F/SF

A scattering of short stories- a couple good most just passable- not really gripping, surprising or challenging
That being said I’m not current on the series ( )

The tenth Thieves’ World anthology is a mixed bag, but overall provides some satisfying continuity with previous volumes.
The first story, Cade, is the weakest I recall reading not just in the Thieves’ World series, but also generally, with some very wooden descriptions at the beginning of the story, although it gathers fluidity and has a satisfyingly black ending. This is a one-off story, set in Sanctuary but otherwise independent of the series.
Unlike the second story, Wake of the Riddler by Janet Morris, which features many characters from previous anthologies - Zip, Critias and Kama being the main players, but Straton and Ischade also make appearances together with mention of others. This is a satisfying development in the stories with Tempus away from Sanctuary and introduces a new “character”, Shepherd.
The third story, Inheritor by David Drake, again appears to be a one-off story set in Sanctuary, starting in The Vulgar Unicorn, but otherwise unconnected to other happenings. Looking at Wikipedia I see that the story is part of a novel, Dagger, published in 1988 and it does read as an introduction to larger, but unfinished, and so unsatisfying as there are no further stories by Drake in The Thieves’ World anthologies.
John Brunner then returns (first story since the original Thieves’ World anthology) with a story updating us on the lives of Jarveena, Melilot and Enas Yorl. Although otherwise freestanding, this story offers welcome continuity with an earlier time in Sanctuary.
Lynn Abbey gives us a lovely Illyra and Dubro story, the S’danzo seeress still struggling with the loss of her young children in earlier stories and her half-brother Walegrin’s imposition of an orphan baby upon her to try to raise her spirits.
Finally, Andrew Offutt gives us the (long awaited) return of Shadowspawn/Hanse, who assists the Spellmaster, Strick tiFiraqa (previously encountered by Hanse on the way to Firaqa in the novel, Shadowspawn). And we are left with what could be a cliffhanger, except that this is confidently undermined by the author. Let us hope that we hear of Hanse again in Offutt’s story in the final anthology. ( )