Stewards of the Flame — Sylvia Engdahl

Are you wondering how far government control of health care might go in a future society? This controversial novel, winner of a bronze medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards, is not just for science fiction fans.

Crime is considered illness, untreated illness is crime; ambulance crews are the only police. Dead bodies stay on "life support" forever. Can anyone gain freedom?

When burned-out starship captain Jesse Sanders is seized by a dictatorial medical regime and detained on the colony planet Undine, he has no idea that he is about to be plunged into a bewildering new life that will involve ordeals and joys beyond anything he has ever imagined, as well as the love of a woman with powers that seem superhuman. Still less does he suspect that he must soon take responsibility for the lives of people he has come to care about and preservation of their hopes for the future of humankind.

(Please note: Unlike Sylvia Engdahl's earlier novels, this is not a Young Adult novel and is not appropriate for middle-school readers.)