Sanctuary

May 20, 2002
Fans of Thieves' World will relish this sprawling epic, rich with sword and sorcery archetypes, from one of its cocreators. Those not so well-acquainted with the original 12 landmark collaborative anthologies, the subsequent graphic novels or game, however, may find it difficult to immediately access the magic. Touted as the book that unlocks the many secrets of Thieves' World, it relies on far too many history lessons to pad the plot; as a result, the action drags. Happily, Abbey's deft characterizations of Cauvin, a young man who once served the Bloody Hand, and Bec, his nine-year-old foster brother, an imaginative imp who adores him, brighten the story considerably. Both serve the ancient and wise Lord Molin Torchholder, who wishes to turn over his power and the city's secrets before he dies. Sanctuary, once a place where heroes reigned, is now a tawdry place where evils long thought dead have arisen. Lord Torchholder, mortally wounded in an assassination attempt, hopes Cauvin and little Bec, with the help of Torchholder's faithful friend, Soldt, will make Sanctuary a true haven again by fighting the bloodthirsty Dyareela, the Mother of Chaos, and her minions, who may include Cauvin's beloved childhood sweetheart, Leorin. "The Torch" is passed after much convoluted machination—and after 10 years, the gates to this famed city are reopened, assuring all that more adventures are just around the corner. Agent, Jonathan Matson. (June 19)FYI:Abbey and her ex-husband, Robert Lynn Asprin, created Thieves' World more than 20 years ago.

June 15, 2002
When an assassination attempt leaves Molin Torchholder near death, the aging former priest of the war-god Vashanka and longtime possessor of the history and secrets of the city of Sanctuary seeks a successor to carry his burden of hidden knowledge. His search leads him not only to a youth named Cauvin, a survivor of an era when the vicious cult of the Bloody Hand ruled Sanctuary, but also to the realization that danger still threatens the city. The originator of the popular "Thieves' World" novels, the first shared-world fantasy environment, has returned to a world where vice and decadence coexist with heroism and self-sacrifice in a heady blend of atmosphere and adventure that should appeal to fans of the original series as well as newcomers. Highly recommended.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2002
Abbey, creator, with ex-husband Robert Asprin, of Thieves' World, takes Sanctuary, the grim city in that first setting for so-called shared-world anthologies--the sharers being the many writers of Thieves' World-set stories--for a solo spin. It is long after the days of Jubal, Shadowspawn, and their contemporaries, and there is barely more than a single survivor who remembers the city's full history. Molin Torchholder, the survivor at hand, has assassins on his trail (some things never change in Sanctuary). To guard the city's secrets, he must recruit successors, and he enlists a veteran, Cauvin, and a boy, Bec, as new repositories of Sanctuary's past, present, and future. Interspersed with the contemporary action and intrigues are enough vignettes of Sanctuary history to fill in the backstory for Thieves' World neophytes and pave the way for a full-blown revival of the place. Coming from Abbey's capable pen, this is good news for all heroic fantasy fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2002
The grim city of Sanctuary in the Thieves' World series is the scene of this freestanding companion to editor Abbey's hefty novel " Sanctuary" [BKL Ap 15 02]. A volume of stories, it opens with stonemason Cauvin inheriting guardian Molin Torchholder's memories and thereby becoming the man who knows where all the bodies--not to mention treasure, amulets of power, arsenals, and so forth--in Sanctuary are buried. His acquired recollections thereafter provide quite a tour of contemporary Sanctuary, beginning with Mickey Zucker Reichart's "Home Is Where the Hate Is," about a crippled orphan thief who wangles himself into an order of priestesses' good graces, and ending with sorcerer Jake the Rat and his lady adopting a stray dog in Raymond E. Feist's "One to Go." In between are duels of magic, of steel, and of wits, and quite a panorama of Sanctuary history. Most noteworthy among the historical glimpses is Andrew Offutt's "Role Model: A Tale of Apprentices," in which a youthful wanna-be becomes a real potential heir. Much good reading, here for the taking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)