Book Review: Blackout

Book Review:  Blackout, by Connie Willis

 

The year is 2060, and at Oxford University, a team of historians are studying the Second World War.  This in itself would be quite unremarkable if it weren’t for the fact that these historians weren’t just gathering knowledge from available academic resources, but this is historical study of an entirely different sort.  You see, these historians aren’t just academics, they are adventurers as well.  These historians don’t just write about history, they experience it.  These historians are time travelers!

One of the historians in the story has gone to the area of Dover, posing as an American reporter, to observe the heroes of The Evacuation of Dunkirk, and without intending to, he winds up seeing, and participating in it first-hand.  Another historian has gone undercover as an Irish maid at an English manor to observe the children of war… those evacuees from London, and other larger cities that were under the threat of air raids during The Battle of Britain.  While there, she saves the lives of several children.  Another historian is posing as a shop girl in a London department store, in order to observe the resolve of the people of London as they took shelter during the Blitz.

What those historians learned was important, but not as important as what they eventually found out:  Something was wrong in 2060!  Suddenly, the time travel mechanisms that were supposed to routinely open in order to allow them to either get back home for research or logistics, were no longer operating.  The historians found themselves trapped in 1940 England, one hundred and twenty years from home.

The time travelers were stuck, and all came to the similar conclusion that each should find the other, and perhaps they could use the other historian’s portal back to home… only to find out that all of the portals had failed.

I won’t go into all of the details of the story, because I hope that you will decide to read this book yourselves.  I know that not everyone is into science fiction, but the good thing here is that this story is long on fiction, and rather scanty on the science, so you needn’t be an egghead nor a the kind of person who knows all of the Hugo and Nebula award winners for the past twenty years to like this book.

The author, Connie Willis (who happens to have multiple Hugo's and Nebula's) has done a brilliant job with the story.  The details of England during the early part of the war are great, as is her use of language.  Willis tells the story with great pacing with real feeling.  When I bought this book (via Amazon Kindle… in your face Ipad) I didn’t realize this story would be told in more than one volume, but I am looking forward to the sequel (due out this fall), with great anticipation.

Full marks to Connie Willis, who is my favorite newly discovered author for the year.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure, historical novels, science fiction, or just a plain old “good read”.

NOTE:  This review was not solicited, nor was I compensated for writing it... I am just spreading the good news.