The Priests of Ferris

The O Trilogy #2

by Maurice Gee

A hundred turns have passed since Susan Ferris joined the Halves and ended the rule of the Halfmen of O, Otis Claw and Otis Cling. But Humankind has chosen evil a second time. O is now in the hands of the priests of Ferris who use Susan's name to terrorize the world.
A prophecy among the Stonefolk, dreams of the long-dead Jimmy Jaspers and a great white bear, a flower called Shy, and a message from a girl named Soona all draw Susan back to the world of O where she must face the High Priest and destroy the Temple. Susan is afraid, her task seems impossible, but she is angry too, that her name should be used as an instrument of terror. She wants to rush to the Temple and break it down with her hands, but Soona must be rescued first, and naturally the High Priest has a plan of his own.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Maurice Gough Gee was a New Zealand novelist. He was one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and having won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.
Gee's novel Plumb (1978) was described by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature to be one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand. He was also well-known for children's and young adult fiction such as Under the Mountain (1979). He won multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award by the Children's Literature Foundation in recognition of his contributions to children's literature.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year has passed since Susan and Nick’s adventures in the world of O. A young boy by the name of Limpy comes to seek them and informs them that it is time for them to return. Upon following him through the mine shaft back into O, Susan and Nick realize that, during their absence, a hundred years have passed and O is not what it used to be; Leaderless, after the events of The Half-Men of O, a religion based on the myth of Susan has come to power under which all live under oppression.

I have very mixed feelings about this one – although I preferred it over its prequel. The Priests of O - or more specifically - the High Priest of O were much better villains than the ones shown in The Half-Men of O. The Half-Men were humans who simply had all the ‘positive’ energy taken from them which left them in a state of pure evil. The Priests of O, on the other hand, were fanatics and delusional. The fact that they were not essentially bad but driven by some form of madness made them more complex and actually rather frightening. The High Priest almost lets you feel sorry for him and I find such villains much more appealing than ones who are evil simply because they are only made out of ‘negative’ energy.

I found Susan to be quite full of herself in the beginning but she improved throughout the story. It was nice to see old and new faces and it was very nice to see the different creatures of O getting over their differences and forming new bonds. It was also nice to be introduced to new human characters like Limpy.

Another aspect I was very happy about was the return of the Bloodcat. It was very pleasing to see the author showing that the Bloodcat is not only out for killing but can also show and feel emotions. I have high hopes that we will see more of them in the third and final book.

This book had its share of flaws, but there was one thing that bothered me in particular. It was quite clear that this book was trying to make a point on the subjects of religion and animal cruelty. In general, I like when stories are critical about such things. Yet I prefer a story to either be upfront with it or to wrap it up so that you need to sit down and think before you actually see the message. In The Priests of Ferris it was neither here nor there. Apart from the religion being a strong theme throughout the book, it never grabs the bull by its horns.

Animal cruelty is also present but is never addressed directly. And yet it is direct enough that I do not really need to think about it. I wish it would have been a little more subtle. This felt too much as though the book was trying to preach, rather than having me figure out something for myself.

[Rick Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to a book called The Half-Men of O, which I have not read, and there is a bit of a learning curve as the author does not take much time to introduce the setup. That being said, the setup is pretty standard. A boy and girl from Earth were transported to a fantastical world where they saved everyone from an evil tyrant.

But the setup of this book a lot more interesting. When Susan Ferris and Nick Quinn return to the world called "O", they find that it's been a hundred years since their previous visit. In that time, the people of O have built an entire religion based on Susan's heroics, and that religion has become the facade of a new tyranny.

Determined to undo what she now blames herself for, Susan sets out to find a way to confront the priests who oppress the people in her name.

This story was an interesting take on the aftermath of the classic quest-to-overthrow-evil, examining the consequences of how heroics can be manipulated to gain and maintain power.

The characters were interesting, and with the heavy-lifting in terms of worldbuilding done in the first book, the author was able to get deeper into the interactions between characters and societies. The villain was better than expected, even though he doesn't appear until very close to the end. The author made good use of the concept of manipulating religion for political gain, creating an adversary who is more dangerous because he does not believe anything of what he preaches.

I believe there is a further installment in this series, although this book ends at a pretty good stopping point, with some sentimental moments as Susan Ferris says her goodbyes to the world of O

[Mindbait]

The second part of Gee's "O" trilogy, and in this time of YAF movie trilogies/series, not to mention the success of a fantasy series like LotR I'm kind of surprised that nobody picked up on this series. It has a well developed world into which two human children/teens step, the first book has the ever-popular 'chosen one' story going on.

In some ways I enjoy the simple 'quest', and good vs evil bent of the first book in this trilogy 'Halfmen of O' but 'Priests' is much more interesting. It sees the 'chosen one' travelling back to O a hundred years later to find out that she has become the deity for a new religion which is oppressing the people. It's not just her vs an evil race of halfmen that she can defeat with a single act, it's the evil in the hearts of men.

This book delves deeper into the background of some of the other species living in this world alongside humans. Where the first book focussed entirely on Susan, the lead protagonist (to the extent that an entire side story gets reported to her second-hand later rather than being given its own space) whereas this book allows another protagonist a couple of chapters with his side story.

The writing style is fairly simplistic, but then these are essentially children's books. Still a good story and a great series, with each book being part of the bigger picture, but via 3 quite different stories.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable second instalment in a classic New Zealand fantasy trilogy.

This seems to have a strong local following. I wonder why it hasn’t been adapted for the screen. Lets hope if and when that happens its done justice and not turned into a soulless drudge by the anti-worker, anti-union traitor, Peter Jackson.

[Jeanna Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading these to my children. Really enjoying it and so are they 🙂

[Chelsea Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great follow-up, with a good mix of new and old characters. Maybe not quite as epic an adventure as Halfmen but still an exciting read. My son found Susan a bit annoying in this one - but he chose to go straight into Motherstone. We are enjoying reading this wonderful Kiwi series together.

[Matthew Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I did the first book in the world of O series for my NZ author square and to carry opn the series i am doing the next one. my favourite quote is not really a quote. It is a section of the book. The birdfolk were locked into a certain area that they could fly in and to break this curse they had to go back to the earth and crawl through a cav that many birdfolk died in. I found that this was a good metaphor for overcoming your pride because once you do you will find many different worlds that you would never have discovered if you were in your own world. This book i thought made a good reference to people killing in the name of somebody, in this case, the priests killing in the name of Susan but in our world could be many people. The birdfolk were interesting to me because as i have said they had to overcome their pride to truely be free and that really interested me.

[Emkoshka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a worthy sequel to The Halfmen of O and another dose of strong epic fantasy. What I like about Maurice Gee's writing for children is that he doesn't shy away from or sugarcoat the violence and horror of an oppressive regime. And his fantasy world is beautifully evocative of his native New Zealand. I'm going to have to search harder for the last book in this trilogy, but it'll be worth it.

[Maria Elmvang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to "The Halfmen of O" and a lot darker than the first one. It must be horrible to find out that people are being killed in your name! (Hmm... I wonder what you're getting at here, Mr. Gee! ;) ). I preferred the first one, as this one seemed rather rushed in spots, but this one is more chilling as the threat (a fake and blood-thirsty religion) is more real.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic kids fantasy story. Expertly crafted.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good! It had heaps of description that really helped you understand and visualize in your head exactly what the world was like. :D