July 14, 2004
Enchantress from the Stars
Ok, last sci fi one, really, since I have to turn in the assignment shortly.
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl (Athenium, 1970, 275 pages, ISBN: 0613616197) feels like the perfect choice to end my series because it also ties in amazingly well with the folk tales I was reading (and even to the medieval books waiting in my pile). It is aimed at readers 12 and up, so technically doesn't fit in the scope of the project, but I loved reading it and thought it was amazing. In the book, three civilizations from different planets in widely varying stages of development clash in what could be either a mutually disastrous or beneficial encounter.
The folk tale part involves four sons of a woodcutter who set off on a quest to defeat the dragon that has been terrifying their village, hoping that they will be richly rewarded by the king. On their way, they meet an Enchantress from the stars who promises to help, requiring a series of trials and tests before granting magic tokens with which to combat the dragon. Sound familiar?
But we know that it is not an Enchantress at all, but Elana - a student from a much more advanced world, who had stowed-away on her father's mission to the planet Andrecia. The dragon is not a dragon at all, but a huge machine belonging to an Imperial Empire who plans to colonize the planet. These colonizers are more advanced than the Andrecia natives, but are a technological people who haven't yet advanced to the higher level like Elana's people who have control of telepathy and other powers. The mission is to pursuade the Imperial Empire to leave the planet and its people without revealing to them the existance of the more advanced civilization.
Sound complicated? It is, but it is wonderfully told through the eyes of Elana, Georyn (the woodcutter's youngest son), and Jarel a doctor in the service of the Imperial Empire who has doubts about what his people are doing. It raises lots of good issues about colonization and advancement of civilization (and what it means to be civilized) as well as ideas about magic and believing and love. As the inside flap says, "This unusual book fo science fiction asks questions that we ourselves much answer for our own times."
The book was also a Newbury Honor book in 1971.