The Crystal City

The Watchers of Space #2

by Nancy Etchemendy

Follows the adventures of William, Maggie, and their fellow space travelers as they set up a colony on Earth II, are trapped in a copperdust storm, and encounter strange spider-like creatures.

173 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1985

About the author

Nancy Elise Howell Etchemendy is a writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Her novels, short fiction, and poetry have appeared regularly since 1980, both in the United States and abroad. Her work has earned a number of awards, including three Bram Stoker Awards (two for children’s horror), a Golden Duck Award for excellence in children’s science fiction, and an International Horror Guild Award. Her fourth novel, The Power of Un, was published by Front Street/ Cricket Books in March 2000. Cat in Glass and Other Tales of the Unnatural, her collection of short dark fantasy for young adults, was published in 2002, also by Front Street/ Cricket Books and appears on the ALA Best Books for Young Adults list for 2002. She holds a B.A. in Fine Arts and English Literature from University of Nevada, Reno. She is a former officer of the Horror Writers Association, and currently serves on the board of the Clarion Foundation. She attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop in 1982 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. She lives and works in Northern California and is married to John Etchemendy, Provost of Stanford University.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this may not be the sci-fi tour de force I remember from third grade... but it still holds up pretty well. The only real issue I had was the two-dimensional villain--but it's a children's book, and the other characters work, and the story is engrossing, so it's fine!

All in all, a fun trip down memory lane. (Especially since I had been trying to track down the title/author of this book for the last 5 years or so. Very rewarding to finally find & read!)

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Etchemendy's work is always wonderful

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think, I think this is the author and series that I have been trying to find for years. I read the first in this series. Rather intense but great story.

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie and William were born on the ship before they settled on Earth II. Today the siblings are climbing a cliff, William urging his younger sister to climb. They get to the top, see a storm coming and have to rush to get back to Mount Jackson. William falls and hits his head. The storm is on them and they have to make do with the lee side of a rock. William has passed out, and there is now some type of spider beast coming right up to Maggie. The creature points in the direction of another storm, grabs William and takes off with Maggie following. It’s actually to protection inside a mountain. They find the spiders are friendly, but the storm has passed and they need to go home.

Fast read. I wasn’t prepared for the antagonist to be so fixated on power at any cost. I’m so used to the characters first trying to form some sort of communication. This hearkens back to when it was written rather than today. Basically Maggie is the voice of reason, but being ignored because she’s a kid, and Brak sees an opportunity to find a more fertile place to settle with himself as the hero. Vaulting him to leader. 3.7 stars. There are several references to the Watchers and a sword they gave to William. I’m thinking these characters were in a prior book, but it would’ve been on the generation ship and no bearing on this story.