From Library Journal Written as a tale from a mythical time when dragons roamed and knights slew them with magic arrows， this book takes us behind the scenes to those poor assembly-line workers who made the magic arrows. Unfortunately， not only are the dragons multiplying faster than the knights can kill them and rival villages are springing up promising fewer dragons， but the arrow makers are unhappy and unfulfilled in their work. Three of them decide to improve their work life. Not only do they succeed， but with the help of a wizard they end up diversifying into producing magic cleaning wands. Byham and Cox (Zapp: The Lightning of Empowerment， Crown， 1990) have written a fable intended to motivate employees. To succeed in that task they will need more substance than this book offers. Not recommended.--Joshua Cohen， Mid-Hudson Lib. System， Poughkeepsie， N.Y.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Booklist One of the burgeoning business fields of the 1990s seems to be human resources--that is， keeping your employees not only happy but productive and ambitious to do more. In their previous book， Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment (1989)， leading human resource expert Byham teamed with Cox to teach employers and managers how to persuade employees to increase production on their own. HeroZ targets the workers themselves， demonstrating that they can be content in their jobs if they take charge of their own careers， identify areas of improvement， and work with one another to make things better for everyone. Sounds like a tall order and a potentially a deadly dull book， but the authors juice up the action with a fantasy tale of knights and castles serving as a metaphor for any large modern-day firm. Seems the folks in "Tower Two" of the castle need to increase arrow production to fight dragons， and Dave the Wizard teaches the workers the use of empowerment， which he calls "zapp!" HeroZ is loaded with little inspirational catchphrases ("Quality is only one aspect of being productive，" "Offer help without taking responsibility for action，" etc.) as reminders of the common goals of the workers and is infinitely preferable to ponderous business tomes. Expect this to fly off the business-section shelves. Joe Collins See all Editorial Reviews