Diamond Mask (The Galactic Milieu Trilogy Book 3) by Julian May; Sequel Ramps Up Hydra Attacks and Female Characterization

Diamond Mask (The Galactic Milieu Trilogy Book 3) by Julian May; Sequel Ramps Up Hydra Attacks and Female Characterization 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: When we last left the Remillard Family, in Jack The Bodiless, the family was under attack by a sinister being called Fury and Fury’s aide Hydra. They were created during the death of patriarch Victor who tried to control the united metaconcert of the highly metapsychic family. Because of this, they know that Fury and Hydra are Remillard Family members who might not know the violent sadistic creatures exist within their psyche. After several murders and attempts, Hydra is identified but goes into hiding. Fury however remains an enigma. 

Meanwhile, Teresa Kendall-Remillard learns that she is pregnant with her fifth child despite strict laws from the Galactic Milieu to control the amount of authorized metapsychic births. Psychic impressions and mental communication occurs even within the womb suggesting that the little one will be highly powerful indeed. Jon, AKA Jack Remillard is born and is highly psychic and intelligent. As a toddler, he suffers a cancer that metastasizes and devours his entire body leaving only a disembodied brain. He is able to create a body image surrounding his brain so he can live a seemingly normal life.

Diamond Mask, the next volume in The Galactic Milieu Series, begins ten years after the ending of Jack The Bodiless. Jack is now a child prodigy and attends classes and experiments with his college age brother Marc. He is destined for a high position in the Milieu. Things seem to be quiet on the Fury-Hydra front for a while. Note I said for a while.

Fury reappears to his eager sadistic subordinate. Hydra is ordered to resume their attacks. This time they attack the mother, uncle, and aunt of Dorothea McDonald, a Scottish girl who is an adept metapsychic and healer. After the murders, Dorothea and the rest of her family go into hiding on another planet, Caledonia and she tries to suppress her abilities. But over the years, she can't ignore them nor can she ignore the mental communication with a certain bodiless lad from Earth.

Diamond Mask is a worthy continuation in the series. The biggest standouts are the terrifying presence of Hydra and the multilayered presence of Dorothea McDonald.

In the previous volume, The Family learned that Hydra was actually five of the Remillard cousins sharing a hive mind. They were sadistic, immature, and their mental communications with Fury were darkly comical. However there wasn't much distinction between them. 

This volume is where we really get a sense of their depravity and sadism. They come into their own as individuals with one as the brains and leader, another is charismatic and charming, another is lustful and active, another is innovative and tech oriented, and another is muscular and silent. 

Along with their individuality, their own personal desires come forward. They aren't just hurting people because Fury ordered them to. They have their own independent reasons, ambitious goals, and unsatisfied hunger compelling them to act. This suggests that they learned from the master, Fury, and soon Fury won't be able to control the monsters that they created.

The Remillards are still a presence and have their conflicts. Many question their allegiances like Anne’s loyalty to the Galactic Milieu and Unity and Adrien and Severin’s support for Rebellion. Marc weighs his own beliefs while preparing his own questionable potentially destructive project.

This volume introduces Dorothea McDonald, the future love interest of Jack Remillard. They don't meet face to face until towards the end and their union is tepid so this gives us a chance to get to know Dorothea on her own terms rather than created to just be a girlfriend and nothing more.

In the previous book, we were told that interstellar travel is a routine thing. We see a few short travels to other worlds including where Uncle Rogi Remillard visits a completely frozen planet and is given an important assignment. But Diamond Mask is the first one where intergalactic travel is a primary focus.

One of the interesting aspects of many of the planets is the cultural presence of Earthlings. Many of the Earth’s citizens took to the stars and brought their cultures with them. So there are references to planets with Japanese, Irish, Inuit, Nigerian and other diverse themes. 

Dorothea’s family lives on Caledonia, a planet colonized by Scottish Earthlings. The McDonalds live in a world of castles, rich farmland, tartans, and family clans. It makes sense that people exploring unfamiliar terrain would want to take something familiar with them and recreate their own history and traditions.

Dorothea's story compared to Jack’s shows that people faced with similar issues can react differently to them. Their metapsychic abilities manifest early, are highly intelligent prodigies, and come from influential academic powerful families. But their personal experiences are quite different.

