The Blue Star
core novel 1952 The Blue Star
Record
| First published | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.10 (208 ratings, collected 2026-10-02) |
| Page count | 242 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345016027 |
Synopsis
In a world where witchcraft has become a science while technology has stalled at an eighteenth-century level, witches are hereditary, outlawed by church and crown, and a witch's power passes to her when she first lies with a man. Some witches also hold a Blue Star, a jewel that gives her first lover the power to read the thoughts of anyone whose eyes he meets, for as long as he stays faithful to her. Rodvard Bergelin, a timid clerk in the Empire's capital, Netznegon, and a minor member of the revolutionary Sons of the New Day, is ordered to seduce the young witch Lalette Asterhax and gain her Blue Star for the cause. He does, and the two are bound together in flight: Lalette hunted for witchcraft, Rodvard pulled into a conspiracy whose success may depend on a jewel he can lose with one betrayal.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Blue Star
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Fletcher Pratt
Notes
- First published in the 1952 Twayne anthology Witches Three; first standalone edition Ballantine, May 1969, the inaugural volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series (ISBN recorded). A separate world from The Well of the Unicorn and the Harold Shea stories.
Sources
← The Blue Star dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.