The Many-Colored Land (The Saga of Pliocene Exile Book 1)

Product Information

It becomes clear to the reader that the Tanu and Firvulag did not escape our Earth of six million years ago, leaving the ramapithecines to evolve into humanity. Julian Clare May (July 10, 1931 – October 17, 2017) was an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also used several literary pseudonyms. She is best known for her Saga of Pliocene Exile ( Saga of the Exiles in the United Kingdom) and Galactic Milieu Series books. Any more, and I'll undermine the book. I'm done. But this is one of the best books I've read in years, and I am utterly baffled that The Many-Colored Landdidn't really survive in the collective memory, despite being nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards. Not that there's a problem with that. The novel is remarkably ambitious, and even if parts of it don't make much sense -- how likely is it that the alien fliers would still be functional after sitting out in the weather for a millenium? May was a good enough storyteller that she gets away with that kind of stuff. Recommended for epic-fantasy fans. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

A small ugly howler with thin arms and legs. Acts as a guide for the group of lowlives seeking audion with Sugoll and the Howlers. Also an interesting revelation: Mercy (the woman who drew the anthropologist Bryan into exile) has been genetically tested and though she came from the future, she is almost full-blooded Tanu. Which begs the question of how that was possible—presumably some hints will be given in later books. Me ha gustado bastante la historia que cuenta Julian May. La premisa es bastante original (viajes en el tiempo hasta el Plioceno, sin posibilidad de retorno, aprovechados por los inadaptados del presente-futuro). Tiene una primera parte bastante larga dedicada a la presentación de los personajes y sus motivos para escapar al Plioceno pero que no se hace pesada. A partir de la segunda parte la cosa empieza a cobrar un ritmo cada vez más rápido y se convierte en una aventura con todos los componentes clásicos. Lo peor es que perdemos la pista a la mitad de los personajes principales, aunque es de suponer que volverán a aparecer en los siguientes tomos de esta saga. The premise is a sci-fi fantasy cross-over: psychic powers evolving among humans, a galactic society of psychic aliens, thinly veiled faerie references, time-travel, pre-historic animals, outcasts, criminals, slaves and family empires! There are plenty of elements for May to play around with and she creates some excellent characters to explore her world(s). So, she did, and then her agent said "listen, only two markets are buying right now--horse girls and men who are reading pulp novels about harems in pleasure domes."The Many Coloured Land begins in our near future. Earth has been accepted into a galaxy including half a dozen alien races, all highly civilised and active metapsychics - psi-enabled, in various ways. This (along with the general pressures of modern living) causes problems for some humans, some few of whom are able to escape through a one-way time gate to Earth some six million years in the past, where we meet more aliens, also psi-enabled, but socially distinctly primitive/barbarian. As some of our human time-travellers also acquire psi ability, life becomes highly adventurous, in ways that were not, at the original publication date, familiar from anyone else's work. Clearly, I knew they’d survive—there’s no novel to be had in them being vaporized—but the finality of the decision paired with the unknown on the other side spurred some rather existential thoughts. Widow of the late Théo Guderian, inventor of the time gate to the Pliocene epoch. Longtime host to the Auberge that prepared would be time travelers for their journey into Exile. Eventually she herself passed through gate herself and becomes the leader of the Lowlives. We also discover that becoming psychically operant is not for the faint-hearted, there is pain involved and even necessary for that transformation. Just like childbirth, there is pain & struggle, but once the end product is achieved, there is joy. Unknowingly, the Tanu’s torment of certain humans opens the doorway for operancy. There are quite a few characters presented by the author: an anthropologist Bryan, who follows his love; a giant berserk of a man, Stein Oleson, who dreams of going a-Viking; a disgraced space captain Richard Voorhees; a female athlete and emphate Felice Landry from high-gravity world, striving to be accepted as she is; a telepath Elizabeth Orme, who after regeneration lost her talent; a sociopath Aiken Drum; Sister Annamaria Roccaro and Polish exopaleontologist Claude Majewski, who lost his wife and decided to leave the world.

