Customer Reviews

The Doomsday Book

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_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...

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!

"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!

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.

"Doomsday Book" is probably the best book I've ever read. It occasionally still drives me nuts waiting for the real action to start, but every time I re-read it I discover something I missed. The writing alone is worth reading just to be enjoyed, even during the slow beginning.

I read an incredible amount of historical fiction, and Doomsday Book is one of the only books I've ever read that sounded authentic. For once the medieval characters really seemed medieval, not just 20th century people in costumes. Also about the characters, the reviewers who say they seemed flat must not have been paying enough attention! Sure, a lot of the characters (Gilchrist and Latimer especially) were archetypal. But they all still had enough personality of their own to be very real people. Gilchrist and Latimer almost became sympathetic characters at the end when you realize that they were vulnerable too, which is quite a feat considering how they start out. Several, like Father Roche and Eliwys, are not easily categorized at all. Father Roche was a typical saint-like figure but still was human enough to have carnal thoughts about Kivrin and shout at Imeyne. Eliwys was a loving mother but, firstly, never resolved her feelings about Gawyn (notice the scene where she sends him to Bath to get Guillame) and, secondly, had her own problems and priorities and could sometimes be snobbish or cruel, unlike most stereotypical good mothers. You can also see the family resemblance between her and Rosemund just clearly enough to make it interesting. Connie Willis's people are *human*. They do make dumb mistakes and have personality flaws, just like the rest of us.

But what really makes the book great isn't the characters or the story, but the writing. Anybody can write a book about a bunch of medieval villagers, but only Connie Willis could have written the scene where Rosemund dies. It just rips me apart every time. Also the scene where Father Roche quotes Romans to Kivrin after they bury Agnes, when he tries to help her stop being angry at God. And who can read "You are here in place of the friends I love" without crying?

What a great book. Everyone should read it. It really does a great job of showing how much all people have in common. It's a nice change to read a SF book with real people and themes in it, not just stereotypes of good and evil and everybody getting exactly what they deserve in the end.

I should start by saying science fiction is not my usual genre. I have recently been reading historical fiction, and the reference to the Middle Ages in The Doomsday Book is what drew me in. After reading the book, what strikes me most are the parallels I believe the author was attempting to draw between the 14th and 21st century. Not only does she lay the story lines side by side in alternating chapters, but the literary imagery of the ringing bells and ever-present weather in both centuries unifies the opposing times. It might seem that the 21st century, with its technology, in time travel and communication, it's virtual eradication of most diseases, would have little in common with the superstition and ignorance of the 14th century. Her characters, however, in both centuries, display many similar characteristics. There is lust, passion, jealousy, greed, and thirst for power. Listening to Lady Imeyne, I found myself saying, "That's Mrs. Gaddison." And when both centuries are beset with mysterious and terrifying diseases, reactions of fear, panic and misunderstanding are common. The protesting students with placards of the 21st century are the doomsayers of the 14th. What makes us fully human, our wealth of emotion, is ageless. But within ourselves is also hope, love, compassion and bravery, the Father Roches and Mr. Dunworthy's of the world. There is the innocence and wonder of Agnes and Colin. The human spirit has a remarkable ability to survive devastation, and that is for me, the message of The Doomsday Book.

How do you gauge the success of a book... Try reading it years ago, packing it up in a box, stumbling across it unexpectedly years later, and recalling the haunting beauty of it immediately.

Doomsday is not a standard novel. It does not fit into a standard genre, but it does tell a marvellous story that is moving, thought provoking, and ultimately truly memorable. The medieval people are particularly good - I agree with the reviewer who said that for once these were not 20th century people in fancy dress, but you really got a glimpse of how humans from a different time may have thought. What imagination and what a gift it is to read it!

Not only is this a wonderful book, it improves on rereading. for a few dollars and you get a new way of looking at the world - what more could you ask for...

read and enjoy,

amf

I love this book. I have read it dozens of times, and every time it rips at my heartstrings. So many reviewers have sung its praises that there's almost nothing they haven't already said, but some things bear repeating.

If you are tired of time-travel books where all the characters exhibit contemporary philosophies and politics, this book is for you. If you like a good, gut-wrenching cry every now and then, get your Kleenex ready. If you've ever wondered how a carillon-ringing group works, then by all means dive right in.

The basic plot of the book is fairly simple by fantasy standards. A modern university student is sent through time to the era of the Black Death, while pestilence sweeps her own era. The action switches back and forth between the two time periods. It sounds basic, but the unparalleled character development and unflinching look at the hardships of life in any century make this book truly unforgettable. Connie Willis's characters are flawed, funny, angry, *human* people who will suck you in to their world without apology.

I just cannot praise this book enough. The historical accuracy, gripping plot, and generally outstanding prose make it a must have for any reader, not just a fan of sf/fantasy.

I'm not a particularly fast reader, but every now and then I'll amaze myself by reading an entire book in a day. These are usually shorter books. Doomsday book, being about 600 pages, doesn't quite fit into this category but I just absolutely could not bear to put it down and wound up reading the entire thing in a single sitting.

Absolutely wonderful - you feel as if you've been transported back into 14th century along with Kirvin - a complete escape from reality! Wonderful characters, fascinating learning about a completely different time.

Connie Willis is not your typical sci fi writer (as several reviewers often complain about on her books) -- but my feel is that a good book is a good book, regardless of genre. Personally, I enjoy science fiction because it takes you into worlds completely foreign to the one that you live in. While this book takes place primarily in the past rather than the future, it certainly succeeds at showing you a life completely foreign to what we live in today. I think it's a wonderful book, I'm sorry some people were so put off by what time it took place during.

Having found "To Say Nothing of the Dog" to be one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read, I decided to try another of Connie Willis' books. This turned out to be "Doomsday Book". All I can say is "Wow!" This is an incredible book. Much darker and more serious than "To Say Nothing...", the book is gut-wrenching, thrilling, thought-provoking, and ultimately quite touching (and at times, there's even a little humor). The basic plot: time travel puts a young researcher in the Middle Ages, perhaps on the eve of the Plague. Willis gives us two parallel stories, both involving epidemics, and the reader races toward a finale that I found sobering and uplifting at the same time.

The characters are well-defined (a couple of them even reappear in "To Say Nothing..."), with some you are truly rooting for and some who you would like to slap across the face. You gotta love the Finch character! Willis does a great job making the 1300s come alive.

How much did I like this book? I finished it on a roundtrip flight between Seattle and WDC. I almost always fall asleep on airplanes, if even just for an hour. I didn't fall asleep at all while reading this book.