(Known in the UK as Heritage of the Star)
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"Fiction doesn't have to be profound, just entertaining. But every once in a long while, a novel comes along
that is both. . . . [It] speak[s] to the very place of humanity in the universe, and what we need to do to attain
and claim it. In an age in which terrorism has threatened our ways of life in unexpected ways, Engdahl's
probing story, and the recommendation it contains, are especially relevant." --Paul Levinson, 2004 Times Literary Supplement Commonweal Publisher's Weekly | |||||
 Paperback edition (Firebird Books, 2005)  Hardcover edition (Walker, 2003)  Ebook edition (Ad Stellae Books, 2011)
| This novel was originally published in 1971 by Atheneum as Young Adult fiction, but many adults enjoy it. Although it has the same heroine as the author's Newbery Honor book Enchantress from the Stars, it is completely independent and is intended for older readers, high school age and above. It was reissued in an updated hardcover edition in 2003, with a paperback in 2005. Both are now out of print, but signed copies can be ordered from the author below, as can the new ebook edition. If you have read only the original edition, please read the updated one -- the changes to the statements about the significance of space travel reflect what we now know after 40 years of neglecting the space program, and are important. The action of the story hasn't changed. The ebook edition is now available below in EPUB, MOBI, PDB, LDF and PDF formats for $3.99 each. It is also available for Kindle at Amazon.com and for the Nook at Barnes & Noble,as well as at many other retailers.
On completion of her training as an agent of the interstellar federation’s Anthropological Service, Elana is sent to a world whose people may soon destroy their civilization. Since not enough is understood about the situation to justify any interference with their evolution, the Service has no power to act; its agents must go as helpless observers, posing as natives, in the hope of gaining knowledge that may help to save other worlds. This passive role proves intolerable to the young, inexperienced agent assigned to the same city as Elana, a city under totalitarian rule. After falling in love with a local girl who has become Elana's closest friend, he identifies too completely with the natives and unwittingly endangers the entire world by a well-meant but ill-advised attempt to intervene. Forced to assume responsibility for undoing the damage, Elana finds that only she--at great cost--can prevent an immediate war of annihilation.
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Read a short excerpt from the story
Read FAQ about the story
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Free Media Mail shipping on print editions within the U.S. -- please enter $2 for Priority Mail. Discounted international shipping: to Canada $10.00; to all other countries $13.50. Clicking on the button will bring up an order form for PayPal, a secure service that's free to buyers; you can use a credit card there whether or not you have a PayPal account. Payment will go directly to Sylvia Engdahl and you will receive a personal acknowledgement from her. If you would like the book signed to you personally by name rather than just her signature, please request it in the PayPal comment box. If you prefer to pay by check, send e-mail to Sylvia Engdahl. Ebooks will be emailed to you within 48 hours, usually much sooner. Be sure to select the format you prefer. If you are not familiar with the formats, click here for more information. All formats are free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) which means you can read them on whatever compatible devices (and/or with any compatible computer software) that you have, now or in the future. Sylvia Engdahl trusts her readers not to make either digital or printed copies for anyone other than members of their own household unless extra ones are bought as gifts.
The Far Side | of Evil Hardcover (signed) $10.00
The Far Side | of Evil Paperback (signed) $4.00
The Far Side of Evil | Ebook (DRM-free) $3.99 | ||
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