Helpful Score: 4
Be aware before you start this book it is not complete! To finish the story you also have to read "All Clear". Frankly the story could have been told in one book not two. I think it was a matter of making more $. Sad.
If you like reading about the Blitz Blackout/All Clear give a lot of bit that really give a viseral context to the era. But it the Blitz is NOT your passion plowing through these two book is a real trial. Why? Mainly because you will encounter 3 of the most annoying characters it literature: Eileen, Binnie and Alf. Elileen is a whiner, Binnie and Alf are the monster children that are like the perpetural fingernails on the blackboard. The author for gawd know's what reason makes the story finally revolve around them in the final half of the story. Painful, like poking a sore tooth. I am one of those folks that feels compelled to finish a book (or story) one I start it. I hesitate to start another of this authors books for fear these are the type of characters that are close to her heart.
If you like reading about the Blitz Blackout/All Clear give a lot of bit that really give a viseral context to the era. But it the Blitz is NOT your passion plowing through these two book is a real trial. Why? Mainly because you will encounter 3 of the most annoying characters it literature: Eileen, Binnie and Alf. Elileen is a whiner, Binnie and Alf are the monster children that are like the perpetural fingernails on the blackboard. The author for gawd know's what reason makes the story finally revolve around them in the final half of the story. Painful, like poking a sore tooth. I am one of those folks that feels compelled to finish a book (or story) one I start it. I hesitate to start another of this authors books for fear these are the type of characters that are close to her heart.
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
Helpful Score: 1
Probably the most important thing to know about this book is that it is really half a book. It ends with events completely up in the air with a "to be continued" on the last page. Oxford in 2060 has historians being sent into the past to observe events on a regular basis. The main characters in this book are in various times and places (London during the blitz, the evacuation of Dunkirk, etc.) of WWII from 1939 to 1945. They have been doing time travel for 40 years at Oxford, but for the historians in this past era things begin to go wrong and they have no way of knowing why. It's an interesting premise, but until the completion of the next book "All Clear", it's difficult to give an opinion overall.
This book and its companion, All Clear (not really a sequel; it's really one book sold in two parts), are well worth reading if you like time travel fiction but REALLY could have used some editing down - the story tends to drag, especially in the second book, and could have been made much shorter. Nevertheless I think Connie Willis has written a layered, well-thought-out book with clues that reveal themselves slowly (of course). Agatha Christie makes a cameo appearance for good reason. The payoff at the end (of the second book) is great.
Blackout/All Clear.
The two books are really one novel (thanks, publishers, for getting me to pay double!) so there's no reason to talk about them separately.
They're also part of Willis' time travel series, although they're not advertised as such. I really wouldn't recommend starting with these books; I feel that a lot of the questions and criticism of these books that I see in other reviews stems from the likelihood that readers haven't read the other books in the series: The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Fire Watch. At the very least, you have GOT to read Fire Watch before reading these books.
That said, the books are excellent. Blackout starts slowly, but Willis does a great job of gradually but surely building the tension and intensity of the story, working from trivial humor up to tragedy... (and the tragedy that can spring from the trivial) although it never gets as intense as The Doomsday Book. The pacing is the main reason why I feel that the book should not have been split in two. The end revelations also came dangerously close to getting too sentimental/religious for me... but I think they fall on the OK side of that line...
I found the representation of London during the Blitz to be completely convincing and memorable - I found myself saying, "wow, I didn't know...." And I've also decided that it is virtually incomprehensible that I've been to London over a dozen times, and I don't think that I've ever been inside St. Paul's cathedral. I'm sure Willis would think that was sad and horrifically neglectful.
For another depiction of the Blitz, which also focuses on its effect on ordinary individuals, I'd highly recommend Sarah Waters' The Night Watch.
The two books are really one novel (thanks, publishers, for getting me to pay double!) so there's no reason to talk about them separately.
They're also part of Willis' time travel series, although they're not advertised as such. I really wouldn't recommend starting with these books; I feel that a lot of the questions and criticism of these books that I see in other reviews stems from the likelihood that readers haven't read the other books in the series: The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Fire Watch. At the very least, you have GOT to read Fire Watch before reading these books.
That said, the books are excellent. Blackout starts slowly, but Willis does a great job of gradually but surely building the tension and intensity of the story, working from trivial humor up to tragedy... (and the tragedy that can spring from the trivial) although it never gets as intense as The Doomsday Book. The pacing is the main reason why I feel that the book should not have been split in two. The end revelations also came dangerously close to getting too sentimental/religious for me... but I think they fall on the OK side of that line...
I found the representation of London during the Blitz to be completely convincing and memorable - I found myself saying, "wow, I didn't know...." And I've also decided that it is virtually incomprehensible that I've been to London over a dozen times, and I don't think that I've ever been inside St. Paul's cathedral. I'm sure Willis would think that was sad and horrifically neglectful.
For another depiction of the Blitz, which also focuses on its effect on ordinary individuals, I'd highly recommend Sarah Waters' The Night Watch.
I had more trouble getting into this than most of Willis's books, but enjoyed it as it went on. It is only part one of the [presumably] two-part novel, and I would have liked to know that the second book is to be released in October 2010 before I purchased it. Cliffhangers are more fun if one can pick up the next book quickly.
Wow. Just, wow. Loved this one.
So this is the latest installment of Willis' time travel stories, this time with historians travelling back to 1940 and the London Blitz. There are a number of different story lines flowing through here, and thankfully they're just on the "understandable" side of the "descent into utter chaos" cliff. It's hard to put down, though. There's a sense of panic that builds slowly but steadily throughout, and by the time the book ends, the peril is thick. There's the threat of the German bombs, of course, as well as the technical issues with time travel equipment.
The depictions of 1940s England and the people who lived through the Blitz are wonderful. I'm not acquainted with wartime novels so I don't have much to compare with, but after reading this, I'm almost ready to jump in. Willis' characters are full and rich and quite varied.
But here's my warning: This book might end, but it doesn't conclude. Willis' next book "All Clear," is supposed to conclude the story. If you're like me, and don't like to wait to finish a story, I'd suggest that you wait until Autumn 2010 when it's supposed to be released.
I fell in love with Connie Willis' time travel universe when I first read "Doomsday Book" twenty years ago. "Blackout" is at least as good as Doomsday Book, if not better (20 years makes the comparison a little shaky). Highly, highly recommended.
5 of 5 stars.
So this is the latest installment of Willis' time travel stories, this time with historians travelling back to 1940 and the London Blitz. There are a number of different story lines flowing through here, and thankfully they're just on the "understandable" side of the "descent into utter chaos" cliff. It's hard to put down, though. There's a sense of panic that builds slowly but steadily throughout, and by the time the book ends, the peril is thick. There's the threat of the German bombs, of course, as well as the technical issues with time travel equipment.
The depictions of 1940s England and the people who lived through the Blitz are wonderful. I'm not acquainted with wartime novels so I don't have much to compare with, but after reading this, I'm almost ready to jump in. Willis' characters are full and rich and quite varied.
But here's my warning: This book might end, but it doesn't conclude. Willis' next book "All Clear," is supposed to conclude the story. If you're like me, and don't like to wait to finish a story, I'd suggest that you wait until Autumn 2010 when it's supposed to be released.
I fell in love with Connie Willis' time travel universe when I first read "Doomsday Book" twenty years ago. "Blackout" is at least as good as Doomsday Book, if not better (20 years makes the comparison a little shaky). Highly, highly recommended.
5 of 5 stars.
A science fiction based on time travel. When historians become trapped in their visited sites, one wonders what happened and if they will get back to their time and home. Michael Davies, Merope Ward and Polly Churchill find themselves trapped in London during the blitz. It shouldn't really have happened and they shouldn't have been able to find each other but they did. None of their time travel drops were working for pick ups so what do they do now except try to survive. Enjoyed this read very much and impatiently awaiting the sequel so I can discover what happens next.
Great story, Is barely linked to other Willis time travel books, but you won't understand the time travel unless one has read the earlier titles. Some linked characters from the other books. So a few holes need clearing. Still, not a detriement to a very good story of England in WWII. There is a sequel to this title coming soon. I can hardly wait.
Enjoyed and looking forward to All Clear
I've really liked almost all of this author's other books, but I just couldn't get into this one, probably because I don't care for time travel stories. So if time travel's your cup of tea, you might enjoy it.
