Doomsday Book [Mass Market Paperback]

Connie Willis (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 1, 1993

For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin -- barely of age herself -- finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.

Five years in the writing by one of science fiction's most honored authors, Doomsday Book is a storytelling triumph. Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Connie Willis labored five years on this story of a history student in 2048 who is transported to an English village in the 14th century. The student arrives mistakenly on the eve of the onset of the Black Plague. Her dealings with a family of "contemps" in 1348 and with her historian cohorts lead to complications as the book unfolds into a surprisingly dark, deep conclusion. The book, which won Hugo and Nebula Awards, draws upon Willis' understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

From Publishers Weekly

This new book by Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning author Willis ( Lincoln's Dreams ) is an intelligent and satisfying blend of classic science fiction and historical reconstruction. Kivrin, a history student at Oxford in 2048, travels back in time to a 14th-century English village, despite a host of misgivings on the part of her unofficial tutor. When the technician responsible for the procedure falls prey to a 21st-century epidemic, he accidentally sends Kivrin back not to 1320 but to 1348--right into the path of the Black Death. Unaware at first of the error, Kivrin becomes deeply involved in the life of the family that takes her in. But before long she learns the truth and comes face to face with the horrible, unending suffering of the plague that would wipe out half the population of Europe. Meanwhile, back in the future, modern science shows itself infinitely superior in its response to epidemics, but human nature evidences no similar evolution, and scapegoating is still alive and well in a campaign against "infected foreigners."p. 204 This book finds villains and heroes in all ages, and love, too, which Kivrin hears in the revealing and quietly touching deathbed confession of a village priest.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (August 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553562738
• ISBN-13: 978-0553562736
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.3 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (584 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Connie Willis is an established author of many science fiction books, including THE DOOMSDAY BOOK, and winner of both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award for best sf novel.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

168 of 188 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT - but not for everyone August 22, 2000

By PDXReader

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

_The Doomsday Book_ is one of the most unusual pieces of science fiction I think I've ever read. It's not what you'd typically expect in a science fiction novel - most of the action takes place in the very low-tech world of England's Middle Ages. It's also not really historical fiction. While well researched, the book doesn't flesh out the details enough to qualify in that category either. I guess this book is really just about people and how they react in a crisis. I don't think I've ever been as moved by fictional characters as I have by Ms. Booth's in this novel. No, there's not a lot of adventure here. If that's what you like, you'll hate this book. If you enjoy rich characterization & a moving story, though, you'll love it, even if you don't usually enjoy sci-fi. I read this book perhaps four years ago, and it still sticks out in my mind as one of the best I've ever read. I've bought four copies over the years, because I'll loan it to a friend who will love it so much they'll loan it to someone else, who in turn loans it out...

144 of 161 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFIC TIME TRAVEL TALE... August 8, 2004

By Lawyeraau HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for science fiction, this book is a tour de force that is sure to captivate all those who love time travel themes, as well as those who have a deep appreciation for medieval history. The author masterfully melds these two genres, creating a novel that is riveting and highly entertaining.

The year is 2048 A.D., and a young history student named Kivrin is preparing to do an on site study of the turbulent fourteenth century. Her mission has placed two of the University's professors at cross purposes, as the proponent for this study, Mr. Gilchrist, finds himself pitted against Mr. Dunworthy, Kivrin's mentor, who believes that this trip in time is far too dangerous. Mr. Gilchrist, however, is in the position to have the final say on the project.

Kivrin is scheduled to land in the rural English countryside of the fourteenth century some twenty years before the Black Death savages England. Armed with the knowledge of fourteenth century customs, dress, languages, religious practices, and history, Kivrin is raring to go back in time. When she travels back, however, an unforeseen crisis in the present places Kivrin in a potentially deadly situation upon her arrival in the past.

The book alternates between what is happening in the present and what is happening in the past, as those in the present work to unravel the mystery of what went wrong. Meanwhile, Kivrin struggles to overcome the anomalous situations she encounters that run contra to her expectations. Believing herself stranded in the past, Kivrin artfully maneuvers around the precarious situations in which she finds herself, never losing her humanity despite the horror of her situation, given what went wrong.

