Rating: 
Summary: Eternity never looked so good
Review: An incredible tale of adventure and excitement that draws you in , holds your attention for six million years, then spits you back into the real world, dazed and confused. Early in the 22nd Century, humanity has joined a benevolent federation of psychicly operant aliens (Star Trek eat your heart out.) But not everyone enjoys this brave new world. For the misfits and undesirables, an escape route exists - a one way trip to Pliocene Earth, six million years in the past. We follow the adventures of Group Green, this weeks "tour group" as they discover that the past isn't exactly what we imagined. Felice Landry - maladjusted sports star,unloved and unloving, she confuses pleasure and pain. Robert Voorhees - ex-pilot and space trader, banished to the past for putting profit before his humanity. Stein Olsen - deep miner, a Viking born centuries too late. Brian Grenfell - anthropoligist and expert in social interactions, chasing his lost love . Claude Majewski - retired paleontoligist and widower, come to see the past for himself. Amerie Chan - dedicated Sister (the nun sort), seeking a life of religous hermitage. Aiken Drum - mischevious non-born, child of a test tube, banished to a time when his practical jokes can hurt no-one. Elizabeth Orm - ex Grand Master Psychic, victim of a horrific accident that stole her life mate and her awesome mental powers, fleeing a world filled with reminders of what she lost .These eight will change the past, and so create the future.
Rating:
Summary: Eternity never looked so good
Review: An incredible tale of adventure and excitement that draws you in , holds your attention for six million years, then spits you back into the real world, dazed and confused. Early in the 22nd Century, humanity has joined a benevolent federation of psychicly operant aliens (Star Trek eat your heart out.) But not everyone enjoys this brave new world. For the misfits and undesirables, an escape route exists - a one way trip to Pliocene Earth, six million years in the past. We follow the adventures of Group Green, this weeks "tour group" as they discover that the past isn't exactly what we imagined. Felice Landry - maladjusted sports star,unloved and unloving, she confuses pleasure and pain. Robert Voorhees - ex-pilot and space trader, banished to the past for putting profit before his humanity. Stein Olsen - deep miner, a Viking born centuries too late. Brian Grenfell - anthropoligist and expert in social interactions, chasing his lost love . Claude Majewski - retired paleontoligist and widower, come to see the past for himself. Amerie Chan - dedicated Sister (the nun sort), seeking a life of religous hermitage. Aiken Drum - mischevious non-born, child of a test tube, banished to a time when his practical jokes can hurt no-one. Elizabeth Orm - ex Grand Master Psychic, victim of a horrific accident that stole her life mate and her awesome mental powers, fleeing a world filled with reminders of what she lost . These eight will change the past, and so create the future.
Rating:
Summary: WhatcanIsay... Incredible!
Review: Bought the book second-hand (1982 sc edition) from a charity fair. Left it there for about 2 months. Took the Many-Coloured Land accidentally while rushing to my reading room (toilet) instead of another I was reading halfway. Emerged from the toilet a changed man! Initially, it reminded me of Philip Jose Farmer's fantastic Ringworld series. How wrong I was! Julian May had indeed created an Asimov-nian universe with the Galactic Milieu as the overall setting melted with such interesting characters. There are only 4 writers of this genre that I consider must-buy authors and Julian May is at the top of my list now! Anyway, finished the book in two days and immediately rushed out to a local bookstore searching for the sequel (did not know that there were sequelS! ). Did not find any in the stores. But from Amazon (isn't Internet great!), I found out that there are so many sequels! I am so GLAD and HAPPY that I just only discovered Julian May's books, because now I have so much books to look forward to reading! Happinessmustbuy mustbuy wherecanIfind! Amazonyes...
Rating:
Summary: WhatcanIsay... Incredible!
Review: Bought the book second-hand (1982 sc edition) from a charity fair. Left it there for about 2 months. Took the Many-Coloured Land accidentally while rushing to my reading room (toilet) instead of the one I was reading halfway. Emerged from the toilet a changed man! Finished the book in two days and immediately rushed out to a local bookstore searching for the sequel (did not know that there were sequelS! ) Happinessmustbuy mustbuy wherecanIfind! Amazonyes...
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best set of books I have ever read... Incredible!
