All Clear

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Connie Willis (introduction)

Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

In Blackout, award-winning author Connie Willis returned to the time-traveling future of 2060, the setting for several of her most celebrated works, and sent three Oxford historians to World War II England: Michael Davies, intent on observing heroism during the Miracle of Dunkirk; Merope Ward, studying children evacuated from London; and Polly Churchill, posing as a shopgirl in the middle of the Blitz. But when the three become unexpectedly trapped in 1940, they struggle not only to find their way home but to survive as Hitler's bombers attempt to pummel London into submission.

Now the situation has grown even more dire. Small discrepancies in the historical record seem to indicate that one or all of them have somehow affected the past, changing the outcome of the war. The belief that the past can be observed but never altered has always been a core belief of time-travel theory, but suddenly it seems that the theory is horribly, tragically wrong.

Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the historians' supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, and 17-year-old Colin Templer, who nurses a powerful crush on Polly, are engaged in a frantic and seemingly impossible struggle of their own - to find three missing needles in the haystack of history.

Told with compassion, humor, and an artistry both uplifting and devastating, All Clear is more than just the triumphant culmination of the adventure that began with Blackout. It's Connie Willis' most humane, heartfelt novel yet - a clear-eyed celebration of faith, love, and the quiet, ordinary acts of heroism and sacrifice too often overlooked by history.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an introduction written and read by author Connie Willis.

Also listen to the first book, Blackout.

©2010 Connie Willis (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2010
• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2011
• Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2010: Readers' Choice (SF Site)

"By the time the three historians and Mr. Dunworthy have unraveled the mystery and arrived at the full-on, three-hanky finale, you’ll no longer be a disinterested observer. Drawn in Willis’s skillful storytelling, you’ll be back in 1941, wondering what’s about to happen next." ( The Village Voice)

"Katherine Kellgren's delightful English accent is perfect for the many characters she portrays." ( AudioFile)

“As vivid an evocation of England during World War II as anyone has ever written.... You’ll find here a novelist who can plot like Agatha Christie and whose books possess a bounce and stylishness that Preston Sturges might envy.” ( The Washington Post)

Still Love the Book

Black Out and All Clear is about time travel back to WWII for three time travelers who are doing research and end up getting stuck (not able to return to their own time). They each have their own experience so you get the kids evacuated from London, the London Blitz, hiding in the subway system, the rescue from Dunkirk, and so much more. It's long, but it's definitely a love letter from this author to the WWII era. I've listened several times.

Have to admit that it was hard to keep track sometimes (first listen) of who was where when as one Traveller made 2 different trips and they used fake names, but in the end, it was educational, illuminating, and the scene in Trafalgar Square at war's end - well, felt like I needed to be there with them.

Frustratingly over indulgent. I liked it!

The basic premise of this book, and it's companion predecessor "Blackout" are based on an excellent story idea, but it frustrated me to listen to it. The narrator has a propensity to yell angrily through the many parts of the different characters. I personally don't like arguments and yelling, so it struck me as difficult to bare. Her diction and the multiple character portrayals are quite good though and very believable.

The characters themselves spend an inordinate amount of time feeling sorry for themselves, and going over their regrets and fears over and over. It's hard to tolerate, and it slows the advancement of the plot considerably.

I found myself wondering how and why certain things were happening, though, finally, it all was answered in the final hour of the book. Perhaps I'm just getting old, but the constant jumps back and forth from person to person (many of whom weren't properly identified until the ending) and throughout the various and often unrelated locations and periods of time, was confusing and difficult to follow, but, again, wait until the ending. Perhaps I've lost my patience?

Would I recommend these books? In spite of all my objections and discomforts, yes! Connie Willis has done a masterful job of research into the history of the locations and people of these time periods, and she has a good understanding of the theoretical physics involved in a great time-travel sojourn. She communicates the story and all the information very well.
Just be resolved to wait for the story to be revealed to you at its own pace, like time itself!

Great characters!!

Absolutely LOVED Alf and Binny’s voices! They were so precocious but so endearing at the same time!! Great story :-)
I’m rather sad their isn’t a third part to this story, I’d have liked it to go on.
Best part was the performance. She did such a great job with all the characters....really brought them to life.

Absolutely loved this series!!

I will be adding this series to my list of favorite books, i loved them so much! After days and days of listening to these books i feel like i became friends with each character and I’m a little sad that it’s over. Each person was so unique and well developed and the narrators were fantastic at personifying each one in a way that really made you connect with them. I found the variations in each characters storyline kept me riveted and made it hard to turn off my audible bc i didn’t want to miss anything! (Makes no sense) And thankfully the end was equally well written!! LOVED IT <3

tries to include everything

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

the narrator was the reason I stuck with this flurry of factoids. I think Connie Willis' research overwhelmed the story telling. Little vignettes are well drawn and provides window in what Londoners were like but too many scattered plot lines and places . long stretches of no "conflict" not any character development for all of Blackout and most of All Clear.

Would you ever listen to anything by Connie Willis again?

Yes I think she usually delivers a tighter exciting product.

If you were lukewarm on 'Blackout', don't bother.

I wrote a lukewarm review of part 1 of the Blackout/All Clear set a couple of weeks ago. I was lukewarm towards "Blackout", and thought that while very well written it was more a 'novel of manners' than a science fiction/fantasy action thriller. Not a bad novel, per se, but much slower than what I was hoping for.

"All Clear" is really just more of the same but is a little less bearable than "Blackout" since you've already been introduced to many of the situations and characters. Much of the second half of the novel feels like a reiteration of the first and I often found myself getting frustrated with the characters and author because of the slow pacing. After the first third of "All Clear", I really stopped caring about the plot or story and just wanted it to be over.

Don't bother reading this one even for completion's sake if you found "Blackout" to be relatively tedious. Skip it and use your favorite search engine to see how it all ended.

On the other hand, if you enjoyed "Blackout", then by all means go for "All Clear".

Time travel sci-fi and a fantastic history in one.

Thoroughly enjoyed the pair of books. Gripping and I learned so much about WWII and the Blitz. The personal stories connected with the events makes it far more memorable than any history lesson I ever had.

such fun

I love these books. I wish Willis had devoted more time and detail to Colin's story.

Amazing attention to detail, captivating story!

Really well written/researched story. So detailed, felt like I was there with the characters

Excellent Performance!

As good as the story is, Katherine Kellgren's great performance is by itself a perfect reason for one to listen to these books! She brings the story to life and adds incredible color to the characters. Even as the scenes occasionally devolve into Keystone Kops type slapstick (possibly unintentionally) with back to back to back near misses for the characters, her narration allows one to put up with it and moves the reader to view the story as a whole. The plot holds itself together very well over the two books and the multiple time frame approach pans off very well at the end.
Great series - with warts and all - and all four books, with three plots, are all great ones to listen!