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Saga of the Pliocene Exile #2
The Golden Torc
By A.D. 2110 nearly 100,000 humans had fled the civilized strictures of the Galactic Milieu for the freedom they thought existed at the end of the one-way time tunnel to Earth, six million B.C.
But all of them had fallen into the hands of the Tanu, a humanoid race who'd fled their own galaxy to avoid punishment for their barbarous ways.
And now the humans had made the Tanu stronger than the Firvulag, their degenerate brethren and ritual antagonists. Soon the Tanu would reign supreme. Or so they thought . . . .
But all of them had fallen into the hands of the Tanu, a humanoid race who'd fled their own galaxy to avoid punishment for their barbarous ways.
And now the humans had made the Tanu stronger than the Firvulag, their degenerate brethren and ritual antagonists. Soon the Tanu would reign supreme. Or so they thought . . . .
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
222 people are currently reading
1694 people want to read
About the author
Julian May
201 books590 followersJulian May was an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also used several pseudonyms including Ian Thorne, Lee N. Falconer and many others.
Some 1960's and 1970's biographies and children's science books may belong to Julian May (the science fiction & fantasy writer) profile but no reliable source has been found
Per Encyclopedia.com, May wrote juvenile science non-fiction along with the science fiction novels for adults. (https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/edu...)
Some 1960's and 1970's biographies and children's science books may belong to Julian May (the science fiction & fantasy writer) profile but no reliable source has been found
Per Encyclopedia.com, May wrote juvenile science non-fiction along with the science fiction novels for adults. (https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/edu...)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
February 10, 2025
2025 Re-Read
A trifle less enjoyable than volume one of the series, possibly because war/battle scenes don't excite me much any more. I'm just all battled out. But that doesn't mean that it was boring. We continue to follow the members of the Green Team who arrived in the Pliocene together. The two most prominent are Felice and Aikin Drum, the two most amoral people on the team, who are willing to make sacrifices (of other people) to gain their desires. And they desire power, probably why they were initially drawn to the whole one-way-ticket to the Pliocene in the first place.
Elizabeth, who had been unable to regain her mental powers in the Galactic Milieu, is transformed by the time portal and becomes the most powerful operant person in the Pliocene. Everybody wants her for various purposes, but the Tanu primarily desire her as breeding stock. If they can become psychically operant without the assistance of their torcs, they can defeat the enemy Firvulag.
Felice desperately desires a golden torc to release her latent psychic talents and she pursues this goal relentlessly. She is consumed with the need for revenge on those she perceives as standing in her way. Aiken Drum received a silver torc upon arrival and has worked his way up to fantastically operant without the help of any hardware. Neither of them are trustworthy leaders, however.
Madame Guderian, who was the entrepreneur who opened the time portal, chose to embark on her own trip to the past and now regrets opening this Pandora's box. Can she do anything about it? Will Bryan, the anthropologist, find his love, Mercy? And will Claude find a new purpose once the nun Amery has established herself in the rebel human camp?
As you can tell, it is the personal stories that entice the reader along if the action of the plot doesn't grab them. I am thoroughly enjoying the rereading experience.
Book 3 of my 2025 Read Your Hoard challenge.
Original Review
Lots of nice twists & turns in this second installment of the Saga of the Pliocene Exile. The worm turns, when humans turn out to be nastier and craftier than their Tanu overlords ever imagined. For one thing, humans are willing to fight dirty. It’s reminiscent of the British facing Native Americans, two different codes of conduct ending in unexpected victories for the less-well-armed side of the conflict. Honour means different things to different cultures and May exploits those differences masterfully.
I love May’s involvement of geology in this book, and the couple of appearances by plesiosaurs! Despite the fact that we’re pretty sure that those massive marine reptiles didn’t live in the Pliocene, but still, plesiosaurs!
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.
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.
Aiken Drum continues to be a wild card—showing odd moments of compassion, but mostly looking out for number one, this psychopathic human has angered all sides of the conflict now, Tanu, Firvulag and Human. It remains to be seen if all three cultures can agree on his elimination!
A lovely balance of male and female roles, which passes the Bechdel test with flying colours. A pleasure to read.
Book 177 of my science fiction and fantasy reading project.
A trifle less enjoyable than volume one of the series, possibly because war/battle scenes don't excite me much any more. I'm just all battled out. But that doesn't mean that it was boring. We continue to follow the members of the Green Team who arrived in the Pliocene together. The two most prominent are Felice and Aikin Drum, the two most amoral people on the team, who are willing to make sacrifices (of other people) to gain their desires. And they desire power, probably why they were initially drawn to the whole one-way-ticket to the Pliocene in the first place.
Elizabeth, who had been unable to regain her mental powers in the Galactic Milieu, is transformed by the time portal and becomes the most powerful operant person in the Pliocene. Everybody wants her for various purposes, but the Tanu primarily desire her as breeding stock. If they can become psychically operant without the assistance of their torcs, they can defeat the enemy Firvulag.
Felice desperately desires a golden torc to release her latent psychic talents and she pursues this goal relentlessly. She is consumed with the need for revenge on those she perceives as standing in her way. Aiken Drum received a silver torc upon arrival and has worked his way up to fantastically operant without the help of any hardware. Neither of them are trustworthy leaders, however.
Madame Guderian, who was the entrepreneur who opened the time portal, chose to embark on her own trip to the past and now regrets opening this Pandora's box. Can she do anything about it? Will Bryan, the anthropologist, find his love, Mercy? And will Claude find a new purpose once the nun Amery has established herself in the rebel human camp?
As you can tell, it is the personal stories that entice the reader along if the action of the plot doesn't grab them. I am thoroughly enjoying the rereading experience.
Book 3 of my 2025 Read Your Hoard challenge.
Original Review
Lots of nice twists & turns in this second installment of the Saga of the Pliocene Exile. The worm turns, when humans turn out to be nastier and craftier than their Tanu overlords ever imagined. For one thing, humans are willing to fight dirty. It’s reminiscent of the British facing Native Americans, two different codes of conduct ending in unexpected victories for the less-well-armed side of the conflict. Honour means different things to different cultures and May exploits those differences masterfully.
I love May’s involvement of geology in this book, and the couple of appearances by plesiosaurs! Despite the fact that we’re pretty sure that those massive marine reptiles didn’t live in the Pliocene, but still, plesiosaurs!
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.
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.
Aiken Drum continues to be a wild card—showing odd moments of compassion, but mostly looking out for number one, this psychopathic human has angered all sides of the conflict now, Tanu, Firvulag and Human. It remains to be seen if all three cultures can agree on his elimination!
A lovely balance of male and female roles, which passes the Bechdel test with flying colours. A pleasure to read.
Book 177 of my science fiction and fantasy reading project.
