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The Art of Navigation
1987. Silently the forest closed around them. One, two, three girls left the dark garden and disappeared from sight under the green canopy that reached towards the house on the hill.
1587. Sometimes the visions Mr Kelley sees in the glass clarify as he gazes upon them: as though this precious stone is the lens of Dr Dee's spyglass projecting a scene from far away and Ed, homing in, is polishing the surface with his spying, lying mind.
2087. A skrying app - an icon containing infinite space, maintaining ultimate time - will be tapped. Directing the dark obsidian discs of a nova millennium's hundred-eyed crystalline ball. What refined magic science has become ...
1587. Sometimes the visions Mr Kelley sees in the glass clarify as he gazes upon them: as though this precious stone is the lens of Dr Dee's spyglass projecting a scene from far away and Ed, homing in, is polishing the surface with his spying, lying mind.
2087. A skrying app - an icon containing infinite space, maintaining ultimate time - will be tapped. Directing the dark obsidian discs of a nova millennium's hundred-eyed crystalline ball. What refined magic science has become ...
244 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2017
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 15, 2017
I have to say, this was the most confusing book I've ever read! There are no spoilers, because I honestly have no idea what it was about or how it ended. I read all the way to the end only because it was beautifully written, but it was very hard to understand. Was that just me? Probably!
October 19, 2017
Australian PhD novels are beasts of a specific bent and purpose. They really should come with a disclaimer stamped diagonally on the front cover - 'PhD Novel' - as they're often not fit for public consumption.
And have great capacities to piss one off.
And have great capacities to piss one off.
April 13, 2025
I picked this up without reading the blurb — cover caught me, and the title The Art of Navigation had me expecting something metaphorical or maybe travel-related. What I got was way more complex: a time-jumping, genre-blending novel that moves between 1587, 1987, and 2087, threading together Elizabethan alchemists, suburban séances, and a distant future where identity feels even less stable than the past.
It’s dense. I read it across a noisy week, in scattered moments, and had to go back over sections to let them really sink in. But when it lands — it lands. The writing is poetic and layered, the ambition is clear, and the way the timelines echo each other is genuinely clever.
That said, it won’t be for everyone. If you like your narratives linear and your characters clearly defined, this might frustrate you. But if you’re into speculative fiction with literary weight, and don’t mind getting a bit lost in time, there’s a lot to appreciate here.
Full review on Blogger, let’s connect! Join me for a year of adventures immersing myself in many worlds as we read through 2025.
IG mundanechapters
Blogger mundanechapters
It’s dense. I read it across a noisy week, in scattered moments, and had to go back over sections to let them really sink in. But when it lands — it lands. The writing is poetic and layered, the ambition is clear, and the way the timelines echo each other is genuinely clever.
That said, it won’t be for everyone. If you like your narratives linear and your characters clearly defined, this might frustrate you. But if you’re into speculative fiction with literary weight, and don’t mind getting a bit lost in time, there’s a lot to appreciate here.
Full review on Blogger, let’s connect! Join me for a year of adventures immersing myself in many worlds as we read through 2025.
IG mundanechapters
Blogger mundanechapters
March 15, 2021
This book captured the possibilities of a time in life that stays with you forever. I loved the time shifts and the intricate threads reminded me what I love best about this genre.
August 16, 2022
Did not finish - I read a couple of chapters and couldn’t continue. It was too confusing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews