Book review: Enchantress from the Stars (1970)

[cimorene]

I give this book 5/5. It's well-constructed and doing what it sets out to do. I recommend it as an anthropological sf adventure with an interesting injection of fantasy elements and a type of plot that's still pretty unusual in the genre, to the genre's detriment.

A minus for me is that one of the things it sets out to do is write at a YA level, and there are several things suboptimal about that for me - teenaged characters and the lower level of sophistication which typically accompanies the genre.

The obviously-Star-Trek-inspired plot is still fun and fresh-feeling after 50+ years, and it's fun to watch it unfold. On the other hand, because of the reading level issue alluded to above, there was some impatience with the speed of the unfolding and the amount of explanation and exposition, which are geared more for preteens.

Also, there's some romance which feels both unnecessary and underwhelming, as is too often the case, IMO, when they attempt to squeeze it into another genre. I think here my standards have just been raised by reading a lot of fanfiction to a point that a lot of professional fiction can't reach.

I will check out whether this writer has any non-YA; if so, I would try some more of it.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I don't remember if Engdahl wrote adult fiction but there is a sequel to this book whose name I can't remember now.

[phosfate]

The Far Side of Evil, which in Trek terms is the Nazi Planet with sensory isolation.

[phosfate]

Like a lot of vintage YA, at least in the US, this title was originally written for children and is now marketed to teens. This can be really frustrating for adult readers, who go in expecting a certain level and then have to dive. It was definitely in my elementary school's library.

[princessofgeeks]

Thank you, yes! That one is good too! In its YA way.

[phosfate]

I like it much more than the first one.

[cimorene]

Yeah, it's obvious that it's written for a lower level of experience and understanding - probably does quite a good job for the elementary level.