The Map of the Sky

A Novel

By: Felix J. Palma

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of The Map of Time returns with a mesmerizing novel casting H.G. Wells in a leading role, as the extraterrestrial invasion featured in The War of the Worlds is turned into a bizarre reality.

A love story serves as backdrop for The Map of the Sky when New York socialite Emma Harlow agrees to marry millionaire Montgomery Gilmore, but only if he accepts her audacious challenge: to reproduce the extraterrestrial invasion featured in Wells's War of the Worlds. What follows are three brilliantly interconnected plots to create a breathtaking tale of time travel and mystery, replete with cameos by a young Edgar Allan Poe, and Captain Shackleton and Charles Winslow from The Map of Time.

Praised for "lyrical storytelling and a rich attention to detail" (Library Journal, starred review), Palma again achieves the high standard set by The Map of Time.

©2011 Felix J Palma (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"The unreal becomes real, fantasy becomes history, and the reader is thoroughly entertained by an unending parade of bafflements and surprises. This book is a complete delight." (K.W Jeter, author of Infernal Devices)

Good narration but way too long!

I loved Palma's first book that played with truth vs. fiction. This one has some of that but it tries to do too much, and takes way too long to do it. Similar actions and events are described over and over, or the same event is described by different characters without adding anything. A shorter book would have been much more effective. Also while the overall tone of the first book was positive, some of this one is very grim. The narrator did a fine job with the various characters but the book itself was disappointing.

Master storyteller

Wonderfully entertaining follow up to The Map of Time. Palma’s prose is sophisticated and enjoyable transporting the reader into the story making you feel as if you are there in place and time.
His storytelling is phenomenal. One of the great time travel stories. Looking forward to the finale in the trilogy

Editor needed!

Would you try another book from Felix J. Palma and/or James Langton?

Only on sale.

Would you ever listen to anything by Felix J. Palma again?

Only on sale.

Which scene was your favorite?

First 15 minutes.

Any additional comments?

Far too long for the material presented, which made the book tedious almost beyond belief. Too bad, because the author can write well.

What a Disappointment!

Felix J. Palma's first novel, The Map of Time, was a clever, charming story full of surprises, well-written characters and a wonderful mix of history and fiction. It used H.G. Wells classic novel, The Time Machine as a launching point and Wells himself as a character.

Wells is back in this sequel, which draws upon another of his most famous novels, The War of the Worlds, for inspiration. Unfortunately, while the first book was clever and inspired, this novel was more like a bad Hollywood sequel. It tries too hard to replicate the experience of the first book and consequently feels forced and labored from start to finish. It was a 22+ hour slog. In his effort to deliver the kind of unexpected surprises he gave readers in The Map of Time, the author pushes too far, repeatedly forcing the issue. The surprises feel labored and at one point, he thoroughly betrays the reader's trust in way he probably thought was clever and playful but was, in reality, so disappointing that I almost bailed on the book immediately after finishing that chapter. In the end, maybe that would have been a good idea.

Palma is a talented writer and I'm hoping he'll put that talent to better use on his next book and leave the themes and characters of his first two behind.

Tried too hard to be cute

What could Felix J. Palma have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Get rid of the tongue-in-cheek tone.

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

I listened to the first 2 hours. Most of it could have been cut. Getting Wells drunk seemed dumb, and that seemed to be the point of the whole section.

Absolutely BORING!

don't waste your time money or effort this book is just numbing and I like HG Wells and all the stuff that goes with it

Egad! I now know how long eternity is.

The time spent on listening to this book seemed to never end. I asked myself on 3 or 4 occasions, why am I still listening to this?

It just seems to me that this work was printed from the authors rough draft notes and bypast the editor, altogether.

I did like my introduction to James Langton and appreciated his performance but I don't know if I am able to buy another work of Felix J. Palma.

3/4 done and it's tedious and flat.

Would you try another book from Felix J. Palma and/or James Langton?

No

Has The Map of the Sky turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

What aspect of James Langton’s performance would you have changed?

He did his best with material that had characters who were tedious and too drawn out.

Any additional comments?

The concept was great, but I found the book way too long, not that exciting and confusing for a good part of it. It could have been a great sci-fi, time travel, but it dragged on and on.