Enchantress from the Stars

Last updated
Enchantress from the Stars
Enchantress from the Stars.jpg
First edition cover
Author Sylvia Engdahl
Genre Young adult science fiction
Publisher Atheneum Books
Publication date
January 1, 1970
Awards Newbery Honor (1971)
Phoenix Award (1990)
ISBN 978-0-43937489-7

Enchantress from the Stars is a young adult science fiction novel by Sylvia Engdahl published by Atheneum Books in 1970. It was her first book and is set in the Anthropology Service universe (1970 to 1981). [1] Its sequel The Far Side of Evil (1971) features the same heroine, Elana, and the two are sometimes called the Elana series, [1] [2] although the sequel is quite different in tone.

Contents

Enchantress was a runner up for the 1971 Newbery Medal, the American Library Association award to the previous year's best children's book by a U.S. author. It won the 1990 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association as the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. The award is named for the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity. [3] A new American hardcover edition was issued by Walker and Company in 2001 with a foreword by Lois Lowry and an afterword by the author. [1] Next year it was a finalist for the Book Sense Book of the Year Award in the Rediscovery category.

Background

Engdahl wrote parts of Enchantress in the 1950s; many concepts in the novel date from that time, prior to Star Trek and other 1960s science fiction. In a 1997 journal article, "Enchantress from the Stars: Sylvia Louise Engdahl, Star Trek and Science Fiction", Carol Littlejohn writes that many of the themes and concepts in the novel (such as the peaceful exploration of space without interfering in the history of other planets) are similar to those in Star Trek. [4] However, the author notes that her characters take the rule of non-intervention much more seriously than does Star Trek's crew of the spaceship Enterprise . [2]

Plot summary

Elana belongs to a peaceful, technologically advanced, space-faring civilization called the "Federation", which monitors worlds which are still "maturing", allowing them to grow without any sort of contact or intervention. Elana stows away on a ship in order to accompany her father on a mission to Andrecia where intervention has been deemed necessary because a technologically advanced empire (The Imperial Exploration Corps) has invaded the planet in order to take advantage of its resources. In order to lead a young woodcutter (a native of that planet) against the Corps (without exposing him to the truth about either alien civilization), Elana takes on the role of an enchantress. She trains him and his brother in psychokinesis in an effort to get the Imperial Corps to leave Andrecia peacefully. She also gives him various tools, leading him to believe that they are magical.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Blish</span> American science fiction and fantasy author (1921–1975)

James Benjamin Blish was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his Cities in Flight novels and his series of Star Trek novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel A Case of Conscience won the Hugo Award. He is credited with creating the term "gas giant" to refer to large planetary bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Bear</span> American writer and illustrator (1951–2022)

Gregory Dale Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict, parallel universes, consciousness and cultural practices, and accelerated evolution. His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Spinrad</span> American science fiction writer and critic (born 1940)

Norman Richard Spinrad is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Broderick</span> Australian writer

Damien Francis Broderick is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel The Dreaming Dragons (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine, his The Judas Mandala (1982) contains the first appearance of the term "virtual reality" in science fiction, and his 1997 popular science book The Spike was the first to investigate the technological singularity in detail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gerrold</span> American screenwriter and novelist (born 1944)

David Gerrold is an American science fiction screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the script for the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", created the Sleestak race on the TV series Land of the Lost, and wrote the novelette "The Martian Child", which won both Hugo and Nebula Awards, and was adapted into a 2007 film starring John Cusack.

Laurence Michael Yep is an American writer. He is known for his children's books, having won the Newbery Honor twice for his Golden Mountain series. In 2005, he received the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his career contribution to American children's literature.

<i>The Science of Discworld</i> 1999 book by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen

The Science of Discworld is a 1999 book by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Three sequels, The Science of Discworld II: The Globe, The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, and The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day, have been written by the same authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Sagan</span> American novelist and screenwriter (born 1970)

Nicholas Julian Zapata Sagan is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the science fiction novels Idlewild, Edenborn, and Everfree, and has also written scripts for episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. He is the son of astronomer Carl Sagan and artist and writer Linda Salzman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Hughes</span> British Canadian childrens writer

Monica Hughes was an English-Canadian author of books for children and young adults, especially science fiction. She also wrote adventure and historical novels set in Canada, and the text for some children's picture books. She may be known best for the Isis trilogy of young-adult science fiction novels (1980–1982).

Julia Ecklar is an American science fiction author and a singer and writer of filk music who recorded numerous albums in the Off Centaur label in the early 1980s, including Minus Ten and Counting, Horse-Tamer's Daughter, and Genesis. Her Divine Intervention album, released in 1986, was the first filk genre release to combine the lyrical elements with orchestral and rock arrangements.

Star Trek: A Time to... is a series of nine novels set in the fictional universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It deals with the ship and crew of the Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) between the events of the films Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek Nemesis (2002). The series includes explanations for some apparent continuity problems between these films.

Sylvia Louise Engdahl is an American writer, known best for science fiction. Her debut novel Enchantress from the Stars, published by Atheneum Books in 1970, was the 1971 Newbery Honor Book, was a Geffen Award finalist in 2008, Best Translated YA Book, and she won the Phoenix Award for that work twenty years later.

<i>The Price of the Phoenix</i> 1977 novel by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath

The Price of the Phoenix is a science fiction novel by American writers Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, based upon the 1960s television series Star Trek. It was first published by Bantam Books in 1977, and reissued by Corgi and Titan Books in the UK.

<i>The Keeper of the Isis Light</i> 1980 novel by Monica Hughes

The Keeper of the Isis Light is a science fiction novel for young adults by Monica Hughes, published by Hamish Hamilton in 1980. It is the first of three books in the Isis series, or The Isis Trilogy in its omnibus edition. They are set in the distant future on the planet Isis, which revolves around the F5 (yellow-white) star Ra in the constellation Indus.

Diane L. Carey-Brodeur is an American fiction writer, publishing under the pen names Lydia Gregory, Diane Carey, and D. L. Carey.

Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are a New York Times-bestselling husband-and-wife writing/producing team. In June, 2013, at the Constellation Awards ceremony in Toronto, the writing couple were honored with the Constellation Award for "Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television" for their role in creating the series, Primeval: New World.

Ilsa J. Bick is an American author of short stories, e-books and novels. She has written for several long-running science fiction series, most notably Star Trek, Battletech, and Mechwarrior: Dark Age. She's taken both Grand and Second Prize in the Strange New Worlds anthology series, while her story, "The Quality of Wetness," took Second Prize in the prestigious Writers of the Future contest in 2000. Her first Star Trek novel, Well of Souls, was a 2003 Barnes & Noble bestseller.

Chris Moriarty is an American science fiction and fantasy writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dayton Ward</span> American science fiction writer

Dayton Ward is an American science fiction author primarily known for his Star Trek novels and short stories, which began with publication in the Strange New Worlds anthology series. He published stories in each of the first three Strange New Worlds volumes, making him the first author to render himself ineligible under the rules of that series. As such, future authors who achieved the same feat were said to have earned a "Wardy".

Richard Cuffari was an award-winning American artist. He is known for his illustrations for children's books and science fiction books. Specializing in historical and nonfiction topics, Cuffari illustrated over 200 books.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sylvia Louise Engdahl at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  2. 1 2 "The Elana Books by Silvia Engdahl". sylviaengdahl.com. Retrieved 2008-03-11. This is the author's presentation of bibliographic data and frequently asked questions.
  3. "Phoenix Award Brochure 2012" [ permanent dead link ]. Children's Literature Association. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
    See also the current homepage "Phoenix Award" Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine .
  4. "Enchantress from the Stars: Sylvia Louise Engdahl, Star Trek and Science Fiction". Carol Littlejohn. The ALAN Review. Vol. 25 No. 1 (Fall 1997). Retrieved 2008-03-11.