When burned-out starship captain Jesse Sanders is seized by a dictatorial medical regime and detained on the colony planet Undine, he has no idea that he is about to be plunged into a bewildering new life that will involve ordeals and joys beyond anything he has ever imagined, as well as the love of a woman with powers that seem superhuman. Still less does he suspect that he must soon take responsibility for the lives of people he has come to care about and the preservation of their hopes for the future of humankind.
This review will be unlike others I have written in the past for a few reasons: this book is like none I’ve read, it is in a genre I’ve not read a lot of, and it is so smart that it may take awhile for me to grasp it.
I was asked to review Sylvia Engdahl’s Stewards of The Flame about a month or so ago, maybe longer. I knew from the get go that it was a book leaning towards science fiction yet the author herself will say that it doesn’t fit in any one particular genre. After reading it I can now see why that is. This book contains of course science fiction tendencies but also contains a love story, some action, inter-stellar traveling, and a little bit of paranormal phenomenon.
Jesse Sanders is the main character, a Fleet starship captain that gets detained on a new planet and is quickly pulled into a group whose mission is to expand on the powers of the human mind in order to escape the militant medical mission of the government. Along the way he falls in love with Carla and makes new friends in the group. He is a likable character in that his hesitation, his nervousness, and his fear of these new relationships come off the page and make you sympathize with him.
The book follows Jesse as he learns the true capacity of his mind to ward off the many life stresses of humans as well as using what he terms “superhuman powers”. But underlying is the debate of how we handle our end of life decisions, government health care, and other matters that are currently in the forefront of our own country. Though set far into the future, so much so that the 20th century Earth is referred to almost as we refer to the Dark Ages, so many things are approached in this novel that we currently see in our news.
This is a book that I hate to give too much away because the plot is so intricate, so detailed, and so smart that so much can be spoiled.
I liked Stewards of the Flame but it is not an easy read. I read books quickly and this took me almost two weeks. And even now, I feel I’ll have to read it at least one more time to really grasp the meaning behind it all-which of course I will do! Engdahl gives so much information that at first glance it can seem overwhelming but it is so necessary to really become invested in these characters and their story. At times I felt I might need to have a degree to read it, or do some other research, but the author always brings it back around in ways to make it easier to understand. In part, because as I read it, it feels like I’m learning it right along with Jesse, the main character.
I highly recommend this one to anyone that has any interest in life on other planets, paranormal abilities, or the government’s role in our lives. It can appeal to so many different readers in so many ways that I’m sure this will become an instant favorite. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of the sequel Promise of the Flame.
Trade paperback, 496 pages
ISBN 978-0-615-31487-7 ~ $17.50
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