HUNT DOWN THE PRIZE

by Sheila Moon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 1971

Maris, the heroine of Knee Deep in Thunder (1967), returns to the Great Land, where she has been summoned for the vague purpose of helping Them combat a second rising of the Beasts. Once more an assorted human and animal fellowship undertakes an elaborate pilgrimage in which there are cliffs to climb and waters to cross, wise ones to be consulted, attacks to repel, and wounded comrades to nurse. If the turns sound familiar it's all ""related to having to do things again and again, at a different level each time."" Much was made of the metaphysics in Miss Moon's first novel; here the emphasis is on social responsibility, with specific parallels to the not so Great Land: the evil here takes the form of a spreading Blight; fish and trees are dying. But ""most dwellers in the Great Land say that what's happening is good, that the Beasts have the interests of everyone in mind. Others are afraid,"" and some just don't care. As for the Beasts themselves, Maris and her friend Jetty observe them worshipping at foul altars scratched with slogans such as POWER IS ALL, DEATH TO OTHERS IS BREATH TO ME, and HATING THEM AS WRONG WILL MAKE OUR RIGHTS. ""That's the worst of all,"" says (black) Jetty. ""No one's rights are like that!"" But unlike the real world there are no ambiguities here; the pilgrims have no share in the polluting and all are models of unfaltering virtue. ""Dangers of every kind lay ahead,"" reads Maris' narration. ""That made no difference. We had to go."" At one point Maris quotes a favorite phrase from the earlier book: ""Pain is the most vivid of colors brightening the world of Becoming."" Their mission completed, Jetty summarizes: ""Maris, for some reason I feel there can be freedom and happiness -- sometimes -- for everyone."" If such statements fall short of your notion of Beauty and Truth, the Great Land will not draw you. For those who are turned on by allegorical quests through fantastic lands, this one is imaginative and intricately developed.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION