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bioniclib's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book, but it turns out I only like it.
It came across as a sci-fi book for non-sci-fi fans. For the majority of the book Palma leaves you wondering whether the time travel mentioned is real or a hoax. Adding to my frustrations was the fact that it was really three separate stories tied together by the common thread the HG Wells (yes the same one that wrong The Time Machine) character provides.
The first story is about Andrew Harrington, the son of a wealthy man who is enjoying the fruits of being young and rich. That all changes when he falls in love with a whore. If that's not scandalous enough, the whore is none other than Mary Kelly or Jack the Ripper's fifth and final victim. When his beloved is brutally butchered, he descends into depression. He stays there until his cousin takes him to Gilliam Murray's Time Traveling expedition.
It seems the man has found a land outside of time. In this land there are holes to the future. One of which leads to May 20th, 2000. That's the day the Brave Captain Shackleton defeats the mighty Solomon, King of the automatons that have all but rid the Earth of mankind. Unfortunately, for Andrew, that's the only time to which Murray can travel, but have no fear, HG Wells has a time machine!
I'll stop the synopsis here because going into depth would spoil the surprises. I'll just say that the second story centers around Captain Shackleton and the third is the most similar to normal sci-fi stories. As I mentioned before HG Wells figures prominently throughout the book. Yet, he doesn't appear until 100s of pages into the first tale. That, ultimately, is an example of why I was disappointed with the book.
Palma breaks the proverbial 4th wall, talking directly to you. At first, I thought it was clever but as the story went on, I realized that he takes forever to make his point. Near the end of the book, Henry James (yep, another real life author) is introduced. Palma gently chides the man by describing his writing style as long-winded and I'm left to wonder if in doing so he acknowledges his own ambling prose.
Like the Sherlockian, I found it fun to read about a real author in a book. Ironically enough, Bram Stoker is featured in both of them. But unlike the Sherlockian, The Map of Time goes on too long. He takes forever to give character background and even furthers the plot with letters written to the characters. One of which is nearly 20 pages long. The plot is marvelous but he seems to have hidden it behind meandering background details. I will say that just when I start to get tired of it, he draws me back in with a good plot twist.
So, in the end, I would recommend it but with caution. One final word of warning: as befits a story that starts off with the death of a lady of the night, the language can be a bit saucy. So proceed with caution.
It came across as a sci-fi book for non-sci-fi fans. For the majority of the book Palma leaves you wondering whether the time travel mentioned is real or a hoax. Adding to my frustrations was the fact that it was really three separate stories tied together by the common thread the HG Wells (yes the same one that wrong The Time Machine) character provides.
The first story is about Andrew Harrington, the son of a wealthy man who is enjoying the fruits of being young and rich. That all changes when he falls in love with a whore. If that's not scandalous enough, the whore is none other than Mary Kelly or Jack the Ripper's fifth and final victim. When his beloved is brutally butchered, he descends into depression. He stays there until his cousin takes him to Gilliam Murray's Time Traveling expedition.
It seems the man has found a land outside of time. In this land there are holes to the future. One of which leads to May 20th, 2000. That's the day the Brave Captain Shackleton defeats the mighty Solomon, King of the automatons that have all but rid the Earth of mankind. Unfortunately, for Andrew, that's the only time to which Murray can travel, but have no fear, HG Wells has a time machine!
I'll stop the synopsis here because going into depth would spoil the surprises. I'll just say that the second story centers around Captain Shackleton and the third is the most similar to normal sci-fi stories. As I mentioned before HG Wells figures prominently throughout the book. Yet, he doesn't appear until 100s of pages into the first tale. That, ultimately, is an example of why I was disappointed with the book.
Palma breaks the proverbial 4th wall, talking directly to you. At first, I thought it was clever but as the story went on, I realized that he takes forever to make his point. Near the end of the book, Henry James (yep, another real life author) is introduced. Palma gently chides the man by describing his writing style as long-winded and I'm left to wonder if in doing so he acknowledges his own ambling prose.
Like the Sherlockian, I found it fun to read about a real author in a book. Ironically enough, Bram Stoker is featured in both of them. But unlike the Sherlockian, The Map of Time goes on too long. He takes forever to give character background and even furthers the plot with letters written to the characters. One of which is nearly 20 pages long. The plot is marvelous but he seems to have hidden it behind meandering background details. I will say that just when I start to get tired of it, he draws me back in with a good plot twist.
So, in the end, I would recommend it but with caution. One final word of warning: as befits a story that starts off with the death of a lady of the night, the language can be a bit saucy. So proceed with caution.
jrosenstein's review
2.0
DNF at 31%. I think Palma is deliberately mimicking a Victorian prose style but it's so incredibly long-winded, nothing happens, it took 80 pages to get to any mention of time travel, and if I wanted to read the whole plot of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, I would just read it. Seriously, it took pages just to describe 2 men walking down a hallway. Way too slow and wordy for me.
bad_robot's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely delightful book bothe its asides to the audience (at the start of part three it declares " ... we have arrived at the closing pages of our thrilling tale. What marvels are there still in store for you? " and its extremely clever time paradox plots, which will have you believing in time travel one minute, and not in the next.
The several characters individual stories weave in and out with H.G.Wells as he writes his more famous scientific romances. It's a detailed slice of his time starring himself and his contemporaries, Jack the ripper, The elephant man, Bram Stoker, Hemy James etc. I took the trouble to read with my ipad ready to fact check (eg a haunted house in Berkeley Square he uses) all good.
There's also a fair bit said about writing in the process. The last bit attributed to H G Wells was particularly poignant for me having just experienced this in morning and reading the following that night . "... the rush of joy every writer feels when finishing a novel, a happiness nothing else can bring -"
I wish now I'd got all three, while he was here at Adelaide writers week. I can't wait to see where hell take next.
The several characters individual stories weave in and out with H.G.Wells as he writes his more famous scientific romances. It's a detailed slice of his time starring himself and his contemporaries, Jack the ripper, The elephant man, Bram Stoker, Hemy James etc. I took the trouble to read with my ipad ready to fact check (eg a haunted house in Berkeley Square he uses) all good.
There's also a fair bit said about writing in the process. The last bit attributed to H G Wells was particularly poignant for me having just experienced this in morning and reading the following that night . "... the rush of joy every writer feels when finishing a novel, a happiness nothing else can bring -"
I wish now I'd got all three, while he was here at Adelaide writers week. I can't wait to see where hell take next.
rkaufman13's review against another edition
3.0
"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."
Did the person who wrote this blurb even read the book?
This was.... Okay, I guess, but it definitely wasn't that book. I would have DNF'd except for the many positive reviews. Since I did finish, I guess I can say this is an okay book but not for me.
Did the person who wrote this blurb even read the book?
This was.... Okay, I guess, but it definitely wasn't that book. I would have DNF'd except for the many positive reviews. Since I did finish, I guess I can say this is an okay book but not for me.
tiudragonfly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
julose's review against another edition
3.0
2,5 - 3 - viel zu lange, enttäuschend bzgl. zeitreisen, okaye geschichten und cameos
zemthings's review against another edition
3.0
It was entertaining, but not what I was expecting. I fell in love with the cover and was not disappointed with the content, but I wasn't blown away. Hasn't deterred me from reading the sequel.
stefhite's review against another edition
4.0
Really fascinating alternate history - a must read for HG Wells or science fiction fans.
hope_amanda's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0