Herald of the Flame

by Sylvia Engdahl

Overview

Starship captain Terry Steward, ne Terry Radnor, is committed to spreading acceptance of psi powers and other advanced mind capabilities throughout the worlds of humankind. A strange turn of fate has enabled him to overcome terrorists who would have put an end to the colony world Maclairn's plan to achieve this goal. Now with his own ship Estel, he journeys from world to world, heralding the hopeful future about which he alone knows the full truth. But the opponents of mind power still pose a threat and on Earth the persecution of people who develop new abilities is increasing. Soon targeted by bounty hunters, Terry risks everything that matters to him in a desperate attempt to defeat Maclairn's enemies, not guessing that if he lives long enough, he is destined for an even greater role in human history than he has played as a defender of its cause.

This is the second book in the Captain of Estel trilogy, and is a sequel to Defender of the Flame, which should be read first because this one contains major spoilers for it. Set two centuries later in tme than Stewards of the Flame and Promise of the Flame, which tell of the founding of Maclairn, it is an independent and quite different story that in no way depends on having read them. Though intended for adults, the trilogy will also be of interest to older teens who have enjoyed Enchantress from the Stars and The Far Side of Evil, since it deals in part with the Service that appears in those books. (Please note that unlike Engdahl's YA novels, all five of these books contain some material inappropriate for readers below high school age.)

From the reviews:

“A futuristic ride that has many parallels in today’s society. This is a ‘thinking man’s’ science fiction book—the type we need more of today!” —The Feathered Quill ...

“These novels [this book and its sequel] are not so much genre ... ‘Science Fiction’ as they are Literature. These are novels about life.” --Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Alien Romances Reviews 14

Product Details

BN ID:	2940046168907
Publisher:	Ad Stellae Books
Publication date:	10/15/2014
Series:	The Captain of Estel , #2
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	523 KB

About the Author

Sylvia Engdahl is the author of eleven science fiction novels. She is best known for her six traditionally-published Young Adult novels that are also enjoyed by adults, all but one of which now have indie editions. That one, Enchantress from the Stars (available from its current publishers) was a Newbery Honor book, winner of the 2000 Phoenix Award of the Children's Literature Association, and a finalist for the 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year in the Rediscovery category. Her Children of the Star trilogy, originally written for teens, was reissued by a different publisher as adult SF.

More recently she has written five independently-published novels for adults, the Founders of Maclairn duology and the Captain of Estel trilogy. Although all her novels take place in the distant future, in most cases on hypothetical worlds, and thus are categorized as science fiction, they are are directed more to mainstream readers than to avid science fiction fans.

Engdahl has also issued an updated edition of her 1974 nonfiction book The Planet-Girded Suns: Our Forebears' Firm Belief in Inhabited Exoplanets, which is focused on original research in primary sources of the 17th through early 20th centuries that presents the views prevalent among educted people of that time. In addition she has published several collections of essays.

Between 1957 and 1967 Engdahl was a computer programmer and Computer Systems Specialist for the SAGE Air Defense System. Most recently she has worked as a freelance editor of nonfiction anthologies for high schools. Now retired, she lives in Eugene, Oregon and welcomes visitors to her website at www.sylviaengdahl.com. It includes a large section on space colonization, of which she is a strong advocate, as well as essays on other topics and detailed information about her books.