Jack is unable to hide his abilities because of his family and his illness, so he doesn't. In fact he dramatizes it. He is amused when students wonder what a prepubescent kid is doing on a college campus and even adult academics seek his advice. 

Jack's abilities and intelligence makes him seem remote and far off from other students so he has very few friends his own age. He is great at forging alliances and allyship but is a cypher when it comes to close emotional connections. This explains why he persists on mentally communicating with Dorothea despite her objections. He found someone who is on his intellectual and metaphysical level.

While Jack uses his abilities, Dorothea does not. As a child she compares her various powers as boxes on a shelf. When she has no choice but to use them, she only opens one box i.e. uses one power and only in extreme circumstances. 

Dorothea resents her family’s studies on psychic abilities so she suppresses her powers.She tries as hard as she can to act like a normal kid and withdraws into herself. 

Dorothea puts on a metaphorical mask to hide her capabilities. The events of the book from her family's murders to a natural planetary disaster leaves her scarred but brings out much of her strength, resilience, and abilities. Once she puts on a literal mask decorated with diamond studs, she no longer hides.

She pushes herself forward and stands out accepting her power and leadership. Dorothea's presence ultimately shines like the diamonds that Jack compares her to, hidden, priceless, powerful, beautiful, and strong. Jack and Dorothea are a couple who ultimately shine brightly together and apart.

 

Jack The Bodiless (Galactic Milieu Series Book 2) by Julian May; The Return of an Old Friend

 Jack The Bodiless (Galactic Milieu Series Book 2) by Julian May; The Return of an Old Friend

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: It's an interesting experience to reread a book after many years. In 1997, I read Julian May’s The Galactic Milieu Series. I was new to reading Science Fiction, mostly limited to Ray Bradbury's works. I was curious about this series about The Remillards, a telepathic family, or metapsychic family to use the book's terminology. It left such a large impression on me that Science Fiction became one of my favorite genres to read.

Almost 30 years later, I wondered after almost three decades of reading speculative fiction if The Galactic Milieu Series still holds up. I am glad to report that as far as the second volume in the series and the first that I read, Jack The Bodiless is concerned, it not only held up, it actually improved with age.

The most prominent and influential family is The Remillard Family whose members are highly metapsychic.When patriarch Victor dies, The Remillards receive mental impressions of two monsters, Fury and Hydra who commit a series of murders over the years leaving the family vulnerable. Meanwhile, Paul and Teresa Kendall-Remillard are expecting their fifth child, Jon or Jack, who is genius, self-aware, and could potentially be the most powerful psychic in the family even as an infant.

The Earth that May envisioned has some interesting touches that are both imaginative and thought provoking. When I previously read it, the future was far away and remote. Now that it’s here, the parallels can’t be missed. 

The setting of this book is over 100 years after a time called The Great Intervention (detailed in the first book in the series, Intervention unread by me.). Various alien races made contact with Earth inviting them to join the Galactic Milieu, sort of an intergalactic United Nations. Earthlings received many perks because of this union including long life spans, rejuvenated youth, mental telepathy, other metapsychic abilities, and the ability to travel to the stars. It is an amazing world that May built in which the human mind is invited into a higher consciousness that explores unlimited potential beyond our little blue dot in the vast universe.

However as readers of Science Fiction all know, there is always a catch to what seems to be a great offer and in the case of the Milieu, that catch is Unity. The Milieu wants Earth’s residents to join their minds and consciousness with the other species as a hive mind. Many are on board with this concept, and those who are supportive are granted higher positions in society. 

However, there are plenty of humans who rebelled against the concept like Rogatien “Rogi” Remillard, the cynical and deadpan narrator of the book. Rebels are concerned about the death of individuality, privacy, and human frailties.

 It is a conflict that carries over throughout the series. It’s also open-ended and invites readers to weigh their own opinions about the cost of vast knowledge and power vs. a life of mental subservience and conformity.

While Earth hasn’t exactly made contact with alien species and psychic abilities are still more theoretical than real, many of the issues that are discussed in this series are still very relevant. In this era of vast technology, social media, surveillance, censorship, and instantaneous connections we humans are made painfully aware of what is at stake.

We are surrounded by conflicts about privacy, the pursuit of vast knowledge, the price of conformity, and the desire to be individuals. May recognized these concerns in the 90’s and inserted them into her imaginary world. Now we are weighing that for ourselves. 

