Sylvia Engdahl's Blog

My new novel Envoy of the Flame (Book 3 in the Rising Flame trilogy) will be released in ebook format on June 10 and can be pre-ordered now at Amazon and other retailers. A paperback edition will also be released in June but maybe not as soon as the ebook.

At long last, Kindle and epub editions of _Enchantress from the Stars_ are coming -- and also a brand new paperback edition in a larger size than the present one, with a beautiful new cover. They will be published April 10 by Bloomsbury and can now be pre-ordered at Amazon and other major retailers. This edition contains some minor wording changes, mainly to replace the generic use of masculine nouns and pronouns with gender-neutral language. That was the only thing in the book that was outdated, despite the 48 years that have passed since its first publication. I'm happy that it's being made available for a new generation of readers to enjoy.

My new nonfiction ebook, Reflections on the Future: Collected Essays, has just been published. This book contains 27 of my essays including two autobiographies illustrated with photos. Most of them are online at my website but since they're quite long they will be easier to read in ebook form. There's a list of the titles on my home page, www.sylviaengdahl.com. I hope you'll enjoy them.

I am moving to a small retirement apartment and I won't have room for any extra copies of my books, so I am giving away all that I have on hand for sale. You need pay only the postage - $3.00 for all except small paperback editions, which are $2.00, and international shipping, which is shown on the order page. If you want one, buy it on the Purchase page or its description page, where all prices have been changed to the postage charge only. If you want more than one book, send a message via the Contact page and I will send you an automated PayPal invoice for the total shipping charge. Some copies will have older covers rather than the current ones, but the interiors are the same. ALL ORDERS MUST BE RECEIVED BY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20.

The books available are: HARDCOVER: Enchantress from the Stars, The Far Side of Evil, Journey Between Worlds. TRADE PAPERBACK: Enchantress from the Stars, Children of the Star, This Star Shall Abide, Stewards of the Flame, Promise of the Flame, Defender of the Flame, Herald of the Flame, The Planet-Girded Suns. SMALL PAPERBACK: The Far Side of Evil, Journey Between Worlds.

After December 20 these books will not be available from me, but new copies of those in print can be purchased at Amazon.com, and used copies of all the books are available from used book dealers. And of course, the ebook editions will remain available. But if you want a free signed copy, now is the time to act.

I have just published new Kindle and epub editions of Journey Between Worlds, my novel about the colonization of Mars. (The older ebook editions, which were priced much too high, are no longer available since Penguin longer has the rights to the book.) This novel has never reached many of the readers for whom it was intended, as it was marketed exclusively as science fiction and it's of greatest interest to girls and women who don't usually read science fiction -- it's mainly a romance, and is enjoyed by those who don't care for space adventure. I've always been sad that it wasn't as widely read as my other YA novels, and I hope it will find some new readers now, especially considering the current growing interest in Mars.

If you read a paper edition of the book please be sure it is the 2006 hardcover or 2007 paperback, not the 1970 hardcover. Some of the reviews here evidently refer to the 1970 edition, which has references to outdated technology and reflects attitudes that are now considered sexist and old fashioned. Significant revision was done for the 2006 edition and additional minor updating has been done in the new 2015 edition.

My new ebook, The Rising Flame, is an omnibus edition of Defender of the Flame and Herald of the Flame. This is a two-part story set two hundred years later than the books in the earlier Hidden Flame series that doesn't depend on having read them. It's different in many ways, and some readers like it better, so if Stewards of the Flame wasn't to your taste, do give The Rising Flame a try. Though it is not a Young Adult book and is not appropriate for middle school readers, it will be of special interest to adults and mature teens who have enjoyed my YA novels Enchantress from the Stars and The Far Side of Evil since it deals with some of the psi powers depicted in those books and takes a similar view of humankind's place in the universe.

Beginning July 25 The Rising Flame is featured in Choosy Bookworm's "Read and Review" program. The first 30 people to request it will get a free copy.

There are now new covers for Stewards of the Flame and Promise of the Flame that match the design of Defender of the Flame and Herald of the Flame. So far they are on the Kindle editions, and they will soon appear on the other ebook editions and paperback editions. The interiors of the books have not changed.

Please complete my reader survey at http://goo.gl/forms/fTnNZVO9CZ and help me find out how my books are reaching readers! (You can also get to it from my home page.) It's a totally anonymous survey and your identity won't be connected to your replies, but when you submit it you'll be directed to another form where you can enter a drawing for a free book--whichever one of mine you want. One print book winner and ten ebook winners will be drawn on April 30, 2015.

The ebook edition of my new novel Herald of the Flame, which is a sequel to Defender of the Flame, is now available for pre-order at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. It will be published on October 15. The paperback edition can be pre-ordered from me. There's a description and excerpt at my website.

My Flame series, which was originally called a trilogy, has been split into two series because Defender of the Flame is a separate story set two centuries later that has a different hero and doesn't depend on having read the preceding books. Readers who don't agree with the controversial ideas in Stewards of the Flame, or who want more science fiction action, often like it better, and it is also more closely connected to my earlier novels Enchantress from the Stars and The Far Side of Evil--yet no one wants to begin with a book labeled Number 3. So now the "Hidden Flame" series consists of Book One, Stewards of the Flame and Book Two, Promise of the Flame, while the "Rising Flame" series consists of Book One, Defender of the Flame and Book Two, Herald of the Flame (a forthcoming book to be published late in 2014). The only disadvantage to starting with the "Rising Flame" series is that the included backstory would spoil some of the suspense of the first series if you plan to read both.