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)

PLEASE STEVEN SPIELBERG MAKE A MOVIE OF THIS!!!!

This book (and All Clear) are so IMMERSIVE, when they are done i feel as if i have time traveled with the characters!! i am listening to them now, for the 3rd time in a row (after having read them hardcopy) because they are so engaging, exciting, suspenseful, detailed, and every time i find new connections. words cant express how much i love these books.

This is everything I'd hoped for.

I've been waiting for this book for years, and it doesn't disappoint. The story and style are familiar, like an old friend coming to visit after a long time apart. a warning for people who don't know this though-it ends in the middle of the story-the last half will be published in the fall. But then we have that to look forward to.

Wait for Part 2

I love Connie Willis, so I knew that I was going to read her book. I should have read the other reviews first, so I would be prepared for the fact that the book ends abruptly. Apparently part 2 comes out in November, and I would have liked to read it all the way through. I agree that the book is less about time travel than about how Brits made it through WWII, but I was fascinated with the storyline. The stories of various characters interweave with each other, so be prepared for abrupt shifts. I actually found this juxtaposition interesting. I would have given it 5 stars, but for the abrupt "non ending".

Amazing!

I love Connie Willis. Her writing is well-honed and witty. She does her homework when she writes about time-travel. And nobody has done time travel this well since Jack Finney. We were spellbound listening to this book on a couple of long trips. The narrator is one of the best I've heard and the story is so gripping that I don't know how I'm going to last until the next book comes out. We can hardly wait!

Can't wait for All Clear

Avoid this title if you can't stand not knowing how everything turns out. There really isn't any closure. You have to wait for the sequel for that.
I liked the narrator a lot - I prefer audio books read by actors. She's a bit like Jenny Sterlin, who read Doomsday Book.

Interesting premise, poor execution.

The premise, of time traveling historians visiting WWII England, is good. The author provides more than enough interesting detail about life during WWII, and too much intrusive time travel tropes that are not needed to carry the story. In fact it is hard to find a story or to follow it. Which is unfortunate given the great material the writer had to work with.

Great Story, Great Narrator!

At first I wasn't too sure about this book. It just kind of starts in the middle and I guess you've either read the authors other books on time travel to understand her terminology or you have to do what I did and just put up with the confusion until it starts to make sense a little later in the story. The story is interesting well plotted and kept my attention once I got past the beginning. I immediately downloaded the sequel. What I loved best about this audio was the reader! Her portrayal of the characters was so spot on and brilliant. Especially the bratty kids. Perfection!

Blockout

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. #1. It doesn't have a conclusion in this book. #2. It is very repetitive. It takes too long to explain simple things. Too wordy.

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

See above

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

Bennie and Vinnie

Do you think Blackout needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Blackout needs a conclusion in this book.

Any additional comments?

The performance was outstanding! The accents and character changes were excellent.

Could have been edited into just one book

Interesting story, but far too many details. I like a long book, but I felt like Blackout was stretched thin. The story really doesn't get going until the book is nearly done.

A bit of a groaner

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I did enjoy the first book in the series - Doomsday Book. And although I had inexplicably missed the second book, this third installment is bogged down in a number of areas, particularly by a very limited set of character personalities. I also found a lot of the predicaments extremely similar the Doomsday Book.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have liked to see a better variation on the theme of being stuck in the past and not being able to return to the characters' present time. Specifically, the characters get stuck in rather banal and uninteresting predicaments. One example, is a measles outbreak quarantines one character where she doesn't want to be for three months. Sorry, a three month quarantine is not interesting.

What aspect of Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis ’s performance would you have changed?

Kellgren does a limited set of characters very well. However, the characters she is given from the author are limited in their ranges. The children are all misbehaved. The young ladies all slightly befuddled, the older women are almost all severe.

Was Blackout worth the listening time?

NO!

Any additional comments?

This book also had a hanging ending - so their is at least one more book to get through. Frankly this two-book set could have been edited down by quite a bit.

The concept of the series is still sound, but more interesting adventures are needed, and getting stuck in the past with balky time travel technologies combined with under-equipped protagonists gets thin quickly.