Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My favorite stories are those that remind me of Looking Glass Studios' _Thief_ games; a *real* sneaker leaves no traces, other than the job having been done.
Arntzen, Bernie: "On My Honor" Nicholas, the narrator, is and isn't the Oranian Royal Assassin; he's also Roarke's most secret agent in the Oranian court. Now he's been ordered to bite off the hand that feeds him: the queen has ordered him to kill her despicable brother-in-law, the King of Roarke. (Nicholas' humor isn't quenched by his dilemma. "Assassin sarcasm. Another occupational hazard.")
Edgerton, Teresa: "Dying By Inches" Set in the same world as _The Queen's Necklace_. Few of the Rowans survived the two years of imprisonment in barbarous conditions before their names were cleared. When Odilia hears a rumour that the Marquis committed the crime that sent her family into limbo, she plans to exact revenge, with or without proof.
Edghill, Rosemary: "War of the Roses" In the Argestian States, assassins have replaced war as the last resort of diplomacy. But checks and balances are necessary: the Flower Guild exists to hunt down assassins who have become too dangerous. Redlorn, who styles himself the Red Rose, is their next target; the Guild's agent is the legendary White Rose. The feel is _Thief_-like, as Redlorn makes a point of getting into and out of his target's home without touching the guards, and *his* pursuer likewise toys with *him*.
Elrod, P.N. "Myhr's Adventure in Hell" Terrin and Myhr *really* want to earn enough gemstones to let them escape to a more civilized world, broadly defining 'civilized' in terms of plumbing. Their client's husband - this world's Hitler-equivalent - is already dead; she wants to make sure his soul can never reincarnate. Myhr, the narrator, is nominated by his wizard-partner to make the hit. (Myhr trusts him on magic, if not on splitting red velvet cake equally.)
Flewelling, Lynn: "Raven's Cut" The young foreign assassin, when it's his turn to tell the evening's tale, remembers the best assassin he ever knew.
Huff, Tanya: "Death Rites" Very Thiefy feel: the two young assassins attached to 7th Army are the best hope of prying the rebel commander out of her captured stronghold - the secret entrance can't be blocked without cutting off her water supply.
Jefferson, Leyte: "He" Moonback is an assassin whose master remade him into a werewolf. His canine instincts predominate as the moon waxes; at that point, even in human form he reacts like a dog, approaching his master on his belly, licking his hands - losing some of his vocabulary, but remembering some of his professional skills even when he can't remember the word 'army'. Disturbing.
Leigh, Stephen: "Green Stones" The scarred man is only the latest in a long series of fools seeking to learn at the feet of the Green Stone. The trademark green stones left on the victims were always from the flanks of Goat Fell, so the would-be assassin's apprentice has come to Maire's lonely tavern. (Scar doesn't have the sense he was born with, but the reader shouldn't be *too* smug.)
Lindskold, Jane: "A Touch of Poison" Set in the same world as _Through Wolf's Eyes_. The assassins' tool of choice to reach the Supreme Affluent is Adalia, his chief baker; they've taken her infant son as surety. But Adalia knows she has no guarantee they'll return the baby, or that they won't reveal whose hand poisoned her master's pastry. (The culture of Waterland, where administration - there is no 'government' as such - and status are tied directly to money, is interesting in itself.)
Oster, Anna: Mallon is being stalked by a young fool who believes she killed his sister; Mallon, in exasperation, tells him he should have studied "History and Economics" instead of (obviously) poetry at university. (The Silent Guild is quite legal - and it's the client, not the assassin, the boy should be concerned with.)
Patton, Fiona: "The Svedali Foundlings" 'In Cercicava, the dead were revered far more than the living.' Coll can testify to this on several counts; he survived the burning of the Svedali Innocenti Foundling Home fourteen years ago during the duc's little expansion project for the necropolis, only to be picked up as an organ collector by the death mages. But someone else survived the burning: Drey, an assassin now stalking the corridors of power.
Reichert, Mickey Zucker: "Darkness Comes Together" Josafah envies the fame of the assassin known as Nightfall; no hire would dare waste Nightfall's time, as he'd just as soon destroy an unworthy hire as destroy his target. When Josafah encounters Nightfall outside his target's home, he suggests that they cooperate - who's to know? (Josafah's gratuitous violence contrasts with Nightfall's minimalist approach.)
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn: "Coin of the Realm" Orsem's assassins are competing for the public executioner's job - most of whose work is outside the kingdom - and the winner will be he who kills the most important victim, increasing the king's holdings in the process. *Not* the safest time to bring foreign dignitaries to court, as the king's daughter Rosalind is being sold into marriage to a neighbouring kingdom's heir.
Sherman, Josepha: "Never Say...Uh...Die?" Rather than ordinary humans, the narrator assassinates rampaging ogres, sorcerers plotting to usurp kingdoms - like that. His current target, a Koshchei, has learned subtlety in the art of hiding his heart outside his body. (*Not* a retelling of the Firebird legend.)
West, Michelle: "Echoes" Kallandras' family was murdered because someone learned they had a child with demonic powers - command-voice, among other things - and sought to take him. Kallandras survived as a beggar until the day the Kovaschii, the brotherhood serving the Lady's darkest face, took him for testing. The story is told in flashback, as the adult Kallandras remembers the tests of his training in a land far away.
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Assassin FantasticThey're fascinating and they're fatal.They're trained assassins-the targeted subjects of this killer collection of brand-new tales featuring the hottest hit men-and women-in fantasy today.With a new Nightfall story by best-selling author Mickey Zucker Reichert, a dangerous turn with Tanya Huff's duo, Vree and Bannon, and a killer surprise from Michelle West's Kallandras-this is, truly, an anthology to die for.
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