Customer Reviews

Journey Between Worlds (Firebird)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful book, and one of my favorites in the whole world. The reader can really connect to the characters. It's a shame that it isn't in print. In my opinion, Engdahl's novels should be included with other popular young adult science fiction/fantasy classics like The Giver, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Wizard of Oz, etc.

Don't pass up a chance to read this book.

P.S. They should make this book into a movie!

I'm a lucky owner of this young adult novel. My poor copy is a beaten, bruised thing with a twisted spine and stained pages; I adore it.

Anyone familar with Engdahl's work understands that she lays a foundation of philosophy and bases story atop this sometimes shaky ground. Her ideals, however, are refreshing. Not hard sci-fi, not entirely romantic, and certainly not pushy, but full of hope and whimsy and thought-provocation. Considering that this was published in 1970, the scientific reasoning (surrounding the journey to Mars and Mars itself) is left open-ended and ambiguous, which I actually appreciate. It gives the novel a sense of timelessness and doesn't outdate recent scientific knowledge. What's left is a charming, charming tale.

We the reader even get our happy ending.

By the way, this was the first novel Engdahl wrote. She had difficulties locating a willing publisher and, while still searching, wrote Enchantress from the Stars. It was this second novel that got quickly swallowed by the Atheneum publishing house who then agreed to also print the much beloved Journey Between Worlds.

So, if this book presents itself, I highly recommend it! It's a fast and fetching read, Absolutely charming.

If you ever ran out of Heinlein juveniles and Andre Norton's best space books and you started sobbing, wondering why there couldn't be more of those wise, wonderful, exciting books, calm down. Dry your eyes. Go find this book and Engdahl's Enchantress from the Stars. They are really good books, and it seems that the only reason they aren't as famous as the Moon of Three Rings or Have Spacesuit, Will Travel is that Engdahl must have run into some kind of serious marketing problems.

Melinda doesn't want to go to Mars. Why leave Earth when everything humans are meant to enjoy is there? But when her father, whom she's only seen sporadically over the last ten years, asks her to join him on a business trip to one of the Mars colonies after she graduates from high school, she can't bring herself to refuse him. Little does she know her months on Mars will change the way she thinks about life, love, and humanity.

With JOURNEY BETWEEN WORLDS, Sylvia Louise Engdahl has written a science-fiction story that will appeal to a variety of teens. Melinda faces many of the same problems today's young adults do, only in an otherworldly location. The first person narrative puts readers right inside Melinda's head and allows them to see through her eyes. Her struggle to overcome her fear of change and to examine her feelings and beliefs honestly should resonate with anyone uncertain of exactly who they are and want to be.

The story, of course, is not only about Melinda, but also Mars. The descriptions of Mars and its colonies are fascinating in their detail and realism, providing an exciting setting for Melinda's personal conflicts. The colonists, with their pride and passion, will make readers wonder if they, too, would have the pioneer spirit.

I would recommend JOURNEY BETWEEN WORLDS to any teen looking for a thought-provoking read. Unlike many science-fiction novels, this is not a story of action and technology, but rather of wonder. I'll admit, at times I wished there was more excitement, but overall it was a satisfying read. Both Melinda's problems and the issues raised by the colonization of another planet will give readers much to ponder long after they've finished reading.

Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

It's not very often that you can say a science fiction book is dated--and not consider that a problem. I wish someone would reprint _Journey Between Worlds_ because I'm not sure there's anything else like it--and it's a wonderful read. It's fascinating to look at how strange some of Melinda's preconceptions sound today. She assumes that she should let her boyfriend make decisions for her, and that she'll end up a housewife after she gets married and her husband finishes law school--and she eventually realizes she's not satisfied with that, but it happens quietly. Mentions of "Manifest Destiny" are also troubling historically--but it's funny when you realize that the planets they're talking about colonizing don't have any native inhabitants. The social implications all change, of course; in that sense this may be a really excellent book to read in the classroom, probably at a junior-high or high school level (if only it were in print!), because it does sort of explain the perspective of colonization in a way that lets you understand how the colonists must have felt. Comparing this book to a story sent on Earth, looking at colonization and oppression, would be a very interesting exercise.

On the other hand, perspectives of the space age--right as it began--are fascinating and beautiful. I'm not sure of any other novel that expresses that feeling so well. It's also a bit bittersweet to read it now, since the author's wide-eyed hopes haven't come to pass, after all over the intervening decades. I guess, all in all, there's a surprising amount to think about here. Plus a really good story (which I haven't even mentioned...)

Forget shiny new cars or lump sums of money -- for her high school graduation, Melinda's father gives her a roundtrip ticket to Mars. In this near-future setting, space travel is possible but prohibitively expensive: this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

There's just one problem: she doesn't want to go. Melinda may be a 21st century girl, but she just wants to become a teacher and marry her boyfriend Ross. It is only after an unexpected quarrel with Ross that Melinda finds herself setting off for this brave new world. En route, she meets a young man named Alex Preston, who is on his way back to Mars, the red planet of his birth -- a chance encounter that has the power to change everything that Melinda thought she wanted.

Don't expect much more plot than that. Sylvia Louise Engdahl's unusual SF novels are idea and character driven, and Journey Between Worlds is no exception. Apart from a number of attitude adjustments, not a whole lot actually happens in Melinda's retrospective account of her time on Mars.

There may not be much action, but Engdahl's well-realized vision of Mars is a compelling reason to read the book. Details about New Terran architecture, Martian politics, and even Christmas on a planet with few material commodities paint a thoughtful picture of human civilization on Mars. Because technology is never emphasized, more than three decades after its original publication, Engdahl's Mars still seems relevant.

To get to the descriptions of Mars, however, you'll have to put up with Melinda. Journey Between Worlds has the misfortune of being a character-driven novel with unlikable characters. Melinda spends a good deal of her time on Mars in her hotel room, complaining of boredom and homesickness. When not thus engaged, her second favorite pastime seems to be getting pushed around by older men who are patronizing, manipulative, and forever correcting her admittedly ill-informed notions. Melinda never gets a good rejoinder in, and she doesn't even mind. Mars may have aged gracefully, but the book's gender politics have not: sexism is intrinsic to the plot and legitimized by the romance. Engdahl notes in her afterword that she revised the book to deal with this issue, but my usually well-behaved inner feminist remains appalled.

Of course, this won't bother all readers, and Engdahl's vision of the red planet may be worth tolerating Melinda and maybe even Alex. However, her other books are so much better -- try Enchantress from the Stars and the trilogy Children of the Star for blazingly intelligent, deeply thoughtful YA SF -- that Journey Between Worlds should be read last, if at all.

I've read Science Fiction for a long time but haven't encountered much YA SF until recently. This book is now one of my favorites. It does explain some science: gravity, spaceflight, Mars conditions etc. But it mostly deals with how people live, act and react in these different future conditions and locations. I loved how the story showed that our point of view and preferences are largely based on what we've been exposed to so far in our life. Melinda has to deal with new things, ideas, people and places that are different and hard for her. As she comes to understand, accept and even like the alien things and people of Mars we also are taught to be more open minded. Melinda is a great character. It was good to read a Martian novel again - it seems like there has not been many recently.

Melinda should be happy to get to travel to Mars with her dad. Everyone wants to go to space, don't they? But not 18-year-old Melinda. She had her life all planned out with her earthbound boyfriend, and she's not happy when dad springs this graduation trip on her. Still, it's for less than a year, she can start college when she gets back, and her boyfriend will still be waiting.

Once she arrives on Mars, she's surprised at how, well... civilized the colonies are. Of course, she makes a few enemies when she inadvertently insults colonists she meets by calling them the equivalent of savages. Still, she manages to make friends with a second-generation colonist named Alex and is soon torn between new love and old prejudices.

Wow did I love this book. I grew up on old sci-fi young adult books, especially those of Robert A. Heinlein. The moment I first saw this book on the shelf in hardcover, I wanted to read it. The cover just reminded me of Podkayne of Mars (by Heinlein), which was one of my teenage favorites. As it turned out, both books were originally published about seven years apart. I did hesitate to buy Journey Between Worlds, because I had a couple of other books by the author, and neither book had really caught my interest, but I was in love with this one from the first page.

The author, Sylvia Engdahl, writes after the story about how when she re-released this book, all she did was update some facts about Mars, but in essence, this is the same book that she published in 1970. And the book still holds a lot of truth. Journey Between Worlds is about the unknown and shaking your life up. Melinda expects Mars to be cold and dome life to be a sterilized bore. True, there are some differences, meat is synthetic and everyone lives in apartments due to space issues, but she finds that people adapt and can love this life just as much as the one back on Earth. She simply can't comprehend why someone would choose to leave Earth for Mars or if they were born on Mars, not move back to Earth. Alex, her new Mars born friend, especially puzzles her, because he spent a few years in college on Earth and actually wanted to return to Mars to live out his life. His choice to live on Mars makes no sense to Melinda.

