Thieves' World

This short story collection has the following stories:
"Sentences of Death" by John Brunner;
"The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey;
"The Gate of the Flying Knives" by Poul Anderson;
"Shadowspawn" by Andrew Offutt;
"The Price of Doing Business" by Robert Lynn Asprin;
"Blood Brothers" by Joe Haldeman;
"Myrtis" by Christine DeWees; and
"The Secret of the Blue Star" by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

There's also an essay about the creation of the book.

This collection is one that I had fond memories of. It was really the pioneering work for shared world building and eventually spawned a published RPG setting which I cheerfully used. Even my players loved playing in that world. Would the book hold up to my memories?

It did! Some stories I loved more than others. show more Poul Anderson, Andrew Offutt, Christine DeWees, and Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote my favorites. The setting was just as rich as I remembered with plenty of unsavory characters running around, along with some that have a touch of inner nobility.

The only downside is the scanning was less than perfect. Sometimes I struggled to decide what word they were aiming for. But this is a case where I am so glad to have the book again that I will overlook the ebook's flaws.

If you are a fan of fantasy short stories, this book should be on your "read now" list. If you are into RPGs, this book can fan the creative ideas you have. I highly recommend it. show less

The first book of one of my favorite anthologies of all time.
Some real winners and losers here, but I'll review just this specific book (not the whole series)

Lynn Abbey, Robert Lynn Asprin, and Christine deWees really brought an 'A' game. Marion Zimmer Bradley and Poul Anderson completely phoned it in.

The characters, themes, and atmosphere of this series/anthology is top-notch, and there's a lot more hits than misses. This first book is not vital to the appreciation of the series, but it sure helps!

First read in 1982 I remember being really impressed with these morally ambiguous fantasy stories, an anthology with characters inhabiting a shared universe (Thieves’ World) and all stories occurring in the down-at-heel town of Sanctuary, which is similar to Leiber’s Lankhmar, but with a seedier feel.
Rereading them now, having recently read Janet Morris’ Tempus novels which are set in the same world, these original short stories are an enjoyable introduction to Thieves’ World, but are more memorable for each story being told from a different character’s point of view in the same setting, rather than the originality of the stories themselves.
Robert Asprin’s introduction, story and afterword describing the genesis of the show more anthology provide a useful framework for the stories as a whole, but this anthology now reads as good introduction to the series as a whole, rather than having any great stories in itself.
Contents:
• "Introduction" by Robert Lynn Asprin
• "Sentences of Death" by John Brunner
• "The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey
• "The Gate of the Flying Knives" by Poul Anderson
• "Shadowspawn" by Andrew Offutt
• "The Price of Doing Business" by Robert Lynn Asprin
• "Blood Brothers" by Joe Haldeman
• "Myrtis" by Christine DeWees
• "The Secret of the Blue Star" by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Essay: "The Making of Thieves World" by Robert Lynn Asprin

…

2025 reread:
Having now read the original twelve anthologies and several of the associated novels, I now consider this collection as a good introduction to the series, rather than having any great stories in itself.
As an anthology, its strength is that it is “a collection of fantasy stories featuring not one, but an array of central characters”, but this becomes more appreciable once you read further into the series, as the characters have time to develop.
Better stories:
• "The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey
• "The Gate of the Flying Knives" by Poul Anderson
• "Shadowspawn" by Andrew Offutt
• "Blood Brothers" by Joe Haldeman show less

The first stone in the Thieves' World, a setting created by Robert Lynn Asprin but co-developed by a multitude of writers. Thieves' World introduces the city of Sanctuary, the core area of this fantasy world - the recently changed political situation, as well as the human geography of the settlement are very satisfyingly elaborated on through the actions and minds of the 9 (counting also the introduction) stories' characters, each penned by a different author.

Thieves' World draws first and foremost upon the urban sword and sorcery fount of Leiber's Fafhrd and Mouser stories - Sanctuary could well be a slightly more civilized reflection of Lankhmar. However, instead of having a couple of central protagonists spanning the whole book, show more here each author focuses on different characters. That is not to say that each hero is isolated in her/his own story; several of the characters seep in other-than-their-own stories, creating a network of people that bring Sanctuary to life.

The writing doesn't flactuate much in quality throughout the stories, remaining in satisfactory levels, though I was left with the impression of a slightly ascending order peaking with the amazing and touching "Secret of the Blue Star". In general the language is quite direct and flowing, with tendencies towards the chaotic in some cases, as in the beginning of Blood Brothers which feels more like the draft of a theatrical script.

A solid urban sword & sorcery collection of short stories, founding a promising world. show less

This is the first in a series of anthologies set in a shared world (the city of Sanctuary, dubbed 'Thieves' World). I didn't have high expectations, but I was actually pretty impressed. None of the stories are duds, most of them are very well written and a few are excellent (notably the one by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The setting and the style of the stories have a flavour of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, though with a wider and more interesting cast of characters.

1) Sentences of Death – John Brunner: 3/5
A magical scroll which contains instructions for an assassination comes into the possession of a scribe, allowing his apprentice to exact revenge for a wrong committed years ago.

2) The Face of Chaos – Lynn Abbey: 3/5
A show more fortune-teller gets mixed up in a dangerous game as a new temple is about to be consecrated to foreign gods.

3) The Gate of the Flying Knives – Poul Anderson: 4/5
A plot by an established temple to prevent a new temple being built involves bringing in a monster from another dimension.

4) Shadowspawn – Andrew Offut: 3/5
A Thief is employed as a tool in a plot to discredit the Prince-governor of Sanctuary.

5) The Price of Doing Business – Robert Asprin: 3/5
A powerful crime lord is almost laid low by gutter snipes.

6) Blood Brothers – Joe Haldeman: 3/5
An innkeeper gets caught up in a rivalry between mages and a protective spell goes awry.

7) Myrtis – Christine DeWees: 3/5
A brothel-owner acts to prevent the Prince from closing down the brothels in Sanctuary.

8) The Secret of the Blue Star – Marion Zimmer Bradley: 5/5
Lythande the mage battles a fellow mage of the order of the blue star. show less

This is the first of a 'shared world' series of novels about a fantasy world with a strong focus on (guess what?) a thieves guild or scoundrels. It features a ridiculously good collection of authors - Brunner, Abbey, Anderson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Joe Haldeman. The stories are very good and all work together well, which is why this series went on for many more collections. The stories in this book are a bit dark, before grimdark was popular and feature a very grim cast. If you think G. R. R. Martin's writing is dark, he doesn't go any farther than these authors.

I picked this up with fond memories of loving this series as a kid. There are legitimate heavy-hitters who contributed: Joe Haldeman, Poul Anderson, Jon Brunner, Robert Asprin, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Lots of Nebulas and Hugos there. But this was terrible. The worst '70s fantasy dreck, as if they dashed something off in a an old spiral notebook at a convention after a few drinks at the bar.