An origin story of Julian May’s Galactic Milieu Trilogy and a link to her Saga of Pliocene Exile—“a superb piece of speculative fiction” (Library Journal). They have always been among us—the telepaths, the persons possessing higher mind-powers that have been called “metapsychic”—but they have always been few and far between and their abilities weak or erratic. Until now . . . Human evolution makes a quantum leap. And all over the world, people begin to be born with extraordinary minds. Some of them are geniuses and some are very ordinary. But all of these metapsychic operants have mind-powers that “normal” humanity considers amazing—and dangerous. Intervention paints this advent of Homo superior in a broad and colorful chronicle that begins in 1945 and culminates in 2013. Its many characters reveal the impact of higher mind-powers upon the possessors themselves, upon their “normal” associates, and upon a troubled society striving to avoid nuclear annihilation. The metapsychic operants are secretive and fearful at first. When they reveal themselves they are regarded with awe, exploited, and finally persecuted. They are torn by the dilemma of what role to are they destined to save the “normal” from global war, even if it means that they must use their mental powers to subjugate the race that gave birth to them? The book’s principal protagonists are members of the Remillard family of New Hampshire—whose descendants are featured in Julian May’s worldwide bestselling Saga of Pliocene Exile. Intervention details with humor, thundering action, and scientific insight a world where the human mind does much more than think—a world that is fantastic, but by no means implausible.

In the year 2051, Earth stood on the brink of acceptance as full member of the Galactic Milieu, a confederation of worlds spread across the galaxy. Leading humanity was the powerful Remillard family, but somebody—or something—known only as "Fury" wanted them out of the way. Only Rogi Remillard, the chosen tool of the most powerful alien being in the Milieu, and his nephew Marc, the greatest metapsychic yet born on Earth, knew about Fury. But even they were powerless to stop it when it began to kill off Remillards and other metapsychic operants—and all the suspects were Remillards themselves. Meanwhile, a Remillard son was born, a boy who could represent the future of all humanity. His incredible mind was more powerful even than his brother Marc's—but he was destined to be desroyed by his own DNA...unless Fury got to him first!

The 21st century was drawing to a close, and metapsychic humankind was poised at last to achieve Unity — to be admitted into the group mind of the already unified alien races of the Galactic Milieu. But a growing corps of rebels was plotting to keep the people of Earth forever separate in the name of human individuality. And the rebels had a secret supporter: Fury, the insane metapsychic creatrue that would stop at nothing to claim humanity for itself. Fury's greatest enemy was the mutant genius Jack the Bodiless, whose power it craved. But Jack would never be a tool for Fury . . . And so it turned to Dorothea Macdonald, a young woman who had spent a lifetime hiding her towering mindpowers from the best mind readers of the Milieu. But she could not hide them from Fury — or from Jack. Time and again she rejected their advances, unwilling to be drawn into the maelstrom of galactic politics or megalomaniacal dreams. And in the end, no one — not Jack, not Fury, not even the Galactic Milieu — would be a match for the awesome powers of the girl who would come to be called Diamond Mask . . .

"FASCINATING . . . May has cemented her position as one of this generation's foremost storytellers...This satisfying end to a remarkable feat of the imagination is a necessary purchase." —Library Journal By the mid-twenty-first century, humanity is beginning to enjoy membership in the Galactic Milieu. Human colonies are thriving on numerous planets, life on Earth is peaceful and prosperous, and as more humans are being born with metapsychic abilities, it will not be long before these gifted minds at last achieve total Unity. But xenophobia is deeply rooted in the human soul. A growing corps of rebels plots to keep the people of Earth forever separate, led by a man obsessed with human Marc Remillard. Marc's goal is nothing less than the elevation of human metapsychics above all others, by way of artificial enhancement of mental faculties. His methods are unpalatable, his goal horrific. And so Marc and his coconspirators continue their work in secret. Only the very Unity he fears and abhors can foil Marc's plans. And only his brother, Jack the Bodiless, and the young woman called Diamond Mask can hope to lead the metaconcert to destroy Marc, Unify humanity, and pave the way for the Golden Age of the Galactic Milieu to begin . . . "A CERTAIN CROWD-PLEASER." —Kirkus Reviews