Thieves World
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Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series was comprised of twelve anthologies and including stories by such science fiction authors as Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C.J. Cherryh, Janet Morris and more.
Each author's stories played off the others and the authors quickly attempted to outdo each other. 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. Only the dregs of society found their way there and it was a city beset not only by the scum of the earth, but by the warring gods, the invading Rankan gods and the Ilsigi gods they had ousted from the region. As the series continued, additional invasions occurred and the city was taken over by the snake-worshipping Beysib as the Rankan empire collapsed.
In 2002, Lynn Abbey, who co-edited several of the original anthologies, revitalized the series with the novel Sanctuary. It was followed by the anthology Turning Points, which contained 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.
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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
Novels
- Lynn Abbey, Sanctuary (2002)
- Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lythande (1986)
- Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Gratitude of Kings (1998)
- Gordon R. Dickson, Jamie the Red (1984)
- David Drake, Dagger (1988)
- Janet Morris Beyond Sanctuary (1985)
- Janet Morris Beyond the Veil (1985)
- Janet Morris Beyond Wizardwall (1986)
- Janet Morris Tempus (1987)
- Janet Morris City at the Edge of Time (1988)
- Janet Morris Tempus Unbound (1989)
- Janet Morris Storm Seed (1990)
- Andrew J. Offutt Shadowspawn (1987)
- Andrew J. Offutt The Shadow of Sanctuary (1993)
External link
- A Guide to Thieves World (http://www.geocities.com/jillari1/menu.htm)
- Interview with Lynn Abbey (http://www.sfsite.com/11a/la139.htm)
- Interview with several Thieves World contributors (http://www.sfsite.com/11a/ct139.htm)