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Thieves' World, 2nd Series #2
Turning Points
This new volume includes new stories by Raymond E. Feist, Dennis L. McKiernan, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Diana Paxson, Lynn Abbey and others.
a lawless city governed by evil forces, powerful magic, and political intrigue, where survival is an unexpected bonus. The Age of the Rankan reign of Kadakithis, the occupation of the Beysib, and even the erstwhile Renaissance are all in the past. It is years later and the heroes of the past-Jubal, Tempus, Shadowspawn, and the Stormchildren-are memories, myth, and rumor. Now outsiders rule with an iron hand and a bloody dagger. Molin Torchholder, the secret guardian of the city, is dead, his mantle and staff secretly passed to another. But Sanctuary and its inhabitants carry on. The city has reached a turning point . . . and only the fates know where it will lead.
a lawless city governed by evil forces, powerful magic, and political intrigue, where survival is an unexpected bonus. The Age of the Rankan reign of Kadakithis, the occupation of the Beysib, and even the erstwhile Renaissance are all in the past. It is years later and the heroes of the past-Jubal, Tempus, Shadowspawn, and the Stormchildren-are memories, myth, and rumor. Now outsiders rule with an iron hand and a bloody dagger. Molin Torchholder, the secret guardian of the city, is dead, his mantle and staff secretly passed to another. But Sanctuary and its inhabitants carry on. The city has reached a turning point . . . and only the fates know where it will lead.
354 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
5 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Abbey
146 books194 followersLynn Abbey began publishing in 1979 with the novel Daughter of the Bright Moon and the short story "The Face of Chaos," part of a Thieves World shared world anthology. She received early encouragement from Gordon R. Dickson.
In the 1980s she married Robert Asprin and became his co-editor on the Thieves World books. She also contributed to other shared world series during the 1980s, including Heroes in Hell and Merovingen Nights.
Abbey and Asprin divorced in 1993 and Abbey moved to Oklahoma City. She continued to write novels during this period, including original works as well as tie-ins to Role Playing Games for TSR. In 2002, she returned to Thieves World with the novel Sanctuary and also began editing new anthologies, beginning with Turning Points.
In the 1980s she married Robert Asprin and became his co-editor on the Thieves World books. She also contributed to other shared world series during the 1980s, including Heroes in Hell and Merovingen Nights.
Abbey and Asprin divorced in 1993 and Abbey moved to Oklahoma City. She continued to write novels during this period, including original works as well as tie-ins to Role Playing Games for TSR. In 2002, she returned to Thieves World with the novel Sanctuary and also began editing new anthologies, beginning with Turning Points.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 18, 2017
This was a fun read dragging me along Memory Lane, when Dungeon's & Dragons was still a growing hobby and fantasy stories were really blossoming. I think Thieves' World was one of those exciting story places and the unique view created on fantasy settings made a lasting impression upon my young soul.
This is a dark world, filled with sinister people and beings doing some awful things. Many of our protagonists in these stories fail to even survive. This 2nd series of books capture this darkness, and spins tale after tale hammering home a grim reality that not all heroes are good or even likable. They are often ugly, unpleasant beings, and are, in sharp contrast to the often ridiculous characters seen in many worlds like Middle Earth and Forgotten Realms, a type of people you might want to cheer against.
Not all of these stories are gems, and a few are just not good. But Abbey, Feist, and Reichert do make stories well worth the book purchase, and even the so-so stories contribute to the created world that is known as Sanctuary. I agree that there can be some negativity created because of the disjointed stories that neither align nor exactly follow previous tales. Small negativity rest assured. This was my only real fault.
I enjoyed the fond memories of the city of Sanctuary, and look forward to my next read relating to this world. This was a well deserved 3 Stars.
This is a dark world, filled with sinister people and beings doing some awful things. Many of our protagonists in these stories fail to even survive. This 2nd series of books capture this darkness, and spins tale after tale hammering home a grim reality that not all heroes are good or even likable. They are often ugly, unpleasant beings, and are, in sharp contrast to the often ridiculous characters seen in many worlds like Middle Earth and Forgotten Realms, a type of people you might want to cheer against.
Not all of these stories are gems, and a few are just not good. But Abbey, Feist, and Reichert do make stories well worth the book purchase, and even the so-so stories contribute to the created world that is known as Sanctuary. I agree that there can be some negativity created because of the disjointed stories that neither align nor exactly follow previous tales. Small negativity rest assured. This was my only real fault.
I enjoyed the fond memories of the city of Sanctuary, and look forward to my next read relating to this world. This was a well deserved 3 Stars.
