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Thieves' World #7
The Dead of Winter
A fearsome cold threatens Sanctuary and an army of the living dead is on the march, in the latest "Thieves' World" anthology featuring stories by Janet Morris, C.J. Cherryh, Diane Duane, Robin Bailey, Andrew Offutt, and others
273 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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757 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lynn Asprin
224 books1,067 followersRobert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 14, 2025
This was the seventh Thieves' World shared-world anthology; Ace published it in 1985, and it had a new look as Gary Ruddell was the cover artist after Walter Velez had done the first six. The trend to having a continuing narrative rather than individual stories with a shared setting became more firmly entrenched, and we had an army of zombies, more or less, added to the mix. There are eight stories in this book, and as before I didn't care much for the ones by C.J. Cherryh and Janet Morris but favored those by co-editors Asprin and Abbey. There were good ones by Robin W. Bailey and Diana L. Paxson, and my favorite was by Andrew Offutt with Diane Duane's a close second. Lynn Abbey also contributed a helpful Dramtis Personae, which was somehow both longer and shorter than expected, and should have included the information as to what story from what author they debuted in. Offutt also wrote an amusing and informative Afterword. By this time, Thieves' World was a popular franchise, and they did a very good job of trying to keep it fresh and interesting while still exploring the existing characters and storylines. Tempus was still MIA, but fugit impended.
December 15, 2022
Some good stories here, and a few not so much. This is my first 3 star rating in this series. 2.8. The authors seem to be focusing on characters I don’t like as much, and we haven’t seen much of some of the earlier, more interesting group. Sanctuary is systematically being destroyed by all factions, and Roxanne almost destroyed the city with a magical storm. Somewhat of a mess. I’m hoping they course correct in the next installment.
March 22, 2020
1.5 stars.
That was a slog. The Thieves' World series is continuing to evolve into a series that I'm losing interest in. The originally conquering Rankan empire is slowly unravelling and Sanctuary, occupied by the fish-eye Beysib, is also being eyed by the Nisibisi as a city they could add to their own empire. Sadly, this means the original idea of independent short stories that just all happen to be set in the same city is being eroded and these stories keep featuring different writers writing about the same bloody characters, either as the main focus of the story or as prominent secondary characters. As I personally dislike these characters (prominently Ischade and Roxane) I'm not enjoying these stories. And alas, the Stepsons are back - Tempus is still absent but I fear it won't be long until that tiresome bully swaggers back.
The fact that I can normally read a book of this size between 24 - 36 hours and this one actually took me three days should really tell you all you need to know. I said in my review of book 6 that I was going to press on with the series, but I'm going to pause for a while and read something else. My advice is to get the first three books and then think very hard about whether you want to press on with the rest.
That was a slog. The Thieves' World series is continuing to evolve into a series that I'm losing interest in. The originally conquering Rankan empire is slowly unravelling and Sanctuary, occupied by the fish-eye Beysib, is also being eyed by the Nisibisi as a city they could add to their own empire. Sadly, this means the original idea of independent short stories that just all happen to be set in the same city is being eroded and these stories keep featuring different writers writing about the same bloody characters, either as the main focus of the story or as prominent secondary characters. As I personally dislike these characters (prominently Ischade and Roxane) I'm not enjoying these stories. And alas, the Stepsons are back - Tempus is still absent but I fear it won't be long until that tiresome bully swaggers back.
The fact that I can normally read a book of this size between 24 - 36 hours and this one actually took me three days should really tell you all you need to know. I said in my review of book 6 that I was going to press on with the series, but I'm going to pause for a while and read something else. My advice is to get the first three books and then think very hard about whether you want to press on with the rest.
August 20, 2019
Began a project to re-read these books in February 2019 after finally acquiring a nearly complete set in a used bookstore in Montreal. This volume is remarkably coherent in its stories and themes; I feel like the editors and authors of Thieves' World had it down to a science by this point. Thieves' World was and is one of my favorite sword-and-sorcery collections, and I still contend that had it come out just a little sooner, it would have made Gygax's Appendix N, as some of the authors and editors (e.g. Andrew Offutt) did . . .
