On Earth, six million B.C., two species of alien ruled, the graceful humanoid Tanu and their twisted brethren, the Firvulag. Then men from twenty-second century Earth arrived through a one-way time tunnel -- and soon the aliens were locked in a battle to the death, for the humans had upset the precarious balance of power that existed between them. But when the tides of combat had receded, no one group held firm control, though Aiken Drum, man of no woman born, had declared himself the Nonborn King . . . .
Second in the series that portrays “one of the best-thought-out futures ever encountered in science fiction” from the author of The Many-Colored Land (Joe Haldeman). Six million years in the past, a proto-Europe is inhabited by two extraterrestrial races, the chivalric Tanu and the dwarfish, forest-dwelling Firvulag—both of which possess far-reaching psychic powers. But now, time-traveling humans from a future society have become involved in the age-old struggle between the two. One group of captured humans is brought to Muriah, the stately capital of the Tanu kingdom. Among them is Elizabeth Orme, who was once, in her own world, a Grand Master Metapsychic. In spite of Tanu harassment, she begins to recover her lost powers. The other human group, which has managed to overcome its Tanu guards and escape into the northern forests, includes Chief Burke, a Native American, and Felice Uindry, an athlete gifted with certain psychic powers of her own. This group, with the ambiguous aid of the Firvulag, determines to launch an attack against the very heart of Tanu dominance. At the end of the Grand Combat tournament between Tanu and Firvulag comes the astonishing climax to this astonishing novel. Praise for the Saga of Pliocene Exile “Enchanting and engrossing . . . I was captivated.”—Fritz Leiber “Julian May has woven a many-colored tapestry of exotic adventure.”—Roger Zelazny “Action-oriented and vivid.”—Vonda McIntyre “An amazing journey from the distant future to the distant past . . . High adventure.”—SFReviews.net
In the final novel of the award-winning sci-fi saga, both humans and aliens face destruction as a new time-portal opens a path back to the twenty-second century. Human time-travelers from the sophisticated Galactic Milieu of the twenty-second century came to the Pliocene Epoch seeking a Garden of Eden. What they found was slavery under the knightly Tanu race, who had been exiled to Earth from a far galaxy. Freed by the usurper Aiken Drum, the humans enjoy a brief period of dominance. But now King Aiken's rule is threatened by the dwarfish Firvulag, who scheme to destroy both humans and Tanu in an ultimate Gotterdammerung. This menace becomes almost incidental when Aiken discovers that his realm is about to be invaded by another human who possesses psychic powers even greater than his own. Marc Remillard, the instigator of the Metapsychic Rebellion, nearly conquered the Galactic Milieu before escaping through the time-portal after his defeat. Marc and his followers are out to overthrow Aiken just as a new time-gate is about to be built—one that will provide a two-way portal between the Many-Colored Land and the future world of the Milieu. The Adversary brings Julian May’s Locus Award-winning series—which also includes The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Tore, and The Nonborn King—to a rousing climax.
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.
The author of the acclaimed Pliocene Quartet offers an in-depth guide to a saga that “has most closely matched J. R. R Tolkien's achievement” (San Francisco Chronicle). With its richly imagined universe and large cast of finely-drawn characters, Julian May’s Saga of Pliocene Exile has won devoted fans across the globe who find new layers, details, and ideas with each reading. In the words of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: “Julian May has made a new and fresh masterwork in the genre and has irrevocably placed herself among the great of fantasy and science fiction.” Covering all four novels—The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King, and The Adversary—this reading guideoffers a plot chronology, the author's original maps, a descriptive listing of all the characters, and three delightful interviews with May herself. Beyond that, it gives the reader a chance to explore further the surroundings of a world six million years in the past. The glossary gives information on metapsychology, on the futuristic science of the Galactic Milieu, and on the exotic world of the Tanu and Firvulag. In all, A Pliocene Companion is a must for followers of the Saga.
From the author of The Many-Colored Land comes the saga of a land beyond the horizon, where the quest for power is eternal, where magic and mystery are feared above all, and one man sought to reign. On a remote island, far in the Boreal Sea, four kingdoms have struggled against one another since time out of mind. Most mysterious is the marshland kingdom of Moss—feared by the others and ruled by the Sorcerers. Soon, all will be put in peril’s way. In recent years, three of the kingdoms have suffered fearsome volcanic eruptions that choke crops, famine among people, and an ailing leader on his deathbed. Only Moss, poverty-stricken and desolate at the best of times, seems untroubled. But Prince Conrig of Cathra, who waits patiently as his father, the king, wastes slowly away, is in league with his lover, the seductive sorceress Princess Ullanoth of Moss. And if their secret alliance succeeds in its goal, the warring kingdoms of High Blenholme will be united once and for all—under the iron hand of one supreme rule.
“Fascinating . . . May has cemented her position as one of this generation's foremost storytellers. . . .This satisfying end to a remarkable feat of the imagination is a necessary purchase.”—Library Journal By the mid-twenty-first century, humanity is beginning to enjoy membership in the Galactic Milieu. Human colonies are thriving on numerous planets, life on Earth is peaceful and prosperous, and as more humans are being born with metapsychic abilities, it will not be long before these gifted minds at last achieve total Unity. But xenophobia is deeply rooted in the human soul. A growing corps of rebels plots to keep the people of Earth forever separate, led by a man obsessed with human superiority: Marc Remillard. Marc's goal is nothing less than the elevation of human metapsychics above all others, by way of artificial enhancement of mental faculties. His methods are unpalatable, his goal horrific. And so Marc and his coconspirators continue their work in secret. Only the very Unity he fears and abhors can foil Marc's plans. And only his brother, Jack the Bodiless, and the young woman called Diamond Mask can hope to lead the metaconcert to destroy Marc, Unify humanity, and pave the way for the Golden Age of the Galactic Milieu to begin . . . “A certain crowd-pleaser.”—Kirkus Reviews
The 21st century was drawing to a close, and metapsychic humankind was poised at last to achieve Unity -- to be admitted into the group mind of the already unified alien races of the Galactic Milieu. But a growing corps of rebels was plotting to keep the people of Earth forever separate in the name of human individuality. And the rebels had a secret supporter: Fury, the insane metapsychic creatrue that would stop at nothing to claim humanity for itself. Fury's greatest enemy was the mutant genius Jack the Bodiless, whose power it craved. But Jack would never be a tool for Fury . . . And so it turned to Dorothea Macdonald, a young woman who had spent a lifetime hiding her towering mindpowers from the best mind readers of the Milieu. But she could not hide them from Fury -- or from Jack. Time and again she rejected their advances, unwilling to be drawn into the maelstrom of galactic politics or megalomaniacal dreams. And in the end, no one -- not Jack, not Fury, not even the Galactic Milieu -- would be a match for the awesome powers of the girl who would come to be called Diamond Mask . . .
Award-winning artist Whelan has illustrated the work of almost every major author in speculative fiction. Here are featured all the artist's major recent paintings, as well as a series of 25 never-before-seen works produced especially for this book. Over 100 full-color reproductions.
Who is Jesus Christ? You've never met him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ-the divine Person revealed in the Bible-has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, "Yes, this is truth." It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet. The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross. Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." Ask God for the grace to do his will, and you will see the truth of his Son. John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.
