Legion (Legion #1) by Brandon Sanderson

"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 story begins, Leeds and his 'aspects' are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society"

Format: audiobook
Narrator: Oliver Wyman
Performance: 🌑🌑🌑🌑
Story: 🌑🌑🌑🌑🌑

Okay, so I was a bit confuse at first if this is an homage to Marvel's Legion but apparently this is a different thing apart from the name and the hallucinations. This is also my first Brandon Sanderson book, whom I heard so much rave reviews.

Legion is the notorious Stephen Leeds, a much sought-after research subject among mental health scientists. Check out his introduction: 

"My name is Stephen Leeds, and I'm perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad."

He and his aspects are sometimes called upon, petitioned or blackmailed (take your pick) to help people. This time around he had to assist in the search for a Filipino-American engineer who invented a camera that can take pictures of the past.

With premise this cool, the story better deliver. And it did, quite magnificently! The writing was top-notched, the pacing was tight but not rushed. This is a novella of around 2 hours long but it didn't skimp on the details. Everything was fully fleshed out and I love how Sanderson was able to portray each aspect distinctly and narrator Oliver Wyman did a great job acting out the voices. And while his Filipino accent was not perfect, I'm also giving Wyman props for messing up his P's and F's the way Filipinos typically do. The work that went into each multi-faceted aspect was pretty amazing and the individual personalities stood out. It even got to the point where the aspects were giving off USTs and I was shipping one aspect to another and what do you know, my instinct was right! To get an idea of how crazy the crazy can get:

“Your hallucination . . .”
“Yes?” 
“Your hallucination has hallucinations.” 
“Yes.” 
She settled back, looking disturbed

On top of that, the entire team, Leeds and the aspects, worked perfectly in sync, each adding their strength and using their specialty to get through crises. Leeds could also create an aspect for any challenge that arises, like a translator of Hebrew for his trip to Israel or a physicist for some time-related conundrum. Pretty nifty, aye? If only actual hallucinations could be that useful.

So yeah, color me impressed. The rumors are true. The hype is real. Brandon Sanderson is legit!

SOUNDTRACK

Spirits
The Strumbellas
Hope

I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't

I been looking at the stars tonight
And I think oh, how I miss that bright sun
I'll be a dreamer 'til the day I die
But they say oh, how the good die young
But we're all strange
And maybe we don't wanna change

I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
But the gun still rattles
The gun still rattles, oh
I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go

I spent a lot of nights on the run
And I think oh, like I'm lost and can't be found
I'm just waiting for my day to come
And I think oh, I don't wanna let you down
Cause something inside has changed
And maybe we don't wanna stay the same

I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
But the gun still rattles
The gun still rattles, oh
But the gun still rattles
The gun still rattles, oh

And I don't want a never ending life
I just want to be alive while I'm here
And I don't want a never ending life
I just want to be alive while I'm here
And I don't want to see another night
Lost inside a lonely life while I'm here

I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
I got guns in my head and they won't go
Spirits in my head and they won't go
But the gun still rattles
The gun still rattles, oh
But the gun still rattles
The gun still rattles, oh

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