Top 20Internet Top 100 Short Stories Novellas, NovelettesHomeHugosNebulas P.K. Dick Locus Grand MastersNewberyWorld Fantasy

The Many-Colored Land
Vol.1, Saga of Pliocene Exile
Locus 1982, Internet Top 100

Julian May

Great epic fantasies have three major components ­

1. Intriguing, imagination-invoking environments
2. Exciting, action-filled and adventurous story
3. Deep characters that evoke our emotional response

Here we have a good fantasy filled with the first two elements but short on the last. We find ourselves in an incredible but believable situation and environment. The action maintains a lively and entertaining rhythm but the characters don't become close friends and enemies.

Interesting mythology (I discovered that the tree ship in Hyperion, Yggdrasil, was named after the Scandanavian ash-tree deity) and practical wilderness survival skills add an educational dimension. Information like how to find fairly exact directions by charting the sun's shadow ­ if you draw a line between two time-separated shadow points, it will point toward East and West. It's nice to learn something potentially useful while having fun reading a good book!

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HomeHugosNebulas P.K. DickLocus Grand MastersNewberyTop 20 Internet Top 100Short StoriesNovellas, NovelettesWorld Fantasy