Appendix Gamma

Appendix Gamma is a feature where I will discuss the Appendix N material for gaming in the irradiated Earth. This will not only include discussion of James Ward's stated influences, but I will be adding stuff of my own.
First off...the Hiero Desteen stories of Stirling Lanier.

Originally intended to be a trilogy, Heiro's Journey and Unforsaken Hiero detail the adventures of Esper, Priest and Killman, Per Hiero Desteen. 5000 years after an atomic war the world is a very different place. Mutants prowl the world, humanity is holed up in small kingdoms like the Kingdom of D'walla (modern day Delaware). What used to be the Catholic church has evolved into a religious organization that fights for the return of human civilization.

By far, of all the post Apoc fiction I have read, this one is the most like Gamma World (and its children). While I am a fan of Mad Max it is not much like the Gamma Terra I have come to know and love. This book even goes more fantastic than Canticle for Liebewitz...which goes far. I am not going to include spoilers here as it is not my way. The world in these two books (Lanier died before finishing the third book) is a medieval world that is struggling with resurrecting the past in a way that technology is a benefit rather than bane. There are cults and forces that are inimical to human society and they use science to the detriment of civilization by accelerating harmful and deadly mutations into slave races they then use as foot soldier.

It is not as "gonzo" as most people seem to think Gamma World is (I wish I never heard that word!) but there is humour and one can see where some of the naming practices for Gamma World came from. By example the giant riding moose that Hiero rides is a creature called a Morse (Moose + Horse) and Leemute, the term referring to a dangerous mutant, comes from "Lethal Mutation".

Strangely enough, these books are not on John Joseph Adams' list of Post Apocalyptic lit in the appendix of Wastelands...but it should be.

If you are a Gamma Warrior, it should be on your list as well.