Blackout

December 14, 2009
With her trademark understated, eloquent style, Willis expands the conceit of her Hugo and Nebula winning 1982 story “Fire Watch” into a page-turning thriller, her first novel since 2001’s Passage
. Three young historians travel from 2060 to early 1940s Britain for firsthand research. As Eileen handles a measles outbreak during the children’s evacuation and Polly struggles to work as a London shopgirl, hints of trouble with the time-travel equipment barely register on their radar. Historians aren’t supposed to be able to change the course of history, but Mike’s actions at Dunkirk may disrupt both the past and the future. Willis uses detail and period language exquisitely well, creating an engaging, exciting tale that cuts off abruptly on the last page. Readers allergic to cliffhangers may want to wait until the second volume comes out in November 2010.

Starred review from January 15, 2010
Three history researchers, all time travelers from the future, find themselves trapped in England during World War II when they discover that the portals to their own times have disappeared. Setting her first novel since 1991's Passage in the same near-future as "The Doomsday Book" and "To Say Nothing of the Dog", the award-winning author brings an intimacy to her narrative that increases the tension of her characters. VERDICT Willis is a consummate storyteller whose immersive style hooks readers from the start; her latest work, which is being published in two parts (the second volume is scheduled for November), should appeal to a wide readership and be a particular draw for her devoted followers. [Also available as an ebook, ISBN 978-0-345-51964-1.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2010
The British home front during World War II is the focus of Willis third time-travel tale, which follows, in alternating narratives, the experiences of three researchers from 2060 Oxford. Eileen is studying the effects of evacuation on Londons children by serving as a maid at a country manor, where she encounters some really bratty children and is quarantined because of a measles outbreak. Polly finds work as a London shop girl to observe how people behave while sheltering from the Blitz in basements and tube stations; she barely escapes a bomb herself. Mike, masquerading as an American reporter, watches the small boats evacuating the British army from Dunkirk but is dropped miles away from his destination of Dover and ends up at Dunkirka divergence point that could alter events. All three experience some slippage in passing through time and discover that their ways back to the twenty-first century dont open. Each struggles to find the other two, for together they may figure out a solution. On par with Doomsday Book (1992), Blackout depicts the times and the spirit of the British people remarkably vividly, and bits of comic relief leaven any somberness. Characterizations of the historians and the Brits they become close to are multifaceted and believable, and the ending leaves us keenly primed for the sequel, scheduled for November 2010 publication.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)