Julian May
Paperback | Pages: 415 pages Rating: 4.07 | 11168 Users | 450 Reviews
Specify Books As The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1)
| Original Title: | The Many-Coloured Land |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1 |
| Setting: | Lyon,2034(France) |
| Literary Awards: | Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel (1982), Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (1981), Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1982) |
Description In Pursuance Of Books The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1)
According to the publisher Angry Robot, Julian May has died, age 86.The sad news has motivated to review this book, which I haven't read in 30 years.
I think it was Julian May who gave me the taste for mixing fantasy and science fiction. This, excellent, series is set mainly in the Pliocene era of Earth, where miscreants from our distant future are exiled via a time portal.
Back in this past, several million years before our time, these futuristic exiles try to make a life for themselves with the hi-tech objects they are allowed to take with them. They are a very eclectic bunch including a man who believes in Narnia and Aslan, a gay nun, a skilled thief who won't give up crime, all sorts.
This is a time of woolly mammoths rather than dinosaurs, but the twist is that psychic aliens are there already and set to enslaving our exiles. There are various factions among the humans and the aliens, and the alien technology wakes psychic powers among the humans too. It all gets complicated but the imagination is unbounded and the writing very good. It's a tale that took hold of me and had me reading the next five or six books in relatively swift order.
I still see people talk about the series, but not as many as there should be. Pick up book 1 and see what you've been missing out on all these years! I read quite a few books in the series and it's a great body of work.
RIP Julian May. Thank you for your stories.
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Define Based On Books The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1)
| Title | : | The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1) |
| Author | : | Julian May |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 415 pages |
| Published | : | 1981 by Pan Books |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Fantasy. Fiction. Time Travel |
Rating Based On Books The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1)
Ratings: 4.07 From 11168 Users | 450 ReviewsCriticism Based On Books The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1)
This is difficult to review without spoilers. Suffice it to say there is *a lot* going on, with multiple sci-fi and fantasy elements woven together into a story of ambitious scope. Very skilled authors can sometimes make that work, but often such stories collapse under their own weight. That seems to be the case here, although the story works on some levels and still remains somewhat engaging throughout.The story starts out squarely as science fiction but then evolves into what feels like anI am very pleased to find a science fiction series by yet another wonderful book club recommendation! 'The Many-Colored Land' by Julian May is thrilling, exciting and most of all fun! It is new to me, but this novel, the first in a series, was first published in 1981. Familiar character stereotypes populate the novel - but what the hell! It is well-done. Do readers really mind that? What do you say, Star Wars fans?Misfits and unhappy people compete to be selected for access to a time machine in
Christmas 2010: I realised that I had got stuck in a rut. I was re-reading old favourites again and again, waiting for a few trusted authors to release new works. Something had to be done.On the spur of the moment I set myself a challenge, to read every book to have won the Locus Sci-Fi award. Thats 35 books, 6 of which Id previously read, leaving 29 titles by 14 authors who were new to me.While working through this reading list I got married, went on my honeymoon, switched career and became a
Very original and entertaining, good start to a series.
Re-reading a book you enjoyed in your youth seem to always be a bit of a crap shoot. Quite often what impressed me back then may turn out to be totally different with a more mature outlook. For me, that wasn't the case with this book, it was almost as enjoyable as I remember it to be. Surprisingly, even after several decades there were a couple of scenes that I remember well and knowing more or less what happened in the end made it a little less exciting. True, some of my recollections must be
***This review contains hyperbole.***This book might be worse (but almost certainly not better) than my rating suggests. I zoned out from it frequently. Going back and listening to parts again was no help. It's as if some paragraphs and entire chapters had a stealth spell caste upon them that made me forget them immediately. What I do recall from this book (that I've just finished reading in a single day with no actual distractions) is that if you tore a page out of every fantasy and science
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