Will's Reviews > Hiero's Journey
Hiero's Journey (Hiero, #1)
by Sterling E. Lanier
by Sterling E. Lanier
OH MY HOLY JEEZ I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's ridiculous in all the best possible ways. It's a beautiful artifact from a time before irony - a time when you could have a bad guy named "S'nerg" work for an organization called "The Brotherhood of the Unclean", and not be kidding.
The writing is occasionally clunky; there are parenthetical expressions inside parenthetical expressions, with commas sprinkled willy-nilly. It's campy and ridiculous and almost unbelievable - yes! The hero is actually named Hiero Desteen! He really does have a psychic moose and befriend an intelligent bear! He actually does rescue a princess and make out with her! The book really is set in Canada and the northern U.S. 5000 years after nuclear war - which they just call The Death - and he really is on a quest to find an artifact called a "computer"!
But I found myself totally engrossed. I laughed at the book at first, and then I laughed with it, and in the end I found myself wanting more. And, really, who can help but love an epic fantasy journey with giant snapping turtles and evil ferret-men and psychic warfare and a pitstop in darkest post-apocalyptic Indiana?
The writing is occasionally clunky; there are parenthetical expressions inside parenthetical expressions, with commas sprinkled willy-nilly. It's campy and ridiculous and almost unbelievable - yes! The hero is actually named Hiero Desteen! He really does have a psychic moose and befriend an intelligent bear! He actually does rescue a princess and make out with her! The book really is set in Canada and the northern U.S. 5000 years after nuclear war - which they just call The Death - and he really is on a quest to find an artifact called a "computer"!
But I found myself totally engrossed. I laughed at the book at first, and then I laughed with it, and in the end I found myself wanting more. And, really, who can help but love an epic fantasy journey with giant snapping turtles and evil ferret-men and psychic warfare and a pitstop in darkest post-apocalyptic Indiana?
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Hiero's Journey.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
| 10/24/2010 | page 16 |
|
5.0% | |
| 11/03/2010 | page 22 |
|
7.0% | "This would be a fast read, but it's really fun to read out loud (and I'm taking notes for a D&D campaign)" |
| 02/20/2016 | marked as: | read | ||
Comments (showing 1-7 of 7) (7 new)
date
newest »
message 1:
by
Andrew
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Apr 20, 2010 07:51PM
reply
|
flag
*
Still, I picked it up–and in short order, I was hooked but good. That scene where the shaman rescues Hiero and the girl by summoning that creature lurking in the depths of the pond? I think of it at least three times a year, and each time I re-live the wonder it first inspired.
The sequel, "The Unforsaken Hiero," is worth reading, too. Be warned, though: Lanier intended to write a third volume before suffering a head-injury that prevented him from writing any other books. You're gonna be left hanging.
Nice. It's hard to think of something comparable to HJ, isn't it? Lanier's prose is so lean and the plot is bursting with more ideas than most books dare to tread.
If your Father hasn't gotten into Iain M. Banks's Culture books, you might pass him one of those. I suggest "Use of Weapons." Definitely more cynical and wicked than HJ, but a mighty read nonetheless.