Thieves' World
Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by such science fiction authors as Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C. J. Cherryh, Janet Morris,[1] Chris Morris.[2] The Morrises introduced the Sacred Band of Stepsons[3] in Thieves' World and spun off a series of novels about them and their ancient cavalry commander, Tempus. The first three novels in The Sacred Band of Stepsons saga were authorized Thieves World novels. Marion Zimmer Bradley was an early contributor, but spun off her main character in the novel Lythande (1986) and did not return for later volumes. The series went on hiatus after the twelfth anthology. In addition to the official anthologies, several authors published novels set in the milieu of Thieves World and published short stories in a variety of places.
Thieves' World is set in the city of Sanctuary, located at the edge of the Rankan Empire. The city was depicted as a place where many were downtrodden and where the invading Rankan gods and the Ilsigi gods they had ousted begin a struggle for primacy. As the series continued, additional invasions occurred and the city was taken over by the snake-worshipping Beysib as the Rankan empire collapsed. Over time, a number of the characters in the series are revealed either to be the offspring of or otherwise blessed by various figures in the pantheons of the competing cultures, and discover or develop various powers as the series progresses. A unifying framework for the second half of the series implied that the city of Sanctuary was about to become the kernel of a new empire with a new and syncretic pantheon; however, the series went on hiatus before this came to fruition.
In 2002, Lynn Abbey, who co-edited several of the original anthologies, revitalized the series with the novel Sanctuary. It was followed by the anthologies Turning Points and Enemies of Fortune, which contain some returning authors and several new ones. Abbey also oversaw the republication of the original anthologies in omnibus editions and has plans for future anthologies.
Original anthologies
- Thieves' World (1979)
- Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn (1980)
- Shadows of Sanctuary (1981)
- Storm Season (1982)
- The Face of Chaos (1983)
- Wings of Omen (1984)
- The Dead of Winter (1985)
- Soul of the City (1986)
- Blood Ties (1986)
- Aftermath (1987)
- Uneasy Alliances (1988)
- Stealers' Sky (1989)
New anthologies
- Turning Points (2002)
- Enemies of Fortune (2004)
Novels and collections
There are seven official novels, several unofficial novels and various collections and short stories outside the official anthologies.
The official novels are:
- Janet Morris, Beyond Sanctuary (1985), a Science Fiction Book club Selection
- Janet Morris, Beyond the Veil (1985), a Science Fiction Book Club Selection
- Janet Morris, Beyond Wizardwall (1986), a Science Fiction Book Club Selection
- Andrew J. Offutt, Shadowspawn (1987)
- David Drake, Dagger (1988)
- Andrew J. Offutt, The Shadow of Sorcery (1993)
- Lynn Abbey, Sanctuary (2002) Tor Books
The first three novels by Janet Morris were published in hardcover by Baen Books and as Science Fiction Book Club Selections. The first six novels were published in paperback by Ace Books. The first novel, Janet Morris's Beyond Sanctuary combines two stories from the anthologies with additional stories, weaving the whole into novel form. The first part of the novel Dagger appeared in the anthology Aftermath.
Other novels/collections include:
- Gordon R. Dickson, Beyond the Dar Al Harb (1985) - novella - collected in the Tor Books collection of the same name
- Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lythande (1986) - collection - includes two stories from the anthologies
- Janet Morris, Tempus (1987) - novel collecting the Tempus stories from the anthologies
- Janet Morris, Chris Morris, City at the Edge of Time (1988) - novel
- Janet Morris, Chris Morris,Tempus Unbound (1989) - novel
- Janet Morris, Chris Morris, Storm Seed (1990) - novel
- Janet Morris, Chris Morris, The Sacred Band (2010) - novel
- Janet Morris, Chris Morris, Tempus With His Right Side Companion Niko (2011) - novelization and edit of previously released material
Short stories
Omnibuses
- Sanctuary 1982. Book Club hardcover omnibus collecting Thieves’ World, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, and Shadows of Sanctuary.
- Cross-Currents 1984. Book Club Hardcover omnibus collecting: "Storm Season", “The Face of Chaos”, and "Wings of Omen".
- The Shattered Sphere 1986. Book Club Hardcover omnibus collecting: “The Dead of Winter”, “Soul of the City”, and “Blood Ties”.
- The Price of Victory 1989. Book Club Hardcover omnibus collecting: "Aftermath", "Uneasy Alliances", and "Stealers’ Sky".
- First Blood 2003. Tor Paperback omnibus collecting Thieves’ World, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, and The Lady of the Winds.
Comics
Starblaze Graphics 1985. Illustrated by Tim Sale. The original series was all black and white except for the covers.
- Thieves World 1. Containing: 1) Introduction; 2) Someone is always awake in Sanctuary... (original); 3) Sentences of Death; 4) Myrtis; 5) The Price of Doing Business.
- Thieves World 2. Containing: 1) Blood Brothers; 2) The Face of Chaos; 3) Gaeta (original); 4) Shadowspawn.
- Thieves World 3. Containing: 1) The Dream of the Sorceress; The Blue Camel (original); 3) Vashanka's Minion.
- Thieves World 4. Containing: 1) Shadow's Pawn; 2) Runcigor and Alminda (original); 3) To Guard the Guardians.
- Thieves World 5. Containing: 1) Looking for Satan; 2) Ischade; 3) A Gift in Parting.
- Thieves World 6. Containing: 1) The Vivisectionist; 2) The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn; 3) Arvo the Nose (original).
Thieves World Graphics collects volumes 1 to 3 above, colorised and with a new cover by David A. Cherry
Role playing games
- Thieves' World Complete Sanctuary Adventure Pack (Chaosium Box Set, 1981). Containing: 1) The Player's Guide to Sanctuary; 2) The Gamemaster's Guide to Sanctuary; 3) Personalities of Sanctuary; 4) Map of Sanctuary; 5) Map of the Maze; 6) Map of the Maze Underground.[4]
- The Blue Camel (mini-adventure; FASA, 1982)
- T1 - Traitor (FASA, 1982)
- T2 - Spirit Stones (FASA, 1982)
- T3 - Dark Assassin (FASA, 1982)
- T4 - Vengeance (FASA, 198?)
- Sanctuary Under the Beysibs (Chaosium Companion, 1986)
- Thieves' World Player's Manual (Green Ronin, 2005)
- Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary (Green Ronin, 2005)
- Thieves' World Gazetteer (Green Ronin, 2005)
- Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn (Green Ronin, 2005)
- Black Snake Dawn (Green Ronin, 2007)
- Thieves' World MUD - Online Text-Based Game based on the Thieves' World novels, and approved by Lynn Abbey (http://tw.genesismuds.com/index.php/)
Characters
References
External links
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Science fiction novels |
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Heroes in Hell |
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Fiction |
I, the Sun · Medusa · Warlord · Kill Ratio · Afterwar
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Historical fantasy |
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Short fiction |
Raising the Green Lion · Vashanka's Minion · A Man and His God · An End to Dreaming · Wizard Weather · High Moon · Basileus · Hero's Welcome · Graveyard Shift · To Reign in Hell · Power Play · Pillar of Fire · Gilgamesh Redux · Sea of Stiffs · The Nature of Hell · The Best of the Achaeans · The Collaborator · [...] is Hell · Moving Day · Sea Change
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Nonfiction work |
Nonlethality: A Global Strategy · Weapons of Mass Protection · The American Warrior
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