Review: E-Mail me to discuss. This author has created a world so filled with detail and strings of reality that it becomes real. OK, maybe not real, but it is a fantastic set of charcters masterfully blended together with foreshadowing which I have never seen before
Rating: 
Summary: El Pleistoceno ya nunca sera igual
Review: Fantastico libro. Mezcla de Ciencia Ficcion e Historias de Espada y Brujeria, en una epoca magica. Tantos horizontes, tantas preguntas sin responder, tantas historias esbozadas... (Acentos omitidos intencionadamente).
Rating:
Summary: An excellent original (not a Tolkien ripoff)
Review: Finally a fantasy that doesn't hint of a Tolkien takeoff. That's not to say all other fantasy books are bad, but there are a lot that resemble The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings in some way or another. This first book in the Saga of the Exiles series takes us back to prehistoric Earth from the future using a one-way time machine. The world if beautifully painted and the large number of central characters are alternated between wonderfully. The two alien races inhabiting prehostoric France are well developed with a thoughtful background and unique and entertaining characteristics. I couldn't put this book down from the moment I picked it up and I am delighted that there are more in the series because by the end of this book you want to know more.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Judge a Book by its Cover
Review: Granted that when you look at this cover, you kinda go,"huh, looks cheesy." That goes for the current cover shown here (I mean the person on the cover is supposed to be Felice, this hard core athlete girl.) What I get on this cover is a dorky looking gal wearing what looks like a wig.) And that's the current cover! What I actually saw when I first discovered this excellent book, (I can already tell the whole series will be a favorite of mine,) was the throw back cover from a 1981 edition of The Many Colored Land. Not to get into it too much, but let's just say there were hokey looking monkey's wearing jewlery,and a poorly drawn cheese-ball pirate and viking on it. Anyways, don't use the cover as a basis for judgeing whether the book will be good or not. The actuall story is really very good and is a clever blend of sci fi, fantasy and is inspired by Celtic myth. The characters are all really original and so is the setting. May definatly has a well based scientific slant when she describes the Plieocne plants,animals and geographic layout. Actually, I haven't read anything quite like this (and I have read Jane Aule's Clan of the Cave Bear Series and also Brin's Uplift saga.)The whole book makes for a really creative story and is a must read for people who like their books a little off the norm in either sci fi or fantasy. Also I was impressed with the breadth of the universe May creates for her characters. The characters in this series and their future time period will tie in with other books outside of the Exils series. I also liked how all the characters had a distinct culture. That included everyone from believable a Frenchwoman to alien races. In addition, the characters motives and attitudes were well thought out and distinct to each, making for "3-dimensional" people that stand out. Great Book!
Rating:
Summary: Evil elves and revolutionary dwarves - Stone Age style!
Review: I admit it, the main part of the book takes place long before the Stone Age and the coming of man in general. Although it takes a while to pick up, this story of one-way time travel to a romantic Pliocene gone awry, that turns into a story of captivity, that turns into a story of liberation becomes a page-turner relatively quickly. This is probably the closest that "legitimate" science fiction will come to a fantasy epic. Julian May has great mastery with imagery, that, coupled with complex characterization, an interesting genre-bending mileau, and a solid scientific foundation, results in the beginning to a highly readable series that has a lot of potential (and, yes, I realize that it is indeed a finished series, but so far I am only done with book one). Overall, an excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Pliocene revisited
Review: I first read the Saga of the Exiles when it came out, and remember being quite impressed. Recently I read it again and am amazed at the uncritical adulation this series receives. I appreciate that fantasy fans love their books long, and many-volumed. (a yearning for ancient grimoires?). I appreciate that they can't get too many weird names, genaeologies and knightly battlecries. However this series has about one good novel's worth of material in it.
The human characters to a man or woman are caricatures and stereotypes. The "exotics" are cobbled together bits of Tolkien and various human myths. Everyone, including aliens, speaks "Standard English" which sounds like the script from a sixties high school movie. The plot is ultra-simplistic - good v evil, light v dark,...Blonde, glowing Tanu (teutonic?) knights against the gnarled, shape-shifting, devious, accquisitive, Firvulag. Familiar? There is endless speechifying, sex and violence which is frequently gratuitious and just as frequently laughable, and confusion throughout as to which characters the author wants us to empathise with. Parts of the books read like geology textbooks, and others like "A Child's Guide to Celtic Mythology". As a Celt I particularly resent the liberties taken with my heritage in order to satisfy the limitless American capactiy for wanting to be Irish (or Scottish).
These books are overblown, overwritten, and overrated. They may not even be healthy
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