M. K. Wren (1938–2016)

My copy of this book was published in 1981, when I was in high school. I haven't read it in decades (probably not since the early 90's), but my memory of the story was so strongly positive it's remained on my shelves all these years, along with the rest of the "Phoenix Legacy" trilogy. Yesterday, needing something to read, I picked it up with a bit of trepidation. It was hard to believe the story would stand the test of time.

It has.

There are plenty of science fiction tales about dynastic empires and the threat of revolution, of families and politics and high tech, but this one manages to be special -- perhaps because it has so much heart as well as insight. I've been reading it as fast as I can, and am looking forward to the next two books.… (meer)

Tells the story (and the story of the story) of Rachel and Mary, who literally decide to survive the end of the world, in order to preserve (again literally) the books that represent what's left of their civilization. It is told half in flashbacks of that end time and half from the first person perspective of Mary, who now lives with a group of fundamentalist Christians, who believe there is only truth and one book worth reading. The villian of the story is a woman who takes this belief to its "logical" and lethal conclusion--her character is that perfect combination of traits, utter ignorance of history and science and the unwavering conviction that the one idea in her head is the whole and unimpeachable truth. Sound familiar? She is a caricature to be sure, and there is one other character in the book as extreme as she is, and it is Mary's conviction, and the theme of the book, that this is a form of insanity and ultimately evil. There's nothing subtle about the treatment of this theme in the book, but the other characters in it are more three-dimensional and sympathetic than the two crackpots, and the relationships between them and Mary are more complex and nuanced. The flashbacks to the apocalypse are appropriately horrific and tragic, and the glue that holds the book together is the character of Rachel, an atheist who represents everything one could ask of a friend and helper through the end of the world, or any other troubles. To call it simply a battle between religious lunacy and agnostic sanity would be an over simplification, but that's the thrust of the book, at least the parts that deal with Mary's "present." All of that said, it is beautifully written, with an almost unbearable sense of what is lost and a powerful belief in what is worth preserving. I'd recommend it to any fan of these kinds of books.… (meer)