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The Witches of Karres #3
The Sorceress of Karres (3)
A Wall Street Journal bestseller in hardcover, this is #3 in the exhilarating series homage to James H. Schmitz’s legendary genre classic, Witches of Karres, by multiple New York Times best-seller and alternate history master, Eric Flint and Dave Freer. A planet-jumping space adventure combined with a rollicking time-travel romp featuring a straightlaced-but-lovable spaceship captain and two super-mental-powered teen girls.
#3 in the “Witches of Karres” homage series, this is a rollicking romp through the outer reaches of the galaxy.
If he’d known he was getting stuck with a pair of psi-wielding super-beings, even straightlaced do-gooder Captain Pausert might have thought twice about rescuing his two young “witch” charges from slavery on a dark planet. But what’s done is done – and with galactic peace once again threatened in the mysterious and pirate-ridden Chaladoor region, only a dangerous mission backward in time can save the present and – maybe – get stalwart-but-obtuse Pausert to see one of these young “witches” as more than just a friend.
About the “Witches of Karres”
“Fans of humorous science fiction will enjoy this outing.” – School Library Journal on The Wizard of Karres.
About Eric
“An SF author of particular note…one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure.” – Publishers Weekly
#3 in the “Witches of Karres” homage series, this is a rollicking romp through the outer reaches of the galaxy.
If he’d known he was getting stuck with a pair of psi-wielding super-beings, even straightlaced do-gooder Captain Pausert might have thought twice about rescuing his two young “witch” charges from slavery on a dark planet. But what’s done is done – and with galactic peace once again threatened in the mysterious and pirate-ridden Chaladoor region, only a dangerous mission backward in time can save the present and – maybe – get stalwart-but-obtuse Pausert to see one of these young “witches” as more than just a friend.
About the “Witches of Karres”
“Fans of humorous science fiction will enjoy this outing.” – School Library Journal on The Wizard of Karres.
About Eric
“An SF author of particular note…one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure.” – Publishers Weekly
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
72 people are currently reading
352 people want to read
About the author
Eric Flint
250 books874 followersEric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 14, 2021
I enjoyed this volume more than the preceding WIZARD OF KARRES but still not as much as James Schmitz's original WITCHES OF KARRES. I read several reviews, negative and positive, before reading this volume. It was an amusing experience. The book is too long. It's too short. It's too slow. The pacing is too fast. The plot is too thin. The plot has too many elements. The book adds cannibals to the story (actually I think cannibals were in the original first volume and if they weren't, cannibals make great, nasty villains). The main complaint seems to me to be that it wasn't written by James Schmitz who has been deceased for more than a quarter century.
Schmitz didn't write it but two very good authors did. And they did a fine job. Well written, great story telling and well done character development. For the critics who think it creepy that Captain Pausert is waiting for a teenager to grow up in order to marry her: This volume develops that situation a little more. It seems that as a teenager himself, Pausert met the teenage Goth who was time traveling as Vala. He fell hard for her and vice versa. Now, in the present, there is an age difference. Waiting seems logical not creepy. Marrying a teenager would be creepy. Besides, in the original book, the Karres Witch Goth firmly stated that she is to marry Pausert.
A book well worth reading for sci-fi/sci-fantasy fans.
Schmitz didn't write it but two very good authors did. And they did a fine job. Well written, great story telling and well done character development. For the critics who think it creepy that Captain Pausert is waiting for a teenager to grow up in order to marry her: This volume develops that situation a little more. It seems that as a teenager himself, Pausert met the teenage Goth who was time traveling as Vala. He fell hard for her and vice versa. Now, in the present, there is an age difference. Waiting seems logical not creepy. Marrying a teenager would be creepy. Besides, in the original book, the Karres Witch Goth firmly stated that she is to marry Pausert.
A book well worth reading for sci-fi/sci-fantasy fans.
February 14, 2012
Genre: Science Fiction
Again, I continued reading this series because I adore James Schmidt’s The Witches of Karres and wanted to spend more time in that universe. This is really just fan-fic written by professional authors.
I was pleased that Mercedes Lackey wasn’t involved in writing this novel – the relationships that bothered me in The Wizard of Karres bothered me far less, and Goth and the Captain’s developing relationship (a tricky thing to handle at best – but really the most important piece of hanging fruit left over from The Witches of Karres) was handled well.
Unfortunately, I thought the basic plot of this story was not very engaging. As with The Wizard of Karres and The Witches of Karres there is an alien invasion that the Captain, Goth and Lewitt struggle to defeat. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that there was any twist or discovery that made it a different struggle from the one in the previous book.
