Customer Reviews

Shadows Of Sanctuary

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the 3rd in the series. I'd read the second, and was too confused to enjoy it. I was right, I enjoyed the 3rd more than the 2nd, because I was familiar with the characters. Must look for the first one.

The Good:
Interesting world.
Nice mix of characters and kinds of stories.
It's fun to see the different authors' interpretations of the world and each other's characters.

The Bad:
It can be confusing if you haven't read any other books in the series. The individual stories don't explain a lot.

The Verdict:
It's a fun series, worth searching for, particularly if you read them in order.

Sanctuary is a dark, depraved place. You certainly wouldn't want to go there on vacation...or for any other reason. "Shadows of Sanctuary" continues the stories of life in the armpit of Ranke, killing some off while crippling others and developing a few characters. This series is growing on me as I read it.

The third of the Thieves World books again holds the quality.

Shadows of Sanctuary : Looking for Satan [Lythande] - Vonda N. McIntyre
Shadows of Sanctuary : Ischade - C. J. Cherryh
Shadows of Sanctuary : A Gift in Parting - Robert Lynn Asprin
Shadows of Sanctuary : The Vivisectionist - Andrew J. Offutt
Shadows of Sanctuary : The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn - Diana L. Paxson
Shadows of Sanctuary : Then Azyuna Danced - Lynn Abbey
Shadows of Sanctuary : A Man and His God - Janet Morris

Newcomers know some nifty tricks but don't exactly fit in.

4 out of 5

Thieving and murder of only the right kind of wizards, please.

3.5 out of 5

Interesting fishy stuff.

3 out of 5

Regeneration and a thief useful if someone slices lots of bits off you.

3.5 out of 5

Portrait time.

2.5 out of 5

Prisoner sacrifice power ritual penetration.

3.5 out of 5

Fickle patrons and Sacred Bands.

3.5 out of 5

In this third volume of the Thieves' World series the focus shifts from Tempus to the effects and consequences of magician curses. As before in this series, half a dozen well-known science fiction writers have contributed short stories to an anthology which is based in the city of Sanctuary.

In the last volume, the focus was on the interaction of the citizenry with their gods and in particular on Tempus the Hell Hound and his service to the god Vashanka. In this volume the focus shifts to the effects of various magical curses and what they might create. There are stories about Enas Yorl - who is cursed to be a shape shifter in perpetuity; There are also stories about Tempus since his relationship with Vashanka is a curse in reality; Also present is One Thumb, the owner of the Vulgar Unicorn and others.

The anthology starts, though, with a charming story about a group of beings who end up in Sanctuary in search of one of their friends. These people are distinguished from the normal Sanctuary citizenry in being completely color and sex blind. So, we have a female warrior who is obviously superior to anyone else - who is picked on as a female --- bad move as it turns out! Another female can fly and has talons for feet which are hidden in her boots; The third female is the leader of the bunch and has the gift of sorcery even though she is untrained in its use and does not know about it until she encounters Lythande in Sanctuary. The group's lone male is a hapless non-intrusive and complete nonetity who is there probably to form a contrast for the much more capable females. This story introduces some very intriguing characters and races that I hope will make future appearances in this series.

The other stories involve many of the characters that we have met before. Hanse Shadowspawn appears several times as do Jubal, Kurd, and Kadakithis. In the previous volume, we found Tempus being enslaved to Kurd the vivisectionist suffering through the hell of being constantly taken apart and yet healing due to his connection with Vashanka. I thought that Tempus's career was over. This volume rescues him and returns him to the fold with a vengeance. Once he returned, he manages to kill off Kurd, and wreak his vengeance on Jubal as well. So, I guess he is a main character that we will see again regardless of the moral ambivalence he brings given his blood thirsty character and destructive actions.

In addition, we get to see more of the religious activities and consequences of worshipping Vashanka through the eyes of a slave girl and several priests. Finally, we have a story about character building in the youth of Sanctuary and a father's parting gift to his son.

As is usual, the stories are grim, dark, and violent although I found this volume to be less dark than the previous one. The cover illustration is noteworthy in that it has nothing to do with any of the stories except peripherally and certainly does not show any scene that is described in the book - unlike the previous covers in this series. My understanding is that there are at least a dozen books in this series and I am looking forward to reading more about the adventures of the people and beings of this town.