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Intro
editThe Galactic Milieu Series is an epic science fiction tetralogy written by American author Julian May and comprised of Intervention (1987), Jack the Bodiless (1991), Diamond Mask (1994) and Magnificat (1996). The mass-market paperback publication of Intervention was released as two volumes: Surveillance and Metaconcert.
The Galactic Milieu
editIntervention
editIntervention: A Root Tale to the Galactic Milieu and a Vinculum between it and The Saga of Pliocene Exile (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). ISBN 0-395-43782-2. (Released in mass market paperback as two volumes: )
May calls Intervention a vinculum, or link-tale, between the "Saga of Pliocene Exile" and the Milieu trilogy proper. However, it is a near-essential introduction to the Milieu trilogy as well as a balanced stand-alone work.
Plot
edit | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2007) |
The book follows the Remillard family of New Hampshire from the years immediately after World War II through an increasingly turbulent world, in which various "metapsychic" humans manoeuvre in secret to direct the destiny of the human race. The Remillards play a central role in this story, though the narrator, Rogatien "Uncle Rogi" Remillard, is often an alienated observer rather than a central participant. At the same time, the earth is under surveillance by representatives of a galactic culture (the "Galactic Milieu" of the series title), who monitor the human race's fitness for admission into the wider galactic community. Interwoven with this narrative are glimpses of the time after the main action of the series, drawing together threads from it and the Pliocene Exile series.
Intervention climaxes with the Great Intervention, the revelation of this wider galactic society. This sets the stage for the more focused story May has to tell in the remainder of the series.
This deals with the history of several family lines with strong metapsychic potential, especially the Remillards. This line begins with twins Rogatien (Rogi) and Donatien (Don), whose mother died giving birth to them. They discover that they have unusual mental abilities (which admittedly turn out to be far less than those of later generations of metapyschics). Rogi is a milder mannered man, who becomes sterile through mumps. Don is distrustful and malicious, but handsome and charming, and steals Rogi's girlfriend Marie Madeleine "Sunny" Fabré.
From an early age, Rogi was visited by an entity he called "the family ghost", and it is this entity who commanded Rogi to write his memoirs. The ghost first rescued Rogi as a child, and many years later rescued Don after Rogi tried to kill him in a rage for stealing his girlfriend. The ghost tells Rogi that he is sterile, but would have an important role in guiding Don's key descendants.
Rogi becomes close to Don and Sunny's firstborn child Denis. Denis is a precocious child, and quickly learns to master many metapsychic faculties, greatly exceeding those of Rogi and Don, in addition to excelling intellectually. Rogi becomes like a real father to him, while Don is always out getting drunk at night. Rogi and Denis start to search for people with similar powers. Meanwhile, Don and Sunny raise their nine other children, including the monstruously evil second-born Victor, who terrorises his younger siblings and suppresses their mental powers.
Rogi learns of a Christian monastic school and manages to get Don to allow him to send Denis there. This leads to Denis attending Dartmouth College due to a forming party of 'special students'. He becomes prominent in many fields, particularly psychology and eventually becomes the 'Grandfather of Metapsychology'. Subsequent research yields results in many places in the world and Denis organises yearly meetings within the secret metapsychic community.
At the same time, Victor is plotting with the sociopathic gangster metapsychic Kieran O'Connor to bring down the government with their metapsychic powers. This culminates in a showdown at the end of the book where Denis calls out to all the present and absent metapsychics of goodwill to join in a 'metaconcert' against an attack by Victor and Kieran. The watching Milieu agents invisible in the sky hear this call, and the subsequent metaconcert, and therefore intervene. Victor, meanwhile, goes after Rogi who has learned too much. Somehow, Rogi had learned several Asian yogi techniques and mind lasers Victor into a vegetative state. Rogi never understood how he could have overcome such a powerful metapsychic as Victor, until the family ghost reveals decades later that he assisted.
Jack the Bodiless
edit- Jack the Bodiless (New York: Knopf, 1991). ISBN 0-679-40950-5.
Plot
edit| | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2007) |
As the Milieu trilogy proper begins with Jack the Bodiless, humankind, led by the Remillard family, is awaiting acceptance into the Galactic Milieu. However, some humans, both metapsychic operants and "normals" are wary of the aliens. One alien race, the Symbiari, were appointed their "proctors" and instituted harsh laws, including eugenics, under the authority of the Galactic Milieu. The Family Ghost commanded Rogi to skip over these years.
Denis meanwhile had many children, and the youngest was the most powerful metapsychic of them, Paul. Paul grew up to beome the leader of humanity. Rogi's story resumes with him accompanying Teresa, Paul's wife, and Paul and Teresa's little firstborn son Marc. Marc is the most powerful metapsychic yet born who also has a genius-level intellect that outshines that of "normal" geniuses. They are on their way to a vigil at Denis' mansion around Victor, who has been comatose for the years since Rogi zapped him. Most of Denis's daughters and daughters in law are pregnant. Fury, the secretive metapsychic villain of the series, is born as Victor dies.
It is in this turbulent political atmosphere that Teresa illegally becomes pregnant with a child who may well be the most powerful human mental talent ever, but whose genetic defects would condemn him to death under Milieu eugenics law. Teresa's older son, Marc farsenses emotional problems and visits his mother to investigate. Upon learning of his mother's illegal pregnancy, Marc takes it upon himself to hide Teresa and his future brother in the Canadian wilderness. Marc realises that Rogi is the only family member that would be empathetic enough to help. Rogi is awkward but gives in due to previous assertion from the 'Family Ghost'. Marc fakes their deaths in a 'canoeing accident' and the Remillard family and the Magistratum of the Milieu believe them dead. After many months in the wilderness, Rogi assists Teresa in her birth, and Jon Remillard, "Saint Jack the Bodiless", is born.
Although Jack outwardly appears to be a normal human child, his intellect and mental prowess rapidly set him apart from the rest of humankind, as does the fact that his body begins to generate inoperable and incurable tumours that are slowly overwhelming him. Despite the fact that Jack possesses each of the five higher mindpowers (also known as metafaculties) at the highest known level (Paramount Grand Master), he is incapable of effecting change in his own physiology. The Lylmik, the oldest and most powerful of the alien races in the milieu, veto his euthanasia and leave it up to Jack. An attack by Fury on Jack as he lies in his hospital room, leads to an evolutionary jump in which Jack discards his physical form and metamorposes into his final state as a disembodied brain.
Diamond Mask
edit- Diamond Mask (New York: Knopf, 1994). ISBN 0-679-43310-4.
Plot
edit| | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2007) |
The second book deals mainly with Dorothea MacDonald on the Scottish world of Caledonia. Dorothea lives with her father and her brother amid several step brothers and sisters. Dorothea's mother and other relatives are killed in an attack by the entity known as Hydra, a "metapsychic entity" that Fury uses as an assassin. Hydra consists of five metapsychics who can mind-meld into a powerful vampiric metaconcert when not leading their normal lives. After this, Dorothea realises that she is a latent metapsychic - one with inherent potential but mental blocks that prevent her using her powers, as opposed to the "operant" metapsychics. However, she starts to overcome her blocks and is able to use her mind to protect herself. Meanwhile, Paul Remillard is preparing for human entry into the Milieu and is in line to become the first Magnate of the Concillium. When his rival's wife is killed after being shoved into a trash compactor in an apparent suicide disguising her murder by Hydra, a 1,000 galactic day hold is put on the human entry. The Krondaku investigators suspect the Remillards to be involved.
Dorothea turns out to be another Paramount, with incredibly strong redactive powers and resistance to metapsychic probes and attacks. Young Marc Remillard is not able to probe her mind even when his powers are enhanced by the cerebroenergetic (CE) equipment that he has invented, although CE allows him to resist counterprobes. She even manages to slip into Denis's mind, but he quickly throws her out before she could find out much.
Dorothea and Jack have a role in saving an inhabited planet from a diatreme eruption, using their paramount powers aided by CE. But her lower face is terribly deformed in this heroic act, so after this she always wears a diamond-studded half-mask, and acquires her nickname "Diamond Mask".
