61st out of 2,946 books
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12,406 voters
Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1)
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...more
Paperback, 578 pages
Published
July 1992
by Bantam Spectra
(first published January 1st 1992)
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Doomsday Book really put me through the wringer. I woke up a couple of nights ago, worrying about the characters. They've popped into my head frequently the last few days. And I was in tears when I read the ending yesterday.
I think this is by far the best Connie Willis book I've read - and I've mostly enjoyed her other works. Everything is working on all cylinders in this book - the writing is superb, the juxtaposition of the two time periods masterful, the characters engaging, the story heartb...more
I think this is by far the best Connie Willis book I've read - and I've mostly enjoyed her other works. Everything is working on all cylinders in this book - the writing is superb, the juxtaposition of the two time periods masterful, the characters engaging, the story heartb...more

Christmas 2010: I realised that I had got stuck in a rut. I was re-reading old favourites again and again, waiting for a few trusted authors to release new works. Something had to be done.
On the spur of the moment I set myself a challenge, to read every book to have won the Locus Sci-Fi award. That’s 35 books, 6 of which I’d previously read, leaving 29 titles by 14 authors who were new to me.
While working through this reading list I got married, went on my honeymoon, switched career and became...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
May 05, 2009
Tracey
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone that wants to become a bell ringer
Shelves:
time-travel,
14th-century
OMG I am finally finished! What a travel down a monotonous road. I will not attempt to say once again what has been so eloquently said many times before. But one thing that I had to mention was a phrase that has stuck in my mind for days. I found myself last week picking up the book so that I might be able to put closure on it. So there I am reading (ok skimming) this book as some say “Best time-travel novel I've ever read!” or “a study of people's behavior” what behavior, all the characters did...more
What I find most objectionable about this book is its apparent lack of editing. Half the novel consists of people panicking over the phone about other phone conversations other people have had about people getting on and off trains who are the children of WHO CARES. Willis has no sense of perspective, no skill for inventing the suggestive detail; consequently, this novel is a monument to the gods of boredom. This on top of the implausible premise that if time travel were available as a technolog...more
and what exactly was the point of this nearly 600-page novel? that people can be incredibly annoying and repetitious? that the Black Death kills? i can't believe i wasted so many hours reading this flabby, irritating nonsense. i could have been spending time with friends or exercising or taking naps. or reading another book. the entire thing is a monument to wasted time - my time and the characters' time and the 5 years of time it took to write this extravagantly dreary ode to pointlessness.
real...more
real...more
Mar 23, 2011
Mariel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Willard
Recommended to Mariel by:
the pied piper
I wouldn't write a review of Connie Willis's Doomsday Book (there are loads of great reviews already, what could I add, etc.) if it were not for this little guy:

Not this very same little guy, of course. The rats that caused the black death were black rats (it'd have been neat if they were black and white rats. "The black and white death!" "What's white about it? It's death. There aren't even any grey areas.")
I loved the rat in the cage parts. They didn't know they were gonna set the plague on Eu...more

Not this very same little guy, of course. The rats that caused the black death were black rats (it'd have been neat if they were black and white rats. "The black and white death!" "What's white about it? It's death. There aren't even any grey areas.")
I loved the rat in the cage parts. They didn't know they were gonna set the plague on Eu...more
I am very concerned. I read “The Doomsday Book” time travel saga, eagerly anticipating it based on the many Goodreads reviews that highly praise this story. Many reviewers whom I trust rave about this book. I just didn’t see it at all, not a bit. Not only was it supremely boring, but annoying. The first 120 pages can be summarized: “something is wrong”. During the next 180 pages, the rest of the characters realize there is “something wrong”. Yawn! I felt like slapping virtually every character i...more
From my blog:
If you haven't read anything by Connie Willis, I highly suggest that you stop whatever you're doing and go out and get one of her books.
Willis is sort of a giant in the science fiction world -- she's won Hugo and Nebula awards, among many others. This is the third book I've read by her (in addition to To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellwether), and I must say, the woman can write. Her plots are engaging and funny and heartbreaking and her books are nearly impossible to put down.
(Spoi...more
If you haven't read anything by Connie Willis, I highly suggest that you stop whatever you're doing and go out and get one of her books.
Willis is sort of a giant in the science fiction world -- she's won Hugo and Nebula awards, among many others. This is the third book I've read by her (in addition to To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellwether), and I must say, the woman can write. Her plots are engaging and funny and heartbreaking and her books are nearly impossible to put down.
(Spoi...more
I finished Doomsday Book this morning and immediately moved on to the next book on my to-read list, which happens to be Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Doomsday Book left me a little messed up in the head and I wanted to replace the imagery and train of thought with something new. I figured I'd have to let Doomsday Book mull around in my head for a while before I could write an effective review. I figured the same about Iain Banks' Transition, another book I recently finished. So my plan was to read Hy...more
Jul 05, 2010
Jennifer (aka EM)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Jennifer (aka EM) by:
Ian Foster
Shelves:
the-missionary-position,
plague-and-pestilence
Updated: 07/05/10
Connie Willis shows us that we do not need to look to the future for an apocalyptic setting suitable for exorcising whatever demons haunt us, testing whatever faith we may or may not have, revealing the height of humanity's capacity for compassion or the depth of its misery. We had the mid-14th Century for that.
These ain't Jesuits on a distant planet, or a man and a boy wandering down a road.
This shit really happened, people.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A week ago or so, I...more
Connie Willis shows us that we do not need to look to the future for an apocalyptic setting suitable for exorcising whatever demons haunt us, testing whatever faith we may or may not have, revealing the height of humanity's capacity for compassion or the depth of its misery. We had the mid-14th Century for that.
These ain't Jesuits on a distant planet, or a man and a boy wandering down a road.
This shit really happened, people.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A week ago or so, I...more
Connie Willis brings us a deeply affecting story of time travel gone wrong. While the "time travel" element might sounds really geeky, in an important way this science fiction aspect really isn't central to the story. Christopher Booker's
The Seven Basic Plots
identifies the theme of "Voyage and Return" as one of the basic plots, and the fact that one of Willis' lead characters is traveling through time is merely a specific detail of interest. A similar story could be written of a traveler stra...more
The Doomsday Book was, for me, one of those rare books that you pick up, start reading, and then, when you're done, seriously consider starting it over again.
The book straddles an uncomfortable line--neither a full-on science fiction novel nor a historical, it manages to encompass the most interesting aspects of both. The plot is fairly simple: Kivrin, a student studying the Middle Ages, is traveling in time back to the 1320s. Dunworthy, her mentor, remains in the 2040s, and the story chronicle...more
The book straddles an uncomfortable line--neither a full-on science fiction novel nor a historical, it manages to encompass the most interesting aspects of both. The plot is fairly simple: Kivrin, a student studying the Middle Ages, is traveling in time back to the 1320s. Dunworthy, her mentor, remains in the 2040s, and the story chronicle...more
I'm erring on the side of charity and going with three stars for this 2.5 star book, because it was utterly gripping for the first 75 pages or so. Then nothing happened. Then the same nothing happened again. And *again*. By the time you get to the fourth or fifth scene where one of the protags is trying to call someone who may or may not be in Scotland but can't get through because the circuits are busy you want to scream (spoiler alert: we never actually find out where in Scotland that damn guy...more
This is one of the best books I have ever read, my second favorite book of all time. The amount of detail and research that Ms. Willis must have done is staggering and yet the book is very readable and the people come alive. Rather than either idolizing or condeming the past or the future, Willis presents both in a very real, all-too-human light. Though the book is long, I plowed through it, and was never bored. I like all of her books, but this is one of Willis' best. I don't usually like time-...more
21/4/13 - Connie Willis books are like "Where's Wally." There's so much detail, so many red herrings, that it makes it impossible to guess the twists before they happen while at the same time making it impossible to pretend that there weren't sufficient clues when you finally do get to the reveal.
Sometimes this is enjoyable. But sometimes you are too tired and just want someone to point to fricken' Wally. Dunworthy just made about 20 pointless phone calls, nobody has mobiles, and half the time n...more
Sometimes this is enjoyable. But sometimes you are too tired and just want someone to point to fricken' Wally. Dunworthy just made about 20 pointless phone calls, nobody has mobiles, and half the time n...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
3.5 Yıldız. Zaman yolculuğu yapan tarihçiler konseptini çok beğendim. Bu konseptin müthiş bir potansiyeli olduğunu düşünüyorum. Ama bu kitap bu potansiyeli kullanabilmiş mi derseniz, cevabım hayır. Ama kullandığı kadarı ile bile sürükleyici ve dokunaklı bir öykü anlatmayı başarmış.