As detailed as May’s futuristic world is, her characters are just as well written. None more so than the large Remillard Family. They are like a fictional futuristic psychic version of the Kennedys, a family that is rich in wealth, power, influence, charisma, and inner turmoil. 

They are enthralling as a family unit and as individuals. They have some great struggles and conflicts that are pulled out of soap opera just as they are out of science fiction. Conflicts like infidelity, divorce, differing viewpoints, child abuse, illness, mental disorders are just as important as the wider conflicts with the Galactic Milieu. The Remillards are a very realistic family that lives in a fanciful universe.

Brothers Marc and Jack Remillards are a pair of stand outs in this intriguing family. Marc is an adolescent who at times acts more mature than his lecherous father and emotional mother. He shares a special bond with Jack even before Jack is born where they communicate telepathically. He also receives visions and mental impressions suggesting that his fate is much larger than he thought.

Jack too is also a brilliant character. He thinks complex thoughts inside the womb. Even after he is born, and suffers tremendous physical pain, his brain is still highly active. His brain practically ascends to a higher plane of existence that doesn’t need to be contained by a corporeal body. The overall impression is a small child who is highly intelligent, otherworldly, and somewhat disconcerting in his otherworldliness.

Surrounding this family are Fury and Hydra terrifying creatures that destroy their victims from within. It is a strange union in which Fury is clearly the dominant leader and Hydra the excitable follower. They conspire to destroy the Remillards from within.

They are like things from nightmares and feed off Remillard Family’s pain, insecurities, fears, and anger. They are unleashed in violent confrontations that are chilling and disturbing.

Jack the Bodiless is highly recommended for readers of science fiction, particularly those who are interested in reading about psychic powers, intergalactic space travel, dysfunctional families, rebellions, utopias, and the potential of expanded human potential, knowledge, and consciousness. 

Beyond Tomorrow's Sun by Ronald McGuire; Involved Account of a Young Science Fiction Hero

 Beyond Tomorrow's Sun by Ronald McGuire; Involved Account of a Young Science Fiction Hero

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Ronald McGuire’s Beyond Tomorrow's Sun is not by any means a long book, but through the exhaustive journey of its protagonist, it covers in only a few short years what seems like a lifetime.

Charles begins his story in a post-Apocalyptic world when unexpected circumstances force him to go on the run far from his negligent uncle, his only remaining blood relative. He survives in the wilderness with his newly found dog, Katie. Charles’ travels take him to a nearby city where he reunites Katie with her former owner’s parents, Henry and Rose Bimmey. When they hear about Charles’ history and especially about the lack of care from his uncle, Henry and Rose decide to adopt Charles. The young boy matures and falls in love with Becca, a scientist's daughter. He then enlists in the Space Force and takes to the stars where he has to face war, hostile colonists, ruthless space pirates, unstable fellow soldiers, the potential destruction of Earth, and relocation to another world. 

Like I said a lot happens to this young man. So much so that the book shifts through various genres and subgenres to tell different aspects of Charles’ story. The first half is an Apocalyptic survivalist novel which puts him against natural elements and the harsh wilderness. While there, he learns many of the things that become useful later on in his Space Force career. 

Earlier, he was appalled watching an acquaintance get killed in front of him. While on the run, he ends up killing someone in defense of himself and Katie. He realizes that sometimes people have to do tough things to protect those around them. Survival sometimes requires the breaking of previous codes. Whether it's right or wrong, in a dangerous situation, one doesn't always have the luxury of thinking before acting.

That's not to say that Charles becomes a thoughtless machine who only acts on impulse. In fact, he retains a great deal of thought and understanding when he enters the city. This turns the book from one person's struggle and survival into a coming of age story about him finding a family, romance, a path in life, and a sense of belonging.

 He protects and cares for Katie on his own so she is able to lead him to her family. Charles gives The Bimmeys crucial information that he remembered through observation and navigation about their missing son. He also shares their grief, compassion, and tenderness so well that he is instantly accepted as one of the family.

He also finds love with Becca and a higher sense of purpose. Originally, Charles was someone who did not fully understand science or sociopolitical structure. He was interested in joining the Space Force, basically to get off the planet. But after listening to and understanding Becca's family’s interest in wormholes, he begins to study the sciences connected to them. He also recognizes both his and Becca's family's connections to political and military leaders and the way they think and operate. These studies become crucial to his experience in attending the Space Force.

