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Intervention
Internet Top 100

Julian May

Remarkable step beyond the related Saga of Pliocene Exile. More personal characters, more intricate story, more relatedness to our-time issues.

Still had a problem though with certain inconsistencies that undermined believability. For example, how could superior beings with such advanced psychic abilities remain so petty and neurotic?

It was also too close in the future. The story's time span includes the 1990's which turned out quite differently than May envisioned in 1986. The obvious discrepencies detracted from the believability. On the other hand, the reinterpretation of some recent actual events and the tone of historical narrative gave a feeling of "reality" similar to a typical daily newspaper.

Telling the story backwards - as a memoir, also gives this sense of histoical reality. However, frequent allusions to what happens later go well beyond foreshadowing and take away much possibility of suspense. And the conclusion, though far from unexpected, creates a warm and very expansive feeling.

The fascinating, metapsychic dialog makes up for many small failings. Engaging and humorous telepathic conversations dance around verbally normal ones and bring a delightful, imaginative quality.

The main character becomes an antiquarian science fiction book seller who describes unexpected treasure finding adventures like discovering a signed limited first edition of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 . I wonder if this has anything to do with why I see first editions of Intervention at surprisingly low prices.

All in all, an enjoyable story with a plausible case for the next step in human evolution.

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