The Islanders — Christopher J. Priest

Discover the islands of the Dream Archipelago -- where reality is both illusory and magical -- in this “masterful . . . endlessly compelling” literary sci-fi novel for fans of Haruki Murakami and David Mitchell (Locus).
 
The Dream Archipelago is a vast network of islands. The names of the islands are different depending on who you talk to. Their very locations seem to twist and shift.
 
Some islands have been sculpted into vast musical instruments, others are home to lethal creatures, others the playground for high society. Hot winds blow across the archipelago and a war fought between two distant continents is played out across its waters.
 
Styled as an untrustworthy but enticing travel guide to the archipelago, The Islanders is a tale of murder, artistic rivalry, and literary trickery; a Chinese puzzle of a novel where nothing is quite what it seems; a narrative that pulls you in and plays an elegant game, just as its unreliable narrator does the same . . .

“ . . . easily one of the richest and most rewarding novels that Priest has written to date.”
-- Los Angeles Review of Books