December 20, 2022
This is more a continuation of the story than a sequel to The Many-Colored Land; maybe the publishers felt one volume would be too long? In any case, The Golden Torc picks up right where we left off. The 'time gate' by the time our main protagonists venture back to the Pliocene Era has been formalized, with groups of eight going through each morning. Our eight in the so-called 'green' group were split into two groups upon arrival by the Tanu, the ruling aliens who obviously are related to the Fey of legend. In The Many-Colored Land, we followed one group who managed to escape their captors and hook up with the 'free human' resistance. The Tanu 'process' all the incoming humans, taking what they deem useful, and basically enslaving them via 'grey torcs'.
All the Tanu wear Torcs, which allow them to harness their latent ESP powers and communicate via telepathy. May outlines at least six different forms of ESP here (healing, coercion, illusion, etc.) and the various Tanu are grouped into 'guilds' according to their powers. For humans, grey torcs are the most basic, allowing any one with a 'gold' torc to command them, give them pleasure or pain, etc. Silver torcs are reserved for certain humans more allied with the Tanu, and some humans even have the most powerful gold Torcs, making them the elite of the slaves. We witnessed in the last volume, where the human 'resistance' freed one Tanu town, that many human Torc wearers would rather die than lose their Torc and be free; this illustrates the rather complex social dynamic May develops here.
The Golden Torc chronicles the trials and tribulations of the other four members of the 'green' arrivals, who were set to the Tanu capital far to the south. These four included a woman with vast ESP powers, even without a Torc (a first to be sent back in time), a pathological 'trickster', a healer and a huge guy destined for the 'games'. It seems each year the Tanu sponsor a major event pitting themselves (and now their human minions) against another branch of the Tanu, the Firvulag, who live in the North. The Tanu and the Firvulag came to Earth together, but have long been at least spiritual opposites. The annual games are really their only point of peaceful contact and they constantly war among each other in normal times. The 'free humans' have a loose alliance with the Firvulag while the enslaved humans are obviously with the Tanu.
Whew. Lots of back story, but this is a complex world. The Golden Torc all takes place in just a few months time. We learn much about the political machinations of the Tanu, their complex relationship with humanity and the 'half-breeds' of human/Tanu. Some Tanu want to get rid of the humans and go back to the 'old ways', while others see too much advantage in keeping them around. Our 'green' characters are plunged right into the middle of a long standing debate here, with their lives and freedoms at stake. Meanwhile, we also follow the other half of the 'green' party as they make their way to the capital with a plan to destroy the Torc factory and close the 'time gate'. Lots going on here, and this gets a little heavy at times with the politics, but May's snappy and snarky dialogue moves the story along nicely. 3.5 stars, rounding up for the killer ending!
All the Tanu wear Torcs, which allow them to harness their latent ESP powers and communicate via telepathy. May outlines at least six different forms of ESP here (healing, coercion, illusion, etc.) and the various Tanu are grouped into 'guilds' according to their powers. For humans, grey torcs are the most basic, allowing any one with a 'gold' torc to command them, give them pleasure or pain, etc. Silver torcs are reserved for certain humans more allied with the Tanu, and some humans even have the most powerful gold Torcs, making them the elite of the slaves. We witnessed in the last volume, where the human 'resistance' freed one Tanu town, that many human Torc wearers would rather die than lose their Torc and be free; this illustrates the rather complex social dynamic May develops here.
The Golden Torc chronicles the trials and tribulations of the other four members of the 'green' arrivals, who were set to the Tanu capital far to the south. These four included a woman with vast ESP powers, even without a Torc (a first to be sent back in time), a pathological 'trickster', a healer and a huge guy destined for the 'games'. It seems each year the Tanu sponsor a major event pitting themselves (and now their human minions) against another branch of the Tanu, the Firvulag, who live in the North. The Tanu and the Firvulag came to Earth together, but have long been at least spiritual opposites. The annual games are really their only point of peaceful contact and they constantly war among each other in normal times. The 'free humans' have a loose alliance with the Firvulag while the enslaved humans are obviously with the Tanu.
Whew. Lots of back story, but this is a complex world. The Golden Torc all takes place in just a few months time. We learn much about the political machinations of the Tanu, their complex relationship with humanity and the 'half-breeds' of human/Tanu. Some Tanu want to get rid of the humans and go back to the 'old ways', while others see too much advantage in keeping them around. Our 'green' characters are plunged right into the middle of a long standing debate here, with their lives and freedoms at stake. Meanwhile, we also follow the other half of the 'green' party as they make their way to the capital with a plan to destroy the Torc factory and close the 'time gate'. Lots going on here, and this gets a little heavy at times with the politics, but May's snappy and snarky dialogue moves the story along nicely. 3.5 stars, rounding up for the killer ending!
October 10, 2019
Thus ends the first half of the Saga of Pliocene Exile. It's a good read, but I did find myself less captivated with this volume of the saga and noticed May's colloquial writing style (unfavourably) a bit more in this volume than the last. To be fair she herself has admitted that her primary goal was to write an exciting adventure story, not _War and Peace_, so I won't hold it against her.
The main conflict between the Tanu overlords and the downtrodden humans that has been brewing for years behind the perennial ancestral war of the Tanu and Firvulag is coming to a head. It is not a simple us-vs-them dicotomy, however, given that many humans are more than happy with the state of affairs under the Tanu regime, and not even those who oppose them are all coming from the same place. Thus May weaves together several different strands that are ultimately destined to meet at the crisis point: Madame Guderian, that ultimate author of the current state of Pliocene humanity, has a plan that she hopes will tip the balance away from the Tanu and towards the somewhat more resilient humans upon whom they have unwitingly become dependent, though it's going to be an uphill battle; meanwhile Aiken Drum tries to foment his own coup, though one within the bounds of Tanu law and society, with the aim of nothing less than overlordship of the current regime (his burgeoning metapsychic powers, along with the support of some Tanu heavy-hitters make his possibility of success more than the long-shot it might at first appear); finally we have the enigmatic and unbalanced hatred of Felice Landry whose own growing metapsychic powers may make her more than a match for any that currently exist on Pliocene earth.
A lot happens in this volume and the status quo is certainly shaken to its roots by its culmination, though to find out who the ultimate winners are you'll just have to continue on with the last two volumes of the saga. As an added benefit if you continue you'll have the pleasure of meeting Abaddon himself, Marc Remillard, one of May's most intriguing and enjoyable characters.
The main conflict between the Tanu overlords and the downtrodden humans that has been brewing for years behind the perennial ancestral war of the Tanu and Firvulag is coming to a head. It is not a simple us-vs-them dicotomy, however, given that many humans are more than happy with the state of affairs under the Tanu regime, and not even those who oppose them are all coming from the same place. Thus May weaves together several different strands that are ultimately destined to meet at the crisis point: Madame Guderian, that ultimate author of the current state of Pliocene humanity, has a plan that she hopes will tip the balance away from the Tanu and towards the somewhat more resilient humans upon whom they have unwitingly become dependent, though it's going to be an uphill battle; meanwhile Aiken Drum tries to foment his own coup, though one within the bounds of Tanu law and society, with the aim of nothing less than overlordship of the current regime (his burgeoning metapsychic powers, along with the support of some Tanu heavy-hitters make his possibility of success more than the long-shot it might at first appear); finally we have the enigmatic and unbalanced hatred of Felice Landry whose own growing metapsychic powers may make her more than a match for any that currently exist on Pliocene earth.
A lot happens in this volume and the status quo is certainly shaken to its roots by its culmination, though to find out who the ultimate winners are you'll just have to continue on with the last two volumes of the saga. As an added benefit if you continue you'll have the pleasure of meeting Abaddon himself, Marc Remillard, one of May's most intriguing and enjoyable characters.
February 12, 2019
8/10. Media de los 7 libros leídos de la autora : 8/10
Las siete novelas que he leído suyas se agrupan en dos series. La de La Intervención (3 libros) y la Saga del exilio en el Plioceno (4 libros). Autora poco conocida pero que se lee (o que leí) con auténtico frenesí.
Recomiendo ambas, tal vez la del Plioceno baja un poco en los dos últimos, pero ambas son joyas que tiene Ultramar en su colección de Grandes éxitos de Bolsillo (Ciencia Ficción).
Las siete novelas que he leído suyas se agrupan en dos series. La de La Intervención (3 libros) y la Saga del exilio en el Plioceno (4 libros). Autora poco conocida pero que se lee (o que leí) con auténtico frenesí.
Recomiendo ambas, tal vez la del Plioceno baja un poco en los dos últimos, pero ambas son joyas que tiene Ultramar en su colección de Grandes éxitos de Bolsillo (Ciencia Ficción).
March 27, 2011
The scope of this saga spanning eight novels is staggering. A gate is opened to the past, specifically the Pliocene era. But it is a one-way trip. Adventurous souls travel back, and find a world unlike any they could imagine. Epic conflict rages between ancient races, and the future destiny of man is decided. The initial four books make up The Saga of Pliocene Exile.
* The Many-Coloured Land
* The Golden Torc
* The Nonborn King
* The Adversary
These can be read as a standalone series, but who would want to stop there?
The “bridge” book deals with first contact and the emergence of humans with “supernatural” powers such as telekinesis.
* Intervention. In the US edition this was divided into “Intervention: Surveillance” and “Intervention: Metaconcert”.
The Galactic Milieu Trilogy deals with events after humanity has entered the galactic community.
* Jack the Bodiless
* Diamond Mask
* Magnificat
What surprised me as I finally finished the whole thing was how May had meticulously planned the entire arc from the very beginning, with elements important to the last novels referenced in the first. This lends the whole series a sense of completion rare in such works. Considering the fact that it took over 12 years to write, the achievement is even more impressive.
The characters are amazing, with rich depths and particular quirks that blend in well with the evolving destiny of humankind. The settings, especially in Exiles are fabulous.
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.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=236
* The Many-Coloured Land
* The Golden Torc
* The Nonborn King
* The Adversary
These can be read as a standalone series, but who would want to stop there?
The “bridge” book deals with first contact and the emergence of humans with “supernatural” powers such as telekinesis.
* Intervention. In the US edition this was divided into “Intervention: Surveillance” and “Intervention: Metaconcert”.
The Galactic Milieu Trilogy deals with events after humanity has entered the galactic community.
* Jack the Bodiless
* Diamond Mask
* Magnificat
What surprised me as I finally finished the whole thing was how May had meticulously planned the entire arc from the very beginning, with elements important to the last novels referenced in the first. This lends the whole series a sense of completion rare in such works. Considering the fact that it took over 12 years to write, the achievement is even more impressive.
The characters are amazing, with rich depths and particular quirks that blend in well with the evolving destiny of humankind. The settings, especially in Exiles are fabulous.
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.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=236
January 8, 2020
This is second in the series. It follows the other members of the Green group. It was a good continuation of the overall story. We get more information on the Tanu and Firvulag . Part of me wishes there were books on just them, with no pesky human involvement. Humans mess everything up. Not going to say anything regarding the overall story, if you have read this out of order, you must be lost, more lost than our Group Green. I do have to read the next book : The Nonborn King to get to the end of the story, it is by no means done.
March 26, 2020
Rereading this book after about 35 years I found there was only one event that I remembered, and even then, I seem to remember that happening later in the series.
Most of this book takes place in the capitol city and covers the adventures of the second half of 'group green'. Towards the end, things come to a head and most of the characters reunite again. The ending of the book sets up the next volume 'The Non-Born King' so I will be continuing my reading of this series soon.
As most of the world building had been done in the first book, this one pushed the plot forward without a lot of distractions. Overall, I liked this more than the first one and it lives up to my memories of reading it the first time around.
Most of this book takes place in the capitol city and covers the adventures of the second half of 'group green'. Towards the end, things come to a head and most of the characters reunite again. The ending of the book sets up the next volume 'The Non-Born King' so I will be continuing my reading of this series soon.
As most of the world building had been done in the first book, this one pushed the plot forward without a lot of distractions. Overall, I liked this more than the first one and it lives up to my memories of reading it the first time around.
July 16, 2014
‘Book Two in the Saga of the Exiles
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.
In this strange world, each year brings the ritual Grand Comabt between the Firvulag and the Tanu, possessors of the invincible mind-armouring necklet…
THE GOLDEN TORC’
Blurb to the 1982 Pan paperback edition
The second episode of The Saga of The Exiles takes us deeper into May’s bizarre, cruel and beautiful Pliocene civilisation. Bryan, who travelled to the past to find his lost lover, Mercy, discovers her to be the wife of Nodonn, pureblood Tanu, leader of The Host of Nontusvel (i.e. the innumerable Tanu children of the Queen and King Thagdal) and, via her golden torc, one of the most powerful Creators in the Elder Earth.
Bryan little realises that his sociological survey of Tanu society will throw the world into turmoil, since it shows that the effect of human interaction with the Tanu will spell their doom.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth meets Brede, the prescient bride of the living ship in which the Tanu and Firvulag came to Earth. She is neither Tanu nor Firvulag, but a mixture of both, coming from a separate world in the Tanu galaxy where the split between Tanu and Firvulag did not occur.
Madame Guderian and Claude manage to seal the Time Portal to prevent more humans coming through, but Aiken Drum betrays the rest of his fellows who plan to attack the Torc factory.
Felice, tortured by Culluket the Interrogator, is forced into operancy, but driven insane.
The time of the Great Combat approaches but it seems that even within the Tanu and Firvulag ranks there are those who are tiring of the old traditions.
Brede, having foreseen what is to come, rescues the rebels from their dungeon. Elizabeth was to have escaped with Sukie and and Stein in her balloon, but Brede also brings along the unconscious Felice, Elizabeth gives up her place in the balloon and remains behind.
Felice, awakening in the balloon, draws Stein into her plan to revenge herself and with her psychokinesis and Stein’s geology skills they crack the already weak barrier holding back the Atlantic ocean, allowing the ocean to pour into the dry basin of the Mediterranean, the basin in which the Tanu and Firvulag are gathered to celebrate the Grand Combat.
One of the surprises of this series is that May manages to combine the medieval with the futuristic, the comic with the cruel and tragic, the serious realism of some characters with the caricatured and grotesque, the past and the future, as if many of the themes were aspects of the original duality of the Tanu and Firvulag (whose home planet, incidentally, is called Duat)
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.
In an intriguing moment, Nodonn, who was criticised for taking a human wife, tells his brothers that he had Mercy’s genes examined, the result of which was that she was almost pure Tanu, leaving the readers to work out for themselves that we are the descendants of aliens who mated with their far future grandchildren.
It's impressive, addictive and just wonderful.
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.
In this strange world, each year brings the ritual Grand Comabt between the Firvulag and the Tanu, possessors of the invincible mind-armouring necklet…
THE GOLDEN TORC’
Blurb to the 1982 Pan paperback edition
The second episode of The Saga of The Exiles takes us deeper into May’s bizarre, cruel and beautiful Pliocene civilisation. Bryan, who travelled to the past to find his lost lover, Mercy, discovers her to be the wife of Nodonn, pureblood Tanu, leader of The Host of Nontusvel (i.e. the innumerable Tanu children of the Queen and King Thagdal) and, via her golden torc, one of the most powerful Creators in the Elder Earth.
Bryan little realises that his sociological survey of Tanu society will throw the world into turmoil, since it shows that the effect of human interaction with the Tanu will spell their doom.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth meets Brede, the prescient bride of the living ship in which the Tanu and Firvulag came to Earth. She is neither Tanu nor Firvulag, but a mixture of both, coming from a separate world in the Tanu galaxy where the split between Tanu and Firvulag did not occur.
Madame Guderian and Claude manage to seal the Time Portal to prevent more humans coming through, but Aiken Drum betrays the rest of his fellows who plan to attack the Torc factory.
Felice, tortured by Culluket the Interrogator, is forced into operancy, but driven insane.
The time of the Great Combat approaches but it seems that even within the Tanu and Firvulag ranks there are those who are tiring of the old traditions.
Brede, having foreseen what is to come, rescues the rebels from their dungeon. Elizabeth was to have escaped with Sukie and and Stein in her balloon, but Brede also brings along the unconscious Felice, Elizabeth gives up her place in the balloon and remains behind.
Felice, awakening in the balloon, draws Stein into her plan to revenge herself and with her psychokinesis and Stein’s geology skills they crack the already weak barrier holding back the Atlantic ocean, allowing the ocean to pour into the dry basin of the Mediterranean, the basin in which the Tanu and Firvulag are gathered to celebrate the Grand Combat.
One of the surprises of this series is that May manages to combine the medieval with the futuristic, the comic with the cruel and tragic, the serious realism of some characters with the caricatured and grotesque, the past and the future, as if many of the themes were aspects of the original duality of the Tanu and Firvulag (whose home planet, incidentally, is called Duat)
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.
In an intriguing moment, Nodonn, who was criticised for taking a human wife, tells his brothers that he had Mercy’s genes examined, the result of which was that she was almost pure Tanu, leaving the readers to work out for themselves that we are the descendants of aliens who mated with their far future grandchildren.
It's impressive, addictive and just wonderful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2016
Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 3/5
I really enjoyed the series first, The Many-Colored Land, and looked with anticipation to reading this one. The Golden Torc dropped many features that I liked and adopted many devices whose absence I had valued. The writing was not as pleasing and selective as it was in the first. The pacing, likewise, carried forward with momentum this time instead of with choice steps. The first one had a unique identity - not just with the mishmash of themes, but with its way of building up anticipation and delivering excitement. This was much more of a standard action-adventure. Of course, it remains aloft of the generic sword and sorcery since it employs science fiction tropes to supplement the sword and paranormal powers in lieu of the sorcery.
I'm not enamored with sidequels, and I blame much of the lack of originality on the format. Structurally, however, I was pleased that only half this story was a retelling. Oddly, some of best features of the parallel story were neglected here. Those key and anticipated intersections where characters from different storylines confront one another or where the repercussions of one plot influence another were mostly missing. Similarly, climactic scenes and eagerly awaited events were often omitted entirely. The area in which this has the most to offer is an area in which I was least prepared to appreciate. May is convincing and detailed with her knowledge of the ancient northern Mediterranean and its geology and zoology. I suspect there were hidden gems in the descriptions of geography and topography that were lost on me.
I still like the series but am less enamored with May than I was after the first reading. I did like that the story came to a satisfactory resolution here. I know that there are more to the series, and I'll read them to see what new problems and adventures are conjured next. I also hope for a return to the form of the first.
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 3/5
I really enjoyed the series first, The Many-Colored Land, and looked with anticipation to reading this one. The Golden Torc dropped many features that I liked and adopted many devices whose absence I had valued. The writing was not as pleasing and selective as it was in the first. The pacing, likewise, carried forward with momentum this time instead of with choice steps. The first one had a unique identity - not just with the mishmash of themes, but with its way of building up anticipation and delivering excitement. This was much more of a standard action-adventure. Of course, it remains aloft of the generic sword and sorcery since it employs science fiction tropes to supplement the sword and paranormal powers in lieu of the sorcery.
I'm not enamored with sidequels, and I blame much of the lack of originality on the format. Structurally, however, I was pleased that only half this story was a retelling. Oddly, some of best features of the parallel story were neglected here. Those key and anticipated intersections where characters from different storylines confront one another or where the repercussions of one plot influence another were mostly missing. Similarly, climactic scenes and eagerly awaited events were often omitted entirely. The area in which this has the most to offer is an area in which I was least prepared to appreciate. May is convincing and detailed with her knowledge of the ancient northern Mediterranean and its geology and zoology. I suspect there were hidden gems in the descriptions of geography and topography that were lost on me.
I still like the series but am less enamored with May than I was after the first reading. I did like that the story came to a satisfactory resolution here. I know that there are more to the series, and I'll read them to see what new problems and adventures are conjured next. I also hope for a return to the form of the first.
July 24, 2013
These are the first books I have read by this author and I absolutely loved it. In the future, a time portal is discovered that can transport people back to the Pliocene era. A lot of people choose this exile rather than continue living as they have, but a surprise awaits them. A race of aliens crash landed on Earth and dominate the era, using humans in their fight between their two factions, the Tanu and the Firvalug. Torcs control the populace and enhance physic power, creating a world of slavery and magic.
In the first book, a group of humans are taken by the aliens and begin discover their own limitations and powers. Some side with the Tanu, some with the Firvalug, some fight to be independent. In the second book, the same group are drawn into ever more complicated intrigues and the fight for humanity begins.
I loved the style, the plot, the characters. A really enjoyable read. The premise that our racial myths of fairies and trolls descend from primitive memories of these aliens is just great. I can't wait to read the next two books, which are ready and waiting on my bedside table.
In the first book, a group of humans are taken by the aliens and begin discover their own limitations and powers. Some side with the Tanu, some with the Firvalug, some fight to be independent. In the second book, the same group are drawn into ever more complicated intrigues and the fight for humanity begins.
I loved the style, the plot, the characters. A really enjoyable read. The premise that our racial myths of fairies and trolls descend from primitive memories of these aliens is just great. I can't wait to read the next two books, which are ready and waiting on my bedside table.
January 7, 2021
I don’t write reviews.
What can I even say about this series? I mean I love it. The world-building and character development is golden. Something about it reminds me of Gene Wolfe, which is a compliment. May is skilled at writing a wide array of characters that equally feel believable. Somehow she gets you to care about all of them.
What can I even say about this series? I mean I love it. The world-building and character development is golden. Something about it reminds me of Gene Wolfe, which is a compliment. May is skilled at writing a wide array of characters that equally feel believable. Somehow she gets you to care about all of them.
September 22, 2012
A great sequel where the characters fates are enlarged upon after their jounrey through the time gate.
Well thought out and great continuity and flow.
Doesn't lose pace and follows on well from where it left off from the first novel.
Well thought out and great continuity and flow.
Doesn't lose pace and follows on well from where it left off from the first novel.
May 10, 2015
Good 2nd book in the series. The story to me picks up and flows somewhat better than the first book. Nice SiFi and fantasy blend. Recommended
April 24, 2021
It’s a little tricky to keep track of all the various plots and plotters, but overall, this is quite the adventure. The blend of meta-psychic abilities (which certainly seem like various forms of magic) and the science fiction aspects of time travel and star-faring aliens makes for a story that is hard to classify but easy to enjoy.
A list of characters with their titles would have helped me a lot as I had trouble keeping them straight, especially the Tanu. My favorite aspect is the overlay of ancient Celtic mythology—the races (Tanu/Tuatha de Danaan and Firvulag/Fir Bolg), the characters (Brede/Brigid, Pallol/Balor, Lugonn/Lugh, etc.), and the symbols (cauldron, spear, sword).
A list of characters with their titles would have helped me a lot as I had trouble keeping them straight, especially the Tanu. My favorite aspect is the overlay of ancient Celtic mythology—the races (Tanu/Tuatha de Danaan and Firvulag/Fir Bolg), the characters (Brede/Brigid, Pallol/Balor, Lugonn/Lugh, etc.), and the symbols (cauldron, spear, sword).
August 24, 2016
Three races fight for dominance in Pliocene Europe.
Premise : Several million years ago, two factions of a dimorphic alien race took shelter on the most compatible planet: earth.
Fast-forward to the 22nd century, where not all humans are happy with the speed of progress and intergalactic relations with various “exotic” races. Several “misfit” humans portal back to Pliocene Europe to escape their own time. Ironically, these time-traveling refugees of the future must now battle aliens for their very lives in the past, instead of living in peace and harmony with them in their own time.
The saga of the human and alien refugees continues in this second book of the Pliocene Exile.
Adult science fiction, Published 1982. Book I was nominated for the Nebula award in 1981 and a Hugo Award in 1982. It won the 1982 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
What I Liked : The plot. The plot of book I, The Many Colored Land, is split between setup for the time warp (from “intergalactic age earth” to “Pliocene earth”) and the events following the warp—a short plot of political rebellion that takes place in the world of the Pliocene itself.
But book II is all Pliocene politics, baby, and the power struggles center on racial survival.
The Tanu, the dominant exotic race due to their strong mental powers, continually battle their rivals and sister-race, the Firvulag, who lack the technology and mental powers of the Tanu.
And humans are the slaves.
Because the Tanu struggle to procreate due to earth’s radiation levels (unlike the Firvulag, who are far more numerous), they seek humans with strong mental abilities as mates to carry on their bloodlines and rule the Pliocene empire. As a result, humans with strong mental abilities, such as the madcap trickster Aiken Drum (who always keeps things interesting) or the totally boring but insanely powerful Elizabeth are highly sought after as Tanu mates.
So, basically the premise rocks. The author pulls it off with style and it’s a lot of fun.
What I Didn’t Like : (1) My lack of connection with the characters was such that whenever they endured some terrible plot twist of fate, my reaction, instead of crying with the characters, was continually, "HAH! Clever twist, author, I gotta hand it to you." It’s not that the characters were bad; not at all. In fact, for a plot- and milieu-driven book, they were quite good. But I really like to connect with my characters, and I had trouble with that in both books I & II. The main reason is, I think,
(2) that as with book I, I would have preferred fewer perspectives. I like reading from the perspective of a small cast anyway, but these books aren’t large enough to fully explore their 8+ character arcs.
(3) My third complaint is totally subjective and likely connected to my first complaint, above; but it bothers me that love is never a “great power,” in this series. Hatred, madness and power-lust drive the plot, but love (almost) never does. Pliocene lovers (who have no chemistry, btw) tend to find comfort in their love only until they go mad or die.
Love is almost never a powerful plot motivation. Mental powers are the main “force,” in this world.
Which brings me to (4) my fourth and final complaint: I don’t find the speculative element all that...magical. I know, I know, this is sci-fi, not fantasy; but I still like to find myself wishing I could have a go with the superpowers or whatever. I didn't feel that way about the five great “mental guilds” or “metaphysic clans” that make up a large portion of the speculative element, in this series: Farsensors, Creators, Coercers, psychokinetics (PK), and Redactors.
The mindspeak is almost nauseating, at times. It sounds like baby talk:
“Atleast they no make Aiken dance their tune viceversa if anything.
Not toy like Raimobooby.
Nor I Sukeylove if you help.”
I happen to enjoy whimsy more than MIND CRUSHING POWERS! But a different reader might really enjoy the complexity of the mental gymnastics involved.
Overall : Julian May knows how to tell a good story. This review may have sounded negative, but I’m really just elucidating my own personal reasons for keeping this book at 3.5 stars, despite the incredible thought put into the premise and pageantry.
Recommended To : Male readers of fantasy and sci-fi at my library seem to love this series. Any plot- or milieu-driven readers would eat this up. I recommend it to teen and adult readers of sci-fi. It will appeal to some fantasy readers, but more to sci-fi readers, I think.
