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Liavek #1
Liavek
Liavek, the City of Luck on the Cat River, a cosmopolitan capital of art, intrigue, adventure, and magic, is the focus of this collection of tales by Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, Steven Brust, and other renowned fantasy writers
274 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 14, 2013
The trouble with knowing so many people involved in this anthology is that it makes my enthusiasm seem unduly nepotistic... but what the hell. I didn't know them yet when they were working on this; they were in their 30s and I was in elementary school. LIAVEK offers a vivid, deftly edited, and entertaining set of stories that take the yawn-inducing phrase "magic system" and make it genuinely interesting again.
February 8, 2018
Liavek was a new shared-world anthology that came out during the explosion of the form in the mid '80s. Unlike the Merovogian Night and Heroes in Hell series, it's not dominated by Thieves World alumni; in fact, the group of authors is so distinct from Thieves World, with so many high-quality writers, that it's notable for that fact. (Many of the authors were "Scribblies", members of a writing group in Minneapolis.) The setting is less distinct: it's another fantasy city, though one with a carefully defined magic system. It also has a slight Arabian Nights feel, but no story here really depicts that strongly.
Badu's Luck (Bull: Snake). Emma Bull's introductory story for Liavek nicely highlights the setting's unique magic system, in a way that's dramatic and interesting. It also seems like a very woman-empowering story, until the very end. Still, a fun read and a good introduction to the setting [7/10].
The Green Rabbit from S'Rian (Wolfe: Tev Noen). It's somewhat surprising getting a nautical tale as our second story from Liavek, but this is a nicely authentic one, where you can smell the sea salt and feel the blustering breezes. It's got good characters and a nice throughline that doesn't land where you expect ... because Wolfe is a master storyteller [7+/10].
Ancient Curses (Wrede: Granny). It's great to immediately learn more about the S'rian, and Wrede makes them very interesting with a look at their gods and their protector. Beyond that, the action is interesting. However, I'm concerned that this bit about investing luck is going to get old very quickly [7/10].
Birth Luck (Kress: Reykja). I was unthrilled to find a third story (out of four!) about the investiture of birth magic. But, much as with the others, "Ancient Luck" just uses that plot point as a jumping-off point. Then it delves deep into the idea of invested magic in a way that the others didn't. I find the ending a little weird and off-kilter, but this is still an interesting story [6/10].
An Act of Contrition (Brust: Dashif). Brust gives us a great amoral hero (his specialty?) in Dashif and gives him some fun adventure to undertake. Beyond that, he gets bonus points for introducing another character from the book in an important role, helping to draw the whole anthology together. [8/10]
The Inn of the Demon Camel (Yolen: Demon). A largely irrelevant story told in an annoying manner. Thankfully, it's short. (And skippable.) [3/10]
The Hands of the Artist (Dalkey: Aritoli). So I have to guess that the pitch for this story was, "So there's this wizard, who's an art critic". It's told well enough and it's got some interesting twists, but the mundaneness of it makes it very obvious that it was the author's first story (and checking isfdb now: sure 'nuff). [5/10].
The Green Cat (Dean: Nerissa). Dean's story feels pretty grim at its start, as we meet a young girl who is done with life. But, it turns out to be quite an intriguing piece that actually made me smile by the end, thanks in part to its great characters. However, I'm also impressed by what a great job Dean does of filling in the details of the world, especially with the Green priests and the Acrivain exiles. [8/10].
A Coincidence of Birth (Lindholm [Hobb]: Kookaloo). A nice little story of a girl coming of age, but (sigh) once more focused on birth days and magic. By touching upon Snake and Dashif, we get another story that really feels like it's part of a larger continuity. However, because it saves its big reveal until the end, this whole story ends up feeling like a setup. I'm interesting in seeing what's next [6+/10]
Bound Things (Shetterly: Trav The Magician). Shetterly's story hinges on a very intriguing character, Trav, who we've met as The Magician earlier in the anthology. The character's combination of power and empathy is great, and makes the story [7+/10].
The Fortune Maker (Longyear: Elmutt). Yet another story of magic in Liavek, this one focusing on one of the city's downtrodden members. It's troubled by being too long and having a garbage-stealing protagonist who's hard to empathize with. There's some attempt to grow the larger world with the Bhandafs, but we just don't learn enough about who they really are. So, overall, this story is just OK [5+/10].
Overall, Liavek is a pretty strong introduction. Its greatest strength does in fact turn out to be its strong writers. Its greatest weaknesses are an obsession with investing magic on birthdays and a collection that's not wholly different from Thieves' World. I'll be reading more primarily because I want to see where these authors go, not because I've really bought into the world, at least not yet.
Badu's Luck (Bull: Snake). Emma Bull's introductory story for Liavek nicely highlights the setting's unique magic system, in a way that's dramatic and interesting. It also seems like a very woman-empowering story, until the very end. Still, a fun read and a good introduction to the setting [7/10].
The Green Rabbit from S'Rian (Wolfe: Tev Noen). It's somewhat surprising getting a nautical tale as our second story from Liavek, but this is a nicely authentic one, where you can smell the sea salt and feel the blustering breezes. It's got good characters and a nice throughline that doesn't land where you expect ... because Wolfe is a master storyteller [7+/10].
Ancient Curses (Wrede: Granny). It's great to immediately learn more about the S'rian, and Wrede makes them very interesting with a look at their gods and their protector. Beyond that, the action is interesting. However, I'm concerned that this bit about investing luck is going to get old very quickly [7/10].
Birth Luck (Kress: Reykja). I was unthrilled to find a third story (out of four!) about the investiture of birth magic. But, much as with the others, "Ancient Luck" just uses that plot point as a jumping-off point. Then it delves deep into the idea of invested magic in a way that the others didn't. I find the ending a little weird and off-kilter, but this is still an interesting story [6/10].
An Act of Contrition (Brust: Dashif). Brust gives us a great amoral hero (his specialty?) in Dashif and gives him some fun adventure to undertake. Beyond that, he gets bonus points for introducing another character from the book in an important role, helping to draw the whole anthology together. [8/10]
The Inn of the Demon Camel (Yolen: Demon). A largely irrelevant story told in an annoying manner. Thankfully, it's short. (And skippable.) [3/10]
The Hands of the Artist (Dalkey: Aritoli). So I have to guess that the pitch for this story was, "So there's this wizard, who's an art critic". It's told well enough and it's got some interesting twists, but the mundaneness of it makes it very obvious that it was the author's first story (and checking isfdb now: sure 'nuff). [5/10].
The Green Cat (Dean: Nerissa). Dean's story feels pretty grim at its start, as we meet a young girl who is done with life. But, it turns out to be quite an intriguing piece that actually made me smile by the end, thanks in part to its great characters. However, I'm also impressed by what a great job Dean does of filling in the details of the world, especially with the Green priests and the Acrivain exiles. [8/10].
A Coincidence of Birth (Lindholm [Hobb]: Kookaloo). A nice little story of a girl coming of age, but (sigh) once more focused on birth days and magic. By touching upon Snake and Dashif, we get another story that really feels like it's part of a larger continuity. However, because it saves its big reveal until the end, this whole story ends up feeling like a setup. I'm interesting in seeing what's next [6+/10]
Bound Things (Shetterly: Trav The Magician). Shetterly's story hinges on a very intriguing character, Trav, who we've met as The Magician earlier in the anthology. The character's combination of power and empathy is great, and makes the story [7+/10].
The Fortune Maker (Longyear: Elmutt). Yet another story of magic in Liavek, this one focusing on one of the city's downtrodden members. It's troubled by being too long and having a garbage-stealing protagonist who's hard to empathize with. There's some attempt to grow the larger world with the Bhandafs, but we just don't learn enough about who they really are. So, overall, this story is just OK [5+/10].
Overall, Liavek is a pretty strong introduction. Its greatest strength does in fact turn out to be its strong writers. Its greatest weaknesses are an obsession with investing magic on birthdays and a collection that's not wholly different from Thieves' World. I'll be reading more primarily because I want to see where these authors go, not because I've really bought into the world, at least not yet.
November 8, 2019
This shared world anthology reminded me of two of my favorites, Thieves World and Merovingen Nights. I'd read those in the late 80s early 90s and loved them. This book shares many of the strong points of those books. My favorite story from this book was "Badu's Luck" by Emma Bull followed closely by "The Green Rabbit from S'Rian" by Gene Wolfe and finally 3rd best IMO was "An Act of Contrition" by Steven Brust.
