Doomsday Book cover art

Doomsday Book

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Doomsday Book

By: Connie Willis
Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 One of the most respected and awarded of all contemporary science-fiction writers, Connie Willis repeatedly amazes her many admiring fans with her ability to create vivid characters in unusual situations. With Doomsday Book, she takes listeners on a thrilling trip through time to discover the things that make us most human.

For Oxford student Kivrin, traveling back to the 14th century is more than the culmination of her studies - it's the chance for a wonderful adventure. For Dunworthy, her mentor, it is cause for intense worry about the thousands of things that could go wrong. When an accident leaves Kivrin trapped in one of the deadliest eras in human history, the two find themselves in equally gripping - and oddly connected - struggles to survive.

Deftly juggling stories from the 14th and 21st centuries, Willis provides thrilling action - as well as an insightful examination of the things that connect human beings to each other.

©1992 Connie Willis (P)2000 Recorded Books Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Women's Voices Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Time Travel 21st Century Middle Ages

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Very First Damned Thing cover art
The Stranger Times cover art
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cover art
Outland cover art
Winter World cover art
A Quest for a Highlander cover art
Hyperion cover art
Rewinder cover art
Reamde cover art
Belvoir's Promise cover art
The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez cover art
The Andromeda Strain cover art
Pandemic cover art
Virgins cover art
Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope cover art
Cryptonomicon cover art

Featured article: Audiobooks for fans of Outlander


Looking to fill an Outlander-shaped void? Diana Gabaldon’s popular Outlander series, and the TV adaptations, are full of danger, steamy passion, and Scottish history. We’ve compiled a list of listens for fans of the Outlander series bringing you time travel romance, Scottish historical fiction and more...

Featured article Audiobooks for fans of Outlander

Critic reviews

"Ms. Willis displays impressive control of her material; virtually every detail introduced in the early chapters is made to pay off as the separate threads of the story are brought together." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"A stunning novel that encompasses both suffering and hope....The best work yet from one of science fiction's best writers." ( The Denver Post)
All stars
Most relevant
I could not empathise with any of the characters: they had no back story and minimal characterisation. The effort went into the time traveller’s experience of the Black Death which, even listening to it during this pandemic made me grateful for what I have and desperate for those who suffer and suffered then. But that was it. Quite an irritating book and superficial. I did finish it though probably due to the excellent reading of Jenny Sterlin.

Shallow characters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love the mixture of time travel, history, university politics, science and health in a great story that moves between the middle ages to now in and near Oxford UK. Good main characters and terrific narration too. Very sad to reach the end of it.

Wonderfully swept along with the story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What did you like best about Doomsday Book? What did you like least?

I got a great feel for what it may have been like to live through the Black Death.
Sadly Connie Willis chose to pad the story out with superfluous repetition, no hint of mobile phones in the mid 21st century leading to silly repetitive story lines about not being able to contact people. In a similar vein if we can invent a sub dermal recording device surly a micro beacon to enable "Historians" to find "the Drop" would not have been beyond the ability of engineers that can send people back to 1348. Again this created irritating repetitive fluff that spoiled what was a great story.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the historical parts of the story but then again I'm a real fan of Historical fiction.

What about Jenny Sterlin’s performance did you like?

She portrayed the emotions of the numerous characters extremely well.

Do you think Doomsday Book needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, it ends rather abruptly having raised loads of questions during the plot building about errors and who was at fault for this disastrous "Drop." Additionally more linking the archaeological evidence to the experiences of Kivrin and what other trips do the University staff embark on.

Drop the Telephone spoils a good story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a really good book. A time Travel assignment run by the Mediaeval Dept at Oxford goes wrong from the start. There are two parallel stories, what is happening in Oxford and what is happening in Mediaeval Oxfordshire. There are incidents a plenty in both and despite the background of epidemic/pandemic and some grim situations, with some very moving and emotional scenes, there is also humour and fun, and bells. It has been noted by other reviewers that there are some factual inaccuracies but I didn't mind them even though I noticed one or two, they didn't really detract from the story for me.
I am very late to discovering this author but will definitely be looking for her other books.
The narrator took a little time to get used to but she is good and the characters were consistent and brought to life.
Definitely worth reading.
Overall 5 stars
Narration 4 stars
Story 4.5 stars.

A good start to the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
do not be put off by the old fashioned start to this book as it improves as it goes on and the plot unfolds. I will be searching out another book by this author. Agreat listen

enthralling tale of time travel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews