Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Doomsday Book is the first full-length novel in Connie Willis's Oxford time travel series. The series (this is not a spoiler) is about people in the history department at Oxford in the mid-twenty-first century who have a way to travel into the past to do their research. In Doomsday Book, an historian travels back to the middle ages. Connie Willis does a lot of research and does a good job of portraying the middle ages (as far as I know). I love this period of history myself, so the main character, Kivrin, basically has my dream job. Although it is certainly not all fun and games in the Middle Ages, which, as her mentor warns her before she leaves, were full of danger and disease. The story takes place partly in medieval times and partly in Oxford in the time she left from (it's a real-time jump, so the same time elapses for the historian in the past as for the people in Oxford while she is away), making it the first book I've ever read where "meanwhile" involved a 800-year gap.

The book's pacing is relaxed, although the events certainly are not. The pacing annoys some impatient readers, but I found it appropriate, and never boring. It gives the book time to flesh out the feeling of the situations, and lets the reader spend more time with the wonderful characters. Without such wonderful characters, the events of the novel would lose their impact. This is true in general, but Connie Willis does such a good job of making you fall in love with the characters that you care about what happens to them more than with most books, which is critical to this book's success on an emotional level. I won't tell you what emotions those are because these are spoiler-free reviews. Actually, don't read any synopsis of the book as it will spoil a major plot development. Even the blurb on the author's site spoils it. Just trust me that the book is exciting and don't read the back cover. I will say that although this is definitely not a humour novel like the next book in the series, To Say Nothing of the Dog, it does have many funny moments. Connie Willis has a great sense of humour.

I highly recommend this book. It is a beautiful, haunting story with many of the best characters I've ever encountered in a novel. If you are a history buff like me, then I recommend it even more, if that is possible. I also recommend the other books in the series, especially Blackout/All Clear (which is one book in two volumes).

Format recommendation: Audiobook. The narrator, Jenny Sterlin, voices the characters wonderfully, bringing each to life with their own distinct personality. The books are also available on the Kindle.

Age recommendation: Mature teens and older. The content and language are quite tame, but younger readers might find it too dark and slowly paced.

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

I had been planning on reading Pathfinder after I finished Connie Willis's time traveling historian series, but when I learned that Orson Scott Card was coming here for a book signing, I decided I had better read it before he arrives, in case people talk about it at the signing. It is the first book of a new science fiction and fantasy trilogy. Yes, it's both science fiction and fantasy. It has swords and starships (although not together). The book reveals what is going on throughout the story in an interesting way, similar to how the Mistborn trilogy had chapter headings that gradually began to make more sense and reveal things about the history of the world as the book progressed, except this book uses longer headings, and it's not clear at first what the relation between the asides and the main narrative is.

The story and characters are mostly interesting. There are some parts in the middle where it dragged a little for me, but most of the time I was intrigued. Sometimes the characters would get on my nerves, but that's mostly because they are very smart (one reminds me of a political Ender) so it's a little jarring when they act juvenile. Sometimes they can be annoying, but that's true to character for teenagers so that's not a flaw. The science fiction elements of the story are very intriguing, and the exciting parts were appropriately thrilling. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment next year.

Overall, any Orson Scott Card fan should like this, although it I suspect it would especially appeal to teen readers who can more closely relate to the protagonists. It's a good book, although not up there with Ender's Game or Enchantment. I recommend it.

Format recommendation: Audiobook. The narrators, including the Ender series narrator Stefan Rudnicki, are good, although I liked some of them more than others. I didn't care for one of them, but he only had a couple of chapters so it's not a big deal, although it did make me like the character whose viewpoint he did less at first. The book is also available on the Kindle.

Age recommendation: Young teens and up. Content is pretty tame, although the political and scientific subject matter might confuse younger children.

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

Blackout and All Clear are two volumes of the same story, so I will review them together as the single book that they are. It's kind of like how The Lord of the Rings is one book spread across three volumes due to length. This means you need to buy two books though, so is it worth it? If you enjoy history, then absolutely. And unless you dislike awesome books, you will most likely like these. Somehow I managed to avoid hearing of Connie Willis until now (apparently I've been living in a cave), but she has won Hugos and Nebulas and I hope she does again for these books. They are awesome. But wait, you say. I thought you said they were good for history buffs? Are they historical or science fiction? They are about time traveling historians, so the answer is yes. It involves time travel, but mostly it's a day-in-the-life story of regular people in England during World War 2. The author makes life in this critical time in history come alive. The book is full of interesting historical information about the war and what England was like during it.

