Brandon Sanderson

Legion

Brandon Sanderson is one of the most significant fantasists to enter the field in a good many years. His ambitious, multi-volume epics and his stellar continuation of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series have earned both critical acclaim and a substantial popular following. In LEGION, a distinctly contemporary novella filled with suspense, humor, and an endless flow of invention, Sanderson reveals a startling new facet of his singular narrative talent. Stephen Leeds, AKA 'Legion', is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialised skills. As the story begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society. The action ranges from the familiar environs of America to the ancient, divided city of Jerusalem. Along the way, Sanderson touches on a formidable assortment of complex questions: the nature of time, the mysteries of the human mind, the potential uses of technology, and the volatile connection between politics and faith. Resonant, intelligent, and thoroughly absorbing, LEGION is a provocative entertainment from a writer of great originality and seemingly limitless gifts.

Sunny

2.5 stars
Okay so everyone should know by now that I would lay my life on the line for Brandon Sanderson. He's my absolute favourite author and I'd like to say this is because the representation he provides (particularly with mental health) is good. And as much as I love his worlds and his writing, I refuse to blindly slap a 4+ star on something and gush about it just because Sanderson wrote it. It was meh, up until a scene that I despised; the flight, where there was an exchange between Kalyani, a new aspect, and J.C. a navy seal and longterm hallucination. I'll discuss this later (there's a lot).

As for what I enjoyed, the plot is unique and well thought out. There are the typical Sanderson humorous moments that I appreciate, such as Stephen refusing to be a test subject anymore, and taking the greater amounts of money he demanded - in an attempt to scare the researchers off - to buy himself a mansion with enough rooms for all his individual hallucinations. His butler is aware and deals with them very well, pretending to offer them drinks and "fetching" them from their rooms when Stephen asks.

The hallucinations are not just people that pop out from the corners of Stephen's mind, he will study and study and study until he feels he has a suitable grasp of the topic to conjure a new hallucination. This is seen twice in the novella and both times had me so impressed by the ingenuity of it. It's so easy to just go "yep, conjured up a new lady, she's great at linguistics and what a coincidence! That's just what we need!" it's deliberate and considered, which is something I appreciate a lot in Sanderson's work.

Speaking of his hallucinations, each one is an individual person, and this blew my mind. Each one has their own unique voice, their own bearing and unique personality and even though it is only a novella, Sanderson has this amazing (magic? I'm gonna call it magic.) ability to make each one distinct, and able to be told apart from pieces of dialogue alone. The only thing I have the tiniest issue with is that Stephen himself seemed a bit... Flat? And I hate to call him that, but because he seems so sullen and more of a mouthpiece to the hallucinations who discuss and point out things in the room or an individual, he can tend to fade into the background. 
The hallucinations each having their own professions and areas of expertise that compile and work in tandem with one another is so COOL. I love it! I'm really enjoying mysteries and who-done-it TV shows quite a lot at the moment, and had been considering reading around about it, so I was pleasantly surprised when this was just what I wanted. I love being able to get into the minds of characters clever enough to notice the minute details of a room, of a character's reaction and begin to piece together what's going on.

There is also a repetition of people accusing Stephen of being insane, but in his internal thoughts, he never for a moment considers he's anything less than sane. Mental health is something extremely important to me, as something I've personally struggled with for most of my life, as well as studied for 5/6 years and more planned in the future. This is something I can commend Sanderson for tackling repeatedly and smashing each and every time. He is respectful and considerate, and you can really tell the research and personal experience that have gone into creating such thought-provoking moments.

One quote that pops up two or three times in the novella is "You cross the line into insanity when your mental state stops you from being able to function, from being able to have a normal life." and this is not only a prevalent comment, but also a point of discussion in current psychology relating to mental health. And I appreciate the reiteration a lot.