 After his journey through Space Force, the book becomes a high tech Science Fiction Military Thriller and contains some of the more thrilling sections in it. His studies, survival instincts, and understanding of how other people think, feel, and react help him get promoted at young ages. They especially come into play when he has to weigh whether he should understand the point that rebellious colonists make against the Earth government or treat them like an enemy that must be destroyed before they destroy him and his crew.

Charles also gains a firm grasp and understanding in the minds of his adversary’s minds in dealing with pirate Gemma Chang. She is an alluring elegant beguiling figure with an analytical understanding of others’ actions and plans so Charles has to outfight and outthink her to take the advantage. On a personal note, I found Gemma Chang a fascinating and intriguing character and would love to learn more about her. Perhaps, McGuire could create a spin-off or a short work about her exploits and journey to space piracy.

The Space Force chapters lead into the final act, where the book becomes an Interstellar Travel which involves saving humanity from self destruction. This is where Charles’ survival skills, intellect, Space Force training, empathy, amd understanding-everything that he has learned has to come into play because he not only has to find a new world but survive in it. It's a parallel to his first journey in which he had to travel into the wilderness with a trusted companion. Here he has to do the same but on another planet where the landscape is completely unknown. It seems as though everything in Charles’ life led to this path and destination.

The various pieces of the book fit to create a mosaic of Charles' ascension into adulthood, leadership, and founder of a new world.

Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods (The Emergent Designs Book 1) by Harry Dehrian; Wide Reaching Immersive Science Fiction Novel Excels in Character and World Building

 

Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods (The Emergent Designs Book 1) by Harry Dehrian; Wide Reaching Immersive Science Fiction Novel Excels in Character and World Building 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Among my favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy novels are the ones that don't involve Earth or characters from our world. I enjoy them because the authors have to work twice as hard to create them. They have to be aware of this new world, the names, the topography, the political landscape, the society, and the species and people that inhabit it. That imagination increases tenfold when writing Science Fiction, because often the author doesn't settle on creating one world, they have to create several as characters hop from planet to planet introducing Readers to these brave new worlds. That's where Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods, the first book in Harry Dehrian’s Emergent Designs comes in.

Innocents, Immortals, and Amoral Gods is an epic Science Fiction novel that created a wide-ranging immersive world. 

Trouble is afoot in the Amestra Nuvo planetary system in the Styx Galaxy. The mutilated body of a member of the Elite has been found, possibly eaten by a leviathan. The opportunistic megalomaniacal Governor Jaas has designs on expanding his control beyond his planet of Mosaar. Meanwhile visions of an entity plague the various mortal inhabitants of the Amestra Nuvo System. It becomes clear that a great cycle is about to end and a new one is waiting to reset.

This is a Science Fiction novel that carries many plots and characters to draw the Reader into this world. The subplots are numerous as various characters are affected by the changes in their system. 

The Styx Galaxy is rich in character and detail. We are shown technology like Qu-ducts which allow faster than light travel. There are skinsuits, body suits that hold to the skin and appear as a full body. The technology is worked on by mekanoots, automatic mechanics. There is a lot of specfific terminology and even a glossary to describe these terms. 

The planets have unusual characteristics like one where the sun rises and sets in the same direction. Then there is a planet of mostly water which is inhabited by blood thirsty leviathans who would probably hang out with Cthulhu. 

By far the strangest beings are the Daune Reesh. They are the Most Elite of the Elites, wealthy, powerful and are often at the ear of politicians and royalty. They are able to manipulate and move situations into their favor. They are also immortal and are rumored to have certain powers. They bring overwhelming awe and hostile suspicion towards others because of their immense power but dubious motives.

Because of this vastness in setting and character, more than one character is given a point of view. The narrative is divided by six main characters. They are:

Vierdaat AKA X Dev-He is a cynical recently promoted Giest, law enforcement officer with questionable ethics but dogged perseverance. Dev’s assignment is to investigate a series of graphic murders which he hopes will lead him to a dangerous psychopathic criminal. 

