About the Author

Robert Silverberg has won five Nebula Awards, four Hugo Awards, and the prestigious Prix Apollo. He is the author of more than one hundred science fiction and fantasy novels -- including the best-selling Lord Valentine trilogy and the classics Dying Inside and A Time of Changes -- and more than sixty nonfiction works. Among the sixty-plus anthologies he has edited are Legends and Far Horizons, which contain original short stories set in the most popular universe of Robert Jordan, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, Orson Scott Card, and virtually every other bestselling fantasy and SF writer today. Mr. Silverberg's Majipoor Cycle, set on perhaps the grandest and greatest world ever imagined, is considered one of the jewels in the crown of speculative fiction.

Reviews

'The biggest names in contemporary fantasy have written novellas set in their most popular worlds. Fortunately, the standard matches the notion; maybe the contributors were spurred on by group rivalry' Time Out 'An essential buy for every fantasy fan' SFX 'A dream team of fantastic fantasy' USA Today 'A stellar compilation' Booklist

These are Volumes 2 and 3 of the four planned unabridged audiobook programs that together comprise the new fantasy anthology Legends: Stories by the Masters of Modern Fantasy, edited by Silverberg (see Vol. 1, Audio Reviews, LJ 11/1/98). The anthology contains new and original works from famous writers of epic fantasy, with each set in an established fictional universe. Conveying this large anthology as four separate volumes, containing two to three stories each, is a double-edged sword: it allows the consumer to pick and choose only the programs that appeal but makes the entire work rather pricey. Volume 2 contains Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time: New Spring," Terry Pratchett's "Discworld: The Sea and Little Fishes," and Orson Scott Card's "Tales of Alvin Maker: The Grinning Man." Volume 3 adds Terry Goodkind's "The Sword of Truth: Debt of Bones," Ursula K. Le Guin's "Earthsea: Dragonfly," and Tad Williams's "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn: The Burning Man." Frank Muller, Sam Tsoutsouvas, and Kathryn Walker are the skilled and imaginative readers here. Although the performances and production are impeccable, the stories vary somewhat, if not in quality then in the facility with which they engage a listener who is uninitiated to the corresponding epic cycle. The packaging provides one- to two-line descriptions, but other contextual material available in the printed book (e.g., the introduction by Silverberg, listings of all the books in the series to date) are absent. Still, both volumes are recommended for all fantasy fiction collections.ÄKristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA