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)

Alas

As a long time Willis fan, I want to give this story a higher rating but I can't. There are several things I find problematic about the story itself, pace being one of them. It does go on far too long, although often in enjoyable ways. It's a fun read but not her best.

However, I can't fault the narrator. As always, Kellgren does an excellent job.

Well done. Nice follow-up.

Ah yes, back again with those angst-filled historians from the future. I really enjoyed both books. The authors begs, cajoles, emphatically declares that you should listen to the first book first. No, this is not a conspiracy, but rather a well planned out book of historical/science fiction with large, interesting cast of characters. Once again kudos to narrator Katherine Kellgren for bringing everyone alive. Sure, the characters get a little whiny at times but the trauma of war and concern about the future is palpable...listen to both!

Narrator is AMAZING

Katherine Kellgren continually blew my socks off switching between men, women, boys, girls, many American and English accents. I was never confused about who was speaking. Simply amazing talent.

Plus the story was quite good too :).

GREAT book on many levels

This beautifully well written book is the sequel to Blackout which was also wonderful. I'm a bit of a history buff AND a total time travel junkie, so this book scratched both itches very well indeed. Connie Willis puts enormous effort into writing books that are dead on historically accurate and creating characters that feel and behave like real people. I've read a lot of history, but never much about the period of the London blitz. I came out of this book and the previous one feeling that I'd been both thoroughly entertained and well educated. Okay, the science fiction part of this is pretty much a device to move you into a period of history where you remain for the rest of the story. But that's okay. If you are not into the history, you probably won't like the books, but if you do, you will love them. I wish Ms. Willis wrote more. I've read everything she has published and will continue to. May she live forever.

Thoroughly enjoyable

In spite of being difficult to follow the storyline at times due to the tangle of time travel threads, I loved the character development and view into a fascinating period of recent history. I listened nearly nonstop.

Great...

I liked this book as much as the first part, maybe more. The only part I didn't like in either book is the sometime winnienss of the historians. But overall the book is very good. I really liked the everyday lives i historical WWII.

Be Sure to Read "Blackout" first!

The sequel to "Blackout, "All Clear" cannot be enjoyed without reading "Blackout" first because there is too much that the author assumes the reader already knows. It's really one book in two volumes. "All Clear" features Willis' trademark one-emergency-after-another writing that keeps the pace rapid, but is also rather confusing at times and even exhausting. Those poor characters never get a chance to sit down and take a deep breath! I think it might have been less confusing if read rather than listened to, because I failed to take in some of the dates that head each chapter, which were clues to the story. I figured it all out in the end, but wished I'd paid more attention to the dates. Katherine Kellgren (who does such wonderful narration in the "Bloody Jack" series) does an equally wonderful job here, and her verbal style is perfect for the nonstop one-thing-after-another action.

They're still whining

I had hoped that in this second installment that the main characters would not still be frantically whining about their plight...but they are.

The author could have told this story in one book. I just want her to get to the point. If this was a printed book I would have skipped to the end.

A good historical novel

Where does All Clear rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 15%.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Alf and Binny. Seemed like kids I knew growing up.

What about Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis (introduction) ’s performance did you like?

Connie Willis' introduction helped set my expectations for the book: it was not a time travel thriller, but rather a historical novel.
Katherine Kellgren did a wonderful job reading the book. She really gave live to the characters and was very consistent in her voice for each. Truly amazing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I liked the ending the best.

Time Travel in the "Blitz" redux

Second of two books about ordinary people who endured the "Blitz" in London during WWII. The characters more fully developed and we began to love Alf and Binnie, the two child hellions orphaned. Chronology skipped around, so I had to pay attention to when we were. Listening to another 24 hour book was somewhat tedious and I thought the two books could have been shortened. The ending made the listener feel good with mysteries solved and time travelers all in their places.