On Diamond Mask, Aphrodisiac Weeds and more Fury Killings... (Diamond Mask - Julian May)

Member Name: Redhead23

Product:	Diamond Mask - Julian May
Date:	09/07/01 (412 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best in series, Gripping, Revealing

Disadvantages: Only one book left after this :(

'Diamond Mask' - the second book in Julian May's overwhelming and ingenious 'Galactic Milieu Trilogy' - tells the story of the mysterious Diamond Mask, whom we know from the 'Saga of the Exiles' to be the future spouse of Jon Remillard, known posthumously as 'Saint Jack the Bodiless'.

'Jack the Bodiless' told the story of how mankind deals with its fate in the years after the alien Intervention and the birth of the Milieu's brightest mind, the boy genius Jon (and little brother of Marc) Remillard, whose body was reduced to a naked brain by vicious cancers triggered by a lethal gene complex. But in spite of Its endurances, the brain lives on, creating fake bodies for Itself - nobody bar the closest relatives knows what really is behind the façade of Jon Remillard. Only later will the Milieu know the truth - and Jon Remillard will be known by his true name, Saint Jack the Bodiless.

'Diamond Mask' on the other hand describes the fate of the other half of the Milieu's most famous and loved couple, along with the ongoing developments in Earth's participation in the Galactic Milieu and the continuation of the gripping side story ranking around the mysterious Fury entity and its minions, the now four-headed Hydra.

As mentioned in my previous opinions on this epic saga, 'Diamond Mask' is best read as the seventh (or second to last) book in the series. That means following the four fantasy-inspired books of the 'Saga of the Exiles', the bridging masterpiece 'Intervention' and the aforementioned 'Jack the Bodiless'. Like all books in the series, 'Diamond Mask' is a great and stunning read that makes for a good and entertaining piece of literature on its own, but can only be enjoyed to its full potential if read in combination with the other books in the series.

Similar to 'Intervention' and 'Jack the Bodiless', this book i
s mainly told from the perspective of Rogatien Remillard, the immortal and self-healing (it runs in the family, y'know) bookstore owner Uncle Rogi who has observed and fiddled with the history of the Milieu's most prominent family, the Remillards.

While the Remillards with their Franco-Canadian heritage have spawned some of the most powerful metapsychics among humanity, there are other families with extraordinary metapsychic potential - such as the metapsychically latent but powerful offspring of Kyle and Mary Macdonald and the extremely powerful and operant ancestors of Viola Strachan. When the Strachan and Macdonald genes come together through the marriage between Ian Macdonald and Viola Strachan, the sky's the limit...


........: Leading Up to The Masterpiece : ........

It is still the year 2113: Uncle Rogi, trying to relax in peaceful Hawaiian Kauai after completing the second part of his memoirs, is on one of his beloved hiking trips when he spots a rare bird - the "o'o-a'a" as the native Hawaiians call it. As a passionate ornithologist (birdwatcher to you and me), Rogi gets his camera out and takes a snapshot of the rare bird - but his joy doesn't last long, because Lylmik Overlord Atoning Unifex - the infamous 'Family Ghost' and Rogi's guide and manipulator since his childhood - is manifesting itself once again.

To Rogi's disappointment, the Ghost once again hassles him to continue writing on his memoirs - but Rogi's had enough! The old man is fed up with being used and abused by the mysterious entity - and he stands up to Unifex.

Now if you know what the Lylmik are like - that oldest and most powerful race in the Milky Way, peaceful yet mysterious and wholly unpredictable when it comes to getting their own ways - then you'd be forgiven to think that Rogi is signing his own death certificate by standing up to their almighty Overlord Unifex.

But
Unifex is much more than just any Lylmik Overlord - he is Rogi's great-grandnephew Marc Remillard who travelled 6 million years into the past (in 'The Saga of the Exiles') and is now paying for the sins of his previous life by making sure that history takes the right course - a difficult path that is going to lead humanity into that ecstatic yet peaceful 'Unity' and will one day in the distant future make mankind the most important race in the Galactic Milieu.

This is where Marc's/Unifex' tragedy lies - having 'atoned' and realised this errors, his task is now to watch and help his former self Marc commit exactly the same crimes that he himself committed all these years ago - and he can't do a damn thing about it, instead he has to do his best to make these crimes happen in the first place! One hell of a punishment if you ask me...

And Marc/Unifex needs Rogi! While the Lylmik are very powerful, the manipulation of the Remillard family and other important characters must be subtle in order to work, and Rogi has been a perfect choice for Unifex. Now that history has happened the way it had to, Unifex is tired and finally ready to pass on - but not before the truth about all of his sins has been told. While Unifex and the Lylmik in general are seen as all-knowing beings, Unifex can only know what he knows from his previous life as Marc. In order for the story to become complete, Rogi must share his own knowledge - and that includes the mystery of murderous Fury's identity....


........: The Story (Minus the Key Moments of course) :........

We are still in the world of the Galactic Milieu, a confederation of six races in the Milky Way galaxy, all of whom are metapsychically developed - including mankind. Earth has by now been given full membership in the Milieu and is on its way to reaching the coadunate number - the number of metapsychically talented individuals that allow a race to at
tain the higher, peaceful state of mind called Unity that one day will allow them to coexist and communicate harmoniously with the other races in the Milieu.

It is the year 2062, and the Milieu is about to get to meet the full extent of Fury's powers...

When we first meet Diamond Mask, she is still just a 5 year old girl called Dorothea Mary Strachan Macdonald and goes by many others - Doro, Dee, Dorrie, Dodo, the list goes on.

While Marc Remillard of the famous Remillard Dynasty, assisted by his brother Jon, is putting all his efforts into the development of mind-enhancing machinery, little Dorothea is on her way to an island in the Scottish Hebrides by the name of Islay, a vacation spot she had chosen out of a strange, subconscious desire.

Dorothea is a highly talented latent metapsychic, but she keeps her powers safely locked up - she is afraid of them. Symbolised by little different-coloured boxes and protected by what she calls her 'Ghost', her powers slumber inside her mind, and she does her best not to let anyone know they even exist - not even her mother Viola, who is a talented metapsychic and also a researcher.

Herself the fruit of a faltered marriage between a metapsychically operant mother and a latent father (this combination just doesn't work out!), Viola has repeated her mother Masha's mistake by marrying - and then divorcing - a nonoperant man called Ian Macdonald and is now desperately trying to raise her own children Dorothea and Kenneth to operancy.

But while Dorothea, her brother Ken, her grandmother Masha, her mother Viola and a few of her research colleagues are on their way to Islay, the mysterious entity named Fury is preparing a disastrous strike against the scientists.
Why? Because Fury wants Marc Remillard to join It in Its vile strive towards a 'new' Milieu reigned by darkness - and these researcher's work would prove that the CE rigs, the product
of Marc's own research, are dangerous. Marc losing his project would mean Fury losing Its only way of getting at Marc. Fury doesn't like it one bit!

Tricked by none other than two of the Hydra units (Fury's minions if you don't know the previous book) into believing in the myth of the 'Kilnae Fiend', Dorothea first unleashes her metapsychic powers as the Hydra units devour the group of scientist in a deserted cave on Islay - and sees through the Hydra's illusions.

Afraid of exposing her metapsychic powers and determined to track down her mother's killers, Dorothea begs her grandma to allow Ken and herself to join their estranged father Ian Macdonald on Caledonia, a Scottish colonial planet many light years from Earth.

Her wish is granted, and both Dorothea and Ken are soon on their way to Caledonia, looking forward to a quiet and peaceful life on Ian's farm. There they will join his staff in a business that thrives on harvesting airborne aphrodisiac weeds that are an export hit throughout the galaxy and Dorothea discovers her talent in sewing and jewellery-making with the help of Caledonia's ample supply of gems.

But while Dorothea has to fend off Jack the Bodiless' interest in her secretly harvested mindpowers (and he annoys her a lot because she really DOES want to keep them a secret!), another danger is creeping up on the colonial planet - Caledonia's crust is unstable and a massive tremor is not only about to throw a diamond shower on the planet, but also to destroy one of their mayor cities!

Damning the Krondaku surveyors who were supposed to pick out stable and suitable planets for Earth's colonies, Caledonia's population puts their last hopes on Marc and Jon (aka Jack the Bodiless) Remillard, who have previously proven the successful used of CE (cerebral enhancers) equipment by saving the Japanese colony planet Satsuma from similar troubles.

But Marc
- who was seriously injured in the aforementioned operation and thus fears for the future of his CE research - isn't game for it, so Jack's obvious choice for replacing Marc in his metaconcert program is the talented metapsychic Grandmaster Dorothea Macdonald.

The book goes on to tell of the love-hate relationship between Jack and Dorothea, the events that finally turned Dorothea into the ominous Diamond Mask - and more actions and traces in the Fury/Hydra department.


........: My Thoughts :........

To me, 'Diamond Mask' is just about as good as Julian May can get - and that is very, VERY good.
Bloody excellent. Genius. Mind-bogglingly awesome. Fantastic. Call it what you want, just remember that there are no words to express how great this book is.

While the whole saga contains uncounted wonderful, thrilling and ingenious storylines, Diamond Mask is by far the best - not only does it reveal many of the key points in the storyline, but it is also written with a great dash of humour and takes on just the right pace to keep the reader in its grip.

Unlike in its predecessor 'Jack the Bodiless', we get to meet the book's main character straight away, and May manages to describe little Dorothea in a way that makes her grow on you - very much and very quickly.

The prologue will reveal many interesting facts about the Lylmik Overlord Atoning Unifex (and what he's been up to with Elizabeth Orme since his departure from Pliocene Earth), and the main part not only covers the amazing story of Diamond Mask, but also solves part of the Fury/Hydra mystery that has been plaguing the Milieu ever since the Hydra's first gruesome killing.

Okay, it's Science Fiction and if you are absolutely allergic to that kind of thing then this book may not quite tickle your fancy - but the excellent writing style, the quick pace of the story and the gripping tale of Dorothea's disco
very of her own mind-boggling powers make for an amazing and enthralling read that you just can't miss.

If, on the other hand, you are a keen Sci-Fi reader or you have even read some the predecessors of this masterpiece, then it would be a crime not to give Diamond Mask a go! Just don't blame me if you suddenly find yourself overwhelmed with the need to read more of Julian May's epic saga!


(c) 2001 Redhead23

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