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Thieves' World #1
Thieves' World
They all play the part of hero, they are all-powerful on a stage that is ruled by the one that you talk to - or the one you believe...
Thieves' World is what resulted when the world's top science-fiction and fantasy writers got together to create the amazing new world of Sanctuary, where you mix and mingle with Lythal the Star-browed: his magic is questionable, his sword-play is not. Jubal: ex-gladiator and slave, now a respected citizen (he made his money selling slaves). One Thumb: the crooked bartender at the Vulgar Unicorn ...and even more fantastic characters!
Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, John Brunner, Joe Haldeman and Andrew J Offutt have dreamed up a world of wonders - a fabulous reading adventure!
Contents:
* Introduction - Robert Asprin
* Sentences of Death - John Brunner
* The Face of Chaos - Lynn Abbey
* The Gate of Flying Knives - Poul Anderson
* Shadowspawn - Andrew Offutt
* The Price of Doing Business - Robert Asprin
* Blood Brothers - Joe Haldeman
* Myrtis - Christine DeWees
* The Secret of the Blue Star - Marion Zimmer Bradley
* The Making of Thieves' World - Robert Asprin
Thieves' World is what resulted when the world's top science-fiction and fantasy writers got together to create the amazing new world of Sanctuary, where you mix and mingle with Lythal the Star-browed: his magic is questionable, his sword-play is not. Jubal: ex-gladiator and slave, now a respected citizen (he made his money selling slaves). One Thumb: the crooked bartender at the Vulgar Unicorn ...and even more fantastic characters!
Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, John Brunner, Joe Haldeman and Andrew J Offutt have dreamed up a world of wonders - a fabulous reading adventure!
Contents:
* Introduction - Robert Asprin
* Sentences of Death - John Brunner
* The Face of Chaos - Lynn Abbey
* The Gate of Flying Knives - Poul Anderson
* Shadowspawn - Andrew Offutt
* The Price of Doing Business - Robert Asprin
* Blood Brothers - Joe Haldeman
* Myrtis - Christine DeWees
* The Secret of the Blue Star - Marion Zimmer Bradley
* The Making of Thieves' World - Robert Asprin
308 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1979
414 people are currently reading
4271 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 274 reviews
November 22, 2021
Given the title, I was expecting more thieving. In fact there is more sorcery than thieving. Still, this proved good fun and I think realizes some of the synergistic potential that Asprin was going for when concocting his idea for a shared world fantasy anthology. Each tale focuses on a particular key resident of Sanctuary, though many make appearances elsewhere, including One-Thumb the grumpy owner of The Vulgar Unicorn tavern, Shadowspawn the cocky thief, Jubal the audacious crime boss, Molin Torchholder the arrogant priest, Cappen Varra the amorous minstrel, Kadakithis the naive prince and newly appointed governor, Myrtis the shrewd brothel madame and Lythande the mysterious and wistful wizard.
All of the stories reflect events spurred in the wake of the arrival of prince Kadakithis to Sanctuary, including his dreaded personal guard the Hell Hounds, and the consequent reassertion of imperial authority and the empire's religious pantheon. There are some minor inconsistencies in the characterizations and portrayals of Sanctuary's atmosphere as a haven for rogues, and of course widely differing styles, but the stories are generally enjoyable, though do mostly feel like a product of their time.
"Beneath a westering sun, the bazaar surged and clamored. Merchants, artisans, porters, servants, slaves, wives, nomads, courtesans, entertainers, beggars, thieves, gamblers, magicians, acolytes, soldiers, and who knew what else mingled, chattered, chaffered, quarreled, plotted, sang, played games, drank, ate, and who knew what else. Horsemen, camel drivers, wagoners pushed through, raising waves of curses. Music tinkled and tweedled from wine-shops. Vendors proclaimed the wonders of their wares from booths, neighbors shouted at each other, and devotees chanted from flat rooftops. Smells thickened the air, of flesh, sweat, roast meat and nuts, aromatic drinks, leather, wool, dung, smoke, oils, cheap perfume."
All of the stories reflect events spurred in the wake of the arrival of prince Kadakithis to Sanctuary, including his dreaded personal guard the Hell Hounds, and the consequent reassertion of imperial authority and the empire's religious pantheon. There are some minor inconsistencies in the characterizations and portrayals of Sanctuary's atmosphere as a haven for rogues, and of course widely differing styles, but the stories are generally enjoyable, though do mostly feel like a product of their time.
"Beneath a westering sun, the bazaar surged and clamored. Merchants, artisans, porters, servants, slaves, wives, nomads, courtesans, entertainers, beggars, thieves, gamblers, magicians, acolytes, soldiers, and who knew what else mingled, chattered, chaffered, quarreled, plotted, sang, played games, drank, ate, and who knew what else. Horsemen, camel drivers, wagoners pushed through, raising waves of curses. Music tinkled and tweedled from wine-shops. Vendors proclaimed the wonders of their wares from booths, neighbors shouted at each other, and devotees chanted from flat rooftops. Smells thickened the air, of flesh, sweat, roast meat and nuts, aromatic drinks, leather, wool, dung, smoke, oils, cheap perfume."
November 25, 2023
Thieves’ World blazed new trails in the fantasy genre. When first published in 1979, the genre was dominated by heroic Tolkien knockoffs, aping the master’s formula without his originality or talent. Thieves’ World introduced something fresh...and much darker. It gave us Sanctuary, a cesspool city on the edge of a bloated empire, full of morally ambiguous characters living their often less than heroic lives.
Thieves’ World was innovative in form as well as content. It was one of the earliest Shared World franchises. Several speculative fiction authors were recruited to contribute stories to the collection. Using a shared setting, each wrote stories in which they contributed their own original character and were allowed to use the characters created by the others. Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, and John Brunner, among others, all contributed tales. The Making of Thieves’ World, an article by Robert Asprin explaining the challenges involved in making the project a reality is included in this collection.
