I think Schmitz is going to be a favorite. He’s got very strong opinions, ones I don’t always agree with, but that’s not always a bad thing. I can see why ‘The Witches of Karres’ read like the first book in a series, even though there really wasn’t anywhere he could go with it without making his protagonist a ‘god-mod’ character. Every story in the book (except one) had series potential. Some he developed further, some he didn’t.

The worlds are fascinating. The technology is a bit over the top, but the ecologies are great fun.

Yes, his writing reflects the sexism of his day, but he still has strong, competant female heroes (as well as male ones).... overall, I’d put him in the ‘feminist author’ camp, and Telzy Amberton (his most noted protagonist, if Amazon is any clue) doesn’t even appear in the book.

There is a common thread going through all these short stories. It’s hinted at in the first one (in a comment which is never explained), and fleshed out in the last one. I won’t give it away, but I will say that it explains some things which make for good story telling, but don’t (IMHO) make for a stable society. Let’s just say that ‘the Hub’ would be a great setting for a role playing game, and leave it at that.

I hunted this book down as background research for a PC in an SF role playing game (the GM suggested it as a basis for the culture my character came from – the rest of the PCs are off worlders).

I really liked “Witches of Karres”, so I’m optimistic about this one.