As a new member, I'm thrilled to correspond with fellow Julian May fans!
   What do you think of the new Terra Nova series on ABC?  I couldn't help but
notice the similarities to The Many Colored Land"... people from the 22nd
century traveling back in time in search of a simpler life.
   Of course, the plot of TMCL is much more  imaginative...even without the
dinosaurs!   I've always believed that the Pliocene Exile Saga would make a
great TV series, even if the complex layers of the saga had to be simplified to
conform to TV standards.

• I think 2011 is the 30-Year Anniversary of the Many-Colored Land, as well as Mrs. May's 80th year (Slonshal!) I'm still astounded by two things: 1) These books are amazingly entertaining, seemingly no matter how many times I read them(!)  2) For a Sci-Fi series, these books still read "incredibly well" (not "dated" as many Sci-Fi titles often become...)
   
• I'm not the most widely-read Sci-Fi fan, but I've read a bit: Verne & Burroughs (hope the Carter/Mars movie is good! :-), some of the early pulp authors--many of whom became the early "Grand Masters"--and quite a few more recent.
   
  
• Maybe it's "just me," but recognition for Science Fiction authors seems similar to wealth distribution in America: There's the "top 1%," then there's "everybody else". Sadly, I don't think Judy May* made it to the level she deserved.
   
• Yeah, here are the "Grand Masters" of Science Fiction:
  http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/
  Out of 27 authors, I see 3 women (hmmm): Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Andre Norton.
  In my (nearly worthless ;-) opinion, Le Guin is the only one "on level" with Mrs. May (and as much as I respect "The Left Hand of Darkness," I doubt I'll ever pick it up for a second reading...)
   
• I suspect anyone reading this shares my opinion of Mrs. May's works. I've mentioned before that I am actively giving away copies of TMCL to anyone I think might read it and become a fan. Sadly, I know this will never amount to much... I've also had a number of additional thoughts on "increasing awareness":
   
• Title: Like or not, book titles (and even cover illos) still do affect sales. Sorry if this sounds heretical, but as much as I really do love the book, I really don't think "The Many Colored Land" is the best title. "Saga of Pliocene Exile" is interesting, but I think "Pliocene" would lose more casual "surfers" that it would attract.
   
  My personal noodling has come up with "Exile's Gate". I bet some of you out there might have ideas. I'd love to see some!
   
  
• Cover Art: Michael Whelan did fantastic covers for the first (American, anyway) paperback editions of all four Pliocene books (and the two Intervention books). In my eye, they are by far the best. (At one point, I think Mr. Whelan was asked to do a new cover for TMCL, which I think must have affronted him, because his latter effort of blonde "valley girls" with what looks like a man in nun's habit on horseback in the background, is not at all to Whelan's standards... :-(
  Bottom Line: Keep the original Whelan covers, and ditch the rest!
   
• A Path Forward(?) Though a busy parent, I still try to carve out a little time for gaming, and by that I mean the old-school, pen & paper, table-top role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons.
   
• If any of you know any gamers, consider introducing the series to them, perhaps under the auspices that the Pliocene Exile would make an incredible RPG "game world" setting--because it would! ;-)
   
  If an "Exile" RPG could somehow be produced, there is a chance, however slim, that this could attract the attention of comic book/graphic novel publishers, and/or video game producers. An "entry" in either of those worlds could indeed lead to what many of us would love to see, a shot at video series/movie release.
   
• Hell, if just one person like Joss Whedon (Buffy, Toy-Story co-writer (yep!), comic book author extraordinaire, "savior" of the Captain America movie script, writer/director of the upcoming Avengers movie--please God, let it be awesome!--could be hooked, that could be enough traction to get the ball rolling!
  

Totally agree!

On Sep 28, 2011 4:43 PM, "James Kendrick" <james9471@...> wrote:

 

I thought is was an obvious rip-off.

---

From: bartonmft <bartonmft@...>
To: Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 1:42 AM
Subject: [Julian-May-discuss] Inspiration for "Terra Nova" series?

 
As a new member, I'm thrilled to correspond with fellow Julian May fans!
What do you think of the...

Hello Barton,

I hope you'll enjoy your time here. :)

Terra Nova does sound a bit similar, doesn't it. I haven't seen it myself yet (I
don't live in the US), but will probably watch at least the first episode to
check it out.

