There are lots of criminals, cultists, conspirators, revolutionaries, and dictators in these stories, frequently cast into a sort of parody of a well-worn literary trope which Borges is treating with evident affection. There are only a few women here and there. Frequently his tales provide splendid examples of the storytelling maxim that one should get out early rather than late, sometimes in the middle of the main action leaving the reader in a state of turmoil wondering what exactly just happened. He also uses economy in depicting people and places in as few strokes as possible, sometimes taking just a few lines, or maybe a couple of paragraphs, to introduce and dispose of a subplot. It is well known how he has inspired many writers of speculative fiction by the way he blazed a trail through realms of uninhibited fancy. Not every single one is a masterpiece, but virtually all of them has some aspect that I would like to steal and use in my own stories.