Gee, Maurice Gool (Salt Trilogy v2)

Gee, Maurice Gool (Salt Trilogy v2)
Orca 2010 215p 18.00
978-1-55469-214-9 hs VG


Xantee and Lo set out to locate the Dog King, Tarl, to enlist his help to destroy the Gook that is the force sucking the life from their world. Gee revisits the world and characters he created in “Salt.” Hari and Pearl have had children who are each gifted with incredible telepathic powers. When Hari is attacked and his life threatened by an invisible enemy known as the Gool, his children, Xantee and Lo, strike out to find Tarl (aka, “The Dog King”), who is Hari’s father. Aided by “the people with no name” who dwell unseen in the wilderness, Xantee and Lo race against time to destroy the Gool before it kills Hari and moves on to consume the world. This requires the children to embark on a arduous physical journey and an equally perilous spiritual one.

While “Gool” is the second volume in a planned trilogy, it stands well on its own. However, the characters in this volume are underdeveloped and the subplots of mystery and romance were employed with more success in “Salt.” The dreamlike quality of the quest(s) are at odds with the imperative to quickly resolve Hari’s dilemma and save his life -- which demands a fast-paced journey and immediate action. This is an uneven sequel, which, when read out of sequence, many not win new fans to the series. Fantasy Welliver, Hilary