Blood Ties

In the entertaining afterword to Blood Ties, C.J. Cherryh writes about the experience of writing for the Thieves' World series: "The honest truth is that we have very little idea what will happen. Unplanned war breaks out in the streets. It lurches and falters in settlements, just the way it does in real life, my friends, because certain people in it have to get certain things or believe there is a way out, or they go on fighting. Feuds break out between characters and resolve themselves they way they do in live-- with some change in both characters. Characters mutate and grow and turn out to have aspects that surprise even their creator." As a reader, it is that very quality of evolving chaos and unpredictability that makes the series so much fun to read. At its best, there is a measure of barely controlled chaos that keeps the twists and turns interesting. At its worst, the different voices can mix badly and turn characters into a kind of confused mush. This edition contains both the best and the worst of what the volumes can be. Blood Ties has a number of really impressive writers associated with the stories: Cherryh, Diana L. Paxson, Janet & Chris Morris, the two editors, Diane Duane, Robert Wayne Bailey, and Andrew & Jodie Offutt. The combined talents are less effective when they deal with the complicated alliances and tensions in Sanctuary ("Sanctuary is for Lovers", "Lovers who Slay Together") but there are also some truly inspired and even very moving sections-- the fate of Siveni Grey-Eyes in "The Tie that Binds" and the brilliant introduction of Strick in "Spellmaster." As always, you cannot pick up volume 9 of Thieves' World without having read 1-8. Begin at the beginning, if you have not had any introduction to the characters before. If you are a veteran of Sanctuary and were wondering whether this is worth the effort (Volume 8 was a little bit disappointing, IMO) then you should rest assured that it is moving in the right direction. Blood Ties is worth the time to read, and reopens a number of interesting new directions for the poor beleaguered city.