CONTENTS
EDITORS NOTE
INTRODUCTION
SENTENCES OF DEATH John Brunner
THE FACE OF CHAOS Lynn Abbey
THE GATE OF THE FLYING KNIVES Poul Anderson
SHADOWSPAWN Andrew Offutt
THE PRICE OF DOING BUSINESS Robert Asprin
BLOOD BROTHERS Joe Haldeman
MYRTIS Christine DeWees
THE SECRET OF THE BLUE STAR Marion Zimmer Bradley
THE MAKING OF THIEVES’ WORLD Robert Asprin
EDITOR’S NOTE
The perceptive reader may notice small inconsistencies in the characters
appearing in these stories. Their speech patterns, their accounts of certain
events, and their observations on the town’s pecking order vary from time to
time.
These are not inconsistencies!
The reader should consider the contradictions again, bearing three things in
mind.
First; each story is told from a different viewpoint, and different people see
and hear things differently. Even readily observable facts are influenced by
individual perceptions and opinions. Thus, a minstrel narrating a conversation
with a magician would give a different account than would a thief witnessing the
same exchange.
Second; the citizens of Sanctuary are by necessity more than a little paranoid.
They tend to either omit or slightly alter information in conversation. This is
done more reflexively than out of premeditation, as it is essential for survival
in this community.
Finally, Sanctuary is a fiercely competitive environment. One does not gain
employment by admitting to being ‘the second-best swordsman in town’. In
addition to exaggerating one’s own status, it is commonplace to downgrade or
ignore one’s closest competitors. As a result, the pecking order of Sanctuary