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. 

Thieves' World Book Club! Shadows of Sanctuary!

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. The post for the second anthology in the series, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, can be found here. 

The original Valdez cover.

Now we are on to the third anthology, published in 1981.

Contents

"Introduction" by Robert Lynn Asprin

"Looking for Satan" by Vonda N. McIntyre

"Ischade" by C.J. Cherryh

"A Gift in Parting" by Robert Lynn Asprin

"The Vivisectionist" by Andrew J. Offutt

"The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn" by Diana L. Paxson

"Then Azyuna Danced" by Lynn Abbey

"A Man and His God" by Janet Morris

Essay: "Things the Editor Never Told Me" by Lynn Abbey

Later cover by Gary Ruddell.

Three of the seven authors in this anthology are new. Of those three, however, two two went on to become extremely prolific contributors, not missing another anthology.

I've said before that I believe this is the single best anthology in the series. One tale doesn't quite have the "TW" feel, but all of the tales are very well written.

The original cover by Walter Valdez is more dynamic then the previous covers, but still clearly in the Unicorn. It includes a female in a red dress, who facial expression and dress seem incongruous with Sanctuary's known female inhabitants. The figure with the short black hair is clear a woman in this painting, she reminds me very much of Kama but Kama doesn't appear until book #6, I don't think she was even a glimmer of thought in Janet Morris' mind in 1981.

The Ruddell cover is "Jubal defends himself against Tempus."

Hanse confronting Kurd.

I don't have a caption for the third cover, but it clearly depicts a scene from Offutt's tale, with Hanse confronting Kurd. This is, in my opinion, a rarity. I don't love the style, but the artist clearly tried to depict Hanse accurately according to his description, and the same with Kurd. He obviously had actually read the story!

I've also included the cover from the Book Club edition, a compilation title Sanctuary which contained Thieves' World, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn & Shadows of 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. 

Thieves' World Book Club! Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn

 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. The post for the first anthology in the series, Thieves' World, can be found here.  

The original Valdez cover.

Now we are on to the second anthology, published in 1980.

Contents

"Introduction" by Robert Lynn Asprin

"Spiders of the Purple Mage" by Philip José Farmer

"Goddess" by David Drake

"The Fruit of Enlibar" by Lynn Abbey

"The Dream of the Sorceress" by A.E. van Vogt

"Vashanka's Minion" by Janet Morris

"Shadow's Pawn" by Andrew J. Offutt

"To Guard the Guardians" by Robert Lynn Asprin

Essay: "The Lighter Side of Sanctuary" by Robert Lynn Asprin

Later cover by Gary Ruddell.

So, four of the seven authors in this anthology are new to the series. Of those four, only two contributed to later anthologies. Notably, all four of the new authors were established authors. Farmer and Vogt were old school legends, like Poul Anderson. Of course, Morris would go on to have perhaps the greatest influence on the series, possibly greater than Asprin himself, and probably only second to Lynn Abbey.

The tone begins to change somewhat. Vogt, Farmer, and Drake are writing fairly standard sword & sorcery tales – though Farmer does have unconventional protagonists. But many of the rest of the tales have started to focus on the real star of the series: Sanctuary itself.

The original cover by Walter Valdez is nice, but not quite a striking, in my opinion, as the original cover of the first anthology.

The Ruddell cover is "Tempus battles a hawk-mask." I don't have a caption for the third cover, it seems to be the Maze, and the Vulgar Unicorn, imagined as a medieval European city.

I've also included the cover from the Book Club edition, a compilation titled Sanctuary which contained Thieves' World, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn & Shadows of Sanctuary. Noteworthy that it resembles the Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn cover in composition.

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. 

The Sacred Band tales of Janet & Chris Morris

Portions of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #191 (September, 2012).

