BLACKOUT and ALL CLEAR by Connis Willis

Before reading these two books, I had read three books by Connie Willis:  LINCOLN’S DREAMS, DOOMSDAY BOOK, and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG.  I had read and enjoyed her stories in science fiction magazines – this was probably in the ‘80’s  - and my recollection of LINCOLN’S DREAMS is that it was interesting, if not offbeat. 

But she won me over with DOOMSDAY BOOK.  This was a classic time travel story, where a history student in 2048 goes back to the 14^th century, and inadvertently gets caught up in the black plague.  She is stranded in a village where everyone begins to die.  I was very affected by the 14^th century characters.  I liked the book so much that I read it again last year.

Last year I also discovered TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG.  This book is set in the same future world as DOOMSDAY BOOK, but is a lighter tale.  The “past story” takes place in Victorian England.  Willis’ sense of humor is a little offbeat, but this book was very warm and amusing.

Both those books were written in 1990’s.  This year I discovered BLACKOUT and ALL CLEAR.  I’m not sure when they were written, but they are set in the same universe as the two earlier books.  This time, the time travelers are in England during the World War II blitz, and Mr. Dunworthy is still the university’s head of the time travel program, back in England of the future.

These books are two parts of the same story.  Once again, our time travelers are stranded.  This work is neither as heavy as DOOMSDAY BOOK, nor as light as TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG.

Michael has gone back to see the rescue of soldiers at Dunkirk in 1940; Eileen / Merope is a governess for children who have been evacuated from London; and Polly has come back to observe how normal citizens hold up during the bombing of London.  They are all stranded, and eventually find each other.

The books provide a lot of historical detail, which was new to me.  I had no idea how terrifying the London blitz had been.  Willis did a lot of research, and she made the era come alive.

The books also had a number of clever time-traveling twists that I really liked.  If I have any complaint, it’s that BLACKOUT was a little overdone.