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government clerk who has been recruited into the radical conspiracy of the Sons of the New Day. Rodvard, though attracted to the daughter of a baron, is commanded by his superiors to seduce
Lalette instead to gain the use of her blue star in the furtherance of their revolutionary aims. The witch is no more truly enamored of him than he is of her, but both fall in with the scheme for their own reasons, unaware of how much they are simply pawns in the larger scheme of things.
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to use it can be held by only one member of a family line at a time, being passed from mother to daughter at the daughter's loss of virginity. The daughter's lover then gains possession of her magical talisman, a jewel known as a "blue star", which enables him to read the mind of anyone he looks in the eye. The catch is that he retains access to this power only so long as he keeps faith with his witch lover.
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in our own history. The government bans witchcraft, which merely serves to drive its practitioners underground, where they can fall prey to the use and abuse of unscrupulous powerful or ambitious individuals. The protagonists are
Lalette Asterhax, a hereditary witch, and Rodvard Bergelin, an ordinary
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The novel is set in a parallel world in which the existence of psychic powers has permitted the development of witchcraft into a science; in contrast, the physical sciences have languished, resulting in a modern culture reminiscent of our eighteenth century. Witchcraft is hereditary but the ability
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Everything soon goes bad, and the couple is forced to flee the empire. Various adventures and complications ensue as they stray into one cause or acquaintance after another, gradually growing beyond their shallow, selfish roots into a greater understanding.
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reviewer did not address the merits of the individual pieces, but noted that "he authors are old hands at conjuring up suspense and fear" and that "n idle hour or two in this company can be quite diverting."
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as "he most ambitious and most stimulating of the stories" and called it "a romance with a scope far beyond that of the common science-fiction novel." The
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praised the novel as "an immensely effective piece of mannered pseudo-historical writing . . . full of color, sex, and wonderful robust characters."
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171:". Its first publication as a stand-alone novel was in paperback by
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312:"a more original and more impressive work" than his earlier
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The empire in which the action is set is comparable to the
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Davenport, Basil. "Out of This World: Witchcraft." in
179:. The Ballantine edition included an introduction by
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269:, however, dismissed it as "long and dreary."
272:On its first independent publication in 1969
175:in May 1969, as the inaugural volume of the
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290:The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
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417:Stableford, Brian. "Fletcher Pratt." in
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361:"Nutshell Reviews. WITCHES THREE." in
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31:Cover of first stand-alone edition
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338:ISFdB entry for The Blue Star
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139:novel by the American writer
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702:(1953, expanded 1978) with
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513:The Mathematics of Magic
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770:American fantasy novels
632:The Well of the Unicorn
408:, February 1970, p. 47.
389:"Recommended Reading,"
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780:Ballantine Books books
571:The Compleat Enchanter
377:Galaxy Science Fiction
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760:1952 American novels
729:The Petrified Planet
528:The Wall of Serpents
395:, January 1953, p.91
765:1952 fantasy novels
664:Invaders from Rigel
506:The Roaring Trumpet
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363:The Washington Post
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704:L. Sprague de Camp
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615:L. Sprague de Camp
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284:, Winter 1970, by
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713:Anthologies
683:Collections
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481:Harold Shea
165:James Blish
47:Illustrator
754:Categories
441:Faded Page
322:References
181:Lin Carter
523:(1941/50)
404:"Books,"
224:Reception
85:Publisher
515:" (1940)
508:" (1940)
496:de Camp/
458:LibriVox
443:(Canada)
406:F&SF
392:F&SF
57:Language
267:McComas
263:Boucher
197:Spanish
193:Italian
137:fantasy
79:Fantasy
60:English
740:(1952)
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675:(1962)
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635:(1948)
602:Novels
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485:(with
483:series
254:Galaxy
189:German
185:French
65:Series
37:Author
469:Works
135:is a
121:Pages
75:Genre
265:and
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203:Plot
195:and
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100:1969
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278:If
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