There are four stories in Legends 3:
New Spring, by Robert Jordan, a Wheel of Time story.
Dragonfly, by Ursula K. Le Guin, an Earthsea story.
The Burning Man, by Tad Williams, a Memory, Sorrow and Thorn story.
The Sea and Little Fishes, by Terry Pratchett, a Discworld story.
This is a case where they saved the best for last :) Each story gets progressively better. I thought I would go ahead and read this book rather than return it since I am always on the lookout for new (to me) fantasy writers. After all the hype about Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, I must say I was sorely dissappointed. The story was fairly interesting, and maybe the books are better than this short story, but I can't say I'm in much of a hurry to buy them now. However, I think maybe my daughter might like the children's versions.
Dragonfly was better, and the ending was the best part of all. If this was the beginning of the series, I'd be much more likely to want to buy the books, but from what I can figure out, this happens at the end of the series. Will we ever find out what happens next? I kinda doubt it. There hasn't been a new book in this series for a long time. But, I might eventually check this series out.
The Burning Man was pretty cool. It seemed to kinda stand alone though. Can't really imagine what the series is like.
The Sea and Little Fishes was the coolest. The whole Discworld thing, the world being flat and flying thru space on the backs of four elephants riding on a giant turtle was a little weird, but that hardly had anything at all to do with the story. It was about witches, not so much about magic as how they interacted with one another and with the mortals all around them. I think I'd like to read more of these.
I hope you find this helpful and don't make the same mistake that I did, thinking all of these stories are in one book, because they are actually in three. If you did find it helpful, please vote that you did. Thanks!
It has to be read after 4 or 5, or it won't be as thoroughly enjoyed (thats for newbies). The great thing is Robert Jordan expressed an interest to do another such novella if the opportunity arose. Little stories can be found in "The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time" til the next book comes out.
The quality of the stories was high. King's story was beautiful and enchanting, I am not a great fan of Pratchett, though, Feist and Goodkind's stories were entertaining enough, if not a little predictable.
I felt myself also highly attracted to Williams' story for some reason. And I havent even read the series. Still gotta find the first book somewhere. :) Jordan's story, as a WOT fan, was nice enough. It was nice to be back in the WOT world again (this was during the wait for book 9). For me, it grabbed hold and didnt let go. Although I agree that it might be a little vague and incomprehensible for the people who are not familiar with the Wheel of Time. The big thing about Legends though, has got to be the Hedge Knight. It got me to reading Martin's work, and it had got me to favoring Martin above Jordan as soon as I was done with the series.
Legends did what it was made for - introduce fans into worlds they havent explored yet, and show them a little bit more of the worlds they know and love. So yes, Legends was brilliant.