Jack the Bodiless

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, but not to be read while pregnant
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Jack the Bodiless, despite making the error of reading it while I was pregant with my own Jon. (Made for as many nightmares as The Handmaid's Tale) An excellent beginning to a new series and well worth the wait since the end of the Pliocene books. Solid SF without so much technology one's eyes glaze over.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I thought this book was amazing. The character development is superb, and the storyline keeps you interested throughout the whole book. The book deals with the future of humankind and the development of telepathic and other metapsycic abilities that have evlolved in our species. The author makes it extremely easy to sympathise with each character. Jack is wonderful, read it!

Rating:
Summary: Too many writing probloms to be worth it
Review: I tried to read it, really I did. I absolutely love new books, and trying new authors, however, the list of problems in this book clearly outweigh the list of virtues.

The foreshadowing is overt to the point of intrusion. I want to find out what happens along with the characters in the book, not told outright.

The grammar left much to be desired, as did all the WIOS (that is "words instead of said"). The plot was stumbling and slow. The characters where kind of interesting, but nothing happened with them. I gave up about half way through it.

The only virtue in it is the charactors, but wading through the horrible grammar and lagging plot is not worth the effort.

Rating:
Summary: A great read and a fascinating continuity.
Review: Jack the Bodiless is the first book in the Galactic Milieu Trilogy. This book and the rest of this trilogy should be read after reading the other related series, the Intervention books (Surveillance and The Metaconcert) and The Saga of The Pliocene Exile (The Many Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King, The Adversary). Those two series can be read in any order, but I would recommend perusing first the Saga and then Intervention. Those two series will give you a significant grounding in the characters and setting you encounter in the Galactic Milieu trilogy.

I tried to read this book after reading the Intervention series and it was too jarring a transition for me at the time. So I put the book away for a few years and then came back later after having read the Saga of The Pliocene Exile and found this series much more comprehensible and absorbing. Once I came back to his series I read all three books in about a weeks time.

The story (and in fact the whole Galactic Milieu trilogy) is told as a recollection of Rogi Remillard a familiar character to those who read the Intervention books. Many times his is the voice telling the story and at other times we transition to the individuals themselves to see from their perspective.

This book is mainly about the events that form around the time frame encompassing the gestation, birth and early life of Jack the Bodiless. These events include the early life of Marc Remillard and the threat to the Remillard family caused by the Fury and Hydra entities. I found the Remillard family interaction and characters created in the series to be very compelling overall. The continuity of events ties neatly into the other series, but unfortunately without those books it can be a bit daunting to pick up on references and terminology in this book. To get the full effect that previous events have had on the characters in the book (enormous in many ways for Rogi, but often glossed over by him in these books to avoid dwelling on unpleasantness) it is almost required that one delve into those previous series.

I highly recommend this book, but only after the above mentioned series have been read.

Rating:
Summary: A great read and a fascinating continuity.
Review: Jack the Bodiless is the first book in the Galactic Milieu Trilogy. This book and the rest of this trilogy should be read after reading the other related series, the Intervention books (Surveillance and The Metaconcert) and The Saga of The Pliocene Exile (The Many Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King, The Adversary). Those two series can be read in any order, but I would recommend perusing first the Saga and then Intervention. Those two series will give you a significant grounding in the characters and setting you encounter in the Galactic Milieu trilogy.

I tried to read this book after reading the Intervention series and it was too jarring a transition for me at the time. So I put the book away for a few years and then came back later after having read the Saga of The Pliocene Exile and found this series much more comprehensible and absorbing. Once I came back to his series I read all three books in about a weeks time.

The story (and in fact the whole Galactic Milieu trilogy) is told as a recollection of Rogi Remillard a familiar character to those who read the Intervention books. Many times his is the voice telling the story and at other times we transition to the individuals themselves to see from their perspective.

This book is mainly about the events that form around the time frame encompassing the gestation, birth and early life of Jack the Bodiless. These events include the early life of Marc Remillard and the threat to the Remillard family caused by the Fury and Hydra entities. I found the Remillard family interaction and characters created in the series to be very compelling overall. The continuity of events ties neatly into the other series, but unfortunately without those books it can be a bit daunting to pick up on references and terminology in this book. To get the full effect that previous events have had on the characters in the book (enormous in many ways for Rogi, but often glossed over by him in these books to avoid dwelling on unpleasantness) it is almost required that one delve into those previous series.

I highly recommend this book, but only after the above mentioned series have been read.

Rating:
Summary: A long read, but a good plot
Review: Julian May has created an amazing tale with characters who are brilliant and lovable. I have 20 more pages to read and am still thrilled as I turn each page. Glorious scifi. The relationships of Marc, Theresa, Uncle Regi, and of course Jack are so well developed that I feel as though I know these people. This book was recommended by my daughter who is married to a scifi nut. I read this book first and can't wait to read the two that came before "Jack."

Rating:
Summary: Up All Night!
Review: Julian May has created an amazing tale with characters who are brilliant and lovable. I have 20 more pages to read and am still thrilled as I turn each page. Glorious scifi. The relationships of Marc, Theresa, Uncle Regi, and of course Jack are so well developed that I feel as though I know these people. This book was recommended by my daughter who is married to a scifi nut. I read this book first and can't wait to read the two that came before "Jack."

Rating:
Summary: I Couldn't Put It Down
Review: Julian May has just been added to my list of all-time favorite authors. I heard about Jack the Bodiless from a friend and decided to buy all three books of the series at the same time, I was not disappointed. The narrative character is given spirited depth and the rest of the characters are equally described. The plot fits together and will make you wish that all three books were released as one volume. The ideas in this book will light the fire under your imagination.

Rating:
Summary: A voracious read, a complete universe
Review: Julian May has just been added to my list of all-time favorite authors. I heard about Jack the Bodiless from a friend and decided to buy all three books of the series at the same time, I was not disappointed. The narrative character is given spirited depth and the rest of the characters are equally described. The plot fits together and will make you wish that all three books were released as one volume. The ideas in this book will light the fire under your imagination.

Rating:
Summary: A conversation piece if you meet another lucky reader.
Review: Next to Intervention this is May at her best. The scope of the book is incredible. Character development is solid with enigmatic characters whom manage to aquire heroic stature whilst having devistatingly flawed characters. This is the future in impressionist form. We have broad brushstrokes and you will, outside of the boys own adventure, have to evaluate the morality of this world on your own. May meerly describes the scene and doesn't chose to comment one way or another. As in the Saga the obscure use of technology in entirely plausable ways make this universe *real*. Technology not of a solely violent/macho nature but used in the sunday suppliment useless gadget of the week way. Like having a women design kitchen appliances the resultant differences from "masculine" views of technology are profound and practical. No rail guns or mass drivers here boys... sorry! The whole thing (tied in with Saga) is of an order of scale of the finished tolkein works IMO. The scope of what occurs is titanic. The foces at work throughout the series are glacial. There are periods where nothing *appears* to be happening but the landscape has changed dramaticly when the ice thaws! Things have happened in this series over epochs and we don't have the sudden violent release found in other modern fiction. May has written of the sculpting of a race and the forces at work as as great as those that form mountains. Beware... the last book is a real let down compared to the rest of the work. *shrug* But then you can't have everything... where would you keep it all?