Thieves' World [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Lynn Asprin (Author), Robert Asprin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1981

First series book. One thunb,(the crooked bartender at The Vulgar Unicorn); Enas Yorl, magician and involuntary shape changer; Jubal, ex-gladiator and slave who is now a pillar of the community; Lythande the Star-browed (his magic is in question, his sword-play is not); Cappen Varra the Minstrel. These are just some of the unforgetable players you will meet on a stage where murder, mayhem, and skullduggery-with always a bit of magic-are the order of the day.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Ace; 1rst edition (1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441805787
• ISBN-13: 978-0441805785
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,335,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars PROMISING IDEA POORLY EXECUTED, December 14, 2009

By 

EMAN NEP - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thieves' World (Mass Market Paperback)

We've all played this game before: One person starts off telling a story and then you go around the table with each person tacking onto it.

Now imagine the same concept, only done by published authors.

Such an idea has great potential, unfortunately the execution of this idea didn't work as well as I was hoping. Here is why I think so:

1) Each story is told by a different author, but by the time you are comfortable with the style of one, that story has ended and it's on to another. Having to mentally adapt to each author makes for a very jarring reading experience.

2) Poor author selection. So let me get this straight, Asprin picked mostly SCIENCE FICTION authors (Brunner, Anderson and Haldeman) to help write a collection of FANTASY stories??? One of the authors, Christine DeWees is a "no-name" author, practically never to be heard from again, and Asprin himself seems hardly competent as is evident in the essay at the end where he even admits to not really being editor material or a particularly well-established writer himself.

3) The quality of the stories is lacking. Twice I read the first story, "Sentences of Death", and both times my reaction to the ending sentence was "Huh?" The next story, "The Face of Chaos" didn't even tie in to the previous story. Wasn't that supposed to be the whole point of this series, one author building off another? The third story, "The Gate of the Flying Knives" finally started to bring back some of the earlier characters, but by then I was tired of having to adapt to yet another writing style. One shouldn't be scratching their head trying to figure out what is going on 100 pages in.

4) A minor fault as one looks at the big picture, but both of the maps are made difficult to read by the use of small-text numbers to indicate where something is.

For informational purposes, here is the table of contents:

INTRODUCTION
SENTENCES OF DEATH -- John Brunner
THE FACE OF CHAOS -- Lynn Abbey
THE GATE OF THE FLYING KNIVES -- Poul Anderson
SHADOWSPAWN -- Andrew Offutt
THE PRICE OF DOING BUSINESS -- Robert Asprin
BLOOD BROTHERS -- Joe Haldeman
MYRTIS -- Christine DeWees
THE SECRET OF THE BLUE STAR -- Marion Zimmer Bradley
ESSAY: THE MAKING OF THIEVES' WORLD

Although I can't vouch for the whole series, this first book did not live up to my expectations. To me, this book shows that authors do their best work when they are sole creator of their fantasy universes.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unimpressive, December 11, 2005

By 

Adam Gonnerman (North America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thieves' World (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book because of its reputation. In fact, I went so far as to buy the entire series (used) without reading a single page beforehand. When it first came out in the 1970's, this series really made waves. Now, it is good reading material, but not remarkable. Dedicated fans of fantasy will want to read it, but more out of historical interest than anything else.