∎ [PDF] The Miocene Arrow Greatwinter Trilogy Sean Mcmullen 9780765344557 Books

The Miocene Arrow Greatwinter Trilogy Sean Mcmullen 9780765344557 Books

Download As PDF : The Miocene Arrow Greatwinter Trilogy Sean Mcmullen 9780765344557 Books

The Miocene Arrow Greatwinter Trilogy Sean Mcmullen 9780765344557 Books

I read Sean McMullen's series several years ago, when I lived in Australia. Although it was in paperback (when one expects sometimes poor editing), I don't recall any real problems. The series caught my attention, first for its concept of a computer with human components ("Souls in the Great Machine") and then for the plots as they developed over the next two books, "The Miocene Arrow" being the second. While some reviewers argue that these plots/subplots are not to their liking, if you enjoy speculation about a post-apocalyptic world, particularly speculations that have not already been written about ad nauseum, then McMullen's series is for you. However, have a caution if you buy THe Miocene Arrow in Kindle/ebook format...and the reason for my giving it only three stars. The text (to a small degree in "Souls" but much worse in "Miocene Arrow") is full of hyphenated words that should not be hyphenated, periods appearing between words, for no reason (not the real end/beginning of sentences), missing punctuation (particularly periods) where needed (as at the end of a sentence), and occasionally missing text. As a composition teacher and former editor, these are particularly annoying; perhaps someone not so used to picking out errors could ignore them more successfully than I. My paperbacks were burned in a housefire and so I replaced McMullen's series with the electronic format. I should have just bought the paperbacks again.


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The Miocene Arrow Greatwinter Trilogy Sean Mcmullen 9780765344557 Books Reviews

"Souls in the Great Machine" was a book that succeeded but did so more on the strength of its premises, as McMullen was able to construct an extremely fascinating future Australia in the wake of a nuclear war, a world so fascinating that you were able to overlook that the characters sometimes did things that made little sense and why the heck did that war actually start anyway. But just when you start to ask those questions you get to another bit with the giant calculators made of people and it's like . . . "Whoa, cool."

The calculators are more or less gone from the sequel but the locale has changed drastically and demonstrates that whatever you else you can claim about the author, a lack of imagination isn't one of his shortcomings. Shifting things from Australia to North America is a step in the right direction as we'd pretty much taken the below the Equator plot as far as it could go. Instead he postulates an entirely different culture, with the siren-like Call (literally, you hear it and it makes you want to walk out to the sea) operating much more continously so that the communities are much more isolated. Cultures have sprung up around chivalry and flying and conflicts are handled all very properly. It's all going well.

And then the Australia crew shows up. Turns out that the aviads from the first book (people who can resist the Call) are up to no good and some entertaining cast members who survived the first book arrive to infiltrate and complicate the plot. As usual McMullen's ability to weave new cultures and make them seem believable is in full force here and it's fun to see the contrasts between the North Americans, who have no idea what's going on and the Australians, who are pretty on top of things.

Things get more confusing when the war breaks out and at times it threatens to become a hodgepodge of names of countries and people that you can't tell apart (as people elsewhere have pointed out, a map would be real helpful here). He keeps the action moving but it sometimes just becomes so much static. Anyone confused by the plethora of events happening in the beginning would do well to stick it out, the plots simplify fairly quickly to a sort of co-A plot, with anti-aviad teams taking up one branch and a group of young flyers holding down the other half.

But it's telling that the most entertaining portion of the book is an extended journal entry detailing exactly why there's a Call and why some people are capable of not marching into the ocean. Then the most charismatic character dies partway through and believe me, his absence affects that portion of things, leaving the flyers to do the heavy lifting and they're not totally up to it. His characters still aren't terribly deep, falling in and out of love/hate or changing their minds very quickly and not everyone stands out as people.

Still, it never drags and his pool of interesting ideas (or at least new spins on his old ideas) seems endless, so even when you're asking "Why are they at war, again?" or "Who just shot down who?" the sheer inventiveness of it all will keep you involved. And in a genre that sometimes forgets its sense of wonder, it's something to encourage at the very least.
This series started out in the first book with a novel concept that sparked me to buy the whole series. I regret doing so. The characters are two-dimensional and the stories get silly, especially when he tries to inject romance.
great book loved it, look foreword to reading the next one. also loved the first one. think I will rear some more of this books
As advertised. Thank you.
Sean McMullen is a fellow Aussie but I won't let that cloud my judgment. The book is a page turner from the begining. It is fast paced and broad in scope. Sean has a rich imagination and has created a fascinating and very dangerous post apocalyptic (is there such a word?) Australia.

This is one of a 3 part series. The other two novels are equally as good and if you read the first one you will have to get the others.

Also read "The Centurians Empire" and "Voyage of the Shadowmoon" by the same Author.
McMullen creates a believable alternate future history unlike any other. Perhaps the plot devices of whales' to some degree controlling humanity through a telepathic "Call," and of a "Star Wars"-type missile defence gone haywire halting technological progress might be too much to swallow, but I loved the series and have re-read it at least once each volume. jm
I read Sean McMullen's series several years ago, when I lived in Australia. Although it was in paperback (when one expects sometimes poor editing), I don't recall any real problems. The series caught my attention, first for its concept of a computer with human components ("Souls in the Great Machine") and then for the plots as they developed over the next two books, "The Miocene Arrow" being the second. While some reviewers argue that these plots/subplots are not to their liking, if you enjoy speculation about a post-apocalyptic world, particularly speculations that have not already been written about ad nauseum, then McMullen's series is for you. However, have a caution if you buy THe Miocene Arrow in /ebook format...and the reason for my giving it only three stars. The text (to a small degree in "Souls" but much worse in "Miocene Arrow") is full of hyphenated words that should not be hyphenated, periods appearing between words, for no reason (not the real end/beginning of sentences), missing punctuation (particularly periods) where needed (as at the end of a sentence), and occasionally missing text. As a composition teacher and former editor, these are particularly annoying; perhaps someone not so used to picking out errors could ignore them more successfully than I. My paperbacks were burned in a housefire and so I replaced McMullen's series with the electronic format. I should have just bought the paperbacks again.