Julian May is one of my favorite writers. All her works are situated in the same 'world' - our earth from now till 22nd century and six millions years before...The major differences are the development the mind powers, an alien milieu ready to receive the humanity into a mental unity and a one-way gateway to Pliocene Earth.
Her first four books, the Saga of the Exiles:The many-coloured land,The Golden Torc,The Non-born King and The Adversary tell the tale of those misfits or adventurers who pass through the one-way gateway into distand past - and meeting aliens on the other side!
The next book,Intervention follows the Remillard family through their history (mostly) from 1945 till early 21nd century as told by Rogatier Remillard alias uncle Rogi. This book has also appeared in two parts:The Surveillance and The Metaconsert.
Her latest works, The Galactic Milieu Trilogy:Jack the Bodiless,Diamond Mask and Magnificat continue the story of Intervention - telling about the great personae of the previous books and of the hunt for the Fury.
I Have listed books and given the back-cover texts but I won't give any more about the plots in hopes that you will read the books - and I hope that you do! Truly enjoyable reading.

The Many-Colored Land. Book 1 in the Saga of the Exiles

"The epis odyssey of the misfits and mavericks of the 22nd century who pass through the time-doors of the Piocene Epoch into the battleground of two warring races from a planet far a way..."

The Golden Torc. Book 2 in the Saga of the Exiles

"Exiled beyond the time-portal into a world of six millions years before, the misfits of the 22nd century are enmeshed in the age-old war of two alien races. In this strange world, each year brings the ritual Grand Combat between the Firvulag and the Tanu, possessors of the invincible mind-armouring necklet..."

The Non-born King Book 3 in the Saga of the Exiles

"The dominion of the Tanu has been broken. In the aftermath of cataclysm, Aiken Drum seizes his hour to grasp control of the Pliocene world. There are those, human and Tanu, who rally to him - and those who fear and hate him. The Grand Master, Elizabeth...the mad Felice...the goblin hordes of the firvulag all thrust into a violent and stormy struggle for irresistible power..."

The Adversary. Book 4 in the Saga of the Exiles

"The Firvulag are rising, while the children of the metapsychic rebels race to re-open the time-gate, the sole escape route back into the Galactic Milieu. Now the adversary takes up his destined role in the power play...Marc Remillard, defeated leader of the metapsychic rebellion determined to keep the time-gate sealed and to create a new race from his own offspring. Will he aid the Firvulag or bring succor to Aiken, when the day of the Grand Tourney comes, when the Tanu and the humans meet the Firvulag in the last great contest of the exile world..."

The Surveillance. Book one of Intervention.

"For 60,000 years the five races of the Galactic Milieu have watched and waited for the time when human mental development on Earth is ready for the Intervention...
As the twentieth century draws to its end, phenomenal mental powers are displayed by 'operants' all across our planet...The can 'farspeak' one another telepathically. The can build mental shield and they are capable of coercion by power of mind.
"One of these is Rogatien Remillard, a dealer in seconhand books, whose memories - written a century on - form the core of this cronicle. They tell of a world where the mind has become a weapon; and of two brothers, each posessed of extraordinary powers - one a peace-bringer, the other an advocate of evil..."

Metaconcert. Book two of Intervention.

Jack the Bodiless. Book 1 of the Galactic Milieu

"2051:Earth stands on the brink of acceptance as a full member of the Galactic Milieu, a confederation of worlds spread across the galaxy.
Leading humanity is the powerful Remillard family, but somebody - something - knows only as Fury, wants them out of the way. Only Rogi Remillard, favoured agent of the most powerful alien being in the Milieu, and Rogi's nephew Marc, the greatest metaspychic yet born on Earth, know about Fury. But even they are powerless to stop it when it begins to kill off Remillards and other metapsychic operants - and all of the suspects are Remillards themselves...
From the treshold of a new galactic civilisation comes a stunning new odyssey of ambition and superhuman powers..."

Diamond Mask. Book 2 of the Galactic Milieu

"The twenty-first 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 creature 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 has 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 maelstorm of galactic potilics or megalomaniacal dreams. And in the end, no one - not Jack, not Fury, not even the Galactic Milieu - would be match for the awesome powers of the girl who would come to be called Diamond Mask..."

Magnificat. Book 2 of the Galactic Milieu Julian May; Hardcover; $22.50; Descriptive information available.

Black Trillium (with Marion Zimmer Bardley and Andre Norton)

Ruwenda is a pleasant, peaceful land-but the magic of its guardian, the Archimage Binah, is waning. Binah must pass along her protectorship to the triplet princess of Ruwenda. She bestows upon the infant girls the power of the rare and mystical Black Trillium-badge of the royal house, symbol of an ancient magic. While the sisters blossom into beautiful young women, neighboring Labornok use a dark magician to sunder Binah's protection. As invaders pour into Ruwenda, the Archimage orders the princesses to flee-and changes them to search for three magical talismans which when brought together will be their only chance to regain their kingdom and free its people. Each must accomplish her task separately-and to succeed, each must also confront and conquer the limits of her own soul.

Blood Trillium

Twelve years after the princess Haramis, Kadiya, and Anigel wielded the three-part Scepter of Power to vanquish the sorcerer Orogastus, the Archimage Haramis is visited by a fugitive who brings dire news. A sorcerer has escaped from the Klimilon, remote Land of Fire and Ice, to established himself through force of magic as Portolanus, Master of Tuuzamen. Haramis's talisman cannot--or will not--tell her whether Portolanus is the long-banished Orogastus, but it brings ominous intelligence: The sorcerer has brought from his exile a magical object that can unbound the three talismans of the Scepter, transferring their powers from the sisters to Portolanus himself. Even more fearsome, Haramis's talisman reveals a grave threat to the unity of the sisters and the future of Ruwenda . . .for the sacred Black Trillium contained within the amulet worn by each sister has changed, its petals stained the color of blood.

The Kentucky Derby (with Jack C. Harris)

I found no references to Julian May at Yahoo.

Many of the books described on this page are available through Amazon.com, "World's largest bookstore". Simply click on the name of the book for ordering and availibility information. For example, you might like to order Black Trillium

Updated 1998.10.12 at 13:51