The series eventually grew to twelve volumes, the first five of which I read nearly forty years ago. In 2020 Open Road Media republished the first six books in the series as ebooks. I reread this inaugural book with happy results. It’s no longer the darkest fantasy out there, and some of its shocking tropes have lost a bit of bite, but its entertainment value still stands up. Thieves’ World was definitely worth revisiting, though I seem to recall that the series started going downhill for me before I stopped reading it. I guess I’ll continue rereading the republished series until I hit that point.
Thieves’ World was innovative in form as well as content. It was one of the earliest Shared World franchises. Several speculative fiction authors were recruited to contribute stories to the collection. Using a shared setting, each wrote stories in which they contributed their own original character and were allowed to use the characters created by the others. Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Robert Asprin, and John Brunner, among others, all contributed tales. The Making of Thieves’ World, an article by Robert Asprin explaining the challenges involved in making the project a reality is included in this collection.
The series eventually grew to twelve volumes, the first five of which I read nearly forty years ago. In 2020 Open Road Media republished the first six books in the series as ebooks. I reread this inaugural book with happy results. It’s no longer the darkest fantasy out there, and some of its shocking tropes have lost a bit of bite, but its entertainment value still stands up. Thieves’ World was definitely worth revisiting, though I seem to recall that the series started going downhill for me before I stopped reading it. I guess I’ll continue rereading the republished series until I hit that point.
March 13, 2014
Shared World anthologies. What a brilliant idea! The concept was that a setting would be provided and some basic rules set down, such as 'no killing another author's character without permission.' And then recruit some top notch writers to come and play.
This book still has a nice fat place on my shelf.
This book still has a nice fat place on my shelf.
January 12, 2020
Interesting factoid: the first six Thieves' World collections should appear in the Kindle store in February 2020, thanks to the efforts of Open Road Media. The task of securing rights was probably significant.
I'd be curious if this experiment--a shared setting and usable set of characters--has ever been repeated. The logical conclusion would be open-source or copylefted material, and the only thing I know of is the Jenny Everywhere project. Sadly the most common example these days is tie-in novels and licensed properties.
So the essay itself, "The Making of Thieves' World", is the standout piece, as being partially a fascinating insight on wrangling together this material, as well as a bit about how this outstanding example of worldbuilding came together.
On this reading (versus decades ago) the best stories trade places with the others, with the hardscrabble, character-driven ones being more involving and resonant than the boilerplate sword-and-sorcery adventure stuff that attracted me originally.
Strangely, the story that I most remembered, "The Secret of the Blue Star", has aged poorly because of real-world changes to gender politics. The drama circling Lythande's "Secret" is so particularly heavy-handed and telegraphing that one wonders if any reader at the time was truly surprised by the twist ending. But I'm curious what this story would look like if written today. Also, the later accusations made against Marion Zimmer Bradley are only highlighted by the fact that a character here, Bercy, is concocted as a romantic or sexual object but her description signals her as being inappropriately young.
I'd be curious if this experiment--a shared setting and usable set of characters--has ever been repeated. The logical conclusion would be open-source or copylefted material, and the only thing I know of is the Jenny Everywhere project. Sadly the most common example these days is tie-in novels and licensed properties.
So the essay itself, "The Making of Thieves' World", is the standout piece, as being partially a fascinating insight on wrangling together this material, as well as a bit about how this outstanding example of worldbuilding came together.
On this reading (versus decades ago) the best stories trade places with the others, with the hardscrabble, character-driven ones being more involving and resonant than the boilerplate sword-and-sorcery adventure stuff that attracted me originally.
Strangely, the story that I most remembered, "The Secret of the Blue Star", has aged poorly because of real-world changes to gender politics. The drama circling Lythande's "Secret" is so particularly heavy-handed and telegraphing that one wonders if any reader at the time was truly surprised by the twist ending. But I'm curious what this story would look like if written today. Also, the later accusations made against Marion Zimmer Bradley are only highlighted by the fact that a character here, Bercy, is concocted as a romantic or sexual object but her description signals her as being inappropriately young.
May 14, 2020
I read this book and its companions back in the 1980s.
The idea of a Shared World apparently started at one of the many scifi conventions that were popular in the 1980s. It was a novel concept. There had always been anthologies - short stories or novellas written by authors from the same genre writing about the same Theme. But there had never been anthologies based on the same Fantasy World.
Thieves World is a world: " a city of outlaws and adventurers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters". What made these books work was the authors' characters all wandered in and out of the same taverns, encountered the same corruption, and once in awhile authors' borrowed one anothers characters for their story. It was clever. It worked.
I need to confess, I am an avid reader. However, short stories HAVE not and ARE not my favorite writing format. As a rule, I am usually wanting more character development, more information than what a short story can give. But Thieves' World worked and worked well. I do not recall any other short stories I enjoyed more.
The editors went on to publish 12 books. I personally stopped reading at about book 6. The concept started getting tired and the books were not as clever and exciting to me after #6. But seeing this being offered as a ebook is getting me excited again. I just might revisit Thieves World.
The idea of a Shared World apparently started at one of the many scifi conventions that were popular in the 1980s. It was a novel concept. There had always been anthologies - short stories or novellas written by authors from the same genre writing about the same Theme. But there had never been anthologies based on the same Fantasy World.
Thieves World is a world: " a city of outlaws and adventurers in a world of war and wizardry, peopled with colorful characters". What made these books work was the authors' characters all wandered in and out of the same taverns, encountered the same corruption, and once in awhile authors' borrowed one anothers characters for their story. It was clever. It worked.
I need to confess, I am an avid reader. However, short stories HAVE not and ARE not my favorite writing format. As a rule, I am usually wanting more character development, more information than what a short story can give. But Thieves' World worked and worked well. I do not recall any other short stories I enjoyed more.
The editors went on to publish 12 books. I personally stopped reading at about book 6. The concept started getting tired and the books were not as clever and exciting to me after #6. But seeing this being offered as a ebook is getting me excited again. I just might revisit Thieves World.