High Thoughts,

Mod Mom #2

--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "bartonmft" <bartonmft@...> wrote:
>
>   As a new member, I'm thrilled to correspond with fellow Julian May fans!
>   What do you think of the new Terra Nova series on ABC?  I couldn't help but
notice the similarities to The Many Colored Land"... people from the 22nd
century traveling back in time in search of a simpler life.
>   Of course, the plot of TMCL is much more  imaginative...even without the
dinosaurs!   I've always believed that the Pliocene Exile Saga would make a
great TV series, even if the complex layers of the saga had to be simplified to
conform to TV standards.
>

Nice Post Anthony!

I wouldn't worry too much about the recognition (or lack thereof) of
Julian May. As everyone in this group knows her Pliocene/Galactic Milieu
series is one of the triumphs of Science Fiction in the last 100 years.
Dune is the only series I re-read as often (well, and Lord of the Rings
but that's not Sci-Fi). Certainly any sci-fi obsessed person I speak to
over the age of 30 has read the Pliocene Saga. I am constantly surprised
though that many of them stopped at The Adversary and didn't go on to read
the Galactic Milieu Series-they are the icing on the cake. But I'm sure I
remember that she already sold > 1 million copies of TMCL by the time I
bought it in the early 90's which is pretty impressive. I just wish she
was still writing.

Just a quick tip to the group-there is an Author I've grown to quite like
over the past few years. He has the weird name of "A.A Attanasio". At
least some of his books are very reminiscent of the Galactic Milieu series
(if a bit more off-the-wall) so you may find them worth checking out.
"Centuries" and "The last legends of earth" are the two best.

All the best






______________________________________________________________________
The information in this email is confidential and intended solely for the
addressee.
You must not disclose, forward, print or use it without the permission of the
sender.
______________________________________________________________________

• Pandora's Star 
   
• Judas Unchained
   
• The Night's Dawn series: Reality Dysfunction , Neutronium Alchemist , and Naked God .
   

Hi there,

Other books/series with a bit of that 'JM/Galactic Space Opera' vibe that I
like:

- David Weber's 'Honor Harrington' series. Which also contains a sentient
cat-like species. Win!

- Lois McMaster Bujold's 'Miles Vorkosigan' books. I think Miles and Aiken would
get along well. Perhaps too well...

If you like a bit of romance with your space opera, I'd recommend Linnea
Sinclair's books, especially 'Games of Command' and 'Finders' Keepers'. Lots of
verbal sparring between the lead characters. ^_^

High Thoughts,

- Mod Mom #2



--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "awabookz" <awabooks@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Jeff,
>
> Thanks for mentioning A. A. Attanasio. As I've moved a number of times
> over the past couple decades, my "book collection" has gone through the
> inevitable expansions and "cullings"...
>
> Attanasio is one of the few authors who has always stayed on. His style
> seems more "ethereal" to me, but he is a gifted writer. I thought his
> take on the Arthurian legends was particularly good.
>
> This might make an interesting "Post Topic":
>
> Given that we all find May's works to be exceptional, what other
> authors/titles do folks in this Group like?
>
> One author I'd nominate would be Peter Hamilton
> <http://www.amazon.com/Peter-F.-Hamilton/e/B00287WTBG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pe\
> l_pop_1>  . Though not a fan of all his books, he has written a number
> of "Galactic Space Opera"-type books that I find quite fun:
>
>
>     * Pandora's Star
> <http://www.amazon.com/Pandoras-Star-Peter-F-Hamilton/dp/0345479211/ref=\
> ntt_at_ep_dpt_3>
>
>     * Judas Unchained
> <http://www.amazon.com/Judas-Unchained-Peter-F-Hamilton/dp/0345461673/re\
> f=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1>
>
>     * The Night's Dawn series: Reality Dysfunction
> <http://www.amazon.com/Reality-Dysfunction-Nights-Dawn/dp/0316021806/ref\
> =ntt_at_ep_dpt_6>  , Neutronium Alchemist
> <http://www.amazon.com/Neutronium-Alchemist-Nights-Dawn-Trilogy/dp/03303\
> 51435/ref=tmm_pap_title_0>  , and Naked God
> <http://www.amazon.com/Naked-God-Nights-Dawn-Trilogy/dp/0330351451/ref=t\
> mm_pap_title_1>  .
>
> Cheers, -Anthony
>

Hi folks,

I've added something new in the Links section - a link to an article called
'Julian May: The Best Science Fiction Author You've Never Heard Of'.

Happy reading. ^_^


High Thoughts,

- Mod Mom #2

Michelle Rose wrote:
> What Burroughs Mars movie?! They're doing a Barsoom movie?
> Links! Please! (I gotta get out more...)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rf55GTEZ_E

• I think 2011 is the 30-Year Anniversary of the Many-Colored Land, as well as Mrs. May's 80th year (Slonshal!) I'm still astounded by two things: 1) These books are amazingly entertaining, seemingly no matter how many times I read them(!)  2) For a Sci-Fi series, these books still read "incredibly well" (not at all "dated" as many Sci-Fi titles often become...)
   
  That's 'cuz JM was amazingly well-read, a writer of science books for teens and middle schoolers and had enormous resources to draw on. Plus she was able to think and plot her story-lines in much the same way that cloud-computing is designed. (Don't believe me? Do a rough plot using the two Groups visualized as a 3-D Venn diagram. Add a third for the Rebels. Note how the story lines enter and exit the three 'bubbles' or clouds. Recognize anything?)
   
  ... :-( ...  Sadly, I will have to confess that my "3-D Venn diagramming" visualization skills are likely not up to snuff. If you wouldn't mind posting even a brief glimpse of something along those lines to the "Files" or "Photos" areas, I would love to see!
  

• I'm not the most widely-read Sci-Fi fan, but I've read a bit: Verne & Burroughs (hope the Carter/Mars movie is good! :-), some of the early pulp authors--many of whom became the early "Grand Masters"--and quite a few more recent.
   
  What Burroughs Mars movie?! They're doing a Barsoom movie? Links! Please! (I gotta get out more...)
   
  Thanks, Baralier, for the Link post!
  

• Maybe it's "just me," but recognition for Science Fiction authors seems similar to wealth distribution in America: There's the "top 1%," then there's "everybody else". Sadly, I don't think Judy May* made it to the level she deserved.
   
  I've never heard her called 'Judy'. That was her pen name for Dune Roller. I hung around her and her posse for about five hours during WorldCon51 and never heard her addressed as anything but 'Julian'. (I got pictures of her in the flying suit. Tres' cool.) I agree in that she never achieved name-recognition, but she made an awfully good living from writing.
   
  By "Judy," I was merely referring to info from her Wikipedia entry... I humbly bow before you're more authoritative sourcing--and I would love to see some pics in the Photos area ;-)
  

• Yeah, here are the "Grand Masters" of Science Fiction:
  http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/events-program/grandmaster/
  Out of 27 authors, I see 3 women (hmmm): Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Andre Norton. In my opinion, Le Guin is the only one "on level" with Mrs. May (and as much as I respect "The Left Hand of Darkness," I doubt I'll ever pick it up for a second reading...)
   
  I've never understood why James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon) was never nominated. (She did get an award named after her.) But even LeGuin agrees that TLHOD is flawed. She attempted to portray a genderless society and instead defaulted to the male mode for the dominant gender; a stylistic choice she now admits was the result of her own conditioning and inability to think all the way outside the box. May could write every bit as tough and 'male' as any testosterone-soaked hard SF writer, but was equally adept at pouring on the sentiment and, God be thanked; knew how to tell a woman's story without the gender barriers. I can think of few writers who have that kind of emotional range.
   
  I completely agree with Tiptree/Sheldon. I haven't read nearly enough of her, but I remember really liking what I did read a number of years back...
  
  How about C. J. Cherryh, fer Chrissakes?!? Wow, a quick wikipeek shows "Downbelow Station" as the 1981 Hugo winner; the year May's TMCL was nominated (I think). Downbelow Station, I have to admit, is a Sci-Fi masterpiece (I think I've read it two, maybe three times... I need to give Cyteen another try.) That those two books were published in the same year...
   
  
• I suspect anyone reading this shares my opinion of Mrs. May's works. I've mentioned before that I am actively giving away copies of TMCL to anyone I think might read it and become a fan. Sadly, I know this will never amount to much... I've also had a number of additional thoughts on "increasing awareness":
  
  Title: Like or not, book titles (and cover illos) still do affect sales. Sorry if this sounds heretical, but as much as I really do love the book, I don't think "The Many Colored Land" is the best title. "Saga of Pliocene Exile" is interesting, but I think "Pliocene" would lose as many casual "surfers" that it would attract.
   
  I dunno. I think "The Many-Colored Land" is marvelously evocative. But I like flowers and her description of the foliage throughout the four books is impeccable; without peer.
   
  I agree it's evocative of a "land of many colors." (And I agree that her description of Pliocene flora and fauna is super-kanoodle-opic ;-) But place yourself in the "mental shoes" of the casual Sci-Fi/Fantasy-Fan, looking for something "new" to read,  who knows little or nothing of Julian May and her amazing series. Could Mike Whelan's cover art cause you to pick the book up? I think so. But is the title a real "grabber"? Sadly, I would have to argue "no"...
   
  I noticed on the French covers they went for a "Masthead" title, loosely translated, "The Exile Saga," followed by smaller individual book titles below: TCML, The Golden Torc, etc. I think that's a step in the right direction...
   
   My personal noodling has come up with "Exile's Gate". I bet some of you out there might have ideas. I'd love to see some!
   
  Cover Art: Michael Whelan did fantastic covers for the first (American, anyway) paperback editions of all four Pliocene books. In my eye, they are by far the best. (At one point, I think Whelan was asked to do a new cover for TMCL, which I think must have affronted him, because his latter effort of  what look like "valley girls," and a man(?) in nun's habit on horseback in the background, is not at all to Whelan's standards... :-(
  Bottom Line: Keep the original Whelan covers, and ditch the rest.
   
  Gotta agree with you on this one. Mike Whelan is da bomb.
   
• A Path Forward(?) Though a busy parent, I still try to carve out a little time for gaming, and by that I mean the old-school, pen & paper, table-top role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons.
   
  If you know any gamers, consider introducing the series to them, perhaps under the auspices that the Pliocene Exile would make an incredible RPG "game world" setting--because it would! ;-)
   
  If an "Exile" RPG could somehow be produced, there is a chance, however slim, that this could attract the attention of comic book/graphic novel publishers, and/or video game producers. An "entry" in either of those worlds could indeed lead to what many of us would love to see, a shot at video series/movie release.
   
  Oy, the costs! And the plots would have to be dumbed down so much. You're talking about many thousands of sub-programs that would execute simultaneously. You might be able to run it on a lot of parallel-processor machines--cloud-computing offers some possibilities--but who wants to play a game that takes a half-hour or more to load?
   
  I agree with you here. I included video RPGs because I felt I "had to." But I don't play console or online video RPGs at all, because they seem to completely lack the "choices" you have as a player in table-top, pen & paper RPGs like D20 System games, Pathfinder, World of Darkness, GURPS, etc.
   
  Really my thought was that if a good pen & paper RPG "world book" (printed and digtal <pdf>) could be produced, this might attract the attention of movers & shakers in the comic/graphic novel world--and what with the amount of successful comic to movie translations these days... well, there's a chance, however small.
   
  Hell, if just one person like Joss Whedon (Buffy, Toy-Story co-writer (yep!), comic book author extraordinaire, supposed "savior" of the Captain America movie script, writer/director of the upcoming Avengers movie--please God, let it be awesome!--could be hooked, that could be enough traction to get the ball rolling!
   
  Whedon would be a good choice. Or JJ Abrams, if you could control his tendency to mess with the script. I always thought Spielberg was the only one with the proper big-screen aesthetic to direct/produce these. (If you say "George Lucas", I will be forced to draw my Bosch actinic blaster and burn you down in cold blood.) But Spielberg is a cautious man these days and there should be at least four three-hour movies to do this justice. I can't see any major producer or director committing to something like that. Peter Jackson? Now, he would be an intriguing choice.
   
  No Bosch or Husquevarna  needed ;-)  I loved the 1st three Star Wars films, but a piece of my heart shriveled & died when I took my kids to the fourth. First Indiana Jones? Da best!  Last Indiana Jones? ...Let's just say the South Park episode summed it up best...
   
  Much as I like Peter Jackson, a "mere" cable TV series could be grand(!) Look at shows like Battlestar Galactica, Walking Dead, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood and Carnival. There's scary good talent out there! (Heck, 20 years ago a woman named Lynn Marie Latham wrote and produced a show named "Homefront" for ABC, which should have been more of a wake-up call to how good plain ol' TV could be... highly recommended ;-)
  

Hi Chris,

That was a spammer, unfortunately. :(

Fortunately, as a moderator, I have an Iron Fist(TM) to deal with spammers. :D


High Thoughts,

- Mod Mom #2


--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, Christopher McChesney
<clmcchesney@...> wrote:
>
> shidsxbn who are you??
>
> Chris McChesney
> Austin, Texas
> 512-785-2823
>
> --- On Sun, 10/9/11, shjdsxbn <shjdsxbn@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: shjdsxbn <shjdsxbn@...>
> Subject: [Julian-May-discuss] You've got a private message!
> To: Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, October 9, 2011, 8:59 PM
>
>
>
>  
>
>
>
> You've got a private message! Check it here:
> http://file1.hpage.com/006760/51/html/ottie.htm
>

Hi folks,

Was shocked and ashamed to discover that my copies of the Saga of the Exiles got
damp in the loft and are stinky and while readable, not pleasant.

