"Children of the Star" - revisited
Jan. 24th, 2019 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
primeidealSo last month melannen was discussing a list of recommended SF/fantasy books, and one of the authors on there was Sylvia Louise Engdahl. Although I hadn't read the specific book, I mentioned that I'd enjoyed her "Children of the Star" trilogy back in the day. (Not sure when I read it, but 2006 or earlier!) Some of the phrasing is really gorgeous and lyrical, and had stuck with me.
Thenelf replied that she had re-released them on a self-publishing site (Smashwords), and so I picked them up to revisit!
It holds up pretty well. The main character, Noren, in the first book especially comes off as a little too "I am so special and smart, but my family and my fellow villagers are all sheep and just don't understaaaand," but the complexity of the antagonist (Stefred) helps counterbalance that. There's also a nice scene where Noren meets up with a group of other people who, like him, are contemplating heresy, but have a much more "burn the whole system down" attitude than his idealism, and the contrast even among "heretical" mindsets is pretty neat.
The second book can be a little anvil-y at times, but I really do like the take on science and religion, and hope for the future of humanity (in all its forms).
Engdahl also has an active website and answers reader e-mail, so I was honored to hear back from her after sending my appreciation!
There's no fic (except technically Noren shows up in an enormous crossover I cowrote many years ago...but that doesn't really count); maybe nominating it for Yuletide? Or Be The First if I can get off my butt sooner.
melannen was discussing a list of recommended SF/fantasy books, and one of the authors on there was Sylvia Louise Engdahl. Although I hadn't read the specific book, I mentioned that I'd enjoyed her "Children of the Star" trilogy back in the day. (Not sure when I read it, but 2006 or earlier!) Some of the phrasing is really gorgeous and lyrical, and had stuck with me.Then
elf replied that she had re-released them on a self-publishing site (Smashwords), and so I picked them up to revisit!It holds up pretty well. The main character, Noren, in the first book especially comes off as a little too "I am so special and smart, but my family and my fellow villagers are all sheep and just don't understaaaand," but the complexity of the antagonist (Stefred) helps counterbalance that. There's also a nice scene where Noren meets up with a group of other people who, like him, are contemplating heresy, but have a much more "burn the whole system down" attitude than his idealism, and the contrast even among "heretical" mindsets is pretty neat.
The second book can be a little anvil-y at times, but I really do like the take on science and religion, and hope for the future of humanity (in all its forms).
Engdahl also has an active website and answers reader e-mail, so I was honored to hear back from her after sending my appreciation!
There's no fic (except technically Noren shows up in an enormous crossover I cowrote many years ago...but that doesn't really count); maybe nominating it for Yuletide? Or Be The First if I can get off my butt sooner.
