…I am a huge fan of Connie Willis books, especially "Doomsday Book", which will always be in the top of my most memorable books I have read. Those of you who have read "Doomsday",(winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Science Fiction) as well as "To Say Nothing of the Dog" and "Fire Watch", will be reunited with Mr. Dunworthy and his team of Time Travelling Historians from future Oxford.

In 'BLACKOUT', a team of historian's are sent to study/observe the different aspects of the effect WW2 had on the lives of ordinary people who lived through the war in England. We meet Evacuated Children, London Shop Girls, Nurses and many others including the amazing ordinary hero's who attempted to rescue British Troops from Dunkirk, in fishing boats regardless of the Danger to themselves.

Unlike Doomsday, this book does not alternate between future and past, but once the time travelling historians leave their present (2060), the story remains fixed in the early 1940's during WW2 England.

Regardless of the desperate, chaotic and sometimes very frighteningly dangerous situations the Brits and the time travelling historians find themselves in, Connie Willis adds the needed humour now and then.

I felt totally immersed into the story. I felt it was very believable and I learnt how the Brits reacted to the crisis at hand and how life went on regardless. As the famous WW2 poster stated "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" and they certainly did. Meanwhile, the Historians are desperate to return back to the future, but because of what seems to be a technical time travelling glitch they are stranded in a very dangerous time and the fear of changing the course of history is forever present.

NEGATIVES: Yes, 'BLACKOUT' is the first of two books in the series…..Yes, "ALL CLEAR" the second book does not come out till fall….Yes, it leaves you hanging….and sure there are some very "small" flaws in the writing…but hey, get over it! this is a very exciting, suspenseful book which I highly recommend reading.

…I LOVED IT AND I KNOW YOU WILL TOO!… I am pre-ordering the second and last book in the series 'ALL CLEAR' right away.

Connie Willis again returns to her world of time traveling scients/historians with "Blackout" and does another 'bang up' job. I really liked the ideas here, my biggest problem was with the pacing of the story. At least two thirds of the novel deal simply with setting up the character backgrounds of the three main protagonists. The final third seems to really speed up as the three historians deal with some interesting complications (no, I won't spoil it for you...). This is part I or II so it is possible that Willis wrote it as one volume and then it was split for publication. I'm really looking forward to "All Clear" and hope that Part II is like the final third of Part I...

In the year 2040 many things have improved … medicine, literature and even education. In the year 2040 historians are an elite group. They can travel back in time to observe "history" happening first hand. Of course, there are rules to keep the time continuum intact, and history cannot be changed. The time machine has built in mechanisms to prevent these historians from altering history, so what happens when these mechanisms malfunction? No one really knows … until now.
This book centers on the London Blitz during WWII. Although I have not checked, it does appear to be historically accurate and Ms. Willis brings us the personal side of the effects of war through the reader's relationship with her characters. I found the first few chapters of the book a little hectic, but once the characters became clear in my mind and I accepted the time travel scenario everything fell into place and the rest of the book moved along well. The end of the book was a little frustrating for me, but I will not spoil it here for anyone wanting to pick up and enjoy this excellent read.

This is part 1 of 2 (the second part is out in October) but so far so good--I read it in two days. Connie Willis fans, and WW2 fans, won't be disappointed. Great historical detail, likable characters, and a time travel mystery is a-brewing!