The Far Side of Evil

Rating:
Summary: A dark but uplifting story
Review: Elana has just graduated from the Federation Anthropological Service, a program run by a highly advanced civilization that is designed to observe 'Youngling' planets and possibly intervene (without the citizens of the planet knowing they are doing so) if there is no other way to save its people. Immediately given an assignment to observe a planet on the brink of nuclear disaster, her fellow agent, Randil, is convinced he can save its people by doing the very thing Elana is sure will destroy it. Can she simply watch the planet destroy itself, or should she turn renegade like Randil, whose emotions have started controlling his head, and attempt to prevent disaster...or possibly make things worse?

This is a very mature book, with some rather dark sections in it that will make you cringe- and not only because it seems like those things could easily happen in our world. However, the reasons for what Elana does are well thought out, and the setting is described so that it feels like you're there. A wonderfully original plot, I'd give it four and half stars.

Rating:
Summary: A dark but uplifting story
Review: Elana has just graduated from the Federation Anthropological Service, a program run by a highly advanced civilization that is designed to observe `Youngling' planets and possibly intervene (without the citizens of the planet knowing they are doing so) if there is no other way to save its people. Immediately given an assignment to observe a planet on the brink of nuclear disaster, her fellow agent, Randil, is convinced he can save its people by doing the very thing Elana is sure will destroy it. Can she simply watch the planet destroy itself, or should she turn renegade like Randil, whose emotions have started controlling his head, and attempt to prevent disaster...or possibly make things worse?

This is a very mature book, with some rather dark sections in it that will make you cringe- and not only because it seems like those things could easily happen in our world. However, the reasons for what Elana does are well thought out, and the setting is described so that it feels like you're there. A wonderfully original plot, I'd give it four and half stars.

Rating:
Summary: the case for the stars
Review: Fiction doesn't have to be profound, just entertaining. But every once in a long while, a novel comes along that is both. Here, Sylvia Engdahl presents her "Critical Stage" argument for space exploration -- to wit, if we do not get out into space now, much further and longer than we have heretofore, then we may never get the opportunity again. As an advocate of space exploration and human life in the cosmos, I have explored this theme in my own non-fiction writings, noting how many cultures invented many things, only to see them languish (the Aztecs invented the wheel, to give but one example -- but they confined its use to just the toys of children). Engdahl had developed this idea years earlier, in The Far Side of Evil, but with all the tender flourishes and haunting interludes and personal verve of science fiction at its very best. The heroine, Elana (last seen in Enchantress from the Stars) is not very old. But the challenges she encounters echo from the very beginning to the ends of time, and speak to the very place of humanity in the universe, and what we need to do to attain and claim it. In age in which terrorism has threatened our ways of life in unexpected ways, Engdahl's probing story, and the recommendation it contains, are especially relevant. Originally published some three decades ago, this new edition, revised by the author's deft hand, is even better.

Rating:
Summary: the case for the stars
Review: Fiction doesn't have to be profound, just entertaining. But every once in a long while, a novel comes along that is both. Here, Sylvia Engdahl presents her "Critical Stage" argument for space exploration -- to wit, if we do not get out into space now, much further and longer than we have heretofore, then we may never get the opportunity again. As an advocate of space exploration and human life in the cosmos, I have explored this theme in my own non-fiction writings, noting how many cultures invented many things, only to see them languish (the Aztecs invented the wheel, to give but one example -- but they confined its use to just the toys of children). Engdahl had developed this idea years earlier, in The Far Side of Evil, but with all the tender flourishes and haunting interludes and personal verve of science fiction at its very best. The heroine, Elana (last seen in Enchantress from the Stars) is not very old. But the challenges she encounters echo from the very beginning to the ends of time, and speak to the very place of humanity in the universe, and what we need to do to attain and claim it. In age in which terrorism has threatened our ways of life in unexpected ways, Engdahl's probing story, and the recommendation it contains, are especially relevant. Originally published some three decades ago, this new edition, revised by the author's deft hand, is even better.

Rating:
Summary: The far side of evil
Review: I read this book when it first was published, and recentlyfound it again when moving and going through books. Even thirty yearslater, it is still fresh, and gives a vivid picture of totalitarian society as seen by an outsider. The moral and ethical issues are interwoven with a touch of Sci Fi. It might be classified as 'young adult' but this adult enjoyed it once again!

Rating:
Summary: A sane future
Review: Ms. Engdahl's works are the rare sort that broaden or change philosophical mindsets while being great stories with characters the reader never forgets. That any of her works are out of print is a mystery. Whenever I have loaned anyone her books, they have devoured them in one sitting and begged for more. The Far Side of Evil is a realistic depiction of the emotions involved in individuals living in a world divided by ideology. The writing is a masterpiece of human psychology. More than that, it offers hope of a sane future for humanity presented with calm rationality and certainty. And even more than that, you can't help but laugh and cry with Elana, and feel, as she does, empathy for those whose emotions have pulled them in destructive ways yet who are not bad people, just mistaken. The people of Elana's world view compassion as a strength, unlike our still Youngling world with its emphasis on the hard exterior which is only an appearance of strength. I read this book for the first time when I was 12, and I still check it out from the library. My son read it and loved it as much as I do (though the Children of the Stars trilogy is his favorite)If only the publishers would sit up and take notice and reprint this book!

Rating:
Summary: dull, drawn out
Review: This book should be compressed to a short story. Not bad, overall, but the basic ideas are repeated over and over again, drawn out interminably.

Hard to stay awake through it all.

Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: This is a wonderful sequel to 'Enchantress from the Stars', telling about the further adventuers of Elena. As good as the first book. But please, why isn't it in print?

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This was one of the few books that has made me cry. A heartrending novel, -WHY ISN"T IS IN PRINT ANYMORE????