Doomsday Book [Audio CD]

Connie Willis (Author), Jenny Sterlin (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: RecordedBooks (1993)
• ISBN-10: 143612106X
• ISBN-13: 978-1436121064
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (522 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,153,710 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

151 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

PDXReader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doomsday Book (Mass Market Paperback)

_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...

124 of 139 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Doomsday Book (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!

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This story follows you even after you put it down, August 6, 2000

By 

Nancy R. Woodington - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doomsday Book (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Doomsday Book" is an astonishing, gripping, stunning intertwining of time travel with two possible doomsday scenarios, one in the mid-21st century, the other the real Black Death of 1348-49 in England. The student historian Kivrin Engle wants to go to the Middle Ages, and she's supported by a thwarted medievalist, Gilchrist, who finally gets his hands on the power to send her there. Willis kills off quite a few sympathetic characters, in the remorseless fashion of Renaissance tragedy. Others survive, though changed by the action, in the best tradition of comedy. In some ways it's frustrating to read, because almost all the "good" characters are themselves terribly frustrated, but after the first hundred pages this thing is almost impossible to put down. On the 21st century side there are a lot of light, even farcical, touches (for example, the pressing need for "lavatory paper,' and William Gaddson's ability to attract any number of young women) that relieve some of the inevitable grimness enjoined by the circumstances. I read this book, despite its length, in a 24-hour period, and cannot get it out of my mind. The detail is wonderful, the plots are wonderful, the morals strike deeply. What a book!