The Unforsaken Hiero

A sequel to Hiero's Journey (1973) - and, despite the hardworking post-holocaust backdrop, this is much the same old story of foul, despicable bad guys vs. squeaky-clean good guys. Mental wizard and warrior-priest Hiero of the godly Metz - accompanied by his bride Luchare, Klootz the talking moose, and Germ the talking bear - is still fighting the good fight against the ungodly evil-scientist/sorcerer Unclean. (Unclean rants about "our most ancient enemies, the animal and plant lovers, the grubbers in the dirt, the beast minders, the midwives of all that creep and crawl, the adorers of useless life, the pitiers of the weak, the tenders of the helpless and soft! Arrgh!") Hiero is kidnapped by the Unclean, who administers a drug that wipes out his mental powers. He escapes to go on his travels, where - in the book's most effective scenes - he meets a huge, intelligent, lake-dwelling snail who wants to know about God, and in return restores Hiero's esp. . . and then a community of intelligent hunting cat-people, considered to be ghosts by the terrified locals. Eventually, thanks to a computer that Hiero obtained in the previous volume, the Metz are able to invent new weapons and take the offensive. So there's a churning Final battle as the Good (with their talking cats, bears, moose, etc.) mop up the Bad (with their nasty talking rats, dogs, and other beasts). A clumsy, derivative jaunt altogether, with a few winning passages and much that's merely daft. (Kirkus Reviews)