Again, I continued reading this series because I adore James Schmidt’s The Witches of Karres and wanted to spend more time in that universe. This is really just fan-fic written by professional authors.
I was pleased that Mercedes Lackey wasn’t involved in writing this novel – the relationships that bothered me in The Wizard of Karres bothered me far less, and Goth and the Captain’s developing relationship (a tricky thing to handle at best – but really the most important piece of hanging fruit left over from The Witches of Karres) was handled well.
Unfortunately, I thought the basic plot of this story was not very engaging. As with The Wizard of Karres and The Witches of Karres there is an alien invasion that the Captain, Goth and Lewitt struggle to defeat. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that there was any twist or discovery that made it a different struggle from the one in the previous book.
June 16, 2019
This is the second book in the continuation of the classic James H. Schmitz novel that started as a short story over seventy years ago. It's a nice space opera adventure with fantasy flourishes that picks up where The Wizard of Karres by Flint and Freer with Mercedes Lackey ended, but quickly sidetracks to a new threat and a trip through time (for Goth!) to Captain Pausert's youth. And I enjoyed the return trip to the circus! There's still an uncomfortable or inappropriate feeling for me in the fully grown Captain waiting for Goth to age a bit so he so can legally marry her (especially with Goth's father teasing him about it), but perhaps I'm overthinking the situation or taking it too seriously. I hope that Flint produces another book in the series someday to wrap the whole thing up. (Aside: I usually like Stephen Hickman's work, but think these Karres covers are awful. The Witches are human, that's kind of the point, but they don't look like it here.)
February 20, 2023
This, the third volume in the Karres sequence, is possibly somewhat better than the second. We get the interesting back story of Captain Pausert and it is well integrated into the rest of this very complex story. The second book probably did spend too much time with the Lattice Ship sequence—here none of the episodes—and there are many of them—actually cause the reader to lose interest.
Goth remains a central figure and The Leewit is getting more development. One does, perhaps, regret the almost complete sidelining of Maleen. But that is only an afterthought. It’s a good adventure science fiction novel with space opera overtones and won’t disappoint.
Goth remains a central figure and The Leewit is getting more development. One does, perhaps, regret the almost complete sidelining of Maleen. But that is only an afterthought. It’s a good adventure science fiction novel with space opera overtones and won’t disappoint.
March 2, 2014
Product Description
As Captain Pausert had often had occasion to observe, life just wasn’t fair! Hadn’t he (with the help of the notorious witches of Karres, of course) outmaneuvered the deadliest of space pirates and eliminated the threat of the Worm World (as told in The Witches of Karres), after which, at the least, he deserved some time off. No such luck, though, as the Empress herself sent him on a secret mission to stop the nanite plague, but an enemy had somehow convinced the Imperial Fleet that he was actually a wanted criminal, so after a battle leaving his ship in urgent need of repairs all three of them joined an interstellar traveling circus (don’t ask!) in order to save the galaxy once again (as told in The Wizard of Karres).
Time for a vacation? Don’t be ridiculous—there’s a new urgent mission that has Captain Pausert’s name on it! This new novel finds the long-suffering Captain and the two young Karres witches—Goth, who vows she will marry him when she grows up, and her younger sister The Leewit—being sent off to investigate mysterious and ominous events in the notorious Chaladoor region of space. Goth soon becomes aware that unknown but surely inimical forces are tracking them, and in order to foil them she takes a desperate route to travel back in time and meet Pausert as a young boy. Meanwhile, the Captain and the Leewit find themselves in the middle of their own desperate situation in the Chaladoor.
Whoever it was who said that a change was as good as a vacation never met any of the Witches of Karres—nor experienced their amazing talent for getting Captain Pausert into trouble.
About the AuthorEric Flint is the author/creator of the New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. With David Drake he has written six popular novels in the Belisarius series, including the new novel The Dance of Time, and with David Weber collaborated on 1633, and 1634: The Baltic War, two novels in the Ring of Fire series, and on Crown of Slaves, a best of the year pick by Publishers Weekly. Flint received his masters degree in history from UCLA and was for many years a labor union activist. He lives in East Chicago, IL, with his wife and is working on more books in the best-selling Ring of Fire series.
Dave Freer is an ichthyologist turned author living in a remote part of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with his wife and chief proof-reader, Barbara, four dogs and four cats, and two sons Paddy and James. His first book—_The Forlorn_ (Baen)—came out in 1999. Since then he has co-authored with Eric Flint (_Rats, Bats and Vats_, The Rats, the Bats and the Ugly, Pyramid Scheme, and Pyramid Power) and, with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint (_The Shadow of the Lion_, This Rough Magic, The Wizard of Karres) as well as writing another solo novel, A Mankind Witch, and_ _various shorter works. Besides working as a fisheries scientist for the Western Cape shark fishery he has worked as a commercial diver, and as a relief chef at several luxury game lodges. His other interests are rock climbing (he's still good at it), diving, flyfishing (he's still bad at it), fly-tying, wine-tasting and the preparation of food, especially by traditional means—smoking and salting, all the good unhealthy things.
November 1, 2019
Wonderful and unexpected
I remember reading the Witches of Karres when I was young, and enjoying it immensely. I remember vague rumors of a sequel (the Wizard of Karres) but forgot about it. How eonderfulto have found it, read it, and found and read this one (#3) as well. We) down. I look forward to #4 when it comes out next year.
I remember reading the Witches of Karres when I was young, and enjoying it immensely. I remember vague rumors of a sequel (the Wizard of Karres) but forgot about it. How eonderfulto have found it, read it, and found and read this one (#3) as well. We) down. I look forward to #4 when it comes out next year.
March 26, 2024
If Star Trek had been a novel instead of a TV Show, I imagine this is how it would have been written. I like Star Trek, but this book is only okay. Science Fiction is not my go-to genre when it comes to books, but this one sounded amusing, so I thought I would give it a try.
There are some confusing parts where it seems like the authors are providing information just to bring the storyline to a conclusion, but you really have no idea where they got it. There are a couple conversations where the characters are using a bunch of pronouns to talk about multiple people, so it can be kind of difficult to keep track of what they are saying. I mostly like the party of the story where Goth is on Nikkeldepain. I could see how the authors were trying to tie in Goth's part of the story to Pausert's part of the story, but I do not think it was as seamless as it could have been. It kind of felt like they were trying too hard.
Maybe if I had started the series with the first book instead of the third, I may have liked it better, but I do not think I will be reading any more of the series. It just did not grab me.
There are some confusing parts where it seems like the authors are providing information just to bring the storyline to a conclusion, but you really have no idea where they got it. There are a couple conversations where the characters are using a bunch of pronouns to talk about multiple people, so it can be kind of difficult to keep track of what they are saying. I mostly like the party of the story where Goth is on Nikkeldepain. I could see how the authors were trying to tie in Goth's part of the story to Pausert's part of the story, but I do not think it was as seamless as it could have been. It kind of felt like they were trying too hard.
Maybe if I had started the series with the first book instead of the third, I may have liked it better, but I do not think I will be reading any more of the series. It just did not grab me.
January 8, 2021
I wish they had half stars. 4.5. 1969 the 1st, 2002 the 2nd, 2010 this one. The first was a gem. I will have to investigate why so long in between. The 2nd I enjoyed just because it existed and the new authors did a good job making it seem like no time at all. This one was awesome. Not quite up to the first but entertaining with the different sci-fi genres rolled up for a great read. Now onto the last one from 2020. The only thing I recommend is to try to read them in order. Not necessary but really helps to become invested into the characters. I just feel sorry that more do not maybe know about these new or old one as they are so spaced apart.
February 13, 2019
The third and last book in the Witches of Karres series. While this book is not to the standards of the other two, it is a good read and moves along fast enough to not be boring. I don't like the time travel concepts used in the book, but it is all right I guess. Overall a must read to complete the series. However, I feel there should be a fourth volume to finish out the series. Just too many major problems introduced in the first two books and then continued in this book to just close it as they have.
November 9, 2024
I enjoyed this book very much. Not quite as much as the original, which I adore and have read several times over the decades.
I found one, to me serious, editing error. Goth says to her sister, "...Look after the captain for me, Leewit..." It's the Leewit!!! The Leewit will emphatically correct anyone who forgets the "the". And it's never explained (to my knowledge) WHY she is called that. Which I kinda love.
I found one, to me serious, editing error. Goth says to her sister, "...Look after the captain for me, Leewit..." It's the Leewit!!! The Leewit will emphatically correct anyone who forgets the "the". And it's never explained (to my knowledge) WHY she is called that. Which I kinda love.
January 5, 2021
Older but such a great set of character’s
This series was written over a few decades. The witches of Karres are both intriguing and witty in the solutions they find to the problems they face
Highly recommend these as great ways to get away from it all.
This series was written over a few decades. The witches of Karres are both intriguing and witty in the solutions they find to the problems they face
Highly recommend these as great ways to get away from it all.
