Sylvia Engdahl - This Star Shall Abide

From the reviews of This Star Shall Abide

Winner of a Christopher Award, given for affirmation of the highest values of the human spirit.

Tension-filled, beautiful and haunting. Commonweal

Both logically and consistently suspenseful.... This Star will Abide a good deal longer than most here today, gone tomorrow sci-fi. Kirkus Reviews

An excellent plot and remarkable character development make this tale of the future highly satisfying and thought-provoking. American Library Association Top of the News

This is not the electronic-light-flashing-exterminate-him-thing from outer space type of science fiction. It is an allegory which poses one of the most heart-searching dilemmas of the human race, perhaps in the C. S. Lewis tradition. I mean Perelandra rather than Narnia.... This is a thought-provoking book distantly related to Lord of the Rings and The Glassbead Game, and may appeal to a similar readership. The Junior Bookshelf, London

The story is noteworthy for its dramatization of the crucial meeting of man, science and the universe. Horn Book

Superior future fiction concerning the fate of an idealistic misfit, Noren, who rebels against his highly repressive society.... The attention of mature sci-fi readers will be held by the skillful writing and excellent plot and character development. School Library Journal

This is more than an exceptionally fine book about outer space. It is a wonderful book, perhaps telling the subtle story of many faiths. Watch for this for awards. Fresno Bee

This Star Shall Abide

(Children of the Star, Book One)

by

Sylvia Engdahl

Ad Stellae Books, 2010

Copyright 1972, 2000 by Sylvia Louise Engdahl

All rights reserved. For information contact sle@sylviaengdahl.com. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only, and may not be resold, given away, or altered.

This is the first book of a trilogy. It is followed by Beyond the Tomorrow Mountains and The Doors of the Universe .

Atheneum edition (hardcover) published in 1972

Gollancz edition (UK, under the title Heritage of the Star ) published in 1973

Meisha Merlin edition (with minor updating) published in 2000 in the single-volume Children of the Star trilogy

Ad Stellae Books edition, 2010

Print ISBN: 978-0-615-34834-6, available at Amazon.com

Signed copies available at www.adstellaebooks.com

Author website: www.sylviaengdahl.com

Cover photo by Ryan Pike / 123RF

...The land was barren, and brought forth neither food nor pure water, nor was there any metal; and no one lived upon it until the Founding. And on the day of the Founding humankind came out of the sky from the Mother Star, which is our source. But the land alone could not give us life. So the Scholars came to bless it, that it might be quickened: they built the City; and they called down from the sky Power and Machines; and they made the High Law lest we forget our origin, grow neglectful of our bounden duties, and thereby perish. Knowledge shall be kept safe within the City; it shall be held in trust until the Mother Star itself becomes visible to us. For though the Star is now beyond our seeing, it will not always be so....

There shall come a time of great exultation, when the doors of the universe shall be thrown open and everyone shall rejoice. And at that time, when the Mother Star appears in the sky, the ancient knowledge shall be free to all people, and shall be spread forth over the whole earth. And Cities shall rise beyond the Tomorrow Mountains, and shall have Power, and Machines; and the Scholars will no longer be their guardians. For the Mother Star is our source and our destiny, the wellspring of our heritage; and the spirit of this Star shall abide forever in our hearts, and in those of our children, and our childrens children, even unto countless generations. It is our guide and protector, without which we could not survive; it is our lifes bulwark. And so long as we believe in it, no force can destroy us, though the heavens themselves be consumed! Through the time of waiting we will follow the Law; but its mysteries will be made plain when the Star appears, and the children of the Star will find their own wisdom and choose their own Law. from the Book of the Prophecy

Chapter One

Three orange crescents hovered above the fields and Little Moon was rising over the Tomorrow Mountains when Noren and Talyra left the schoolhouse. Laughter blended with the music of flutes drifted out across the stony area as they walked toward the sledge.

By the Mother Star, its hot! exclaimed Noren as he swung himself to the wicker seat and held out a sturdy hand to the girl.

Dont swear, she reproved gently, climbing in beside him. You never used to swear.

Frowning, Noren reproached himself for his carelessness. He hadnt meant to offend her, but it was hard to remember sometimes that she, so spirited in other ways, still held the conventional beliefs on a subject about which he had long ago formed his own. Hed planned to discuss that subject on their way home, and he was already off to a bad start.

He jerked the reins; the work-beast snorted and headed reluctantly down the sandy road away from the village. Were free! Talyra said exultantly. How do you feel?

Noren considered it. Their schooling was finished for good; having reached mid-adolescence, they were free citizens: free to claim new farmland or to seek any work they chose; free even to move to some other village. And they were also free to marry. So why should he feel less satisfied than ever in his life before? I dont know how I feel, he told her.

She stared at him, surprised and a little hurt. Suddenly Noren was ashamed. This was not a time to worry about freedom, or knowledge, or the Prophecy. He let the reins fall slack and drew Talyra toward him, kissing her. But there was a restlessness in his mind that refused to slip aside. Talyra felt it, too. Youre angry, she accused. Is it because of the Technician?

Im not angry.

You fume whenever you catch a glimpse of one of them, she said sadly, sliding over on the seat. I wish hed never shown up at the dance. I cant imagine what hes doing in the village tonight, anyway.

What does a Technician ever do? Noren retorted with undisguised bitterness. He comes either to inspect something or to inform us of some duty to the High Law that we may not have noticed.

Thats not true. More often the Technicians come with Machines, or to hold devotions, or cure someone whos ill

No one was ill at the schoolhouse. Norens voice was sharp, for inwardly he knew she was right; the High Law was enforced not by men of the Technician caste, but by the village council.

Youre funny, Noren, Talyra said. Technicians arent unkind, ever; why do you hate them?

He paused; it was a hard thing to explain. They give no reasons for what they do. They have knowledge were not allowed to share.

Reasons? They are Technicians!

Why are they Technicians? Theyre men and women like us, I think.

Talyra withdrew her hand from his, shocked. Noren, theyre not; its blasphemy to think of them so! They have abilities we cant even imagine. They can control Machines for clearing land, and quickening it, or for building roadbeds, oror anything . They talk to radiophonists from a long way off; they travel through the air from village to village... its been said they can go to the other side of the world! And theyve got all sorts of marvelous things in the City. Why, they know nearly as much as the Scholars, who know everything.

And tell us almost nothing.

What would you expect them to tell us? asked Talyra in surprise. The Scholars, as High Priests, were the acknowledged guardians of all mysteries. We know all well ever need to, she continued. You wouldnt want to go to school any more, would you?