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Enchantress from the Stars Mass Market Paperback – February 24, 2003
Purchase options and add-ons
- Reading age12 - 15 years
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 10
- Dimensions0.77 x 4.3 x 7 inches
- PublisherFirebird
- Publication dateFebruary 24, 2003
- ISBN-100142500372
- ISBN-13978-0142500378
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Readers will find fascinating symbolism--and philosophical parallels to what they may have observed or thought. The book is completely absorbing and should have a wider appear than much science fiction." --Horn Book
"A serious and thought-provoking novel. . . Combined with this is an adolescent love-story that is no romantic nonsense; it is realistic and moving. The story is full of drama and suspense. . . Other science fiction stories [for young people] recently published seem all to pale in comparison." --Times Literary Supplement, London
"Not just a novel for young adults but also one of the finest sf novels ever written. . . After finishing it, you will likely find yourself disinclined for a while to pick up anything else in the genre for fear it will, as it were, taste of ashes. In sum, it is almost impossible to convey how good this book is." --InfinityPlus
"So human and endearing and told so movingly by the young heroine that it all seems wholly credible.... A very exciting story of dedication and peril." --George C. Stone center for Children's Books
From the Author
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Enchantress from the Stars
By Sylvia EngdahlPuffin Books
Copyright ©2003 Sylvia EngdahlAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0142500372
Chapter One
The Mission
At the edge of the Enchanted Forest there lived a poorwoodcutter who had four sons, the youngest of whomwas named Georyn. They were able to earn a meager livingby selling wood to the folk of the village, and althoughthere was seldom more than dry bread or thin gruel ontheir table, they were not miserable.
Yet the brothers, as they grew to manhood, foundlittle satisfaction in their lot. Often, as they toiled at thehewing of a tree on the outskirts of the wood, theystopped to watch the huntsmen of the King ride by tohunt in the Enchanted Forest, which their father hadforbidden them to enter. And the eldest son would say,"Ah, if I but had the power of the King and a hundredservants to do my bidding!" And the next brother wouldlaugh and reply, "Myself, I would settle for the King'streasure, for gold buys all that a man could wish for."And the next would tell them, "You are both fools, butif a man could win a fair bride such as the King's daughter,he would be well content."
Georyn, the youngest, would say nothing; yet in hisown heart he would whisper, "Had I the wisdom of theKing and his councillors, I would not be merely a woodcutter,and indeed I would not be hungry, nor would thevillagers. And I would know the secret of the EnchantedForest and be free to hunt there, and someday I might goeven beyond it!"
Now to that country there came a time of great sorrow,for on the far side of the Enchanted Forest thereappeared a monstrous Dragon that breathed fire, and itsroaring could be heard far and wide over the land; andmany folk fled in terror, fearing that their homes wouldbe laid waste. Many of the King's huntsmen went to fightthe Dragon, yet the Dragon remained and no menreturned.
At last the King sent forth a decree, and in every villageit was proclaimed: whosoever should free the land ofthe terrible Dragon would be given whatever reward hisheart should desire, even to a half of the kingdom. Yet thepeople were afraid. If the King's own huntsmen hadfailed, how could mere villagers face the monster and killit? And few men entertained thoughts of the King'sreward.
But the woodcutter's sons had dreamed long of possessingsuch as the King could give, and they begged theirfather for permission to travel to the King and ask hisblessing in the quest. The woodcutter himself, however,opposed them. "Even to enter the Enchanted Forest isdeath for such as you!" he cried. "Yet you talk of dragons!I forbid it; you shall not go."
The three elder brothers went angrily to their bedsand whispered far into the night, making plans to disobeytheir father and set out together at first light, for theybelieved their valor equal to that of nobles and huntsmen.But Georyn talked further with the woodcutter, asking,"Why should it be death to enter the Forest, when theKing and his followers have hunted there since before Iwas born?"
"As I have often told you," replied the woodcutter, "theEnchanted Forest is the home of evil spirits, who have laida curse on all who go there, though they dare not touchthe King's companions, This was true even before theDragon appeared to ravage our land."
"Then if the King should send us, they would nottouch us either."
"Perhaps not. But how could you hope to slay theDragon, you who have never before held a sword? It isimpossible, Georyn."