July 3, 2025
Thieves' World was the first volume in what was to become a long-running shared-world series of anthologies. It was edited by Robert Lynn Asprin; Lynn Abbey became co-editor a few volumes in, about the same time she and Asprin were married. It was one of the first shared-world projects and remains one of the best and most successful in the fantasy genre. Each of the authors wrote a story in the fantasy-world originally designed by Asprin, and made use of the other authors' characters. Events in each story affected the world as a whole, and the other characters as well. My favorites in this initial book were John Brunner's Sentences of Death (Brunner was known almost exclusively as a hard-sf author, but he proved he could do heroic fantasy as well), The Face of Chaos by Abbey, The Price of Doing Business by Asprin, Blood Brothers by Joe Haldeman (like Brunner known almost solely for his sf, but his mean fantasy here is one of his best), and Myrtis by Christine DeWees (a terrific story, and it's the only one I ever stumbled across by her; I thought she was going to be a Big Name one day.) There are also stories by Poul Anderson and Marion Zimmer Bradley, neither of which, surprisingly, I much cared for. (Bradley famously had trouble sharing her character, which is ironic considering she opened up her world of Darkover to a long-running series of pastiche volumes.) My favorite story was andrew j. offutt's Shadowspawn, the first of his many Thieves' World adventures and one of offutt's all-time best. Asprin provided an interesting "making of" essay, as well as an introduction and notes. Altogether, it was grand send-off to the seventies in the fantasy field! One oddball note is that the cover painting is an all-right fantasy scene with some of the characters in the Vulgar Unicorn tavern by Walter Velez, whose signature you can read on the bottom right, but the copyright page says, "Cover art by Rowena Morrill."
September 27, 2025
I first read this and several of the other installments in the series when they were first published and really liked them. Rereading it several decades later, Thieves' World still hits that sweet spot for me. Having so many different authors all contribute stories in a shared universe sometimes works well, like here, and also one of my other favorites, War World Created By Jerry Pournelle #1-4: 1-The Burning Eye; 2-Death's Head rebellion; 3-Sauron Dominion; 4- Invasion.
This is more than a simple collection of stories as each author explores/creates the city of Sanctuary and the characters therein. It was fun to encounter some of the same faces as secondary characters while other times they were leads. Plus, a serious collection of authors here, including John Brunner, Poul Anderson, Joe Haldeman and Andrew Offutt. Yes, some of the stories are better than others, but this just really works. 4 nostalgic stars!!
This is more than a simple collection of stories as each author explores/creates the city of Sanctuary and the characters therein. It was fun to encounter some of the same faces as secondary characters while other times they were leads. Plus, a serious collection of authors here, including John Brunner, Poul Anderson, Joe Haldeman and Andrew Offutt. Yes, some of the stories are better than others, but this just really works. 4 nostalgic stars!!
November 17, 2014
-Idea muy innovadora hace más de treinta años.-
Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En la ciudad de Santuario, emplazamiento fundado por esclavos huidos al sur del Imperio Rankano antes de que anexionase ese territorio a sus posesiones y que durante un tiempo fue floreciente pero ahora va viniendo a menos, se entremezclan las vidas de diferentes personajes. Novela formada por una serie de relatos interconectados, coordinados por Robert Lynn Asprin para dar a este Fix-Up especial tanto consistencia como continuidad y que incluye trabajos suyos, de John Brunner, Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Andrew Offutt, Joe Haldeman, Christine DeWees y Marion Zimmer Bradley. Primer libro de la serie El mundo de los ladrones.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En la ciudad de Santuario, emplazamiento fundado por esclavos huidos al sur del Imperio Rankano antes de que anexionase ese territorio a sus posesiones y que durante un tiempo fue floreciente pero ahora va viniendo a menos, se entremezclan las vidas de diferentes personajes. Novela formada por una serie de relatos interconectados, coordinados por Robert Lynn Asprin para dar a este Fix-Up especial tanto consistencia como continuidad y que incluye trabajos suyos, de John Brunner, Lynn Abbey, Poul Anderson, Andrew Offutt, Joe Haldeman, Christine DeWees y Marion Zimmer Bradley. Primer libro de la serie El mundo de los ladrones.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
September 20, 2015
I read all Aspirin's MYTH series when I was a kid and was a big fan. I saw this in used bookstore and grabbed it to check out one of his more adult written books. Surprisingly good, my type of spec/fantasy book, packed with creative miniplots and ideas, not wordily written, sparse and minimalistic and then on to the next creative concept, situation, or character.
Also, I wonder if maybe this series was far more influential than I know of. Seems like it spawned several spin-offs and I even see some heavy character resemblances to GoT.
Also, I feel like the used bookstore owner was pretty disappointed that I didn't try to steal this book. Like he deliberately turned his back and made me stand at the counter for a couple minutes before checking me out. Now I realize he was saying, "Dude, if you're going to buy this book like a chump you really don't get it. Go grab a book about elves or something."
Also, I wonder if maybe this series was far more influential than I know of. Seems like it spawned several spin-offs and I even see some heavy character resemblances to GoT.
Also, I feel like the used bookstore owner was pretty disappointed that I didn't try to steal this book. Like he deliberately turned his back and made me stand at the counter for a couple minutes before checking me out. Now I realize he was saying, "Dude, if you're going to buy this book like a chump you really don't get it. Go grab a book about elves or something."
December 19, 2007
(I'm no longer updating my books-read-on-the-commute-count with every single post. I may periodically do it on nice round numbers. Or not. We'll see.)
Thieves' World is a book I've been meaning to read for ages. It's an anthology of fantasy short stories edited by Robert Asprin, who wrote a series of books informally known as the "Myth" books (they were comedies about a demon named Aahz and a sorcerer's apprentice named Skeeve and the books' titles all had puns in them: "Another Fine Myth", "Mything Persons", "Myth-adventures", etc.) - I read a few of the "Myth" books in high school and they were pretty entertaining. It's not that they weren't entertaining enough for me to want to read all of them, it's just that the publisher wasn't very good about marking them in any way to indicate what order they were written and should be read in, and I get pretty anal about stuff like that. So after three or four I gave up because I was worried I would read volume 6 before volume 5. Anyway, the "Myth" books I did read all had some notice somewhere on the cover to the effect of "by the editor of THIEVES' WORLD" and so I was always thinking "I should check that out."
Now, my little digression above about continuity frustrations actually is relevant here because the high concept of Thieves' World is that all the short stories take place in the same imaginary city and reference the same characters, places, institutions, etc. So there are criminal syndicates and magical orders and pantheons of deities and whatnot, and one short story might focus on a priest from the church of a certain god, and another on a slumlord who at least makes passing reference to the church, and another on a mage who makes reference to the slums, etc. Each story is written by a different author, so Asprin's job as editor is to make sure that it all hangs together with internal consistency.
Does he succeed? I believe so. Nothing jumped out at me as glaringly self-contradictory. Is the final, continuity-bound product any good? Meh. It's all pretty standard fantasy fare. A rogue rescues his beloved from an inescapable trap. A madam outwits the prince of the city who is trying to shut down her brothel. A fortune teller changes the future. Maybe the standards for fantasy were pretty low in the late 70s/early 80s (whores! drugs! this sure ain't Tolkien, yeeha!) but Thieves' World seemed less than amazing to me today. I suppose that's a hazard of going back to the trend-setters after decades of reading the various imitators, some of which ended up outdoing their progenitors.
Thieves' World is a book I've been meaning to read for ages. It's an anthology of fantasy short stories edited by Robert Asprin, who wrote a series of books informally known as the "Myth" books (they were comedies about a demon named Aahz and a sorcerer's apprentice named Skeeve and the books' titles all had puns in them: "Another Fine Myth", "Mything Persons", "Myth-adventures", etc.) - I read a few of the "Myth" books in high school and they were pretty entertaining. It's not that they weren't entertaining enough for me to want to read all of them, it's just that the publisher wasn't very good about marking them in any way to indicate what order they were written and should be read in, and I get pretty anal about stuff like that. So after three or four I gave up because I was worried I would read volume 6 before volume 5. Anyway, the "Myth" books I did read all had some notice somewhere on the cover to the effect of "by the editor of THIEVES' WORLD" and so I was always thinking "I should check that out."
Now, my little digression above about continuity frustrations actually is relevant here because the high concept of Thieves' World is that all the short stories take place in the same imaginary city and reference the same characters, places, institutions, etc. So there are criminal syndicates and magical orders and pantheons of deities and whatnot, and one short story might focus on a priest from the church of a certain god, and another on a slumlord who at least makes passing reference to the church, and another on a mage who makes reference to the slums, etc. Each story is written by a different author, so Asprin's job as editor is to make sure that it all hangs together with internal consistency.
Does he succeed? I believe so. Nothing jumped out at me as glaringly self-contradictory. Is the final, continuity-bound product any good? Meh. It's all pretty standard fantasy fare. A rogue rescues his beloved from an inescapable trap. A madam outwits the prince of the city who is trying to shut down her brothel. A fortune teller changes the future. Maybe the standards for fantasy were pretty low in the late 70s/early 80s (whores! drugs! this sure ain't Tolkien, yeeha!) but Thieves' World seemed less than amazing to me today. I suppose that's a hazard of going back to the trend-setters after decades of reading the various imitators, some of which ended up outdoing their progenitors.
May 3, 2022
Like almost every multiple author short story collection ever written, this is a mixed bag. One or two stories are very good, a few are good, and some are a chore to get through. I have a feeling that which categories the stories fall into will vary between readers. I have a few notes overall:
I thought I was getting some standard fantasy stories but was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was traditional sword and sorcery all the way. Everyone is morally gray and magic is mysterious and chaotic. Despite the unevenness of the stories themselves, the background and worldbuilding was fantastic.
Some people complain that the characters that are used in multiple stories act differently because different writers are using them. Asprin hand waved this by saying that these are just characters that are being looked at from different points of view. I not only accept this answer, I actually kind of dig it. I know that there have been times that I thought someone was an asshole while someone else thought they were great and vice-versa.
I didn't care for the Poul Anderson story, which surprised me. I have loved every fantasy story that I have ever read of Anderson's, but his Thieves' World story was unnecessarily the longest of the bunch because of way too much setup and it devolved into something of a Dungeons and Dragons adventure (which, unless you are playing Dungeons and Dragons or reading a D&D novel, is usually a big no no).
I liked the Offutt story, which was less surprising. Had Offutt not wasted his time churning out so much garbage to make a quick buck I honestly think people would be saying his name in the same breath as Howard, Wagner, and Leiber when they talk about 20th century masters of the sword and sorcery genre.
My favorite story was probably the Asprin contribution "The Price of Doing Business". Any story that shows in gory detail who would win a fight between a grown man and a hundred children is probably going to be a good time.
I thought I was getting some standard fantasy stories but was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was traditional sword and sorcery all the way. Everyone is morally gray and magic is mysterious and chaotic. Despite the unevenness of the stories themselves, the background and worldbuilding was fantastic.
Some people complain that the characters that are used in multiple stories act differently because different writers are using them. Asprin hand waved this by saying that these are just characters that are being looked at from different points of view. I not only accept this answer, I actually kind of dig it. I know that there have been times that I thought someone was an asshole while someone else thought they were great and vice-versa.
I didn't care for the Poul Anderson story, which surprised me. I have loved every fantasy story that I have ever read of Anderson's, but his Thieves' World story was unnecessarily the longest of the bunch because of way too much setup and it devolved into something of a Dungeons and Dragons adventure (which, unless you are playing Dungeons and Dragons or reading a D&D novel, is usually a big no no).
I liked the Offutt story, which was less surprising. Had Offutt not wasted his time churning out so much garbage to make a quick buck I honestly think people would be saying his name in the same breath as Howard, Wagner, and Leiber when they talk about 20th century masters of the sword and sorcery genre.
My favorite story was probably the Asprin contribution "The Price of Doing Business". Any story that shows in gory detail who would win a fight between a grown man and a hundred children is probably going to be a good time.
May 11, 2020
restarted and read within about a week to be honest. first time in THIEVES' WORLD. Probably would have totally enjoyed this as a youth, reading similar or at least not too dissimilar things during the same time. Nowadays, seems, well, a tad juvenile. Except for Haldeman's tale (might be my first of his, while the name is known I cannot recall anything I've read of his); he seems to have a thing or two about females. Anywhoo, I realize getting all the information shared amongst all the authors contributing to a shared-world is challenging, and the idea of letting each read the others' before writing theirs would be an endless nightmare, but that means the editor should make things fit. Obviously that means I don't think that was done very effectively here, though for the most part it went smoothly, there were (in example) various interpretations of the Hell Hounds that do not jibe.
Stories were mostly entertaining, obvious products of their era and the era before during which these authors matured (though some seem not to have). Robert Asprin's own tale seems the best of the whole, and his 'making of' closing essay is terrific. There really wasn't any of the slapstick humor I'd always associated with this series, so I'm not certain where I got that idea (unless that arrives in later books), so I do appreciate that, and I'll return someday, but no time soon. Too many other books - old and new - to catch up on. Not disappointing (as I honestly anticipated) but not very satisfying either.
Stories were mostly entertaining, obvious products of their era and the era before during which these authors matured (though some seem not to have). Robert Asprin's own tale seems the best of the whole, and his 'making of' closing essay is terrific. There really wasn't any of the slapstick humor I'd always associated with this series, so I'm not certain where I got that idea (unless that arrives in later books), so I do appreciate that, and I'll return someday, but no time soon. Too many other books - old and new - to catch up on. Not disappointing (as I honestly anticipated) but not very satisfying either.
June 7, 2009
This was the first "Shared World" series, at least as far as I know, and it is still the best in my opinion. I thought the idea was great, to get a lot of good writers telling stories in the same basic universe, the same city even, and be able to use other people's characters and settings. It worked for me.
September 8, 2014
This is truly the beginning of dark, grim fantasy. Published in 1979, it is way before it's time. Anyone who loves George R R Martin, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, and all the rest writing grim and dirty fantasy, should most definitely read this series from start to finish. Delightfully dark and adventurous books.
August 14, 2020
“We hold where I come from that no man can flee his weird, so he may as well meet it in a way that’ll leave a good story.”
A better than average anthology, perhaps because the editor enlisted first-rank fantasy writers of that day (the 70s) to write related stories. The set-up is a common fantasy world inhabited by an ensemble of shady characters with stories written by various authors.
“The sole traffic on the Avenue of Temples was a night breeze, cold and sibilant.”
While it works better than many “Best … of 20XX” anthologies, the quality is mediocre. The reader suspects commercial considerations beat out literary.
“You’ve already paid the price for doing business in Sanctuary. It isn’t your life, it’s your soul … your humanity. You’ve exchanged it for gold, and in my opinion, it was a poor bargain.”
A better than average anthology, perhaps because the editor enlisted first-rank fantasy writers of that day (the 70s) to write related stories. The set-up is a common fantasy world inhabited by an ensemble of shady characters with stories written by various authors.
“The sole traffic on the Avenue of Temples was a night breeze, cold and sibilant.”
While it works better than many “Best … of 20XX” anthologies, the quality is mediocre. The reader suspects commercial considerations beat out literary.
“You’ve already paid the price for doing business in Sanctuary. It isn’t your life, it’s your soul … your humanity. You’ve exchanged it for gold, and in my opinion, it was a poor bargain.”
June 28, 2017
This is one that I picked up from a lawn sale some unspecified number of years ago, and then found myself loathe to read because it just looked so old. I'm always wary of the older works, as they tend to slap me upside the head with unpleasantness like sexism more often than the more current stuff. Thankfully, this actually was something of a pleasant surprise.
For those who don't know, Thieves' World is a shared world, in which different authors create their own characters and write stories about said characters. Authors can use each other's characters, but they can't kill them, and I believe that the creator gets some power to either approve or disapprove of the actions that their characters take within the story. This particular anthology was a good mix of authors that I am familiar with, and authors that I am not.
As with all anthologies, I liked some stories more than others. If memory serves, I was most fond of "Sentences of Death" by John Brunner, "The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey, and "Myrtis" by Christine DeWees. Unsurprisingly to those who know me, these all featured women using both wits and strength to overcome obstacles. However, although I was more fond of these stories than the others, all of the stories were quite good. They were all action-oriented with clever storylines, and I didn't dislike a single one. If my rating is a bit ambivalent, it's because of my own struggles with short fiction in general, as well as what appears to be an across the board decrease in my overall ratings. (Getting picky as I get older, I guess.)
For those who don't know, Thieves' World is a shared world, in which different authors create their own characters and write stories about said characters. Authors can use each other's characters, but they can't kill them, and I believe that the creator gets some power to either approve or disapprove of the actions that their characters take within the story. This particular anthology was a good mix of authors that I am familiar with, and authors that I am not.
As with all anthologies, I liked some stories more than others. If memory serves, I was most fond of "Sentences of Death" by John Brunner, "The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey, and "Myrtis" by Christine DeWees. Unsurprisingly to those who know me, these all featured women using both wits and strength to overcome obstacles. However, although I was more fond of these stories than the others, all of the stories were quite good. They were all action-oriented with clever storylines, and I didn't dislike a single one. If my rating is a bit ambivalent, it's because of my own struggles with short fiction in general, as well as what appears to be an across the board decrease in my overall ratings. (Getting picky as I get older, I guess.)
March 21, 2019
This is one of those books I have know of - at least the title for many many years but never thought I would have the opportunity to read.