Though I adored the book, and tore through it at a pretty rapid rate despite its length, it’s not perfect. My biggest complaint is that while May pays close attention to most of her characters, there’s one in particular that she’s too flexible with. The changes that occur don’t fit with the character’s, well, character, and it feels a bit hollow. Richard is an ex-spacer who came to Pliocene after being sued by a space crew who he refused to help while on a mission for a client. Richard tries to act tough throughout the book and often refuses to help other people, especially the Lowlives, but always comes through for them in the end. Richard is most notable in the book for killing the first Tanu to die in the book, in the process discovering iron to be a potent weapon against them. As an all-around navigator, he helps the Lowlives find the Ship's Grave which may be the key to freeing Pliocene humanity from the Tanu. He also flies the aircraft at the end of the book being the only one with enough experience to work out how. A lovely balance of male and female roles, which passes the Bechdel test with flying colours. A pleasure to read.This is where The Golden Torc starts to feel a little different than The Many Colored Land. We have some dozen or more primary characters, and at least double that number of secondary—yet still incredibly important—characters that we need to keep tabs on. To accomplish this feat, Julian May ups the speed while pushing a lot of occurrences off screen. In conclusion, “The Many-Colored Land” is a must-read for fans of science fiction and fantasy, and a powerful and thought-provoking novel that is sure to stay with readers long after they have finished reading it.

The Saga of the Pliocene Exile is classic science-fantasy that scratches the itch when you don’t know if you’re in the mood for a little high-tech chocolate, or maybe some swords-n-magic peanut butter…why not go with both? After all, they’re two great tastes that taste great together! The series draws from many sources and displays the earmarks of a number of influences: a little of sword-and-planet here, a dash of psionic sci-fi there, a soupçon of time travel hijinks, mix in a huge dose of Celtic mythology, and a leavening of historical fiction with some soap opera thrown in for good measure just to name a few. Add to that the fact that it grows into (or grows from, depending on whether you’re looking at the external ‘real world’ timeline of publication or the internal one that May creates in her timey-whimey future history) the Galactic Milieu Series and the overall achievement (in my eyes at least) is impressive. The story breaks a lot of long-established SF and Fantasy conventions for the time, focusing almost exclusively on being fun, fun, fun. Julian May has a lot of respect for the genres and has a great time playing with ideas and sub-genres. In addition, I am no language expert, but the narrator's pronunciation of some of the French words is poor and in general her reading of the book is just a bit flat and fails to capture the magic and wonderment of life in the Pliocene Epoch that Julian May is trying to portray. This Science Fantasy classic deserves better!

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

I speculated endlessly on what awaited them. More than that, though, I found the solid, inscrutable mystery of what would happen when they transferred through the portal, not unlike the mystery of what happens after death. Unfortunately, the US covers are beyond awful, but don’t be put off by that. Also unfortunately, the books are out of print, but can be easily found second hand. An ex-driller with psychological scars from the death of his mother. He is of immediate interest to the Tanu, who want him as a competitor in the ritual Great Combat due to his heroic physique. With the help of Elizabeth, he is mentally healed by the human woman Sukey, with whom he falls in love. Annamaria Roccaro

She met her future husband, Ted Dikty, later that year at a convention in Ohio. May chaired the Tenth World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago in 1952, becoming the first woman to chair a worldcon, and married Dikty in January, 1953. After selling one more short story, "Star of Wonder" (to Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1953), she dropped out of the science fiction field for several years. Julian May has written the “Saga of the Pliocene Exile” series, the “Galactic Milieu” trilogy, the “Intervention” series, and the “Rampart Worlds” series. Her work is from the horror, science, fantasy, science fiction, and children’s genres. From 1956 until 1981, she wrote over 250 books for kids and young adult (mainly that are non-fiction works). Julian May wrote both under her own name and many pen names; she has written novels and short stories.

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Felice starts the book as a tremendously talented athlete, with superhuman strength and coercive power (in short-lived, weak control of others minds), but with barely submerged psychopathy. She chooses to go into Exile when she is banned from her sport after two other players accused her of deliberately hurting them. In Exile she discovers her powers are stronger than she had previously expected but refused to be taken by the Tanu. Later in the book, Felice joins the Lowlives helping them discover that 'Blood-Metal' (aka iron) can kill the 'Exotics'. She is determined to get a Gold Torc throughout the book, confident that it will make her powerful enough to take on the Tanu. Richard Voorhees There is a lady sweet and kind, Was never face so pleas'd my mind; I did but see her passing by, And yet I love her till I die. Stein Oleson Exiled beyond the time-portal into a world of six million years before, the misfits of the 22nd century are enmeshed in the age-old war of two alien races. Sagittarius Whorl: An Adventure of the Rampart Worlds (New York: Ballantine, 2001). ISBN 0-345-39518-2.