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Legion (Stephen Leeds) Reading Order.

Authorby Brandon Sanderson
3 Entries
Quick Answer

Start with Legion (2012). All three novellas are collected in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds (2018).

A series of novellas following Stephen Leeds, a wealthy investigator whose mind generates multiple imaginary personalities, each with specialized knowledge.

Where to start

Start with Legion (2012). All three novellas are collected in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds (2018).

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Community Consensus

Medium Debate

"The provided comments do not contain any discussion or recommendation regarding 'Legion.' The conversation is a broad analysis of fantasy genre evolution, focusing heavily on defining and critiquing subgenres like New Weird (Miéville, Harrison), Progression Fantasy (Xianxia/LitRPG), Epic Fantasy, and Romantasy. There is general agreement on the importance of exploring non-Tolkien-inspired secondary worlds and recognizing the influence of webnovels and games on modern fantasy."

Key Reddit Advice

No reading order for 'Legion' can be determined from these comments. Key reading advice provided across the discussion includes: 1. Explore pre-LotR fantasy (e.g., Howard's Conan, Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser). 2. For Progression Fantasy, read examples of both the Xianxia tradition (like Cradle by Will Wight) and the LitRPG tradition (like Dungeon Crawler Carl). 3. For New Weird, read M. John Harrison's Viriconium and China Miéville.

Complete Series Reading Order

Publication Reading Order3 Titles

Why Publication Order?We recommend reading in Publication Order (default). This follows the author's release schedule, ensuring you experience plot twists, character growth, and world-building exactly as intended without spoilers.
Best Start Here
1

Legion

Pub: 2012

The shocking conclusion to Brandon Sanderson's Legion novella series, on its own for the first time. 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. When Stephen gets an unexpected cry for help from the woman who taught him how to control his aspects—right when one of his aspects suddenly and violently disappears—it will send him on a case the likes of which he could never have imagined. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

2

Legion: Skin Deep

Pub: 2014

Plot details hidden until you finish "Legion".

3

Legion: Lies of the Beholder

Pub: 2018

Plot details hidden until you finish "Legion: Skin Deep".

Stephen Leeds, also known as 'Legion', has a unique mental condition. He can become an expert on any subject in hours... and with every new area of expertise a new 'aspect' of Stephen is created. Is he schizophrenic? Possibly. Does that make him an incredible intelligence agent? Definitely. And this is his final, and perhaps his strangest, adventure. It begins with two unrelated events: the disappearance of Armando, one of Stephen's many "aspects," and an unexpected cry for help from Sandra, the woman who, many years before, helped him learn to live with his condition... and the combination of the two leads to a sinister high-tech firm specializing in advanced methods of human incarceration. An original, challenging, and utterly absorbing story, this unmissable novella showcases Stephen Leeds at his best: a compelling hero, and a man constantly struggling to understand and control his own divided nature.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What order should I read Legion (Stephen Leeds) in?

Start with Legion (2012). All three novellas are collected in Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds (2018).

How many books are in Legion (Stephen Leeds)?

3 main books, published 2012–2018.

Can I read Legion (Stephen Leeds) out of order?

It's best not to. The books build on each other, so reading out of order spoils earlier twists.