- Hardcover: 656 pages
- Publisher: Spectra Books; 1 edition (19 Oct 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553807676
- ISBN-13: 978-0553807677
- Product Dimensions: 16 x 4.6 x 24.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 167,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
All Clear
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Enthralling . . . a story so packed with thrills, comedy, drama and a bit of red herring that the result is apt to satisfy the most discriminating, and hungry, reader."--"The Denver Post"
"[Connie] Willis can tell a story like no other. . . . One of her specialties is sparkling, rapid-fire dialogue; another, suspenseful plotting; and yet another, dramatic scenes so fierce that they burn like after-images in the reader's memory."--"The Village Voice
"
"Ambitious, and moving . . . with a lovely twist at the end."--"The San Diego Union-Tribune"
"[Willis's] re-creation of wartime England is meticulous, energetic and exhaustive."--"The Wall Street Journal
"
"[A] tour de force."--"The Charlotte Observer"
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Book Description
The thrilling sequel to BLACKOUT, and a superb World War II novel.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the second and final part of the time travel story set in WWII started in Black Out. You can't really read All Clear without reading Black Out, so don't start with this part if you haven't already read the first.
The story of our three students from 2060 stuck in WWII continues and it suffers from the problems that Black Out had, namely that it takes another 641 pages to resolve everything. When you add that to Black Out's page tally we are talking a total of over 1100 pages, which is just far too long. As I also said in my Black Out review I am a big fan of Willis, but with her time travel stories there is just too much spinning out of the story. Things almost - but not quite - happen again and again and again. It's really frustrating.
Not to say that the scope, ideas and detail are not good - they are, especially the detail. There is lots of good stuff in here about how the Allies tried to fool the Germans into thinking the Normandy landings would happen elsewhere, and this is at least partially based on fact. And really interesting. But the number of times Michael, Merope and Polly almost get rescued/work everything out but don't quite manage it this time starts to frustrate.
I think the book is somewhat saved by the details mentioned above and also some plot twists that I didn't see coming - but they just take far to long to happen.
I wish Willis would put her books on diets - if she did they would be small masterpieces of wit and intelligence. For an example of this see Bellwether.
The story of our three students from 2060 stuck in WWII continues and it suffers from the problems that Black Out had, namely that it takes another 641 pages to resolve everything. When you add that to Black Out's page tally we are talking a total of over 1100 pages, which is just far too long. As I also said in my Black Out review I am a big fan of Willis, but with her time travel stories there is just too much spinning out of the story. Things almost - but not quite - happen again and again and again. It's really frustrating.
Not to say that the scope, ideas and detail are not good - they are, especially the detail. There is lots of good stuff in here about how the Allies tried to fool the Germans into thinking the Normandy landings would happen elsewhere, and this is at least partially based on fact. And really interesting. But the number of times Michael, Merope and Polly almost get rescued/work everything out but don't quite manage it this time starts to frustrate.
I think the book is somewhat saved by the details mentioned above and also some plot twists that I didn't see coming - but they just take far to long to happen.
I wish Willis would put her books on diets - if she did they would be small masterpieces of wit and intelligence. For an example of this see Bellwether.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Connie Willis's latest novel picks up exactly where the last one, Blackout, left off, with the young 21st century historians Polly Churchill, Merope Ward, and Michael Ward trapped in England during the Blitz. Having finally located each other, the three struggle to survive in war-ravaged London, desperately attempting to locate other time travelers and trying to contact the future to alert them to their plight. Adding to their urgency is a deadline Polly faces, when she must depart before her presence on an earlier trip jeopardizes her existence. And preying upon all of them is the growing fear that their actions may have changed the past and undone the future to which there are trying to return.
As she does in her previous novel, Willis interweaves the narratives of multiple characters amidst a vivid portrait of wartime England and the perils her characters face. This often can be confusing, but her richly detailed plot rewards the reader, gradually revealing its secrets as developments unfold. In this respect, it is unfortunate that the two volumes were published separately, as both are required to fully appreciate her success in developing a carefully layered narrative. Together they combine to create a suspenseful work of the first caliber, one in which many of the themes characteristic of her work - single-minded characters whose agendas interfere with the plans of the protagonists, the impact of technology on personal lives, the effort to cope with tragedy and loss - are on full display. Fans of well-written science fiction or historical works will enjoy her gripping and intricate novel, one that is sure to become one of the classics of the genre.
As she does in her previous novel, Willis interweaves the narratives of multiple characters amidst a vivid portrait of wartime England and the perils her characters face. This often can be confusing, but her richly detailed plot rewards the reader, gradually revealing its secrets as developments unfold. In this respect, it is unfortunate that the two volumes were published separately, as both are required to fully appreciate her success in developing a carefully layered narrative. Together they combine to create a suspenseful work of the first caliber, one in which many of the themes characteristic of her work - single-minded characters whose agendas interfere with the plans of the protagonists, the impact of technology on personal lives, the effort to cope with tragedy and loss - are on full display. Fans of well-written science fiction or historical works will enjoy her gripping and intricate novel, one that is sure to become one of the classics of the genre.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The good news is that "All Clear" is an improvement on "Blackout", the first part of this novel that turned out so long that it only seems to go by the name of its two parts, "Blackout/All Clear". "Tinhead" and "J. Irish" have summed up its strengths and weakness perfectly in their reviews: in "Blackout" the time-travelling protagonists investigating different aspects of World War Two were all involved in their separate activities, and we had a soap opera with masses of very dull detail and next to no dramatic tension. In "All Clear" the time-travellers find each other in London and begin to seek a way out of their predicament, which is that they are stuck in the middle of the Blitz because their time gates won't open. This brings some genuine dramatic tension to the book, and you begin to care a bit about the characters. The time complications start to become more interesting, and Connie Willis's enormous amount of research begins to pay dividends. And in the end she makes a pretty good job (in so far as anyone can!) of resolving the time paradoxes. And yet! ... the book remains infuriating: like "Blackout", it is still far too long, too soapy, and too full of dull minutiae. If only the book had been 300 or 400 pages long rather than well over 1,000, we could have had a terrific time travel novel fully deserving of the Hugo and Nebula Awards it has won, instead of simply rewarding Connie Willis's undoubted effort and her status in the American science fiction community.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.5 stars overall.
PART A: BLACKOUT 4 stars
PART B: ALL CLEAR 3 stars (NOT A STANDALONE - YOU HAVE TO READ BLACKOUT FIRST). Read more
PART B: ALL CLEAR 3 stars (NOT A STANDALONE - YOU HAVE TO READ BLACKOUT FIRST). Read more
Published 1 month ago by StarPlayer
This is the payoff that Blackout needed
To me, All Clear, the second volume of this story, is what makes reading the pair worthwhile.
It largely avoids the pacing pitfalls of Blackout, because the momentum has... Read more
It largely avoids the pacing pitfalls of Blackout, because the momentum has... Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Irish
Great buy
Service was prompt, can't say about the content of the book as it was bought for my husband for Christmas, hopefully it will keep him quiet!
Published 5 months ago by Boots
A frustrating read!
I really enjoyed Connie Willis's Doomsday Book. It was a top story. It was with great optimism I bought this book on the strength of the earlier read. Read more
Published 6 months ago by iain mcbain
Engrossing...
For this reviewer, it's not every day these days that a book arrives that makes you want to jump in the minute it lands at the doorstep. Read more
Published 17 months ago by M. Yon
Connie Willis at her best
If you're not already a fan of Connie Willis you soon will be after reading All Clear and its predecessor Blackout. Wonderfully vivid characterisations. Read more
Published 18 months ago by DebsieLee
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