Steeped in well-researched medieval life, it is the story of Kivrin's sojourn in the past that captures the imagination of the reader. This is a stunning book that is totally gripping. The spellbound reader will definitely keep turning the pages of this wonderful book, which is clearly written by a master storyteller. Bravo!

209 of 241 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Are we there yet? August 13, 2001

By Anna Keaney

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I wanted to like Doomsday Book. I respected the five years of work that went into it, the Hugo and Nebula awards it earned, and the recommendation by friends. I expected something rich and detailed, something that would draw me in and not want to let go. What I got was a "whole lotta nothing." Had this book been a third of its near 600-page length it might have been a tight, moving story. As it is, the characters have seemingly eons of time to wander through, both forwards and backwards.

The book contains two stories running in parallel. In the 'modern' one (actually several decades from now) Kivrin, a young Oxford historian, is sent back in time to 1320 despite great misgivings by her professor, James Dunworthy. Dunworthy spends the next several weeks trying to make sure she's all right and can return home, a formidable task due to an epidemic that has broken out at the college and a hopelessly ignorant department head who organized the 'drop.' The second story deals with Kivrin's experiences in the past, and her own battles against ignorance and illness. The ever-present questions are, "will Kivrin get home?" "will she die in the past?" "will everyone die in the future?" and "can any of this be stopped?"

When I say "ever-present" that's exactly (unfortunately) what I mean. 200 pages into Doomsday Book I thought that I'd never read so much of so little. 400 pages in, when then modern folks learn an important (and obvious since about page 20) fact about Kivrin's trip back in time, I thought that at last we could move forward. And we did, a little, but not much, and not enough.

So what fills 600 pages? The same questions, over and over again. The same characters, exhibiting the same behavior that they did in their first appearance. The same technical information, repeated constantly. And a minimal story, about two separate epidemics. Even these are reported more as casualty lists than personal reactions to illness and death. Ms. Willis gives us little opportunity to truly inhabit either world, holding us at a distance with endlessly repeated facts. The large group of characters never seem more than one-dimensional props, conveniently there to manipulate the story when needed. The biggest question mark is Dunworthy and his obsession with Kivrin. His colleagues and friends are dying around him and he thinks only of a student, not even his personal student. Why? He doesn't develop this feeling over the course of time; he's plopped in that way and stays so until the end. Nothing changes, the other deaths barely touch him; it's Kivrin start to finish. And we're never told why. I thought at least that we'd be treated to some kind of love story, but no. It just is what it is, another fact we're to accept.

What is perhaps most aggravating about Doomsday Book is that some of the facts it loves are manipulated so as to make little or no sense. For instance, a large part of the book deals with the difficulty of getting someone on the phone, leaving a message, or even finding a phone to use. Dunworthy resorts to having characters wait in his room to take messages for him while he's out. This would seem absurd even today, and I would imagine that in an age where time travel is possible people would not have discontinued the use of cell phones, voice mail, or even answering machines. The Medieval world has incongruities as well, as when Willis describes a landscape after a fresh snowfall, where roads show up as black lines. How is this possible? A) it just snowed. B) Everyone is dead, so no one has traveled lately. C) presumably the plow hasn't just gone through. These roads would be covered in white snow, just like everything else. It's obvious to us, but it's crucial to the story that they be black, so they're black.

The late film critic Gene Siskel had a wonderful question when reviewing a movie; "Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?" I'd apply that here in this form; "Is this book more interesting than the author's research materials?" I'd have to say no; I did learn things about Medieval life, but found myself wanting to read the original sources in order to complete the sketchy picture. Kivrin arrives in the past in a haze of illness, but the fog never seems to clear, and we see little of how this life actually affects her beyond a historical-document feeling. The most ridiculous element is perhaps that she's supposed to be viewed as a saint sent by God to help the locals through this time. This is not shown to us by anything the characters do or say; it's simply stated to us. Without backing it up with actions or reactions it means nothing. It's just another fact, weak and debatable.