September 4, 2020
The Liavek series is an example of the shared-world genre that flourished in the late ‘80s & early ‘90s of the century past. I lost interest in the grandfather of them all, Thieves’ World, after the first few volumes as the stories were going in directions and focusing on characters that I didn’t care about. Liavek, IMO, was always the best of the lot. It’s set primarily in the port city of Liavek, which is populated by a variegated cast of saints, sinners & various rogues. For its time, it was quite “woke,” with numerous nonmale and nonwhite characters, as well as several LGBT+.
One of the series’ strengths is its well-defined magic system. A wizard’s power is based on the length of their mother’s time in labor – their “birth luck” as the Liavekans say. Everyone has birth luck, but wizards invest theirs in an object and can use it at any time of the year. Many of the stories revolve around the problems raised by a characters’ luck (good or bad).
There are two other features of the series that were of personal interest to me. (Whether they are “strengths” is a matter of opinion.)
The first is the religion known as the House of Responsible Life (aka, the Green Order) – a religion of suicides:
There’s something appealing about the creed’s outlook on life to me.
The second thing I thought was “cool” when I first read these tales as a teen-ager was the worrynot plant:
I’ve even incorporated it into my own fantasy world – a hardy weed that flourishes in even the harshest environments. This is the kind of GMO plant I could get behind.
The best stories (IMO) in this first volume are:
“The Green Rabbit From S’Rian,” Gene Wolfe
“An Act of Contrition,” Steven Brust
“The Green Cat,” Pamela Dean
The entire collection, though, is an enjoyable read and there are no clunkers in it.
I wouldn’t be so generous with my stars if I had first read the series today, but I still recommend all five volumes, as well as John M. Ford’s novel Casting Fortune, which came out of it.
One of the series’ strengths is its well-defined magic system. A wizard’s power is based on the length of their mother’s time in labor – their “birth luck” as the Liavekans say. Everyone has birth luck, but wizards invest theirs in an object and can use it at any time of the year. Many of the stories revolve around the problems raised by a characters’ luck (good or bad).
There are two other features of the series that were of personal interest to me. (Whether they are “strengths” is a matter of opinion.)
The first is the religion known as the House of Responsible Life (aka, the Green Order) – a religion of suicides:
The Green Order has a formidable bureaucracy to delay, give advice to, or screen out altogether those candidates who hope to escape their legitimate responsibilities, or who have otherwise unworthy motives for suicide, or whose families are likely to raise a fuss. The order thus finds itself being the only organized body in Liavek that attempts to prevent suicide. (p. 265)
There’s something appealing about the creed’s outlook on life to me.
The second thing I thought was “cool” when I first read these tales as a teen-ager was the worrynot plant:
[T]he dried leaves of the plant now called Worrynot, when chewed every forty-eight hours, are an effective and inexpensive contraceptive for both men and women. (p. 258)
I’ve even incorporated it into my own fantasy world – a hardy weed that flourishes in even the harshest environments. This is the kind of GMO plant I could get behind.
The best stories (IMO) in this first volume are:
“The Green Rabbit From S’Rian,” Gene Wolfe
“An Act of Contrition,” Steven Brust
“The Green Cat,” Pamela Dean
The entire collection, though, is an enjoyable read and there are no clunkers in it.
I wouldn’t be so generous with my stars if I had first read the series today, but I still recommend all five volumes, as well as John M. Ford’s novel Casting Fortune, which came out of it.
November 25, 2020
4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
In the city of Liavek, everyone has birth luck, but magicians can bind it during their birthday and use it during the year. Those who fail, die. A shared-world fantasy anthology.
Review
It’s startling to realize that I came across Liavek 35 years ago. I’d been aware of prior shared world projects – primarily Thieves’ World – but somehow never gotten interested, perhaps because I had one friend who was too enthusiastic about them. Liavek, though, caught my eye. It’s chock-full of now-well-known authors, but I doubt I’d heard of any of them then; possibly Pamela Dean.
Looking back on this first volume of Liavek now, it’s astounding who’s in it. The editors admit to inviting some big names: Gene Wolfe, Megan Lindholm (who made it bigger as Robin Hobb), Nancy Kress, Barry Longyear, Jane Yolen, but the original group went on to success as well: Pamela Dean, Steven Brust, Kara Dalkey, Emma Bull, and Will Shetterly.
