Thieves' World
Some of the authors include: Andrew Offut, CJ Cherryh, Diana L. Paxson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lynn Abbey, Robert Asprin.
I love this series, no matter how much it makes me cringe. Thieves' World is the place that makes you realize things could always be worse. A lot worse.
For some reason, I was thinking about Thieves' World, when it struck me that, Thieves World has a lot of female characters that are not only important characters to the series but are important to the functioning of the town. There are of course Ischade and Roxanne, the witches, Shupansea, the Beysib ruler, and there is also Illyra the S'danzo seeress. All four shape the town the events that unfold in the series as much as any male character. And there there are other female characters who play integral parts: Myrtis,the Madam of the House, Cheynaya, cousin to the prince and general trouble maker, Moria, hawkmask and thief, Kama, the daughter of Tempus Thales, Gilla, the wife of Lalo the Limner... I could go on, but for the sake of brevity, I won't. What struck me about the number of female characters, it's not a big deal that these women play such a big part in Sanctuary, in fact it took me years to even realize it.
So why am I writing about this, if it isn't a big deal? Well, that is precisely what struck me. Sure, there are other fantasy books out there that have strong female leads, but many of these books seem to be almost pushing a female agenda (Mercedes Lackey is a good example of this). The women are so strong, and so central, that they are almost in our faces with their competence, even when they screw up. Now don't get my wrong, I really like many of Mercedes Lackey's books, and I think she is a fantastic author with the ability to create characters about whom I really care, but I do think that at times she comes across as having a feminist agenda, and many of the other books I have read (and liked mind you!) with female leads come across the same way. But in Thieves' World they are just characters with all to human foibles and problems and issues us normal people have, and to be honest most of them are not even likable (except,of course, for Illyra) which is perfect, because almost none of the male characters are likable either. Well, perhaps likable is the wrong word. I really like Ischade and Hanse the thief, but I am quite sure that I would not want to meet either of them in a dark alley, or even a well lit room with armed guards.
So what struck me was that you have these fabulous female fantasy characters who are just strong women in the way that women you meet every day are strong.In other words, it's just one more reason for me to like the books, and to rave about them, even when I have not read them in at least a year.
Thieves' World: Turning Points (2003)
I loved the old Thieves' World series, despite the fact that no one else I know--not even my husband--likes it. A couple of years ago, when I read that they were coming out with a new series I immediately decided I wanted nothing to do with it, for it wouldn't be the old Thieves' World, the place I loved (but would not love to visit in person). It would be a disappointment, so I ignored the fact that new books were even coming out.
But....
We were at the bookstore, and I was looking to see if they had anything by Charles de Lint (they didn't), when I saw that the new Thieves' World anthology was out, and--just out of curiosity mind you--I picked it up. The first thing I saw was "New Stories by Raymond E. Feist, Dennis L. McKiernan, and Others"... Dennis McKiernan wrote a Thieves' World story?! Then I opened it to see the list of contributing authors: Mickey Zucker Reichert, Andrew Offut, Diana L. Paxson, Robin Wayne Bailey, Jody Lynn Nye...plus some authors I don't know. Of course there are names missing: CJ Cherryh, Janet Morris...and some authors who have passed on since the first series: Poul Anderson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Brunner.... but still! Dennis McKiernan? I love his books! Andrew Offut is back?! Shadowspawn was one of my favorite characters! Mickey Zucker Reichert? I loved The Legend of Nightfall--that character would fit into Sanctuary without a problem!
So, I broke down and bought the book--hardcover and all.
Now that I've read the entire thing, I'm glad I bought it, for I really enjoyed all the stories. There are a new set of characters, with only a handful of the old characters hanging around--which is good, for as much as I loved the books, sometimes you have to let characters go. (After all, most of the loose ends were tied up at the end of the series.) The book was not quite as dark as some in the previous series, but then Thieves' World didn't get really get ugly until the middle of the series--they eased you in before they turned on you. Some of it was disturbing, these are still not stories for young children, but the violence did seem a bit more muted this time around. Again, I'll be curious to see if that changes are the series progresses (of it progresses).
There were a couple of specific stories that I really loved. Apocolypse Noun by Jeff Grubb was great, I mean, with a title like that how could he go wrong? I was pleased with Dennis McKiernan's story, Duel. I had such high expectations, since I love his other work, I was a bit worried, but I really liked it. I do think, however, that in the future I will read the stories without checking to see the author is. Certain authors have a certain style, and knowing it was that author caused me to expect that style. Not that I could have read a story about Shadowspawn and NOT know that it was Andrew Offut... Raymond E. Feist's story One to Go was good (but then I expected that) and I also really liked the stories by Mickey Zucker Reichert and Jody Lynn Nye--the fit right in with my memories of Sanctuary. The stories by Lynn Abbey and Robin Wayne Bailey were quite dark, which is unsurprising for Robin Wayne Bailey, since she had created the unlovable Cheynaya, but Lynn Abbey's stories had, for the most part, been some of the lighter points in the series--typically something that was needed after reading CJ Cherryh describe smoking out a badger out of his hole through the soldier staked over the exit of the hole.
In other words, I liked the book, and if you liked the first series, you probably will not be disappointed.
Thieves' World: Enemies of Fortune (2004)
I still haven't completely decided how I feel about this series. The stories are good, and I enjoy them, but they're not quite the old 'Thieves' World' and I'm not quite sure what it is that's missing.
As I said, the stories are excellent--Lynn Abbey gathered an excellent group of writers for this second book: Mickey Zucker Reichert, Andrew Offut, C.J. Cherryh, Steven Brust, Diana Paxson, Dennis L. McKiernan--all authors I really like. And the others are excellent as well: Robin Wayne Bailey, Jane Fancher, Jeff Rosen, Selina Rosen, Jody Lynn Nye, Jeff Grubb. But there's something from the old series that's still missing, and I'm not sure precisely what it is. Of course this is only the second book, so it's quite possible that the series just hasn't perfectly gelled together yet. After all, I started at book three when I began the last Thieves' World books. Or it could be that I miss Enis Yorl and the old Prince.
Of the stories in this book, I particularly liked Jeff Grubb's 'Malediction' and Jane Francher/C.J. Cherryh's 'Legacies.' The second story surprised, because although I like C.J. Cherryh, I normally find her stories difficult to read--I feel like I'm missing something, and I'm never sure quite what. But this story didn't make me feel like I needed to read it again to figure out what was happening.
I also liked Jody Lynn Nye's 'Consequences.' It seemed to have exactly what I liked about the first series, although if I was to try to define precisely what that was, I doubt I can, though it may be the character Pel.
I still don't know how I feel about Steven Brust's story 'The Man from Shemhaza.' It's a good story, and fits well into Thieves' World, but it felt more like an introduction to the character of Tord'an J'ardin than a complete tale.
'Good Neighbors' by Lynn Abbey was good, although extremely depressing. Thieves' World stories are always dark, but this one struck me as particularly bleak. But it could just be me.
The other stories were good, but sometimes I felt like they were missing something--I loved Shadowspawn, but Andrew Offut's Lone does not yet seem to have that indefinable something that Shadowspawn had, and the fact that he has Shadowspawn lurking in the background only reminds me more of what I miss.
All in all the book is good, but not fantastic. It's not yet the Thieves' World I loved, but it definitely has the potential to get there.
Thieves' World Books:
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)
The first two books have been released in a single book, First Blood, however, I have only found the first book, published in 2003, and can't find and mention of the rest of the books.
Also: Shadowspawn, The Shadow of Sorcery
Turning Points (2003), Enemies of Fortune (2004)
