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)

Didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would

The story is slow moving and very WWII detail oriented. It took me a long time to get the characters straight and then it really wasn't until the end of the book that I got interested in the plot. I don't know if I will download the next book.

Too drawn out.

I enjoyed other books by Connie Willis, so I thought I’d give this a listen. The story and the references were good to very good...however, the repetitive self- questioning by these supposedly seasoned time travelers became quite tedious. It was almost as if Ms Willis was told by her publisher to stretch an 8 hour book into 12. I really must think hard about reading the follow up to this one.

Very Good Story

Enjoyed everything about the story and have minor complaints especially about the ending which had severe pacing and confusing arcs.

Overall highly recommended!!!

A two book series

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

Being told up front this was just the first book in a two book series. The characters in the book just seem to whine about their problems. It seems that is what the whole book about. There is an interesting concept with time travel, but these characters just don't seem to get it at all. Throught the story they just wander around, whining about their problems, and wishing for someone to come help them. Not a good story, and through in some really bad characters and you don't have a good book.

Not Worth The Credit

I'm a long-time fan of Connie Willis but this 'new' story is kind of a run-on from her past time-traveling tales. The character development is stunted by the fact that they seem to run in circles looking for a drop, and are in a constant state of confusion about what is happening around them. It was like a loooooooong anxiety dream that wasn't helped any by the narrator's high-pitched, semi-hysterical tone. The only thing that kept me listening were the two brats--they made me laugh! Really unhappy with the way the story cut off in mid-action and the conclusion will require the purchase of another book. Won't happen...can live not knowing what happens to the characters. Don't waste a credit on this book!

Awful

First book read by Willis. I'm a hard science fiction fan, and the blurb sounded pretty good. Started listening on a driving trip and had to turn it off after an hour. Technically insulting (historians in the future need implants to speak "American" but actors can do a pretty good job of this now) and the reader makes the story sound Dickensian instead of post contemporary. The story line sounded so good...

I stopped listening in the middle

What disappointed you about Blackout?

The plot is progressing very slowly I was bored after few hours

What was most disappointing about Connie Willis’s story?

I red several of her novel including the previous ones on the time travel but they were more interesting.

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The narration is good, the problem is probably in the story

Disappointed

I had really enjoyed Connie Willis' other books, especially "To Say Nothing of the Dog" but "Blackout" was a real disappointment. The storyline was very disjointed and I got really sick of the characters jumping to conclusions and of course, being wrong. The format here was along the lines of "The Doomsday Book", but without the tying in of historical events and what was happening in Oxford in 2060.

Disappointed

I simply couldn't stay with it. I kept waiting for it to get started.

Tedious

Loved the first book and couldn’t wait to read the others. This one was tedious. A list of dates and times of bombs dropped predictable plot and under developed characters. Didn’t care. Returning book. Voice of narrator felt like she was yelling for dramatic effect.