Liavek is a fictional shared world city created as a setting for a series of five anthologies of fantasy short stories edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly and published by Ace Books between 1985 and 1990.
Publication history
In 1978, Robert Lynn Asprin created a new genre of fiction, the "shared world" anthology, by designing a fictional fantasy city complete with notable residents of all social ranks. Asprin then invited popular fantasy writers of the time to write short stories using both the setting and other authors' characters. The result was the popular Thieves World anthology, which spawned 11 sequels. Other publishers scrambled to produce shared worlds of their own, including Merovingen Nights edited by C. J. Cherryh and Wild Cards edited by George R. R. Martin.
In Minneapolis/St. Paul, a group of aspiring fantasy writers, including Steven Brust, Will Shetterly, Emma Bull, Patricia Wrede, and Kara Dalkey, had formed a writers' group called "the Scribblies." Ace Book's editor Terri Windling approached the Scribblies about creating a fantasy shared world similar to Thieves World. But the Scribblies didn't like the harsh setting of Thieves World, asking why anyone would actually live there. Thieves World co-creator Lynn Abbey admitted that the setting was a dark place: "Sanctuary wasn't a provincial backwater; it wasn't even the Imperial armpit; it was the Black Hole of not-Calcutta." The Scribblies decided that their setting, Liavek, had be a place where all of them would enjoy living. As Steven Brust remarked, "One of the first things we decided was that it had to have a lot of all-night restaurants that served good coffee."
Once the setting and its special magical background was complete, each of the Scribblies contributed a short story. They also asked well-known authors such as Gene Wolfe to contribute a piece. The result, edited by Shetterly and Bull, was Liavek, published by Ace in 1985. Four more anthologies, also edited by Shetterly and Bull, followed: Liavek: The Players of Luck (1986); Liavek: Wizard’s Row (1987); Liavek: Spells of Binding (1988); and Liavek: Festival Week (1990). In addition, a number of other pieces of fiction were set in Liavek.
Licensing
In 2017, Shetterly and Bull announced they were allowing the use of the Liavek setting at no cost, for works earning less than $3000, subject to certain conditions.
Located on the southern shore of the Sea of Luck at the mouth of the Cat River, Liavek is a hot, busy trade city. Everyone has some magical ability and luck that surfaces on their birthday for the length of time one's mother was in labor. But this magic and luck then drains away for the rest of the year. Each person, on their birthday, can, for the length of time equal to their mother's labor invest luck or magic in an object. This object can then be used to power spells for the rest of the year. However, the process of capturing one's magic is difficult and potentially fatal.
Reception
In Issue 36 of Abyss, Eric Olson reviewed the first anthology and thought that "Overall, the world is mildly interesting, the characters fresh, and the stories mostly good. The series will live or die on the selection of writers for the next book and the development of more connections between the stories and a dash of the intrigue which is so strong in the Thieves World series." Olsen concluded, "Liavek looks like a bit of a pale version of Thieves World right now, but shows signs of a bright future."
Orson Scott Card found the first anthology to be "an example of what can be accomplished [in a shared-world project] when almost everything goes right."
Terri Windling called the fourth anthology, Liavek: Spells of Binding, "one of the notable collections of fantasy published in '88 ... featuring good original fiction from the Minneapolis Fantasy Writers' Group and others."
Liavek: "Both the eleven tales and the editing in Liavek are uniformly excellent — not unexpected, given the track records of many of the people involved ... The real surprise is the beautifully intricate web that holds all eleven tales in a remarkably consistent framework. Liavek is an entirely credible, well-designed world where political intrigue and complicated magic are thoroughly intertwined."
Liavek: The Players of Luck: "This second volume in the shared world of the Minnesota-based Scribblies and their colleagues matches the first for quality of vision and thoroughness of editing, and ought to establish Liavek as the one true gem in the suddenly crowded category of collaborative universe fiction."
Liavek: Wizard's Row: "It has no problem delivering on its promise of enjoyment ... the stories are as well-crafted as ever, and offer a pleasant balance between new and returning characters."
Liavek: Spells of Binding: "notable both for several strong individual stories and for the threads crossing between them ... Editors Will Shetterly and Emma Bull continue to put Liavek at the top of the shared-world lists, but may need new characters to populate future volumes."
↑Guillemette, Aurel (1993). The Best in Science Fiction: Winners & Nominees of the Major Awards in Science Fiction. Aldershot, England: Scholar Press. p.102.