Book III? : I think I'll give it a shot. The plot sounds interesting and I like the direction things are going with Aiken Drum...
If you liked this review, you can read more of my speculative fiction reviews on my blog, here.
Premise : Several million years ago, two factions of a dimorphic alien race took shelter on the most compatible planet: earth.
Fast-forward to the 22nd century, where not all humans are happy with the speed of progress and intergalactic relations with various “exotic” races. Several “misfit” humans portal back to Pliocene Europe to escape their own time. Ironically, these time-traveling refugees of the future must now battle aliens for their very lives in the past, instead of living in peace and harmony with them in their own time.
The saga of the human and alien refugees continues in this second book of the Pliocene Exile.
Adult science fiction, Published 1982. Book I was nominated for the Nebula award in 1981 and a Hugo Award in 1982. It won the 1982 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
What I Liked : The plot. The plot of book I, The Many Colored Land, is split between setup for the time warp (from “intergalactic age earth” to “Pliocene earth”) and the events following the warp—a short plot of political rebellion that takes place in the world of the Pliocene itself.
But book II is all Pliocene politics, baby, and the power struggles center on racial survival.
The Tanu, the dominant exotic race due to their strong mental powers, continually battle their rivals and sister-race, the Firvulag, who lack the technology and mental powers of the Tanu.
And humans are the slaves.
Because the Tanu struggle to procreate due to earth’s radiation levels (unlike the Firvulag, who are far more numerous), they seek humans with strong mental abilities as mates to carry on their bloodlines and rule the Pliocene empire. As a result, humans with strong mental abilities, such as the madcap trickster Aiken Drum (who always keeps things interesting) or the totally boring but insanely powerful Elizabeth are highly sought after as Tanu mates.
So, basically the premise rocks. The author pulls it off with style and it’s a lot of fun.
What I Didn’t Like : (1) My lack of connection with the characters was such that whenever they endured some terrible plot twist of fate, my reaction, instead of crying with the characters, was continually, "HAH! Clever twist, author, I gotta hand it to you." It’s not that the characters were bad; not at all. In fact, for a plot- and milieu-driven book, they were quite good. But I really like to connect with my characters, and I had trouble with that in both books I & II. The main reason is, I think,
(2) that as with book I, I would have preferred fewer perspectives. I like reading from the perspective of a small cast anyway, but these books aren’t large enough to fully explore their 8+ character arcs.
(3) My third complaint is totally subjective and likely connected to my first complaint, above; but it bothers me that love is never a “great power,” in this series. Hatred, madness and power-lust drive the plot, but love (almost) never does. Pliocene lovers (who have no chemistry, btw) tend to find comfort in their love only until they go mad or die.
Love is almost never a powerful plot motivation. Mental powers are the main “force,” in this world.
Which brings me to (4) my fourth and final complaint: I don’t find the speculative element all that...magical. I know, I know, this is sci-fi, not fantasy; but I still like to find myself wishing I could have a go with the superpowers or whatever. I didn't feel that way about the five great “mental guilds” or “metaphysic clans” that make up a large portion of the speculative element, in this series: Farsensors, Creators, Coercers, psychokinetics (PK), and Redactors.
The mindspeak is almost nauseating, at times. It sounds like baby talk:
“Atleast they no make Aiken dance their tune viceversa if anything.
Not toy like Raimobooby.
Nor I Sukeylove if you help.”
I happen to enjoy whimsy more than MIND CRUSHING POWERS! But a different reader might really enjoy the complexity of the mental gymnastics involved.
Overall : Julian May knows how to tell a good story. This review may have sounded negative, but I’m really just elucidating my own personal reasons for keeping this book at 3.5 stars, despite the incredible thought put into the premise and pageantry.
Recommended To : Male readers of fantasy and sci-fi at my library seem to love this series. Any plot- or milieu-driven readers would eat this up. I recommend it to teen and adult readers of sci-fi. It will appeal to some fantasy readers, but more to sci-fi readers, I think.
Book III? : I think I'll give it a shot. The plot sounds interesting and I like the direction things are going with Aiken Drum...
If you liked this review, you can read more of my speculative fiction reviews on my blog, here.
March 27, 2018
The Golden Torc is the second book in The Saga of Pliocene Exile series. You might assume that means it picks up where the last book lets off.
It doesn’t.
It actually picks up, chronologically, about half-way through The Many Colored Land. Remember Aiken and Raimo and Elizabeth and Stein and Sukey? Now we get to learn what they were up to while Madame Guderian coached Felice et al through their cockamamie scheme. We follow this crew up until the timeline catches up to the end of book one, at which point we go back to hopping between the two groups.
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.
It’s not a terrible way to handle it. The fact that characters continue to live their lives even when we’re not watching them helps add a sense of authenticity to the story and, well, with this epic of a story I can’t say the ramping speed of the narrative didn’t match my own intensity. My favorite types of books, though, are those I read for the sheer enjoyment of reading (as opposed to getting to the conclusion). The Many Colored Land fit that description, but I’m not sure I can say the same about The Golden Torc. Which isn’t to say it’s bad by any stretch, it’s just different.
I'd also say that The Golden Torc feels much less sci-fi than it's predecessor. Despite some futuristic technology, the millieu is prehistoric and filled with, essentially, fairies. It's going to hard to give that a hard sci-fi edge.
One concern I have that is continued from The Many Colored Land is her characterization—especially of (human) men. Richard’s sudden redemption inThe Many Colored Land felt cheap. I appreciate that just because people are monsters in some aspects of their lives, it doesn’t preclude them from being loving elsewhere. But seriously, Richard was just plain nasty. It wasn’t days before he met his savior-love that he was hoping the Tanu had baseball-bat sized peckers and that they’d use them against a very unwilling Felice.
This tradition of men behaving in, my opinion, unrealistic ways continues into The Golden Torc, though perhaps to a lesser degree. I don’t love it.
Amusingly, though, I find May’s depiction of Tanu men (and women) to be exceptional. Perhaps it’s because, as exotics, she doesn’t feel confined to trying to get them ‘right’ or finding a character arc for them. They get to just exist—and I think that puts their characterization as the best in the book.
I’d also like to say that Sugoll makes an appearance in this book, and he alone is worth the price of admission.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
It doesn’t.
It actually picks up, chronologically, about half-way through The Many Colored Land. Remember Aiken and Raimo and Elizabeth and Stein and Sukey? Now we get to learn what they were up to while Madame Guderian coached Felice et al through their cockamamie scheme. We follow this crew up until the timeline catches up to the end of book one, at which point we go back to hopping between the two groups.
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.