December 20, 2017
A long, long time ago Thieves' World popularized the idea of a shared world. But, throughout its life, it was always the most primitive example of the genre. Though its stories shared a setting, and though its characters occasionally crossed over, the sharing was very limited, not extending to the idea of real plots that would be carried forth in more polished shared worlds like Wild Cards.
Here we are a few decades later, and Thieves World has been pulled off the shelf for a whole new generation of readers ... and the storytelling style hasn't changed at all. It's still that very primitive, barely-connected style of shared world.
Worse, this new generation of characters just doesn't have the vibrancy of Sanctuary's originals. Many of the individual stories are good, but as a whole they aren't memorable at all. Worse, there's very little meaningful sharing among these stories. Oh, they have a bit of shared background involving some nomads and an evil cult, but they just don't seem to progress beyond that, either as individual stories or (more importantly) as a whole.
So what we have here feels like an appendix to the Sanctuary story, an adjunct that doesn't add anything to the whole due to the flatness of the stories. I've got the final book in this short-lived revival sitting on my shelf, but I'm not sure I have any desire to read it ...
Home is Where the Hate is (Reichert: Dysan). This story of another survivor from the Pits nicely maintains the storyline of neo-Sanctuary. The main character is interesting but his story is too slow. It becomes interesting only at the end, when we draw the curtain over our happenings [6/10].
Role Models (Offutt: Lone). We certainly don't get very far before we get more returning characters from the original Thieves' World series. It's sort of nice to see Hanse as an aged mentor and to see Strick's legacy continue. But newcomer Lone is way too much like the original Shadowspawn and the plot of this story is paper thin [5/10].
The Prisoner in the Jewel (Paxson: Latilla). Another story with some ties to the past of Thieves World, as we're suddenly reminded of the whole Rankan court. This one also has a nice cast of characters, but it's hard to suss out where Paxson is going with her new era of stories [6/10].
Ritual Evolution (Rosen: Kadash). I have no idea who Selina Rosen is, but this Thieves' World story about a pair of new characters is charming mainly for those characters and how they interact. It also makes good use of the setup for these new stories [7/10].
Duel (McKiernen: Rogi, Ariko & Soldt). As with several of the early stories in this volume, this one is pretty scattered. It's hard to tell who the protagonist is, and thus it's hard to feel close to any of the characters. This is a fun story of a duel for a gem, but that's about it [6/10].
Ring of Sea and Fire (Bailey: Spyder). An interesting protagonist and a story that nicely touches back on the troubles of the past in the form of Nisi witches. It drags at times, but is generally nice adventure [6/10].
Doing the Gods' Work (Nye: Pel). It seems like half our new characters are former Dyraleens. Despite that repeated trope, Pel is another interesting and likeable character, thought he plot here is a bit weak and obvious by the end [5/10].
The Red Lucky (Abbey: Bez). Bez is a nice new character for Sanctuary, primarily because his morality makes him so unusual for the setting. This story also does a nice of introducing the new Sanctuary, especially the Swamp that's appeared in Sanctuary during the intervening years. As for the plotline? It's good enough, but it drags by the end because of this story's length [6/10].
Apocalypse Noun (Grubb: Heliz). A D&D writer comes to Thieves World! This is a nice piece with an interesting character, a different sort of magic, and a bit of tension. I could read more about him [7/10].
One to Go (Feist: Jake the Rat). A thief steals some stuff. This is one of the few stories in this book to feel like it's part of a shared world, but there's also nothing to it [5/10].
Here we are a few decades later, and Thieves World has been pulled off the shelf for a whole new generation of readers ... and the storytelling style hasn't changed at all. It's still that very primitive, barely-connected style of shared world.
Worse, this new generation of characters just doesn't have the vibrancy of Sanctuary's originals. Many of the individual stories are good, but as a whole they aren't memorable at all. Worse, there's very little meaningful sharing among these stories. Oh, they have a bit of shared background involving some nomads and an evil cult, but they just don't seem to progress beyond that, either as individual stories or (more importantly) as a whole.
So what we have here feels like an appendix to the Sanctuary story, an adjunct that doesn't add anything to the whole due to the flatness of the stories. I've got the final book in this short-lived revival sitting on my shelf, but I'm not sure I have any desire to read it ...
Home is Where the Hate is (Reichert: Dysan). This story of another survivor from the Pits nicely maintains the storyline of neo-Sanctuary. The main character is interesting but his story is too slow. It becomes interesting only at the end, when we draw the curtain over our happenings [6/10].
