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The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
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The Many-Colored Land (original 1981; edition 1981)

by Julian May

Series: Saga of the Exiles (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,359286,478 (3.89)82
In the year 2034, Theo Quderian, a French physicist, made an amusing but impractical discovery: the means to use a one-way, fixed-focus time warp that opened into a place in the Rhone River valley during the idyllic Pliocene Epoch, six million years ago. But, as time went on, a certain usefulness developed. The misfits and mavericks of the future--many of them brilliant people--began to seek this exit door to a mysterious past. In 2110, a particularly strange and interesting group was preparing to make the journey--a starship captain, a girl athlete, a paleontologist, a woman priest, and others who had reason to flee the technological perfection of twenty-second-century life. Thus begins this dazzling fantasy novel that invites comparisons with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Quin. It opens up a whole world of wonder, not in far-flung galaxies but in our own distant past on Earth--a world that will captivate not only science-fiction and fantasy fans but also those who enjoy literate thrillers. The group that passes through the time-portal finds an unforeseen strangeness on the other side. Far from being uninhabited, Pliocene Europe is the home of two warring races from another planet. There is the knightly race of the Tanu--handsome, arrogant, and possessing vast powers of psychokinesis and telepathy. And there is the outcast race of Firvulag--dwarfish, malev-o olent, and gifted with their own supernormal skills. Taken captive by the Tanu and transported through the primordial European landscape, the humans manage to break free, join in an uneasy alliance with the forest-dwelling Firvulag, and, finally, launch an attack against the Tanu city of light on the banks of a river that, eons later, would be called the Rhine. Myth and legend, wit and violence, speculative science and breathtaking imagination mingle in this romantic fantasy, which is the first volume in a series about the exile world. The sequel, titled The Golden Torc, will follow soon.… (more)
Member:Radaghast
Title:The Many-Colored Land
Authors:Julian May
Info:Del Rey (1985), Mass Market Paperback
Collections:Read but unowned
Rating:*
Tags:May, Saga of the Pliocene Exiles, science fantasy, time travel

Work Information

The Many-Colored Land by Julian May (1981)

  1. 01
    The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (wegc)
    wegc: Both are about humans enslaved by aliens and both feature humans with super-senses.
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» See also 82 mentions

English (26)  Spanish (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (28)
Showing 1-5 of 26 (next | show all)
Cool idea, well realized. ( )
  DDtheV | Apr 1, 2023 |
150
  freixas | Mar 31, 2023 |
Loved this sci-fi/fantasy book. Though I usually don't care for the sword-slashing, ogre-filled type of fantasy, this I did like because of its combination of science-fiction, with time-travelling to the Pliocene era of Earth.

In the 21st century, a French professor living in the hills above the town of Lyons perfects a one-way time tunnel back to the 6 million B.C.
Everyone who feels that they just don't fit in with modern society, and who can pay the very costly price, applies for the trip. Those who are approved (there are restrictions besides that of 28-year-old mandatory age) get preparatory training and plenty of tools and supplies to take with them. But there was no way the inventor, or his later, widow, could have known what lay on the other side.

Before their trip to the past, two of the would-be time-travellers have met up in Lyons. One of them is a disgraced rocketship captain, and the other is a heavy machinery operator who is enthralled with his ancestors' Viking past. They eat in a restaurant that seems to specialize in a menu of every body part of as many Animals as possible.
P.71:
"The host brought a napkin with two small pastries and a little silver dish full of white steaming lumps. 'brioche de foie gras, croustade De ris de veau a la financiere, and quenelles de brochet au beurre d'écrivisses. eat! Enjoy!' he swept out.
'financier, huh?' muttered Richard. 'there's a good epitaph.' he ate the pastries. One was like a cream puff stuffed with delicious spiced liver. The other seemed to be a fluted tart shell filled with bits of meat, mushrooms, and unidentifiable tidbits in Madeira sauce. The dish with white sauce consisted of delicate fish dumplings.
'this is delicious -- but what am I eating?' he asked the host, who had emerged to take the credit cards of the local diners.
'the brioche is filled with goose liver pate. The tart has a slice of truffle, braised veal sweetbreads, and a garnish of tiny chicken dumplings, cock's combs, and kidneys and wine sauce. The pike dumplings are served in creamy crayfish butter.'
'good God,' said Richard.
'I have an outstanding vintage coming up with the main course. But first, grilled baby lamb fillet with little vegetables, and to set it off, a splendid young fumé from the chateau du Nozet.' "

Members of Group Green, kidnapped and enslaved on the other side of the time gate are taken down the river Rhone in a thrilling boat ride that had me wishing I were there.
P.217-8:
"The vibration increased to an audible roar as the boat came charging around a sharp bend. The walls of a canyon Rose on both sides.
Sukey screamed and Raimo yelped an obscenity.
Ahead of them the narrowing Rhone slanted downhill at a one-in-five gradient, the river lashed to a foaming frenzy by the rocks of its tilted bed. The boat seemed to dive into the rapids and a great avalanche of ochre water crashed over the canopy and temporarily engulfed them. Then Mojo broke Free and came to the surface, planing along among monstrous standing waves and granite boulders, rolling so steeply that yellowwater climbed halfway up the watertight bubble first on one side, then on the other. The noise was almost insupportable. Raimo's mouth was wide open but his yells went unheard amidst the uproar of the cascading Rhone.
A dark Mass loomed ahead. The boat heeled nearly 60 degrees to starboard as they went whipping around a tall rock Pinnacle into a crooked slot between files of huge boulders. The air was so filled with flying spume that it seemed impossible that their Skipper could see where he was going. Nevertheless the boat continued to Zig and zag among the rocks with only an occasional bump against the pneumatic fendors.
a respite came in the form of a deep cut where the River flowed free. But the voice of highJohn yelled, 'One last Time, folks!' and Bryan realized that they were rocketing through the defile toward a veritable fence of sharp crags, fanglike chunks of broken granite against which the yellow River Waters crashed in overlapping curtains of spray. There seemed to be no way through. The stunned Time travelers gripped the arms of their seats and braced for the inevitable impact. Mojo raced toward the tallest of the rocks, pitching violently. It crashed into the foam -- but instead of hitting solid rock or sinking, it Rose higher and higher on some unseen surge. There was a thrumming blow against the port side as they bounced off a rock face, completely drowned in the opaque pother. The boat seemed to roll a full 360 degrees and then Wallow free to sail through the air. It landed with a bone-jarring impact, water closing again over the top of the canopy. Almost immediately it popped to the surface, floating in complete tranquility across a broad pool that spread between low walls. Behind them was the cut that they had just Traversed, spewing a horsetail cataract, like the outflow of a Titanic drain, into the basin 30meters below." ( )
  burritapal | Oct 23, 2022 |
Loved this when I first read it. ( )
  LizTuckwell | May 1, 2022 |
This was recommended as a fun romp, and I kept expecting the fun to begin, but it never did. I gave up a little more than halfway through. ( )
  elenaj | Jul 31, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 26 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Julian Mayprimary authorall editionscalculated
Barr, KenIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bradbury, StephenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gijsen, WimTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
My heart is sore pained within me:
and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling have seized me:
and darkness has overwhelmed me

And I said: O that I had wings like a dove!
For then I would fly away and be at rest.

Lo, would I flee far away,
and live in the wilderness.

I would wait for him who will save me
from my cowardice and from the storm.

—Psalm 55
Dedication
For Tadeusz Maxim,
the noblest of them all
First words
To confirm that it was indeed near death, the great vessel broke through into normal space with lingering slowness.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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In the year 2034, Theo Quderian, a French physicist, made an amusing but impractical discovery: the means to use a one-way, fixed-focus time warp that opened into a place in the Rhone River valley during the idyllic Pliocene Epoch, six million years ago. But, as time went on, a certain usefulness developed. The misfits and mavericks of the future--many of them brilliant people--began to seek this exit door to a mysterious past. In 2110, a particularly strange and interesting group was preparing to make the journey--a starship captain, a girl athlete, a paleontologist, a woman priest, and others who had reason to flee the technological perfection of twenty-second-century life. Thus begins this dazzling fantasy novel that invites comparisons with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Quin. It opens up a whole world of wonder, not in far-flung galaxies but in our own distant past on Earth--a world that will captivate not only science-fiction and fantasy fans but also those who enjoy literate thrillers. The group that passes through the time-portal finds an unforeseen strangeness on the other side. Far from being uninhabited, Pliocene Europe is the home of two warring races from another planet. There is the knightly race of the Tanu--handsome, arrogant, and possessing vast powers of psychokinesis and telepathy. And there is the outcast race of Firvulag--dwarfish, malev-o olent, and gifted with their own supernormal skills. Taken captive by the Tanu and transported through the primordial European landscape, the humans manage to break free, join in an uneasy alliance with the forest-dwelling Firvulag, and, finally, launch an attack against the Tanu city of light on the banks of a river that, eons later, would be called the Rhine. Myth and legend, wit and violence, speculative science and breathtaking imagination mingle in this romantic fantasy, which is the first volume in a series about the exile world. The sequel, titled The Golden Torc, will follow soon.

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