Liavek
#3603.99 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking
Books 5 books Status Complete 1985–1990 Reading commitment Medium Emma Bull & Will Shetterly (creators/editors) Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Overview
Liavek is a shared-world setting, a fantasy city-state built around magic tied to personal luck, created and edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly for a five-volume anthology series. Contributors across the five books included Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, Steven Brust, Megan Lindholm, Pamela Dean and Charles de Lint, several of whom are credited elsewhere in this canon under their own separate universes.
Sword & sorcery · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (5 works) counts toward ranking
Liavek Emma Bull, Will Shetterly
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Liavek | 1985 | core | 3.93 (315 ratings) |
 | Liavek: The Players of Luck | 1986 | core | 3.94 (201 ratings) |
 | Liavek: Wizard's Row | 1987 | core | 4.04 (171 ratings) |
 | Liavek: Spells of Binding | 1988 | core | 4.14 (102 ratings) |
 | Liavek: Festival Week | 1990 | core | 4.00 (111 ratings) |
A five-volume shared-world anthology series created and edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly, with contributions from Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, Steven Brust, Megan Lindholm, Pamela Dean, Charles de Lint and others, several already credited elsewhere in this canon under their own separate universes.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Liavek? Liavek's Core Canon is 5 books.
- What is the reading order for Liavek? Publication order, starting with Liavek. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Liavek finished? Complete (1985–1990).
- How much reading does Liavek take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 5 Core Canon books).
- How is Liavek ranked? #360 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 900 reader ratings across 5 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #360?
Ranked #360 of 664 ranked universes.
- Average reader rating of 3.99 across 5 core books.
- A smaller readership (900 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #359, The Morgaine Cycle (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 5 books · Complete · 900 ratings · Ranks #360 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length sword-and-sorcery universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (5 Core Canon books)
- Liavek (1985)
- Liavek: The Players of Luck (1986)
- Liavek: Wizard's Row (1987)
- Liavek: Spells of Binding (1988)
- Liavek: Festival Week (1990)
Awards (verified)
- No confirmed genre-juried award recognition found for this series.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Liavek and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Lot Lands Sword & sorcery / Grimdark · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.11
- Return to Nevèrÿon Sword & sorcery · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.99
- Nifft the Lean Sword & sorcery · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.98
- The Copper Cat Sword & sorcery · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.88
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.99 across 900 ratings on 5 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Liavek admitted accepted 2026-08-21
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Liavek Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
Rule: Core Canon is the complete five-volume shared-world anthology series (1985-1990), credited to its creators/editors Emma Bull and Will Shetterly. A handful of later individual tie-in works exist but a clean, unanimous bibliography for those could not be confirmed within this pass's research budget, so only the five core anthologies are registered.