Julian May was a powerhouse. Most people don't realize she was already a legend in the world of encyclopedias and nonfiction long before she ever sat down to write about psychic time-travelers in the prehistoric past. If you’ve spent any time digging through old-school science fiction paperbacks, you’ve probably seen those iconic, neon-drenched Darrell K. Sweet covers. They look like high-fantasy fever dreams. There’s a guy in gold armor, maybe a spaceship in the background, and definitely some weird-looking aliens with pointed ears. But don't let the 1980s aesthetic fool you. The Saga of Pliocene Exile is one of the most complex, brutal, and intellectually dense works of speculative fiction ever printed.
It basically ruins other books for you.
The premise sounds like a gimmick, but it isn’t. In a future "Galactic Milieu" where humanity has finally joined a peaceful, psychic collective of alien races, some people just don't fit in. They're the misfits. The rebels. The "unfit." Instead of being locked up, they’re given a choice: stay in a utopia they hate, or take a one-way trip through a fixed-point time portal back to Earth’s Pliocene Epoch. Six million years ago. Most of them think they’re going to a pristine, untouched paradise where they can play pioneer.
They are very, very wrong.
What actually happens when you hit the Pliocene
When these travelers step through the gate in the Rhône Valley, they aren't met by a virgin wilderness. They’re met by the Tanu and the Firvulag. These are two warring alien races from another galaxy who crashed on Earth ages ago. Because of the weird temporal physics involved, these aliens have set up a rigid, feudal society. They aren't gods, though they certainly act like them. They have "metapsychic" powers—telepathy, psychokinesis, creativity—and they use "torcs" (psychic-enhancing neck rings) to enslave every human who comes through the gate.
Honestly, it's a nightmare scenario. You leave a high-tech future to become a literal serf to a nine-foot-tall alien knight who can melt your brain with a thought.
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Julian May didn't just write a "portal fantasy." She blended Celtic mythology, Catholic theology, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s philosophy of the Noosphere, and hard-edged geology. It’s a lot. The detail she puts into the landscape of the Pliocene—the Messinian Salinity Crisis, the flooding of the Mediterranean—is based on actual geological theories of the time. She makes the Miocene-Pliocene transition feel as real as a hike through the Alps.
The characters are wonderfully messy
You have Elizabeth Orme, a Grand Master telepath who lost her "Mind-Sight" and just wants to be alone. Then there’s Aiken Drum. He is, quite frankly, a little shit. He’s a non-interventionist juvenile delinquent with a trickster god complex who ends up becoming the most important person in the world.
There is no "chosen one" trope here in the traditional sense. Everyone is clawing for survival. Felice Landry is a terrifying example of what happens when massive psychic power meets a completely broken, aggressive personality. She’s not a hero. She’s a force of nature.
May’s strength was in showing that even in a world of mental superpowers and alien tech, human nature remains stubbornly petty, ambitious, and occasionally, surprisingly noble. The dialogue isn't some stilted "thee and thou" fantasy speak. It’s sharp. It’s often funny. It feels like real people caught in an impossible situation.
Why the "Science" in this Science Fiction matters
A lot of readers get tripped up by the psychic powers. They think it’s just magic with a different name. But May grounds it in a very specific hierarchy of the mind. You’ve got:
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- Coercion: Forcing people to do your bidding.
- Redaction: Healing bodies and minds.
- Creativity: Manifesting energy or physical illusions.
- Farsight: Seeing across vast distances.
- Psychokinesis: Moving objects with the mind.
The way these powers interact is almost mathematical. When a "metapsychic" battle happens in the books, it’s not just about who glows brighter. It’s about mental stamina, the "frequency" of the psychic thrust, and whether or not someone is wearing a gold, silver, or gray torc.
The gold torcs are the big deal. They turn a "latent" human (someone with the potential for powers) into an "operative" (someone who can actually use them). The Tanu use these to create a hierarchy. If you’re a human with a gray torc, you’re basically a worker drone. A silver torc makes you a member of the elite, but still a servant. It’s a brilliant metaphor for how technology—even biological technology—creates and enforces class structures.
The controversy of the "Galactic Milieu"
You can't talk about the Saga of Pliocene Exile without talking about the Prequel/Sequel series, the Galactic Milieu Trilogy. Some fans hate it. Some think it’s the superior work. Personally? I think they’re inseparable.
The Saga (The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King, and The Adversary) is the "low-tech" adventure. The Milieu books (Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, and Magnificat) are the "high-tech" political thriller. They explain how the world got to the point where people would want to flee to the Pliocene in the first place.
May explores the "Great Intervention," where aliens finally reveal themselves to Earth in 2013 (which, looking back from 2026, is a fun bit of alternate history). She delves into the "Metapsychic Rebellion," a brutal civil war among humans with powers. If you read the Saga first, you see the remnants of these people as broken refugees. If you read the Milieu first, you see them as tragic figures falling from grace.
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What most people get wrong about the ending
People often complain that the ending of The Adversary is too abrupt or that it leans too heavily into the "Noosphere" concept. But that’s missing the point of the whole 2,000-page journey. The entire series is an exploration of the Omega Point—the idea that sentient life is evolving toward a state of total unity.
It’s heavy stuff. It’s not just about laser swords and psychic duels. It’s about whether or not humanity is actually capable of outgrowing its violent impulses. May doesn’t give an easy answer. She shows that even when we reach for the stars or flee into the past, we bring our demons with us.
How to actually read the series today
If you’re looking to dive in, don’t start with the prequels. Even though they come first chronologically, they spoil the mystery of the Pliocene. Start with The Many-Colored Land.
- Step 1: Find the 1980s paperbacks if you can. The cover art by Darrell K. Sweet genuinely helps visualize the bizarre "Techno-Celtic" aesthetic May was going for.
- Step 2: Keep a notepad. No, seriously. The names of the Tanu and Firvulag heroes are based on actual Irish and Welsh myths (Lugonn, Nodonn, Pallol, etc.), and it can get confusing if you aren't paying attention.
- Step 3: Pay attention to the geology. When May describes the "Brezal des Alpes" or the "Sea of Reeds," she’s describing what Europe actually looked like before the Atlantic broke through the Strait of Gibraltar.
- Step 4: Read Intervention after the main four books. It acts as the bridge between the Pliocene adventure and the Galactic Milieu.
The Saga of Pliocene Exile remains a masterclass in world-building. It’s one of the few series that successfully bridges the gap between the "New Wave" sci-fi of the 70s and the "Big Idea" sci-fi of the 80s and 90s. It’s weird, it’s smart, and it’s deeply human.
For those who want to explore further, the next logical step is looking into the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. His philosophical fingerprints are all over May’s work, specifically his theories on human evolution and the collective consciousness. Understanding his "Omega Point" theory will change the way you interpret the final chapters of the saga. After that, look for the Pliocene Companion, a reference guide May wrote herself to help fans track the complex genealogy and terminology of the series. It’s out of print but worth hunting down on the secondhand market.