Beyond The Tomorrow Mountains (34 page)

“Did you think I’d object, darling?”

“Not really. But it was your right to be warned before choosing.”

“As if I’d choose to leave you! But that you’ve chosen
me
. . . I’m honored. After the way I doubted your faith—”

“I doubted it, too,” he told her. “If it weren’t for you, Talyra, I’d still be doubting. They taught me secrets; they are teaching me to do a Scholar’s work; to that I was sealed long ago. But I wasn’t ready for priesthood until you opened my eyes.”

They embraced quickly; then she walked by his side to the semicircular platform around which Technicians and Scholars were gathering. The dusk was clear, and the stars that sparkled overhead seemed uncommonly bright. He could gaze at them undismayed, Noren realized with gladness. Their image would not haunt him any more.

Around him, the assembled people had begun the vesper hymn. Just before he released her hand Talyra asked softly, “Will you bless me, Noren?”

“The blessing is our heritage from the Mother Star,” he replied gravely, “and is not mine to bestow. It falls upon all of us; I merely proclaim what I’ve found to be true.”

Mounting the steps, Noren looked out at familiar upturned faces: Brek’s, Stefred’s, those of many whom he could always count as friends. To his surprise he felt no nervousness; and though he held the Book of the Prophecy, he had no need to consult it, for the words came readily to his lips.
“. . . So long as we believe in it, no force can destroy us, though the heavens themselves be consumed… .”
He glanced up at the surrounding towers, envisioning the starships that would someday be rebuilt, as he extended his hands to pronounce the sacerdotal blessing:
“May the spirit of the Mother Star abide with you… .”
And with me, he thought reverently. May I hold fast to that upon which we all must draw. Talyra smiled at him, glowing with love and pride; and Noren knew joy that his faith was no less genuine than hers.

#

Afterword

Today’s readers may perhaps think of a way that the people of Noren’s world might have been enabled to survive without the drastic system imposed by the Scholars. But in 1972, when the first book of this trilogy
This Star Shall Abide
was first published, science was not as far advanced as it is now, and I myself was unaware of any other way. I believed that there was no alternative to what the Scholars did; if I had not, I wouldn’t have written two novels that endorsed it—for of course, I would not have sanctioned it on any lesser basis than my conviction that the extinction of their human race would have been worse. So when, some years later, I learned of a new possibility, I was dismayed. I feared that new readers would assume that I had ignored it for plot reasons and had knowingly justified the social evils in the story on false grounds.

For that reason, I then wrote I then wrote another novel,
The Doors of the Universe
, to explain why the Scholars’ knowledge had been incomplete. I won’t spoil the suspense of the third book in the
Children of the Star
trilogy by stating here what they’d not known, and what Noren ultimately does about it. But rest assured that the story doesn’t end with this book.

Because of the possibility that readers might think it ends with the first or second book, I have been reluctant to reissue the three novels separately. I was happy that Meisha Merlin put all three together in one volume,
Children of the Star
, when they were republished. However, I have found that many people hesitate to choose such a long book as that. Furthermore,
This Star Shall Abide
can be enjoyed by younger readers than the other two, which are rarely of interest to those below high school age—the third one is about Noren’s adult life. (Though all three were originally marketed as Young Adult books, the single-volume edition was issued as adult science fiction.) Teachers and others who wanted a story suitable for middle-school kids didn’t want to buy the whole trilogy. I have therefore issued its three parts simultaneously but separately as ebooks, plus the first book alone in paperback. There are no present plans for paper editions of this book or the third one.

However, although Meisha Merlin has gone out of business and
Children of the Star
is officially out of print, new copies can still be obtained from me and at Amazon.com. So while they last, you can get a paper edition of the whole trilogy if you want one. All three ebooks will remain available in EPUB, MOBI and PDF formats as well as for Amazon’s Kindle.

There is a detailed FAQ page about the trilogy at www.sylviaengdahl.com/noren.htm. Parts of it contain major spoilers, but it’s clearly marked so that you won’t see them before you’ve read
This Star Shall Abide
. I hope you’ll go there, as it deals with questions that are often raised by the story. It includes the commentary that was given to librarians at the time this book was first published, which offers some ideas for discussion.

UK readers may be wondering why, when the first book appeared there in 1973, its title was
Heritage of the Star
. American and UK editions often have different titles because of their publishers’ preferences, which is confusing now that books are available internationally on the Internet.

The text of the new editions is identical to the Meisha Merlin edition, which was revised slightly from the original, mainly to remove outdated statements about computer technology.
   
—Sylvia Engdahl, January 2010

About the Author

“Between 1970 and 1981 Sylvia Louise Engdahl published six sf novels ostensibly for young adults but more challenging (and better written) than almost all of the material published at the time for the adult market… . Yet for some reason the public—aside from a select group of aficionados—largely ignored Engdahl’s work, and it’s only within the past few years that it’s been rediscovered as the treasure trove it is.” —
Fantasy Magazine, 2006

Sylvia Engdahl is the author of eight 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 two newest novels,
Stewards of the Flame
and its sequel
Promise of the Flame
, are not suitable for Young Adult audiences but will be enjoyed by the many adult fans of her work. More information about them, including a video trailer and a book group discussion guide, can be found at www.adstellaebooks.com.

Engdahl lives in Eugene, Oregon with two companionable cats. Currently she works as a freelance copyeditor and editor of nonfiction anthologies. She welcomes visitors to her website www.sylviaengdahl.com and e-mail to [email protected].