Of course, books succeed or fail based on the characters. Fortunately, Blackout and All Clear have an excellent cast of wonderful characters that you learn to care about, both historians from the future and 1940 contemporaries. The story is also good, with the right amount of humour and tension.

Go read these books. You may want to start with her earlier books about time travelling historians, Fire Watch (a short story), Doomsday Book, and To Say Nothing of the Dog. I recommend at least reading Doomsday Book first.

Format recommendation: Audiobook. The narrator, Katherine Kelgren, is excellent, especially with Cockney accents which are funny. She does a great job with both British and American accents. She has a perfect voice for this type of story. The books are also available on the Kindle.

Age recommendation: Mature teens and older. By mature, I actually mean mature, so you won't find the historical daily life account to be too dry (not "mature" as in video games that are rated M, where the ESRB means "offensive", not "mature"). These books are very tame content-wise. There is one strong bad word in a historical quote in a chapter heading, but other than that the language is very mild, although one character uses references to deity to swear.

A Hat Full of Sky by Sir Terry Pratchett

A Hat Full of Sky is the second installment in the Tiffany Aching series. I reviewed the first book, The Wee Free Men, earlier. This book is even better than that one was. Like the first book, it has a lot of smart humor, and the wisdom and storyline have been turned up a notch. The first book only covered a day or so, but this one takes place over a longer period of time. Tiffany becomes an apprentice, and spends more time around people than she did in the first book, and the expanded cast works well with the story. Like the first book, this one is a young adult novel, but only in a good way. While appropriate for young readers, it is still smarter than most adult books. I liked the lessons Tiffany learns about how to be good at her profession, as they are genuinely insightful and integral to the story. You aren't hit over the head with a Message, but there is genuine wisdom is what the book teaches. The book is edifying but not preachy, and shows a great understanding of human nature. While being hilarious of course.

The thing to take away from this review is that this book is even better than the first one, so you should read it right after reading the first one. While you can understand this one alright without reading the first book, you won't know the characters as well and it would significantly detract from the experience. Plus, reading any series in the wrong order is just wrong. And while most Discworld books are fairly forgiving of starting anywhere, I'm not. So don't let me catch you.

Format recommendation: Audiobook. Stephen Briggs, who reads the other Sir Pratchett books as well, has the perfect voice for these books. He does a stellar job with the voices of the Feegles. The book is also available on the Kindle.


Age recommendation: Any age old enough to read novels.

The Wee Free Men by Sir Terry Pratchett

The Wee Free Men is the first of four books in the Tiffany Aching series for young adults. It takes place in Discworld, and the only difference between this and the adult novels is that it's shorter and the language and humor are appropriate for all ages (instead of just most ages). Like Sir Pratchett's later novels, it is smart and insightful as well as hilarious. If you have read other Discworld books, then I can just say it is a good one and you can go buy it without further ado. If you haven't, repent, and this book or Guards! Guards! are good places to start.

The Wee Free Men is an adventure story about a young girl, Tiffany Aching. She is young but wise, and well suited to the role she takes on during the story. She is such a wonderful character that she manages to keep the Wee Free Men (also known as the Nac Mac Feegle) from upstaging her, which is not easy. They are hilarious. The way they speak, think, and act is one of the best things about the novel.

The adventure itself never slips into predictability. It is imaginative and fits well with the characters, although it is always the characters that really make the book shine.

Simply put, if you have not read this book, then you need to do so. The sooner you read it, the sooner you can re-read it later. So get cracking.

Format recommendation: Audiobook. Stephen Briggs, who reads the other Sir Pratchett books as well, has the perfect voice for these books. He does a stellar job with the voices of the Feegles. The book is also available on the Kindle.

Age recommendation: Any age old enough to read novels. The only things people might object to is that the Feegles like to drink alcoholic beverages (off-screen) and Tiffany's granny's favorite brand of pipe tobacco is mentioned several times. There are some scary monsters and events that could frighten young children.