Thieves' World Book Club! The Face of Chaos!

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

For a few years I have been the admin/moderator of the Thieves' World Facebook discussion group. I started a "book club" last year, hoping to spark more discussion about the series. It has been a mixed success. I think in some ways my posts starting the discussion of each anthology have been a bit too big. I also realized, these posts were disappearing into ether after a short short while. In order to give the posts more permanence and so I can more easily refer folks to them, I decided to start putting the "opening" post for each anthology here on my blog. 

Now we are on to the fifth anthology, published in 1983.

The Valdez cover.

Contents

Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin

"High Moon" by Janet Morris

"Necromant" by C. J. Cherryh

"The Art of Alliance" by Robert Lynn Asprin

"The Corners of Memory" by Lynn Abbey

"Votary" by David Drake

"Mirror Image" by Diana L. Paxson

All seven of the authors in this volume are Thieves' World veterans, and all of these tales continue stories from previous tales. This marked a shift in the shape of the anthologies, as the over all plot came to dominate the tales and the stories became very connected - it was difficult for a reader to enjoy "The Art of Alliance" if they hadn't read the Cherryh and Morris stories in the previous volumes. 

The Ruddell cover.

This the shortest of the original 12 anthologies, and that is a shame because it feels like their are a lot of stories to tell about this period of Sanctuiary's history. It is also a volume that covers over a great deal of ground; three of the "official" Theives' World novels (Beyond Sanctuary (1985), Beyond the Veil (1985), and Beyond Wizardwall (1986)) are all set after the first story in The Face of Chaos and before Wings of Omen. So this volume covers roughly two years of time, yet again, it is the shortest of the anthologies. The previous volume, Storm Season, covers months of time, but this is the first volume that presumably covers over a year of life in Sanctuary. 

The Valdez cover depicts the three standard warriors outside the Vulgar Unicorn. One is mounted and all appear to be preparing for a trip, fitting given the events of "High Moon" by Janet Morris. The brunnette is less obviously female, unless you look closely at her face. The Ruddell cover is captioned: "A Beysib execution." At least two such executions occur in the anthology, but this doesn't quite look like either. The Beysib executioner's breasts are covered, contrary to textual descriptions but understandably given the realities of the American book market. 

The Pennington cover.

Science Fiction Book Club edition

The third cover appears to depict a pair of hawkmasks. I discovered a bit more about these third covers, they were for Penguin books, and appear to be for editions sold in the UK, Canada, and Australia. And they were painted, apparently, by Bruce Pennington. I've also included the Valdez cover from the Book Club edition, a compilation titled Cross-Currents including Storm Season, The Face of Chaos, and Wings of Omen.

There was a distinct lack of a Shadowspawn tale in this volume, and based on later comments from Offutt (in The Dead of Winter afterword) the absence was unexpected. There was also a fascinating tonal shift, from Asprin's Introduction where townsfolk are enjoying unexpected prosperity from the arrival of the Beysib to the grim executions and street warfare later in the volume. 

You can find this volume in many used book stores online. Also, it is available for Kindle on Amazon here. 

An audiobook of this work is available here on Audible. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Thieves' World Book Club! Storm Season!

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

For a few years I have been the admin/moderator of the Thieves' World Facebook discussion group. I started a "book club" last year, hoping to spark more discussion about the series. It has been a mixed success. I think in some ways my posts starting the discussion of each anthology have been a bit too big. I also realized, these posts were disappearing into ether after a short short while. In order to give the posts more permanence and so I can more easily refer folks to them, I decided to start putting the "opening" post for each anthology here on my blog. 

Now we are on to the fourth anthology, published in 1982.

The Valdez cover.

Contents

Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin

"Exercise in Pain" by Robert Lynn Asprin

"Downwind" by C. J. Cherryh

"A Fugitive Art" by Diana L. Paxson

"Steel" by Lynn Abbey

"Wizard Weather" by Janet Morris

"Godson" by Andrew J. Offutt

Epilog by Robert Lynn Asprin

All of the authors in this anthology are long time Thieves’ World contributors. The storylines and themes introduced in this anthology will dominate the next four anthologies, creating an epic storyline that was later named the God’s War.

The original cover by Walter Valdez is still clearly in the Unicorn, two men are arm wrestling while the dark-haired female from the previous painting (who still reminds me of Kama though Kama is not in this volume) watches. One of the men is the same blond man with a blue star on his forehead from the first anthology cover, but the star is no longer visible.

The Ruddell cover.

The Ruddell cover is "Hanse Shadowspawn at Eaglenest." But he doesn't look much like Hanse.

I don't have a caption for the third cover, but I believe it is supposed to represent Tempus on his horse, looking over the sea while fortress is constructed behind him. This would have been the opening seen from "A Man and His God" by Janet Morris from the previous volume, Shadows of Sanctuary. The horseman is very fantastical and this art doesn’t give me Thieves’ World vibes at all, just 1960s psychedelic fantasy.

I've also included the cover from the Book Club edition, a compilation titled Cross-Currents including Storm Season, The Face of Chaos, and Wings of Omen. These covers are also by Valdez, and the blue-starred individual looks more plausible as Lythande to my eyes than Valdez' earlier images.

This was the last of the "original" anthologies, Sanctuary changes in significant ways with the next volume. This anthology differed from the previous three in that some of the stories were much longer then in previous tales. The story of Jubal's healing, for example, was the first tale but it occurred over months of time. More so than in previous tales, these stories weave in and out of each other, though in many ways they barely connect. 

Tempus (?) looking down on Sanctuary.

You can find this volume in many used book stores online. Also, it is available for Kindle on Amazon here. 

An audiobook of this work is available here on Audible. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Science Fiction Book Club edition.