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)

Exactly what I expected after Doomsday Book

I skipped over "To Say Nothing of the Dog", and jumped right to Blackout & All Clear.

The novel is what I expected from Willis: Historical fiction masquerading as science fiction. I find that the bits that occur in Oxford of the Future don't interest me... mostly because they are tacked on as an afterthought. This would normally bother me, but I enjoy Willis's exploration of war-torn England, so I just let it go.

Willis does an adequate job keeping me interested, though as a I reflect on the book, I'm at a loss to say why. The sense of peril she's trying to create never quite solidifies. And she overplays one dramatic plot device over and over.... I won't say which one--but you'll know it when you see it, and see it again, and see it again...

I was invested and interested enough in the story to continue on to "All Clear", which I have made a dent in as off this writing. Regardless of how she wraps of the story, I can't deny that I did enjoy Blackout.

As always I'm surprised that Willis sucks me in. Doomsday Book felt like a bait and switch-- promising sci-fi and delivering historical fiction. I knew what I was getting into this time and opted in anyway. I don't regret it.

The book WOULD be stronger if Willis was ALSO interested in the nuances of time travel... but she is not. They are a device she uses to get the characters she wants WHERE she wants them, but the mechanics of time travel are never explored beyond wondering why the drops are always a bit wonky.

Mixed Emotions

I'm just not sure still if I liked this one or not. To say I was disappointed at the ending is an understatement, but at least I knew that going in. But dang. Slam bam and you better get the next book if you want to learn what happens. There is no reason why this book could not have stood on it's own - at least a little, with a continuing story. But hey, like I said I knew that going in.

It took me a bit to figure out what was going on here, I think partly because of the narrator. I'm not one for English accents so it took some getting used to for me. But an interesting plot started to develop and I got pulled in. Nothing overly complex and the author tells a good yarn, but, and this is a pretty big but, she does not know when to move on. Way to many mini crescendos that went no where. "He should be there at 9am, but he was not, but maybe at 4pm, nope not then either, well maybe tomorrow"....guess again. Gee I wonder why, let me analyze it, and analyze it again, and again and maybe one more time for good measure. A few times I almost screamed out my window. The title of the book might be better called "Beat a Dead Horse".

So why did I give it 3 stars then? Well that's the odd thing. There was a good story here and at times it moved along well and I enjoyed listening.

Enough to listen to the next book? Well that's the big question. I do want to hear what happens, but I just don't know if I can invent the time. The reviews lead me to believe I will again be frustrated. So for now I am taking a break to shake the cobwebs out of my head, but I think I will one day come back because as much as I hate to admit it. I liked the story and want to know how it ends.

So this review might not help you all that much, but it's pretty dang accurate - I think.

Stunning...

Along with the sequel/second volume, it's an absolute masterpiece. Fascinating historical details for those interested in WWII also...

Promising premise, disappointing execution, frustrating cliffhanger ending

I was intrigued by the time traveling theme mixed with historical fiction, but I feel like the author took it nowhere. I was so hopeful it would finally get going, and when it finally did, about 13 hours in, it was an incredible disappointment to have the story end in a cliffhanger! Buy the next book to find out what happened? Come on, you couldn't edit out the senseless train schedule details and logistical foul ups to allow for a proper conclusion? I was disappointed.

Great - once you get into the past

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This took a little to get into, but I stuck with it and am glad. At the start - the setting is the future..and while they have access to time travel and knowledge implants, it seems they don't have cell phones, computers, bluetooth, schedulers or any other normal technology. They are constantly running to phones and between buildings. Very odd depiction of the future for a book written in this century. When they get into the past however, the book is wonderful.

Would you be willing to try another book from Connie Willis? Why or why not?

I have sequel...will listen to that soon.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

once it got moving.

Blackout and Allclear

Blackout and Allclear are really part one and two of the same novel. There is no resolution in Blackout without reading Allclear and you cannot read Allclear without reading Blackout. I really enjoyed them and it is clear that the author has drawn on an immense amount of research of WW2. Although every now and again I thought that they moved a little slowly, and the stories might have done with an edit to bring them to 80-90 percent of their current lengths. I am not sure what other people have thought in this regard but I wouldn't let this comment put you off. Overall enjoyable and good performance.

Thrilling History

Would you listen to Blackout again? Why?

Yes. It was really interesting, and so much happened I'm sure I missed some things.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

They wanted to experience history; they got more than they bargained for.

Any additional comments?

I read the first two books in this series (Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog), and I recommend reading the series in order. You can technically get by without reading the earlier books, but you'll have a greater understanding of the time travel technology/processes if you do. This book is almost all action in the past.

Note: This book is really just Part 1 of a two-part series. The other book is All Clear.

Narration Transforms Story from Great Read to A++

What made the experience of listening to Blackout the most enjoyable?

The distinct English dialects

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Hodbin children came to life in an unexpected way. I read this book years ago but my own inner voice did not do justice to the story.

What does Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The conversations that take place in this book are all between English people. I was astonished to discover that Willis is American. Amazing characters but in my own voice, not nearly as colorful.

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

The antics of the Hodbin children. I just wanted more and more of them.

Any additional comments?

With everything going on in the world right now, rediscovering this book took me away from what I consider an "American Blitz" - much like the characters escaping into Agatha Christie, I thank the writers and performers for the temporary reprieve.

Brilliant!

Love, love, love this story & performance! This is a must listen for anyone who enjoys time travel, history, or just a really well-told story.

Historically Brilliant & Fictionally Meandering

The Story:
“Blackout” & “All Clear” continue the story of Oxford historians who time travel, this time to the England during WWII. On this journey something goes dreadfully wrong and the historians are trapped in the past, desperate to get back, all eyes are on Polly who’s impending “deadline” is a race between life and death. Switching between three POV’s, the books work as a first hand view of London during the bombing, filled with many historical surprises along the way. This first book (“Blackout”) sets up the second book (“All Clear”) to shore up personal loose ends, avoid mucking up history, and to get our heroes back to the future.

The books were incredibly well researched, mining the mundane details, that during wartime are anything but mundane. From tube stations to small fishing villages, working as a shop assistant to Operation Fortitude & Bletchley Park the book is brimming with experiences from the time. Connie Willis has dug deep and pulled together a wonderful setting of people coming together, in a very understated way, to stand up to Hitler and the Jerrys.

While well researched and uniquely set-up with the previous installments, these books (especially “All Clear”) suffer from monotonous and often pointless dialogue. A great deal of “All Clear is spent hypothesizing on their situation, which gets quite tedious and doesn’t move the story along. Most of the time the characters ignore logic for their situation and instead come to the most unlikely assumptions.

The first book begins with a confusing, and somewhat, haphazard set-up in 2060 Oxford, that eventually smooths out once everyone is in the past. Once the characters are established and the adventures begin, the book picks up steam quickly, opening the world to many possibilities. By far, the last 2/3 of this book was the highlight of the series. Unfortunately, the main characters feel flat compared to the supporting characters, in particular the Hodbins and Sir Godfrey who have some laugh out loud moments in the books.

The second book opens with the characters beginning to work out their situation, which bogs the entire story down with dialogue that doesn’t move the story. Near the middle of this book there’s a big sequence of action that, while exciting, doesn’t build and feels a bit pointless in the grand scheme of the books. The ending of the book proved to only partially satisfy the whole journey.

If you read “To Say Nothing Of The Dog” or “Doomsday” you will be ready for Connie Willis’s approach to storytelling. While in these big historical moments, it’s really about the little details and the people we meet along the way, that make life worth living no matter when we are. Having Mr. Dunworthy & Colin along for part of the journey is fun but unfortunately they’re used as deus ex machina rather than an intrinsic part of pushing the story along.

The Narrator:
Katherine Kellgren is fantastic for this story. She mines the humor, raises the stakes and does her best to bring these characters to life. She’s not one to take on voices, which I prefer, and still finds many ways to bring out the most in the moment.

The Sum:
After spending nearly 43 hours, across both books, my journey was a mixed bag. If your interested in a different perspective of England during it’s finest moment, this book has many avenues to explore. In fact the main characters are vessels for this exploration, just don’t expect them to leap off the page. The pacing is a bit slow, something I don’t mind, but the tedious dialogue about their situation really took away from the flow of the story and me liking these characters. Well narrated, with some enjoyable and laugh out loud moments, the story doesn’t deliver completely on it’s potential but it’s not a dead fish by any means.