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Doomsday Book [Mass Market Paperback]

Connie Willis
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (177 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Dec 1993
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 would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin -- barely of age herself -- finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.

Five years in the writing by one of science fiction's most honored authors, Doomsday Book is a storytelling triumph. Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 578 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam USA; Reprint edition (Dec 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553562738
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553562736
  • Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 3.2 x 17.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 383,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

Connie Willis laboured five years on this story of a history student in 2048 who is transported to an English village in the 14th century. The student arrives mistakenly on the eve of the onset of the Black Plague. Her dealings with a family of "contemps" in 1348 and with her historian cohorts lead to complications as the book unfolds into a surprisingly dark, deep conclusion. The book, which won Hugo and Nebula Awards, draws upon Willis' understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing but Superb 23 Oct 2000
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
There are books you read and expect to hate, this was one of those. Connie Willis ? Oh one of those "literary" SF writers! A triumph of style over readability, character & plot.

Well what can I say but I was wrong. Willis time travel jaunt maybe scientifically incorrect but she has written a novel about characters I ended up caring about. The book zips along and contains real emotion.

Just buy it.

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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Once you start, you can't put the book down. 18 Feb 2002
Format:Paperback
The evocation of the sheer nastiness of the 14th Century is brilliant. There is mounting horror as the natives of that century succumb to the Black Death over a Christmas period, witnessed by the appalled time-travelling scholar from our own near future. Some of the scenes are heartrending, as there is plenty of time to get attached to the characters before they start to become ill.

In alternate chapters the contemporary situation in Oxford at Christmas is explored, where an outbreak of highly contagious and fatal flu has broken out, thereby preventing a rescue party from setting up the equipment necessary for retrieving the scholar. The quarantine, medicalisation and bureaucracy of the situation in contemporary Oxford contrasts sharply with the superstition, dubious medicines and appeals to the Almighty that exemplify the 14th Century.

If it sounds unrelentingly grim; it isn't. There is a lot of humour, with fun being poked at characters who are vain and officious in BOTH centuries.

Anyone who has lived in/ studied in/ visited Oxford will find much to recognise in the description of the town, especially the University. Immerse yourself in this book over a summer's day, and you will surface from it as I did: wondering why it isn't freezing cold and surprised to find that you're still healthy!

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Living history 24 Mar 2006
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Kivrin, a time-travelling historian, is mistakenly sent back to a Medieval village near Oxford as the Black Death is about to strike, and sees all around her succumb to the Plague. At the same time, in her home time, a flu pandemic is laying waste to Oxford, stopping any attempts to find her and bring her home. Unlikely as it may sound, this novel also contains some wonderful comic moments - William, Mrs Gaddson, Finch and the American bellringers, to name but a few. I am absolutely caught up in this story and unable to put it down every time I read it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars doomsday book by connie willis
this book is fabulous! what a story, the beginning does not draw you in but continue as its gets better and better! my copy is well loved and on my favourite ten list.
Published 25 days ago by Mrs. D. B. Petrie
5.0 out of 5 stars An Unforgettable Book
You'd think that sci-fi that hadn't posited cellphones or other communication technology by 2050+ would be a loser, but Willis does caring and chaos so well that it just doesn't... Read more
Published 27 days ago by Jennie Lyn
2.0 out of 5 stars Women obviously make terrible time travelers
I don't think I was the target audience for this book. I was looking forward a harrowing account of plague ravaged England, told through the eyes of a time traveler from the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by matthenkes
5.0 out of 5 stars Original, well researched, time travel novel
I am surprised that it is only recently that I discovered Connie Willis. I read "Blackout" & it's sequel "All Clear" - the basic premise being that Time travel has... Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. Reeves
5.0 out of 5 stars Unsurpassable!
One of the 10 books I would take with me out of a burning house, or onto a desert island. I have read and re- read this book many times, each time, like layers in a painting, I... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sarah Dee
4.0 out of 5 stars Doomsday book
Absolutely loved this book , read it first years ago and when I found it again, literally couldn't wait to start it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs A M Langston
3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable
So the premise is good, time travel and epidemics. But the author is a bit too slow, the story a bit simple and annoyingly refers to a tube as in train from marble. Arch to Oxford. Read more
Published 4 months ago by daniel hayes
3.0 out of 5 stars Overrated
All the rave reviewers evidently don't mind splurges of Middle English which at points threaten to derail the narrative. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Fake
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favourite books!!
I am so delighted to see that this book is back in print. I'm not much of an SF fan, but I do love good historical fiction so when a friend recommended this to me way back in the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jan
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent service
Love the book, very interesting and well written, however I would have liked to have this as an e book on my iPad but I couldn't find an e application for this book. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lilli Darcy
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