I read this when I was 13, and it was the first time that I had encountered the idea that the future might not always mean forward progress, that there may be a limit to how far humanity can go before we regress. This really, really got inside my head, and to some extent it has changed how I view the future.

For the past 6 years I have been searching for this book, unable to recall the title or author. Now I've finally connected the story I remember with this book, and am the happy owner of a copy. It's like having a piece of my history back.
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Walsh, Jill Paton. La antorcha / Jill Paton Walsh ; traducción, Javier Lacruz ; ilustraciones, Juan Carlos Eguillor. -- Madrid : Siruela, D.L. 1992. -- 216 p. : il. ; 22 cm. -- (Las tres edades ; 15). -- Tít. orig.: Torch. -- ISBN 84-7844-114-X

I. Lacruz, Javier, trad. II. Eguillor, Juan Carlos (1947-2011), il. 1. Literatura inglesa. 2. Novela de aventuras

821.111-31"19":087.5