The Sorceress of Karres

A Baen Books Original

Written by Eric Flint and Dave Freer

Copyright 2010 by Eric Flint and Dave Freer



In The Sorceress of Karres by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, a sequel to James H. Schmitz's 1966 novel The Witches of Karres, a straight-laced Captain Pausert is given a new mision to investigate a series of unknown ships attacking other ships in the Chaladoor region of space. While the young witch The Leewit will be joining him, her sister Goth - who insists she will marry Pausert when Goth is older - will be sent on a special mission by going back in time to Pausert's home planet - to a time when Pausert was just a teenager.

Pausert has fond memories of a girl he had met when he was a teenager, unbeknowest to him - that the girl he had met was in reality Goth, who had traveled back in time to prevent some event from happening. When you consider that the adult Pausert feels a little uncomfortable with the young Goth, the relationship with teenaged Pausert and with the Goth in his past seems much more natural as she partners with Pausart and basically brings out the best of this young misfit.

Being pursued by a mysterious hairless woman in both the past and in the future shows that Pausert has something important in his possession - and the mysterious hairless woman turns out to be even more sinister than you may think.

I liked young Pausert's relationship with Goth when she travels back into his past as they work together to save Pausert's past. Goth is more mature at this point than in Schmitz's original story. She is more of a peer with the young Pausert, rather than of a young girl pining for a mature Pausert. You can see young Pausert's growing interest in Goth's confounding antics. The Leewit is also more mature in the story and taking on more responsibility in the novel.

Pancho
All people smile in the same langauge.

Pyramid Power

Baen Publishing Enterprises

Written by Eric Flint & Dave Freer

Copyright 2007

Pyramid Power, the sequel to Pyramid Scheme, has the survivors of the pyramidal device, sent by aliens to take over the Earth, being forced by a Washington bureaucrat to reenter the pyramid's event horizon to search for another bureaucrat that was kidnapped by the pyramid. But instead of landing in the world of Greek Gods as they were previously in - the flexible crew of survivors now land in the world of Norse Gods, and must once again try to find their way back home.

This book is harder to read than the first book, as outside of the gods Odin, Thor, and Loki, there is very little about the rigorous Norse legends that I am familiar with - although the main characters of the book I have now become more familiar with than in the previous book. The political infighting is more interesting this time around as the various Washington groups aggressively fight each other for control of handling the alien pyramid.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.