Connie Willis - Blackout

[elmwood]

I love the idea of time travel and I think Connie Willis' Domesday Book is one of the best featuring this. So, I was thrilled when I read that she had a new book out, Blackout but, having just finished it, I am a little perplexed to say the least and would be interested to hear from anyone else who has read it

Comments

[eldritchhobbit]

I know what you mean; I almost wish I'd waited until All Clear came out to read them both back to back.

Willis was not happy with the publisher's choice to split the book in half due to its length, and she insists on calling it a two-volume book rather than a book and its sequel. But the publisher won.

While I enjoyed what I read, I missed the lovely parallelism she created in Doomsday Book between the past and the future by alternating between the two timelines. I suppose she thought she shouldn't give away the mystery this time around, though, since obviously something is going badly wrong back at future Oxford. I'm hoping that the majority of the next book will be about this (and, perhaps, the whole unravelling of the time travel project itself, everywhere, which seems to be implied perhaps) to balance out the "historical novel" aspect of Blackout.

Wow, that was a very wordy way of saying, "I agree with you." :)

[elmwood]

Yes! You've cleared up the mystery and articulated beautifully what I felt was missing when comparing Blackout to Domesday Book. I hadn't realised that the book had been split, so the abrupt ending was a surprise. It all makes perfect sense now and I have to agree that I wish that I had waited and read the two books as one.