Now Georyn knew this, for though he was quite asbrave as his brothers, he was not so foolish as to considerhimself abler than the King's huntsmen at killing. Butthese men had failed, and if they had failed then perhapsthe Dragon could not be killed with a sword at all. "Theremay be a way to overcome the monster, Father," he said."But it will not be found by those who fear it! I can haveno happiness until I have at least tried."
And so at last, seeing that he could not dissuade them,the woodcutter allowed his sons to seek the aid of theKing. They set forth the next morning, following the riverthat circled the wood. When they had gone but a shortdistance, they came to a fork in the path: one way kept tothe course of the stream, while the other led to the King'scastle by a shorter route, through the forest.
"Let us take the quickest way," said the eldest brother.
"That would not be wise," protested Georyn. "Thatway leads directly into the Enchanted Forest."
His brothers laughed, saying, "What, do you believesuch foolishness? Do you fear that we will be bewitched?"
"Not all tales of enchantment are foolish ones," repliedGeoryn. "There will be a time when we must challengethat which lies within the Forest, but to do so now, unnecessarily,would be no better than folly. We have no knowledgeof what we face."
Thereupon the brothers stopped and debated; forthey remembered that they had indeed heard fearsometales of the Enchanted Forest, and they were not anxiousto test the truth of them. So at length they werepersuaded to take the familiar way, and for the rest ofthat day they continued along the river bank. It was abright, springtime morning; the leaves were young andgreen, the water sparkled in the sunlight, and as theyoung men walked, they whistled.
When the sun had sunk low behind the dark profilesof the fir trees, however, the Forest beyond the riverloomed larger, both in the brothers' eyes and in theirthoughts. The foaming roar of the water seemed lesscheering, and upon the opposite shore a faint trace of mistbegan to form. And then it was that the brothers cameupon a small stone hut, which surprised them greatly, forit had not been there in the past when they had cut woodnear that place. As they were wondering at this, a tall,dark-haired maiden stepped forth from the hut; and thewoodcutter's sons stood silent in amazement and awe, forshe was unlike any mortal maiden they had ever seen, andthey knew at once that she was an enchantress.
I was not supposed to be in the landing party at all—I wassupposed to be studying. That was part of the bargainwhen Father decided we should go in the first place; Iagreed to prepare for First Phase exams on shipboard, tomake up for the time I would be missing at the Academy.For that matter, the Academy itself wouldn't have grantedme leave on any other basis. Father's wish was enough toget us passage, since the starship was to make a stop at theworld on which our family reunion's to be held, but eventhat wouldn't have carried much weight with the Dean.
A Service starship is a good place to study; you havelots of free time at your disposal, especially if you are neitherpart of a survey team nor a member of the crew. Butwho wants to study all the time? I had never been off myhome world before; since I'm from a Service family, evenentering the Academy hadn't meant a trip for me. And Iwas dying to see something! I knew that I would not bepermitted to accompany any regular team for a long time.So when the Andrecian situation came up and Father wasappointed Senior Agent to handle it, I begged him to takeme with him.
"It's out of the question, Elana," he said gravely. "Weare not going on a sightseeing trip. You know that."
"Evrek's going!"
"Evrek has completed Third Phase; he has taken theOath. He's ready for a field assignment, and while Iwouldn't have chosen a thing like this for his first one, it'shis job."
It was true enough that Evrek and I were not really inthe same category any more. The Oath makes a difference,personally as well as officially; since Evrek wassworn, I'd hardly known him. Practically from themoment of his investiture, which had taken place only afew days before we left home, he had seemed changed insome subtle way that I couldn't quite define. One thingwas sure: it wasn't only the new white uniform. Agentsdon't wear their uniforms anyway, except on dress occasions.
Continues...
