I second the use of shellac. I’ve been using shellac on a maple cabinet project I’m working on right now.
Maple is a proper bitch to sand because it’s so hard. I wouldn’t recommend sanding higher than 180 at most of else you risk glazing the wood, which makes it hard for your finish to work. Also any alcohol finish is going to dry extremely quickly and be very finicky to work with… Particularly on a very large continuous surface like a desk. It’s not impossible, but absolutely, definitely, practice first. Figure out your brushes, your mixture, your technique all ahead of time. When you hit that desk there’s no turning back and it’s go time.
I tried over a dozen different oil and gel based stains for the project, and shellac was far and away the best looking, due to maple’s exceptionally tight grain, and high tendency to blotch.
Good luck! I really enjoy working with maple, but boy is it a challenging medium.
Don’t use shellac for tables or furniture you sweat on. It’s not water resistant. I had an old desktop with shellac finish, the finish started to dissolve on the parts where my arms rested.