The book and its concept caught my attention, and I bought all the Liavek books as they came out. Not only were the stories well written, but the stories and characters were loosely but skillfully tied together in a way that made this more connected than a standard anthology, and more diverse than a novel. Looking back on it now, I see some gaps in the magic system, but at the time, it worked nicely for me. The stories themselves, though, stand the test of time – all 35 years of it – pretty well. It’s all pretty well thought out, and I recommend it as an example of a well-executed shared world, as well as a pleasure to read.
Note that the e-editions seem to have split the original five books into eight smaller ones.
Summary
In the city of Liavek, everyone has birth luck, but magicians can bind it during their birthday and use it during the year. Those who fail, die. A shared-world fantasy anthology.
Review
It’s startling to realize that I came across Liavek 35 years ago. I’d been aware of prior shared world projects – primarily Thieves’ World – but somehow never gotten interested, perhaps because I had one friend who was too enthusiastic about them. Liavek, though, caught my eye. It’s chock-full of now-well-known authors, but I doubt I’d heard of any of them then; possibly Pamela Dean.
Looking back on this first volume of Liavek now, it’s astounding who’s in it. The editors admit to inviting some big names: Gene Wolfe, Megan Lindholm (who made it bigger as Robin Hobb), Nancy Kress, Barry Longyear, Jane Yolen, but the original group went on to success as well: Pamela Dean, Steven Brust, Kara Dalkey, Emma Bull, and Will Shetterly.
The book and its concept caught my attention, and I bought all the Liavek books as they came out. Not only were the stories well written, but the stories and characters were loosely but skillfully tied together in a way that made this more connected than a standard anthology, and more diverse than a novel. Looking back on it now, I see some gaps in the magic system, but at the time, it worked nicely for me. The stories themselves, though, stand the test of time – all 35 years of it – pretty well. It’s all pretty well thought out, and I recommend it as an example of a well-executed shared world, as well as a pleasure to read.
Note that the e-editions seem to have split the original five books into eight smaller ones.
January 4, 2010
I really liked the premise of birth luck in this book, and recall that it followed into some other short story anthologies set in the same universe.
August 30, 2019
Liavek is a series of stories set in a shared fantasy universe with a considerably unique magic system.
1. Badu's Luck: Decent but not that memorable. Straightforward story of shopkeeper guarding a friend(ish) from danger. 3 stars.
2. The Green Rabbit From S'Rian: Started out well, wasn't sure what to think of it by the end. I may have been distracted by the logistics of the 40 rowmen. 2 stars.
3. Ancient Curses: The absolute best. Granny Carry holds my heart and probably also my metaphorical balls. The first thing I thought after reading it was "damn I need more Rikiki stories." 5 stars.
4. Birth Luck: I am not sure what this one was about to be honest. 2 stars.
5. An Act of Contrition: This took me the longest time to read- I had to come back to it after I finished all the others. Not exactly my favourite, but the Camel shooting scene clearly has giant payoffs all through the rest of the book. That does not make up for my apathy towards Dashiel and angsty backstory. 2 stars.
6. The Inn of the Demon Camel: I would take an entire book of folksy stories told from the point of view of this narrator please a d thank you. 5 stars.
7. The Hands of the Artist: This was a good one. Short, but with a point and a satisfying conclusion. 4 stars.
8. The Green Car: Again, not to sure of what to make of this, but the twist was a good one, as was the conclusion. May I say I am absolutely tickled that the order of suicides are the suicide prevention watch in this city? 3 stars.
9. A Coincidence of Birth: Right so the conclusion of this made me go and try to read all of the other stories featuring this character because well it's not an unexpected twist per se but it IS one that makes me sit up and take notice. Mostly because I'm a sucker for the trope. Fairly engaging otherwise. 3 stars.
10. Bound Things: Nice revelation at the end- expected, but still "oooh he did not" enough to hold the interest. Might have been nicer to have more insight into Liavek politics though. Especially for Dashiel's story. 3 stars.
11. The Fortune Maker: Okay so there are a ton of interesting things in this one, but I'm always a little wary of stories which stress on the importance of choosing to ignore the negative and focus on the positive. I mean I agree with it very much, but the fact that it's not medically possible to do so if you're depressed makes me read every "CHOOSE happiness"-ish line and wince. 4 stars.
