Legends of Fantasy

Prolific editor Adams (Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse) returns with a fantasy collection that lives up to its title in scale and at least partly in substance. The 17 selections range widely in theme, taking in faith, power, magic, and science. Genre legends Ursula K. Le Guin and Michael Moorcock appear alongside veterans Orson Scott Card and George R.R. Martin, but the collection’s three standouts come from less storied contributors. In Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Bound Man,” mortal men unexpectedly succeed in summoning the mythical “Chooser of the Slain.” N.K. Jemisin’s “The Narcomancer,” explores the same ancient Egypt–inspired universe as her Dreamblood novels, and Carrie Vaughn’s “Strife Lingers in Memory” explores the costs soldiers continue to pay after their battles are done. Though this isn’t one of Adams’s most compelling anthologies, it still merits a place on fantasy fans’ bookshelves. (Dec.)