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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece of scifi-fantasy, May 26, 2001
Only a very few people are capable of combining science fiction and fantasy, and even fewer can make it something that captures you as this book does. The book starts off with a young woman on a planetary anthropological mission, on a world called Andrecia. Andrecia is medieval and primitive, and in no way capable of handling the knowledge that advanced, spacefaring societies exist beyond their world. But the heroine, Elana, soon becomes involved in a plot concerning the potential invasion of Andrecia. But it is near-impossible for her to save the Andrecians, superstitious and magic-believers, from an invasion. Nearby is also a medical guy, Jarel, who feels remorse at the intentions of the Exploration Corps. They do not consider the population of Andrecia to be sentient and worthy of their notice, and promise to bring destruction down on Andrecia. There is also the son of an Andrecian woodcutter named Georyn, who identifies Elana as the Enchantress of the Stars. He believes that she has come for the purpose of testing him, if he can defeat a fearsome dragon in the forests. This clash of the sophisticated and the simple is well-drawn and almost saddening at times. Georyn's faith in Elana's "magic" is truly touching, without making him appear ignorant or dumb. Elana is an excellent, intelligent heroine who captures your sympathy and does not let go. Her struggles with integrity and truth do not transcend the reader, but are ones that you feel as much as she does. Too often in books there is a clash between magic and science, but in this particular book there is no clash. Perhaps that is partly due to the writing style -- half the magic seems to be in the otherworldly descriptions, interspersed with more grounded prose in the right places. (And Engdahl definitely knows how to write a beginning that will suck you in) Though some things like "Imperial Corps" and "Federation" imply a pseudo-Star-Trekkian space opera, this is none of the kind. This is a thoughtful work, filled with intelligent questions that will stimulate as it entertains. This goes on the shelf beside Tolkien and the Riddlemaster trilogy.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ethics vs. morality with a touch of philosophy for spice, April 23, 2004
Science fiction and fantasy rarely interact well with one another. A story that begins by uttering factual possibilities (as science fiction does) will not fare well in the face of fantastical elements. And then you read a miraculous story like, "Enchantress From the Stars" and it all goes higgledy-piddledy out the window. Sylvia Louise Engdahl's 1970 classic isn't just well written. It is also a deeply moving work that seeks to answer questions we may have about our own innate morality and future prospects. In this story we meet our heroine Alana. Alana spells out clearly the three phases of humanity. In the first phase, people are superstitious and primitive. In the second, they are scientific and logical. In the third (and this is the phase to which Alana belongs) people remember the spiritual side to life and enter onto an entirely different plane from that of their forebears. Those planets and people in the universe who have advanced to the third phase have joined together to save those in the first phase from those in the second. In this particular story, Alana joins both her father and her lover on a planet not too different from that of Earth. Their goal is to save the planet's fledgling civilization from a group of colonizers from another planet. To do so, Alana must enlist the help of a man living in an age of chivalry and a man living in an age of science. As these three worlds intersect, the book thoroughly examines where it is humanity is heading and what we have to look forward to. In short, it is a book about faith. How easy it would have been for author Engdahl to screw up while writing this. She could have made it too long (and it's not a quick read at that). The pace could have dragged. The characters (and jumps between different people's perspectives) could have rung false. Instead, the book is nearly perfect. Alana has sworn an oath to protect the secret of her advanced world's existence from the people she interacts with. At the same time, however, she wonders if it is proper to question the oath's policy. When she asks her father this question he responds as such: "We are sworn to carry out Federation policy, yes, just as a policeman is bound to uphold the law; but that doesn't mean we suspend our own ethical judgement". So Engdahl smoothly works in questions of ethics vs. morality as well. The book goes far beyond the normal sci-fi/fantasy literature it has been so unfortunately paired with. Rather, it is a deeply moving and deeply felt story that reaches for the Big Questions and, on top of that, is an enjoyable read. It is probably the most enjoyable philosophical book written for young adults that I have ever had the pleasure to read. A nearly forgotten, marvelous, wonderful book.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolutely delightful surprise!, November 28, 1997
By A Customer
What do you do when you get a glowing recommendation for an obscure book by an unprolific author you've never heard of? Well, if you're like me, you react skeptically, yet with fascination. So I jumped at the chance to get "Enchantress from the Stars", knowing it was rare. It's one thing to read a book *knowing* it will be good and it turns out so. It's something more special to go into a book with no expectations and to be totally blown away by it. That was what happened to me when reading this book. The lines of science fiction and fantasy blur here thanks to some very clever storytelling. It all takes place on the planet of Andrecia, the natives of which are analogous to those of Mediaeval Europe. Their planet is being invaded by a scientifically-oriented spacefaring culture. A small number of field agents from a culture further advanced than either of the aforementioned (and posessing psychic and telekinetic powers) arrives with intent to get the invaders to leave the planet to the natives. They go about this by telling a young native man named Georyn and his brother that they are sorcerers and that they will endow them with special powers that will make the invaders leave. The story goes beyond the standard "good vs. evil" plotlines in such stories, and posesses a refreshing sense of humanity that reminds me slightly of Ursula Le Guin. To say this is an excellent book doesn't begin to describe its majesty and emotional power.
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