LEGENDS: STORIES BY THE MASTERS OF FANTASY, VOL. 2

These imaginative novellas are beautifully read. Robert Jordan's "New Spring" exemplifies the sword and sorcery genre. Sam Tsoutsouvas, whose incisive, manly voice is exciting to begin with, delivers this with great dignity and solemn music. "The Sea and Little Fishes" posits a village holding its annual witch contest. By giving this humorous trifle a distinctly Celtic flavor and a mischievous lilt, narrator Kathryn Walker adds more wit than readers would find in the raw text. "Grinning Man" comes from the tall-tale school. An itinerant blacksmith with psychic power and his African-American sidekick encounter Davy Crockett. Slipping a Kentucky accent over his distinctive cadences, Frank Muller sounds as if he's whittling on his front porch while telling this story. Consistent among these offerings are a rare attention to atmosphere and the music of the prose, undoubtedly the contribution of producer/director Rick Harris. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 99]