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Thieves' World and friends #24
The Shadow of Sorcery
Hoping to find the fabled Rings of Senek, adventurer Shadowspawn travels to the outskirts of a city ruled by sorcerers where he must first navigate the labyrinthine maze beneath the city. Original.
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1993
44 people want to read
About the author
Andrew J. Offutt
209 books72 followersAndrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A.J. Offutt, and Andy Offut. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, had his name in all lower-case letters. His son is the author Chris Offutt.
Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.
Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.
As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.
Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.
Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.
Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.
As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.
Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 25, 2020
This is the second novel that offutt wrote about his character Hanse the Shadowspawn from the Thieves' World shared world anthology series edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey. It appeared six years after the first one, after the series had pretty much waned in popularity, and is not a straight sequel so it's not necessary to have read any of the prior volumes in order to appreciate this one. The Shadow of Sorcery is a good adventure story, with many clever capers and twists and turns in the development of the plot, but has more in the way of "adult-content" and in general a different tone and feel, I believe. Hanse has been through a lot by the time this book starts, and his development is interesting to note. He was, perhaps, the most popular character of the franchise.
October 30, 2018
The Shadow of Sorcery has a lot of things which I generally don't like in my high fantasy, from a very stereotypical male hero to some uncomfortable adult scenes, yet somehow this book is able to make up for all of this with excellent writing quality and an extremely vibrant, engaging setting. The book also has a lot of very creative plot devices and puzzles, which kept me engaged quite a bit. This is probably one of my most enjoyed books, although I don't think I would pursue more of a similar venue in the future, especially considering Offutts's general writing interests can be very niche.
February 18, 2024
The first half of this is surprisingly good. It has some well-written dialog, and I liked the set up. Once the main quest gets underway, I was thoroughly engaged. The main quest is a very detailed dungeon crawl through a mage's maze of illusions of traps.
And that's where the book becomes a slog.
The dungeon crawl part is just too long. Too many similar things happen over and over.
Also, the writing becomes really uneven. It's almost like certain chapters are written by a different author.
By the end I was happy it was over, and only skimmed the last few chapters.
And that's where the book becomes a slog.
The dungeon crawl part is just too long. Too many similar things happen over and over.
Also, the writing becomes really uneven. It's almost like certain chapters are written by a different author.
By the end I was happy it was over, and only skimmed the last few chapters.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews