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urning Points, the first Thieves' World anthology in 13 years, consists of 11 new stories set in Sanctuary, a warren of thieves and secret sorcerers at the juncture of empires. Certain common threads run through the tales, like an upcoming tournament of champions and the warnings of an approaching solar eclipse. In addition, the latest rulers of Sanctuary, the Irrune warriors, seem unaware that the Bleeding Hand, a terrifying tattooed cult that captures children for sacrifice or induction, still lurks amid the ruins of war.
Each story is a character-driven vignette, more or less related to the others. In "Home Is Where the Hate Is," a boy orphaned by the Bleeding Hand tries to drive a band of foreign priestesses from his ruined home. "Role Model" tells of a cocky thief desperate to apprentice himself to a surviving legend, Shadowspawn. A traveler searches for a princess trapped by sorcery in "The Prisoner in the Jewel."
In "Ritual Evolution," a mercenary hired to exterminate cultists is betrayed and captured with her would-be paramour. "Duel" tells of the tournament of champions, ultimately a contest between a local hero and an unbeatable female foreigner called the Tiger, with the sinister Hâlott pulling strings from the shadows. "Ring of Sea and Fire" introduces the enigmatic armorer Spyder, fighting to save an innocent pilgrim from dark witches.
In "Doing the God's Work," Pel, once a priest of the Bleeding Hand and now an apothecary, must thwart the Hand while upholding his oath. "The Red Lucky" involves Bezul the changer in intrigue over an ensorcelled globe. A monk learns the power of words in "Apocalypse Noun." And in "One to Go," veteran thief Jake the Rat has one more job to do—if he can quell a ravenous dog.
A world well realized
After 12 Thieves' World anthologies over 10 years, co-creator Lynn Abbey finally put the series on ice in 1989, firmly declaring that pigs would fly before she revisited the strife-torn city of Sanctuary. Evidently having heard news of porcine aviation, Abbey has recently set about resurrecting the famed den of iniquity in two books. The first, Sanctuary, reset the stage by having one of the last surviving legends of Sanctuary, archpriest Molin Torchbearer, pass his powers and memories onto an unprepossessing stonemason's son named Cauvin. The second is Turning Points, with stories by Abbey, Andrew Offut, Raymond E. Feist, Dennis McKiernan, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Diana Paxson and others.
The introduction attempts to explain the arrival of so many strangers in Sanctuary by setting up the tournament and the eclipse. It's artificial and unnecessary. The rich backdrop of Sanctuary is the only setup the book needs, and since both of these special events figure in only a few of the tales, the payoff is meager. The crucial common thread, in other words, is not the plot framework but the fertile soil of Thieves' World itself.
In the later novels, the series strayed from its moorings, spawning epic wars and outsize lords and wizards. Here, Thieves' World returns to its roots: simple, memorable characters, none of them too much larger than life. Of particular interest are Bezul the changer, a compassionate man exasperated by his family; Pel the apothecary, who foreswore the bloody Mother, goddess of the Dyareelans; the humorous duo of Shadowspawn and the spellmaster Strick, joined by the spitfire apprentice Lone; and Kadasah, the tyrant's mercenary daughter. Special attention is reserved for Cauvin, the surly boy saddled with Molin's legacy. He's clearly the future of Thieves' World, but some attempts to weave him into the various stories seem forced.
The 11 tales in Turning Points develop interesting characters in intriguing situations. Moreover, they make Sanctuary a living city once again, sure to continue to draw the noblest of scalawags and the most corrupt of heroes.
Tattered and worn copies of Thieves' World paperbacks are a common sight in used-book stores and the bookshelves of those who've saved their teenage science-fiction collections. Lynn Abbey has done a good deed in salvaging the inspired setting of Thieves' World and renovating it for a new generation. — Mark
Also in this issue: In the Distance, and Ahead in Time, by George Zebrowski
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