Enchantress from the Stars
Encyclopedia
Enchantress from the Stars is a young adult science-fiction novel by Sylvia Engdahl
Sylvia Engdahl
Sylvia Louise Engdahl is an American science fiction writer. She has published thirteen books, including seven science fiction novels, three nonfiction books, two science fiction anthologies, and a children's picture book. Engdahl is best known for her novel Enchantress from the Stars which was...

. It is a 1971 Newbery Honor book, and it was given a 1990 Phoenix Award
Phoenix Award
The Phoenix Award is awarded annually to a book originally published in English twenty years previously which did not receive a major award at the time of its publication....

 by the Children's Literature Association
Children's Literature Association
The Children's Literature Association is a non-profit scholarly association dedicated to studying children's literature. Begun in the 1970s to generate interest in children's literature as an academic discipline and to provide a place for those studying children's literature to share ideas, the...

 "from the perspective of time". It was a Finalist for the 2002 Book Sense
Book Sense
Book Sense was a marketing and branding program of the American Booksellers Association, in which many independent bookstores across North America participated in order to better compete with the large book chains. Bookstores participating in the Book Sense program were expected to display the Book...

 Book of the Year Award in the Rediscovery category. It is followed by The Far Side of Evil, which features the same heroine but is significantly different in tone.

The 2001 edition includes a foreword by author Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s...

.

Background

Engdahl wrote parts of the novel lllin the 1950s, thus most of the concepts in the novel were conceived prior to such science fiction franchises as Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

. In her 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. However, the author notes her characters take the rule of non-intervention much more seriously than does the crew of the USS Enterprise
Starship Enterprise
The Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...

in Star Trek.

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 a planet where intervention has been deemed necessary because a technologically advanced empire 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 them (without exposing him to the truth about either alien civilization) Elana takes on the role of an enchantress. She gives him various tools, leading him to believe that they are magical.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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