Captain Pausart flies again
May. 16th, 2006 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bibliogrammaThe Wizard of Karres, by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer
It is always with some wariness that I approach a years-afterward sequel written by someone other then the original author, particularly if the original book was a personal favourite.
I loved James Schmitz's Witches of Karres when I first read it back in the mid-60s. Actually, I loved Schmitz's work, period (this may be related to the fact that the very first book I can remember buying with my own money is Schmitz's Agent of Vega). Unlike so many male science fiction writers of his era, he knew how to create memorable female characters (and unlike Heinlein's, they weren't all the same woman, either) and allow them real agency within his works - Telzey Amberdon is perhaps the most well-known of his very capable, confident and self-assured heras. He also knew how to write male characters who treated female characters like real people.
Witches of Karres contained both - in the unsuspecting Captain Pausart and his unexpected passengers, the three young witches of Karres, Maleen, Goth and the Leewit.
Mercedes Lackey and her collaborators have managed to pull off a sequel that contains much of the flavour and charm of the original, and for this I give great thanks. The Wizard of Karres is, like its inspiration, a madcap space opera with an implausible plot and some screamingly funny situations, but with characters that you want to read more about, despite their eccentric backgrounds and unlikely abilities. It's a lighthearted romp, and it's not just for the boys.
It is always with some wariness that I approach a years-afterward sequel written by someone other then the original author, particularly if the original book was a personal favourite.
I loved James Schmitz's Witches of Karres when I first read it back in the mid-60s. Actually, I loved Schmitz's work, period (this may be related to the fact that the very first book I can remember buying with my own money is Schmitz's Agent of Vega). Unlike so many male science fiction writers of his era, he knew how to create memorable female characters (and unlike Heinlein's, they weren't all the same woman, either) and allow them real agency within his works - Telzey Amberdon is perhaps the most well-known of his very capable, confident and self-assured heras. He also knew how to write male characters who treated female characters like real people.
Witches of Karres contained both - in the unsuspecting Captain Pausart and his unexpected passengers, the three young witches of Karres, Maleen, Goth and the Leewit.
Mercedes Lackey and her collaborators have managed to pull off a sequel that contains much of the flavour and charm of the original, and for this I give great thanks. The Wizard of Karres is, like its inspiration, a madcap space opera with an implausible plot and some screamingly funny situations, but with characters that you want to read more about, despite their eccentric backgrounds and unlikely abilities. It's a lighthearted romp, and it's not just for the boys.