Role Models (Offutt: Lone). We certainly don't get very far before we get more returning characters from the original Thieves' World series. It's sort of nice to see Hanse as an aged mentor and to see Strick's legacy continue. But newcomer Lone is way too much like the original Shadowspawn and the plot of this story is paper thin [5/10].
The Prisoner in the Jewel (Paxson: Latilla). Another story with some ties to the past of Thieves World, as we're suddenly reminded of the whole Rankan court. This one also has a nice cast of characters, but it's hard to suss out where Paxson is going with her new era of stories [6/10].
Ritual Evolution (Rosen: Kadash). I have no idea who Selina Rosen is, but this Thieves' World story about a pair of new characters is charming mainly for those characters and how they interact. It also makes good use of the setup for these new stories [7/10].
Duel (McKiernen: Rogi, Ariko & Soldt). As with several of the early stories in this volume, this one is pretty scattered. It's hard to tell who the protagonist is, and thus it's hard to feel close to any of the characters. This is a fun story of a duel for a gem, but that's about it [6/10].
Ring of Sea and Fire (Bailey: Spyder). An interesting protagonist and a story that nicely touches back on the troubles of the past in the form of Nisi witches. It drags at times, but is generally nice adventure [6/10].
Doing the Gods' Work (Nye: Pel). It seems like half our new characters are former Dyraleens. Despite that repeated trope, Pel is another interesting and likeable character, thought he plot here is a bit weak and obvious by the end [5/10].
The Red Lucky (Abbey: Bez). Bez is a nice new character for Sanctuary, primarily because his morality makes him so unusual for the setting. This story also does a nice of introducing the new Sanctuary, especially the Swamp that's appeared in Sanctuary during the intervening years. As for the plotline? It's good enough, but it drags by the end because of this story's length [6/10].
Apocalypse Noun (Grubb: Heliz). A D&D writer comes to Thieves World! This is a nice piece with an interesting character, a different sort of magic, and a bit of tension. I could read more about him [7/10].
One to Go (Feist: Jake the Rat). A thief steals some stuff. This is one of the few stories in this book to feel like it's part of a shared world, but there's also nothing to it [5/10].
June 20, 2019
Man, I remember playing the old rpg and then we did a very early version of playing the game live action back in the 80s when I was the baby pre-teen newbie with boffers made by a guy from the SCA. I think this was the third rpg after AD&D and Traveller that I played.
Anyway, the anthology is really good and up to the standards of my long ago memories of the old with even a bit of kindness in Mickey Zucher Reichart's tale and hope in Feist's story of a thief on a heist. I had no idea that anybody had come back to Sanctuary or I would have read this years ago. I do have an excuse that I was really buys during these years and moving around.
Anyway, the anthology is really good and up to the standards of my long ago memories of the old with even a bit of kindness in Mickey Zucher Reichart's tale and hope in Feist's story of a thief on a heist. I had no idea that anybody had come back to Sanctuary or I would have read this years ago. I do have an excuse that I was really buys during these years and moving around.
March 22, 2020
A really great anthology of fantasy short stories set in the "Thieves' World" of Sanctuary in the resurrected series under the auspices of Lynn Abbey. I felt right at home when I first read this collection, which, if anything, is better than any of the original series. Can't recommend it highly enough if you're into that sort of grimdark sword-and-sorcery fantasy!
April 27, 2022
Doesn't really pick up where the others left off; it takes place much later, and is therefore almost more of a reboot, which is a little disappointing. Still, there are some strong stories here, especially in the latter half of the book.
September 25, 2019
I think I would have liked this book better if I had been more familiar with the world. I liked it, but don't feel the urge to read more
September 8, 2022
Some times i was confused. Later neer the end i think it was about different charascters from the town gathering for a match.
March 29, 2025
First anthology of the Thieves World reboot. Carries the setting forward, introducing new characters, crossreferencing between each other, the novel preceding this, and the original series.
February 19, 2023
Thieves' World: Turning Points was very disappointing to me, with only Mickey Zucker Reichert's "Home Is Where the Hate Is" and Selina Rosen's "Ritual Evolution" making a positive impression. Most of the characters didn't interest me at all, the stories are hampered by either too little or far too much background exposition, and Andrew Offutt's narration and characters have only become even more smug with time. The Lynn Abbey made me want to put nails through my flesh. Then again, the original Thieves' World series didn't start to really rock until a few books in, with my favorite characters and my preferred takes on characters (paging mostly C.J. Cherryh, along with Janet Morris' Randal) showing up later. If I'd read from the beginning instead of picking up the beginning later, I might not have bothered.
