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December 3 - December 11, 2020
“Sanctuary?” Kilite frowned. “A small town at the southern tip of the empire. I had a bit of trouble finding it myself—it’s been excluded from the more recent maps. Whatever reason there was for the town’s existence has apparently passed. It is withering and dying, a refuge for petty criminals and down-at-the-heels adventurers. Still, it’s part of the empire.”
SENTENCES OF DEATH John Brunner One It was a measure of the decline in Sanctuary’s fortunes that the scriptorium of Master Melilot occupied a prime location fronting on Governor’s Walk.
THE FACE OF CHAOS Lynn Abbey The cards lay face down in a wide crescent on the black-velvet-covered table Illyra used for her fortune-telling. Closing her eyes, she touched one at random with her index finger, then overturned it.
THE GATE OF THE FLYING KNIVES Poul Anderson Again penniless, houseless, and ladyless, Cappen Varra made a brave sight just the same as he wove his way amidst the bazaar throng. After all, until today he had for some weeks been in, if not quite of, the household of Molin Torchholder as much as he could contrive.
SHADOWSPAWN Andrew Offutt His mop of hair was blacker than black and his eyes nearly so, under brows that just missed meeting above a nose not quite falcate. His walk reminded some of one of those red-and-black gamecocks brought over from Mrsevada. They called him Shadowspawn.
THE PRICE OF DOING BUSINESS Robert Lynn Asprin Jubal was more powerful than he appeared. Not that his form conveyed any softness or weakness. If anything, his shiny ebony skin stretched tight over lithe, firm muscles gave an immediate impression of quick strength, while his scarred, severe facial features indicated a mind which would not hesitate to use that strength to his own advantage.
BLOOD BROTHERS Joe Haldeman Smiling, bowing as the guests leave. A good luncheon, much reassuring talk from the gentry assembled; the economy of Sanctuary is basically sound. Thank you, my new cook … he’s from Twand, isn’t he a marvel?
MYRTIS Christine DeWees “I feel as young as I look. I could satisfy every man in this house if I took the notion to, or if any one of them had half the magnificence of Lythande.”
THE SECRET OF THE BLUE STAR Marion Zimmer Bradley On a night in Sanctuary, when the streets bore a false glamour in the silver glow of hill moon, so that every ruin seemed an enchanted tower and every dark street and square an island of mystery, the mercenary-magician Lythande sallied forth to seek adventure.
SPIDERS OF THE PURPLE MAGE Philip Jose Farmer 1 This was the week of the great rat hunt in Sanctuary. The next week, all the cats that could be caught were killed and degutted. The third week, all dogs were run down and disemboweled.
GODDESS David Drake “By Savankala and the Son!” Regli swore, “why can’t she bear land be done with it? And why does she demand to see her brother but won’t see me?”
THE FRUIT OF ENLIBAR Lynn Abbey The hillside groves of orange trees were all that remained of the legendary glory of Enlibar. Humbled descendants of the rulers of an empire dwarfing Ilsig or Ranke eked out their livings among the gnarled, ancient trees.
THE DREAM OF THE SORCERESS A. E. van Vogt The scream brought Stulwig awake in pitch darkness. He lay for a long moment stiff with fear. Like any resident of old, decadent Sanctuary his first fleeting thought was that the ancient city, with its night prowlers, had produced another victim’s cry of terror.
VASHANKA’S MINION Janet Morris 1 The storm swept down on Sanctuary in unnatural fury, as if to punish the thieves for their misdeeds. Its hailstones were large as fists. They pummeled Wideway and broke windows on the Street of Red Lanterns and collapsed the temple of ILS, most powerful of the conquered Ilsigi gods.
SHADOW’S PAWN Andrew Offutt She was more than attractive and she walked with head high in pride and awareness of her womanhood. The bracelet on her bare arm flashed and seemed to glow with that brightness the gods reserve for polished new gold.
TO GUARD THE GUARDIANS Robert Lynn Asprin The Hell Hounds were now a common sight in Sanctuary so the appearance of one in the bazaar created little stir, save for the concealment of a few smuggled wares and a price increase on everything else.
LOOKING FOR SATAN Vonda N. McIntyre The four travelers left the mountains at the end of the day, tired, cold, and hungry, and they entered Sanctuary.
ISCHADE C. J. Cherryh 1 Shadows slipped along the cobbles in this deepest sink of the Maze, in that small light of the moon which wended its way among the overhangs and glistened wetly off noisome moistures. A well-dressed woman had no place here, even shadow-clad in black, robed and hooded—but
A GIFT IN PARTING Robert L. Asprin The sun was a full two handspans above the horizon when Hort appeared on the Sanctuary docks; early in the day but late by fishermen’s standards. The youth’s eyes squinted painfully at the unaccustomed brightness of the morning sun.
THE VIVISECTIONIST Andrew J. Offutt 1 A minaret topped the Governor’s Palace, naturally. The narrow, eventually pointed dome resembled an elongated onion. Its needle-like spire thrust up to pierce the sky.
THE RHINOCEROS AND THE UNICORN Diana L. Paxson “So why did you come back?” Gilla’s shrill retort interrupted Lalo’s attempts to explain why he had not been home the night before. “Has every tavern in Sanctuary shown you the door?”
THEN AZYUNA DANCED Lynn Abbey 1 He was a handsome man, somewhat less than middle-aged, with a physique that bespoke a soldier, not a priest. He entered the bazaar-stall of Kul the Silkseller with an authority that sent the other patrons back into the dusty afternoon and brought bright-eyed Kul out from behind his bolts of cloth.
A MAN AND HIS GOD Janet Morris 1 Solstice storms and heat lightning beat upon Sanctuary, washing the dust from the gutters and from the faces of the mercenaries drifting through town on their way north where (seers proclaimed and rumor corroborated) the Rankan Empire would soon be hiring multitudes, readying for war.
