Sometimes when I read I want my mind to be challenged; I want to understand new viewpoints about the human condition or to be enthralled by the writer's skill with words or to receive hints and clues about a meaning that I have to figure out for myself.
But sometimes I just want to be entertained, to read a rousing good story. This is that kind of book. It's science fiction (sort of) that I first read about 25 years ago and have read at least once since. The character development is much better than that in most sci-fi books, the story is fast-moving and suspenseful, and it's decently written. All-in-all, it's great fun.
The set-up is very intriguing: In a future time, when Earth has become part of a Galactic Milieu, a time-travel device is invented. It operates only one-way to a time 6 million years in the past, to the Pliocene Epoch (mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, etc.). The device cannot be duplicated or programmed to go elsewhere, so it seems useless, until those who just don't fit in with society or who long for a simpler time begin asking to take the time trip.
Forty years later, eight archetypal time travelers take the trip: a nun, a barbarian, a jokester, a seeker of love, a virgin huntress, a healer, a pirate, and a professor. Fortunately, all this is not too obvious, and each traveler is presented as a fully-developed character.
And when they get to their destination,they are greeted by--GUESS WHAT--ancient aliens. Yes, indeed. Humanoid beings from another galaxy have been on Earth for more than a thousand years, and they have utilized Earth's time travelers to enhance their somewhat barbaric lifestyle.
Oh, my, the possibilities with this build-up! Author Julian May interweaves mythology and folk tales (mainly Celtic) into the plot and names of participants, giving the reader great entertainment in recognizing motifs and archetypes.
This is a series containing four novels, and I may not re-read all of them right now. I highly recommend these for escapist reading of the better sort.
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