It’s not a terrible way to handle it. The fact that characters continue to live their lives even when we’re not watching them helps add a sense of authenticity to the story and, well, with this epic of a story I can’t say the ramping speed of the narrative didn’t match my own intensity. My favorite types of books, though, are those I read for the sheer enjoyment of reading (as opposed to getting to the conclusion). The Many Colored Land fit that description, but I’m not sure I can say the same about The Golden Torc. Which isn’t to say it’s bad by any stretch, it’s just different.
I'd also say that The Golden Torc feels much less sci-fi than it's predecessor. Despite some futuristic technology, the millieu is prehistoric and filled with, essentially, fairies. It's going to hard to give that a hard sci-fi edge.
One concern I have that is continued from The Many Colored Land is her characterization—especially of (human) men. Richard’s sudden redemption inThe Many Colored Land felt cheap. I appreciate that just because people are monsters in some aspects of their lives, it doesn’t preclude them from being loving elsewhere. But seriously, Richard was just plain nasty. It wasn’t days before he met his savior-love that he was hoping the Tanu had baseball-bat sized peckers and that they’d use them against a very unwilling Felice.
This tradition of men behaving in, my opinion, unrealistic ways continues into The Golden Torc, though perhaps to a lesser degree. I don’t love it.
Amusingly, though, I find May’s depiction of Tanu men (and women) to be exceptional. Perhaps it’s because, as exotics, she doesn’t feel confined to trying to get them ‘right’ or finding a character arc for them. They get to just exist—and I think that puts their characterization as the best in the book.
I’d also like to say that Sugoll makes an appearance in this book, and he alone is worth the price of admission.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
September 29, 2021
Ressenya en català:
https://www.elkraken.com/Ressenyes_Ca...
Reseña en castellano:
https://www.elkraken.com/Esp/T-esp/R-...
https://www.elkraken.com/Ressenyes_Ca...
Reseña en castellano:
https://www.elkraken.com/Esp/T-esp/R-...
August 4, 2016
Finished this a while back as part of my summer commitment to read more SFF. It's good for the brain.
Julian May really caught me by surprise--I hadn't heard of her until I read Chabon's paean to tricksters and SFF in Maps and Legends (which I also recommend). The Many-Colored Land took me a while to get into, but by the time I got a third of the way through I just devoured it and then chowed my way through Golden Torc. This book starts to weave back together the fates of Group Green, and if you're even half-attentive to Irish myth, you'll enjoy the character work. A good mix of SF with the major fantasy elements, and well-plotted, even if I found myself having to work to keep track of some of the Tanu character names in a few spots. Lots of subplots to keep your eyes on, but I think May does a nice job of keeping them all grounded in the main action of the book. Also, I now sort of want a gold jumpsuit covered in pockets...
Friends, if you really loved me, you'd cruise used bookstores and find me the next two in the series, because our Half-Price only had this one and the first.
Julian May really caught me by surprise--I hadn't heard of her until I read Chabon's paean to tricksters and SFF in Maps and Legends (which I also recommend). The Many-Colored Land took me a while to get into, but by the time I got a third of the way through I just devoured it and then chowed my way through Golden Torc. This book starts to weave back together the fates of Group Green, and if you're even half-attentive to Irish myth, you'll enjoy the character work. A good mix of SF with the major fantasy elements, and well-plotted, even if I found myself having to work to keep track of some of the Tanu character names in a few spots. Lots of subplots to keep your eyes on, but I think May does a nice job of keeping them all grounded in the main action of the book. Also, I now sort of want a gold jumpsuit covered in pockets...
Friends, if you really loved me, you'd cruise used bookstores and find me the next two in the series, because our Half-Price only had this one and the first.
August 11, 2008
In general I give all series two volumes to entice me to read further—in this case, May has failed utterly. Somehow she has taken a good concept and serviceable storytelling and written a book almost entirely devoid of interest. The few sympathetic characters she presents have so minor a role that finding out what happens to them has next to no appeal. I've watched all people and events become slowly more sterile and cold, and in the end I had to push myself to read the last hundred pages. I'm left with absolutely no desire to finish the series—it's a waste of time. I should have gone with my instinct after finishing the first book.
January 19, 2025
Things are falling apart here, both for the characters and the novel itself. Julian May started out wanting to write about a future filled with meta psychics in conflict; instead, she sold a series about humans fighting a barbaric alien race. The last 1/3 of the novel feels like the author is moving puzzle pieces around the Pliocene Europe, to get ready for the next two books. The first part of the book follows the foursome who split off in book one - probably the most interesting part of the book, as they get to know the upper echelons of the Tanu people. Aiken Drum is the most powerful psychic of the operant humans, and his actions are bold and sometimes funny. There’s a good conflict among the Tanu - those who want their race to intermingle with the humans, versus a more traditional block that wants to eradicate the humans. This book was written around 1980 or so, and there’s stuff that wouldn’t be acceptable today. One of the characters is raped (offscreen) and another is a lesbian who is not portrayed in the greatest light. There’s the Grand Combat, promised in the last book, where the two alien races fight each other in an annual Coliseum event. Few of these battle scenes made me feel a sense of awe.
August 27, 2019
This is a fine bookend for the first book, bringing many of the storylines initiated in that book to rather solid and at times shocking conclusions. There's a big event in this book that is so evocative that it's been my primary memory of May's writing in the 20+ since years since I read it last. That's the kind of drama you want in a book!
Unfortunately, The Golden Torc also loses its way in the last third of the book. There's too much focus on the antagonists, but none of it sufficiently concentrated that we really come to know the individuals as people. There are also too many long listings of names and battles in the end.
The Golden Torc rediscovers its way in the last fifteen pages or so, which touch bases with all of our core characters, and promises more of the same in the next book, and that's where a lot of the excitement is too, but it's a bit of a trudge to get there.
Unfortunately, The Golden Torc also loses its way in the last third of the book. There's too much focus on the antagonists, but none of it sufficiently concentrated that we really come to know the individuals as people. There are also too many long listings of names and battles in the end.
The Golden Torc rediscovers its way in the last fifteen pages or so, which touch bases with all of our core characters, and promises more of the same in the next book, and that's where a lot of the excitement is too, but it's a bit of a trudge to get there.
February 12, 2019
8/10. Media de los 7 libros leídos de la autora : 8/10
Las siete novelas que he leído suyas se agrupan en dos series. La de La Intervención (3 libros) y esta Saga del exilio en el Plioceno (4 libros). Autora poco conocida pero que se lee (o que leí) con auténtico frenesí.
Recomiendo ambas, tal vez esta del Plioceno baja un poco en los dos últimos, pero ambas son joyas que tiene Ultramar en su colección de Grandes éxitos de Bolsillo (Ciencia Ficción).
Las siete novelas que he leído suyas se agrupan en dos series. La de La Intervención (3 libros) y esta Saga del exilio en el Plioceno (4 libros). Autora poco conocida pero que se lee (o que leí) con auténtico frenesí.
