Engdahl, Sylvia Louise
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1933- ) US author, employed in the field of computer programming 1957-1967. Her novels, though marketed as juveniles, appeal as well to adults for their intelligence and humanity. The Elena sequence – comprising Enchantress from the Stars (1970) and The Far Side of Evil (1971) – is perhaps her best-known work. The first describes, with suggestive analogues between traditional and technological versions of crucial events (to a savage, all technology is Magic), the early career of Elena, who is in the Anthropological Service and must protect the "primitive" culture of one planet from a technologically more advanced culture from a neighbouring world. Engdahl's second Young Adult series, the Noren sequence – comprising This Star Shall Abide (1972; vt Heritage of the Star 1973), Beyond the Tomorrow Mountains (1973) and The Doors of the Universe (1981), all assembled as Children of the Star (rev omni 2000) – also displays characteristics of the Planetary Romance, the planet in question this time being a totalitarian Dystopia. The societal design in these books, set on a planet with an imposed Religion, takes, not unusually, the shape of a pyramid, with benign but hidden representatives of an alien race ruling the world; more surprising is Engdahl's refusal to dismantle – once that structure has been exposed, after the time-honoured pattern – this hierarchy. A later series, the Flame sequence comprising Stewards of the Flame (2007) and Promises of the Flame (2009), focuses on the moral dilemmas of a medical doctor abducted to a colony planet (Colonization of Other Worlds), problems also faced by a Starship captain, in dealing with an isolated population with Psi Powers. [JC/PN]
Sylvia Louise Engdahl
born Los Angeles, California: 24 November 1933
works
series
Elena
- Enchantress from the Stars (New York: Atheneum, 1970) [Elena: hb/]
- The Far Side of Evil (New York: Atheneum, 1971) [Elena: hb/Jody Hewgill]
- The Far Side of Evil (New York: Walker, 2003) [rev: Elena: hb/Jody Hewgill]
Noren
- This Star Shall Abide (New York: Atheneum, 1972) [Noren: hb/Richard Cuffari]
- Heritage of the Star (London: Victor Gollancz, 1973) [vt of the above: Noren: hb/David Smee]
- Beyond the Tomorrow Mountains (New York: Atheneum, 1973) [Noren: hb/]
- The Doors of the Universe (New York: Atheneum, 1981) [Noren: hb/Paul Geiger]
- Children of the Star (Atlanta, Georgia: Meisha Merlin, 2006) [rev omni of the above three: Noren: hb/Tom Kidd]
Flame
- Stewards of the Flame (Charleston, South Carolina: BookSurge Publishing, 2007) [Flame: pb/Jason Salmon]
- Promise of the Flame (Eugene, Oregon: Ad Stellae Books, 2009) [Flame: pb/]
- The Hidden Flame (Eugene, Oregon: Ad Stellae Books, 2009) [omni of the above two: Flame: pb/]
individual titles
- Journey Between Worlds (New York: Atheneum, 1970) [hb/]
- Journey Between Worlds (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 2006) [rev of the above: hb/Craig Phillips]
nonfiction (selected)
- The Planet-Girded Suns: Man's View of the Other Solar Systems (New York: Atheneum, 1974) [nonfiction: hb/]
- The Subnuclear Zoo: New Discoveries in High Energy Physics (New York: Atheneum, 1977) with Rick Roberson [nonfiction: hb/]
- Tool for Tomorrow: New Knowledge about Genes (New York: Atheneum, 1979) with Rick Roberson [nonfiction: hb/]
works as editor (selected)
- Universe Ahead: Stories of the Future (New York: Atheneum, 1975) with Rick Roberson [anth: hb/Richard Cuffari]
- Anywhere, Anywhere: Stories of Tomorrow (New York: Atheneum, 1976) [anth: hb/Guy Fleming]
- Extraterrestrial Life (Farmington Hills, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2006) [nonfiction: anth: Contemporary Issues Companion: hb/]
- Genetic Engineering (Farmington Hills, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2006) [nonfiction: anth: Contemporary Issues Companion: hb/]
- Cloning (Farmington Hills, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2006) [nonfiction: anth: Contemporary Issues Companion: hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry