KEY POINTS:
The fate of the world lies in the hands of a new generation, the children of Hari and Pearl and their friends, in this sequel to Gee's distopian fantasty for young adults, Salt.
In the first book, Armageddon threatened in the form of a plutonium-like material which could be turned into weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the tyrant Ottmar. In Gool, the looming apocalypse has taken an almost mythical form.
The Gool is a beast that is spreading through the world, its off-spring popping up in nooks and crannies like some giant fungus breaking out wherever there's a damp patch. The beast eats everything - people, creatures, plants, rocks - in its path and exudes a terrible aura of cold hatred and despair.
When one of its children attacks Hari, leaving him in a near death-like coma, it is up to daughter Xantee, son Lo and their friend Duro to set out on a quest to find and destroy the mother monster, a beast so terrible that it comes from outside nature. But for this they will need to travel back to the ruined city, where Salt began, and find its lost library and the books that might provide the key to how to slay the beast.
In this fantasy, the children don't have the power of magic spells, but are able communicate telepathically. And this handy skill also allows them to manipulate the thoughts of dangerous animals and their enemies. It's all a bit too convenient at times but Gee makes a good point for readers in the age of instant communication: to read others' minds you must take the time to know your own. The children set out on their quest through a lushly created world, which is at once exotic but also, with its blooming summer trees and mountain passes, has more than a touch of the New Zealand landscape.
As with Salt, it's an evocatively drawn world, although I find some of the analogies - the corporate-sounding evil empire called Company, the hatred between warlords and the creator of the Gool - a little heavy-handed. And, like the former book, I felt the quest was more epic in design than what was actually delivered.
Gee is a master storyteller but a lot of problems get solved just a little too easily. Its real strength lies in the appealing character Xantee, whose heroism is tempered with real self-knowledge of her flaws and limitations.
* The release of Gool coincides with the re-issue of four of Gee's classics for children and young adults with updated covers: The Champion, Orchard Street, Hostel Girl and The World Around the Corner. (All Penguin, $17.95)
Gool
By Maurice Gee (Penguin $19.95)