Magnificat
edit- Magnificat (New York: Knopf, 1996). ISBN 0-679-44177-8.
Plot
edit| | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (September 2007) |
By the third book in the series, Marc has matured into a highly capable metapsychic and is regarded as a Paramount. Through manipulated dreams, Marc conceives an idea called 'Mental Man' which would create a new subspecies of Man called Homo [sapiens] summus. It would use selective breeding, surgical modification, mental training and technological enhancement to create hundreds of humans with the powers — and disembodiment — of Marc's younger brother Jack. This project has been kept highly secret for several years, but peers and competitors of Marc begin to get suspicious. He develops several increasingly powerful CE devices. These amplify a human's inherent metapsychic ability by orders of magnitude. The CE device is discussed in the debates of the Concilium, and is deemed too dangerous to be used. Marc disagrees, his research continues in secret although outlawed, and culminates in devices capable of 600x amplification. Marc's increasing ambition draws him to side with a rebel faction of the Concillium — those that do not wish to join 'Unity' with the other races and therefore with the galactic mind itself. The rebel faction determinedly opposes this as they believe humans will lose their individuality and privacy and will become thralls to the other races.
By this time, only two out of the original five Hydra units remain, Parnell Remillard and Madeleine Remillard — Marc's cousin and sister (it is revealed that the Hydra heads were the unborn children present at the vigil around Victor, where Fury corrupted their infant minds). One wet night, Anne Remillard — a staunch loyalist and advocate of Unity — visits Rogi's bookshop. She has deduced that Denis is Fury. Rogi doubts this but when Anne is attacked and nearly killed, he realises that he must inform Jack and Dorothea of the identity of Fury. The only opportune moment seems their upcoming wedding. During the week prior to the service, Rogi goes fishing with Marc.
Upon Marc's retirement for the night, Rogi is attacked by a homicidal fish. After the near fatal event, Rogi is convinced that it is Parnell, as he recognises a metapsychic 'laugh' from the fish. However, Rogi, whose considerable but mainly-latent talents are always underestimated or ignored by his relatives, finds that his idea is dismissed.
Later, he recognises an attendant during the wedding service, but is mentally silenced by Marc as he once again believes Rogi to be delusional. As Rogi relaxes in the Hotel bar in Mount Washington, he is approached by the barman, who turns out to be Parnell in a homicidal mood. Rogi sees his demise facing him and manages to invoke a huge burst of creative power using a "yogic spiral" technique. Parnell is instantly vaporised along with part of a bar stool. Later, Boom Boom Laroche, a childhood friend of Marc's and part of the Human Magistratum, convinces Rogi to own up and explain the events.
Later that year, after Rogi divulges the information on Fury/Denis to Jack and Dorothea, the Remillard dynasty assembles in order to 'exorcise' Denis. Denis is tricked into making himself vulnerable, and they attempt to remove the Fury element of his psyche. This goes disastrously wrong, and Denis/Fury vanishes. He is later realised to have "D-Jumped" — teleported — a first for man and most aliens, although firstly some transports can do this and secondly it is revealed in the Saga of the Pliocene Exile that the Tanu had this ability.
Marc's Mental Man project gains impetus and popularity amongst the human camp — particularly non-operants who desire to have a Mental Man child. Marc however uses this as an excuse to keep the human polity on his side. In the meanwhile, Denis/Fury has become one of the prominent leaders of the rebel cause with a faked appearance and background under the name of Ruslan Terekev — an intendant associate of one of the Russian planets. Terekev, working with Madeleine (also under several guises) removes several enemies of the rebels and helps to establish a fleet of warships in case the Human Polity is to be forcefully sequestered in the event of rebellion.
The rebels inspect the armoury of Rory Muldowney (a prominent rebel and husband of a previous mistress of Paul Remillard) and Marc surprisingly falls head over heels in love with Muldowney's daughter Cyndia (neither of them knowing she is his half-sister). They marry and over the following years engender two children. During this time, Marc's obsession with Mental Man increases, and Cyndia talks to Rogi about Marc becoming more distant.
After several events, Denis manages to briefly gain control from his Fury persona, and communicates with Marc's wife. He reveals that the Mental Man babies have become hundreds of Hydra by Madeleine's influence. Denis D-Jumps inside the complex and destroys all the children. Marc is dumbstruck, yet finds a way to terminate the Hydra-infested project while retaining the possibility of a new start. He mind-lasers Madeleine, aided by the CE, and has her frozen so that her ovaries may be used.
Denis travels to Mt. Washington, where he has manipulated Rogi using metapsychic coercion to journey to the summit. Bad weather hits the mountain and Rogi is shepherded into a shack by his nephew. Denis persuades Rogi to kill him with his yogic technique, as he fears Fury will regain control. None of his children could manage that even though they have strong metapsychic powers, because children seem to have a block against using their powers to attack their parents. And as Denis regards Rogi as a father figure, he hopes that Fury cannot use his powers against Rogi. Rogi feebly manages to start the technique but cannot muster the power. However, Fury does regain control and tries to kill Rogi physically, since the mental block against using metapsychic powers against parent figures does indeed apply. This act of violence gives Rogi the necessary desperation to trigger his operancy, and he vaporises Denis, to his great grief.
Marc in the meantime, continues his quest for Mental Man, but realises that the Metapsychic rebellion is too near for Mental Man to be present to ensure victory. Cyndia discovers Marc's plans, is horrified, and decides to remove all available sources of the new Mental Man. She acquires a sonic apparatus that will render Marc sterile, and triggers it by a telepathic command. However, Marc detects this impulse, realises what the device has done, and kills Cyndia by reflex. He mourns more because of his sterility than the loss of the wife he once loved greatly.
Paul, father of Jack and Marc, is the leader of the Pro-Unity camp, and Jack decides to campaign against the rebels. As tension builds and several children start to co-adunate, the rebels' long-laid plans move into action. Marc has equipped hundreds of individuals with his CE devices, and his colleagues arm many ships. The rebels decide to demonstrate their power by destroying a planet — Molakar: the Krondaku planet from which the intervention was staged. Billions die in several seconds as the joined minds of the Rebels superheat the crust of the planet. A massive wave of metapsychic suffering and grief overwhelms the minds of the entire milieu. The response is not what Marc expects. Jack, Dorothea and his father, Paul, decide to confront him peacefully and will not let him take war to the galaxy. Marc decides to fight regardless, but the three pacifists call out to all the metapsychics in the galaxy to help join in Unity and stop the Rebels.
One of Marc's main allies, and later his mistress, is Patricia Castillane, the leader of the cosmopolitan planet Okanagon. During the attack, the rebels accidentally lose control of another explosive device and it explodes, setting off Okanagon's unstable crust. The resultant geological catastrophe kills the entire population of two billion people. Jack telepathically asks his once-idolized brother, "What have you done?!"
Jack and Dorothea manage to halt the rebel fleet, thanks to their ability to conjoin the powers of all the pro-Milieu operant humans. But these two and Paul die as a result. Many of the Rebels are also killed when their CEs overload, and Marc and a number of the leaders are badly hurt. The deaths of Jack and Dorothea, however, propel humanity into the state of mental co-ordination (called "coadunation") which is the precursor to a benevolent joining of minds across the galaxy which the member races of the Milieu refer to as Unity.
After the rebel faction is defeated, their leaders flee through a unique one-directional gate in France 6 million years back in time, to the Pliocene period. They were aided by a Lylmik who was powerful enough even to freeze Marc in his tracks, as he had done many years previously when Marc was a boy. There they stay in exile, and the events of the Saga of Pliocene Exile take place. Marc Remillard survives all those years (thanks to his "immortality gene", a trait shared by most members of the Remillard clan) and eventually brings coadunation to the Lylmik, adopts their appearance as his own. He thoroughly repents of his great evil, and becomes the enlightened leader of the same galactic society that starts the intervention, calling himself Atoning Unifex. Marc is evidently the Lylmik who appeared to his past self, and turns out to be the incorporeal "family ghost" who appears to Rogi for several years, driving him to finish his memoirs as a unique document of the Metapsychic rebellion.