Thieves' World Wiki

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For fans of the shared world Thieves' World

(from Wikipedia)

**Thieves' World** is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by such science fiction authors as Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C. J. Cherryh, Janet Morris, and Chris Morris.

*Thieves' World* is set in the city of *Sanctuary*, located at the edge of the Rankan Empire. The city is depicted as a place where many are downtrodden and where the invading Rankan gods and the Ilsigi gods they had ousted begin a struggle for primacy. As the series continues, additional invasions occur, and the city is taken over by the snake-worshipping Beysib as the Rankan empire collapses. Over time, a number of the characters in the series are revealed either to be the offspring of or otherwise blessed by various figures in the pantheons of the competing cultures, and they discover or develop various powers as the series progresses.

First published in 1979, the series went on hiatus in 1989 after the twelfth anthology. In addition to the official anthologies, several authors published novels set in the milieu of Thieves' World. The rights to the anthology were structured so that authors generally retained the rights to their characters but not to the setting, allowing authors to give their characters lives beyond Sanctuary. The Tempus books are probably the most successful offshoot written in this way.

In 2002, Lynn Abbey, who co-edited several of the original anthologies, relaunched the series with the novel *Sanctuary*. It was followed by the anthologies *Turning Points* and *Enemies of Fortune*, which contain some returning authors and several new ones. Abbey also oversaw the republication of the original anthologies in omnibus editions.

## The world

At the center is Sanctuary. At the bottom of a peninsula shared by Ilsig to the west and Ranke to the east, Sanctuary was founded by escaped Ilsigi slaves, and later run by the Ilsig kingdom as a trading place. When the brigands prowling the difficult routes between the two kingdoms were finally brought to heel, trade between Ilsig and Ranke took the more direct route, leaving Sanctuary with far less wealth passing through it than it once had. The town began its decline.

North and west of Sanctuary is the Ilsig kingdom. Many residents of Sanctuary are Ilsigi, dark-haired people generally. Their gods include Ils of a Thousand Eyes, a god of wisdom and wiles. They've been at war with Ranke over the territory to the north and south of both kingdoms. As our books begin, Ilsig has lost Sanctuary to Ranke.

North and east of Sanctuary is Ranke. As our books begin they are a young empire but an old kingdom, and they are just settling in to their new acquisition of Sanctuary. Ilsigi temples are left alone, but a new temple is going up to the Rankan gods including Vashanka, god of war, rape, pillage, and bladed weapons. The Rankan culture is...direct, and is modeled somewhat after classical Rome, though Rankans are most frequently described as curly-haired blondes.

On one portentous day, a fleet arrived in Sanctuary, bearing hundreds of Beysib and their goddess-queen. Frequently described as fish-eyed, snake-eyed, or staring, theirs is a matriarchal society. Beysib women often carry vipers around with them, immune to the snakes' poison but aware that others are not.

## Thieves' World Wiki

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