Items related to Blackout

Blackout - Hardcover

Book 1 of 2: Oxford Time Travel

Connie Willis

  • 3.86 out of 5 stars
    27,974 ratings by Goodreads
 
9781596063181: Blackout
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1596063181 ISBN 13: 9781596063181
Publisher: Subterranean, 2010

Synopsis

Blackout is the opening movement of a vast, absorbing two-volume novel that may well prove to be Connie Willis's masterpiece. Like her multi-award winning The Doomsday Book, this marvelous new work marries the intricate mechanics of time travel to the gritty--and dangerous --realities of actual 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 a 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 system that is 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.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Blackout is the opening movement of a vast, absorbing two-volume novel that may well prove to be Connie Willis's masterpiece. Like her multi-award winning The Doomsday Book, this marvelous new work marries the intricate mechanics of time travel to the gritty and dangerous realities of actual 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 a 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 system that is 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.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Subterranean
Publication date
2010
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1596063181
ISBN 13 
9781596063181
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
579
Rating
  • 3.86 out of 5 stars
    27,974 ratings by Goodreads