Swords & Larceny

by David Afsharirad (Editor), Mark Finn (Editor), Bill Willingham

TALES OF THIEVES AND WARRIORS, WRITTEN BY FAN FAVORITES!

FIND THE MARK

The dragon’s hoard. The dwarves’ hidden mine. The mage’s secret library overflowing with enchanted relics. The world is brimming with treasures—if you’re bold enough to claim them.

PLAN THE JOB

Waltzing in with a broadsword and demanding the crown jewels? That’s a fast track to the dungeon. A true master thief needs a strategy—one with style, cunning, and just the right amount of risk.

ASSEMBLE THE TEAM

It is dangerous to go alone. You’ll need the best in the business—whether they be fae tricksters, goblin lockpickers, elven illusionists, or human masterminds.

PULL OFF THE HEIST

But even the most flawless plans have a way of unraveling. When the stakes are high and the odds are stacked, only the cleverest and most daring will make it out with the prize. Thirteen daring tales of fantasy heists and high-stakes capers—where charm is as sharp as steel, and the score of a lifetime is just one misstep away.

With stories by Christopher Ruocchio, Wen Spencer, A. Lee Martinez, Edward M. Erdelac, Jim Zub, John C. Hocking, James Enge, Tim Akers, Mark Finn, Bill Willingham, Adrian Simmons, Tracy S. Morris, and Stephen Aryan.


Christopher Ruocchio
Wen Spencer
A. Lee Martinez
Edward M. Erdelac
Jim Zub
John C. Hocking
James Enge
Tim Akers
Mark Finn
Bill Willingham
Adrian Simmons
Tracy S. Morris
Stephen Aryan
David Afsharirad

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).


David Afsharirad was an Associate Editor at Baen Books. For five years, he was the editor of Baen's The Best Military and Adventure SF series; he also edited the all-Davids anthology The Chronicles of Davids. His short fiction has appeared in various anthologies and magazines. He lives in Austin, TX.

Mark Finn is an author, an editor, and a pop culture critic, recently named one of the top movie reviewers in Texas by the Associated Press Managing Editors. A nationally recognized authority on Robert E. Howard, his work has appeared in publications for the Robert E. Howard Foundation Press, Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Comics, The Cimmerian, Two-Gun Raconteur, The Howard Review, Wildside Press, Centipede Press, The University of Texas press and elsewhere. Finn’s fiction can be found in Rayguns Over Texas, Road Trip, Tails of the Pack, Empty Hearts, Fight The Adventures of Sailor Tom Sharkey, and elsewhere.

When he is not waxing eloquent about popular culture, he writes comics and fiction, performs community theater, and runs a small-town movie theater in North Texas.

Genres: Fantasy, Anthologies

288 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2025

Reviews

[Jason Waltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finn opens things up with a terrific and fun foreword that appropriately sets the stage. Then he follows that with "The Beer Run" - He is a born storyteller and this is a fine, fun, fantasy heist. A series of tales follows that, while mostly fun, seem more regular or epic fantasy than the somewhat heralded Sword and Sorcery, so it was nice to reach Martinez' "The Orpheus Job" which was a fun story told in a well-written and fun style and I would read more of those definitely Sword n Sorcery characters. Hocking delivers a great story of a popular character in "The Darkflame Deception" which includes a clever heist. Ruocchio, Zub, Enge, Erdelac all share stories that deliver bits of excitement and entertainment. Aryan's is the weakest tale for me, the tale I least connected with. My favorite two are from Simmons -- his "Five Beneath the Palace of Kalgranis" is delightful, with loads of danger, dangerous alliances, even more dangerous action, and then a mad scram for survival! Good story! -- and Tim Akers, whose "To Steal a God" is Da Bomb! Great story, super exciting world of powered-up sorcerous and divine characters. The MC isn't a typical hero by far but was quite spectacular in his role. Fun read - I absolutely want more of this world.

Akers, Simmons, Finn all tell 5-star tales and with only one low-star tale, this ends up being a grandly entertaining anthology, that's mostly Sword & Sorcery.

[Jeff Pena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 specifically for “The Shrine of Lost Stars” by Christopher Ruocchio.

[Christoph Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sword and sorcery with a thievish twist. Awesome. In theory. In practice it seems a lot like the stories were ordered by entertainment value. I loved the first one, and couldn't finish the last one.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been attending Mark Finn's readings at sf cons for years now. He always has a good tale to share. I especially enjoy his unique character names, such as Clork Punchsack and his brother Pliff. And I appreciate his wry sense of humor.

So I was delighted last year when, at the conclusion of one of his sf con readings, he said that he had been approached to co-edit (with veteran editor David Afsharirad) a themed anthology composed of short fiction about fantasy heists & capers to be published by Baen. I was even more pleased that some of the authors whose work is in Swords & Larceny have been attending some of the same sf cons as myself for a number of years.

Now I can start attending some of their sf con readings as well.

This collection contains a baker's dozen of stories. In addition to the Mark Finn story, I highly recommend the Adrian Simmons story, the Wen Spencer story, and the Jim Zub story. As Mark says in his not-to-be-missed "Introduction: Stealing the Shire", "There's something here for every taste."

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the Enge, Hocking, Ruocchio, and Willingham stories are the tightest.

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. They need to do another one.