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Legion


Yados

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I like the big door-stopper books as much as the next person, but there was something very refreshing while reading a book like Legion. It was so nice to read a fun story, start to finish, in a relatively short period of time. I hope he writes more stories this length in the future!

Yup, I like to vary it. I hope we get a few more novellas in between these giant books regularly. It's a good way to go.

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I don't think its a natural disorder. Everything in the story says it is, except for the point where Kaylina tells him that one of the men isn't dead (the one with the grenade), which he couldn't have known on his own because he didn't see the man until his aspect pointed it out to him.

It's possible that he's pulling an unconsious Sherlock scan. In essance he noted that the man wasn't dead after the initial incident and worked through a series of likely scenarios based on the available information, arrived at the most likely solution and used Kaylina to warn his consious mind of the potential danger. The book 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell discuss this. To borrow from the man himself:

It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good

I'm thinking that his 'disease' is a mix of AI Sub minds seen in other sci-fi series and the techniques used in Joss Whedons 'Dollhouse'. Our heroes consious mind is currently unable to cope with it's own capabilities. So it creates sub minds (personalities) to accomplish certain goals. To make these minds more 'real' it provides them with personalities and quirks that would explain why they have the knowledge that he needs. It can only keep so many sub minds active at a time or things go haywire.

It could be something more 'Magical' but at present I am doubtful of that conclusion.

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Honestly, I don't know if Brandon has current plans for more "episodes." But he did write it in large part in order to sell television rights, and Lionsgate optioned it. Whether they go through with their option is still up in the air. I think it would make a great TV series. I could easily picture it on the USA network, for instance.

Now, that sound really interesting! I enjoyed the novella, but not nearly as much as Brandon's novels. There just wasn't enough substance. I wanted to know more about Stephen's hallucinations (i.e.: aspects). I mean, some characters (i.e.: J.C., Tobias, Ivy, Armando, Kalyani, etc.) were somewhat well explored. But, just who is Audrey, really? I want to know more!
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  • 2 weeks later...

I just got Legion; finished it in an hour. It's a very good read, and as I was reading it, I kept thinking it would make a great pilot episode for a TV series. I really hope it takes off.

I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this already, but how do we know that Legion isn't dead? I mean, we've seen how his mind invents interprets outside circumstances to fit his aspects (the butler handing Tobias and Ivy drinks), so how do we know that J.C. shooting the men isn't another hallucination? He could be dead or dying, still in Jerusalem by the time the book ends. Kind of like Lost. Sort of. Not really. Never mind.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everybody!

I´ve been lurking for a while, and now I joined because I just read Legion and wanted to add two thoughts.

First, I was actually asking how the time-camera's effect could move with the earth unless it was using the same grounding network as time bubbles.

I'm not sure the problem, that Legion describes in the story, is really a problem. I think that time is moving together with moving objects. Think about Einsteins relativity theory and the twin experiment: the people on a fast moving spaceship experience time as normal flowing, it´s only distorted viewed from the outside. So if you (or a camera ;) ) are moving back in time, you will move through space alongside it. Also think about this: Earth is moving constantly - not only around the sun, but also the whole solar system is moving through the universe - fast! Still we experience time as normally flowing and not constantly drifting away. (Well, actually it IS constantly drifting away.. hey, perhaps that is, what time is all about anyway: running fast through space??)

And there is a second thought I want to add after reading the book, but it is a spoiler - so beware:

Legion states in the end, that "a good photographer would not use flash in the outside sun". That is not true. Actually it is the other way around: a "good" photographer - whatever that is - will often use flash in harsh outside light to reduce shadows / contrast. On the other hand in dark, moody rooms - like the inside of a church - he will avoid using flash if possible, to preserve the ambient lighting.

It´s not a big deal for sure, but for a photography nerd like me it was a bump in the reading experience. I guess Legion will have the need for a "good photographer aspect" in the next installment. ;)

Cheers, Wolfini

Edited by Wolfini
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  • 4 weeks later...

The characters are really cool, especially the hallucinations. I'd be very curious to see more information about Sandra and her development. My theory is she's a hallucination herself who sorta spawned all the others somehow and it's her "expertise/power" to get rid of or create them. If that's too spoilery, let me know, I'll put tags.

Sandra can't be a hallucination - there's a picture of her.

I was particularly amused by the way the hallucinations have hallucinations (and other mental disorders). I wonder if it's actually Stephen who has the disorders, and by "giving" the disorders to his hallucinations, he's able to function normally.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...

There's a picture, but we only ever see it from Stephen's POV... could be that if someone else looked at it, they'd see something entirely different. Or possibly the picture itself is a hallucination entirely.

 

Except Monica and her people wouldn't have bothered to show the picture to Stephen if it just looked like an empty photo of the train station to them.

 

As for the camera, my theory was that it involved something along the lines of light still reflecting around the space or something along those lines. Perhaps the flash collects those and re-emits them for the picture. Has some holes, but this is the direction my brain took it.

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  • 1 month later...

Ok so this theory is based on a rudimentary knowledge of carbon dating and radioactive decay, but perhaps the flash sorta stimulates atoms of a certain frequency that the lens then interprets and forms an image? Totally pulling this outta my but, but it sorta sounds fancy right? lol

It sounds pretty good. I mean obviously Sanderson is passing a fictional  thing for science in the Legion world, but that's science fiction for you. Your theory certainly sounds nice. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

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