One of fantasy’s enduring motifs is the concept of the multiverse, the idea of different worlds and times that co-exist, and which the unwary or wise can travel between via various extraordinary devices or phenomenon. Dungeons and Dragons famously made great use of the concept of the multiverse, it was particularly useful in allowing travel between the various home campaign worlds of gamemasters but also between TSR’s commercially published settings. I dare say most gamers and many fantasy fans find the concept fascinating and enticing, who doesn’t want to see Conan take Elric down a peg? And for writers the multiverse is a wonderful tool, Janet and Chris Morris employed the multiverse motif to free Tempus, Janet Morris’ most famous character, and his followers from the constraints of the Thieves’ World shared universe series.

Janet Morris is a prolific author who got her start in the late ‘70s with High Couch of Silistra, an old school science fiction novel that reads like a cross between Leigh Brackett and early John Norman. In fantasy fiction, she is best known for her participation in the Thieves’ World anthologies and as the editor of the Heroes in Hell Bangsian shared world anthologies.

I think her best work, however, is I, the Sun, a biographical historical ficton novel about Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I.  It is a powerful work, extremely well done. It is far better, IMO, than any of her Thieves' World stories. In fact, it is on par with Mary Renault's works, and there is no higher praise from me. Told in the first person, the tale is riveting from beginning to end, in a subtle manner. The relationships are believable, the angst is minimal, and religion is handled just right for the period.

The only real weakness is the military aspects and battle scenes. Morris is obviously fascinated by warfare, but she just doesn't seem to understand it very well. As a military historian I was hoping for some imaginative insights into Hittite military culture and tactics, but those aspects of the novel were minimal.

As with any work on antiquity, especially on a subject like the Hittites, she has to make some things up, and the scholarship is from the 1970s,so there have likely been quite a few changes in how we view the Hittites and the nations around them. So be sure to look to newer works for actual Hittite history. But this one is very fun. I especially love how she deals with the women interacting with the protagonist and the internal politics. This is Janet Morris' best work and the audiobook is also quite well read.

Based on publication dates, it appears that she wrote I, the Sun contemporaneously with her Thieves' World work, there is some obvious connections with Father Enlil and later Shepherd, from I, the Sun, appears in a couple late Thieves' World stories. Her depictions of religious observances are clearly influenced by her Hittite research, and several characters from the series were likely inspired by, or at least named after, individuals from Greek history, notably Critias.

Her most enduring character in Thieves’ World was Tempus, a tortured immortal mercenary who regenerates any wounds he takes and is the chosen avatar of the storm god. Tempus quickly became one of the most popular characters in the series, what teen-age boy could resist a character who takes women when he wants them, constantly insults the god rumbling in his head, is preternaturally strong, swift, and healthy, never sleeps, and is generally feared by all? And, of course, he battles demons and wizards who also fear him.  Of course, such a character creates balance problems in a shared world setting, and Tempus and his followers, the Stepson mercenary band, certainly led to the power glut that oozed through the middle volumes of that series.

In addition to short stories, Morris wrote the first three novels for Thieves' World: Beyond Sanctuary, Beyond the Veil, and Beyond Wizard Wall. In the Thieves' World chronology they fell between Face of Chaos and Wings of Omen and they introduced an 'epic fantasy' storyline involving the Nisibisi globes of power that roiled Thieves' World through out the rest of the series. Though they had many interesting scenes and vignettes, these novels were somewhat disjointed and difficult to follow. These novels have some cool ideas - especially the Nisibisi cultures and the basic northern politics. it's a shame they remained so underdeveloped.

They were also very focused focused on Nikodemos, a junior Stepson who gradually took over as the primary protagonist from Tempus. Niko became a problematic character in

the series. the plots all seemed to revolve around witches and gods desiring Niko, but why anyone should want to spend time with Niko is an open question. Sulking angst is his most common attitude, and he never shows any particular intelligence, empathy, or any other desirable trait. He prefers to prey on young girls - criminally young in the modern world. Most damning of all, he is a point of view character, so we see inside his mind often, which means it is clear that Niko is nearly always wrong about what is going on around him. He fails to value wiser, braver, and more ethical characters about him, such as the wizard Randal.  Yet we spend nearly all of the remaining tales in his company, following the same storyline repeated over and over - the Nisibisi witch Roxane wants Niko, and so do the gods, and Tempus wants to protect Niko.  