May 3, 2009
I enjoy the series but by this point it has lost some of the diversity of the first four or five books. Second time through the series.
June 8, 2009
Probably one of my favorite volumes in the series.
January 21, 2012
another great day in Sanctuary...missing Hanse, and all the Stepsons... But got to see a few old friends....
September 21, 2024
Excellent read!! This is as good as the first!!
Revenge, snakes, slavers, mercenaries, virulent sorcery, hate, dangerous liaisons and the pestilential dead mixed with deceit, betrayal and more skullduggery than the House of Lords or the Republican Party. Sanctuary is washed with infighting and factions bent on ruling the streets. The return of Tempus the Undying force to subvert both the institutions and the culture of the last vestige of the Rankan Empire. Chicanery, conspiracy, and manipulation abound in this volume of the Thieve's World cycle.
Revenge, snakes, slavers, mercenaries, virulent sorcery, hate, dangerous liaisons and the pestilential dead mixed with deceit, betrayal and more skullduggery than the House of Lords or the Republican Party. Sanctuary is washed with infighting and factions bent on ruling the streets. The return of Tempus the Undying force to subvert both the institutions and the culture of the last vestige of the Rankan Empire. Chicanery, conspiracy, and manipulation abound in this volume of the Thieve's World cycle.
April 30, 2016
Overall, this volume has some good stories in it, but it generally fails to cohere, with events from the various stories being poorly reflected in the other stuff supposedly going on at the same time. There's also a feeling that - despite some big events - nothing actually happens.
Hell to Pay, Morris. I'm a bit annoyed that Morris could use Roxanne throughout her novel series without actually giving her any closure. With that complaint, this is an OK story that only sort of advances the plot and is a bit slow. [6/10]
The Veiled Lady, Offut. Places a good spotlight on some interesting characters, but this long-ish story contains about 2 pages of plot and they're horribly sappy romance. [4/10]
The God-Chosen, Abbey. A nice spotlight on Molin, past and present, and a good way to introduce him to the larger arc of the book. [7/10]
Keeping Promises, Bailey. A surprisingly strong story with interesting characters, and a really great look at the high-level politics of Sanctuary. Also a nice companion to the Molin story in this same anthology. [8/10]
Armies of the Night, Cherryh. I do not understand why, but Cherryh just fails to capture my interest in story after story. Perhaps it's the fact that she has such large casts and her stories rarely have endings .... [5/10]
Down by the Riverside, Duane. Some of the story is a bit linear, but this is overall a very nice character piece that also gives an interesting view of the Thieves' World cosmology. [7/10]
When the Spirit Moves You, Asprin. The story offers a nice return to the Hell Hounds and gives a nice alternate view of Ischade (and her theories), but beyond that it's quite shallow, and the reveal that it was all a lead-up to a mediocre joke is a bit disheartening. [5/10]
The Color of Magic, Paxson. I've never been super-fond of Lalo, but this is an OK story with a particularly strong ending. [6/10]
Hell to Pay, Morris. I'm a bit annoyed that Morris could use Roxanne throughout her novel series without actually giving her any closure. With that complaint, this is an OK story that only sort of advances the plot and is a bit slow. [6/10]
The Veiled Lady, Offut. Places a good spotlight on some interesting characters, but this long-ish story contains about 2 pages of plot and they're horribly sappy romance. [4/10]
The God-Chosen, Abbey. A nice spotlight on Molin, past and present, and a good way to introduce him to the larger arc of the book. [7/10]
Keeping Promises, Bailey. A surprisingly strong story with interesting characters, and a really great look at the high-level politics of Sanctuary. Also a nice companion to the Molin story in this same anthology. [8/10]
Armies of the Night, Cherryh. I do not understand why, but Cherryh just fails to capture my interest in story after story. Perhaps it's the fact that she has such large casts and her stories rarely have endings .... [5/10]
Down by the Riverside, Duane. Some of the story is a bit linear, but this is overall a very nice character piece that also gives an interesting view of the Thieves' World cosmology. [7/10]
When the Spirit Moves You, Asprin. The story offers a nice return to the Hell Hounds and gives a nice alternate view of Ischade (and her theories), but beyond that it's quite shallow, and the reveal that it was all a lead-up to a mediocre joke is a bit disheartening. [5/10]
The Color of Magic, Paxson. I've never been super-fond of Lalo, but this is an OK story with a particularly strong ending. [6/10]
April 30, 2019
Welcome back to our stroll down memory lane in the city of Sanctuary. We’re revisiting the Thieves’ World series, the twelve anthologies that resulted from an idea by Robert Asprin and friends to write sword and sorcery stories in a shared universe. The concept made an impact on generations of readers, including best-selling fantasy author Robin Hobb (who called it a “brilliant idea,” and says that the book still sits on her shelf) and award-winning science fiction author Cory Doctorow (who recalls that the series ‘rocked his world’ as a teen). Previously we worked our way through the first half of the series and now we’ll explore the remaining six books.
THE DEAD OF WINTER (1985)
The Dead of Winter is book seven, and it’s an apt title, as the setting is winter in the city, and the storyline deals with the newly dead, the undead, the restless dead, the necromancers who control the dead, and the land of the dead. This collection is a plump one, with eight stories, all by previous contributors, and deals largely with the return of the Stepsons to Sanctuary and the conflict with the Nisibisi witch, Roxane.
The afterword by Andrew Offut (entitled “Some Blatantly Personal Observations”) is worth the price of admission, as he alludes to behind-the-scenes spats and maneuverings, including the fact that he had recently signed a contract to publish a tie-in Shadowspawn novel. (In fact, Shadowspawn would come out in 1987, while Janet Morris’ Sacred Band authorized tie-in novels – Beyond Sanctuary, Beyond the Veil, and Beyond Wizardwall – would come out in 1985, 1985 and 1986, respectively.)
THE DEAD OF WINTER (1985)
The Dead of Winter is book seven, and it’s an apt title, as the setting is winter in the city, and the storyline deals with the newly dead, the undead, the restless dead, the necromancers who control the dead, and the land of the dead. This collection is a plump one, with eight stories, all by previous contributors, and deals largely with the return of the Stepsons to Sanctuary and the conflict with the Nisibisi witch, Roxane.
The afterword by Andrew Offut (entitled “Some Blatantly Personal Observations”) is worth the price of admission, as he alludes to behind-the-scenes spats and maneuverings, including the fact that he had recently signed a contract to publish a tie-in Shadowspawn novel. (In fact, Shadowspawn would come out in 1987, while Janet Morris’ Sacred Band authorized tie-in novels – Beyond Sanctuary, Beyond the Veil, and Beyond Wizardwall – would come out in 1985, 1985 and 1986, respectively.)
June 15, 2019
I almost stopped reading this book early because the first couple of stories seemed mundane and bland for a fantasy novel. However, somewhere in the fifth story, "Keeping Promises," I either became familiar enough with the personal struggles of some of the characters or the stakes of one of the plots got high enough for me to care. From there, things got dramatically better. We get to see Sanctuary explode with urban combat and mass looting, the dead risen and fighting, gods materializing and acting, and families struggling to survive in the mayhem. In other words, it gets quite fantastical, and doesn't skirt the spectacle in favor of diversions. I would place highest praise on Diane Duane's "Down by the Riverside" - it isn't a perfect story, but is really well written and wholly satisfying. So, even if you aren't a fan of the series (I am not) there is plenty to find here amid some other stuff that seems out of place with its normalcy.
June 21, 2022
I said in my review of the last book that I was relieved Roxane was off the board for a little while because she and Ischade were too similar—well, guess who is back in the very next book and feuding with Ischade!? I realized, while trying to figure out why things are becoming so confusing by this volume, that part of the problem is that different authors are making their own versions of archetypal characters, so we end up with a lot of redundancy. The sexy enchantress, the hard-bitten veteran, the street-wise guttersnipe, the golden-haired warrior woman—there are at least two of all of these at this point, and although each of them tends to be written well, it inevitably causes a fair amount of confusion.
