Map of Time (Palma)

The Map of Time
Felix J. Palma, 2008; English trans., 2011
Atria Books
624 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781439167397


Summary
Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time boasts a triple-play of intertwined plots.

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 4th-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? Felix J. Palma raises such questions in The Map of Time. Mingling fictional characters with real ones, 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. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
Felix J. Palma has been unanimously 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 is his first book to be published in the United States. It received the 2008 Ateneo de Sevila XL Prize and will be published in more than 30 countries. (From the publisher.)

Book Reviews
The idea of sending H.G. Wells, the father of science fiction, to catch the most notorious killer of the Victorian age is so delicious it’s surprising that nobody has come up with it before — except that they have.... Spanish writer Felix J. Palma’s first novel published in the United States, The Map of Time, is such a big, genre-bending delight—and his sly execution is so different from [previous authors' plots]—that I can’t imagine anyone crying foul. And, besides, Wells and the Ripper are just one storyline in this science-fiction, historical, fantasy doorstopper. In addition to Wells, Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), Henry James and Bram Stoker all make appearances by the end of the three-part novel. And presiding over these time-trotting shenanigans is a fourth-wall-shattering narrator with a taste for overly arch comments.
Yvonne Zipp - Washington Post


Palma uses the basic ingredients of steampunk — fantasy, mystery, ripping adventure and Victorian-era high-tech — to marvelous effect.
Seattle Times


After 611 pages, I was awestruck. All these plots, all these mysteries, all this lovely writing! By Jove, he's got it!
Cleveland Plain Dealer


Spanish author 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. In the opening chapter, set in 1896 England, aristocratic Andrew Harrington plans to take his own life, despondent over the death years earlier of his lover, the last victim of Jack the Ripper. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Claire Haggerty plots to escape her restrictive role as a woman in Victorian society by journeying to the year 2000. A new commercial concern, Murray's Time Travel, offers such a trip for a hefty fee. Finally, Scotland Yarder Colin Garrett believes that the fatal wound on a murder victim could only have been caused by a weapon from the future. Linking all three stories is H.G. Wells, the author of The Time Machine. Palma brings Wells and other historical figures like Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, plausibly to life.
Publishers Weekly


This story starts out like a classically tragic Victorian romance. Andrew Harrington is a privileged son, basking in a life of luxury until the portrait of a Whitechapel prostitute named Marie changes his life forever. When Jack the Ripper destroys Andrew's newfound happiness, he seeks a way to save his Marie through time travel. H.G. Wells's The Time Machine has sparked the imagination of the public, and the author himself becomes involved in what turns out to be a tangle of parallel stories and times, truth and elaborate illusion. Verdict: Lyrical storytelling and a rich attention to detail make this prize-winning novel by an acclaimed Spanish author an enthralling read. It is a wonderful blend of genres (sci-fi, steampunk, mystery, romance, historical fantasy) and will appeal to fans of historical fiction as well as fantasy. —April Steenburgh, Endwell, NY
Library Journal


H.G. Wells meets Jack the Ripper, the Elephant Man and a historical dimension's worth of other figures in this imaginative novel by Spanish writer Palma. The author is an acclaimed writer in his native country, winning the esteemed Ateneo de Sevilla XLPrize for this novel, his first to be published in the United States. At the heart of the story is a question that has fascinated geeks since the beginning of time, or least since Einstein's day—namely, is it possible to travel through time and, moreover, to violate the prime directive and tinker with events of the past and perhaps even future, reshaping lives and altering the course of history? In this instance, that question haunts a melancholic Briton whose lover, a naughty person of the night, was summarily dispatched by a serial killer working under the cover of the London fog. So obsessed is he by the desire to turn back the clock that he opens himself up to the possibilities of bamboozling. Enter H.G. Wells, who is introduced into young Andrew Harrington's sorrowful tale in leisurely time as both a "celebrated author" and "painfully thin and having a deathly pallor," the result, perhaps, of too much hard thinking—particularly about such things as machines that can take a person across the firmament of time. Is Wells a crackpot? Is time travel an elaborate con? Such questions emerge continually throughout Palma's winding narrative. Now, it has to be said that Karl Alexander beat Palma to the punch with his novel Time After Time (1979), which pits—well, H.G. Wells against Jack the Ripper. Palma's book has the wider reach, however, as well as a harder scientific edge. Palma is also a master of ingenious plotting, and his tale takes in far more than a simple game of cat and mouse: Even the most careful reader won't foresee some of the twists here, and there are plenty of them. Palma wanders in and out of genres—is his book science fiction? literary fiction? fantasy? Whatever the answer, it's great fun to read, particularly for those with a bent for counterfactual history.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Map of Time:

1. Author Felix J. Palma has written about how he prepared himself to write The Map of Time:

To do it, I'd have to immerse myself in the Victorian era and think like an Englishman from the nineteenth century.... I started to educate myself on the period so I could realistically portray what a fascinating time it was to be alive in London, the largest city on earth.

Does Palma succeed in bringing Victorian London to life? As you read his work, did you feel as if you were present in that world?

2. Palma has also said he wanted to present H.G. Wells as more than "two-dimensional, a stereotype with predictable behavior." Does the author's portrayal of Wells have heft? Was Palma able to endow him with a rich inner life and a world view that make him an arresting character?

3. Consider time travel: What would happen if you met your future self? What would you do, or say? If you could alter the past, what would you change—in your own life...or, on a grander scale, in the world?

4. Which of the three interrelated stories do you most enjoy...and why?

5. Were you caught off guard—surprised—by the twists and turns of the plots? Did you experience any "you got me there" moments? What about those "Ah-ha!" moments when things started to make sense, or come together for you...any of those?

6. What about Andrew Harrington? Is he too immersed in self-pity to admire? Or is he presistent and courageous in his attempt to save Marie Kelly from Jack the Ripper? Speaking of Jack the Ripper, are the descriptions of his murders overly graphic? Or are they integral to the plot, atmosphere, and sense of place?

7. Why is Claire Haggerty unhappy with her life? What does she wish for?

8. Talk about the way in which Palma portrays the year 2000. Does the year have anything in common with the actual 2000? Is it possibly symbolic of trends in technology? Is Palma's 2000 a totally alien world to ours, or is it a vaguely (and scarily) familiar one?

9. In the end, the book offers a compendium of cosmic speculation—parallel universes, loopholes in the time continuum, alternative histories, and the Map of Time. If you are not a science-fiction devotee, do you find these discussions intriguing or engaging? Or is it necessary to be a hard-core sci-fi fan to appreciate them?

10. How does this novel suggest, metaphorically, that time travel is actually possible? How does it suggest that right now, today, any of us may slip the bonds of this world and transport ourselves through space and time?

11. What do you think of the narrator? Do you find the comments engaging, perhaps humorous ... or tiresome and irritating? Why might the author have created an intrusive narrative voice?

12. With The Map of Time Palma has created a "pastiche"—a literary techique that "pastes" together historical with fictional characters, modern pop culture references with a Victorian setting, and the multiple genres of romance, mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy. A pastiche borrows from older works in order to build a fresh narrative. Does Palma succeed in creating something new and innovative? Or is his borrowing devoid of originality?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks)

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