Bu konu üzerine bu kitapta yer verilenden çok daha güzel twist'lerin ve çok daha güzel karakterlerin kurgulanabileceğini düşünüyorum. Ama sanırım yazarın amacı kitabı biraz 'light' tutarak sadece bilimkurgu fanlarına...more
Bu konu üzerine bu kitapta yer verilenden çok daha güzel twist'lerin ve çok daha güzel karakterlerin kurgulanabileceğini düşünüyorum. Ama sanırım yazarın amacı kitabı biraz 'light' tutarak sadece bilimkurgu fanlarına...more
Connie Willis' Doomsday Book might well be one of the best books I ever read, if not the best one, although it surely isn't an easy book leaving you unaffected.
Set in Willis' universe of the near future, in which a very plausible system of timetravelling is used by historians in order to research the past, the story develops in the there present and in 1348, the year the plague arrived in England.
Fast paced and very well researched, the Doomsday Book doesn't only shine through it's brilliant pl...more
Set in Willis' universe of the near future, in which a very plausible system of timetravelling is used by historians in order to research the past, the story develops in the there present and in 1348, the year the plague arrived in England.
Fast paced and very well researched, the Doomsday Book doesn't only shine through it's brilliant pl...more
It took me quite a while to read Doomsday Book. I was intrigued to find it was about Kivrin, who was mentioned in Fire Watch, but it took so, so long to get off the ground. I figured most things out ages before any of the characters did. Following sick protagonists really is no fun at all, and it's frustrating for the same conversations to be repeated over and over again -- "Where is Basingame?" (who never appears), "Did you get the fix?", "I must speak to Gawyn"... The parts in which Kivrin's r...more
Okay, I've been ignorant of Connie Willis for way, way too long. This is the second book of hers that I've read and the second of hers that I've adored. It wasn't nearly as funny as To Say Nothing of the Dog, but given that a large part of the book was set in the early 14th century in England rather than late 19th century, that is hardly surprising. We are back in the same world of Oxford with the struggling history department sending out historians to do on site work. I wasn't careful with some...more
I cannot remember how I stumbled on this book by Connie Willis--I just know that I'm grateful I did, because Willis has become one of my favorite authors based on this book.
The novel bounces back and forth between a "modern" time (set in the future in Oxford) and past times in Medieval England. When told from the perspective of Kivrin, the history student who unwittingly travels back to the Dark Ages to experience the Black Death, this is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking books I have...more
The novel bounces back and forth between a "modern" time (set in the future in Oxford) and past times in Medieval England. When told from the perspective of Kivrin, the history student who unwittingly travels back to the Dark Ages to experience the Black Death, this is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking books I have...more
This is one of the elite novels that won both Hugo and Nebula awards, there are not many of those and they are generally very good books though you and I can always find some titles to be undeserving, c'est la vie. Before starting on reading this novel I looked around Goodreads and Amazon for some consensus of opinion among other readers. I found the prevailing opinion to be on the positive side but it is always interesting to note the negatives also, in case the reviewers hate the same things I...more
Jan 28, 2013
Francine
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who like worrying about toilet paper shortages.
Shelves:
adventure,
fantasy,
historical-fiction,
medieval,
modern-lit,
sci-fi,
time-travel,
speculative
This was a great story...if only I didn't have to wait until getting to 80% of the way in to figure out where this story was going!
So here's the thing. I didn't hate the book. I actually liked it, especially the last 20% of the story. That part had my attention. That part was really good and hit all the right spots. But why did I have to slog through 80% (470+ pages) to get to the good stuff? And here's the thing: I don't mind a lot of set-up; I don't mind a ton of exposition. I don't mind if t...more
So here's the thing. I didn't hate the book. I actually liked it, especially the last 20% of the story. That part had my attention. That part was really good and hit all the right spots. But why did I have to slog through 80% (470+ pages) to get to the good stuff? And here's the thing: I don't mind a lot of set-up; I don't mind a ton of exposition. I don't mind if t...more
Why I hated this book by Marc.
I read a lot. The number of books I list on my read list here is a fraction of what I read. And for the most part, none have reviews, just ratings, because I have little time to write reviews. But I just had to comment on "The Doomsday Book". I fell into a trap. I read reviews of the book before I bought it, and those reviews help convince me to give it a try. That is something I usually do not do. I usually read the back cover, and if it sounds good, I buy it. But...more
I read a lot. The number of books I list on my read list here is a fraction of what I read. And for the most part, none have reviews, just ratings, because I have little time to write reviews. But I just had to comment on "The Doomsday Book". I fell into a trap. I read reviews of the book before I bought it, and those reviews help convince me to give it a try. That is something I usually do not do. I usually read the back cover, and if it sounds good, I buy it. But...more
I enjoyed this book very much. It is set in Oxford in the near-ish future, after time travel has been discovered by for-profit corporations, then abandoned because the laws of the time continuum prevent time travelers from bringing anything forward from the past, or from affecting events in the past in any significant way. With the lack of a profit motive, time-travel is now the exclusive purview of historians. A young history graduate student, Kivren, is preparing to go to the Middle Ages, to 1...more
This is one of my favorite books - I read it years ago, when Willis won the Hugo Award for it -- but, speaking as a historian, I've rarely come across any other book with such meticulously accurate research behind it.
The protagonist is a young woman who wishes to travel (this is in the future - time travel is now possible, though extremely fraught with difficulty) all the way back to the Middle Ages - but BEFORE the advent of the Black Plague, which decimated Europe and Asia. In order to qualify...more
The protagonist is a young woman who wishes to travel (this is in the future - time travel is now possible, though extremely fraught with difficulty) all the way back to the Middle Ages - but BEFORE the advent of the Black Plague, which decimated Europe and Asia. In order to qualify...more
It is Christmas, the year 2054. Time travel science is here. In Oxford, the medieval department is gearing up to send one of their best and brightest back to the 14th century to document village life.
Enter Kivrin Engle.
She’s smart and eager. In preparation for this jump, she has learned to speak Middle English and Latin, how to milk a cow, how to ride a horse, how to embroider. She has been inoculated against every possible disease. Her costume has been hand-stitched and dyed with real woad. Sur...more
Enter Kivrin Engle.
She’s smart and eager. In preparation for this jump, she has learned to speak Middle English and Latin, how to milk a cow, how to ride a horse, how to embroider. She has been inoculated against every possible disease. Her costume has been hand-stitched and dyed with real woad. Sur...more
I'll read any book about time travel, and the concept of this book was certainly interesting, but it did not inspire me as much as other time travel books have. What I liked best was that it put a human face on what it meant for a third to half of the population to succumb to the plague. It's so easy to have this be just a line in a book and not ponder too much of what that meant in people's lives.
It bothered me greatly, though, that it is the year 2054 and no one has a cell phone or any more s...more
It bothered me greatly, though, that it is the year 2054 and no one has a cell phone or any more s...more
I fell in love with Willis' conception of time travel upon reading "To Say Nothing Of The Dog" several years ago, and that story remains my favorite of her novels.
I found Doomsday Book captivating. I could barely put it down and stayed up way too late for a few nights in the reading of it. The novel intertwines a past story that, in some aspects, is well-known to any student of history and a "present" set in a believable near-future. Both stories are full of well-rounded characters and interesti...more
I found Doomsday Book captivating. I could barely put it down and stayed up way too late for a few nights in the reading of it. The novel intertwines a past story that, in some aspects, is well-known to any student of history and a "present" set in a believable near-future. Both stories are full of well-rounded characters and interesti...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If you liked Willis's Time Traveler books then you'll love... | 21 | 131 | May 14, 2013 01:00pm | |
| Sci Fi Aficionados: * February Themed Read: Doomsday Book | 26 | 60 | Feb 18, 2013 04:02pm |
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She is one of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Ficti...more
More about Connie Willis...
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Ficti...more
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“Belki bizim zamanımızın sorunu da budur Bay Dunworthy. Kurucuları Maisry, piskoposun elçisi ve Sir Bloet ne de olsa. Roche gibi kalıp yardım etmeye çalışan bütün insanlar vebaya yakalanıp öldüler.”
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Apr 16, 2013 06:32am
I'll be interested to hear what y...more
Apr 16, 2013 09:32am