Thieves' World Turning Points: Final Thoughts on the Sanctuary Revival
Book: Thieves’ World: Turning Points Editor: Lynn Abbey Series: Thieves’ World New Series, Book 1 Publisher: Tor Books, 2002
The Afterword: Pigs in the Air
Lynn Abbey closes Turning Points with an afterword that’s honest and a little funny. She talks about the real-world history behind the book’s revival, and there’s a detail you can’t make up.
After the original series ended in the late ’80s, people kept asking Abbey if Thieves’ World would ever come back. Her standard answer? “Pigs would fly before there’d be another book with Thieves’ World on the cover.”
Then, in May 1999, a line of tornadoes of unprecedented strength ripped through the Oklahoma City area. Abbey came home to find her answering machine full of messages from friends and family. They were all safe. But they also pointed out that among the roofs, trees, cattle, and cars thrown into the air, there had been pigs. And Abbey had never specified that the pigs had to walk away from their landings.
So Thieves’ World came back.
Behind the scenes, it took years. Abbey had to reread all fifty-plus original stories. Contracts needed rewriting. Every first-generation author had to sign off on changes. New authors had to be convinced that their careers wouldn’t be complete without a Sanctuary story. And Abbey had to write what the contract literally called a “James Michener-esque epic novel” that would recap the entire original series while setting up the new one.
The novel was late. Very late. Which meant the anthology stories were also late. Abbey thanks everyone for their patience. And she gives special thanks to the fans who wanted the pigs to fly.
It’s a short afterword, but it tells you something important. This book wasn’t a cash grab. It was a labor of love that took years of messy behind-the-scenes work to happen.
Looking Back at the Whole Book
So here we are. Ten stories, an introduction, and an afterword. A city brought back from the dead after more than a decade. Was it worth it?
Yes. With some caveats.
Let me break it down.
The Stories That Hit Hardest
“One to Go” by Raymond E. Feist is the crowd-pleaser. It’s funny, warm, and perfectly paced. Jake and Selda feel like people you’ve actually met. The dog gag pays off beautifully. And it ends the anthology on exactly the right note. Light, human, hopeful.
“Apocalypse Noun” by Jeff Grubb is the most creative entry. The magic system built around linguistic research is genuinely original. Heliz Yunz is a great character. And the line “She’s a thesaurus” is worth the price of admission. Smart, funny, and action-packed.
“Home Is Where the Hate Is” by Mickey Zucker Reichert is the most emotionally intense. Dysan’s story is rough. A broken kid fighting to keep a crumbling building because it’s the only thing that’s ever been his. It hits you in the chest.
Lynn Abbey’s Introduction does the heavy lifting of reestablishing Sanctuary. Cauvin is a compelling protagonist. The political setup with Arizak and the approaching eclipse gives every other story its foundation. It’s not flashy, but nothing else in the book works without it.
The Middle Ground
“The Prisoner in the Jewel” by Diana L. Paxson has strong magical worldbuilding and deals with interesting questions about confinement and identity. It’s well-crafted but sits more quietly in the collection.
“Duel” by Dennis L. McKiernan delivers solid sword-fighting action. If you like combat sequences done with care and precision, this one satisfies. The tournament setting gives the whole anthology a through-line.
“Ring of Sea and Fire” by Robin Wayne Bailey expands the world beyond Sanctuary’s walls. It’s good at showing how the city connects to the larger world. Broader scope than most of the other stories.
“Doing the Gods’ Work” by Jody Lynn Nye tackles religion in Sanctuary, which is always messy. The gods are real here, and serving them is complicated. Nye handles the theological politics well.
The Stories That Worked Less
“Role Model” by Andrew Offutt is ambitious but uneven. Split across two parts, it has strong moments but also feels like it’s reaching for something it doesn’t quite grasp. The identity themes are interesting in concept.
“Ritual Evolution” by Selina Rosen and “The Red Lucky” by Lynn Abbey both do important world-building work, but they can feel more like pieces of a larger puzzle than standalone stories. They serve the anthology more than they serve themselves.
That said, even the weaker stories add something to the world. In a shared anthology like this, not every entry needs to be the best. Some stories are connective tissue. They fill in corners of the city that the showier stories don’t have time for.
What Makes This Anthology Work
Three things.
First, Sanctuary still feels real. The city has layers. Rich merchants and guttersnipe kids. Ancient temples and smoking ruins. Political schemers and oblivious barrel-makers. Every story adds texture to the same streets, and by the end you feel like you’ve walked them.
Second, the stories actually connect. Characters from one story show up in others. Events ripple. The eclipse that Heliz mentions to Jake in “One to Go” is the same eclipse that drives the plot of Abbey’s Introduction. The tournament in “Duel” is the same one Jake uses as cover for his heist. This is what shared-world fiction is supposed to do, and Turning Points does it well.
Third, there’s real variety. Humor sits next to tragedy. Action sits next to political intrigue. You get magic systems built on linguistics, old married couples arguing about fleas, street kids fighting for a ruin, and gods meddling in mortal affairs. The tonal range keeps you interested across ten stories.
Who Should Read This Book
If you read the original Thieves’ World anthologies, this is an easy recommendation. Abbey and her team treat the source material with respect while pushing the city forward. You’ll recognize the DNA but the stories aren’t stuck in the past.
If you’ve never read any Thieves’ World, you can still start here. Abbey builds enough context into the Introduction that you won’t be completely lost. You’ll miss some references and callbacks, but the stories stand on their own. Start with the Introduction, and if Sanctuary grabs you, go back and find the originals.
If you like fantasy anthologies in general, give this a shot. Shared-world anthologies are rare. Most fantasy anthologies are just collections of unrelated stories with a common theme. Turning Points is something different. The stories talk to each other. The world changes between entries. That’s special.
If you want something short and self-contained, pick up just “One to Go” or “Apocalypse Noun.” Both work perfectly as standalone reads, even without the context of the larger anthology.
Final Word
Turning Points is not a perfect book. Some stories are stronger than others. The connective tissue sometimes shows. And the sheer weight of Sanctuary’s history can make certain passages feel dense for newcomers.
But the highs are real highs. The city breathes. The characters feel lived-in. And the concept of multiple authors building a shared world, where actions have consequences across stories, still feels fresh and exciting.
Sanctuary was boarded up for over a decade. Lynn Abbey brought it back because the fans wanted it, because the pigs finally flew, and because some cities are too interesting to stay dead.
Welcome back to Sanctuary. Watch your pockets.