All Clear

656 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 2010

ISBN:
9780553807677
Goodreads:
7519231

View on Inventaire

2 stars (1 review)

Traveling back in time, from Oxford circa 2060 into the thick of World War II, was a routine excursion for three British historians eager to study firsthand the heroism and horrors of the Dunkirk evacuation and the London Blitz. But getting marooned in war-torn 1940 England has turned Michael Davies, Merope Ward, and Polly Churchill from temporal tourists into besieged citizens struggling to survive Hitler’s devastating onslaught. And now there’s more to worry about than just getting back home: The impossibility of altering past events has always been a core belief of time-travel theory—but it may be tragically wrong. When discrepancies in the historical record begin cropping up, it suggests that one or all of the future visitors have somehow changed the past—and, ultimately, the outcome of the war. Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the stranded historians’ supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, frantically confronts the seemingly impossible task of rescuing his students—three missing …

7 editions

Review of 'All Clear' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Connie Willis has really managed to get into the heads of her characters in Blackout and All Clear. The problem with that is that her characters are anxious, depressed, or disoriented for huge swaths of the books. I think it's a testament to the author's skill that she can convey the feeling of dread and the sensation of being unable to focus because of panic. The balance between fear and relief in these books is heavily tilted towards fear, and I found myself spending most of my time wishing the books were over.