An overly long book that would have been better handled as three separate books with proper start, middles, and ends; the plots do NOT intertwine as advertised on the back cover but are simply paired with a fourth overarching plot. The writer uses H.G. Wells like a strange puppet, going so far as to describe him inaccurately as "bird-faced" (a spot on descriptor of the author); Wells is given indepth characterization that's incongruent with the actions of the man in his life time, especially a broad disregard for women (a trait shared with all other men in the book).

The pacing of the book is better describes as "distracted": we're given an indepth retelling of Wells' life where his mother and mother-in-law have been rewritten as the chief villains, a full rundown on the plot of the Time Machine devoid of all nuance, and several other long asides that feel more like an excuse to bump up the word count. The book could have been good if not weighed down by extra padding and hamstrung by Palma's inability to write women casting them as either vapid & stupid, evil harpies, or dead; he even goes so far to describe them all the same with "lily-white hands", off putting noses, and "delicate bodies".

If you're looking to read the book (which is broken into three parts) Part 1 makes a fine standalone story. Part 3 contains

everything promised on the back cover in the last 100 pages

. Part 2 is unreadable due to inconsistent characterization; neither character is likeable or frankly understandable. The first few paragraphs of Map of the Sky, included in the back of my copy, explain my feelings precisely: this book is an unwanted sequel to H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" that piggybacks off of both names to draw unsuspecting readers in.

The one star is for the uniqueness of

the Reed People (as an allusion to the Eloi) and the depiction of the Fourth Dimenson

, though I'm still unsure if those were Palma's original ideas.