Synopses & Reviews
This instant New York Times bestselling page-turner features a cast of real and imagined literary characters, cunning intertwined plots, and stars a skeptical H.G. Wells as a time-traveling investigator in Victorian London.Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time boasts a triple-play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H.G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and thereby save the lives of an aristocrat in love with a murdered prostitute from the past; of a woman bent on fleeing the strictures of Victorian society; and of his very own wife, who may have become a pawn in a fourth-dimensional plot to murder the authors of Dracula, The Time Machine, and The War of the Worlds, in order to alter their identities and steal their fictional creations.
But what happens if we change history? Mingling fictional characters with real ones, FÉlix J. Palma weaves a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting, a story full of love and adventure that also pays homage to the roots of science fiction while transporting its readers to a fascinating Victorian London for their own taste of time travel.
Review
“Strange and wonderful. Magical and smart. FÉlix J. Palma has done more than written a wonderful novel, he’s concocted a supernatural tour de force. Time travel, tragic love, murder and mystery all combine in what is nothing short of a surprising, satisfying and mesmerizing read.” - M.J. Rose, International Bestseller
Review
"The Map of Time recalls the science fiction of Wells and Verne, and then turns the early masters on their heads. A brilliant and breathtaking trip through metafictional time." --Scott Westerfeld, New York Times bestselling author of Leviathan
Review
"Palma makes his U.S. debut with the brilliant first in a trilogy, an intriguing thriller that explores the ramifications of time travel in three intersecting narratives." -- starred Publishers Weekly review
Review
"Readers who embark on the journey...will be richly rewarded. --starred Booklist review
Review
"Lyrical storytelling and a rich attention to detail make this prize-winning novel an enthralling read." --starred Library Journal Review
Review
“The Map of Time is a singularly inventive, luscious story with a core of pure, unsettling weirdness. With unnerving grace and disturbing fantasy, it effortlessly straddles that impossible line between being decidedly familiar, and yet absolutely new.” --Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker
Review
"Palma is a master of ingenious plotting." --Kirkus Reviews
Review
"A big, genre-bending delight." --The Washington Post
Review
"Palma uses the basic ingredients of steampunk — fantasy, mystery, ripping adventure and Victorian-era high-tech — to marvelous effect. " --Seattle Times
Review
"'Intellectual thriller' is not an oxymoron in this case. Eccentric, informed. Time travel, H.G. Wells, Jack the Ripper, robots, romance, changing history, destroying classic literature. Spot on narration. Good clean fun." --Tulsa World
Synopsis
Characters real and imaginary come vividly to life in this whimsical triple play of intertwined plots, in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including
Dracula and
The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence.
What happens if we change history?
Félix J. Palma explores this provocative question, weaving a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting—a story full of love and adventure that transports readers from a haunting setting in Victorian London to a magical reality where centuries collide and a writer’s mind seems to pull at all the strings.
About the Author
Félix J. Palma has been acclaimed by critics as one of the most brilliant and original storytellers of our time. His devotion to the short story genre has earned him more than a hundred awards. The Map of Time, his first book published in the United States, was an instant New York Times bestseller and received the prestigious 2008 Ateneo de Sevila XL Prize. It has been published in more than thirty countries. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed The Map of the Sky. Palma lives in Spain. Please visit FelixJPalma.es.