James Nicoll Reviews

1979’s Thieves’ World is the first volume in Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey’s shared-universe anthology series. 

Sanctuary: city of adventure! Or to put it another way, Sanctuary: cash-strapped pest-hole to which refugees, riff-raff, and rogues swarm, hoping that an empire uninterested in backwater cities will overlook them. Once a crucial destination along a challenging trade route, Sanctuary’s economy was kneecapped when trade routes changed. Inexorable decline set in. Tragic for the locals who cannot move away but an opportunity for others. 

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1978’s Another Fine Myth is the first book in Robert Asprin’s twenty-one volume Myth Adventure series.

Skeeve jumped at the chance to become a sorcerer’s apprentice. The alternative was starving to death in the winter cold. But Garkin the mage proved demanding, insisting on practice, practice, practice. Moreover, Garkin wants Skeeve to stop using magic to steal.

Skeeve’s days of serving Garkin are close to an end. But they don’t end as one might expect.

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