This is a classic fantasy book from the end of the 70s. Now I am sure there are more learned readers out there than me who can say for sure but I believe this was one of the first truly shared worlds. The idea being is that rather than each time a fantasy story is to be told a new world has to be made. There is in fact one already created and waiting for your tale to be told in - and so became Thieves World and the city of Sanctuary.
This shared world has some of the leading fantasy authors of its time contributing - and in the process making some of the most famous characters and locations. The book itself I believe also contributed a role playing game of the same name as a set the standard for many a high fantasy tale to follow.
I guess like many other seminal stories - the question comes as to where the line is drawn from ground breaking to restrictive and limited. The reason I ask is that at the time this was something new and spawned a number of equally successful sequels - but modern day fantasy has moved beyond its roots and as such set off for new lands to explore.
This is a classic fantasy book from the end of the 70s. Now I am sure there are more learned readers out there than me who can say for sure but I believe this was one of the first truly shared worlds. The idea being is that rather than each time a fantasy story is to be told a new world has to be made. There is in fact one already created and waiting for your tale to be told in - and so became Thieves World and the city of Sanctuary.
This shared world has some of the leading fantasy authors of its time contributing - and in the process making some of the most famous characters and locations. The book itself I believe also contributed a role playing game of the same name as a set the standard for many a high fantasy tale to follow.
I guess like many other seminal stories - the question comes as to where the line is drawn from ground breaking to restrictive and limited. The reason I ask is that at the time this was something new and spawned a number of equally successful sequels - but modern day fantasy has moved beyond its roots and as such set off for new lands to explore.
January 2, 2020
4 stars.
Way back in 1978 a couple of authors had an idea: a shared world where all the authors could have their characters mixing with the other authors characters, either as friends or enemies; the only rule was that you couldn’t kill another writer’s character(s) – or at least, not very easily. An anthology (to get a variety of authors) seemed the best format.
I first read this book years ago and enjoyed it then. I still enjoy it now. It’s a slim volume of eight stories, with an introduction setting the world scene and a ‘how Thieves’ World came about’ essay rounding it off.
The setting is a newly conquered city on the southern coast, basically the back end of nowhere; the Emperor’s naïve young half-brother is sent there as the new governor to avoid him being used as a figurehead for a rebellion. Naturally things don’t go altogether well, but this isn’t an anthology of heroes fighting for their freedom from a new regime, these are stories about adventurers, prostitutes and thieves trying to survive and get on with their day to day (or night to night) lives.
As with all anthologies, some authors are better than others, but most of the stories here are of good quality. Shadowspawn was my personal favourite when I first read this collection, and it still is.
Recommended to anyone who wants to read a few short stories between their shelfbreaker tomes.
Way back in 1978 a couple of authors had an idea: a shared world where all the authors could have their characters mixing with the other authors characters, either as friends or enemies; the only rule was that you couldn’t kill another writer’s character(s) – or at least, not very easily. An anthology (to get a variety of authors) seemed the best format.
I first read this book years ago and enjoyed it then. I still enjoy it now. It’s a slim volume of eight stories, with an introduction setting the world scene and a ‘how Thieves’ World came about’ essay rounding it off.
The setting is a newly conquered city on the southern coast, basically the back end of nowhere; the Emperor’s naïve young half-brother is sent there as the new governor to avoid him being used as a figurehead for a rebellion. Naturally things don’t go altogether well, but this isn’t an anthology of heroes fighting for their freedom from a new regime, these are stories about adventurers, prostitutes and thieves trying to survive and get on with their day to day (or night to night) lives.
As with all anthologies, some authors are better than others, but most of the stories here are of good quality. Shadowspawn was my personal favourite when I first read this collection, and it still is.
Recommended to anyone who wants to read a few short stories between their shelfbreaker tomes.
August 4, 2020
This was a blast!
Very dark, but I love the concept. And it turns out Asprin got his start less than 20 minutes from my home, in my girlfriends home town. These are quick, fun introductions to characters. We see them mingle with each other throughout the book. Each author has their own style and flavors their tale with a touch of personal spice.
I enjoyed all of these, but the last two were my favorites. It was great to see some of these authors's stories from when they were still a bit green.
Well worth the time!
Very dark, but I love the concept. And it turns out Asprin got his start less than 20 minutes from my home, in my girlfriends home town. These are quick, fun introductions to characters. We see them mingle with each other throughout the book. Each author has their own style and flavors their tale with a touch of personal spice.
I enjoyed all of these, but the last two were my favorites. It was great to see some of these authors's stories from when they were still a bit green.
Well worth the time!
November 15, 2022
Nice anthology collection for the first book written in 1979. If the stories seem a bit rushed, it’s because some were due to a deadline by Ace. I was expecting a much different setting due to wealth of possibilities, but am pleasantly surprised. This was an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to the next book. I enjoyed each author’s take on the town of Sanctuary as well as the characters with some crossover.
January 2, 2017
Thieves' World (1979), the anthology edited by Robert Asprin, was one of the THE primary darlings of the early 1980s. This shared world anthology kicked off the entire idea of a shared world, and deserves a place in the history books just for that.
But was it really that good?
No, but it was fun and it caught the imagination of the public, and that's all that's really required for a hit. Given the option between being good and selling books, this anthology sold books, and that makes is pretty good. At a time when squeaky clean heroes were in, this anthology walked in with nothing but ne'er do goods and outright villains, no heroes to be seen, and lots of interesting stories to tell.
These stories fight right into the sword and sorcery ethic of the late 70's, drawing from Leiber, Moorcock, and the like. This stuff is literally what Dungeons and Dragons was made from. It's should be no surprise that this series appeared at the same time as the A-Team and the film "Conan the Barbarian." The fantasy market hungered for grit.
Most of the stories read well, with some working better than others. I won't call any story out as best or worst, because I think that these stories appeal to different appetites. The question is worth asking, but I'm not interested in answering it.
