From: Sylvia Engdahl <sle>
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 16:59:00 -0800

Jonathan Hunt wrote:

The artwork for _The Far Side of Evil_ won't be done by the Dillons, and I don't know yet who will do it. My preference would be to distance the two books; in fact I was very reluctant to allow _Far Side_ to be reissued by a "children's book" department and would not have agreed had Walker not assured me they will market it as a teen book. However, I think they are going to make the design comparable and promote it as a sequel, and I can't really object since that is the only way they can expect to sell it. It was either that, or not have it reissued at all.

Of course, I am sure they will do a beautiful job with the design and promote the book effectively, as they have with _Enchantress_ (which they are also marketing as a teen book). I am very happy with Walker. My fear is that people who have given _Enchantress_ to children below teenage will assume that the sequel is equally appropriate for them, and it is not. Younger readers often don't see the underlying optimism in _Far Side_ and tend to find it depressing (a reaction I don't get from people who read it when older). In any case it does not have the same kind of appeal since there's no suggestion of fantasy in it. Many of the older science fiction readers like it better than _Enchantress_ on this account, but readers who especially enjoyed _Enchantress's_ fantasy "feel" are sometimes disappointed. I have often regretted making _Far Side_ a sequel instead of using a different heroine -- but at the time I wrote it, I had no idea that _Enchantress_ would become a Newbery Honor book and thus be given to 10- and 11-year-olds.

The reference to a third Elana book in my _Something About the Author_ autobiography is simply that I wish I could write one, not that I expect to be able to! As has been the case for the past 20 years, I have no new ideas for story events, though I have plenty of themes in mind. At the time the autobiography went to press, I did not know Walker wanted to publish _The Far Side of Evil_ and what I said was that I wished I could write a sequel to appear in an omnibus with it, just as Meisha Merlin issued my trilogy in omnibus form; for one thing, I didn't believe _Far Side_ could be republished alone, and for another, I wanted to deal with issues concerning the Critical Stage that have become apparent since it was written. As it is, I have made minor revisions to _Far Side_ to modify wording which recent history has invalidated, and I think it's more effective than the original version.
(I've since updated the autobiography update, which is going to appear in _Contemporary Authors_.) Walker would like me to write a new Elana book; they even have an option on it, should I ever do so. But if I were to get a story idea, it would probably be for an adult novel -after all, Elana is a college graduate in _Far Side_ and in a third book she'd have to be still older.

If anyone here is interested in _The Far Side of Evil,_ please read
"Afterword to the Collier Edition" at my Web site (which is followed by further comments) and the remarks about it on my FAQ page! Some readers assume that the book is outdated because they interpreted it as being about politics, when actually it's about the importance of colonizing space--an issue that becomes more crucial with each passing year and about which I feel VERY strongly.

Sylvia

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 Sylvia Engdahl - sle at sylviaengdahl.com
 Author of CHILDREN OF THE STAR and ENCHANTRESS FROM THE STARS
 Personalized signed copies available!
 Visit my Web site, http://www.sylviaengdahl.com
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Received on Tue 13 Nov 2001 06:59:00 PM CST