Blackout

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Connie Willis

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)

Enthralled

Connie Willis delivers another fabulous book. Part of her charm is that her books are written in a sort of Victorian style. She is the most decorated Sci/fi fantasy writer of all time. Other quality Fantasy writers like Neil Gaiman have similar styles. If you are looking for a space cowboy traditonal sci-fi novel then you will be disappointed. If you hate her style that is too bad for you. However, the Nebula and Hugo award panel disagree. This one may not win best novel of the year but it is worth listening to or actually reading.
It is engrossing. Only bad thing about it is that I have to wait until Fall fot the next half.

Great Book, but cliffhanger

I have listened to other Connie Willis books and LOVED them (Bellweather, To Say Nothing of the Dog) so I thought I would listen to this one too. It is a fantastic book and I can't wait for All Clear to be published so that I can listen to the end of the book. It should be out October 2010. I thought the narrator was really good. The history of the Blitz is fantastic. The characters (particularly Mike) do go on a bit about "changing history" but that is really my only complaint. I think that it will get better reviews after All Clear comes out and one is able to listen to the entire story without waiting for a year.

No End In Sight!

I just finished Blackout not realizing that there is absolutely no end in sight. Why did the author choose to end this book here? I have no idea. It makes no sense, except to force the reader to buy the next book. In my mind, the only reason she divided it into 2 books was $$$. There is absolutely no resolution at the end...it just stops! WHAT? Not even a cliff hanger? I'm not sure I want to know what happens that bad and will probably not download the next book at this point. I'm just so disappointed with Willis. Yes, it was interesting but you shouldn't treat your reader this way.

I'd Listen Again (but with reservations)

I liked these books, but don't start the first one unless you are prepared to listen to the second. I would listen to these books again sometime which is my primary standard for any written or audbile book. I go back to the stories I like to walk around in the world the author created. Willis created characters that I liked, that I cared about and that, overall, acted believably.

All that said, I think that these books could have benefited from better editing. Willis, at times, becomes very tedious describing the characters' angst over changing time or each others' welfare. In the second, all clear, there are stream of consciousness sections of characters who have suffered traumatic injuries and who can't keeep events and times separated. Although generally well done, these started to get so tedious that I wanted to slap some sense into the character. However, since I wanted to slap the character instead of the author, I guess Willis did a good job suspending disbelief.

The narration is superb.

couldn't do it

I know that by writing this I am a shame to English majors everywhere, but I couldn't stand this novel. I listened to seven hours before I finally flung my headphones across the room and screamed, "What in the world is going on? What is this book even about?"

So, if you are already a Connie Willis fan, jump in. You'll find more of the same. If you were on the fence with other Willis novels, this one is not going to please you. Her prose is fantastic, but, like always, her plots are mysterious and/or nonexistent.