Excerpted from Enchantress from the Starsby Sylvia Engdahl Copyright ©2003 by Sylvia Engdahl. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Firebird; Reissue edition (February 24, 2003)
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0142500372
- ISBN-13 : 978-0142500378
- Reading age : 12 - 15 years
- Grade level : 7 - 10
- Item Weight : 6.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 0.77 x 4.3 x 7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #979,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #411 in Teen & Young Adult Space Opera
- #860 in Teen & Young Adult Alien Science Fiction
- #35,778 in Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Sylvia Engdahl is the author of eleven science fiction novels, six of which are Young Adult novels that are also enjoyed by adults. Although she is best known for her Newbery Honor book "Enchantress from the Stars," her other YA novels are for older teen readers and her five latest novels are adult SF. She has also published a nonfiction book and three collections of essays. In addition she has worked as a freelance editor of nonfiction anthologies for high schools (most of the nonfiction books that appear in Amazon's catalog under her name are those edited by her in this capacity). She is a strong advocate of space colonization, and besides a widely-read space section of her website she created the site www.spacequotes.com (now at www.sylviaengdahl.com/spacequotes/), which contains quotations about why humankind must expand into space. She welcomes visitors to her website at www.sylviaengdahl.com.
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And because it's a book, and the three different humanoid species involved don't have to be described in "picture is worth 1000 words" detail, the setting is universally ambiguous. It could be set on our Earth in medieval times, or it could be set on some distant planet in the future, where we (of this Earth) are one of the two more advanced humanoid species. Or it could be taking place "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away."
But whatever the setting, it does give me hope for the future of sentient life everywhere, and it doesn't contradict my scientific knowledge and experience; nor my metaphysical, "pseudo-scientific," cosmological, and theological philosophies and beliefs; because I know deep in my bones that we are all, individually *and* collectively destined for something wonderful in the days to come.
Our bright future probably will not unfold *exactly* like anyone thinks it will, but it will be spectacular. And the road we have to travel "as a species" or "as children of God," (or as whatever framework one sees oneself being a part of), it will be worth every last ounce of misery, pain, and suffering needed to walk that road. The future is brighter than the darkest days we can imagine.
The story is told from 3 perspectives. One is classic fairy tale. One is classic science fiction. And last is . . . advanced science fiction? Space opera? Anyway, the sections alternate and I was impressed with the change in perspective and language. It's not a long book, but fit quite a bit in.
More important, it's a significant commentary on symbolism. While I understand that many people life science fiction for the world-building, I like this particularly because it lacked that. The author even said something to the effect of, "We'll just call it a ray gun. Or a dragon." There's no need to create new words or re-define anything. She used simplicity of language to focus on the real message. Which is....
The real message is . . . growth and maturity, for both individuals and civilizations. Also sacrifice, choices, perceptions, motives, love, success, and letting go. There's a lot going on, but each of the main characters are struggling through their own version of similar issues. Also, there's a deep grasp of the reality that life isn't perfect and that suffering is real. We sometimes see green grass on the other side, but there's suffering and struggle there too. The three perspectives achieved that in a way that is not usually possible.
Overall, not only did I thoroughly enjoy it.... I will probably re-read it in the future. I haven't done that often since I was young, but this one feels worth the re-visit in a few years.
Otherwise fine, slight wear, binding good, etc.
I'd checked a few times to see if the story was out on Kindle because I mostly buy ebooks. (My thousands of books overflow my library) I was always disappointed not to find the ebook on Amazon. At one time, I thought of writing Sylvia Engdahl to encourage her publisher to publish in ebook format.
So thinking of the story last week, I once again checked on Amazon and there it was! I snapped it up and read it with as much enjoyment as before.
An author's note states that she updated it slightly to change the sexist language of the day, and I'm glad she did. for I'm sure that would have taken away my enjoyment of the story. Now it's a more modern read.
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Having read the other books earlier this year, it was quite clear that this story exists in the same world as the others. It is in no way a sequel to "Heritage of the Star", but the galactic anthropological service is a key theme in the last book of that trilogy. The themes and ideas are all very similar.
The idea of a clash of civilisations at different stages of development is an intelligent and interesting one, and this book explores those themes well. The author explicitly states that the book is not allegorical for our times, but readers will see similarities with the story of "avatar" and thus with the clash of civilisations when Europeans came to the Americas (particularly the USA).
There are a few problems with this book though in my opinion. One is that having so recently read the other trilogy by this author, I was surprised and perhaps a little disappointed that it did not have more originality in setting. Add to this the galactic federation, and the multiple humanoid looking races, and this is a story that appears to be a product of the Star Trek age in which it was conceived. But that does not really detract from the ideas conveyed or the quality of the story.







