The Map of Time

The time travel continues in a much more literary form with The Map of Time. After Ruby Red, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (which is not exactly time travel but does involve traveling through time... what?), and Hourglass, I wasn't sure if I wanted any more of this genre. (And yes, I have read other things with no time travel in between that I haven't written about yet.) But this sounded so different, I couldn't wait to jump in.

"Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that 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." I have to be honest, I didn't read this bit from the back of the book before I started reading the book. I had been given an even briefer description - Victorian London is in a time-travel fervor after H.G. Wells writes The Time Machine - and was already sold. I'm a big fan of the steampunk sub-genre, and this hinted to having a bit of that aesthetic.

In reality, this book is not one narrative but three, although they do all intertwine and feature H.G. Wells as a main character. And the way author Felix J. Palma handles the idea of time travel in a society with far fewer technologies than our own is masterful. Whether it's the man who wants to save the woman he loved from being killed or the boy who loves a girl and wants to stop her from doing something destructive, these characters approach time travel from very real and, often, very personal perspectives. I especially liked how Palma touched upon the idea of paradoxes repeatedly, because the ideas of changing the past or meeting yourself in the past are something that have to guide the storytelling when dealing with shifting timelines.

As much as I loved this book, which is a bestseller in Palma's native Spain, I had some trouble getting into it. Specifically, the paragraphs are loooong and overly-verbose, although I have a feeling that this was done on purpose to give the book a more Victorian feel. The very beginning, especially, when there is a whole page devoted to which kind of gun a character is going to use to kill himself, can get a bit tedious. Push on,though, like I did, and you'll be well-rewarded.

As a side note, H.G. Wells is a main character throughout this book, and it is mentioned frequently that all of London is so excited by time travel specifically because of his book The Time Machine. While it's quite possible to read this book without having read The Time Machine, I'll take a moment to plug the classic. It's really very short and easy to read, plus you'll sound smart when you say you've read it.

I never read many classics when I was younger (except what was forced upon me in school), so this one had escaped me until a few years ago. Then I discovered DailyLit, which feeds you classics in tiny bite-size pieces that are easy to digest. I had The Time Machine sent to my RSS reader (but you could get them emailed to you too), and in about a month, I had read the whole thing without trying. Best part: it's free. Really, do it. Even if you don't want to read The Time Machine (but you should), give DailyLit a try.

Also, The Map of Time has one of the coolest covers I've seen in a long time.

Check out the first chapter - in text or audio - on the book's website.

5/5 stars

Disclaimer: The advance copy of this book was provided to me for free from the publisher.

Water for Elephants

I was never a big fan of the circus as a kid. There was always too much going on, too much noise, too much activity. But when I started watching Carnivale on HBO a few years ago, I loved the gritty, dirty feel of the Depression-era circuses. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen tells a similar gritty, dirty story.

Gruen’s research is what makes this story worth reading. The daily life of a circus is brought to life through the pages of Water for Elephants in a very compelling way. The story is interesting, but I was driven to read by the desire to know more about the time period. Even if you don’t think the subject matter would interest you, this book is definitely worth reading – it would be hard not to be interested in it by the end.

The Gargoyle

The setup of The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson sounds a bit like a Stephen King novel (especially his recent books that deal with convalescents) - a horribly burned man meets a brilliant gargoyle carver/mental patient who convinces him to come back to her place after he is released from the hospital. The narrator (our burned ex-porn star semi-hero) isn't sure about Marianne Engel (the artist/schizophrenic) at first, mostly because she claims to be over 700 years old and to have known him in a past life. But he begins to trust her and does eventually end up at her home, where he learns the story of their past relationship.

I really loved this book, but for reasons I can't quite explain. It's not like I have anything in common with any of the characters or their situations. I think it's more the "1001 Arabian Nights" quality of Marianne's storytelling that captured me - the narrator longs to hear more about the perceived relationship between himself and Marianne, but she keeps interjecting other tales of love lost. By the time he understands his feelings for her, though, those other stories are as much a part of him as they are of her. In fact, it was the past-life story, along with the other stories that Marianne told, that were the most compelling part of the narrative for me - I cared more about the lovers from the past than the horrors of the present.

I really enjoyed Davidson's writing style because it wasn't overly fancy. Rather, the story is told by someone who has had a lot of time to reflect on what happened, and as such, is described in very realistic terms. Such a strong narrative is hard to find in a debut book, and I'm curious to see what else Davidson can do.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor the the Nation, Vol. 1

Octavian is raised in a world of science and is told from a young age that he is an exiled prince of a great African nation. However, when rumblings of revolt shatter the walls of the lyceum, the true nature of Octavian's birth and life are revealed.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party opens in a time and place which are unclear, but as the story unfolds, it is clear that it takes place in Boston just before the American Revolution. The writing style, mostly in the voice of Octavian himself, is therefore very florid and somewhat archaic, making it very hard to digest as a Young Adult novel. In fact, because of the writing style, I can't picture many young adults getting far enough into the book to discover the historical aspects of it. That's not to say that it's not a good book - just that it may be missing the mark a bit.

I did have another problem with the writing style - Octavian's narrative is interspersed with letters from various characters, which is fine, as they add another depth to the narrative. However, about two-thirds of the way into the book, the narration changes to letters written by one Patriot soldier, who happens to meet and befriend Octavian. Then, there is another abrupt switch back to Octavian's POV. This was terribly jarring to me and, while I realize that Octavian wasn't in his usual mindset during that part of the story, I felt a bit cheated to only get the soldier's side of the story.

Overall, I can't say that I recommend this book, unless you are really interested in historical fiction dealing with the American Revolution. For stories dealing with that time period, though, this is a breakthrough novel, both in terms of the narrator and in the narration style. if you enjoy this book, Volume 2: The Kingdom of Waves, will be released in October.