Thieves' World version 2.0 might not even go any further. I just expected better is all, especially given some of the authors involved.
Thieves' World version 2.0 might not even go any further. I just expected better is all, especially given some of the authors involved.
August 17, 2016
Some of the stories are good, but most are quite atrociously bad.
Here's an example from #2:
(in the middle of a random action-y scene, with no background whatsoever)
"Although he was no swordsman and in fact better with the foot and a half of steel on his right hip, Komodoflorensal reached across his lean belly for the sword" - what, exactly, is hanging off his hip then? (unclear if he's left-handed or not, and if not - this setup makes even less sense)
and why doesn't he pick up a weapon he can actually *use*?
at random other points the sentence structure trips over its own feet and the meaning is lost, and at one point, an animal violently explodes, "without sound other than stomach-churning juicy noises".
The good doesn't really outweigh the bad - only pick up if you find it at a massive discount somewhere.
Here's an example from #2:
(in the middle of a random action-y scene, with no background whatsoever)
"Although he was no swordsman and in fact better with the foot and a half of steel on his right hip, Komodoflorensal reached across his lean belly for the sword" - what, exactly, is hanging off his hip then? (unclear if he's left-handed or not, and if not - this setup makes even less sense)
and why doesn't he pick up a weapon he can actually *use*?
at random other points the sentence structure trips over its own feet and the meaning is lost, and at one point, an animal violently explodes, "without sound other than stomach-churning juicy noises".
The good doesn't really outweigh the bad - only pick up if you find it at a massive discount somewhere.
February 8, 2013
I haven't read many short-story anthologies. This, Jim Butcher's Side Jobs, and maybe one or two others, but my experience is very limited.
That said, it's a fascinating medium, and Turning Points is a prime example. Entirely different stories by different authors with different writing styles, all tied together with little bits here and there that remind you it's all part of a bigger story. Each individual story is intriguing, without quite the length to get you really emotionally involved on the level of, say, an epic series, while offering enough closure to make sure you're satisfied.
That said, it's a fascinating medium, and Turning Points is a prime example. Entirely different stories by different authors with different writing styles, all tied together with little bits here and there that remind you it's all part of a bigger story. Each individual story is intriguing, without quite the length to get you really emotionally involved on the level of, say, an epic series, while offering enough closure to make sure you're satisfied.
October 10, 2008
wow, 13 books, maybe they ran out of steam,
Bargain Book $5.99 hard-cover (shrug) sometimes I get lucky.
Not this time.
Whomever chose the stories, Lynn Abbey I'm assuming, must have wanted a 'serious' selection. No more fun fantasy, okay, maybe one out of ten stories, but for the rest, every body suffers.
Now I'm sure I've read other Thieves World books, but none as literary as this, and boring, and with Real Feelings.... bah humbug.
Bargain Book $5.99 hard-cover (shrug) sometimes I get lucky.
Not this time.
Whomever chose the stories, Lynn Abbey I'm assuming, must have wanted a 'serious' selection. No more fun fantasy, okay, maybe one out of ten stories, but for the rest, every body suffers.
Now I'm sure I've read other Thieves World books, but none as literary as this, and boring, and with Real Feelings.... bah humbug.
October 4, 2009
I picked this up off a sale table at a book warehouse, and it didn't take long to figure out why it was there. I found a couple of interesting short stories ("Apocalypse Noun" by Jeff Grubb and "One to Go" by Raymond E. Feist). But the rest were barely average, at best, and irritatingly pathetic, at worst. I believe this is one in a series, and having read it I wouldn't bother with any of the rest in this line.
May 18, 2015
Impressive and nostalgic
I was presently surprised at the older characters remembering the older sanctuary and the newer characters. It was making me want to read the entire thieves world anthologies all over again.
I was presently surprised at the older characters remembering the older sanctuary and the newer characters. It was making me want to read the entire thieves world anthologies all over again.
October 6, 2008
Yet another Sanctuary anthology, featuring lots of great and renowned authors. I like Sanctuary, I really do, but not all of these stories are as good as they could be.
April 12, 2009
A decent addition to the Thieves World legacy. My favorite stories were Doing the God's Work by Jody Lynn Nye and Red Lucky by Lynn Abbey.
July 22, 2013
Not a patch on the original series, but a few good points. Can't seem to make up its mind if it's a continuation of the original or something new. One or the other would be nice.
April 27, 2013
see book 1
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews