Sat 6 Aug 2011 @ 11:26
blackoutbooksconnie willisscience fiction
Blackout by Connie Willis is a novel about time travel and World War II. It is set in the same universe as two other novels by Willis, Doomsday Book, which is brilliant, and To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is not quite as good but still enjoyable (they not connected in plot, just the background setting). The premise is that time travel is possible, and historians at Oxford are sent back in time to study historical events first hand. The principles established in the earlier books are that historians cannot affect history, and that the time travel device will prevent them from doing so either by not opening a drop (the physical place where they travel to/from) or by creating slippage (so they do not arrive at the right time). This book focuses on several historians who are observing different events during WWII. Polly is going to be a shopgirl during the Blitz, Merope (who is using the name Eileen) is observing evacuated children, and Mike is going to Dover to interview soldiers returning from Dunkirk (he cannot go there himself because it is a divergence point, one of the events that could drastically alter history). However all of them find that something goes wrong with their assignments and they end up stranded in the past, while the assumption that they cannot change history comes into question. I really liked this book. I do like a good time travel story in general, and Willis had written some great ones. That being said, it wasn’t perfect. I think that it relied a bit too much on existing knowledge of the setting, how time travel works in this universe, which may be off putting to new readers (although it really shouldn’t matter too much). I also read some reviews complaining about historical inaccuracies, and I did spot a few. Another minor complaint was that there were a few chapters that featured characters that were never properly introduced and then disappeared and were never mentioned again, but I am giving the benefit of the doubt and assuming that this will become relevant in the second volume (see below). Otherwise, it was also a bit slow to get going, but after the initial few chapters of set up, I really got hooked into it, and it proved to be a real page-turner. Despite its few flaws it was thoroughly enjoyable and praiseworthy. The annoying thing is that it is part one of a diptych, and the second volume, All Clear, does not get released until October. I knew that when I started it, but I was not anticipating how good the book would be or how anxious I’d be for the resolution. I’ll just have to pre-order it and wait! Overall I thought it was a good historical time travel story. It may not be perfect in the details but overall I very much enjoyed it. I do like the setting that Willis has established in these novels, and if you are looking for a good time travel book you could not go wrong with her writing. Blackout is one that I really enjoyed it, would recommend it, and I am very much looking forward to the concluding volume.

Blackout by Connie Willis is a novel about time travel and World War II. It is set in the same universe as two other novels by Willis, Doomsday Book, which is brilliant, and To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is not quite as good but still enjoyable (they not connected in plot, just the background setting).

The premise is that time travel is possible, and historians at Oxford are sent back in time to study historical events first hand. The principles established in the earlier books are that historians cannot affect history, and that the time travel device will prevent them from doing so either by not opening a drop (the physical place where they travel to/from) or by creating slippage (so they do not arrive at the right time).

This book focuses on several historians who are observing different events during WWII. Polly is going to be a shopgirl during the Blitz, Merope (who is using the name Eileen) is observing evacuated children, and Mike is going to Dover to interview soldiers returning from Dunkirk (he cannot go there himself because it is a divergence point, one of the events that could drastically alter history). However all of them find that something goes wrong with their assignments and they end up stranded in the past, while the assumption that they cannot change history comes into question.

I really liked this book. I do like a good time travel story in general, and Willis had written some great ones. That being said, it wasn’t perfect. I think that it relied a bit too much on existing knowledge of the setting, how time travel works in this universe, which may be off putting to new readers (although it really shouldn’t matter too much). I also read some reviews complaining about historical inaccuracies, and I did spot a few. Another minor complaint was that there were a few chapters that featured characters that were never properly introduced and then disappeared and were never mentioned again, but I am giving the benefit of the doubt and assuming that this will become relevant in the second volume (see below). Otherwise, it was also a bit slow to get going, but after the initial few chapters of set up, I really got hooked into it, and it proved to be a real page-turner. Despite its few flaws it was thoroughly enjoyable and praiseworthy.

The annoying thing is that it is part one of a diptych, and the second volume, All Clear, does not get released until October. I knew that when I started it, but I was not anticipating how good the book would be or how anxious I’d be for the resolution. I’ll just have to pre-order it and wait!

Overall I thought it was a good historical time travel story. It may not be perfect in the details but overall I very much enjoyed it. I do like the setting that Willis has established in these novels, and if you are looking for a good time travel book you could not go wrong with her writing. Blackout is one that I really enjoyed it, would recommend it, and I am very much looking forward to the concluding volume.