1. Badu's Luck: Decent but not that memorable. Straightforward story of shopkeeper guarding a friend(ish) from danger. 3 stars.
2. The Green Rabbit From S'Rian: Started out well, wasn't sure what to think of it by the end. I may have been distracted by the logistics of the 40 rowmen. 2 stars.
3. Ancient Curses: The absolute best. Granny Carry holds my heart and probably also my metaphorical balls. The first thing I thought after reading it was "damn I need more Rikiki stories." 5 stars.
4. Birth Luck: I am not sure what this one was about to be honest. 2 stars.
5. An Act of Contrition: This took me the longest time to read- I had to come back to it after I finished all the others. Not exactly my favourite, but the Camel shooting scene clearly has giant payoffs all through the rest of the book. That does not make up for my apathy towards Dashiel and angsty backstory. 2 stars.
6. The Inn of the Demon Camel: I would take an entire book of folksy stories told from the point of view of this narrator please a d thank you. 5 stars.
7. The Hands of the Artist: This was a good one. Short, but with a point and a satisfying conclusion. 4 stars.
8. The Green Car: Again, not to sure of what to make of this, but the twist was a good one, as was the conclusion. May I say I am absolutely tickled that the order of suicides are the suicide prevention watch in this city? 3 stars.
9. A Coincidence of Birth: Right so the conclusion of this made me go and try to read all of the other stories featuring this character because well it's not an unexpected twist per se but it IS one that makes me sit up and take notice. Mostly because I'm a sucker for the trope. Fairly engaging otherwise. 3 stars.
10. Bound Things: Nice revelation at the end- expected, but still "oooh he did not" enough to hold the interest. Might have been nicer to have more insight into Liavek politics though. Especially for Dashiel's story. 3 stars.
11. The Fortune Maker: Okay so there are a ton of interesting things in this one, but I'm always a little wary of stories which stress on the importance of choosing to ignore the negative and focus on the positive. I mean I agree with it very much, but the fact that it's not medically possible to do so if you're depressed makes me read every "CHOOSE happiness"-ish line and wince. 4 stars.
May 31, 2025
I like almost all these stories and love some of them. I want more!
Public libraries ought to own all the Liavek books!
I was going to say that the reason it took me so long is that I read it alongside other books, but it actually only took half a month. I think it's best with a collection like this to read it a bit slowly, since each tale is a complete work.
I found this a great book for reading when I woke up around 4:30 AM to help me go back to sleep. This worked almost too well, so I have only hazy memories of some of the stories. (Also it's a good thing my bedside lamp has an energy-saving bulb.) That's OK; I bought this book with Christmas money and can read it again.
I think this is suitable for all who love fantasy, about 16 and up. There are no sex scenes or bad language. There are a number of invented religions.
Public libraries ought to own all the Liavek books!
I was going to say that the reason it took me so long is that I read it alongside other books, but it actually only took half a month. I think it's best with a collection like this to read it a bit slowly, since each tale is a complete work.
I found this a great book for reading when I woke up around 4:30 AM to help me go back to sleep. This worked almost too well, so I have only hazy memories of some of the stories. (Also it's a good thing my bedside lamp has an energy-saving bulb.) That's OK; I bought this book with Christmas money and can read it again.
I think this is suitable for all who love fantasy, about 16 and up. There are no sex scenes or bad language. There are a number of invented religions.
January 15, 2021
A great set of stories, all quite good, though some were better than others. Liavek is a "shared world" that appears to have been created by a group of writers who played RPGs together. The setting is vaguely Middle Eastern or Byzantine, with a clever take on magic that allows it to be very potent but also limited. The stories share some characters and events but each stands alone and has its own tone and strengths. I definitely want to revisit Liavek in the sequels.
April 23, 2020
Ooooh, golly has the stay at ome order cut into my reading time.
This was... OK. There were some stories in it that happliy played in the world, but all too many were hung on the exact same hook of birth luck situations and ended up feeling very same as same as when working throug it. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
This was... OK. There were some stories in it that happliy played in the world, but all too many were hung on the exact same hook of birth luck situations and ended up feeling very same as same as when working throug it. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
January 15, 2023
There is a dearth of shared-world fantasy settings out there in an anthology wrapping, much to my chagrin. Liavek came along in 1985 and was immediately compelling with a cadre of authors very well known today - Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust, Nancy Kress, Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb), and many more. Looking forward to reading more of these as I'm able to find them.