Now. Onto /that/ scene. The scene that dropped this book from a 3/3.5 stars because I really couldn't bring myself to enjoy it as much as I would've otherwise. 
In this scene, there was a racist comment made (I won't sugar-coat it, it WAS a hurtful racist comment), and even if it was said by J.C., who is a fabrication of a person who may say things like that - which can I say doesn't excuse it in the slightest, I honestly feel like it SHOULD have been omitted entirely - it was the fact that literally no one pulled him up on it. Even Kalyani, who the comment was directed at, didn't get upset, a reasonable and expected reaction, didn't react at all. All she did was get a little flustered and actually REPLY to his racist comment??

Stephen could have told him to shut up (which he had done for less), Ivy could have (should have, let's be honest, it's very fitting for her character) put him in his place and told him not to be so vile, honestly ANYTHING. But no, Ivy passively asks "why do we even keep him around?" and that's it. It's never mentioned again. 

This made me so mad and really upset me, I really expected better of Sanderson. Of course, there are people like that in the world, unfortunately. But I would like to believe that they are becoming less and less the norm (or at least people are getting better at fighting them). Especially when they are around people who should and will tell them to shut the fuck up. I wanted at least have SOME reaction. SOME repercussions of being an actually vile and vulgar human. Convey to the reader that these kinds of comments are not okay!

This was a very brief exchange. A paragraph or so. But it's too big of a comment to have been made to just shrug it off and continue on as if nothing happened. As previously mentioned, Sanderson is one of the few authors I've read that tackles depression and does it bloody well. I was in tears at the similar thoughts and experiences I shared with Kaladin. Hell, Sanderson's books have even helped me through my own depressive episodes! He dealt with it so, so well, without ever slapping the diagnosis of depression or using it as a descriptor in any of the scenes, and that was something I respected so much.

This? Broke my heart. I'm not exaggerating. I don't understand how Sanderson can deal with discussing depression so thoroughly and wonderfully, and then just throw out such a cutting harmful comment with no repercussions or exploration. "But Shannon," I hear you say, "It's a novella!" So? At least one character calling J.C. out would've made this whole scene much less horrendous. One character at least recoiling in disgust! But no. It's just brushed over. If length is such an issue, and it would push it over to dispute the comment, then leave it out. Cut. It. Out. I sincerely hope that Sanderson is more mindful and doesn't do something this backhanded in his future works.

"Stephen Leeds, AKA 'Legion,' is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialized skills. As the story begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society"--From publisher description.

I felt like Skin Deep was a lot better than the first one. Still disgusted and disappointed that the racist comment was repeated on numerous occasions with no repercussions.

The story was interesting and the progression of Stephen slowly losing complete control of his aspects was interesting to read about, and the distress he felt was conveyed extremely well.

Beatriz Aguiar

3.5
interesting concept, great execution, Brando Sando never disappoints :)
not the best book by him but that's just personal preference, the story itself was quite interesting i'm just a bigger fan of his pure fantasy works

James Paden

Absolute fun with a unique (to me), although perhaps not particularly deep, character concept. Excellent in novella form.

Alost

Raag Sudha

Loved this book! Clever with a good twist and a VERY interesting premise. I really need to find the other books in this series!

Irem

“Şimdiye kadar anlamış olmalıydın, ben zaten büyüktüm. Sıradanlık ve bir nebze akıl sağlığı karşılığında bundan vazgeçtim.”

Legion teorisi üzerine kurgulanmış kahramanların Sherlock haliyle karşı karşıyayız bu sefer. Herhangi bir mutant/süper güç durumu olmadan gizemleri çözüp her şey olabilen bir adamla bilimin mantığı büktüğü gizemli bir icadın peşine düşüyoruz. Yalnız kafamı karıştıran Chris Claremont’un 80’lerde Marvel evrenine kattığı Legion ile bu kadar benzer nitelikte bir serinin çıkarılmış olması. Sanırım dizisine kadar geri planda kalmış bir karakterin-kurgunun remake ile tekrardan kazandırılması gibi olmuş. Tam olarak sıkıntılı zamanlarda çerez tadında ve hızlıca okunan keyifli bir seri.

