The Catalogue of the Universe employs a contemporary urban setting, probably in New Zealand, although specific references to the particular characteristics of New Zealand life are never particularly insistent. Tycho's family lives in the city; Angela's father Roland Chase has his home, office, and warehouse in the city; and it is in the city where Angela goes off to get drunk after her disappointing and humiliating encounter with her father. It is a city like most others in the world, with its mix of schools and shops, bridges and warehouses, traffic and bustle.