Legion: Skin Deep

By Brandon Sanderson

It’s not his own genius that Stephen Leeds gets hired for. Clients want to tap into the imaginary experts that populate his mind—and it’s getting a bit crowded in there.

Now Stephen and his internal team of “aspects” have been hired to track down a stolen corpse—but it’s not the corpse that’s important, it’s what the corpse knows. The biotechnology company he worked for believes he encoded top-secret information in his DNA before he died, and if it falls into the wrong hands, that will mean disaster.

Meanwhile, Stephen’s uneasy peace with his own hallucinations is beginning to fray at the edges, as he strives to understand how one of them could possibly have used Stephen’s hand to shoot a real gun during the previous case. And some of those hallucinations think they know better than Stephen just how many aspects his mind should make room for. How long will he be able to hold himself together?

When I came across Legion on my Kindle I was intrigued and I fell in love with the idea and the way the idea was realized in the book. So, when I got the chance to get the second book for free on audible I snatched it up. I’m not a huge fan of audiobooks, because I’m not a great listener, I’m too easily distracted. This was easy to listen to, the narrator was amazing, doing all the voices of Stephen’s aspects perfectly. I was entertained with the mystery and the action, and the underlying story of Stephen trying to find his lost lady friend (whose name escapes me at the moment). The only content warning I have is for violence and language. It would be akin to watching a PG-13 movie. Great fun in a novella, and longer than the first book.

It gets a 3.75 out of 5 

Legion

By Brandon Sanderson

Stephen Leeds is perfectly sane. It’s his hallucinations who are mad.

A genius of unrivaled aptitude, Stephen can learn any new skill, vocation, or art in a matter of hours. However, to contain all of this, his mind creates hallucinatory people—Stephen calls them aspects—to hold and manifest the information. Wherever he goes, he is joined by a team of imaginary experts to give advice, interpretation, and explanation. He uses them to solve problems…for a price.

His brain is getting a little crowded, however, and the aspects have a tendency of taking on lives of their own. When a company hires him to recover stolen property—a camera that can allegedly take pictures of the past—Stephen finds himself in an adventure crossing oceans and fighting terrorists. What he discovers may upend the foundation of three major world religions—and, perhaps, give him a vital clue into the true nature of his aspects.

This is ingenious. I love the idea of having a P.I.-like hero with hallucinations that help him solve cases. This novella was so down my alley. It’s a mystery with an intriguing hero who you’re not quite sure if he’s got some mental illness or if he has some secret power—and who’s to say they can’t be both? Certainly not Stephen! His aspects are equal parts humorous and clever as well as distinct individuals. The byplay between his aspects and himself (because he’s the only one who sees them) is so funny and witty on Brandon Sanderson’s part. This is one of those books that felt like it was meant for cinema as well. I could visualize things clearly and saw it as an action movie/mystery. If you like police or detective shows like Monk, NCIS, Castle, or the like, this is the novella for you. Loved reading it and am so excited for the second book.  

4.25 out of 5