May, Julian

• Series: Intervention
  • The Surveillance (8)
  • The Metaconcert (8)

    • An epic set in the near future about the emergence of "metapsychic" abilities in humans, such as telepathy, out-of-body travel, telekinesis, etc. These powers develop naturally out of humanity's gene pool and, over the course of several decades, it becomes a reality society must deal with on a large scale. The conflict, both on a personal and global scale, is reminiscent of the storylines from the "X-Men" comic series, among others, and the parallels with racism are apparent and interesting.

      The story is told in part from the memoirs of "Rogi" Remillard, a member of a family with a strong metapsychic talent, and these are perhaps the best parts of the book, since for my money, Rogi is the most entertaining character. Lots of spoilers are here, both for this story and, I presume, for the series that follow it (Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu), especially in Rogi's memoirs. I suppose this may bother some people, when Rogi briefly mentions "the dreadful events to come" or a specific character's death, but I didn't find that this detracted from the surprise of events.

      The other part of the story is told from an omniscient perspective, telling the story of the amusing aliens who are watching events unfold on Earth along with some of the other more prominent characters in the overall story. All in all, it blends together well. It reads as both a good history book and an interesting SF story. The tale as a whole is certainly not complete, but that's hardly disappointing news to someone who liked the series as much as I did. I can now look forward to the next two series!

• Series: The Galactic Milieu
  • Jack the Bodiless (7)
  • Diamond Mask (7)
  • Magnificat (7)

    • Like the previous series, the continuing story of the Remillard family and Earth's initial years in galactic community is told through the eyes of Uncle Rogi. Lots of the same elements are here, such as the introduction and exploration of new mental abilities, a hideous and implacable (and secretive) enemy, and the politics of normals vs telepaths. So it is a worthy continuation of the "Intervention" story, but I rate it a little lower because it just didn't seem quite as fresh. It may just be that the story is a bit further removed from everyday experience than the first series, or it may just be that it got a little too predictable. Certainly better than your average SF series, and a good bet if you liked "Intervention".

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