Did you read Stewards of the Flame and disagree with its timely but controversial view of government-controlled medical care? If so, don't let that stop you from reading Defender of the Flame, which doesn't deal with that issue. And if you haven't read Stewards and don't want to, you can read Defender alone, because though it's the third book of a trilogy it takes place 200 years later thah the two preceding books and has different characters. No knowledge of those books is needed to enjoy it.
Defender of the Flame is about the first steps toward the next phase of human evolution -- the development of so-called "paranormal" powers such as ESP. Starship pilot Terry Radnor's life is transformed by the discovery that he possesses these powers, and that others are working to spread them throughout the worlds of humankind. But they face danger. Most people don't want to know that such powers exist; they have a deep innate fear having to admit that their conception of reality is false. And some of those people will go to any lengths to suppress their emergence. Some will even resort to terrorism
Terry vows to defend the world that is spearheading the spread of new human capabilties, a world where for the first time in his life he has found happiness. He has no idea of how far that commitment will take him from everything else he cares about -- his promising career as a Fleet officer, his wife and soulmate, his unborn child. A mysterious and extraordinary destiny has been predicted for Terry, but fate leads him to an even stranger one than anybody could have imagined.
Although Sylvia Engdahl is well-known for her award-winning Young Adult science fiction such as the Newbery Honor book Enchantress from the Stars, so far relatively few people have discovered her independently published adult fiction, the Flame Trilogy, which deals with some of the central issues in her YA books. The many adult readers of those books who have been curious about her view of the distant future will be especially interested in Defender of the Flame.
Those who do want to read the beginning of the trilogy, Stewards of the Flame, first can easily do so -- its Kindle and epub editions are permanently free at Amazon and all other ebook retailers. The second book, Promise of the Flame, like Defender, can be purchased for $2.99, or for free under Amazon's MatchBook program if you buy the paperback editions.