So I thought - I'll see if I can get them in the UK on my ebook reader?
Apparently not.

I think the USA has the Milieu trilogy on the kindle store, but not Intervention
or Exiles, but could somebody confirm this?

Anyone found them as (legal) ebooks anywhere in the world? Which publisher/agent
do we need to pester to make it happen?

Jon

ive seen all of them as  lit files...which microsoft reader i believe...not sure
where you  would get  those though??

--- On Tue, 18/10/11, ultan01 <ultan01@...> wrote:

> From: ultan01 <ultan01@...>
> Subject: [Julian-May-discuss] Exiles and Milieu ebooks?
> To: Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, 18 October, 2011, 7:31
> Hi folks,
>
> Was shocked and ashamed to discover that my copies of the
> Saga of the Exiles got damp in the loft and are stinky and
> while readable, not pleasant.
>
> So I thought - I'll see if I can get them in the UK on my
> ebook reader? Apparently not.
>
> I think the USA has the Milieu trilogy on the kindle store,
> but not Intervention or Exiles, but could somebody confirm
> this?
>
> Anyone found them as (legal) ebooks anywhere in the world?
> Which publisher/agent do we need to pester to make it
> happen?
>
> Jon
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>     Julian-May-discuss-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>

--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, philip randall <phiz22@...> wrote:
>
> ive seen all of them as  lit files...which microsoft reader i believe...not
sure where you  would get  those though??
>

Ahem, cough cough, avast there maties!

Yes - there are very poor ebooks out there in the piracy "scene"  but they
appear to be unproofread scans of a paperback, or transcribed by someone with
poor typing accuracy. Also lots of formatting problems.

--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "awabookz" <awabooks@...> wrote:
>
> Sadly,
>
> You appear to be correct. I could not find (U.S.) eBook editions of
> Exiles of Intervention on Amazon, Google eBooks, nor a couple of other
> "apparently legal" eBookseller sites...
>
> Amazon claims to have "inked ;-) a deal
> <http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle/ref=cm_cd_ttp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UT\
> F8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx2DJ89JW5QORC8>  " with 11,000 U.S
> libraries, so you can now use your Kindle to "borrow" titles... I have
> to imagine that Google eBooks will not take this "lying down."
>
> Then again, the rather stunning looking new Kindle Tablet, the $199
> "Fire," apparently runs on ANDROID, of all operating systems (open
> handset alliance-based, but led by Google), though I'm sure with a
> "heavy" Amazon UI layer on top... GOD, Amazon is apparently taking a
> $10.00/unit loss, but if they sell 13 million by 2013 as planned...
> well, I'm sure they'll make it up on "content" sales ;-)
>
> ALL of which means that though not all of dear Mrs. May's books may be
> available yet, I'm pretty sure they will be sometime soon :-)
>

Thanks for looking Tony - Amazon prevent UK users from even seeing the kindle
books for sale in the USA, let alone purchasing them.

  I suspect the publishers are trying not to dump too many of their potential
sales winners on the market all at once.

Love the look of the kindle fire! It may struggle to beat the ipad (at anything)
except price. One day it may come to the UK.

Exiles and Milieu seem to be out of print in paper as well as ebook here in the
UK, by the way...

Just finished the first 4 (for the first time). About half way through
Surveillance.

Very good stuff. I am trying to figure out who the other 4 Lylmik are. Marc is
obvious.

Hi Jay,

That's nice to hear. :) I hope you enjoy the rest of the books.

The fact that a Lylmik is called Atoning Unifex, is a big clue. Aha.


High Thoughts,

Mod Mom #2


--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "Jay" <jiles@...> wrote:
>
> Just finished the first 4 (for the first time). About half way through
Surveillance.
>
> Very good stuff. I am trying to figure out who the other 4 Lylmik are. Marc is
obvious.
>

I started with surveillance then worked my way to Magnificat and then read the
Pliocene Series at the end.

--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "Jay" <jiles@...> wrote:
>
> Just finished the first 4 (for the first time). About half way through
Surveillance.
>
> Very good stuff. I am trying to figure out who the other 4 Lylmik are. Marc is
obvious.
>

Julian May's date for Intervention occurs on 2012!! I just hit that date re
reading The Nonborn King.   I'm going on to "The Adversary" the last book in the
series.

