The Many-Colored Land & The Golden Torc

Saga of the Pliocene Exile #1-2

by Julian May

The Many-Colored Land & The Golden Torc

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction

748 pages, Hardcover

About the author

Julian 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...)

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rereading this series now, about 30 years after it came out. I worked at Houghton Mifflin, where it was published and avidly devoured each volume as it came out. At an author party, I met Julian May, and she asked me who my favorite character was. I told her "Aiken Drum, of course," only to learn that that was a sort of personality test and that to my surprise there was a wide variety of answers to that question. She never told me what my choice said about me, but, hey, he's still my favorite character... Really enjoying this second time around!

[Sam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book that stands the test of time.

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally struggle with "older" scifi/fantasy -- in part because it's occasionally difficult to let my contemporary beliefs skim past ideals or expectations which may no longer be acceptable in today's society (translation: roles pertaining to gender, race or sexuality). And consequently, because so many of these factors color their larger works, it means I can't appreciate tons of otherwise good novels.

Julian May's Saga of the Pliocene skirts on the latter end of these Slightly Problematic Stories (written in the late '70s, early '80s), but barring the occasional jarring moment re: race or LGBTQ situations, I was staggered by how much I enjoyed The Many-Coloured Land and The Golden Torc. The prose was solid, the treatment of thought-speech sucked me right in, and the world both future and past felt fully-realized. There were a lot of quiet moments where I caught myself thinking "oh, this smacks a little of The Dragonriders of Pern", but never in a negative way -- the two series are uniquely their own, barring that fun little future -> past hop.

The main characters can at time be a bit formulaic, but for every too-charming and self-serving trickster (Aiken Drum, I am looking at you), there's the bizarre and entertaining absurdity of the borderline frat boy assholes falling head over heels in love with their ladies of choice -- a nice change of pace, considering that's usually the woman's role.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have given it 5 stars if not for the slow start. There are lots of characters and the first section of the book is character development and back story that could have possibly been woven in throughout the book as opposed to being delivered all at once up front. The story did start moving and was very interesting once the characters were brought together in the strange new/old world. Time travel, space travel, and first contact all in one book.

[Batmensch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulpy space opera, chock-full of 50s-style psychology and court intrigue. A science fiction retelling of the Celtic (and other) myths. I've read these books several times, and I will read them again. Lovely stuff. Sort of Alfred Bester-ish but much more expansive. Also chock-full of Catholic references.

[Steph Willetts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant...fiirst 2 books of the pliocene saga." more books follow with an intermission book which brings us into the future to show us how they got into the past. Love story, Crime story, sci-fi, fantasy, mythical...incredibly clever.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2110 a French physicist discovers a way for people to go six million years into the past in the Rhone Valley of present day France. A group sets out on the trip but find that another group of time travelers have beat them to their objective.

[Darryl Chislett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great science fiction - another one of my favourites from years back, still remember the title from back then. Titles that you still remember from times past means it was a memorable read and worthy of praise.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time machine meets d&d and aliens 2 funnish not horrible but felt long ok read.

[Des · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes a while to get going, but it's worth it.

[DavidO · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't drawn into it after 2 chapters.

[Ice Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series, taking the reader both back and forward in time. The follow up prequels I found even better.

[Martin Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd in the series. Doesn't disappoint!!

[Dirk Lapere · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different and original setting. Well written too. I will keep on reading the series

[Jade Binder]

I've read these two books before but am currently re-reading them. I loved them first time around.