Title: Legion: Skin Deep
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Legion #2
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5 stars!
The Overview: 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 new story begins, Leeds and his “aspects” are hired by I3 (Innovative Information Incorporated) to recover a corpse stolen from the local morgue. But there’s a catch. The corpse is that of a pioneer in the field of experimental biotechnology, a man whose work concerned the use of the human body as a massive storage device. He may have embedded something in the cells of his now dead body. And that something might be dangerous… What follows is a visionary thriller about the potential uses of technology, the mysteries of the human personality, and the ancient human need to believe that death is not the end. Legion: Skin Deep is speculative fiction at it most highly developed. It reaffirms Sanderson’s place as one of contemporary fiction’s most intelligent—and unpredictable—voices. -Goodreads
The Review:
Both Legion novellas were absolutely delightful. The concept was unique (a brilliant man whose “not crazy”, but harbors several human aspects who help him store information and solve crimes), the mysteries were interesting, and the writing was superb – yup! It’s definitely a Sanderson. What I especially loved about Skin Deep was the humor – I laughed so much through the first half I went back and read it again – you can tell Sanderson had a lot of fun writing it. The resolution to the mystery may have been wrapped up a little too conveniently for my tastes, but I still liked it. Overall, if you’re in the mood for something different – or if you’re mega Sanderson fan (like me <3) who hasn’t yet read it – Legion is the perfect pick!
Other books you might like:
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- Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
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- Blood Engines by Tim Pratt
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- Storm Front by Jim Butcher
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- Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
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- Vicious by V.E. Schwab
The Obsessive Bookseller 
This sounds original and extremely compelling! Of course now that you’ve convinced me to give Sanderson a shot my library never has The Way of Kings in stock. Maybe I’ll have better luck with Legion.
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Haha of course it’s not! Murphy’s law at its finest. I’m super excited you’re going to give him a try, though. Legion is as fun a place to start as any. :)
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It boggles my mind that he writes things like this “for fun” and to clean his brain. Aye yay yay…
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I know! Considering how much of a pain my own projects have been, I can’t even imagine. That man was made to write, is all I can say.
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I loved Legion! But I still need to catch up with Skin Deep. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t it already, it’s such a short read. Ah well, one of these days!
I did recently listen to the audiobook of his new novella though, Snapshot. That was AMAZING too…
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Ha, yeah totally! Although I can’t point fingers – it took me over a year to finally pick up the second one and I loved the first one too. Maybe we’re trying to savor them? Lol
And yay for Snapshot!!! That’s totally getting devoured next month. I’m stoked you liked it!!
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I always thought his two Legion stories would make an AMAZING television series.
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You’re right, that would be amazing!
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euh… but is a tv series…. right? But no connection?
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You’re talking about the new one they’re advertising, yes? Because when I saw the name for that, I immediately got excited. But I think it’s just a coincidence haha. :)
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Hmm… you’re right :( The protagonist in Legion, the tv series, is David… Never mind, your review sounds quite interesting ;-)
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The tv show looks interesting too though. :) and thank you – they really are a neat couple of novellas!
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