Sterling E. Lanier Message Board
Logan5 posts on 2/24/2006 6:06:58 PM
Yes there was no third book written. I did a fair bit of research on Hiero and Mr. Lanier a while back (not sure where my posts here are at as I do not see them). I even contacted an editor at Del Ray books who gave me some information.
I also found out that he was in an accident (I believe in Europe somewhere). Anyway like a lot of us here it would have been nice to see a third book just to see some loose ends tied up.
Logan
Thrasymachus posts on 2/2/2006 5:33:04 PM
I vaguely remember reading that Lanier had started writing the third book in the Hiero series, or at least had some notes for it, but had lost interest in fleshing the story out.
BJS posts on 2/2/2006 5:13:51 PM
I've gleaned some information from elsewhere (I don't think this board wants me to give the links)
"Sterling Edmund Lanier , born in 1927, graduated from Harvard in 1951. When he was an editor at Chilton in the '60s he published Frank Herbert's Dune, which went on to become one of the greatest bestsellers of all time. Lanier was trained as an anthropologist - archeologist. He is also a well-known sculptor whose work is on exhibit in several museums including the Smithsonian. He lives in Maryland."
"To our knowledge, he hasn't written another. Sources tell us he's pretty much given up writing fiction. We suspect he hasn't changed his mind since another Hiero book would be trumpeted around the SF world."
"I did some searching for recent news concerning Mr. Lanier and found the odd story that he'd suffered a serious head injury in a streetcar [!] accident several years ago and that he wasn't interested in continuing Hiero's story."
His middle name might be Edmund or Edward.
And finally, The Curious Quests would seem to be 1986, so my ten year estimate was only half right!
BJS
Belinda Stamford posts on 2/2/2006 4:46:23 PM
From my checking the internet I find that there was never a third book written in the Hiero series. Why? Does anyone know? My sister gave me the first two, which I read and liked, but couldn't believe Lanier would leave it unfinished. I would never have read those two if I had known that. My reading time is two valuable to me to waste it on books where the story has no ending.
Thrasymachus posts on 12/27/2005 11:53:56 AM
It appears that Sterling E. Lanier was, in fact, working on a third Hiero novel at some point, but lost interest and moved on to other projects.
My guess is that he believed the end of the Soviet Union had rendered his "Nuclear Devastation" premise obsolete, and that the world of the Death was therefore no longer topical.
The really interesting thing, though, is that Hiero really is topical once again, for a completely different reason. People may not want to read about nuclear apocalypses in science fiction, but people are now increasingly interested in reading about treatments of religion and faith in science fiction that are more subtle than Christopher Stasheff's unconditional embrace of it or Lester Del Ray's unconditional rebuke.
rc145 posts on 12/27/2005 10:13:46 AM
I bought HJ and UH years ago and have read and re read them numerous times.I recently gave them to my Bro in law, who was also loved them. when he asked me if there was ever any thought of more books in the series and i told him i've never found one. it was a great universe- not many books set in post "death" setting.will there ever be any more of Hiero?
Dave posts on 9/19/2005 2:51:28 AM
I like the idea that the evil is some sort of super-computer at WDW; however, from what I've taken from the Hiero books was the constant undertone of the political blundering and scientific exploration that led to the development of nuclear weapons and, ultimately, The Death.
It's not oppressive throughout the entire book of HJ, but the blame for The Death being placed on the governments of the world were very evident during the final conflict in the underground weapon's control center.
That said, and the idealogical world view of "science solves everything" shared by the Unclean, I think the powerful evil in the south that Solitare warned Hiero about is NOT in WDW...nor even in the United States. I think it's in Cuba which, at the time of the books' writing, was still very much a pawn of Soviet Russia, and a communist state; adherents to Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto which declared science, not God, would solve all of man's problems. Just a thought.
Dennis Wright posts on 9/15/2005 4:56:13 PM
Just finished rereading both of my Heiro books. Forgot how good they were. How come Lanier never wrote the third book.
Just think of Hiero leading the whole catclan along with the bears and his moose riding army to D'alwah to take back
thier kingdom.
what a book that would make.
DKW
Darren Hand posts on 9/11/2005 5:55:34 PM
I read this book for the first time when I was a teenager. I loved it. I had read it several times before stumbling across Unforsaken Hiero. I was thrilled. I searched in vain for a third book, but to the best of my knowledge none has been produced. Too bad, I absolutely loved the premise, setting and creatures of the Hiero series.
pat Quinn posts on 9/4/2005 7:37:22 PM
I am also a Heiro fan having read the first two books over 20 years ago and have just re-read them. I am also suprised that publishers don't understand the gold mine from some of the older writers who have written some great si/fi/fantasy in the past.
A new writer, e.e. Knight (vampire series) has some great simalarities to the Heiro books in writing style. What surprises me the most is that 2004/2005 will most likley some day be known as the years of the fantasy as There are so many hard back books coming out soon or recently came out including R. Jordan, GRR Martin, D. Gemmel, R. Feist, K. Kerr, Tad Wiliams, Greg Keyes, Terry Brooks and Steven Erikson, etc.
Attention Publishers
F a n t a s y m a k e s $
Besides Lanier some other Authors who I would love to see finish their worlds (i.e. should comtinue writing) are Gene Lancour (Dirshan), Mark Perry (morigu), Roland Green (wandor - fifth book) ,Paul Zimmer (who has passed but whom was claimed to have finished one last book in his series. He also has a series of short stories about his creation that should be published just like Night Shade books did for Wagner's Kane series).
Why arn't publishers realizing that there are great writers from the 70,80,90's who could be bringing revenue. The Tolkien movies and Harry Potter have created a whole new generation of fantasy readers who are spending money on these types of books. Plus, some of us (readers) in our 40's & 50's who have some disposable income, can afford the hardback books. We grew up with some of these writers and would love to see more books by them.
Anyway I hope that some publisher convinces Lanier to put out his third book of Heiro. It would help if the publishers also printed some of the earlier works of Lanier, Zimmer, Lancour, Green and Perry This is as good of Fantisy as anything out there today (in my opinon).
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