All these years later, the stories stand up pretty well, with only the misogyny smacking me in the face. I'd say that the stories were supposed to be more misogynistic just to be edgy, but having read other 70's sword and sorcery, the misogyny is par for that time period. The female characters prove overwhelmingly whores, concubines, rape victims, and common harlots. Having the women prove equally thieves, conspirators, smugglers, opportunists, and other assorted bas-asses would have been welcome.
While I can't call the book a classic, it's easily a good enough collection.
But was it really that good?
No, but it was fun and it caught the imagination of the public, and that's all that's really required for a hit. Given the option between being good and selling books, this anthology sold books, and that makes is pretty good. At a time when squeaky clean heroes were in, this anthology walked in with nothing but ne'er do goods and outright villains, no heroes to be seen, and lots of interesting stories to tell.
These stories fight right into the sword and sorcery ethic of the late 70's, drawing from Leiber, Moorcock, and the like. This stuff is literally what Dungeons and Dragons was made from. It's should be no surprise that this series appeared at the same time as the A-Team and the film "Conan the Barbarian." The fantasy market hungered for grit.
Most of the stories read well, with some working better than others. I won't call any story out as best or worst, because I think that these stories appeal to different appetites. The question is worth asking, but I'm not interested in answering it.
All these years later, the stories stand up pretty well, with only the misogyny smacking me in the face. I'd say that the stories were supposed to be more misogynistic just to be edgy, but having read other 70's sword and sorcery, the misogyny is par for that time period. The female characters prove overwhelmingly whores, concubines, rape victims, and common harlots. Having the women prove equally thieves, conspirators, smugglers, opportunists, and other assorted bas-asses would have been welcome.
While I can't call the book a classic, it's easily a good enough collection.
October 15, 2023
This is the first shared world anthology I've ever read back in the late 1970's, it may be the first ever published, lots followed like Wild Cards and Merovingen Nights two of my favorites.
My favorite stories from this first volume are Poul Anderson and Marion Zimmer Bradley, my favorite character is the thief Shadowspawn by Andrew Offutt who went on to write a standalone novel Shadowspawn.
This one paragraph from Anderon's story says more about the series then 10,000 words from myself could ever say.
Beneath a westering sun, the bazaar surged and clamoured. Merchants, artisans, porters, servants, slaves, wives, nomads, courtesans, entertainers, beggars, thieves, gamblers, magicians, acolytes, soldiers, and who knew what else mingled, chattered, chaffered, quarrelled, plotted, sang, played games, drank, ate, and who knew what else. Horsemen, camel-drivers, waggoners pushed through, raising waves of curses. Music tinkled and tweedled from wine-shops. Vendors proclaimed the wonders of their wares from booths, neighbours shouted at each other, and devotees chanted from flat rooftops. Smells thickened the air, of flesh, sweat, roast meat and nuts, aromatic drinks, leather, wool, dung, smoke, oils, cheap perfume.
re-read 10/15/23 this is my 3rd time time, as I read it when it was first published long before there was a goodreads, I still have the paperback I purchased at WaldonBooks the only store in the mall I actually enjoyed shopping in.
My favorite stories from this first volume are Poul Anderson and Marion Zimmer Bradley, my favorite character is the thief Shadowspawn by Andrew Offutt who went on to write a standalone novel Shadowspawn.
This one paragraph from Anderon's story says more about the series then 10,000 words from myself could ever say.
Beneath a westering sun, the bazaar surged and clamoured. Merchants, artisans, porters, servants, slaves, wives, nomads, courtesans, entertainers, beggars, thieves, gamblers, magicians, acolytes, soldiers, and who knew what else mingled, chattered, chaffered, quarrelled, plotted, sang, played games, drank, ate, and who knew what else. Horsemen, camel-drivers, waggoners pushed through, raising waves of curses. Music tinkled and tweedled from wine-shops. Vendors proclaimed the wonders of their wares from booths, neighbours shouted at each other, and devotees chanted from flat rooftops. Smells thickened the air, of flesh, sweat, roast meat and nuts, aromatic drinks, leather, wool, dung, smoke, oils, cheap perfume.
re-read 10/15/23 this is my 3rd time time, as I read it when it was first published long before there was a goodreads, I still have the paperback I purchased at WaldonBooks the only store in the mall I actually enjoyed shopping in.
March 7, 2023
I had only vague memories of reading this as a late teen when I was deep into D&D. Was hoping it was better than I remembered, but alas it was worse. The cover (which on my copy was the three characters sitting at the tavern table) probably told the best story of the lot. I pushed through hoping the stories would get better (they are all short stories by different authors), but they never did. The few good bits kept it from getting one star.
December 16, 2024
Un trabajo colaborativo entre varios autores de ciencia ficción de los años 70', pero aplicado a una historia común de Sword and Sorcery.
¿Es buena? No mucho, pero me encanta la premisa de juntar a muchos autores para que cada uno escriba un capítulo y hable sobre un personaje en concreto dentro de un mismo universo. Es un ejercicio editorial que me encantaría que se hiciera mucho más entre autores modernos. Ya no suena a algo tan original, pero permite comparar estilos y hasta conocer nuevas plumas.
Dentro de todo, es una obra algo lúdica, a la que sé que no tenía que tomarme muy en serio. El background es bastante sencillito y sirve apenas como una guía para los autores. No hay exactamente una gran trama, más bien cada capítulo narra lo que le pasa a cada personaje dentro de una ciudad corrupta. Hay ladrones, hay magos, y hay soldados. Y prostitutas.
Los capítulos no siempre resultan demasiado conectados entre sí, aunque se nota el esfuerzo que puso el antologador por hacerlos encajar. Los estilos varían mucho, e irónicamente los que menos disfruté fueron los capítulos de los autores más consagrados (Offutt, Anderson, Zimmer Bradley); los otros autores más de nicho e incluso medio amateurs tuvieron intervenciones más emocionantes a mi gusto. Dicen que Zelazny iba a participar en el proyecto y se bajó del barco en último momento, una pena. Lo que hubiese sumado...
