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A review by secre
The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was absolutely not what I thought it was when I bought it. Somehow I thought I was going to be reading a novel about time travel to pre-historic times and how those from the future could survive in the past. And I guess, if you hold it upside down and squint really hard, you might just about be able to say it's kind of that. It is more accurately described as a science fiction where humans go back in time only to find themselves enslaved by the alien race Tanu. And how a small group of time travellers may end up saving human kind from the ravages of alien enslavement. All in all, a very different novel to the one I thought I was getting.
That said, once I figured out what was actually going on, this is good. Very, very good. It's well written, multi-faceted and has a wide cast of individualistic and eclectic characters. There were a lot of characters to get to grips with to begin with, but May uses a series of vignettes to begin with to explore the various character backgrounds with and all of the characters are very memorable. I had occasional moments where I got names confused, but this was short-lived. Once you get past the initial vignettes, you are thrown into the alien run world of Earth's past along with the characters. Nothing is as it seems and both reader and character are thrown into the chaos of the past world with technologically advanced aliens.
It's also just great fun to read. It has some interesting and varied world-building, a cast of idiosyncratic characters who are all misfits in one way or another and a sprawling narrative that I suspect will only expand further as the sequels take it further. It's entertaining, well written and a genuinely good read.
That said, once I figured out what was actually going on, this is good. Very, very good. It's well written, multi-faceted and has a wide cast of individualistic and eclectic characters. There were a lot of characters to get to grips with to begin with, but May uses a series of vignettes to begin with to explore the various character backgrounds with and all of the characters are very memorable. I had occasional moments where I got names confused, but this was short-lived. Once you get past the initial vignettes, you are thrown into the alien run world of Earth's past along with the characters. Nothing is as it seems and both reader and character are thrown into the chaos of the past world with technologically advanced aliens.
It's also just great fun to read. It has some interesting and varied world-building, a cast of idiosyncratic characters who are all misfits in one way or another and a sprawling narrative that I suspect will only expand further as the sequels take it further. It's entertaining, well written and a genuinely good read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape