In August 2011, Colorado based science fiction writer Connie Willis received her eleventh Hugo Award. Viewed as one of the most prestigious accolades that can be awarded in the genre, this was the latest in her series about time travelling historians, Blackout/All Clear. The series has given her four Hugo Awards, three Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards so far, as well as nominations in several other competitions. She has also been inducted into Seattle's Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. So what is all of the fuss about?
How Oxford University Students Use Time Travel for their History Assignments
As an historian myself, I admit to hankering over the world described in Connie Willis's books. Set in the middle of the 21st century, Oxford University can offer time travel to its history students. A break-through in physics allowed controlled portals to open into the past. Scientists created the net, where co-ordinates are fed into a console and the historians return to the precise period that they are studying.
Before the history students leave, they have to be prepared. A whole costume department has been established to provide authentic clothing; language instructors tutor undergraduates on archaic diction; scientists develop implants to help recall important information; medics have to learn how to vaccinate against long conquered diseases; and that is beyond the specific cultural and societal studies that each student must master. They have to blend into the crowd, as they walk into history itself.
Doomsday Book: Dangerous Time Travel into Mediaeval Oxford
In Doomsday Book (1992), this is the Middle Ages. Kirvin Engle, as a female undergraduate, has a fight on her hands even to be allowed to go. Each historical era is graded, from one to ten, according to its unique dangers. The 14th century, with the Black Death, Hundred Years War, cholera and uprisings, like the Peasants' Revolt, is given a blanket rating of ten.
'Ten' means that it's too dangerous for any historian to travel to, let alone a female, inexperienced historian. The 1300s were not a good time for women, who were regarded as the property of their male relatives. Nevertheless, Kirvan takes advantage of internal politics, clashing egos and the ill-health absenteeism of key administrators. By-passing all of the usual checks and balances, Kirvan disappears into the Middle Ages. She gains first-hand insight into far more than she expected.
To Say Nothing of the Dog: Time Paradoxes in Victorian England
In To Say Nothing of the Dog (1997), the relatively safe, gentile environment of Victorian Oxfordshire is the destination for historians Ned Henry and Verity Kindle. However, history has been changed by the accident removal of items from the past into the future. This isn't supposed to happen. The net should refuse to open, if the portal will cause a paradox. Nevertheless, scientists and historians are about to discover that certain circumstances will allow this to occur. It is literally a race against time to put things right before the time/space continuum unravels.
To make matters worse, both historians are suffering from time lag. This is a condition where too much time travel, over too short a period, can led to confusion, temporary deafness and a host of other symptoms. Even with all of their experience, Ned and Verity become dangerously close to being revealed as time travellers.
A Common History Assignment: World War Two and Time Travel
Four of Connie Willis's stories take Oxford University's history students back to the Second World War. To Say Nothing of the Dog starts there, hence the time lag suffered by Ned Henry. This period really becomes the focus in the short story Fire Watch (1984) and, in particular, her two latest novels, Blackout and All Clear. Both were published in 2010, in two volumes describing an epic saga set in London during the Blitz.
Bombs, fires, thousands of displaced people and total war should suggest a 'ten' in the danger rating for historians. But this period is well documented, so the University knows the exact locations, dates and timing of each bomb. The reasoning is that, as long as these hotspots are avoided, the rest of the city is perfectly safe for the undergraduates.
Naturally things go wrong, which creates a thrilling storyline. Blackout ends on a cliff-hanger, which All Clear picks up. Not every historian makes it back to the future alive. The interwoven plot also includes those set out in To Say Nothing About the Dog and Fire Watch. There are some very unexpected conclusions.
An Overview of Time Travelling with Connie Willis
With a postgraduate degree in History, I can be overly critical of historical novels. A wrong detail can jar the narrative for me. But Connie Willis is not setting out to write an historical novel. Her focus is upon characterisation against a backdrop of the past. There is just enough well-researched detail to make that seem realistic without an emphasis on the history. No prior knowledge of the period is needed to enjoy these stories.
Connie Willis is an American writing stories set in Britain. On rare occasions, the Trans-Atlantic cultural differences do tell, for example, in Fire Watch there is a scene where a British lady is searching for her pocket-book in the rubble of a bombed building. She should have called it a handbag, as pocket-book has no meaning in Britain. Nearly thirty years later, by the time she wrote Blackout/All Clear, these mistakes are less obvious and don't disturb the narrative.
All of Connie Willis's time travel novels are page-turners. I recommend clearing your diary for the time it takes to read them, as they are impossible to put down until the very last page is reached.
Sources:
- The Official Connie Willis Website.
- C Willis, Doomsday Book. (Bantam Books, 1994. ISBN: 0-553-56273-8.)
- C Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog. (Bantam Spectra, 1998. ISBN: 0-553-57538-4.)
- C Willis, Fire Watch. (Bantam Books, 1998. ISBN: 0-553-26045-6.)
- C Willis, Blackout. (Ballantine Books, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-345-51983-2.)
- C Willis, All Clear. (Ballantine Books, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-553-80767-7.)
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
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