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Blackout
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Connie Willis
- Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins
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Blackout
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Summary
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.
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 17-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 everyones 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.
BONUS AUDIO: In an exclusive introduction, author Connie Willis discusses her fascination with WWII and the historic context of Blackout.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Blackout is the first volume of a two-part novel. To find out what happens to the time-traveling historians from Oxford, we invite you to download the concluding volume, All Clear.
Critic reviews
- Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2010
- Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2011
- Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2010: Readers' Choice (SF Site)
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What listeners say about Blackout
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Piglet
- 27-10-16
Pleasant read
Where does Blackout rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Mid table
What did you like best about this story?
The time travel mixed with history aspect
What about Connie Willis and Katherine Kellgren ’s performance did you like?
Not really.... a single voice would do. If wanted to listen to a play I would go and watch it
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Almost
Any additional comments?
Over acting with characters voices spoils it somewhat.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 17-09-20
Weird combination of gripping & comforting.
I love these Oxford Time Travel books by Connie Willis, and cannot wait to hear more. Narrator Katherine Kellgren brings something extra too but, unfortunately, it includes a rather bizarre pronunciation of “passenger” and “passage”. This does not spoil the book and she is an otherwise excellent reader - but I don’t think I’ll ever not flinch when she reads those words.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- jaki cole-kelly
- 31-03-11
Excellent listening
This is my second Connie Willis audiobook-it was brilliantly read with an authentic voice depicting the era that the book is set in. A long, well-paced satisfying listen that is very evocative of Britain in the 1940's, especially the parts set in London during the Blitz. There are several different narratives running alongside each other, anyone familiar with Connie Willis' time travel books will know many of the characters and find it easy to follow. I loved it! Am now starting on the follow up 'All clear'.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- W. Mettler
- 24-12-12
Slight disappointment
The quality of narration is very good. Unfortunatelly the content does not live up to the quality of the form. I have listened to a third of the book and now feel that I am probably done with it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. K. I. Richards
- 01-03-14
second world war.
I love time travel books. having listened to to say nothing of the dog etc, and doomsday book I was looking forward to blackout.
I did think the author spent too much time in oxford 2060, which didn't add much to the story, once past that point I thought it was a good book as she concentrated on the people sent back to 1940/44.
the main characters, Eileen (morpe), polly and mike were well written as they carried out their assignments, maid dealing with evacuees, assistant in a store and reporter covering Dunkirk.
there were mistakes in the pronunciation of words and one chapter heading but it is fiction after all.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Brace, Brace, Brace
- 22-05-14
More History than Time Travel
Where does Blackout rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Oh amazing if you have interesting in WW2 London History
Which scene did you most enjoy?
Commander and Saltram-on-sea
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
The scale of human loss during the blitz
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- E Morris
- 05-06-11
Lovely story, shame about the pronunciation errors
I really enjoyed the whole story, but suggest that you obtain 'All Clear' by the author at the same time. As others have written, occasionally the pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired but this can be traded off against the hours of listening pleasure given by the plot of the story. I found the travelling back and forth between WWII and Oxford 2060 surprisingly easy to follow, but occasionally jumps in the story made me wish I had a paper copy of the book to remind myself of links.
If you are a serious historian you will find some portrayals irritating. But for the rest of us, well worth the download.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Alistair Davies
- 15-09-20
annoying mistakes
Not a bad listen, and in places well researched. several annoying errors though... a reference to a five cent stamp for UK postage, a reference to five pence, when it should have been 1Shilling (12 pence). Also, the narrator mispronounced several words continuously, which became annoying.
Poor ending. You need to go straight to the next book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kevin McSweeney
- 03-06-15
Atmospheric
Another excellent story. Even the the very minor mistakes were enchanting. I will buy the next installment immediately and let my Mother who lived through the Blitz in Stepney as a young girl listen to Blackout. The Blitz Spirit did exist but there was also an increase in crime and petty jobsworths and this is shown wonderfully in the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- PrintersPie
- 25-02-11
First of a great pair of books
I have read other reviews of this book and have to agree that one or two words are pronounced wrongly, and they do jump out at you when listening. Two examples that spring to mind are 'Daimler' cars which are wrongly pronounced as 'Dimeler', and worst of all 'passage' which for some reason is pronounced as 'parsage'! Apart from those minor problems, the narrator is excellent throughout, helping to make the story both fascinating and involving for the listener.
The author has researched well, and it is easy to feel involved in the London Blitz. I recently saw some archive photographs of Londoners living through the Blitz and they reminded me of this book - surely a good sign.
I have not finished the follow-up book yet, but I'm getting near the end and will be disappointed when it is finished. You must listen to this book first, and then you will have to listen to 'All Clear' to find out what has happened to all the characters as nothing is resolved by the end of this book.
I recently listened to 'Dune', which was supposed to be a classic of science fiction. I found it to be very hard going, despite the high quality of the audio production. 'Blackout' has come as a refreshing relief with its easy to follow, interesting story. I am rather biased though, as I am a big fan of time travel fiction.
I thoroughly recommend this audio book, even if you are not a science fiction fan.
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7 people found this helpful