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)

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.

Bedtime story

Would you try another book from Connie Willis and/or Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis ?

I might as well. I've listen to book one in the series, Doomsday book which was excellent in my opinion. However Blackout is kinda boring in comparison and therefore I'll be more hesitant in my next choice of a book by Connie Willis.

What could Connie Willis have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

It lacks some suspension and excitement. Somehow there is nothing going on, mostly chit chat in daily lives of ordinary people, something Connie Willis tries not to disguise in the prologue. This book is simply not my cup of tea and really not mine to criticise as lots of other people like it.

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

Various english accents, specially as old ladies.

Did Blackout inspire you to do anything?

Not really - it helped me sleep though.

Willis creates characters you care about

Blackout is the first part of a two-part series set in the London blitz. I would strongly advise buying both this and All Clear together because Blackout leaves you hanging and you will want to move straight on to the next book. My criticism of the first two of Willis' Oxford time travel series was that they were over-written - too much detail that left me wanting her to just get on with it. I didn't feel this with Blackout - not sure if she has tightened her writing style or I've just got used to it, but this was much better.

Willis' fascination with the London blitz comes over in the book and I started to think about what it must have been like for people living in that time. I warmed to the characters she created, and this was helped by Katherine Kellgren's narration. I wanted to keep listening to find out what happened next. I was surprised when I listened to Willis' introduction to the book to discover that she is American because she seemed to create England so well. There were, however, two factual issues that annoyed me. First, she had multiple matrons in her hospitals when the matron is the nurse in charge of the whole hospital and the term she wanted was either ward sister or charge nurse. Second, there is no way that Oxford University would have a mere "Mr" in charge of their time travel labs. Dunworthy would have been much more credible as Professor.

My only criticism of this as an audiobook is that it switches backwards and forwards between different times and places and while it tells you when and where you are at the beginning of each chapter, I sometimes got a little confused early on and would have liked to have been able to go back to the beginning a little more easily than one can whilst listening to an audiobook when out and about.

I would probably give this 4.5 stars if that was an option.

Action and drama overtaken by mental anguish

I enjoyed the historical perspective, drama, and action in this story, but it was dragged down continually by the incessant internal dialog of the characters repeating over and over and over again their mental anxieties, overly optimistic expectations and mental gymnastics at every decision. I almost stopped listening when this became burdensome, but it was intriguing enough, by a hairsbreadth, to keep me going.

I believe these two could have become one novel without the repetitive litany of internal stream-of-thought.

Endless agonizing but good basics

Would you try another book from Connie Willis and/or Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis ?

Yes but I would have to allow some time to pass - as I did after reading The Doomsday Book before starting Blackout/All Clear (together really only 1 book). The time allows the endless agonizing and repetition to fade in my memory so that I am left with the basically good story.

Would you recommend Blackout to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, but only with the caveat that the story can drag as the characters second guess their every action and miss each other as soon as they are out of sight. Against this is a sound story, some really good characters and good atmosphere.

What about Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis ???s performance did you like?

Very good narrator. Different voices done very well.

Only half a story and very repetitive action

I don't usually read time travel sci fi but I enjoyed Connie Willis's Doomsday Book so much that I thought I would give this book a try, based on the high ratings and the Nebula and Hugo awards. Unfortunately, I didn't like this book nearly as much as the Doomsday Book. The action in this book was so repetitive. Over and over again, the story mentioned that Mike Davies was worried that he had changed history and maybe caused the war to be lost. Polly and Merope were always talking about getting back and wondering where the rescue team was and kept getting stymied in their attempts over and over and over again. But I slogged through the book, hoping that it would at least have a decent ending. Unfortunately, the book ends right in the middle of the story. I'm surprised the author didn't end it in the middle of sentence to get you to buy the next book in the series. I won't be reading the sequel.

Minor point: Why does the picture on the book cover show a squadron of 4-engine bombers dropping bombs? Germany used twin-engine bombers exclusively or virtually exclusively in the Battle of Britain.

Blackout by Connie Willis

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

I very much enjoued this book. I am very fond of time travel stories and their intricacies.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Blackout?

One of the best moments in Blackout was when Polly tries to go home and finds that her portal does not work. Also when the windows of the Department store are blown out and they think they are seeing multiple bodies in the debris but find that they are really the store window mannequins.

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

I loved the performance. The accents were wonderful.

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

Yes, but it is very long and I had to break it up into several days.

A History/Sci-Fi mash up!

Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis – was your favorite?

Binny and Al. Loved them

Any additional comments?

I loved the premise of this book. I liked hearing about WWII history form this point of view. I was drawn it and couldn't stop listening to it. However, at times I was sooooo annoyed with the characters doom and gloom outlook and some of the decisions that were made. Don't get me wrong, I have not idea how I would react if I time travelled to WWII and got stuck but these 20 somethings acted as if they were young teens at times. And the lack of communication?!!? Come on guys! The three of them are stuck there together, why keep things from each other? It's not going to change the circumstances. I guess this is a testament to Connie Willis' writing: She made it very real to me like; I was right there wanting to shake some sense into them.

This book was recommended to me by Audible.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The only hope to have made this a good book would be a compleat rewrite. It seems to have been written for a grade school audience but with adult situations. I could recommend this book to any audience.

Has Blackout turned you off from other books in this genre?

This genre has some wonderful books I would recommend but this is not one of them.

How could the performance have been better?

The performance may not be possible to improve.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Blackout?

Starting at chapter 1 and removing through to "The End".

worth the confusion

Would you listen to Blackout again? Why?

yes, because now i have a better understanding of all the different characters....

What did you like best about this story?

the era it was written about

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

? the accents?

Any additional comments?

It was a little confusing in the beginning trying to keep track of all the different characters that come at you like rapid fire. But the story itself was very good and kept me wanting more.