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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
"Awesome, funny (dry British humor) book. A little slow for the first half, but it picks up as it goes."
This was a light-hearted follow-up to the more grim Doomsday Book. Rather than the dreaded plague years, a historian is sent back in time to get some rest in the Victorian era. While there he becomes caught up in a classic Victorian-era mystery with romantic-comedy leanings that turns out to have implications for the future of time travel.
I though the female lead could have used some more development and perhaps some clear motivations of her own.
There were small stretches that seemed dull, but most of it was fun.
I though the female lead could have used some more development and perhaps some clear motivations of her own.
There were small stretches that seemed dull, but most of it was fun.
Breathlessly wacky, this sci-fi/historical/romance/homage ends up being an exploration of how people affect one another across space and time. The writing is light and effervescent, especially the Victorian segments, which makes the conclusion in which our heroes have to mend rifts in time all the more fun. I didn’t read the comic Victorian novel this one’s based on, nor the first book in this series, but I had enough fun to try them both.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Too bloody long by half. And too damn convoluted too; most of the time I had no idea why people were doing what they were doing. If it’d been shorter, it might’ve been fun. A sort of a stab at a Wodehousian sci-fi sorta comedy.
I put off reading this because I was so disappointed in The Doomsday Book, also by Willis. But I shouldn’t have. It’s a delightful read, possibly a too little slow in the start, but once it gets cooking it’s a mystery, a time travel book, a comedy of manners, and it’s all so very Victorian and British. Highly recommend, especially if you liked the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde
Another comforting favorite of mine. Connie Willis has a unique way with words. This book is lighthearted, silly and the antithesis of the first book in the series, The Doomsday Book.
Recommended for anglophiles, people who enjoy literature, people who yearn to say poppycock in context, and anyone who likes to solve problems by throwing them in a river.
Recommended for anglophiles, people who enjoy literature, people who yearn to say poppycock in context, and anyone who likes to solve problems by throwing them in a river.
I've read a few reviews that say this book is repetitive, obvious, and filled with holes.
Pish posh. Rubbish. Pshaw. Also, clap trap.
Willis brilliant at setting a scene--"The waterlillies had pink cup-shaped blossoms, and the rushes were topped with nosegays of purple and white. Iridescent blue-green dragonflies darted between them, and monstrous butterflies flitted past the boat and came to rest momentarily on the overbalanced luggage, threatening to topple it over. Off in the distance, a spire could be glimpsed rising above a clump of elm trees. The only thing lacking was a rainbow. No wonder the Victorians had waxed sentimental about nature."
She manages to pull off lovely comedic observations in a way that reminds me strongly of Shirley Jackson.
Two thumbs up.
Pish posh. Rubbish. Pshaw. Also, clap trap.
Willis brilliant at setting a scene--"The waterlillies had pink cup-shaped blossoms, and the rushes were topped with nosegays of purple and white. Iridescent blue-green dragonflies darted between them, and monstrous butterflies flitted past the boat and came to rest momentarily on the overbalanced luggage, threatening to topple it over. Off in the distance, a spire could be glimpsed rising above a clump of elm trees. The only thing lacking was a rainbow. No wonder the Victorians had waxed sentimental about nature."
She manages to pull off lovely comedic observations in a way that reminds me strongly of Shirley Jackson.
Two thumbs up.
I love everything about this book. The characters are delightful, the humour is perfect, the romances make me squee, and the plot is so solid and so well put-together, it boggles me. The ending leaves me breathless and grinning every time I read it.
It’s the future (2057) and time travel is possible, if not entirely perfected. Ned Henry is fatigued from too many “drops” into the past and returns to the present.Lady Schrapnell pursues her dream to rebuild Coventry Cathedral (destroyed by German bombers in 1940) by obtaining exact details, and particularly the bishop’s bird stump (look that up). The doctor orders Ned to take two weeks of rest so he is sent to Victorian England (1888). The problem is that he can’t rest because there may have been a disparity in the time flow. Ned is joined by Verity and Finch, both on missions, and Ned is sucked into one. When Verity gets accidentally transported to somewhere else, Ned seeks for her and lands in several different time periods due to a possible collapse of the continuum. In the end, the continuum doesn’t collapse, the incongruities have been ironed out, and the bishop’s bird stump, among other things, is rescued. The lesson is that there are now exciting possibilities for retrieving “lost” items from the past.
An entertaining and intriguing story which touches on the theme others have dealt with: if something in the past is changed, how does that affect the present–or does “history” simply repair itself?
An entertaining and intriguing story which touches on the theme others have dealt with: if something in the past is changed, how does that affect the present–or does “history” simply repair itself?
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Part of Connie Willis' Oxford Time Travel series, events are set mostly in 1888, where Ned Henry is sent to vacation and relax for a bit after a lot of high-pressure assignments brought about by a millionaire's funding the organization due to her obsession with rebuilding the Coventry cathedral, and locating a very ugly artifact that disappeared after the cathedral's 1940 bombing. Ned and historian Verity Kindle become embroiled in possibly inadvertently changing history, and the attempts to put things right become almost like the plot of a whodunit.