A review by neilrcoulter
The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May

1.0

I don't often read sci-fi, and reading [a:Julian May|23284|Julian May|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1340457886p2/23284.jpg]'s [b:The Many-Coloured Land|378639|The Many-Coloured Land (Saga of Pliocene Exile, #1)|Julian May|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174314750s/378639.jpg|368245] reminded me why. Some intriguing ideas (I like the idea of an uncertain, one-way time portal; a story about that doesn't need all of the alien politics cluttering it up), obscured by bland writing style, obnoxious characters, and inane dialogue. The writing seems to me about the same level as [a:Stephen Lawhead|7152942|Stephen Lawhead|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png] (complete with torcs and moustaches), a little below [a:C.J. Cherryh|989968|C.J. Cherryh|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1244675150p2/989968.jpg]; and as for the quote on the back cover, I seriously doubt that the Saga of the Exiles "will rival [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3)|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388181159s/33.jpg|3462456] and [b:The Foundation Trilogy|46654|The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, #1-3)|Isaac Asimov|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1316412178s/46654.jpg|41350]." The many typos and the irrelevant cover art don't help. The last hundred pages were quite a difficult trudge. If May hadn't already lost me before the explanation of possible alien origins of "Danny Boy," she definitely would've lost me there.