Skin Deep (Legion #2)

I really enjoy this series…it only consists of 2 stories so far and the books are considered short…Couple hundred pages which for a Sanderson is short.

The Premise of this one involves the protagonist imagining characters out of his own brain, they are very real to himself but can not been seen by anyone else. He has 47 such characters each having a specialty. Luckily he only takes a few of them on his mission. Ivy a psychologist that helps him relate to real life human beings, Tobias who is a historian always making commentary about architecture, J.C. who is an ex-navy seal and he plays the role of paranoid body guard and hates to be told he is not real.

I am not certain why I enjoy this so much. Perhaps its because when an author creates a character in fiction, that character exists although in a fiction…There is a point in the story when J.C. is left behind and the protagonist imagines J.C. running at 40 miles an hour to keep up with the car…Its imaginary so why not….Because its not possible in reality so when the protagonist realizes the impossibility of what J.C. is doing to maintain the illusion he must treat J.C. as real and watch him run out of breath and disappear as the car drives away.

So all these imaginary friends of his are just characters he treats as real…the other real people in the book treat the protagonist as a bit crazy…I absolutely love the dynamics of this story. Lots of layers.

Seriously, when is this going to be turned into a TV series? It’d be a hit!

Steven Leeds is a genius for hire. He leads a team of experts–currently 47 of them–in solving mysteries and puzzles.

Steven Leeds is also a conscious psychotic, somewhere between schizophrenic and something not yet defined. Conscious, because he is fully aware of what is real and what is not. Psychotic, because his team of 47 experts doesn’t actually exist–at least not to anyone but Steven. He calls them his “aspects;” they are manifestations of his own compartmentalized knowledge that are visible only to him.

Oh man, get ready: this guy is completely fascinating…each aspect is it’s own character, complete with personality, feelings, backstory, emotions, relationships, and motivations–all taking place in the mind of Steven Leeds. They are different sexes and races. They have romantic relationships with each other, fight with each other, and get annoyed with each other. When they all get together to help Steven solve a puzzle, the entertainment value is sky high, especially when others are there to witness it!

This is actually the second Legion story, the first being a 100 page novella that introduces Steven and his “quirks.” If I were you, I’d start there, although that’s more due to my Steven Leeds like need for order…you won’t actually miss anything if you read Skin Deep first.

If you haven’t experienced the brilliance of Brandon Sanderson yet, maybe this is a good place for you to start. Of course, Mistborn would be an excellent start too. So would Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul, Words of Radiance, Steelheart, or The Rithmatist. Brandon Sanderson has never written anything less than awesome.

Legion: Skin Deep included.

Legion: Skin Deep is the second story in this series by fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. The first story was a novella called simply Legion. Im not sure what to call this one, as its shorter than most novels but longer than most novellas. This story follows the same interesting character Stephen Leeds as he is hired to investigate a missing persons case. Well, missing corpse to be more exact.

The character of Stephen Leeds is fascinating. A brilliant man who has handled his genius by compartmentalizing his knowledge by assigning different areas of expertise to an aspect. Aspects are similar to multiple personalities, except that for Stephen Leeds, these personalities are fully formed other people who just happen to live inside of Leeds head. They each have their own past, their own expertise, and their own quirks and personalities. As Leeds works through problems and investigations he calls on the appropriate aspect to draw upon their knowledge of the topic at hand. Leeds will be quick to tell you that he is not crazy even though he constantly has conversations out loud with people who arent really there.
The dialogue between Leeds and the aspects is engaging and often hilarious, as is the reactions of other people watching Leeds do it. I think Sanderson could write a dozen books on this character and theyd still be interesting and funny.

Im only giving this book a four out of five because while I absolutely enjoyed the story, I felt a little let down at the end. It seemed that the conclusion was a little abrupt and very convenient. Overall, still a very fun book but maybe not quite up to Sandersons usual mastery.

Fantastic ideas and considerations, based on real science, then used to postulate goals, characters, and plot is the very soul of speculative fiction.

A well-crafted story, deftly handled and presented, is the life to that soul.

This story – all the Legion stories, really – are exemplary art works of that life and soul. They could easily have come from the pages of a golden-age magazine, written by any of the past masters.

Happily, the come from a current master, and there can be more to be had. Highly recommended for all ages. Buy them, and treasure them.

Brandon Sanderson es un autor muy prolfico. Normalmente trabaja simultneamente en un par de obras extensas, y para descansar de ellas escribe otra (u otras) ms pequeas. En su blog cuenta que escribi el primer relato de Legion en un avin de vuelta de Francia. Y su segunda parte, Legion: Skin Deep, publicada dos aos despus, tambin ha sido escrita en viajes de avin, especialmente durante el despegue y el aterrizaje, que es cuando le quitan el ordenador. Esas obras ms modestas de Sanderson suelen ser frescas y originales, y Legion: Skin Deep no es una excepcin. Se lee del tirn, mantiene la intriga y resuelve el arco argumental sin dejar hilos sueltos. Es muy recomendable para quien quiera pasar un buen rato sin complicarse la vida, porque tiene el punto justo de profundidad sin que llegue a hacerse pesado. Incluso dira que deja con ganas de ms.

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