Julian May

[rune]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

As you can see rune, you are correct. Julian May is a woman

Thank Goodness, I thought I was loosing it

[Neil040]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

The Saga of the Exiles (Many Coloured Land, Golden Torc, Non Born King, The Adversary).
Wonderful books mixing fantasy and sci-fi 6 million years ago in Earth's Pliocene era.
Nobody seems to have mentioned them here so I thought I may as well - and recommend them most highly.

Thanks Foxbat.. I had forgotten these books.. well on my upper level of what passes for consciousness anyway.. they were still there deeper awaiting a reminder! Massive imagination involved and very clever books I agree.. a real mouthful to read but well worth the effort..

Who knew she was a woman? Blimey you learn something every day here! As Mark said.. "What is it with these women anyway? First they want equal rights, but they want men to still be courteous and gentlemanly towards them... now they're stealing our names!" Bit of a cheek! I do like to know these things..

[mzarynn]

Originally Posted by Mark Urpen

I read the Saga of the Exiles several times in my teens and loved it. The Many Coloured Land is a bit confusing to begin with as there are so many disparate threads. However, once Mr May begins to draw the threads together, the story becomes better and better. In particular, I remember the characters of Felice and Aiken Drum were very strong.

There is an song I use in my classroom called Aiken Drum. It's about a man who lives on the moon. His hair is made of spaghetti, eyes of meatballs etc. and he plays upon a ladle. Is there any connection to May's Aiken Drum?

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by mzarynn

There is an song I use in my classroom called Aiken Drum. It's about a man who lives on the moon. His hair is made of spaghetti, eyes of meatballs etc. and he plays upon a ladle. Is there any connection to May's Aiken Drum?

I don't remember any reference to the rhyme, but I do remember one character making a cryptic comment about Aiken reminding him of some historical figure, but not remembering who. It was very annoying because I thought the author would return to this and they didn't.

[merritt]

I am a fan of the books I mention below.
I really liked Jack The Bodiless trilogy. The big question in my mind is what series of books to recommend to a friend, or in what order to read them to get the best experience. Sure there is some slow spots but I loved getting to know some of the characters at length by reading all of the books.

I started with JtB trilogy, then the Surveillence/The Adversary ones etc. then on to The Pliocene Exile. I might have slipped a Pliocene in there earlier somewhere.

I tend to be chauvanistic in my selections, but I really enjoyed these books. And I don't like fantasy (some elements) that much, but I enjoyed The Pliocene Exile/Golden Torc series.

Its been a few years since I've read any of them. Memory fades.

I will say I picked up something different/newer by JM in a bag sale once & it was 'aannnhhh".

best regards, M

[abaddon]

Julian may refers to Aiken Drum as a Medici in one of the books Mercy Rosmar thinks that he looks startalingly like one of them.

[GOLLUM]

A blast from the past this one....

I remember reading Saga Of The Exiles maybe 20 years ago? I still have Many Coloured Land in the bookshelf somewhere...

I remember enjoying the series because it seemed quite a bit different from what I was reading at the time. Too long ago to remember specific details though.

How anyone could think Julian May was a man I'll never know....

[abaddon]

I agree with GOLLUM On that count.

[Brys]

I haven't read any of them yet, but I found the Many Coloured Land for £2.99 in my local newsagents, so I picked it up.

[Remillard]

I read the Saga years ago after a recommendation.. LOVED 'em. After that I pretty much ate up anything she wrote.

The Galactic Mileu stuff is pretty decent, but not as enjoyable. The Perseus Spur series she wrote was worth a read too.

[Rosemary]

Yet, I prefered the Gallactic Milleu...for a fan of Fantasy books, I thought it was very good.

[Foxbat]

[QUOTEThere is an song I use in my classroom called Aiken Drum. It's about a man who lives on the moon. His hair is made of spaghetti, eyes of meatballs etc. and he plays upon a ladle. Is there any connection to May's Aiken Drum?][/QUOTE]

I'd have to hunt out my copy and confirm this but I seem to recall some notes at the end of The Many Coloured Land where May writes about some of the influences in writing this story. One was Celtic legends and music (in particular Londonderry Air...which I think is the tune to Danny Boy). Aiken Drum (quite possibly) is a name that came from the same source.

[abaddon]

This forum moves slowly. I feel like Marc

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Neil040

Thanks Foxbat.. I had forgotten these books.. well on my upper level of what passes for consciousness anyway.. they were still there deeper awaiting a reminder! Massive imagination involved and very clever books I agree.. a real mouthful to read but well worth the effort..

Who knew she was a woman? Blimey you learn something every day here! As Mark said.. "What is it with these women anyway? First they want equal rights, but they want men to still be courteous and gentlemanly towards them... now they're stealing our names!" Bit of a cheek! I do like to know these things..

Perhaps she didn't choose her name. Her parents gave it to her, just like they gave me mine.

[Brys]

I've started reading the Many Coloured Land now. It's quite good, and some parts show potential to be very good, but overall it's not spectacular. It gives me the impression of being competent and enjoyable, but not outstanding. The idea of how the torcs work is interesting. The characters aren't generally that great though - Aiken Drum is a very interesting character and Richard Voorhees and Felice have the potential to be interesting, but pretty much all of the others are undeveloped archetypes - well to be fair, they are all slightly more developed than that, but not hugely. It's a good mix between science fiction and fantasy, though I think the first part of the book was drawn out too much.