Book description
BLACKOUT is the opening movement of a vast, absorbing two-volume novel
that may well prove to be Connie Willis' masterpiece. Like her
multi-award winning THE DOOMSDAY BOOK, this stunning new work marries
the intricate mechanics of time travel to the gritty - and dangerous -
realities of human history. The narrative opens in Oxford, England in
2060, where a trio of time traveling scholars prepares to depart for
various corners of the Second World War. Their mission: to observe, from
a safe vantage point, the day-to-day nature of life during this critical
historical moment. As the action ranges from the evacuation of Dunkirk
to the manor houses of rural England to the quotidian horrors of London
during the Blitz, the objective nature of their roles gradually changes.
Cut off from the safety net of the future and caught up in the chaotic
events that make up history, they are forced to participate, in
unexpected ways, in the defining events of the era. BLACKOUT is an
ingeniously constructed time travel novel and a grand entertainment.
More than that, it is a moving, exquisitely detailed portrait of a world
under siege, a world dominated by chaos, uncertainty, and the threat of
imminent extinction. It is the rare sort of book that transcends the
limits of genre, offering pleasure, insight, and illumination on
virtually every page. Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis has won, among
other awards, ten HUGO Awards and six NEBULA Awards for her writing. She
lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor
of physics at the University of Northern Colorado.