July 20, 2024
A reasonable continuation. The plot is derivative, but since it's copying from other Schmitz books, it fits well enough. This time we learn more about the Megair Cannibals, who were briefly introduced in the original book.
February 1, 2013
There are so many things wrong with this book, that I could not really in all honesty give it a two star rating, but it not utterly dreadful or eye-bleeding bad, so is probably a bit ahead of lot of other horrible one star books.
Ignoring the seriously crappy artwork on the cover of this Baen publication (and why does this publishing house not hire some decent artists for a change - not ALL of their books are utter dross, contrary to the image they seem to be going for), the first thing wrong with this book IS on the jacket. That is to say, the quoted review on both the front cover and the back actually refers to the PREQUEL, A Wizard of Karres (which did not exactly bowl me over either), and the rest of the blurb actually seems to be more of a recap of what happened in the original author, James H. Schmitz's The Witches of Karres. That really would have been a warning to me in a conventional bookshop, but buying over the internet, I failed to notice this until it was already in my hands. Still, as another visitation to Schmitz's universe, I probably would have picked it up anyway, as a fun, light-hearted space opera has its place, too - and Witches was exactly that.
Of course, Witches was written by a different author. Apparently a more accomplished one as well. Eric Flint is far from my favourite writer, and when I first saw his name on Wizard, I was deeply suspicious, especially next to that of Mercedes Lackey (of whom I have long been suspicious of, despite never actually having read of her stuff) and the unknown-to-me Dave Freer. I have read some really bad books by Flint, such as from the Belesarius series (another collaberation), and some quite reasonable ones, such as his Wages of Sin series (yet another collaberation, but this time with David Weber). However, Wizard was perfectly fun, and when it seemed fair enough to give two from the same team another go with expectations of a fun read. Apparently this time around, the mix of authors did not work. I don't know who contributed what, or whose work this mainly was, or whether the lack of Lackey (ho ho), meant there was a missing element to gel things together. Perhaps it was just that book was more rushed and got less attention. Whatever it was... it just did not work.
The writing is poor, right from the beginning. It jumps around and the effect is confusing and rushed. If it is attempting to convey a fast-paced feeling of action, it fails. It just feels like random sections of the book have been edited out, or just failed to have been written as the authors fail to sew their prose together. There are constant referals back to the previous two books in desperate attempts to connect us with the history of the characters, but without much in the way of the minimum explanation the casual reader will need to even refresh their memory of the events of the previous books if it has been a few years since they read them. Too much re-hashing is a bad thing, but some well handled reminders are a good one - and that does not mean simple mentioning Hulik do Whatsername or grik-dogs once a chapter, almost randomly.
The characters were also really not especially faithfully represented in comparison with the original Witches. This is actually quite reasonably and well dealt with in a couple of cases - notably, that the book is mostly told from the perspective of Goth, who has done some growing up and is the main focus of this story. Sections with the Leewit are rather weaker, as despite the reasonable claim that she too is growing up and maturing it does not work quite so well there (perhaps because she is supposed to be seven?). Sadly, the handling of the original main character of Captain Pausert is particularly poor. On the plus side, the handling of his and Goth's developing relationship and the changes which occur within the book are quite neatly done and the plot supports it well.
Sadly, I have now exhausted my faint praise. The rest of the book is just bad. Poorly explained and developed story line. Slap-dash descriptions. A really crappy bad guy enemy, who seems to get stupider and stupider as the story goes on. An abrupt ending with things being wrapped up with the general air that even the authors had lost interest in being involved with this stinker for any longer and wanted to just finish this so they could hurry off and collaberate with some other other people on some other lame books.
Fans of Witches will be seriously disappointed. For people who thought that Wizard was a better book, they may be lacking enough in good taste to find this enjoyable.
Ignoring the seriously crappy artwork on the cover of this Baen publication (and why does this publishing house not hire some decent artists for a change - not ALL of their books are utter dross, contrary to the image they seem to be going for), the first thing wrong with this book IS on the jacket. That is to say, the quoted review on both the front cover and the back actually refers to the PREQUEL, A Wizard of Karres (which did not exactly bowl me over either), and the rest of the blurb actually seems to be more of a recap of what happened in the original author, James H. Schmitz's The Witches of Karres. That really would have been a warning to me in a conventional bookshop, but buying over the internet, I failed to notice this until it was already in my hands. Still, as another visitation to Schmitz's universe, I probably would have picked it up anyway, as a fun, light-hearted space opera has its place, too - and Witches was exactly that.
Of course, Witches was written by a different author. Apparently a more accomplished one as well. Eric Flint is far from my favourite writer, and when I first saw his name on Wizard, I was deeply suspicious, especially next to that of Mercedes Lackey (of whom I have long been suspicious of, despite never actually having read of her stuff) and the unknown-to-me Dave Freer. I have read some really bad books by Flint, such as from the Belesarius series (another collaberation), and some quite reasonable ones, such as his Wages of Sin series (yet another collaberation, but this time with David Weber). However, Wizard was perfectly fun, and when it seemed fair enough to give two from the same team another go with expectations of a fun read. Apparently this time around, the mix of authors did not work. I don't know who contributed what, or whose work this mainly was, or whether the lack of Lackey (ho ho), meant there was a missing element to gel things together. Perhaps it was just that book was more rushed and got less attention. Whatever it was... it just did not work.
The writing is poor, right from the beginning. It jumps around and the effect is confusing and rushed. If it is attempting to convey a fast-paced feeling of action, it fails. It just feels like random sections of the book have been edited out, or just failed to have been written as the authors fail to sew their prose together. There are constant referals back to the previous two books in desperate attempts to connect us with the history of the characters, but without much in the way of the minimum explanation the casual reader will need to even refresh their memory of the events of the previous books if it has been a few years since they read them. Too much re-hashing is a bad thing, but some well handled reminders are a good one - and that does not mean simple mentioning Hulik do Whatsername or grik-dogs once a chapter, almost randomly.
The characters were also really not especially faithfully represented in comparison with the original Witches. This is actually quite reasonably and well dealt with in a couple of cases - notably, that the book is mostly told from the perspective of Goth, who has done some growing up and is the main focus of this story. Sections with the Leewit are rather weaker, as despite the reasonable claim that she too is growing up and maturing it does not work quite so well there (perhaps because she is supposed to be seven?). Sadly, the handling of the original main character of Captain Pausert is particularly poor. On the plus side, the handling of his and Goth's developing relationship and the changes which occur within the book are quite neatly done and the plot supports it well.
Sadly, I have now exhausted my faint praise. The rest of the book is just bad. Poorly explained and developed story line. Slap-dash descriptions. A really crappy bad guy enemy, who seems to get stupider and stupider as the story goes on. An abrupt ending with things being wrapped up with the general air that even the authors had lost interest in being involved with this stinker for any longer and wanted to just finish this so they could hurry off and collaberate with some other other people on some other lame books.
Fans of Witches will be seriously disappointed. For people who thought that Wizard was a better book, they may be lacking enough in good taste to find this enjoyable.
January 4, 2018
Great Series
Hated to read the last book. Here’s hoping another book is in the making!!! The book is fun and light and sticks to the original story line..
Hated to read the last book. Here’s hoping another book is in the making!!! The book is fun and light and sticks to the original story line..
July 20, 2018
As good as the original !
November 7, 2020
A Really Entertaining Book!
This continuation of the Witches of Karres saga was great! It kept me reading until the end. I could not put it down.
This continuation of the Witches of Karres saga was great! It kept me reading until the end. I could not put it down.
June 18, 2014
Ach, het is toch prettig om te weten hoe het verder gaat met de heksen van Karres. Dit derde deel haalt nergens het niveau van het eerste deel en er blijven te veel 'losse draadjes' over. Het doet vermoeden dat er plannen zijn (of zijn geweest) om ooit nog een vierde deel te schrijven, maar ik denk dat het mooi geweest is.
February 28, 2010
Have thoroughly enjoyed this series. The different authors have managed to keep the feel of the original book.
Just a rollicking good time where all is chaos, but the good guys have a ton of tricks up their collective sleeves.
Just a rollicking good time where all is chaos, but the good guys have a ton of tricks up their collective sleeves.
Read
May 23, 2010Gave Up
Read
July 31, 2011worthy successor(s) to the original. Not *as good* but quite worth reading.
October 12, 2011
Also very good. These are great books.
July 10, 2012
The best of the three books, still recomend reading them all in order so you can understand the references. I like Dave Freer as an author and you can tell his touches in this continuing story.
September 26, 2012
Mac-ebooks
April 4, 2015
A fun read.
January 24, 2015
I did not read the other books in the series first but this book is good enough to stand alone.
March 21, 2015
fantastic. Great follow-up of the 2 previous stories. A bit complex intrigue though.
October 30, 2015
My least favorite of the three Karres books. I felt the story disjointed and confusing and really not that interesting.
December 19, 2015
An easy read, fun continuation of the Schmitz's original classic SciFi story (The Witches of Karres). Like the original, the style is humourous and the story moves at pace.
January 9, 2011
Nice work at picking up where James H. Schmitz left off!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews