Hieros Journey

Hiero's Journey has ratings and 67 reviews. Alison said: LOOK, people: Sterling E. Lanier has the chutzpah to refer to the great moose mounts of th.
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The Abbey has attempted to establish colonies, but the evil Brotherhood of the Unclean was waging all-out war against the few remnants of normal humanity, determined to wipe out all traces of its emerging civilization. But his path lay through the very heart of the territory ruled by the Unclean and their hordes of mutated, intelligent, savage beast followers…and the Unclean were waiting for him! Welcome to the Sanctum Secorum podcast.

Tonight is part two of our marathon-long Gary Con special episode! There is a great deal of new material to bring to the table based on this story. Below is a list, by category and author, of what has been added to the Dark Acquisitions page by the Keepers of Mysteries, based on this show.

Further contributions from friends of the library will also be found there as they arrive. The game starts at 4pm. Additional editing provided by Hector Cruz. Another fantastic listen, as always, and it is nice to get a window into the early days of the hobby! I suspect that the vast marshes of the Palood were a consideration in The Sunken City. I know that they were in The Folk of Osmon.

Although done with magic because fezzes are cool , a telepathic link to a bear appears in The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk. I fondly recall seeing the far-out Darrell K. Sweet cover on this book duri 2.

Advanced Readings in D&D: Sterling E. Lanier | leondumoulin.nl

Sweet cover on this book during nearly every trip I took to the library as a kid. I always looked at it wistfully, wanting to dive into an adventure so obviously cool, but my own snobbishness kept me away. Well, I finally broke down and took the plunge. Unfortunately it appears that some of my snobbishness may have been justified. The first part of the book carried me along with the narrative at a fairly quick pace and despite the somewhat clunky prose and more! I really wanted to finish this book, though, and it did improve somewhat towards the end.

Science fiction. Fantasy. The universe. And related subjects.

Amongst this colourful background Lanier gives us many memorable scenes, especially Hiero's psychic battle with the Dweller in the Mist, his various confrontations with the pompous leaders of the Unclean, and the final confrontation with a living hive-mind fungal-slime. My biggest stumbling blocks, though, were the stilted prose mentioned above and the superfluous romance subplot that added nothing to the story and was cringe-inducing in its puerility and simplicity. Overall there is a lot of awesome here, buried in bad prose and simplistic plotting.

Apr 20, Will rated it it was amazing. 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. 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? View all 7 comments. Mar 08, Anton rated it really liked it Shelves: I read this many-many moons ago. Enjoyed it a lot at the time as it had a nice reminiscence of the Fallout RPG franchise setting. Jan 18, Derek rated it liked it Shelves: By the end, it had frittered away its energy. The occasionally stilted or awkward writing style, the painful-to-read romance with a character who should have been more interesting than she was who frankly should have more definition than merely her relationship with the protagonist, Hiero , the near-mechanical description and language used regarding Hiero's psychic abilities, the misguided use of exclamation points to bolster the narration, the narrator occasionally stepping out of the story to By the end, it had frittered away its energy.

The occasionally stilted or awkward writing style, the painful-to-read romance with a character who should have been more interesting than she was who frankly should have more definition than merely her relationship with the protagonist, Hiero , the near-mechanical description and language used regarding Hiero's psychic abilities, the misguided use of exclamation points to bolster the narration, the narrator occasionally stepping out of the story to mention far-away events in a "what they don't know" way, a quest that ultimately doesn't make any sense view spoiler [ A computer?

You have the technical skills and materials and electricity to properly use of a computer? And it will help to fight off the army of the Unclean?

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View all 4 comments. Sep 10, Adam rated it really liked it. Sterling Lanier's tales of Hiero Desteen could easily fuel my illustrations and imagination for a great many years. I love his explorations here of a possible future, sadly within which nuclear desolation or something quite like it had wreaked havoc on the world as we know it. The Hiero books take place several thousand years after these destructive occurences, set within the confines of a North America very different and yet eerily similar, in some ways to the one which we are familiar with Sterling Lanier's tales of Hiero Desteen could easily fuel my illustrations and imagination for a great many years.

The Hiero books take place several thousand years after these destructive occurences, set within the confines of a North America very different and yet eerily similar, in some ways to the one which we are familiar with. I could ramble and ramble about this book and the one that follows, but rewriting the story would only serve to dull down the original.

Basically, if reading this doesn't make you want me to make a shirt for you or your band featuring a mustachioed, sword-wielding warrior-priest atop a giant, telepathic moose, I don't know what's wrong with you. May 03, Julie Davis rated it liked it. I can't recall who recommended this book to me way back when but somehow reading it feels familiar.

Not familiar as in "I think I've read this before" but familiar as in "old style science fiction - apocalyptic fantasy. Some benefit mankind and some are creepy-crawly creatures that actively hunt humans. Telepathy I can't recall who recommended this book to me way back when but somehow reading it feels familiar. Telepathy between men and some animals is now possible. I myself love the "morse" which is a super-sized moose that doubles as a horse and companion. Into this rides the young priest Hiero yes, on his faithful morse - deal with it.

He's on a super-secret mission which I am just finding out about via a giant info-dump from the abbot. I've seen reviews naysaying this book's style but maybe it is because I recall those heady times of discovering these sorts of books in the s, when this one was written. For the moment I have a giddy sense of discovery and enjoyment that I haven't felt from sf for a while. So I'm going to ride the wave for the moment, if you'll excuse me. Plus the first bad guy we met was called S'nerg. How can I not love that?

FINAL This was both an exciting adventure with lots and lots of radiation mutated monsters and a few friends and a coming of age quest. It is a book that was very much of its time but it still holds up fairly well. If I had discovered it when I was younger, with fewer post-apocalyptic adventures under my belt I may well have rated it higher. As it is I enjoyed it. Not enough to want to read the sequel, but it was entertaining. View all 3 comments.

Mar 10, Andrew Neal rated it it was amazing. This is my favorite book from when I was a kid. I read it when I was 15, and it's perfect for me as a 15 year-old. It's about a Canadian psychic warrior priest who rides a moose and is best buddies with a bear. Also, he saves a lady from some giant birds and they fall in love. I reread it every few years and I still enjoy it, but I'm really glad I read it first as a kid, because it's missing some of the stuff a book needs to thrill me these days.

Hiero isn't all-powerful, but it's hard to really c This is my favorite book from when I was a kid. Hiero isn't all-powerful, but it's hard to really call him a flawed character. He deals with everything so well, and he's so good at everything. I love the setting, though, and the animals, and the ridiculousness of it all. It's set years in the future, but it's more high fantasy than it is science fiction.

Edited because I reread it recently Aug 23, Christopher Litsinger rated it liked it Shelves: A warrior priest riding a Moose yeah, sure, it's a "Morse" The antagonists are a group of people called the "Unclean"! The other enemy is a giant slime mold! This book is terrible!

On top of the insanely ridiculous plot the writing might be even worse! The book has words like debouching a ZOMG! The book has words like debouching and lianas and lots of other words that will make you wish your ereader dictionary was more complete! Yes, it is that bad!

And it has more than exclamation points!


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And yet in spite of that, I read it again and again. I suppose that this is mostly that I first read it when I was 12 or so and all of the above didn't bother me. And looking at the inexplicably high rating for this book, I think I might not be the only one who has a special place in their heart for this story. If you don't believe me that the writing is bad, I'll leave you with this excerpt.

I have been set a task so important that the last sane human civilization may fall if I should fail to carry it out. I need a further distraction like a third leg. They stood thus, the world forgotten until a mental voice whose very flatness made it seem sardonic broke in. Jul 07, Jennifer Seyfried rated it liked it. This is probably only for you if you are a fantasy roleplaying geek and I can call people geeks because I am one as it provided inspiration to the creators of Dungeons and Dragons and Gamma World.

My husband does not read a lot, but he has a small collection of sci-fi and fantasy classics, and this one was literally at the top of the stack as the first one he thought I should read. This is definitely a fantasy quest story complete with fantastic creatures and rescued princesses, but there are This is probably only for you if you are a fantasy roleplaying geek and I can call people geeks because I am one as it provided inspiration to the creators of Dungeons and Dragons and Gamma World.

This is definitely a fantasy quest story complete with fantastic creatures and rescued princesses, but there are no hobbits or magicians. This is set in a future thousands of years after nuclear war has ravaged the entire North American continent, and civilization is being re-established by Native Canadians. Instead of magic they have warrior-priests with telepathic powers, which makes them seem wizardlike. Our hero, Hiero, is on a mission to collect ancient knowledge of computer technology to help his order defeat an evil sect bent on domination. Oh, and he rides a "Morse" and has a bear sidekick and they all communicate telepathically as they battle evil and travel through the post-apocalyptic landscape that used to be the northeast United States.