When Thieves’ World ended Morris published a series of novels furthering the tales of he and his followers, since she had the rights to the characters but not the setting, Tempus and his band were soon travelling the multiverse.  

It is interesting to see how Janet Morris' handling of time and the multiverse differs from Michael Moorcock's, The two authors come from very different backgrounds, and I don't see any evidence that either was aware of or influenced by the other. Nonetheless, in many ways Tempus closest analog in fantasy fiction is Elric of Melnibone, right down to the predilections for philosophy, incest, gods and the cursed destinies that bedevil them. However, Morris' multiverse is far more heavily influenced by the philosophy and mythologies of the Ancient Mediterranean.

The first novel in this follow-on series, Tempus, merely collected the most relevant of the old Thieves’

World stories to provide suitable background for the later works, interspersed with a framing tale. In City at the Edge of Time, the first post-Thieves’ World tale of Tempus, the city in questioned is saved from ‘evil’ and Tempus’ protégé becomes its ruler. In Tempus Unbound, the immortal comes to fabled Lemuria, and is soon drawn into a demon war across time that is centered in modern New York – a tale that reads far better then one would expect from its summary. In Storm Seed, Tempus, now ruler of Lemuria, brings his scattered forces home, seemingly set to begin a new series of adventures across time and the planes.

Instead, the Morrises (Chris Morris being a co-author since the late ‘80s) abandoned Tempus and his Stepsons for twenty years, not coming out with a sequel to Storm Seed until 2010, with The Sacred Band. Working with a new publisher, Perseid Press, the Morris' tied the Stepsons directly into the legend of the historical Sacred Band of Thebes. Most of the tale takes place in Sanctuary, set between the conclusion of the original 12 Thieves' World anthologies, and the setting's 2002 revival.

Returning to an overt connection with antiquity allowed this tale to play directly to the strengths Morris exhibited in I, the Sun. The opening of the tale is very promising, the merger of the Thebans and the Stepsons introduces new characters and we get to see Arton and Gyskouras, the Storm children of Sanctuary's most turbulent story line as young men. And finally we see some actual battles, rather then mere skirmishes, something which was strangely lacking in the previous Tempus stories - for someone fascinated by warriors, Morris appears uninterested in fight scenes.

But there is a great deal that is less good. Too soon the novel shifts focus and once again Nikodemos becomes the center of the same repetitive story lines of the previous tales. Although published 8 years after the 2002 revival, and set between the original series and the revival chronologically, there is no sign that Morris read the linking novel by Lynn Abbey, Sanctuary - how any of this fits into the known history of Sanctuary between the series is a huge puzzle. And one of Morris weakness' as a shared world author stands out in particular in this work, she handles the characters borrowed from other writers poorly. Molin is almost unrecognizable, as is Arton's mother, Ilyra. The relationship between Gyskouras and Arton doesn't seem at all what one would expect after the original series. And Straton and Ischade simply repeat the storyline they were in at the closing of the original series, despite already receiving a proper ending in those tales.

The final work in the series is The Fish, The Fighters, and the Song-girl. This is another short story collection, although this time it does include a few tales not previously published. As with previous Sacred Band story collections there is a 'framing' story meant to put the tales into context, but it is confusing and doesn't seem to have much of a resolution. I don't know if this is intended to be the last work in the series but it felt open-ended, so perhaps we can expect more Tempus and the Sacred Band tales down the road. [Edit: With Morris' passing in 2024, sadly I believe the tales have ended. Though if Chris Morris chose to continue I am certain the fans would welcome them.]

Over all, in the Sacred Band series the prose is typically lush, and too dependent on repetitive internal character dialogue, but Morris has a knack for implying a level of complexity and insight that leads the reader to seek more.  

Nonetheless, she explores the multiverse in a unique manner, and the dynamics of the mercenary band she describes are fascinating.  The Sacred Band series novels are not to everyone’s taste, but if you like dark military fantasy they are well worth a read. 

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