Customer Reviews

Thieves' World: First Blood (Thieves' World Anthology)

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I read all the Thieves' World Series as a teenager. The series was amazing then and its GREAT to see it back in print. For those of you who do not read much fantasy - Thieves' World is a shared world anthology - that means that various authors come together to write stories under a shared theme...in this case, the city of Sanctuary. The characters are solid and the different perspectives of the stories create a rich tapestry.

Last, the nice thing about having the first two in a single book - which should be obvious - only one book in the backpack on the way to the beach.

I found my copies at a used book store 12 years ago--back when the two books were separate. The narrative was so good, I read both in the same night.

Thieves World is an usual type of anthology in that, while different writers are contributing, the individual stories are more like chapters. This is because they all share the same characters and what happens in one story, carries on as character background in the next story by the next author. If a character or event is introduced in one story, it is fodder for future stories.

The effect is that you get many different viewpoints for the same story--some light, some dark--and it makes the overall story seem more well-rounded, yet cohesive at the same time. This is a tribute to the talents of the many writers involved with the project, and to the editors, Abbey and Asprin [fine writers in their own right].

As for the overall story, Thieves World is set on a terrestrial planet, with most of the action taking place in and arround the city of Sanctuary. Initially, the tone is fantasy--swordsmen, magic, gods/goddesses. As the series progresses, subtle elements of sci-fi are woven in--non-human species from the sea, advanced technology, etc. By the end, Thieves World had transformed into an anthology series unlike any I've read.

I regularly read the entire series [all 12 books] at least once a year, and I'm happy they're being reissued since my copies are getting very worn out.

I absolutely recommend this anthology for any fan of the fantasy genre.

I have always loved the Thieves' World series. I also love my Kindle. Would love for all the books available here, Shadowspawn, the 3 by Janet Morris, the one about the caravan master and his niece, Come on Amazon scan them in:)