‘Hiero’s Journey’ first was published by Chilton books in hardcover in 1973. A Bantam paperback edition was released in 1973, and a Del Rey paperback in 1983.
A sequel, ‘The Unforsaken Hiero’, was released in 1983 by Del Rey.
[Apparently, Lanier had prepared a third manuscript, with the intention of completing a Hiero trilogy, but it never saw publication.]
Both Del Rey versions had excellent cover art by Darrell Sweet.
All these editions, being long out of print, nowadays have ever-steeper asking prices.
An omnibus edition of both novels, titled ‘Hiero Desteen’ (532 pp), was published by the Science Fiction Book Club / Doubleday in 1984 and while it, too, has high asking prices, it probably is the most economical way to obtain the series. I was able to find a rather beat-up copy at Wonder Book and Video in Frederick, MD, for under $5.
Sterling Lanier (1927 – 2007) was an American sci-fi and fantasy author who, during the 60s, 70s and 80s, wrote a number of short stories for the digests, including many entries in the so-called ‘Brigadier Ffellowes’ series. Along with the two novels in the ‘Hiero Desteen’ series, Lanier wrote ‘Menace Under Marswood’ (1983), another sc-fi novel, for Del Rey.
In addition to being a writer of science fiction, Lanier is remembered as an editor who made a momentous decision: in the mid-60s, while an editor for Chilton books, who mainly published manuals for automobiles, Lanier received the manuscript for 'Dune' and persuaded the company to publish the book in hardcover. 'Dune' of course became a publishing phenomenon, thanks to Lanier’s willingness to have Chilton take a chance and issue its first-ever fiction title.
I remember reading the Hiero novels back in the early 80s, and finding them quite entertaining. How do they stack up when re-read nearly fifty years later ? Quite well, all things considered..........