The Map of Time

A Novel

By: Felix J. Palma

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 20 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

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 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 question in The Map of Time, weaving a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting—a story full of love and adventure that transports listeners to a haunting setting in Victorian London for their own taste of time travel.

©2011 Felix J. Palma (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

Enjoyable listen

Set in Victorian London, this is a collection of three different tales of "time travel" that are interrelated, each influencing the other. HG Wells is the central character that weaves the three tales into one broad story arch. The book is well written and the characters are engaging. I particularly enjoyed Palma's involvement of the narrator as a self-conscious participant in the telling of the story. The audio narrator also does an excellent job of bringing the story to life.

Another reviewer was concerned that the story isn't a thriller and lacked some of the action he would have liked, I found an adequate degree of action for my tastes and there were plenty of twists and turns in the story; however, what I really enjoyed was the development of many of the main characters in the story. They drew me in and got me to care for them (or dislike them--the villians, that is). After about 20 hours and the story was drawing to an end, I was sad that it was time to leave Felix Palma's fantasy world and wished for a bit longer stay in his version of Victorian England.

The Map of Time Review

While this stories description sounded intriguing and full of possibilities, sadly the story never really was able to take flight. The first 20 chapters were interesting enough to continue. Then up through chapter 30 I hoped for the anticipation to build into something but it did not. Onward to chapters 40 and further, the story just became wordy, silly, and awkward.
I was relieved when it finally ended. I’m sorry to say, I can’t find a reason to recommend this book to anyone for any reason.

Great story!

I could not remember what the publisher's summary said about this book, so I was going into it somewhat blind...which I love to do. It was a mystery and a surprise - very nice ones at that. I found part one to be the weakest of the three parts, but all were fantastic and by the time part three came around I was looking for ways to continue listening. Narration was excellent as well.

A fun book

If you could sum up The Map of Time in three words, what would they be?

This was a fun listen with an interesting story. Just when you think you know what's going on, you are surprised.

Tedious

"Tedious" is all I can think of to describe this book, as it was eternally long, and I felt like the story was going in circles. I've seen the hardcover copy of this and it's huge, so I should've stayed away when I saw that the audio was 20 hours long. So disappointed, and I am not remorseful that I did not finish the book.

Maybe Next Time

There are moments of some truly beautiful writing (Merrick) and the story is interesting, However this author needs to be introduced to a half-way descent editor. This story meanders way more than is acceptable. Too bad, because it could have been a great story.

Poor characters

Women were sexuality objectified cutouts that merely served as one-dimensional motivation for the male characters.

Great narration - story almost there

Loved the narrator and premise. Story was a little too vast in some places. Good read.

Enjoyable listen

Set in Victorian London, this is a collection of three different tales of "time travel" that are interrelated, each influencing the other. HG Wells is the central character that weaves the three tales into one broad story arch. The book is well written and the characters are engaging. I particularly enjoyed Palma's involvement of the narrator as a self-conscious participant in the telling of the story. The audio narrator also does an excellent job of bringing the story to life.

Another reviewer was concerned that the story isn't a thriller and lacked some of the action he would have liked, I found an adequate degree of action for my tastes and there were plenty of twists and turns in the story; however, what I really enjoyed was the development of many of the main characters in the story. They drew me in and got me to care for them (or dislike them--the villians, that is). After about 20 hours and the story was drawing to an end, I was sad that it was time to leave Felix Palma's fantasy world and wished for a bit longer stay in his version of Victorian England.

Hard to get through.

What would have made The Map of Time better?

A better story without so many written in a better way.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Will start the "Eye of the World" again in preparation for the final book in the "Wheel of Time" series.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Map of Time?

Most of the book.

Any additional comments?

This book was hard to get into. The characters were hard to like and even when you thought you might be able to like them, they were no longer part of the story. The book only got listenable after slogging through the first two parts. The third part was decent, but still not exceptional. If I were able to do it over again, I would not have wasted my time.