January 2, 2022
Disappointed to discover this ebook only includes half the stories from the original paperback publication. Really enjoy reading stories set in this shared world, and waiting now for the paperbacks I ordered to arrive.
March 1, 2022
After the disappointment of the incomplete ebook version, I bought a used paperback, and I'm glad I did. I really enjoy the stories set in this world, the investiture of luck as magic, the small intrigues in the city.
March 5, 2019
A fast read, but sharply and vividly written. As a shared world, the stories are remarkably consistent in tone and theme. Looking forward to exploring the rest of the series.
May 8, 2019
written in 1985 these anthologies, 5 in all, are hidden gems. The world building is awesome. Everyone needs to read them.
August 7, 2025
Reread after many many years. It holds up very well and I very much enjoyed revisiting the world.
July 10, 2012
I was completely addicted to the Thieves' World series of the 1980s - at least for about the first six books. In case you're not familiar with them, it's a series of short story anthologies set in the town of Sanctuary, a sort of robbers' den of a town, at the far reaches of an empire that's seen better days - in other words, not much of a law and order kind of place. The trick to these stories, tho', was that any of the participating authors could use any character created by another author, and do anything to them short of killing them. As a result, we had a male character who, in the hands of another author, was recast as a woman in disguise; a thief of unknown parentage who started out just as a simple, hard-working criminal, but later learned that he was more than human; and, in one case, a military type who was revealed to be the avatar of a god and therefore immortal, which allowed another author to have him kidnapped and tortured at length by vivisection (yeah, they cut him up and he healed - over and over again. Didn't kill him - just hurt him. A lot.) They were a hell of a lot of fun to read, until the whole thing devolved into internecine wars between the various factions inhabiting Sanctuary - the failing imperial force, bands of mercenaries prone to switching sides at a moment's notice, an exiled ruler of still another country and her own entourage, including a well-armed militia... I intentionally avoid political thrillers because the who's-doing-what-to-whom part bores me, and I hate it when my SF goes that way. I soldiered on (pun sort of intended) until the series ended with Book 12, but it was only for the sake of finishing the job in a way, not because I was really enjoying the stories. Besides, they lost several of my favorite authors and their characters along the way, which took some of the gloss off.
Which is part of why I enjoyed Liavek so much - not only is it another anthology with shared characters in the manner of Thieves' World, it also brought back the sense of fun of those earlier volumes. Liavek was edited by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, husband and wife authors of/contributors to such delightful reads as the Borderlands series, The War of the Oaks, and other "urban fantasy" in the vein of Charles de Lint. Apparently there are several other volumes of stories set in Liavek, which I think I'll have to track down.
Liavek is another cross-cultural town like Sanctuary, this one crawling with magics, or "luck" as most is termed - everyone has an opportunity to tap into their "luck" during the anniversary each year of the time frame of their mother's labor. A short labor means a brief time for accomplishing things not normally possible. Those who are magically gifted or trained can "invest" their luck in an object and thus have access to it at all times - but failure in carrying out the difficult investment ritual means death soon thereafter, and success leaves the wizard open to disaster if the object bearing their luck is discovered, lost, or destroyed. With this much magic at hand, most of these stories examine the dangers of an ill-considered reach for power, covert wars between rival wizards to undermine the competition, the complications of being a foundling (thus not knowing one's birthdate/time), etc.
None of the stories is earth-shatteringly good; but sometimes simply a ripping good yarn is just what the doctor ordered.
Which is part of why I enjoyed Liavek so much - not only is it another anthology with shared characters in the manner of Thieves' World, it also brought back the sense of fun of those earlier volumes. Liavek was edited by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, husband and wife authors of/contributors to such delightful reads as the Borderlands series, The War of the Oaks, and other "urban fantasy" in the vein of Charles de Lint. Apparently there are several other volumes of stories set in Liavek, which I think I'll have to track down.
