THE ADVERSARY

by Julian May ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 17, 1984

Part four and last of The Saga of Pliocene Exile--and, after the agreeably improved Volume Three (The Nonborn King, 1982), it's back to the overcrowded, stagey blather that characterized Volumes One and Two. A band of human malcontents, exiled via timewarp to Earth's Pliocene epoch, have, under their paranormal-powered king Aiken Drum, achieved dominance over two alien races, the knightly Tanu and their age-old rivals, the dwarfish Firvulag. The latter, however, are plotting to destroy both the Tanu and the humans by launching the Nightfall War according to the requirements of the battle religion they share with the Tanu. Other complications arise as super-paranormal Marc Remillard, perfecting a method of teleportation, schemes to win over his rebellious children and use them in a breeding program aimed at creating a new race of immortal disembodied brains. The children, though, supported by Drum, prefer to take their chances up in the future, and so work frantically to build a new timewarp so that anyone who wants to may return home. Wildly overblown, soggy, undramatic, and labored: strictly for series addicts.

Pub Date: April 17, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION