After a long hiatus from the Man-Kzin wars, I purchased the Man-Kzin Wars IX. The stories in M-K Wars IX were average at best. Of the 4 stories, the murder mystery was my favorite. The story about the crippled Kzin's last stand started well but deteriorated into a long-winded mutual admiration fest between the antagonists during the battle for Wunderland's liberation. It made as much sense as the Russians negotiating with and praising the positive qualities of the bunkered Germans during the battle for Berlin. The last story needed a good editor to clean it up, especially the beginning, and make it more coherent. IMO, this book is not worth buying and inferior to its predecessors.