While the book has science fiction elements, it's more of the pioneering western sci-fi. A sub-category all of its own, it's one that I personally love. There's something so human about adapting to a new environment, the give and take of living and molding the land into what we want. Humanity has never been happy with where it is, and the stars are simply the next great unknown. I think a lot of 50s, 60s, and 70s era sci-fi really captures that wonderment in a unique way, because at the time, humanity hadn't yet put its footprint on the Moon and there was still so much unknown. (Yes, I know, the first moon landing was 1969 and the book was published in 1970, but you have to allow a year or so for publishing.) And after we did land on the Moon, it was suddenly all possible, and we could begin to imagine that our children's children might really live in colonies on the surfaces of other planets.

Another great aspect of this book is the pioneer spirit. As I touched on before, Melinda can't understand why people would want to live away from Earth, just like others have wondered why someone would want to cross the deadly ocean from England or make the trek to Oregon. For as long as pioneers have made the journey, there have also been those wondering why someone would want to leave. Sure, space might be getting cramped, but why risk the dangers of the unknown? Engdahl does an excellent job of showing the journey of Melinda's thoughts and giving us a very believable conclusion to her story. I really felt like Melinda was growing and changing, that she was a real person telling me a story.

Lessons on growing up are often unpalatable for teens, but this one tastes great! I can still remember the first time I read it upon its original publication. It stresses that sacrifice for the greater good of all humanity is one of the highest qualities a person can strive to have. Great science facts are also included.

I am a great fan of Sylvia Louise Engdahl's novels Enchantress From the Stars and the Far Side of Evil. I was pleased to find this book, which I'd never heard of, in my public library.

I read it in one sitting, absorbed by Melinda's struggles, by her friend Alex, and by the philosophical themes that underlie Ms. Engdahl's work.

Though it was an interesting story well told, I did feel compelled to dock it a star. The author has a definite bias in favor of space colonization, and all of the conflicts in the novel are weighted towards that.

Poor Janet, the space-phobic biologist, is the novel's strawman (or woman): all of her objections to colonization are so extreme, they are set up only to be knocked down. I felt the same about Melinda's flaws: To arrive at a faraway place without much idea of how people actually live, (particularly when you've never wanted to visit!) isn't provincial, just human.

Another reason for docking it a star is the novel's adaptation of the concept of Manifest Destiny, glossing over the more brutal flaws of that inspiration to expansion.

Ms Engdahl believes that expansion and exploration are a challenge humanity needs to rid it of war (explored more thoroughly in The Far Side of Evil.) However, America's own history proves this is not so; sadly, we bring our problems with us, rather than leave them behind. New territory alone does not solve them.

That is not say there is no value to the idea of space exploration and colonization. It is true, after all, that humanity needs challenges to grow. I also believe, as she does, that a society with too much material comfort, and too little challenge, can become corrupt, even decadent.

I don't agree, though, that space exploration is the only answer. Though the idea is raised only to be dismissed, there is value to the idea of solving our problems before we export them to new worlds. Certainly there are challenges enough here to demand our creatively, commitment, intelligence and courage for generations to come. Perhaps we shouldn't wait to solve *all* of our problems before venturing to other worlds, but we should at least learn how not to exploit an environment simply for what it offers us.

Now back to the story: Unlike so much science fiction, the conflicts and situations are rooted in what is human and believable, rather than some "futuristic" idea of how people should behave. This is what makes the story so gripping. Melinda meets challenges and grows, without coming across as unusually perfect or good. Alex slowly becomes her friend and guide. It would have been easy for his character to come across as two dimensional or insufferable. Instead he is intelligent and fairly wise, but not flawless.

I did feel a little uneasy with the issue of Melinda's longing for Earth, and how that is resolved--or rather, never fully resolved. One thing is clear: changing planets isn't like changing continents; it is going to an environment entirely hostile to humans. Longing for air, water, plants, animals, Earth landscapes, weather, is more than homesickness. It is longing for the very stuff we are made of, and that makes us. I also had trouble believing that her choice must be a one-time all-for-nothing one, since Melinda is something of an heiress, and could therefore afford more than one trip. There was a little too much sacrifice in the resolution of that conflict for me.

In spite of my misgivings, I was moved, left unexpectedly happy and hopeful, by the ending, especially the final paragraph.

Bottom line: If the book is in your public library, get it! (along with her others.) You won't regret it, especially if you know a girl or young woman who loves new worlds and loves to read.