Galactic Milieu Series

The Galactic Milieu Series of science fiction novels by Julian May is the sequel (and prequel) to her Saga of Pliocene Exile. It comprises four novels: Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask and Magnificat. The series involves several religious and philosophical themes, including references to the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

The series begins with Intervention: A Root Tale to the Galactic Milieu and a Vinculum between it and The Saga of Pliocene Exile (ISBN , Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). This was released in one volume in the UK, but in mass market paperback in the USA as two volumes: Surveillance and Metaconcert. May calls Intervention a , or link-tale, between the Saga of Pliocene Exile and the Milieu trilogy proper. However, it is a near-essential introduction to the Milieu trilogy as well as a balanced stand-alone work.

Jack the Bodiless (ISBN , New York: Knopf, 1991) is the first book of the trilogy proper, followed by Diamond Mask (ISBN , New York: Knopf, 1994), and Magnificat (ISBN , New York: Knopf, 1996).

The series includes multiple references to the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, including the concepts of the Omega Point and the Noosphere, which are applied to May's description of galactic mental Unity. The series title echoes Teilhard's 1957 book Le Milieu Divin.

The Remillard family are Catholic, and on several occasions family members discuss their faith. The most notable example occurs in the first part of Chapter 24 of Jack the Bodiless, where Teresa Kendall explains Christianity to her unborn son.

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