Blackout

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Connie Willis

Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

In her first novel since 2002, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Connie Willis returns with a stunning, enormously entertaining novel of time travel, war, and the deeds - great and small - of ordinary people who shape history.

Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE Day. Polly Churchill's next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London's Blitz. And 17-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can catch up to her in age. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments for no apparent reason and switching around everyones schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.

BONUS AUDIO: In an exclusive introduction, author Connie Willis discusses her fascination with WWII and the historic context of Blackout.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Blackout is the first volume of a two-part novel. To find out what happens to the time-traveling historians from Oxford, we invite you to download the concluding volume, All Clear.

Listen to Connie Willis and Carrie Vaughn: A Conversation. And listen to All Clear.

©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)

“If you're a science-fiction fan, you'll want to read this book by one of the most honored writers in the field; if you're interested in World War II, you should pick up Blackout for its you-are-there authenticity; and if you just like to read, 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)

Slightly disapointing and long winded

I realy liked Doomsday Book, and loved To say nothing of the dog. Blackout though leaves me wanting - wanting the story line to come together, wanting to get away from the narrators over dramatic reading style, wanting an abridged version of this book. I mean do you really need three story lines that boil down to "Im lost in the past and cant get home" Be warned while this is a good story it is massivly over detailed yet incompleat.

Well done

This book does such a lovely job of exploring the feelings of the ordinary people who suffered through the blitz of England during WWII. Most books of the era are military in nature and are not about the people who had to ride out the blackouts, the bombings, the devastation of their homes and lives, the uncertainty of anything except that the bombs would continue to come. The narration is fabulous and the story kept me wanting more. There's a sequel to come in the fall and I can't wait for it!

Excellent in every way

Beautiful narration, wonderful evocation of the era. I did not find it confusing, but rather exciting and absorbing. Yes, it was an abrupt end and I didn't realize it was the first of two parts, but I'm so glad it wasn't wrapped up in some trite way. I'll be thrilled when the second half is published.

Just Riveting

I'm well into the listen and am entranced. I know it's a two-parter and that it contains many of the themes and characters of Willis' previous novels--and that's fine for me. The breadth of characters and points of view are complex, but manageable in the listen with the different accents of the narrator. Looking forward to savoring the remainder. It keeps me going at the gym. . .

Blackout and all Clear

This is a joint review of Blackout and All Clear. They must be considered together as one long novel, as neither one can stand
alone.
Basically, the books are follow the same concept as "Doomsday Book" and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog", where in 2060 time travel exists, and Oxford University sends historians back in time to observe. Here, our historians are visiting various destinations in World War II, but mostly in London during the Blitz.
The length allows the author to pull you deeply into the story and the setting, You really get a sense of what it must have been like to fall asleep in the shelter or the tube station at night listening to the bombs, and then surface in the morning, stop at home if you're lucky (and if your home was still standing) and hurry off to work despite the destruction in whatever neighborhood was hit the night before. I was moved by the story, and I've been drawn into learning more about the Blitz due to this novel.
The characters are not perfect. Yes, they sometimes whine, or make foolish choices, or hide things from others that they should reveal. However, they are caught up in a terrifying situation and can be forgiven their mistakes.
Connie Willis' time travelling setting needs to be your cup of tea. If you don't want to hear anything about time travel, this is not for you. There is also a "comedy of errors" aspect, involving misunderstanding, mistaken identity, just missing someone at a critical moment, or being delayed at an inconvenient time. It happens a lot, and some people find this repetition annoying. I find it amusing, at least the way Willis does it. For instance, they have time travel in 2060 but no cell phones, so in Oxford there's a lot of running around trying to find people who are running around trying to find other people. You also meet a lot of characters and you don't know where they fit in. You just have to lose yourself in the setting. For most of the second book, I could not put it down. Well worth the credits.

Instant Favourite!

The first time I read this book in 2010 it was an instant favourite. After reading it for the second time in 2014 I find it’s just as solid; I am not as head-over-heels for it as I was the first time, but it’s still a great read!

The research on life in London in World War Two that went into the book is impressive, and I never felt like I was suffering through the “author showing off their knowledge syndrome” that you can find in many books. The scenes and characters were authentic, entertaining, funny, and their stories were riveting, interesting and (despite the fact that this is a Time Travel story) completely believable thanks to the seamless inclusion of all that research!

My only complaint about Connie Willis’ 2060 world is that it’s too mechanical. For example: people needing to get messages to others in a hurry (no texting???), or need to pick up papers and forms before the office closes (can’t print from a Website???). I had the same reaction this time as when I first read it: Was this intentional or was the world conjured up in the 1980s?

Great story

Time travel and the revisiting of a few characters we've met in some of Connie Willis's other books are the initial hook. But that is sidelined by the absorbing story of how the British coped with World War 2. One of the best narrators I've listened to polish off both this and its continuation (the book All Clear).

Dark but Lovely

This story is not a madcap rush like many of Connie Willis's books are. Instead, we get stuck in WWII London with 4 time traveling historians and experience the horror and shock of the bombing raids, the deprivation, the worry, and everything.

This is an exceptionally strong story from Willis, and will leave you hanging for the sequel.

Where's the end?

This is a riveting story and I can't wait to hear the rest of it! However, it is NOT ( and should not be billed as) two books. Blackout has no ending. It does not even have a resolution of the situation. It is a wonderful story, and I would encourage anyone who likes this genre to give it a listen. Katherine Kellgren is amazing. I am now about to listen to All Clear. But really it is one two-part book, and should be sold as such. Love the story, love the characters. Will definitely purchase more of Connie Willis' work, as long as it has an ending. Do I feel cheated? A bit!

O M G

Full of history, full of suspense, absolutely fantastic narration. The research Ms Willis has done to weave this story makes this believable. I love the three main characters Polly, Eileen and Mike. I am continuing right into All Clear, I can't imagine if I had to wait for the next book. I also have learned many things about WW II. I think this is my all-time favorite time-travel story.