However, of course, that date!   When was the series written?  I had read
Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, others, I had to come back and re
read the latter part of The Many Colored Land, what amazing, amazing wonderful
storytelling.

Anyway, The Date, The Date.    Did Julian May use the "Platonic year" to suggest
the date for Intervention?    Apparently the Mayans, and several other cultures
knew about advanced concepts in astronomy, such as the Precession of the
Equinoxes, a 26,000 year astronomical cycle in which the Earth's poles move in
such a manner as to describe a gigantic circle in the sky, coming back to the
"starting point" in such a length of time.

Popular "End Time" ideas are prevalent in relation to this "great cycle".  The
Mayan calendar centers exactly around this Cycle, apparently so do other ideas,
such as Jesus returning.

One of the most puzzling and most popular views of The End of the Cycle is the
arrival of Benevolent Extraterrestrials who will get Humanity into Galactic
Society!!   On 2012!  Much of Ms. May's work seems to be Prophetic!   That is,
in the sense of so much anticipation by so many centers on this date, and when I
read the books, the date meant nothing.

ALSO, Ms. May's idea of the rise of the "Coadunate Mind" and the Galactic Mileau
dovetail with the "New Age" ideas, where Humanity will become more telepathic,
and move more into a World Mind situation.

A really strange aspect of all of this is  that is really absolutely mind
bogglingly apparent that UFO sightings seem to be increasing everywhere, hand
held cameras of decent quality seem to be demonstrating this by the thousands,
people of all stripes coming forward.

Free Energy is making a comeback.

It DOES seem to be a time of Unprecedented Change of some sort.

My question is, why and how did Ms. May choose such a date?

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks.

Hi there,

I think that Julian May was just interested in writing a good story, and thought
that setting Intervention around this period of time would make things just that
bit more sensational. :)

I'm aware of equinox precession, but don't think anything really significant
will happen to humanity as a result this year. The E.P. cycle is something that
has happened before and Earth / humanity is still here. :)

Having said that, every time I look at the calender and see '2012', I get a
chill down my neck!

High Thoughts,


- Mod Mom #2



Personally, I don't think anything really significant

--- In Julian-May-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "cpotnar" <cpotnar@...> wrote:
>
> Julian May's date for Intervention occurs on 2012!! I just hit that date re
reading The Nonborn King.   I'm going on to "The Adversary" the last book in the
series.
>
> However, of course, that date!   When was the series written?  I had read
Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, others, I had to come back and re
read the latter part of The Many Colored Land, what amazing, amazing wonderful
storytelling.
>
> Anyway, The Date, The Date.    Did Julian May use the "Platonic year" to
suggest the date for Intervention?    Apparently the Mayans, and several other
cultures knew about advanced concepts in astronomy, such as the Precession of
the Equinoxes, a 26,000 year astronomical cycle in which the Earth's poles move
in such a manner as to describe a gigantic circle in the sky, coming back to the
"starting point" in such a length of time.
>
> Popular "End Time" ideas are prevalent in relation to this "great cycle".  The
Mayan calendar centers exactly around this Cycle, apparently so do other ideas,
such as Jesus returning.
>
> One of the most puzzling and most popular views of The End of the Cycle is the
arrival of Benevolent Extraterrestrials who will get Humanity into Galactic
Society!!   On 2012!  Much of Ms. May's work seems to be Prophetic!   That is,
in the sense of so much anticipation by so many centers on this date, and when I
read the books, the date meant nothing.
>
> ALSO, Ms. May's idea of the rise of the "Coadunate Mind" and the Galactic
Mileau dovetail with the "New Age" ideas, where Humanity will become more
telepathic, and move more into a World Mind situation.
>
> A really strange aspect of all of this is  that is really absolutely mind
bogglingly apparent that UFO sightings seem to be increasing everywhere, hand
held cameras of decent quality seem to be demonstrating this by the thousands,
people of all stripes coming forward.
>
> Free Energy is making a comeback.
>
> It DOES seem to be a time of Unprecedented Change of some sort.
>
> My question is, why and how did Ms. May choose such a date?
>
> Anyone got any ideas?
>
> Thanks.
>

Am I correct in spotting that these are now available in the US kindle store? I
can't buy them but some of the reviews suggest they're very badly proof read....
a bit like the pirate versions...