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This Star Shall Abide

by Sylvia Engdahl

Children of the Star trilogy, Book One

Known in the UK as Heritage of the Star

Noren can see that his world is not as it should be--it is wrong that only the Scholars, and their representatives the Technicians, can use metal tools and Machines. It's wrong that only they have access to the impenetrable City, which he has always longed to enter. Above all, it is wrong for the Scholars to have sole power over the distribution of knowledge. Unable to believe in the Prophecy that promises these restrictions will someday end, he declares it to be a fraud and defies the High Law under which they are enforced. His family and the girl to whom he is betrothed reject him. Yet he cannot turn back from the path that leads him to the mysterious fate awaiting heretics.

Christopher award
This classic young adult science fiction novel is enjoyed by readers age 12 and up as well as by older teens and adults who go on to read the other two books in the Children of the Star trilogy. Originally published in hardcover by Atheneum in the US, and by Gollancz in the UK under the title Heritage of the Star, it was the winner of a Christopher Award given for "affirmation of the highest values of the human spirit.". For more reader reviews, be sure to see those for the omnibus edition of the trilogy under the title Children of the Star..

"Both logically and consistently suspenseful.... This Star will Abide a good deal longer than most here today, gone tomorrow sci-fi.” —Kirkus Reviews "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," --The Junior Bookshelf, London "The attention of mature sci fi readers will be held by the skillful writing and excellent plot and character development.” --School Library Journal

Publication History
Atheneum (hc) - 1972
Gollancz (hc, under title Hertage of the Star) - 1973
Puffin (pb, under title Hertage of he Star) - 1976
Aladdin (pb) - 1979
Meisha Merlin (hc & pb, in omnibus Children of the Star) - 2000
Ad Stellae (mobi eb) - 2008
Ad Stellae (pb & epub eb) - 2010
Ad Stellae (pb & eb, in omnibus Children of the Star) - 2012
ACX (audio) - 2013
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Purchase the paperback and/or audiobook edition at Amazon. (The print version can be ordered from other booksellers but at a higher price due to distribution costs.)

See more quotes from reviews of This Star Shall Abide.

Read the description of the Children of the Star trilogy.

Read the FAQ about the Children of the Star trilogy.

Read an excerpt from This Star Shall Abide.