The standout story in this volume for me is by Diane Duane, always a favorite, as she plays with a Sanctuary version of the Orpheus story.
(And at least there’s no Tempus).
(Spoiler: Tempus comes back next book).
The standout story in this volume for me is by Diane Duane, always a favorite, as she plays with a Sanctuary version of the Orpheus story.
(And at least there’s no Tempus).
(Spoiler: Tempus comes back next book).
January 20, 2025
The Dead of Winter, the seventh entry in Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey's Thieves' World series of mosaic novels follows Wings of Omen with about the same lineup of authors contributing short fiction to the seedy low fantasy of Sanctuary.
It says on the back that "a fearful cold grips Sanctuary" and that "the risen dead begin to outnumber the living," both of which are exaggerations. While winter is mentioned several times, the cold never really is, and the weather isn't much of a character until the end. Nor are there armies of undead taking over the ill-fated city at the center of Thieves' World, though the undead do feature prominently in a few stories.
Of the stories, Andrew Offutt, Robin Bailey and Asprin turn in relatively standalone tales; Janet Morris (sans partner Chris) gets the show on the road in her usual dense and slow-burn style and the rest take it from there.
Standouts include Diane Duane's "Down By The Riverside," which features an interesting jaunt into a mirror-world Hellscape version of Sanctuary that lampshades some classical mythology and C. J. Cherryh's "Armies of the Night" which provides a climax for the intertwined work contributed by Morris and Abbey. Diana Paxson's "The Color Of Magic" provides a denouement that itself has plenty of self-contained action that doesn't feel particularly related to the rest of the preceding material.
It says on the back that "a fearful cold grips Sanctuary" and that "the risen dead begin to outnumber the living," both of which are exaggerations. While winter is mentioned several times, the cold never really is, and the weather isn't much of a character until the end. Nor are there armies of undead taking over the ill-fated city at the center of Thieves' World, though the undead do feature prominently in a few stories.
Of the stories, Andrew Offutt, Robin Bailey and Asprin turn in relatively standalone tales; Janet Morris (sans partner Chris) gets the show on the road in her usual dense and slow-burn style and the rest take it from there.
Standouts include Diane Duane's "Down By The Riverside," which features an interesting jaunt into a mirror-world Hellscape version of Sanctuary that lampshades some classical mythology and C. J. Cherryh's "Armies of the Night" which provides a climax for the intertwined work contributed by Morris and Abbey. Diana Paxson's "The Color Of Magic" provides a denouement that itself has plenty of self-contained action that doesn't feel particularly related to the rest of the preceding material.
March 23, 2022
After reading book 6 - Wings of Omen, I was ready to walk away from the Thieves world series (see review). Book 7 - The Dead of Winter, brought me back.
I can't tell if it is the characters or stories, or combination of both, but this book held much more depth in terms of the characters and stories. Full stop, and spoiler alert, I teared up in the early part of the story "Hell to Pay" dealing with the 'minor' character of Tyr. Talk about pulling at the heartstrings.
Lots of action, lots of drama, backstabbing, skulking, and revenge abound in this book. The stories, while separate, weave through a wider plot and background of the turmoil in Sanctuary and the wider Rankan Empire.
Well worth the read. One note, while book 6 was not great, it provides some necessary backstories to several key characters in book 7.
I can't tell if it is the characters or stories, or combination of both, but this book held much more depth in terms of the characters and stories. Full stop, and spoiler alert, I teared up in the early part of the story "Hell to Pay" dealing with the 'minor' character of Tyr. Talk about pulling at the heartstrings.
Lots of action, lots of drama, backstabbing, skulking, and revenge abound in this book. The stories, while separate, weave through a wider plot and background of the turmoil in Sanctuary and the wider Rankan Empire.
Well worth the read. One note, while book 6 was not great, it provides some necessary backstories to several key characters in book 7.
January 4, 2025
It's strange to say about a book in which one of the stories has gods going to Hell and another story has the city flooded that nothing much happens in this book yet that's how I feel. Ischade features in half the stories but she's always been mysterious to me with a lot of preparations but no real progression. The other stories feel similar, with an exception of Offutt's story, which does not include Shadowspawn but is a nice standalone story.
