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Makini Howell: IMG Two Fava Bean Dishes for Spring

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Note: Makini Howell will talk about her journey and new book at Powell's City of Books on April 27 at 4 p.m. Grains, grains, grains. I have fallen... Continue »
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Blackout

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Blackout Cover

ISBN13: 9780345519832
ISBN10: 0345519833
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Awards

2011 Nebula Award

2011 Hugo Award

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In her first novel since 2002, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Connie Willis returns with a stunning, enormously entertaining novel of time travel, war, and the deeds — great and small—of ordinary people who shape history. In the hands of this acclaimed storyteller, the past and future collide — and the result is at once intriguing, elusive, and frightening.

Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE Day. Polly Churchill's next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London's Blitz. And seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can "catch up" to her in age.

But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments for no apparent reason and switching around everyone's schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history — to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.

From the people sheltering in the tube stations of London to the retired sailors who set off across the Channel to rescue the stranded British Army from Dunkirk, from shopgirls to ambulance drivers, from spies to hospital nurses to Shakespearean actors, Blackout reveals a side of World War II seldom seen before: a dangerous, desperate world in which there are no civilians and in which everybody — from the Queen down to the lowliest barmaid — is determined to do their bit to help a beleaguered nation survive.

Review:

“A tour de force...[Willis] is one of America’s finest writers.” The Denver Post

Review:

“This compassionate and deeply imagined novel...gives the reader a strong you-were-there feeling.” The Times-Picayune

Review:

“[Willis has] researched Blackout so thoroughly, her readers may imagine she had access to the time machine her characters use.” The Seattle Times

Review:

“A page-turning thriller...Willis uses detail and period language exquisitely well, creating an engaging, exciting tale.” Publishers Weekly

Synopsis:

The Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author of The Doomsday Book returns with an epic time-traveling story that follows three researchers from the future who are stranded in the past during World War II.

Synopsis:

Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas—to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.
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About the Author

Connie Willis, who was recently inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, has received six Nebula Awards and ten Hugo Awards for her fiction; her previous novel, Passage, was nominated for both. Her other works include Doomsday Book, Lincoln’s Dreams, Bellwether, Impossible Things, Remake, Uncharted Territory, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Fire Watch, and Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. Connie Willis lives in Colorado with her family.

From the Hardcover edition.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 14 comments:
Ingrid de Beus, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by Ingrid de Beus)
Connie Willis one of my desert island authors, and I was delighted that with Blackout, she has returned to the madcap world of To Say Nothing Of The Dog (and Doomsday Book), which is one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. Blackout and its second half All Clear are just as funny as To Say Nothing, plus a giant epic landscape of WWII history, with the kind of ridiculous detail makes me feel like I could walk around London with Blackout in my hand as a guidebook to individual Londoner's experience of the Blitz. The story is also intense, suspenseful and tragic. It's a great time travel story, and it's a great World War II story, and it's a great story about what living through a war really means.
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MK Karni, October 7, 2012 (view all comments by MK Karni)
I love Connie Willis, but it's not a relationship where she can do no wrong. Sometimes she goes over long or belabors a metaphor. Her book Passages is a good example. This book had me worried that she was doing it again, but she pulls it together and leaves off with a real cliffhanger. She's good with page turning plotting and 3D characterizations. Recommended to historical fiction and time travel fans. Can't wait to read the next book!
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Richard Alsen, January 31, 2012 (view all comments by Richard Alsen)
connie willis' blackout, along with all clear (it's really one big novel) was the best book i read in 2011. my hands were shaking; i was reading late late into the night; the suspense was off the scale - there should be a warning on the cover cautioning people taking heart medication. and the resolution was so satisfying, an essential element after the investment of reading such a huge tome; really a wonderful payoff. thank you, ms. willis.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780345519832
Author:
Willis, Connie
Publisher:
Spectra Books
Author:
Willis, Connie, (Ed)
Subject:
Science Fiction - General
Subject:
Historical - General
Subject:
Science / General
Subject:
Science Fiction and Fantasy-A to Z
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
20100931
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
512
Dimensions:
8.32x5.62x1.08 in. .88 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Featured Titles » Genre
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » Award Winners

Blackout Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$10.95 In Stock
Product details 512 pages Spectra Books - English 9780345519832 Reviews:
"Review" by , “A tour de force...[Willis] is one of America’s finest writers.”
"Review" by , “This compassionate and deeply imagined novel...gives the reader a strong you-were-there feeling.”
"Review" by , “[Willis has] researched Blackout so thoroughly, her readers may imagine she had access to the time machine her characters use.”
"Review" by , “A page-turning thriller...Willis uses detail and period language exquisitely well, creating an engaging, exciting tale.”
"Synopsis" by , The Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author of The Doomsday Book returns with an epic time-traveling story that follows three researchers from the future who are stranded in the past during World War II.
"Synopsis" by , Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas—to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.
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