Tales Vulgar Unicorn

So successful a project was the original idea from Thieves World that they did more, and a game. Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : Spiders of the Purple Mage - Philip José Farmer Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : Goddess - David Drake Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : The Fruit of Enlibar - Lynn Abbey Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : The Dream of the Sorceress - A. E. van Vogt Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : Vashankas Minion - Janet Morris Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : Shadows Pawn - Andrew J. Offutt Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn : To Guard the Guardians - Robert Lynn Asprin Rats, arachnids, killer monkeys and even bigger octopedal nasties are a lot to put up with. 3 out of 5 Flaming demon midwifery. 3.5 out of 5 Steel secret. 3 out of 5 Some good advice in the middle of a divine disagreement: "Clearly, a human confronted by a god should not rely on force alone." 3.5 out of 5 Storm God sending is painful. 3.5 out of 5 Stone cold thievery. 2.5 out of 5 A spot of killer killing and slaver slaying can be good for a town. 4 out of 5

The first book in this series left me yawning, but "Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn" has convinced me to keep reading. The quality of the tales seemed far better than in the first collection, and they certainly fit well together too. The closing essay was very humurous as well. A contrast to the generally dark tone of stories from Sanctuary.

First and foremost, if you have not yet read Thieve's World, you must in order to understand a lot of what is happening in TFTVU. That being said, this is a great continuation! I love the fact that we start off with such a vivid story about the purple mage. Masha is introduced here, for the first and last time, but that's okay, she was a strong woman, and one well worth reading about! The effects of this story will also be seen later on in further stories... In the next story, we learn a little more about the gods and goddesses of Sanctuary. Interesting indeed, but the characters are all pretty much new, and only really belonging to this one chapter. However, in the following story we are introduced to Illyra again, yipee...and we also learn a little more about the ever powerful god, Vashanka...he is definately a naughtly little god if I ever read about one! Up to no good, for sure! We also learn about his sister Azyuna, and all of this will be very important in chapters to come. Most importantly, in my eyes, is that we meet up with Hanse again, but not only that, we also meet perhaps the most pivotal character in Tempus. You will love him, you will hate him, but you just cannot turn away from him no matter what. This man will having you thinking, believe me, and if he were real, he would have either your undying love, or your utmost hatred. He is a very specail character, indeed. This second series was fantastic, and if you loved Thieve's World and want to see what else your favorite people have been up to, please, I urge you to continue on!

If you are interested in twists, turns and some descriptive writing, this book is for you. If you can stomach some things that you normally wouldn't like then you can enter the marvelous world of Santuary.