Recomiendo ambas, tal vez esta del Plioceno baja un poco en los dos últimos, pero ambas son joyas que tiene Ultramar en su colección de Grandes éxitos de Bolsillo (Ciencia Ficción).
December 26, 2021
Epico secondo volume della trilogia della Terra dai Molti Colori di Julian May.
Non desidero raccontare di cosa parli perchè questo secondo libro merita di essere scoperto pagina dopo pagina, ma quello che è certo è che l'autrice è in grado di scrivere una storia epica, densa di avvenimenti e di personaggi, e di portare la vicenda all'esito finale con grandissimo pathos, col fiato sospeso, con la necessità quasi fisica di proseguire, capitolo dopo capitolo.
Non desidero raccontare di cosa parli perchè questo secondo libro merita di essere scoperto pagina dopo pagina, ma quello che è certo è che l'autrice è in grado di scrivere una storia epica, densa di avvenimenti e di personaggi, e di portare la vicenda all'esito finale con grandissimo pathos, col fiato sospeso, con la necessità quasi fisica di proseguire, capitolo dopo capitolo.
October 12, 2020
I've liked all the other books by Julian May that I've read, but I didn't enjoy this it all. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it, but it almost seemed like a parody of science fiction, with absurd names or made-up words in nearly every paragraph. And mental powers. Sooooo many mental powers.
The overall situation described in the book is interesting, and Ms. May's vocabulary is impressive, but there's not much else to recommend. The book is stuffed with plot twists and minor characters, which I was not motivated to follow closely and distinguish among. I'm willing to give the next volume a chance and hope this one was just an aberration.
The overall situation described in the book is interesting, and Ms. May's vocabulary is impressive, but there's not much else to recommend. The book is stuffed with plot twists and minor characters, which I was not motivated to follow closely and distinguish among. I'm willing to give the next volume a chance and hope this one was just an aberration.
June 13, 2019
The blend of SF and fantasy continues with #2 in the series. I don't generally like fantasy so it is credit to May' storytelling that enabled me to finish it and enjoy it. With so many characters and species, it's hard to maintain a deep engagement, but it all works nonetheless.
February 1, 2022
It's nearly forty years since I first read this series and I still love it, though it's not without flaws and some aspects haven't aged well. (Qualifier also applies to this reader.) Long review of this and The Many-Colored Land together.
June 20, 2021
Un magnífico cierre a todo lo planteado en el anterior volumen.
September 30, 2021
Dos estrellas y media. Reseña en C:
https://www.ccyberdark.net/7990/la-ti...
https://www.ccyberdark.net/7990/la-ti...
June 10, 2021
The Golden Torc serves light fantasy for the Market of Lowered Expectations. This is timid fan-fiction with the rigor of a cheesy '50s monster movie; more revising and significant editing should have occurred but did not. The aliens are way too conveniently compatible with humans biologically, culturally, and linguistically to have come from another galaxy, six million years ago. Plot points occur way too conveniently, characters behave too much of types. The writing itself became an obstacle to my finishing the book at all since the author insists on 22nd-century humans and trans-galactic aliens speaking in mealy-mouthed, colloquial dialogue more at home in a bad, black-and-white gangster film, and in using describing tags for characters over and over again. I objected to May repeatedly referring to Burke in The Many-Colored Land as a "red man" and she follows up in Book 2 by consistently calling Aiken Drum a "golliwog." Whether she was familiar with the ugly racial slur that word has always carried or not, it was just lousy writing.
Save your bus fare.
November 19, 2012
If you have gotten this far, you will know what the setting is to the Saga of the Pliocene Exile. You may also be wondering what, exactly, is going on with the four characters that went to the Tanu capital of Muriah. And that is where the book picks up.
So, the reader finds themselves backwards in time before the rebel uprising at the end of The Many-Colored Land to catch up with Bryan, Aiken Drum, Elizabeth, and the 'Viking' Stein. Theirs is a much more politically driven story, as they maneuver the conniving of various factions that strive for dominance of the Many-Colored Land. As an anthropologist, Bryan embarks to complete a survey of human-Tanu relations that the King hopes to use to support is breeding program. Elizabeth, as the *cough* first fully meta-functional operant is key to that breeding program and a target for those who wish for a pure-blooded Tanu race. Aiken, meanwhile, decides that he is going to throw his hat into this game of throne and attempt to overthrow the King's heir and the King in the ritual Grand Combat so that he can be ruler over the Many-Colored Land... and Stein is caught up in Aiken's story.
These characters are followed until the beginning of the Grand Truce, after which we are reunited with our other intrepid time-travelers as they prepare to carry out the final phases of their revolution to free humankind from Tanu control.
And of course, in the end, we have the Grand Combat, which Julian May utilizes to grand effect to , as it were.
Julian May writes political intrigue right. It is fun, suspenseful, and irritating. Most of all, it is not overdone. There is a good balance between the political plot of some of the characters and the adventure plots of our intrepid rebels. Furthermore, in what might seem to be revolutionary to modern readers, most of the story threads are wrapped up! *gasp!* Satisfactorily! *Wha-wha-whaaaat?*
Kinda makes you wonder what the second half of the saga is going to be about.... *goes to read prologue to The Non-Born King* Well... they're boned.
So, the reader finds themselves backwards in time before the rebel uprising at the end of The Many-Colored Land to catch up with Bryan, Aiken Drum, Elizabeth, and the 'Viking' Stein. Theirs is a much more politically driven story, as they maneuver the conniving of various factions that strive for dominance of the Many-Colored Land. As an anthropologist, Bryan embarks to complete a survey of human-Tanu relations that the King hopes to use to support is breeding program. Elizabeth, as the *cough* first fully meta-functional operant is key to that breeding program and a target for those who wish for a pure-blooded Tanu race. Aiken, meanwhile, decides that he is going to throw his hat into this game of throne and attempt to overthrow the King's heir and the King in the ritual Grand Combat so that he can be ruler over the Many-Colored Land... and Stein is caught up in Aiken's story.
These characters are followed until the beginning of the Grand Truce, after which we are reunited with our other intrepid time-travelers as they prepare to carry out the final phases of their revolution to free humankind from Tanu control.
And of course, in the end, we have the Grand Combat, which Julian May utilizes to grand effect to , as it were.
Julian May writes political intrigue right. It is fun, suspenseful, and irritating. Most of all, it is not overdone. There is a good balance between the political plot of some of the characters and the adventure plots of our intrepid rebels. Furthermore, in what might seem to be revolutionary to modern readers, most of the story threads are wrapped up! *gasp!* Satisfactorily! *Wha-wha-whaaaat?*
Kinda makes you wonder what the second half of the saga is going to be about.... *goes to read prologue to The Non-Born King* Well... they're boned.
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