Legion: The Man Lives of Stephen Leeds by Brandon Sanderson

I loved the show Legion and I picked this up because I thought it was somehow connected to the show. It’s not, I don’t think. But like the show Legion, at the center of the three novellas in this volume is a man and his many friends, or as he calls them, aspects. 

Stephen Leeds has many friends, or aspects. No one can see the aspects but Stephen. I was going to write that his friends aren’t real but they are real to him. Stephen is very much aware that his aspects aren’t real in the traditional sense and that he is the only person that can see see or talk to them. This might sound crazy, but he does not consider himself insane. He knows what’s real and what isn’t, at least most of the time, and the aspects don’t hinder is ability to function in the real world. If anything, they help him to function, with each aspect allowing Stephen to compartmentalize and parts of himself. J.C., the gun toting military guy, handles Stephen's paranoia. Ivy, a therapist or something like that, helps Stephen communicate with people in the real world a little more easily. Some of his aspects are experts at computers programming or different kinds of phones. I read it as Stephen being a genius but knowing so much that he was overwhelmed. The aspects appear to help him sort out the knowledge so he can use it more effectively. Without the aspects he just has a bunch of facts in his head that he doesn't know what to with.

I enjoyed reading this. Each of the stories was very different from the others. Legion is a combination of a mystery and a fantasy involving a camera that takes picture of the past in the present. Legion: Skin Deep leans more into straight mystery and involves a scientist, a possibly deadly experiment, and a couple of shady companies. In Lies of the Beholder Stephen confronts the possible life of his aspects and what life without them could mean and whether he wants to be without them.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie by Anthony Del Col and Werther Dell'Edera

  I read a few Hardy Boys books when I was a kid, but Nancy Drew the only teenage sleuth that mattered as far as I was concerned. I devoured Nancy Drew books. Of course the series had its problems. Even as a child, the racism was obvious. Non-white characters were inevitably described as swarthy and usually ended up being some sort of villain. Still, I loved the mysteries and that the fact that there was a girl who was smart and brave solving them.

The Big Lie is a spectacular noir update to both series. Nancy Drew is, of course, smart, brave and leading the trio as they try to solve the mystery of who murdered the Hardy boys' father. It's twisty and dark in all the right ways. From what I can tell, there are no sequels. The Big Lie is it which is a shame because I would totally read more Nancy Drew and her Hardy Boys sidekicks.

Work for It by Talia Hibbert

People advise against judging a book by its cover but I bought Work For It largely because of its beautiful cover. Luckily, the words in between the covers are just as good.

Work For It is the fourth in a series. I haven't read the first four (but plan to) but from what I gathered circumstances in prior books have left Olu in a pool of depression he is trying desperately to escape. His solution is a change of scenery. He leaves London to go work on a farm for fun for a few weeks. (Not exactly my idea of a vacation, but it works for Olu so maybe should I try it.) In a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business, Olu meets Griff, who as it happens, runs the farm.

For reasons I didn't quite understand, Griff is something of an outcast in the small town he lives in. He is described as being quite tall and big, so perhaps he is intimidating, but he is also kind, quiet, and very good at his job working on a farm. In any case, Griff is sadly used to being rejected. That doesn't mean it doesn't sting each time and Olu's rejection is particularly hurtful. Still there is an attraction between the two men that neither can deny. Depression and insecurity get in the way but Hibbert *always* writes happy endings and love prevails.

I quite enjoyed this. This is the third book I've read by Talia Hibbert in two months. Like the first two, Work For It is equal parts sweet and steamy. Hibbert is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Slay by Brittney Morris

"To everyone who has ever had to minimize who you are to be palatable to those who aren't like you" Dedication in Slay

Kiera is an honor student, a math genius, and one of four (later five) Black students at her high school. She is also a serious gamer. Her game of choice is Slay, an online role-playing card game where Black gamers from around the world duel as Nubian personas. What no one knows is that Kiera isn't just a player, she created Slay. 

The thing about gaming while Black is that it isn't always safe. Kiera notes how when she played other games if she wanted to be a dark skinned character her her option was to be something like a troll and how other players, safe in anonymity provided by online games, didn't think twice about using racist language. Kiera created Slay be a safe space where Black gamers didn't have to deal with that mess. They can pick characters of any shade, not be called racist names, and just be who they are. When the book begins the game Kiera built in her bedroom has become a massive success with players from around the world. Still, Slay is a game most non-Black people don't know or care about. That changes when a teen is killed in real life over the game. Of course, people are in uproar over how "violent" video games affect the children, or something like that. (I put violent in quotes because I wasn't sure ho violent Slay actually was. There were duels but it wasn't a first person shooter game.) But also they're angry because the game is aimed pretty much exclusively at "Nubian Queens and King," in other words, Black people.

"All I ever wanted to do was escape into this magical world where for once I don't have to act a certain way because I'm Black, and where I don't have to answer certain questions because I'm the Black authority in the room, and where if I do something that's not stereotypically Black, I'm different...I think I love SLAY so much because we're a mutually empathetic collective. As we duel, as we chat, there's an understanding that 'your Black is not my Black' and 'your weird is not my weird' and 'your beautiful is not my beautiful,' and that's okay." (page 175-176)

I don't know anything about gaming so I can't comment on how good or bad the game is, but it sounded fun. The cards focus on Black history, culture, and achievements in its various forms. If it were real and I knew how to play such games, I would give it a try. Gaming aside, this is a great story! Kiera is smart, creative, and empathetic. She is surrounded by an equally smart, creative, and empathetic family, including a sister (Steph) she regularly argues with but who always has her back. 

We get to know a little about some of the other gamers. If there is anything I would change about this book it would be to have more snippets about the lives of other gamers. One of the big issues this book tackles is that there isn't one way to be Black or one Black experience. It would have helped to have more points of view to emphasize this point.

Overall, this was a great read. It was the first book I finished in 2020 so I would say my reading year is off to a good start.