En fin, es un libro más interesante por su premisa que por su contenido, y un festín para los que gustan de la ciencia ficción setentera y sus autores. También lo disfrutarán los que aprecian el grimdark (mucho se habla de que este libro fue precursor del género en varios sentidos). Pero no esperen una gran historia ni giros ni revelaciones.
¿Es buena? No mucho, pero me encanta la premisa de juntar a muchos autores para que cada uno escriba un capítulo y hable sobre un personaje en concreto dentro de un mismo universo. Es un ejercicio editorial que me encantaría que se hiciera mucho más entre autores modernos. Ya no suena a algo tan original, pero permite comparar estilos y hasta conocer nuevas plumas.
Dentro de todo, es una obra algo lúdica, a la que sé que no tenía que tomarme muy en serio. El background es bastante sencillito y sirve apenas como una guía para los autores. No hay exactamente una gran trama, más bien cada capítulo narra lo que le pasa a cada personaje dentro de una ciudad corrupta. Hay ladrones, hay magos, y hay soldados. Y prostitutas.
Los capítulos no siempre resultan demasiado conectados entre sí, aunque se nota el esfuerzo que puso el antologador por hacerlos encajar. Los estilos varían mucho, e irónicamente los que menos disfruté fueron los capítulos de los autores más consagrados (Offutt, Anderson, Zimmer Bradley); los otros autores más de nicho e incluso medio amateurs tuvieron intervenciones más emocionantes a mi gusto. Dicen que Zelazny iba a participar en el proyecto y se bajó del barco en último momento, una pena. Lo que hubiese sumado...
En fin, es un libro más interesante por su premisa que por su contenido, y un festín para los que gustan de la ciencia ficción setentera y sus autores. También lo disfrutarán los que aprecian el grimdark (mucho se habla de que este libro fue precursor del género en varios sentidos). Pero no esperen una gran historia ni giros ni revelaciones.
February 9, 2023
This was the first "real" book I ever read. I don't remember how young I was, but younger than 10 for sure. I found it at on the "used books" shelf at a book fair and liked the covers of the few titles they had. A teacher took it from me after buying it and called my mother because I was too young. That infuriated her and she insisted that if I wanted to read it I could. Turns out that the murder, sex, prostitution, political scandals, and everything else in this series were absolutely out of my age range, but it got me hooked on reading, and here I am 25+ years later reading it again.
The included essay "Making of Thieves' World" is truly amazing to read in the current day. Being raised in the 90s it's hard for me to remember a time where everyone wasn't connected to the internet in some way. Thinking of how Asprin completed the monumental task of coordinating with so many people to pull these stories together via telephone and letters is just wild.
The shared world anthology format is a ton of fun to read and I don't know of any other titles that accomplish it in such a great manner. The story telling is awesome and the characters are well developed even though their time in the series may be short. Reading it in the modern day on my Kindle (I have them in print but I don't want to ruin them) is nice because I can take notes right in the book. I feel as though this is a must read for any fantasy lover.
The included essay "Making of Thieves' World" is truly amazing to read in the current day. Being raised in the 90s it's hard for me to remember a time where everyone wasn't connected to the internet in some way. Thinking of how Asprin completed the monumental task of coordinating with so many people to pull these stories together via telephone and letters is just wild.
The shared world anthology format is a ton of fun to read and I don't know of any other titles that accomplish it in such a great manner. The story telling is awesome and the characters are well developed even though their time in the series may be short. Reading it in the modern day on my Kindle (I have them in print but I don't want to ruin them) is nice because I can take notes right in the book. I feel as though this is a must read for any fantasy lover.
September 16, 2021
I read this many (*cough* - decades) ago. I don’t remember if I was in love with it then, but I was enthralled by the Chaoism Thieves’ World box set for D&D. I got much mileage out of it—and still own it! Sans box.
This time around, I found the stories a bit of a roller coaster. There were ups and downs. Most were refreshing in a swords and sorcery way; containing the ingredients most modern fantasy lacks.
I have never read beyond this volume. Will I now? Maybe. That is the most solid answer I can give.
This time around, I found the stories a bit of a roller coaster. There were ups and downs. Most were refreshing in a swords and sorcery way; containing the ingredients most modern fantasy lacks.
I have never read beyond this volume. Will I now? Maybe. That is the most solid answer I can give.
January 20, 2025
I have been flirting with this series since highschool, (I'm 49, as of 2025) usually petering out around book six. Time and again throughout life, the eight or so times I have bought, sold, donated, or just given away these anthologies. I've never completed the series, much less the spin-offs. Until now? Time will tell.
Book 1 is okay-ish. MZB is gross.
Lynn Abbey, Robert Asprin and their contributions are the backbone of this collection. I used to be so in love with the Shadow spawn character, but age has revealed he is just a himbo.
Book 1 is okay-ish. MZB is gross.
Lynn Abbey, Robert Asprin and their contributions are the backbone of this collection. I used to be so in love with the Shadow spawn character, but age has revealed he is just a himbo.
January 26, 2020
I haven't read these books in years. I forgot what incredible writing was in them from some amazing authors. Even though I've read these stories before I couldn't put it down.
It was a unique concept that I wish authors today would repeat.
It was a unique concept that I wish authors today would repeat.
July 9, 2017
ნორმალურზე უკეთესია
მთლად კარგი და გადასარევი არაა, მაგრამ იკითხება ჯიგრულად. თან მოთხრობებია და დიდი რომანით ტვინი არ გებურღება
მთლად კარგი და გადასარევი არაა, მაგრამ იკითხება ჯიგრულად. თან მოთხრობებია და დიდი რომანით ტვინი არ გებურღება
May 11, 2025
Delvis en antologi av småhistorier, delvis en världsutforskning. Riktigt bra, i de avsnitt som är bra. Riktigt, riktigt bra. Men lite för ojämn.
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