February 1, 2023
Another great Thieves World installation. This one perhaps has a stronger meta-narrative running through most of the stories. The afterword was a fascinating glimpse into some of the behind-the-scenes of Thieves World. Although, reading Andrew J. Offutt describe Hanse as looking like "Lee Marvin at age 23" is a severe disconnect from how I've pictured that character all these years.
January 7, 2022
This one takes a while to get going, but the final few stories are worth it.
February 23, 2023
The Dramatist Personae helps, but we need a good, solid companion to the sereis. Like the MCU, it' stepping on it's toes.
May 22, 2023
Too much verbiage.
The description s were long and distracting. Did not care for the lack of action that distracted from the story.
The description s were long and distracting. Did not care for the lack of action that distracted from the story.
April 3, 2018
This book seems to show more coordination between contributing authors than the previous Thieves' World installments, giving The Dead of Winter a more novel-like feel. There are still a few stand-alone stories but many advance the main plot and characters/events are more connected. In the "Sanctuary continues to go to hell" theme, the "real" Stepsons have returned from the northern war to the city and attempt to start cleaning house. The god-children are also growing in power (if not control) and Nisibisi witch Roxanne takes another stab at destroying her enemies, which, at this point, is pretty everyone in the city. Most of the stories were solid contributions to the franchise, but few really grabbed me. I did like Duane's "Down by the Riverside" (the latest in the Harran/Siveni/Mriga/Tyr chronicles), which was interesting in expanding the world of the dead and actually portrayed Ischade in a more sympathetic manner than does her creator and other authors. "The God-Chosen" helped give me more of a handle on Archpriest Molin Torchholder, who, although he has been a character in many stories since #1 always felt like a bit of a cypher to me.
January 21, 2016
Readability 8. Rating 6. Date estimated. One of the Thieves' World series of books, which collect short stories from a range of science-fiction and fantasy writers. The interesting aspect of these stories is the common setting (the City of Sanctuary) and the overlapping of characters and events. At it's best, the series provides multiple viewpoints in very different styles of events that impact each character's life to varying extents. The series also does an excellent job of maintaining a historical flow throughout the series. At this point (I am writing this well after the time I read the books), I cannot differentiate among the early books in this series. Note also, that this is the second reading for the first eight in the series. Readability 8. Rating 6.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2023
A reread from 1986. Mildly entertaining and enough to keep me interested, but felt like a filler in the series (seventh anthology), involving many of the ongoing characters, but moving the overall plot forward only very incrementally.
Was interested to read Andrew Offutt’s afterword mentioning the upcoming (in 1985) standalone novels of Shadowspawn and Beyond Sanctuary which I have read in the last couple of years.
Was interested to read Andrew Offutt’s afterword mentioning the upcoming (in 1985) standalone novels of Shadowspawn and Beyond Sanctuary which I have read in the last couple of years.
February 10, 2016
The newer characters didn't really grab me in the previous book but I feel like they really came into their own in this volume - I'm eager to see how Chenaya and Daphne fare after what happened in their story. As usual, I didn't care much for a couple of the authors but overall I found this to be more enjoyable than the last few.
December 30, 2015
This one was pretty good. I remember reading it after I had graduated high school and moved to Atlanta. Some characters were gone by now and other new stories and characters were being introduced. It was a pretty good read, but not comparable to the earlier books, especially the first three. Those are just awesome!
Danny
Danny
February 6, 2012
I enjoyed it well enough. Some details became clearer. I find myself looking forward to certain of the participating authors and not others. I'll keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to read the follow-up series.
June 10, 2011
The first book I finished on my Kindle!
March 19, 2014
Great!
May 8, 2012
In this awesome seventh volume, a fearful cold grips Sanctuary, and the risen dead begin to outnumber the living, a new alliance that may save the war-torn Borderlands is born...
April 27, 2013
see book 1
December 11, 2020
Last two stories... Not great. Got to just get through this marathon series now...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews