I enjoyed James H. Schmitz' The Witches of Karres, so when I came across this fair-condition hardcover of a sequel at the local library book sale, I couldn't resist it. This isn't by the original author, though, so I'll take it with a grain of salt!

Later: It was fun to see the characters again: Captain Pausert, Karres witches Goth (quiet and responsible - and still too young to marry, though she and Pausert do seem closer) and The Leewit (as noisy and chaotic as ever), the Nartheby sprite Hantis and grik-dog Pul (who get a bigger part to play in this story), and the rest of the crew - who, here, seem to be in trouble yet again: the Karres witches are very much feared, and imperial forces search the ship for Goth...

The usual hilarity ensues, with assorted magical and not-so-magical abilities called into play to disguise the witches and discourage the searchers. There are lots of vatches (of course), including a very persistent little one that seems quite attached to Pausert; his abilities to "rell" vatches (control them magically) makes the bigger, nastier ones reluctant to get near him, and this means the little ones feel safer in his company. Too bad even a little vatch tends to cause all sorts of disruptions!

The story gets extreme from this point; there's a horrible plague threatening the galaxy, and the cure may lie in a trip to the distant past... Lots of action and humor - the word "rollicking" comes to mind when I think of these books - with some moments of rather grim horror here and there (though these do not last long). Not as much fun as the original novel, but a nice sequel none the less.

I left this book, bagged against the elements, on the signboard at the Whipple St. entrance to the park at around 1 or so; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2014 D for December release challenge. ***