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A review by serendipitysbooks
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? No
4.0
Doomsday Book opens in 2054, with Kivrin, a history student at Oxford, preparing to travel back in time to the 1320. However, the drop goes wrong. She doesn’t end up where or when planned. Her mentor Professor Dunmore soon realises this but efforts to rescue her are thwarted by an influenza pandemic.
Although long the story never dragged for me. I was soon very invested in the fate of the people Kivrin meets, especially once the Black Death strikes, exacting a toll far greater and more horrific than her studies had led her to believe. The depictions of the physical suffering the plague caused, people’s helplessness in the face of its inexorable spread, the desperate isolation of being the only person still alive in a village were all conveyed in a vivid, yet not overly dramatic way. Meanwhile the epidemic in 2054 felt all too recognisable - quarantines, insufficient protective wear for medical staff and a shortage of toilet paper!
This is a very quiet book, but one full of heart and humanity. So many of the character will stay with me. Not just Kivrin and Dunsmore but also precocious Colin and Father Roche for his genuine belief, his kindness and his determined dignity. There are no battles and no major bad guys, just people trying to survive and do their best in difficult circumstances. I’m not a huge fan of science fiction/speculative fiction, yet I enjoyed this book. The futuristic timeline is light on world building and the technological details that make time travel possible. Far more attention was given to the details of life in 1348, meaning it felt more like an historical fiction novel than anything else. For me this was a plus; for another type of reader it could be the exact opposite.
Although long the story never dragged for me. I was soon very invested in the fate of the people Kivrin meets, especially once the Black Death strikes, exacting a toll far greater and more horrific than her studies had led her to believe. The depictions of the physical suffering the plague caused, people’s helplessness in the face of its inexorable spread, the desperate isolation of being the only person still alive in a village were all conveyed in a vivid, yet not overly dramatic way. Meanwhile the epidemic in 2054 felt all too recognisable - quarantines, insufficient protective wear for medical staff and a shortage of toilet paper!
This is a very quiet book, but one full of heart and humanity. So many of the character will stay with me. Not just Kivrin and Dunsmore but also precocious Colin and Father Roche for his genuine belief, his kindness and his determined dignity. There are no battles and no major bad guys, just people trying to survive and do their best in difficult circumstances. I’m not a huge fan of science fiction/speculative fiction, yet I enjoyed this book. The futuristic timeline is light on world building and the technological details that make time travel possible. Far more attention was given to the details of life in 1348, meaning it felt more like an historical fiction novel than anything else. For me this was a plus; for another type of reader it could be the exact opposite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship