Wyndie's Reviews > Blackout

The hype of Connie Willis Blackout fell short. The story sets place in Oxford 2060 and World War II England. This was my first Willis novel and perhaps some of my complaints are due to my lack of knowledge in her description of time travel. I am not clear as to why Dumbledore Mr Dunworthy is frantically sending his 20something historians out to observe WWII England in such a chaotic and disorganized fashion. Their assignments durations and details tend to change abruptly and for no clear cut reason.
The four main characters were portrayed as whining nit-wits with an endless amount of internal diaglogue. A character would mention the fact that they are going to X tube station or X destination, and without fail the historian would internalize with you won't be going there, that place will be nothing but cinder by tomorrow. Yes we understand the historians know just about everything except how time travel works and how they are going to get back to 2060 Oxford. I also grew weary of Willis writing style. Overall the novel was unnecessarily repetitive. The first 75 pages could have been reduced to 20. The historian would have a mundane adventure in 1940's London, travel back to 2060 Oxford, recap the events to a friend; another colleague walks into the room, and then proceeds to whine again to another nitwit historian about the same misadventure. We get it already; no need to continue with the moronic dialogue.

Willis must have done extensive historical research on 1940's England as reflected in her beautifully detailed scenes. These sections read more like a travelogue, which gave little to no momentum to either the plot or characters.

Needless to say I will not be reading the "exciting conclusion."