# Thieves' World - Work: Story collection - Date: 1979–1989 (revived 2002–04) - Made by: Robert Asprin (Creator & co-editor); Poul Anderson (Contributor) - Houses: Ace Books, Chaosium - Platforms: Anthologies (Ace Books), RPG supplement (Chaosium, 1981) - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/works/thieves-world/ > Robert Asprin's squalid city of Sanctuary, where a crowd of famous fantasy writers shared one setting and one rulebook, invented the shared-world anthology and walked straight onto the gaming table. **Why it matters:** Thieves' World is credited as the first shared-world anthology series, the template for Wild Cards and every franchise fiction line after it, and its 1981 Chaosium boxed set made a literary city into one of the first licensed RPG settings. ## Quick answers **When was Thieves' World first published?** Thieves' World was first published in 1979–1989 (revived 2002–04). **Who created Thieves' World?** Thieves' World was made by Robert Asprin (creator & co-editor) and Poul Anderson (contributor). **Who published or developed Thieves' World?** Ace Books and Chaosium. **What kind of work is Thieves' World?** Thieves' World is a story collection in the Shared-World & Tie-In Fiction, Sword & Sorcery and Low Fantasy tradition, released for Anthologies (Ace Books) and RPG supplement (Chaosium, 1981). **Why is Thieves' World important?** Thieves' World is credited as the first shared-world anthology series, the template for Wild Cards and every franchise fiction line after it, and its 1981 Chaosium boxed set made a literary city into one of the first licensed RPG settings. ## Overview Sanctuary is a bad town. It sits at the ragged edge of the Rankan Empire, a port of smugglers, cutpurses, sorcerers for hire and gods whose worshippers are losing ground to the conquerors' pantheon. It is also the most important fictional city of its era for a reason that has nothing to do with its streets: it was the first fantasy setting that many different authors agreed to share. *Thieves' World*, the anthology series [Robert Asprin](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/robert-asprin/) launched with Ace Books in 1979, invented the shared world as a publishing form — and within two years it had become a tabletop product too, one of the clearest early cases of fiction and roleplaying games trading places. ## Origins The concept came out of a conversation at Boskone, Boston's science-fiction convention, in 1978. Asprin, a fan-turned-writer who that same year began his comic *MythAdventures* series, wondered why every fantasy author had to reinvent the universe from scratch. Why not build one city, with one set of gods, geography and politics, and let a roster of writers tell stories in it, their characters crossing paths from tale to tale? Asprin had spent years in the [Society for Creative Anachronism](https://www.lanternhall.org/culture/society-for-creative-anachronism/), where in 1971 he helped found the rowdy "Great Dark Horde," and the project had something of a campaign's collaborative spirit. He edited the series with Lynn Abbey, then his wife. The first volume, *Thieves' World*, appeared from [Ace Books](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/ace-books/) in 1979, with stories by writers including [Poul Anderson](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/poul-anderson/), John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Joe Haldeman. ## The story There is no single plot. Each anthology offers a set of interlocking tales, and each writer keeps "their" characters while agreeing to the shared facts of Sanctuary: the Maze slums, the Vulgar Unicorn tavern, the imperial prince-governor Kadakithis, the rivalry between the Rankan and Ilsigi gods. Characters such as the young thief Shadowspawn (Hanse), the mercenary Tempus, and the sorceress Ischade wander through one another's stories, so the city seems to live behind every page. Across twelve volumes to 1989 the series grew darker and more political, following invasions, plagues and wars. Contributors eventually included C. J. Cherryh, Janet Morris, Diana L. Paxson and others, and spin-off novels carried favorite characters beyond the anthologies. ## Reception & impact The anthologies were a commercial success and a structural revelation. Their model — a "bible" of shared facts, an editor keeping continuity, many writers working in one world — became the standard pattern for franchise fiction. George R. R. Martin's *Wild Cards* (1987), itself born from a *Superworld* RPG campaign Martin ran, applied the method to superheroes; tie-in lines such as [Dragonlance](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dragonlance-chronicles/) and [Forgotten Realms](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-icewind-dale-trilogy/) fiction applied it to game settings. The whole category of [Shared-World & Tie-In Fiction](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/shared-world-fiction/) starts here. The traffic ran the other way almost immediately. In 1981 [Chaosium](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/chaosium/) published the *Thieves' World* boxed set: player's and gamemaster's guides to Sanctuary, a guide to its personalities, and maps of the city and the Maze. Its remarkable gimmick was neutrality. Rather than choose one game, it provided statistics for nine systems — [Dungeons & Dragons](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/original-dungeons-and-dragons/), [AD&D](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/advanced-dungeons-and-dragons/), [RuneQuest](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/runequest/), [Tunnels & Trolls](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/tunnels-and-trolls/), [The Fantasy Trip](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-fantasy-trip/), Chivalry & Sorcery, DragonQuest, Adventures in Fantasy and even the science-fiction game Traveller. It was Chaosium's best-selling product in both 1981 and 1982, and it went through nine printings before the license ended in 1987. For many players, Sanctuary was their first licensed [Campaign setting](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/campaign-setting/), and the first time they could walk into a city they had read about. ## Legacy Sanctuary's influence is everywhere and mostly invisible: in every shared universe, every "extended universe" novel line, every city-of-thieves setting that followed. Its gritty street-level tone, closer to [Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/fafhrd-and-the-gray-mouser/) than to Tolkien, kept [Sword & Sorcery](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/sword-and-sorcery/) alive in the paperback era of epic quests. The city was revived after a long hiatus: Abbey's novel *Sanctuary* (2002) and new anthologies including *Turning Points* and *Enemies of Fortune* came from Tor, and Green Ronin published a d20 *Thieves' World* game in 2005. Asprin died in New Orleans on May 22, 2008 — found, as the often-told detail goes, with a Terry Pratchett novel open in his hands. ## Facts - The idea was born in a casual conversation at Boston's Boskone convention in 1978. - Twelve anthologies appeared from Ace Books between 1979 and 1989. - Chaosium's 1981 Thieves' World box gave statistics for nine different RPG systems, including AD&D, RuneQuest, Tunnels & Trolls, The Fantasy Trip and even Traveller. - The box was Chaosium's best-selling product in 1981 and 1982. - Asprin was an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, where he co-founded the Great Dark Horde in 1971. - Lynn Abbey revived Sanctuary for Tor with a novel, Sanctuary (2002), and new anthologies including Turning Points and Enemies of Fortune. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves%27_World) - [Thieves' World RPG (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves'_World_(role-playing_game)) - [Chaosium: Out of the Suitcase #22](https://www.chaosium.com/blogout-of-the-suitcase-22-thieves-world-a-classic-case-of-being-the-chaosium-not-the-orderium/) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.