The Spanish Félix J. Palma wrote a Victorian science fiction trilogy and the Map of the Sky is the second book. I haven’t read the first one but it didn’t cause any problem because the plot is different. This one is about an alien invasion on Earth after the fictional H.G. Wells wrote the ‘War of the Worlds’.
I was intrigued by this description because I love the Victorian period and I’m also curious about extraterrestrial life. This book mashed these two, however weird it sounds at first, and I was satisfied with what came out of it.
The Map of the Sky has a very complex story which is divided into 3 big sections. We could also say that these sections tell the story of the past, present, and future in this order. The main character is Wells the writer except in the first one because it is about an expedition to the Antarctic and the explorer Reynolds is the protagonist.
First Section
Reynolds’ aim is to find the entrance to the center of the Earth but their ship the Annawan gets trapped because of the ice. The crew tries to survive when they see a UFO falling down from the sky. When they check the site they find out that the alien probably survived the crash. Later on, there is a murder on the ship, the doctor is torn apart. Everyone is convinced that the monster is violent except Reynolds. He hopes that he will be able to communicate with it and he actually tries it when they discover how and where the alien is hiding. Unfortunately, it is not a peaceful creature and the massacre starts. It ends with Reynolds trapping the alien inside the ice.
I enjoyed this section the most in spite that it had very visual and violent descriptions which is true for the rest of the book. We can imagine that an invasion is not a friendly act but these aliens were especially ruthless with humans. For me, the first section felt as if it was the odd one out, an independent short story, but the author just started telling the events from the very beginning. Furthermore, at the end of the book it will make sense why was this so important to tell. Eventually, all the stories will link to each other.
Second and Third Sections
To move on let’s see the second and the third parts. These are about our main topic the invasion itself. Before it starts H.G. Wells finds out that in the Natural History Museum, there is a frozen alien. The same one we were talking about in the first section. He touches it and with this, he will be the reason for the chain of events. He is the trigger. It is also weird that the invasion happens almost like he wrote down in the ‘War of the Worlds’. These oddities will be explained with time traveling. I was very surprised when this and parallel universes became a crucial part of the story.
Regarding the above topics, interesting theses came up in the book. The question of what happens if you change a small or big detail in the past. Will that present timeline disappear or will the change create another parallel dimension and leave the already existing one intact? If it is true, are there things that are ordered by fate such as love? Dare to love was the most important teaching of the book. When the world seemed to end it was a few character’s biggest remorse that they didn’t experience true love.
My Summary
The only negative trait from my side is the length. It is more than 800 pages and I must say it was unreasonably too long. There were parts when I struggled with reading because the book couldn’t keep my attention. There were many inside monologues for all of the characters which I think was not necessary. But if you like to read about the psychological state of everyone then you won’t be bored. Also, I found some dialogues overwrought.
Apart from the length the story is very interesting and makes you think. If you are into the topic of time travel, aliens, or the 19th Century England I recommend this book. Just be prepared that even if you read very quickly it will take some time to finish. ☺
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