The Legion of Time is a collection of two science-fiction novels by the American writer Jack Williamson

Jack Williamson

John Stewart Williamson , who wrote as Jack Williamson was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction" following the death in 1988 of Robert A...

. It was first published by Fantasy Press

Fantasy Press

Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. Heinlein and E. E. Smith...

 in 1952 in an edition of 4,604 copies. The novels were originally serialized in the magazines Astounding and Marvel Stories.

The term "Legion of Time" is rather misleading, since the stories do not in fact feature a body with such a name. The title may have been bestowed in an effort to emulate the success of Williamson's earlier "Legion of Space" series. The title story was originally announced as "The Legion of Probability".

Reception

Boucher

Anthony Boucher

Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...

 and McComas

J. Francis McComas

Jesse Francis McComas was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe....

 praised the title story for its "fine swashbuckling and much ingenious speculation," but found the other stories far inferior.
Aldiss and Wingrove

David Wingrove

David Wingrove is a British science fiction writer. He is well-known as the author of the Chung Kuo novels . He is also the co-author of the three Myst novels....

, comparing "The Legion of Time" to a fairy tale, declared that "its plot, while being philosophically meaningless, is a delight."