Legion [NOOK Book]

Legion is a fantastic short story: part mystery, part psychology

Legion is a fantastic short story: part mystery, part psychology, with plenty of humor and action to keep the pace brisk. The characters are diverse and interesting, the story asks some very deep questions about the nature of thought and belief, and Mr. Leeds and his multiple hallucinations are simply begging for a sequel (or a television series).

However, there are some minor issues that prevent me from giving it the full five stars. In particular, the simple constraints of the length of the book make the plot feel almost rushed, especially towards the end of the story. Many supporting characters are not given more than a page or two of characterization, which leaves them somewhat flat. While this is understandably a result of the short story format, it is somewhat disappointing given Sanderson's incredible epics.

Those minor critiques aside, I would strongly recommend picking up a copy of Legion. It's a great way to spend a few hours, and it may even make you ask some questions about your own reality. I would love to read more adventures in the Legion universe, but hopefully as full-length novels where the fantastic cast of characters Sanderson has created have a chance to truly shine.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Superb concept, in both story and format

Brandon Sanderson has definitely established himself as an idea man in the fantasy/scifi genre. While many lament an "ugh, not yet ANOTHER magic system" from his other works, little do they know that is by design on a grander scale. In this short story, he doesn't fail to disappoint and it's great to see more work outside of his Cosmere.

The idea that there's a man so incredibly smart that his one personality cannot keep track of everything so instead has created a personality, an aspect, representing his varying facets of expertise is well done. It's not completely spelled out and in fact the character himself denies this despite Sanderson leaving some subtle clues that it really is all him, but with limitations such that it makes the reader almost believe that the main character really is just an ordinary guy summoning these aspects to assist him.

In equal part genius is the format. Sanderson is largely known for his sweepingly large epic novels, but it's obvious from this and The Emperor's Soul that despite already having a lifetime's worth of material to write in the form of the Stormlight Archive and the ongoing Mistborn novels, that he's still cranking out ideas. And these short stories are the perfect way to get these ideas out without having to dedicate 250,000+ words to get them out. No, not everything is fleshed out (which I'm sure Sanderson himself would still need to do in a larger volume), but it throws the idea out to the readers to digest and immediately want more.

Personally, I think this story has a great potential to turn into a serial TV show. There's a couple over arcing plots with the superb potential for a weekly episodic plot. And with that, Sanderson could pass the reigns of writing episodes off to others while still staying involved.

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this. I hope he doesn't go epic with it. He's already got that. Let's see something different...

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Cool

I think my insanity makes more sense to me now.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Really good

Really different. Good read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A great quick read! Brandon Sanderson is one of the top 5 authors of fantasy in the world!

If you've never read any of Sanderson's work you should do so immediately! Legion, though a quick read is an awesome novella. I envy those of you who are discovering this or any of his works for the very 1st time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Excellent novella, great new character, very unique and interest

Excellent novella, great new character, very unique and interesting story.  I want to echo what I have seen from others.  The absolute first thing I thought when finishing the book was that it would make an amazing serial TV show.  This character is really well built to be able to write any number of captivating shorter stories.  I don't think a full on epic novel would suit the character really well.  Rather developing his character arc over time, through a number of novellas would be a great way to go. 

Very interesting short

This could be an excellent series of shorts in which we find out something about his mystery woman and he gets closer to finding her in each short.

Anorther Sanderson

A new unique/original story that stands on its own.

Simply brilliant, but anything but simple.

A wonderful read. Hopefully more to follow.

It is a very cool concept

I think it was a neat idea, a man so smart he literally can't handle it, so his mind creates separate personalities that only he can see to take on parts of his knowledge. it definitely left me wanting to see more

Highly recommend, over too quickly

I respect Brandon Sanderson as a writer, and have read most of his non-teen books. I liked this story, it was worth the money, but I wanted more. I hope he makes this an ongoing series because the base idea intrigued me. A new take on the brilliant schizophrenic non bad guy (yet).

More of this please

I really enjoyed this little story and would like to get to know these charactors better. Perhaps a full novel?

GREAT READ

Would love to see Mr Sanderson write more if this

great story, very creative and intelligent hope there is another

great story, very creative and intelligent hope there is another book coming. That leads me to my only complaint it was too short and I am ready for part 2

Excellent quick read

Brandon Sanderson's works IMO are truly great. I am huge fan of everything I've read of his

Very Interesting

Really great little story, I'd be interested to read a full book.

loved every minute of it.

loved every minute of it.

An excellent read!

Brandon Sanderson delivers yet again in this short novella. I prefer longer books and was concerned that the story would not have time to build, climax and deliver a satisfying ending but my fears were unfounded. Sanderson has proved once more that he has earned his place as one of the best!

Interesting main character.

The main character is interesting. This is a good short story but the main character makes me wish that this was more of a novel.

seemed like teen fare

entertaining, but light on the intensity.