Razia-She is an idealistic adventurous member of the Liberation Crusade, a military organization that protects various planets and species from captivity. As she becomes involved in violent struggles and corrupt politics, she finds her previously firmly held values threatened. 

Lord Baelin-He is an elite and trusted advisor to Queen Meiral. He is on a diplomatic mission between sympathetic worlds as well as looking after the Queen’s children. His endurance and confidence in his place in the universe end up in jeopardy as he challenges the motives of those around him.

Princess Disa Ecrit M’Rota-She is Queen Meirel’s bookish and studious daughter. The young princess is assigned to do a series of taxing physical and academic challenges that test her skills and abilities. She discovers an inner strength and wisdom she never previously knew.

Princess Nora Ecrit M’Rota-She is Disa’s arrogant feisty sister and Meirel's older daughter. She is aware of her future as queen. Like Disa, she too participates in the series of tests and has to learn some things about real leadership and personal responsibility.

Prince Vikaron Ecrit M'Rota-He is Queen Meirel's brilliant ambitious son and Nora and Disa's brother. He longs to prove himself as a future king to his mother. He investigates a mass genocide that puts him directly in the path of Governor Jaas and places targets on his and his family's backs.

The main characters provide a rich tapestry of the Amestra Nuvo System and Styx Galaxy with their interactions with the various settings and other characters.The Reader becomes invested in each character’s personal journey and their involvement within the larger picture around them.

Dev has a strange symbiotic relationship with his false-bod, a mechanical vehicle which he dubs the “little beast.” It grows from owner and machine to surrogate parent and child. He also has to weigh his own actions, interactions with others, and violent tendencies with his new role as an officer upholding laws as he hunts his prey.

Dev also develops a surprisingly touching bromance with Vikaron as their paths to investigation overlap. They compare notes about their goals and their places in the universe. Vikaron himself has been catapulted out of his comfort zone and has to rely on his wits, strength, and the assistance of others to survive this universe.

Nora and Disa spend a lot of time together and have to rely on one another's strengths and weaknesses. They encounter a fighting group, whose leader challenges their status and leadership and could be a potential love interest for one or both girls.

Meanwhile, Baelin acts as a father figure towards the royal youngsters becoming more personally involved in their lives than their mother. His affection for the children is present as he questions his allegiance to the Queen and the system that he represents.

By far one of the darkest chapters involves Razia and a situation that is all too common on Earth as it is in Styx Galaxy. She and her crew help a charismatic politician seek power that plays on their commitment towards justice and loyalty. Once he is elected, he gives a speech that conveys the exact opposite of what he previously claimed to represent. Razia’s stunned revelation that she and her team willingly allowed an authoritarian dictator through the front door is heart wrenching as it retains a lot of relevance these days in real life.

 On the surface this book seems to be a pure Space Opera with clearly drawn heroes and villains where good triumphs over evil. However, there is a dark undercurrent that hints that something Apocalyptic is on the horizon. There is the constant talk about cycles ending and beginning. It seems that all of these random violent corrupt events with natural disasters, military coups, and manipulative power groups might not be so random. It suggests that this cycle might be coming to an end in the most violent way possible and everyone is out for themselves to take all that they can with them.

There are also various statements that describe Styx Galaxy in negative terms. It's cold, lonely, and filled with a vast nothingness. This suggests a Nihilistic or Cosmic Pessimism where the characters are alone in the universe and have to rely solely on themselves and the trusted few that will ride the storms alongside them.

Another clue to the book's theme is in the title. The Innocents are clearly the main characters that are being maneuvered and placed into situations beyond their control. The Immortals has a double meaning. It refers to the literal immortals like the Daune Reesh who use their long life span to bend others to their will. It also refers to politicians and royals, Elites who want their names to be immortal. They can go down in history and they don't care who they step on to achieve it.

The last part of the title Amoral Gods is initially confusing. There are no shown deities in the book. None of the characters pray to them or speak about them and that's the point. The only being that they refer to in any reverence is The Styx Galaxy and as previously mentioned not in the most glowing terms. This suggests that they are alone in the universe. If there are deities or a higher power, they are at best apathetic to the concerns of mortals and at worst play with them for their own amusement. 

That the book ends in cliffhangers where the characters are in various forms of danger suggests that the cold universe isn't through playing with them. Things are about to get darker and a whole lot worse before they ever get better. If they ever do get better.