The Witches of Karres

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The Witches of Karres
Written by: James H. Schmitz
Central Theme:
Synopsis:
Genre(s): Space opera
First published: December 1949 (novelette), 1966 (novel)
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The Witches of Karres is a science fiction adventure-comedy novel by James H. Schmitz.

When Captain Pausert buys three children out of slavery, he finds himself in a universe of trouble. The sisters Maleen, Goth, and the Leewit are psychics from the mysterious planet Karres, and every other planet in the galaxy (including, as he soon discovers, the planet he had hitherto called home) either shuns them or wants to capture them for their powers.

And then there's the vatch.

Half a century later, it spawned two sequels published by Baen Books: The Wizard of Karres by Eric Flint, Dave Freer, and Mercedes Lackey; and The Sorceress of Karres by Eric Flint and Dave Freer.

The story was first published as a novelette in the December 1949 edition of Astounding Science Fiction (which is available in the Internet Archive). James H. Schmitz expanded it into a full novel which was published in 1966 and nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1967.

Tropes used in The Witches of Karres include:

The sequels provide examples of: