A review by megatza
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

2022 reread: 
 
Mention of plagues, epidemics, and quarantines. Accompanying that is detailed descriptions of illnesses and death. Also, this book is sad. 

Kivrin Engle is determined beyond all measure to travel from Oxford 2055 to the Middle Ages for Christmas. She’s taken all the appropriate precautions: she’s been inoculated against common diseases - even against Plague, despite the fact that she’ll be traveling 25 years before the Black Death reaches England - she’s learned old English and Latin, she’s learned how to think and acte like a well-bred country lady of the 14th century. Her trip is approved, and she takes the journey back. Except Mr Dunworthy, head of the 20th Century Department, is convinced something has gone wrong with the drop. The Medieval department hasn’t taken appropriate consideration for calculations and while coordinates have been checked, Dunworthy doesn’t trust them. But then, the tech who ran the time travel net falls desperately ill with an unsequenced influenza virus, quarantining Oxford and preventing anyone from reading the fix on where in time Kivrin may be. 

I first read this nine years ago, and my 2013 review asks, “why didn’t I read this sooner.” When we first started talking about a plague themed buddy read several months ago, I was so glad that this was the first book we were picking up. Sometimes I find it hard to pick up a 600 page book as a reread, especially one with such dark themes, but I was so glad to have the Plague Novel Pals there to read this with. Originally published in 1992, and the Hugo winner in 1993, it was fascinating to read this two years into our pandemic. I had completely forgotten about the contemporary (2055) epidemic timeline when I restarted this, and obviously quickly saw similarities to our present nonfiction timeline, even down to protestors not wanting to wear masks or watching their travel restricted. I listened to the audiobook this time around, and was blown away by the Old English pronunciations, especially for the names. 

Connie Willis has the best, most complete consideration of the time travel paradox of any writer I’ve read, and she doesn’t shy away from talking about the philosophy behind her theory. If you’re looking for a plague-less entry into her time travel with more whimsy, I’d suggest To Say Nothing of the Dog, or my favorite Blackout/All Clear duology about WWII.

 



Well, that was intense.  I'm pretty sure this has prepped me for a great game of Pandemic. Willis' writing is, as always, remarkably well researched and imagined. I'm left with a few thoughts at the end of the book, but primarily, "Why haven't I read this book sooner," since I studied the Plague in college.
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