Surveillance

I enjoyed the Pliocene series very much and although the Milieu series, introduced by the novel Surveillance, is different in tone and texture it is still very good but for different reasons. The Pliocene series explored, in barbarically delightful drama, all the vagaries and emotional flaws that make us uniquely human. The Milieu series explores the same thing but in high-minded, civilized fashion, with splashes of anachronistic barbarity thrown in. The story is set among the awesome backdrop of rapidly evolving mental and technological power, with all the drama, emotion, and beauty that comes with it. But what I really like about the Milieu series is the main character, Rogi (a.k.a. Roger). Rogi tells the story in all five Milieu books, but he is also very much a part of all that happens. Indeed, as he long suspects, he is actually much of the cause of all that happens either through delusional perceptions or extraterrestrial manipulation. That is the real gem of the story. Either way it doesn't matter, because he is lovable, annoying, and examplifies all of our humanistically quirky qualities. I have read the Milieu series more times than the Pliocene series because of Rogi.

I began to think that as the great masters of the Golden Age of Science Fiction began to die off or their work diminshed, that we would not see the combination of plot, character, and scientific thought that characterized so much of that work. And then I read "Surveillance"... No one recommended the book to me; it just attracted my attention on the shelf, with it's interesting cover. Then I began to read and it was if I was there. The book described places I knew (I grew up in VT, and lived not that far from Hanover, NH), was filled with ideas that seemed simple and elegant. Evolution takes its next step -- first it builds the body, then it builds the mind. It's as close as you get to the idea of superheroes and supervillains, without the skin-tight spandex uniforms and stilted expostulation. Seemingly ordinary individuals discover they have incredible powers and then are forced to come to grips with them. Some decide to use the power altruistically, some with malice. And all the while they are being observed... "Surveillance" touches on so many themes of humanity, our desire to grow together as a species, our mutual distrust, the rise of avarice, coming to grips with forces we barely comprehend, the rush of technology, and the desire to find kindred spirits among the stars. It is a whirlwind read and the best part is that it is only the beginning of a saga that has no equal. If you're looking to be challenged on many levels, this is the kind of literature you seek.

I found it interesting that Julian May viewed her Galactic Milieu Trilogy as her tour de force. She thought about it for years according to her interviews. She wrote the Pliocene Series as a means of introducing the reader to many of the concepts she thought might be difficult to digest without it. According to her, she wrote the first two books of the Pliocene Saga in like two months! Unbelievable!That being said, I thought Intervention and the Galactic Milieu series were a touch below the Pliocene. There was less of what I loved-- vivid, textured imagery evoked by her silky smooth prose. Despite being set in a 22nd century universe controlled by psychics, the setting of these books were more mundane than the Saga. While some of her descriptive prose was lovely, it didn't dominate as in other books. I almost got the sense that May felt like there was too much to convey, too much to write, without enough space. What was planned as a Trilogy became Intervention plus Galactic Milieu. And even then there was so much to cover.I also felt that for the events that changed the face of humanity, she could have come up with better antagonists. Pliocene always had an epic sense-- this one didn't even though the fate of humanity was at stake. I still very much enjoyed May's characters-- but somehow they lacked the soul that I was used to from her earlier works. In fact, the only character I felt I knew as well as any of the major protagonists from Pliocene was Uncle Rogi-- and while lovable, he owns a bookstore... he has none of the angst that many of May's characters from Pliocene had that made them so dramatic.Still, May is one of the best in the business, and she creates a fascinating, creative universe in Intervention-- the beginnings of the Galactic Milieu.

Long before George Lucas thought of making a prequel to Star wars, Julian May revisited the universe of her Pliocene Exile to tell us the origins of the story, though with a time line like this, the word origin is meaningless.Meet Rogatien Remillard (Rogi for short - pronounced Rogue He) and his twin brother Donatien (Don). Born in late 1945, just months after Hiroshima, the two have a relatively normal childhood. Normal, that is, except for their developing mental powers and Rogi's regular visits from a mysterious, benevolent, invisible entity he dubs Le Phantome Familier - The Family Ghost.As the twins mature, they take very diferent paths. Rogi, sterilised in his youth by the measels, acts as defacto father for his nephew Denis, raising him with love and teaching him to use his awesome mental gifts. Denis' father Don, scared by his sons potential takes to the bottle, and eventually learns to use his own mental abiliies for personal gain. Then, offended by his brothers "theft" of his firstborn, Don takes over the rearing of his second son Victor, teaching him all the malitious mental tricks he has perfected. Denis, raised in love by his uncle, protected from his own fathers malice by his indomitable mental strength, becomes a paragon to psychics everywhere, devoting his life to further understanding humanities mental potential. Victor, corrupted from birth by his father, becomes a truly dark individual, wielding his awesome mental coercion for his own benefit, infiltrating the mafia, and eventually threatening the world. The two brothers carry the contrast between Rogi and Don to the next generation, and to the next level of mental ability.Carefully observing it all, as they have for millenia, the pacifist psychic aliens of the Galactic Milieu await the maturation of the Human Mind, knowing as they do that it will be the most glorious Mind in the Glalaxy, and will enrich the Milieu fantastically. But nothing is certain, and humanity may follow the path of thousands of other races who failed - into self - annihilation. Mankinds potential for Good, is matched only by its potential for Evil.

Julian May sets the scene for The Exiles Saga, describing the evolution of human minds to operancy, and the coming of Unity. It is a thought provoking book with both humour and horror, but please read The Exile Saga first (the many coloured land, the golden torc, the non-born king and the adversary).