I’m currently on a book-buying spree on Amazon and I’ve had Julian May recommended several times. She also has excellent reviews on the website itself.
However I’m somewhat confused about what books I should buy and in which order, I get the impression she has one overarching series which the smaller trilogies and books fit into.
What order should I order and read her books in?
What would be a good one to start with in case I don’t actually like her books?
Thanks!
IMO, I would start with The Surveillance and* Metaconcert* (Intervention, No 1 & 2), then the Pliocene Epic (4 books), then the Galactic Milieu trilogy. I like the first two the best, I think.
Julian May was a well-known fan in the 1950s and wrote at least one well-known story back then (“Dune Roller”). In the 1980s she wrote a four book series (The Saga of the Pliocene Exile) about misfits from a near-utopian near-future Earth (and colony worlds) who fled to the deep past through a one-way time portal that led to Europe in the Pliocene era; what they found was … surprising. The books had an operatic feel - many of the characters were over-the-top archetypes (a berserker warrior, a near-psychotic warrior-woman, a scheming con-man), and since psychic powers exist in this universe, the psychological issues of these characters often had dramatic real-world consequences. I ate them up (in particular the last two books which were a lot of fun).
During the plot of these books, various hints as to the future history of the human race (in particular how humanity dealt with the emergence of psychic powers and contact with aliens) were given.
In the late 80s May wrote a book about the beginning of these issues - called “Intervention” (also published as two volumes “The Surveillance” and “The Metaconcert”) - this was a pretty good book too.
In the 1990s she wrote the “Galactic Milieu” trilogy, “Jack the Bodiless,” “Diamond Mask” and “Magnificat”. In my opinion, the first was great, the second was okay and the last was disappointing (with a few good spots).
I’d recommend reading them in publication order, to minimize spoilers.
BTW, since this group of 8 or 9 books, May has written some other works, none of which I’ve read.
What Andy L said. Read them in the order of publication, starting with The Many-Colored Land; the other books may take place before them (sort of), but due to the flashback framework and time travel elements, contain massive spoilers. There’s a reveal at the end of *The Surveillance *that will be meaningless if you haven’t read the Pliocene books, and will ruin them when you do.
Since I usually choose reading material from the library almost at random, I had the non-standard experience of reading the series in backwards order. I started with the Galactic Milieu Trilogy, then the Intervention duo (which is also available as a single volume), and I’m working the Pliocene Exile Quartet right now. Ultimately they’re all thought-provoking reads, but with some flaws. I actually find the Intervention novels to be the best, among what I’ve read so far. They feature an enormous cast of characters, most of them strikingly realistic by the standards of science fiction. A few sub-plots are left undeveloped, which is a disappointment. Some intriguing ideas are introduced and then never mentioned again.
The Galactic Milieu Trilogy is definitely hit-or-miss. Jack the Bodiless is a very exciting, well-plotted, sprawling novel, and the second half has a major can’t-put-it-down feel. Diamond Mask is an almost pointless novel, seemingly inserted just to extend the whole series into a trilogy. One could skip it and miss almost nothing. Magnificat is mediocre.
Thanks, I’ll check them out.
Seconding what has been already said. I read started the Milieu series first but I don’t think all of the books were out yet so I moved onto the Intervention series. I read the Pliocene series while waiting for the last of the Milieu books.
I think the Pliocene books suffered somewhat by knowing a bit more about the future/past the exiles left. The intervention series was probably the most solid (though both other series had moments that I feel surpassed its best moments). I agree that the Milieu series petered out.
Start with the Pliocene Exiles series, definitely.
It helps the enjoyment if you know Irish mythology, I find.
I also remember enjoying some of her instalments of the Trillium books