Liavek is a series of five

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

edited by

Emma Bull Emma Bull (born December 13, 1954) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her novels include the Hugo- and Nebula-nominated ''Bone Dance'' and the urban fantasy ''War for the Oaks''. She is also known for a series of anthologies se ...

and

Will Shetterly Will Shetterly (born 1955) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel '' Dogland'' (1997). The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents. He won the Minnesota Boo ...

set in a

shared world A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

found the initial volume to be "an example of what can be accomplished n a shared-world projectwhen almost everything goes right." The collections were published by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

with contributors including Bull, Shetterly,

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

John M. Ford John Milo "Mike" Ford (April 10, 1957 – September 25, 2006) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet. A contributor to several online discussions, Ford composed poems, often improvised, in both complicated ...

Kara Dalkey Kara Mia Dalkey (born 1953) is an American author of young adult fiction and historical fantasy. Personal life She was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Seattle. Much of her fiction is set in the Hei ...

, Barry B. Longyear,

Megan Lindholm Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (born March 5, 1952), known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the ''Realm of the Elderlings'', w ...

Nancy Kress Nancy Anne Kress (born January 20, 1948) is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo- and Nebula-winning 1991 novella ''Beggars in Spain'', which became a ...

Patricia C. Wrede Patricia Collins Wrede (; born March 27, 1953) is an American author of fantasy literature. She is known for her ''Enchanted Forest Chronicles'' series for young adults, which was voted number 84 in NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels list. Caree ...

Steven Brust Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans livi ...

, Nate Bucklin,

Pamela Dean Pamela Collins Dean Dyer-Bennet (born 1953), better known as Pamela Dean, is an American fantasy author whose best-known book is ''Tam Lin'', based on the Child Ballad of the same name, in which the Scottish fairy story is set on a midwestern ...

Gregory Frost Gregory Frost (born May 13, 1951) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy, and directs a fiction writing workshop at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa. A g ...

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer of Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese ancestry. He is married to, and plays music with, MaryAnn Harris. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, cont ...

Charles R. Saunders Charles Robert Saunders (July 12, 1946May 2020) was an African-American author and journalist, a pioneer of the "sword and soul" literary genre with his Imaro novels.Tattrie, Jon.The extraordinary inner world of Charles R. Saunders, father of ...

Walter Jon Williams Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' (1981–1984), a series of hi ...

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

and

Bradley Denton Bradley Clayton Denton (born 1958) is an American science fiction author. He has also written other types of fiction, such as the black comedy of his novel ''Blackburn'', about a sympathetic serial killer. He was born in Towanda, Kansas, and atte ...

. Related works, including a comic book, have been brought out by other publishers.

Setting

''Liavek''

Located on the southern shore of the Sea of Luck at the mouth of the Cat River, Liavek is a hot, busy trade city. Magic is present and based on a combination of 'birth luck' and the length of time one's mother was in labor. Everyone is privy to some luck, but using it to their advantage is no easy feat. On an annual basis, luck or magic must be invested in an object outside of oneself, and only then can it be used to power spells. Investment is difficult and dangerous, while not investing luck and magic will result in the magic draining away. This is more prevalent in magicians who will find their life drain away with the magic.

Works

''Liavek''

Edited by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, published by Ace Books in 1985 * ''Badu's Luck'' - Emma Bull * ''The Green Rabbit from S'Rian'' - Gene Wolfe * ''Ancient Curses'' - Patricia C. Wrede * ''Birth Luck'' - Nancy Kress * ''An Act of Contrition'' - Steven Brust * ''The Inn of the Demon Camel'' - Jane Yolen * ''The Hands of the Artist'' - Kara Dalkey * ''The Green Cat'' - Pamela Dean * ''A Coincidence of Birth'' - Megan Lindholm * ''Bound Things'' - Will Shetterly * ''The Fortune Maker'' - Barry B. Longyear

''Liavek: The Players of Luck''

Edited by Shetterly and Bull, published by Ace Books in 1986 * ''A Happy Birthday'' - Will Shetterly * ''Before the Paint is Dry'' - Kara Dalkey * ''The Rat's Alley Shuffle'' - Charles de Lint * ''Two Houses in Saltigos'' - Pamela Dean * ''Rikiki and the Wizard'' - Patricia C. Wrede * ''Dry Well'' - Nathan A. Bucklin * ''Choice of the Black Goddess'' - Gene Wolfe * ''The Ballad of the Quick Levars'' (song) - Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple * ''Pot Luck'' - Megan Lindholm * ''Show of Faith'' - Gregory Frost * ''An Act of Trust'' - Steven Brust * ''Ishu's Gift'' - Charles R. Saunders * ''A Cup of Worrynot Tea'' - John M. Ford * ''The Well-Made Plan'' - Emma Bull

''Liavek: Wizard’s Row''

Edited by Shetterly and Bull, published by Ace Books in 1987 * ''An Act of Mercy'' - Megan Lindholm and Steven Brust * ''Green Is the Color'' - John M. Ford * ''Paint the Meadows with Delight'' - Pamela Dean * ''The World in the Rock'' - Kara Dalkey * ''Baker’s Dozen'' - Bradley Denton * ''Cenedwine Brocade'' -

Caroline Stevermer Caroline Stevermer (born 1955) is an American writer of young adult fantasy novels and shorter works. She is best known for historical fantasy novels. Personal life Caroline Stevermer was born in 1955, and grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota a ...

* ''A Hypothetical Lizard'' - Alan Moore * ''Training Ground'' - Nancy Kress * ''City of Luck'' (song) - Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple * ''The Ballad of the Quick Levars'' (song) - Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple * ''Eel Island Shoals'' (song) - John M. Ford * ''Pot-Boil Blues'' (song) - John M. Ford * ''A Handbook for the Apprentice Magician''

''Liavek: Spells of Binding''

Edited by Shetterly and Bull, published by Ace Books in 1988 * ''Riding the Hammer'' - John M. Ford * ''Portrait of Vengeance'' - Kara Dalkey * ''The Skin and Knife Game'' - Lee Barwood and Charles de Lint * ''Strings Attached'' - Nathan A. Bucklin * ''The Last Part of the Tragical History of Acrilat'' - Pamela Dean * ''Mad God'' - Patricia C. Wrede * ''The Tale of the Stuffed Levar'' - Jane Yolen * ''An Act of Love'' - Steven Brust, Gregory Frost and Megan Lindholm * ''Spells of Binding'' (poem) - Pamela Dean

''Liavek: Festival Week''

Edited by Shetterly and Bull, published by Ace Books in 1990 * ''Consequences'' - Walter Jon Williams * ''As Bright as New Coppers'' - Bradley Denton * ''The Grand Festival: Sestina'' (poem) - John M. Ford * ''Divination Day: Invocation'' (poem) - John M. Ford * '' A Hot Night at Cheeky's'' - Steven Brust * ''Birth Day: Sonnet'' (poem) - John M. Ford * ''A Prudent Obedience'' - Kara Dalkey * ''Procession Day/Remembrance Night: Processonal/Recessional'' (poem) - John M. Ford * ''A Necessary End'' - Pamela Dean * ''Bazaar Day: Ballad'' (poem) - John M. Ford * ''The True Tale of Count Dashif's Demise'' - Jane Yolen * ''Festival Day: Catechism'' (poem) - John M. Ford * ''Six Days Outside the Year'' - Will Shetterly * ''The Levar's Night Out'' - Patricia C. Wrede * ''Restoration Day: Plainsong'' - John M. Ford

''Casting Fortune''

In 1989

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

published ''Casting Fortune'', a collection of short stories by

- this brought together his stories from the second and third volumes of ''Liavek'' together with a new novella in the Liavek shared world. The stories are: * ''A Cup of Worrynot Tea'' * ''Green Is the Color'' * ''The Illusionist''

Other appearances

Moore's Liavek story was adapted into

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

format and published as ''

Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard ''Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard'' is a comic book adaptation of the World Fantasy Award-nominated short story "A Hypothetical Lizard", written in 1988 by Alan Moore for the third volume of the ''Liavek ''shared world fantasy series. The story w ...

'' in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. ''Cousins'', by Dean appears in the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

anthology from

Firebird Books Firebird Books (launched January 2002) is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., publishing mainly paperback reprint editions of science fiction and fantasy for teenagers and adults. It was created by Sharyn November, one of the few children's ...

, ''Firebirds Rising'', edited by

Sharyn November Sharyn November is an American writer and an editor of books for children and teenagers. Until March 2016 she was Senior Editor for Viking Press, Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback (repri ...

Some stories set in the world of Liavek appear in the anthology ''

Book of Enchantments ''Book of Enchantments'' is a collection of short stories written by American fantasy author Patricia C. Wrede. It was first published in hardcover by Harcourt Brace in 1996, and was subsequently issued in paperback by Point Fantasy in 1998 and ...

'' written by Patricia C. Wrede. On May 12th, 2015, Diversion Publishing released ''Points of Departure: Liavek Stories''; republishing a collection of short stories set in the world of Liavek, by Pamela Dean and Patricia C Wrede.

Licensing

In 2017, Shetterly announced that he and Bull were allowing the use of the Liavek setting at no cost, for works earning less than $3000, subject to certain conditions.The Liavek Independent Creator's License
by Will Shetterly; at CityOfLuck.blogspot.com; published January 19, 2017; retrieved November 16, 2019

References

{{Reflist Fantasy worlds