| Introduction This web page has brief
information about the Thieves World books, with
links for deeper exploration of the books,
including links to authors' homepages and links
to the Amazon page for each book.
Background
Thieves
World was created in 1978 by author Robert
Lynn Asprin, who wanted to build a shared fantasy
universe. He wanted to create a world where there
were several central characters. The characters
would "all share the same terrain and be
peripherally aware of each other's existance as
thier paths crossed" (The Making of
Thieve's World, Robert Lynn Asprin).
With the help of
his (now ex-) wife, Lynn Abbey, Asprin brought
together notable and aspiring authors. Twelve
anthologies were written until Asprin lost
control of his authors, and the works went on
hiatus. Lynn Abbey brought the series back to
life in 2002 with the anthology Turning
Points.
The
World
Thieves World is
centered around the city of Sanctuary. It is a
tough, gritty town populated by gutter-scum, evil
mages, vampiric sorceresses, and walking gods.
Heroes are often out for themselves, and life is
cheap, in the town described as "the anus of
the Rankan Empire."
The
Books
The series of
Thieves World books can be broken into
Anthologies, Novels, and Spin-offs.
Anthologies
include the first twelve books, and the
contemporary books Turning Points and Enemies
of Fortune. These works are the essence of
Thieves World, because they spin tales along
common threads, but deliver unique - and
sometimes stand alone - stories presented by
different authors.
Novels are the
stand-alone books, such as Beyond Sanctuary
and Shadowspawn. These books follow the
same characters, and are written by one or two
authors.
There are
several spin-off books centered around Thieves
World characters, but are not officially part of
the Thieves World universe. These include novels
about Jamie the Red, Tempus, and Lythande. There
are also numerous short stories in magazines and
anthologies about Thieves World characters but
are not officially part of Theives World.
There are three
book club omnibuses that, combined, have all
twelve of the original books. The newest omnibus
is First Blood, which combines the first
two books (Thieves World and Tales
from the Vulgar Unicorn).
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