Sarah Escorsa

"My name is Stephen Leeds, and I'm perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad."


Brilliant. This is just brilliant. And cool. Very cool. 

Do I really have to review this story? It's too awesome for words. You really should just read it.
  “Your hallucination . . .” “Yes?” “Your hallucination has hallucinations.” “Yes.” She settled back, looking disturbed.
Brandon Sanderson I love you. The premise of this story is pure genius.
  “I’m not a hallucination,” J.C. snapped. “I have state-of-the-art stealthing equipment.”
Legion is about insanity, religion, science, faith… and a very special camera. Mix it all up, shake well, add a good dose of humour, a dash of action and voilà!
  “The truth is, Monica, I don’t want any of this. I’d gladly be free of it, so that I could live a more simple life. I sometimes think the lot of them will drive me insane.” “You . . . aren’t insane, then?” “Heavens no,” I said.
The "lot of them"? The aspects! J.C. the trigger-happy navy seal (I think I'm in love), Ivy the trypophobic therapist, Tobias the schizophrenic historian, Armando the megalomaniac emperor… I love them all.
  “I'm not going more mad,” I said. “I've stabilized. I'm practically normal. Even my non-hallucinatory psychiatrist acknowledges that.”
This was good. Really good. So do yourself a favour and read it.

· Book 2: Skin Deep ★★★★★
· Book 3: Lies of the Beholder ★★

Emir Andrés Ibañez

Sólo Brandon Sanderson puede armarse un concepto de la puta madre y utilizarlo en una historia de apenas ochenta hojas :S NECESITABA MAS POR DIOS!

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes a new novella collection, including a brand new, never-been-published story. Stephen Leeds is schizophrenic (. . . probably . . .) and he's in demand. But not for his own skills - his clients want to tap into the imaginary experts that populate his mind - and it's getting a bit crowded in there. One of his many 'aspects' is a trained soldier, another a psychological expert, a third is a librarian, and all of them want to help him solve problems, making him an exceptionally versatile intelligence agent. If you need a stolen corpse retrieved or a missing inventor found, Stephen Leeds is the man - or rather, the team - for the job. But managing a team is a challenge in itself, all the more so when some of the team feel they know better than Stephen himself . . . The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds is an omnibus edition of the three amazing Legion novellas: Legion, Legion: Skin Deep and Legion: Lies of the Beholder. 'An absolutely fantastic read' Fantasy Book Review 'The pulse of a thriller and the hook of a fascinating hero balancing on the edge of psychosis' Library Journal

Many Lives of Stephen Leeds

Legion?

Martina Méndez Fernández

Tengo que admitir que el segundo relato, "Legion: skin deep" se me hizo un poco más largo. Quizá porque Yol y toda la historia de 13 me daba un poco igual. Aunque al final acelera y se vuelve interesante, especialmente a nivel sociológico. 
El primer relato, "Legion", y el tercero "Legion: lies of the beholder" me gustaron mucho. El primero es una toma de contacto ideal con el concepto del personaje, con la locura de Stephen y todos sus aspectos. Y el tercero... es imposible hablar del tercero sin spoilers. Tiene tanto, tan condensado y tan duro...

El final no es para nada lo que me esperaba, me sorprendió. Y para bien, la verdad. Aunque ahora me pregunto, ¿está intentando Sanderson mandar un mensaje a todos los escritores del mundo? Ahí lo dejo. 
 
Animáos a darle una oportunidad. Yo lo leí en inglés, pero ya está traducido al castellano.

Adam

This short story by Sanderson focuses on a guy with multiple personalities -- but where each aspect of himself can work together to solve crimes or whatever. I would've loved a bit more background on the main character, but this is a short story and meant to throw you right into the action.

Legion

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