Promise of the Flame

· The Founders of Maclairn Book 2 · Sylvia Engdahl
5.0
2 reviews
Ebook
496
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Three hundred people, isolated on a raw new planet in the hope that their psi powers will become the foundation of a culture that can someday shape the future of humankind. If they don't starve first. If they don't lose heart in the face of hardships beyond any they imagined. And if their kids can be reared to believe in the dream and and advance both their technology and their psi powers from one generation to the next.

Starship Captain Jesse Sanders hasn't expected to be responsible for the settlement. Peter is the leader, the visionary on whose inspiration they all depend. But Peter has his hands full, not only with maintaining morale but with grueling ordeals of his own. So the job of ensuring the colony's survival falls on Jesse. And in the end, he must stake his life in a desperate attempt to prevent the loss of all they have gained.

This is a sequel to "Stewards of the Flame," but it can be read independently. Unlike Engdahl's other earlier novels, it is not a YA book and is not appropriate for middle-school readers.

Ratings and reviews

5.0
2 reviews
A Google user
October 31, 2009
What makes a civilization successful? Is it just about reproduction of genes or specific characteristics? Is it about technological advances? What about social stability? Promise of the Flame is the sequel to Stewards of the Flame. In the first book, we were introduced to a planet where no one died and even the slightest illness or deficiency was dealt with immediately. Although it might sound like utopia, it was all an illusion. It is for this reason that the Stewards of the Flame dreamed of a new life. Promise of the Flames begins as the new colonists are about to reach their promised land. Things are not exactly as they had expected. The land is rocky and harsh. Just providing food for the population is an ongoing challenge. Moreover, trying to build a sustainable society requires a solid foundation base that is tricky to negotiate. I think I actually like Promise of the Flame even more than Stewards of the Flame. In the first book, the idealist philosophy was created in opposition to the bounds of their society. However, in the sequel, the characters have to balance survival (short and long term) with these ideals. Definitely not an easy task.
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About the author

Sylvia Engdahl is the author of ten science fiction novels. Six of them are Young Adult books that are also enjoyed by adults, all of which were originally published by Atheneum and have been republished, in both hardcover and paperback, by different publishers in the twenty-first century. The one for which she is best known, Enchantress from the Stars, was a Newbery Honor book, winner of the 1990 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 four most recent novels, the Hidden Flame series and the Rising Flame series, are not YA books and are not appropriate for middle-school readers, but will be enjoyed by the many adult fans of her work.

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