great authors in both-or all- categories.

LEGENDS will be more meaningful if you have already visited each author’s world, but it might also be a good way to sample some of the best in the field of Fantasy.