Liavek is another cross-cultural town like Sanctuary, this one crawling with magics, or "luck" as most is termed - everyone has an opportunity to tap into their "luck" during the anniversary each year of the time frame of their mother's labor. A short labor means a brief time for accomplishing things not normally possible. Those who are magically gifted or trained can "invest" their luck in an object and thus have access to it at all times - but failure in carrying out the difficult investment ritual means death soon thereafter, and success leaves the wizard open to disaster if the object bearing their luck is discovered, lost, or destroyed. With this much magic at hand, most of these stories examine the dangers of an ill-considered reach for power, covert wars between rival wizards to undermine the competition, the complications of being a foundling (thus not knowing one's birthdate/time), etc.
None of the stories is earth-shatteringly good; but sometimes simply a ripping good yarn is just what the doctor ordered.
April 23, 2016
I'm sure you can get the table of contents of this somewhere on line. This is the first of the Liavek books but I wouldn't have loved it so much if I hadn't been introduced to Liavek through John M. Ford's Casting Fortune. At the time I had no idea that it is a shared area for many authors I have come to appreciate. The story of how Liavek came into existence is here, and I must say that I would recommend buying a paper copy, or getting it from the library. The electronic one was very rocky.
I enjoyed catching up on the Green Rabbit mythology, and how Minnow Island might be dragged out of poverty by it's loss. But it was also great to be on a trieme again, familiar from this months Gilliam Bradshaw read, The Sun's Bride. I now will know what a trieme is for the rest of my life, and how they are associated with piracy. Birth Luck by Nancy Kress, another favored author, explains why investing your birth luck in a person might be risky. Actually it sounds risky no matter what. Steve Brust comes off his complicated best in An Act of Contrition. it's great to find out about all the religious houses, but there's an appendix at the back of the book for a summary. Jane Yolen's Demon Camel story is a little like a shaggy dog story or folktale, fun and whimsical. Terri Windling is the one who got these folks to revisit a gaming creation at a time before many of them were published. Bless her, because my bookshelves are full of her tribe.
I enjoyed catching up on the Green Rabbit mythology, and how Minnow Island might be dragged out of poverty by it's loss. But it was also great to be on a trieme again, familiar from this months Gilliam Bradshaw read, The Sun's Bride. I now will know what a trieme is for the rest of my life, and how they are associated with piracy. Birth Luck by Nancy Kress, another favored author, explains why investing your birth luck in a person might be risky. Actually it sounds risky no matter what. Steve Brust comes off his complicated best in An Act of Contrition. it's great to find out about all the religious houses, but there's an appendix at the back of the book for a summary. Jane Yolen's Demon Camel story is a little like a shaggy dog story or folktale, fun and whimsical. Terri Windling is the one who got these folks to revisit a gaming creation at a time before many of them were published. Bless her, because my bookshelves are full of her tribe.
May 26, 2016
This was the start of a re-read of a long-time beloved series that I originally read long enough ago that the details of specific stories have faded, but the underlying worldbuilding for the Liavek setting is so well-done that it still felt like a return to place that I know well. I'm genuinely enchanted by the series' concept of "birth luck" and the possibilities built into the concept of investing one's Luck and a whole society of people who each have their own moments in the year of "special" luck (both good and bad). The stories in this first volume do a good job exploring different angles of the concept, and the "shared world" aspect is done really well, with just enough recurring elements (repeated use of key locations/characters, like the Tiger's Eye & Wizard's Row, or events of one story becoming gossip-fodder in another) to give a clear sense of the world and how the stories revolve around one another, but not so much reliance on those pieces as to get repetitive.
May 8, 2009
After the success of the shared world series "Thieve's World," another group of writers tried a similar thing with a series of shared world stories called Liavek. This was the first one in the series, and has stories by folks like Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, Patrica Wrede and a number of others. The basic concept of the book, in which one's magical talents corresponds to the number of hours your mother spent suffering in labor with you, was pretty cool. I liked quite a few of the stories here, although I read it a long time ago and no story particularly stands out in my memory.
December 7, 2013
It's a bit tricky to rate and review a shared-world fantasy, but overall I enjoyed the stories in this book, and some were quite good. If you're a fan of this group of authors, I'd recommend finding a copy.
November 11, 2015
Meh. Like all short story collections, some are good, some aren't. I particularly liked Emma Bull's and Steven Brust's contributions.
June 7, 2016
3 and a half stars
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