Customer Reviews

Nonborn King (Book three in the Saga of the exiles)

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Julian May continues in her tradition of exotic, colorful,
vivid landscapes and characterizations in the Nonborn King, book three of the Saga of Pliocene Exile. IMO, this is the best writer for descriptive, smooth prose in the business.

Book Three centers on Aiken Drum, a trickster misfit who has emerged with awesome psychic powers, and leader of a faction of Tanu-- those psychic aliens that had enslaved humanity as they traveled back through time to the Pliocene from 22nd century earth.

Aiken maneuvers his faction to attain dominance among the Pliocene-- there are titanic battles, politics, intrigue, nobility, and deception. All in May's wonderfully smooth, adjective-laden writing style that is never too complex, never cluttered, just easy-breathing wonder.

We are also introduced to Marc Remillard, my favorite character in sci-fi. While Aiken is Wagner's Loki, Remillard is Milton's Lucifer. Puissant, noble, the defeated idealist, utterly focused, driven at the expense of those he loves or loved. A magnificent character that plays a role throughout May's later Intervention/Galactic Milieu books as well.

Books One and Two set the stage, were eminently satisfying, left us begging for more. Nonborn King delivers... An epic penultimate climax leaving you wondering how she's ever going to top it.

Once again, the human exiles of the 22nd century must join the struggle for survival in the alien dominated Many Coloured Land. Only this time, they've brought their future tech with them.

The landscape - both geographic and political - has been radically altered, and the long standing balance of power between elfin Tanu and ogreish Firvulag has been upset. There's a new power block in the Pliocene, and they don't play by the rules.

The only strand holding the planet together is the reluctant vision of Eliizabeth Orm, shanghaied into guardianship over these bickering children. Can she maintain the truce between the new aggresive Firvulag rulers, and the lofty Tanu Knights, led by their ultimate Trickster? And where do the rebel humans fit in?

Locke, Puck and Jester, all rolled into one, there are depths to this little non-born that not even he realises.

The rebel attack, engineered by Stein and blasted through by Felice's massive metapsychic powers, has destroyed the old power structure of the Tanu. Many more of them died in the flood, and the operant, more fecund Firvulag now hold a decided advantage.

Aiken Drum steps into the breach to take the reins of power.

The opening of the book shows us a very important factor, how some of Marc Remillard's rebel faction managed to escape and come back in time. This was mostly covered up, and few know about it.

The new society calls for new alliances, including the deformed mutant Firvulag Howlers, humans, rebels and others.

There will be a new Grand Combat, now more a sporting event, as the Tanu can no longer afford the casualties.

As a culmination, Nodonn Battlemaster returns, having survived the flood, and challenges Aiken.

The rebel attack, engineered by Stein and blasted through by Felice's massive metapsychic powers, has destroyed the old power structure of the Tanu. Many more of them died in the flood, and the operant, more fecund Firvulag now hold a decided advantage.

Aiken Drum steps into the breach to take the reins of power.

The opening of the book shows us a very important factor, how some of Marc Remillard's rebel faction managed to escape and come back in time. This was mostly covered up, and few know about it.

The new society calls for new alliances, including the deformed mutant Firvulag Howlers, humans, rebels and others.

There will be a new Grand Combat, now more a sporting event, as the Tanu can no longer afford the casualties.

As a culmination, Nodonn Battlemaster returns, having survived the flood, and challenges Aiken.

The first two volumes in this imaginative series were pretty obviously planned as a single novel. Together they have a nice round shape, with a powerful climax that ties together a number of the plot threads. This sequel is like the second volume in the original Dune series, an unplanned extension that tries to make do with the leftovers of the original novel.

This value of the first two books is in the impressive juxtaposition of hard science fiction, magical powers, and the Pliocene setting. May also delves into myth and folklore effectively and takes risks with a delightful range of characters. But in this third volume, much of the good stuff disappears. Gone are the excitements of alien anthropology. The alien Tanu, a psychic race of giant tyrant elves, were largely decimated at the end of book two. The alien Firvulag, a race of shape-shifting gnomes, has now come into power, but we hardly see them in action. In the first two volumes Pliocene fauna and geology propel an exciting plot; here May makes only perfunctory use of them.

May has exiled many of the series' most interesting characters from this third volume (Richard, Madame Guderian, Nuntsuvel). One lively holdover, the psychopath pixie, Felice, turns quite dull as she spends most of the novel avoiding any contact with other characters. Most of the plot concerns the political machinations of the trickster Aiken Drum, who has become distinctly less flashy and sympathetic as he's gained power. May is forced to resurrect two characters, Mercy and Nodonn, who apparently died in book two's climax, in order to give Aiken a contrived and out-of-character love triangle. May essentially sacrifices the first two book's imaginative strengths in order to turn the fourth book over to a new protagonist, who, like Aiken, is yet another in a long line of rebel-tyrants.

Readers new to this series would do fine with just volumes one and two. Still, May's Pliocene world is so rich and bizarre that there's always some pleasure in spending time there.

Together with the three other books in this series, 'The Nonborn King' is a marvellous book. Many climaxes are created in this part and many riddles get solved. It shows the reign of Aiken Drum and his new kingdom in the many-colored land. May describes Aiken in an intriguing way and like with all the characters in the book, the reader gets emotionally involved in their actions. The world is fantastic, the people are adventurous, the plot in arcane and the story is very original. This book is a must for every fantasy lover and the elements of sci-fi make it even better.

Third book of the Pliocene saga in which Aiken Drum truly shines. Drum is one of May's most memorable characters, a hyperbolic manifestation of Hermes, Loki -- the mythical trickster. Great character in a brilliant, well-thought-out world. We also get introduced to Mark Remillard, who will become the most important person in the ensuing novels and the most important person in human evolution, if you take it that far. It was fun to re-read this one after completing the 9-book series. May is a revelation! The entire series is a joy to be cherished.