It's really quite an interesting story, and if you are the kind of person who has actually reads books like the Lord of the Rings, and not just watches the movies, then I recommend it. Sep 04, Joseph rated it really liked it. Across this world goes adventuring the eponymous Hiero, riding his morse giant domesticated riding moose and accompanied for much of his travels by a telepathic bear. And there's a beautiful girl he rescues, and various others.

Probably closer to a 3. Jun 16, Craig rated it liked it. The best moose book ever, as well as a fine after-the-holocaust science fiction novel. Nov 24, John R Cobb rated it it was amazing. Before I started writing in earnest myself, I read voraciously, including everything ever written by Ray Bradbury and many other works by authors of action-adventure, crime, fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, and the supernatural. Moreover, like my father and evidently, much of the U. Telepathic and other paranormal powers have also risen from once dormant psyches.

After a radical progression, those who desire to enslave others, and those who wish for peaceful coexistence have chosen sides. From the northern region of Kanda, formerly Canada, Per Hiero Desteen, a Priest, Rover, and Killman of the Metz Republic, must journey south to the contaminated wastelands of the former United States to recover ancient computer technology. During an arduous and perilous expedition, Hiero befriends unlikely allies and battles all manner of wicked beings.

Their most revered edict is the Eleventh Commandment: Alas, according to the old gospel, mankind has dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Evidently, we can do as please without regard to the other living creatures sharing our planet. But, I digress… Pursued and harassed, Hiero hastens to reach his intended destination, lest the Unclean possess a weapon that could destroy the last vestiges of humanity.

The characters were very interesting, and there was an abundance of suspenseful action. Lanier is so afraid of repeating the same appellation twice in a row that some of his references to his characters border on the offensive: But the sheer raw gonzo world creation overcomes it all.

This is Dungeons and Dragons and Gamma World rolled into one psychotropic semi-narrative. The world suffers under The Death, but everything is intelligent because of it. Over a couple thousands years of high radiation and biological warfare after-effects, animals have merged, have grown, have mutated, and almost all of them grown some form of intelligence; the fish have; the birds have; the bees have. Even the plants and the fungus have. And along with intelligence, most of them have grown teeth, claws, or long-range explosives as well.

What kind of horrible, mind-numbing place is the latter and how could people have put up with it? Jul 27, Greg rated it it was amazing Shelves: I'm re-reading this in the midst of a mini-binge of post-apocalyptic sci-fi Brian Aldiss, Andre Norton and there's a reason I kept this book for more than 30 years after many Goodwill purges.

It's fun stuff, and Lanier's smart enough to work in a lot of great ideas and twists to the old sci-fi formula. The only I'm re-reading this in the midst of a mini-binge of post-apocalyptic sci-fi Brian Aldiss, Andre Norton and there's a reason I kept this book for more than 30 years after many Goodwill purges.

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The only thing that bugs me is that the hero Hiero Desteen--Hero Destiny, get it? But otherwise, a great book with cool ideas and interesting characters. It's close enough to a silly pulp novel to be fun, literary enough to keep you guessing and impressed. I went ahead and bumped it to five stars because after re-reading The Unforsaken Hiero, I want to start all over again and really wish some relative of Lanier would dig up his notes and write the third volume of the story. Jun 13, Jordan rated it really liked it. A psychic warrior-priest that rides a giant moose and is friends with a telepathic bear, fighting mutants and sinister psychic-technomancers, how can you go wrong with a premise like that?

I read this back in high school - and as that has been a long while ago, I can't really review it properly. But I do remember that I found it amazing. It may have been that dystopia as a genre was relatively new to YA or there just wasn't that much of it. I will re-read it at some point and do a more proper review.

Hiero's Journey

Sep 12, Melissa Danielle rated it liked it. Not all of us read in order to be at the edge of our seats.


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    6. As for my personal choice as a reader, I had difficulty finishing this book and almost decided to not. It was a unique device that could have been very confusing, but it was done well in this story. I loved the descriptions along the story. I am a detail person, as a reader and writer.

    The author was no amateur at creating this world. Honestly, the only thing that would have made this story easier to read, is if the pace was quicker. The main plot advances could have occurred in quicker intervals, and I would have made this a 4 star rating easy, and maybe even read the next books.

    Sanctum Secorum #22 – Gary Con Special Part 2 – Hiero’s Journey

    As it is, book 1 will be it for me. Mar 05, Abra Heinrich rated it it was ok. I used to love this book as a kid, but after having re-read it now, I think it is a piece of garbage.