{"product_id":"legends-ii-shadows-gods-and-demons-isbn-9780345475770","title":"Legends II: Shadows, Gods, and Demons","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first of two volumes of original short novels by some of the greatest writers in fantasy fiction, including Anne McCaffrey, Tad Williams, Robin Hobb, Robert Silverberg, and Raymond E. Feist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLegends II\u003c\/i\u003e picks up where its illustrious predecessor left off. All of the bestselling writers represented in \u003ci\u003eLegends II\u003c\/i\u003e return to the special universe of the imagination that its author has made famous throughout the world. Whether set before or after events already recounted elsewhere, whether featuring beloved characters or compelling new creations, these masterful short novels are both mesmerizing stand-alones—perfect introductions to the work of their authors—and indispensable additions to the epics on which they are based.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eROBIN HOBB\u003c\/b\u003e returns to the Realm of the Elderlings with “Homecoming,” a powerful tale in which exiles sent to colonize the Cursed Shores find themselves sinking into an intoxicating but deadly dream . . . or is it a memory?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eROBERT SILVERBERG\u003c\/b\u003e spins an enthralling tale of Majipoor’s early history—and remote future—as seen through the eyes of a dilettantish poet who discovers an unexpected destiny in “The Book of Changes.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTAD WILLIAMS\u003c\/b\u003e explores the strange afterlife of Orlando Gardiner, from his Otherland saga, in “The Happiest Dead Boy in the World.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eANNE McCAFFREY\u003c\/b\u003e shines a light into the most mysterious and wondrous of all places on Pern in the heartwarming “Beyond Between.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRAYMOND E. FEIST\u003c\/b\u003e turns from the great battles of the Riftwar to the story of one soldier, a young man about to embark on the ride of his life, in “The Messenger.”“A stellar compilation.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“There’s enough color, vitality and bravura displays of mythmaking in this rich sampler . . . to sate faithful fans and nurture new readers on the stuff of legends still being created.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A book that a fantasy reader would be proud to own.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“An enjoyable sampler of the best high fantasy available today.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSan Francisco Examiner \u0026amp; Chronicle\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Silverberg\u003c\/b\u003e is the winner of five Hugo and five Nebula awards for his novels and short fiction.  His work began appearing during the 1950s; he has received high acclaim for, among many others, such novels as \u003ci\u003eLord Valentine's Castle\u003c\/i\u003e (the first in the Majipoor series), \u003ci\u003eTower of Glass\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDying Inside\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eNightwings\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first \u003ci\u003eLegends \u003c\/i\u003eanthology, which was published in 1998, contained eleven never-before-published short novels by eleven best-selling fantasy writers, each story set in the special universe of the imagination that its author had made famous throughout the world. It was intended as the definitive anthology of modern fantasy, and judging by the reception the book received from readers worldwide it succeeded at that.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now comes \u003ci\u003eLegends II\u003c\/i\u003e. If the first book was definitive, why do another one?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe short answer is that fantasy is inexhaustible. There are always new stories to tell, new writers to tell them; and no theme, no matter\u003cbr\u003ehow hoary, can ever be depleted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I said in the introduction to the first volume, fantasy is the oldest branch of imaginative literature as old as the human imagination itself. It is not difficult to believe that the same artistic impulse that produced the extraordinary cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira and Chauvet, fifteen and twenty and even thirty thousand years ago, also probably produced astounding tales of gods and demons, of talismans and spells, of dragons and werewolves, of wondrous lands beyond the horizon tales that fur-clad shamans recited to fascinated audiences around the campfires of Ice Age Europe. So, too, in torrid Africa, in the China of prehistory, in ancient India, in the Americas: everywhere, in fact, on and on back through time for thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. I like to think that the storytelling impulse is universal that there have been storytellers as long as there have been beings in this world that could be spoken of as human and that those storytellers have in particular devoted their skills and energies and talents, throughout our long evolutionary path, to the creation of extraordinary marvels and wonders. The Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh is a tale of fantasy; so, too, is Homer’s \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e, and on and on up through such modern fantasists as E. R. Eddison, A. Merritt, H. P. Lovecraft, and J. R. R. Tolkien, and all the great science-fiction writers from Verne and Wells to our own time. (I include science fiction because science fiction, as I see it, belongs firmly in the fantasy category: It is a specialized branch of fantasy, a technology-oriented kind of visionary literature in which the imagination is given free play for the sake of making the scientifically impossible, or at least the implausible, seem altogether probable.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany of the contributors to the first \u003ci\u003eLegends \u003c\/i\u003ewere eager to return to their special worlds of fantasy for a second round. Several of them\u003cbr\u003eraised the subject of a new anthology so often that finally I began to agree with them that a second book would be a good idea. And here it is. Six writers Orson Scott Card, George R. R. Martin, Raymond E. Feist, Anne McCaffrey, Tad Williams, and myself have returned from the first one. Joining them are four others Robin Hobb, Elizabeth Haydon, and Diana Gabaldon who have risen to great fame among fantasy enthusiasts since the first anthology was published, and one grand veteran of fantasy, Terry Brooks, who had found himself unable at the last minute to participate in the first volume of \u003ci\u003eLegends \u003c\/i\u003ebut who joins us for this one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy thanks are due once again to my wife, Karen, and to my literary agent, Ralph Vicinanza, both of whom aided me in all sorts of ways in the preparation of this book, and, of course, to all the authors who came through with such splendid stories. I acknowledge also a debt of special gratitude to Betsy Mitchell of Del Rey Books, whose sagacious advice and unfailing good cheer were essential to the project. Without her help this book most literally would not have come into being.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRobert Silverberg\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFebruary 2003\u003c\/i\u003eNew Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy","brand":"Del Rey","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305480212709,"sku":"NP9780345475770","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780345475770.jpg?v=1767731273","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/legends-ii-shadows-gods-and-demons-isbn-9780345475770","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}