A Review of "The Map of Time".

The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Out of 193 novels I've read since the 1st January 2011, this is the best. I awarded it a score of 89/100. It was engrossing and one of the most unusual novels I have ever read. And definitely one of the best novels I've read in my life. There are others I've read which are better, eg Shogun by James Clavel, but they are very few and far between.

What I find astonishing is this book -- the Map of Time -- only gets an average rating of 3.37 where as Stephen King's 11.22.63 gets an average rating of 4.27! I gave the latter 38/100. Both feature time travel, but the latter is a borefest! The vast bulk of 11.22.63 is monotonous. And the end depressing and predictable.

I've come to the conclusion that how much I like a novel bears no relationship whatsoever to how much other people like it. Sometimes I think a novel is absolutely wonderful, and this seems to be reflected in the average rating, but equally, other times it's not.

So I don't think there's any point in me looking at the average rating in future. Equally, the fact I gave this 5 stars will be of no indication that you who are reading this review will like this book. Indeed, there's no point in you reading this review at all.

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