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“
The Map of Time is different. It's interesting, engrossing and rather, well - odd. Even weird. It's unlike any other book I've read and while I didn't close the cover thinking - Dang! That was the best book in the history of ever! - I liked it. In fact, I liked it quite a lot.
Attracted by the wonderful cover (which, IMHO, perfectly conveys the time and place and mystery of the story) and intrigued by the plot blurb, The Map of Time has been on my radar for some time. Author Felix Palma has crafted an original and intricately-plotted novel set in Victorian London and peppered with appearances by some of the well-known persons of the day. Bram Stoker. Jack the Ripper. Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man - and yes, he WAS call John Merrick in David Lynch's 1980 film). But it's Palma's use of H.G. Wells as a central character that particularly drew me to the book and that, once reading, most captivated me. Certainly Palma's depiction of Wells in these pages has made me want to learn more about the real Wells and has prompted me download some of his novels - last read during my junior high years - to my Kindle for a re-read.
While I found Wells to be the most fascinating character in the story, he is not the only one who is well-drawn. In what I feel is one of the strongest elements of The Map of Time, several of Palma's many characters are nicely fleshed out. As a specific character's depth and complexity were gradually revealed through the course of the book, my feelings toward that character continued to evolve. And that evolution drew me deeper into the story.
Wells and the paradoxes of time travel are the strongest of the common threads Palma weaves through the three parts of The Map of Time to help to tie the whole book together. In Part One, a young man struggles to deal with the murder - by Jack the Ripper - of the woman he loved. In Part Two, a woman unhappy with the strict social conventions of the Victorian age seeks something else in another time period and in Part Three, a Scotland Yard detective comes to believe that someone from the future is responsible for a series of murders.
Palma's writing is good but somewhat uneven. Passages that I found simply wonderful sat alongside those that rambled for far too long, those that were somewhat confusing and those so cluttered with minutiae that my eyes would begin to glaze over. Though "he" didn't bother me to the degree other reviewers have mentioned, the narrator was, on occasion, annoying. But once I was sucked into the story (which happened early enough on to rope me in for the duration), I could cope with the aspects of the writing that I found less than stellar.
The Map of Time has mystery, romance, sci-fi, history and murder, all set in an atmospheric Victorian London and garnished with steampunk elements. Characterizations are strong and the interesting and intricate plot has twists galore. Despite its flaws, I found The Map of Time well worth the read. I know it will stick with me. And should the sequels I've read rumors of materialize, I'll be reading them.
Recommended.
Notes:
Translation of The Map of Time to English from the original Spanish was done by Nick Caistor.”
Mary wrote this review Wednesday, June 8, 2011.
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