Magnificat (Galactic Milieu Trilogy)

Allow me to give out one or two helpful hints to anyone who is reading Julian May's books for the first time. First off, do NOT begin with Magnificat. For that matter, don't even start with the Galactic Milieu series. May's nine book collection is a story cycle; meaning, the last book leads immediately to the first, and so on. For those who read Magnificat and felt "let down" and "confused", or that the book was too predictable, remember this: Rogatien Remillard first began the familly history in The Surveillance, and much of Marc's (and the Family's) history was disclosed in The Adversary. I knew what would ultimately take place in the final confrontation, who would die, and who would be spared. With intuition, I knew who Fury and The Family Ghost were from reading the previous books. I knew how the story began and ended- and yet, I read on. I put myself (figuratively) in Uncle Rogi's shoes- he lived though it once, and had to relive it, reluctantly, through the memoirs. I was saddened that this ten year long journey I'd taken with May was finally at an end. And then I remembered: It's not over! The story continues! It may be a little while, but I'll soon be dusting off The Many Colored Land, and starting all over again...

If nothing, one has to read "Magnificat" for the sake of "finishing" the nine-volume saga in which the Pliocene and the Milieu books follow one another in an endless loop - a neat idea. However, while the four parts of the colourful Pliocene Exile series had an undemanding, refreshing charm (time-travel, alien beings, mental powers, folk tales and a myriad of other motives all crammed together - and came out much better than one would expect) and the Intervention can well be described as the qualitative peak of the whole, the Milieu trilogy starts to falter.

Not in Jack the Bodiless, which picks up almost seamlessly where Intervention ends and has brilliant moments, excellently profiled characters and truly frightening adversaries; Diamond Mask isn't as good, but I wouldn't put it below average either within the complete cycle. Magnificat I wish I hadn't read.

Simply put, all the Metapsychic Rebellion events hinted at in the Pliocene books together with their godlike protagonists turn out to be a dud. Jack and Dorothea, while amiable, do not strike one as particularly worthy of their later saintly status - not because they're not good enough as people, but because they're not good enough as characters. Even marginal Rebels seem to have more spirit and depth. The Fury/Hydra subplot dissolves too hastily, but it is still complex compared to the Rebellion itself. What started and intrigued in the earlier books ends in a lukewarm and grossly disappointing "finale". Nothing is explained concerning the Carbuncle and its role in fighting the Rebellion fleet. The horrible tragedy that forever burdens Marc's soul happens in a paragraph or two and one has to employ all of one's imagination to give the event the grandeur May intended. It just doesn't deliver. The Mental Man project is likewise imagined, carried through and destroyed too quickly. I cannot help but think of countless Stephen King novels where all the build-up crashes like a house of cards through some deux-ex-machina which in this case is a frankly silly sudden Unification of humanity through all-pervading love.

I do not know if May wanted to give some boost to Pierre Teilhard's ideas by bringing them to a galactic scope, but it not only fails to impress, it annoys. The only plus in the book are the characters of Rogi Remillard and the Atoning Unifex, in which issues of ethics and morality are dealt with less pathos and much more skill.

I had a similar problem with the Pleiocene Saga in that May weaves a rich tapestry of characters and compelling situations, only to cut you off after the climax. This book would profit from a lengthy denoument, something for the reader to savor after making it through the first 8 books. Events at the end do happen too quickly and while the final conflict and resolution is cogent, as always, a deeper satsifaction is lacking. Still, May's universe is extremely well-structured and just a staggeringly brilliant vision of the future. The scope and bredth of her entire body of work is inspiring. Magnificat begins in the same meticulous and careful manner we've come to expect from May. Right about the time that Marc first meets Cyndia, it seems events get a little clumsy and rushed. Still a highly recommended series, and if you've read the first two, you can't stop there.

The Galactic Milieu trilogy was an amazing series and a worthy successor to the Saga of Pliocene Exile and Intervention. Magnificat is the culmination of all the previous works, and is the story of the rise and fall of Marc Remillard. Like one of the other reviewers, I found Marc to be one of the most complex and intriguing characters I've ever read about. He is the Angel of the Abyss and destroyed billions of lives. And courtesy of the wonders of time travel, he is simultaneously Atoning Unifex, the oldest and wisest of the Lylmik, who six million years too late realizes his sin but cannot intervene to stop it.

Marc is truly a creature of opposites. As Unifex, he dances with his young cousin Addie because he finally understands love. As Marc, he ruthlessly tries to sacrifice his own children to his scientific dream. But even in the Pliocene Exile saga, there are hints of redemption as Marc himself activates the time gate to send the kids back home. And in Unifex we still see hints of the old Marc as he coerces Uncle Rogi into doing his bidding. (As an aside, the last line of Intervention, "Goodnight, Marc", was one of the only lines ever to completely blindside me.)

Magnificat draws to a close the stories of Rogi, Denis, Fury and the Hydras, explains the Mental Man project, and finally depicts the dreaded Metapsychic Rebellion only alluded to in previous volumes. We are also given tantalizing glimpses into the fates of Hagen, Cloud, and Kuhal as they try to live out their lives in the Milieu. For the most part, Ms. May does an excellent job tying together all of the loose threads. However, I do have some gripes. Primarily, I was disappointed because the book seemed to rush through some very important events. Since we've been hearing about the rebellion for 8 books now, it would have been nice to see it fleshed out a little. The same with Mental Man and the science of metaconcert development. This is really the first time we've ever seen a description of a metaconcert, and the first time we really learn what Mental Man is. Both are alluded to during the previous books, but they are dealt with much too quickly in the final volume.

This is not to say I didn't enjoy the book. I loved it. But it would have been even better if it had been longer.

Ah well, I guess this is what happens when you're a writer and get bored with your project. And it's such a shame as this whole series started superbly with the intervention books, but it just peters out into a very damp squib.

As mentioned before, the continuity between the saga and this series is poor in the extreme but what galls me about this book (and the previous) is the repetition and the constant running over of events in previous books. It's just aimless filling to pad out what is an already shortened book, when what should have been done is more character building on Marcs character and the Mental Man project, more time in filling in the many gaps that have been left and better handling of scenes that could have been so much better. Eg Rogi and Parnells meeting - how can he on one hand be so easily mastered by Marcs coercion at the wedding and the next able to comfortably overide any compulsion Parnell may have over him and have time to do the whole out spiral thing?

It's sadly like she has run out of ideas, or simply didn't have the juices left to finish off the project which is such a shame. Maybe she should have given it a few years more and had a break and come back to it refreshed.

Buy it to complete the series, and to see how it all started - but don't build your hopes up too much.

I read this book four years ago - I was hoping the next book would be out (was under the impression that there would be one more called 'Fury') - I loved the trilogy but couldn't really get into the Pliocene Exile saga.. pretty strange as everyone else seem to think the saga is much better - I'll definitely give it another go!

I enjoyed the previous two books ("Jack the Bodiless" and "The Diamond Mask"), they were above average science fiction books.

With "Magnificat" however, I kept rolling my eyes at the blatant attempts by the author to use the novel as a platform for her religious and moral views. She just ended up making the characters look stupid. These people are ultra-intelligent, demi-god like characters, yet they ended up acting like a bunch of dumb, little kids, no intrigue, no slick plots, just "the biggest brain wins" period.

this book take thinking and though

One book of a favorite series

great series if you like sci fi fantasy try these books it was given to me by a customer in my small book store ihope you all will read this series