Connie Willis' New Books, Blackout and All Clear

[fclbrokle]

Last night, I finished All Clear, the follow-up to Blackout, which together comprise one very long new book from Connie Willis that had to be split in two. The premise of these books --- and several others that she has written --- is that time travel has been invented sometime in the mid-2000s and historians from Oxford use it to travel back in

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

Oh, hey, this isn't remcat posting again about this set of books (which she did last week), it's you. :)

I have only read To Say Nothing of the Dog, but both of your mentions of the others makes me want to go out and read them. Er, when I have time for such a thing.

[fclbrokle]

Haha. You should give it a go! They're certainly interesting and fun. (Although I personally like Dog much more than Doomsday.)

[fclbrokle]

(I should add that this is not a majority-held opinion, btw. Most people really like Doomsday.)

[secret_panda]

So when I was in Panama, I was utterly desperate for something to do in the evenings that didn't involve electricity and thus was reading anything I could beg/borrow from any nearby expats, including a book by Stephen Fry that was truly horrendous but is born of precisely this genre, similar enough so that when I first glanced over this post I was worried that you were talking about that book. They are interesting themes, and I'd be curious to spend some time with decent examples of these ideas.

(Sorry -- it's not often that I get to tell stories of ridiculous but _non_-dangerous things that I did in Panama.)

[fclbrokle]

Haha. Then you should certainly read these books, or at least try them!

i've kept this post in mind for a few weeks

[schnerf]

Just finished All Clear last night so now I'm ready to comment

Re: i've kept this post in mind for a few weeks

[fclbrokle]

Hmmm, interesting. Perhaps I'm exasperated because I'm not a worrier. It just felt like, while their situation was dire and I understand their position, they threw out all their training in their worrying. Ah well.

As to the hopeful notes in Blackout: honestly, I don't remember them! I'd be very curious what you noted.

As to religious: have you read Passage? I think that Willis is somewhat spiritual or something of that ilk. She doesn't believe in God, I think, but does write frequently about a universe with some kind of great meaning/sentience/something. It's an interesting perspective and a fun one for me to read about.

Blackout

[anonymous]

I came online to comment on this book, so thanks. I will agree the research was excellent, and for some reason I cant explain, I couldnt put it down unfortunately. I havent been so frustrated with a book in awhile. At the end I wished I had never started it. I kept looking for reasons she got into such details about points so insignifigant to the overall story, and my search for meaning was fruitless.
I took a chance reading this as it is outside what I normally read, and will not make the same mistake again. I do not recommend this book, my struggle to get through it was a complete waste of time.

Re: Blackout

[fclbrokle]

That's a shame! Still, I understand your frustration. I didn't mind tangential points as much because I was interested in the research, but I certainly see your points.