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All Clear

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All Clear

By: Connie Willis
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren, Connie Willis (introduction)
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About this listen

In Blackout, award-winning author Connie Willis returned to the time-traveling future of 2060, the setting for several of her most celebrated works, and sent three Oxford historians to World War II England: Michael Davies, intent on observing heroism during the Miracle of Dunkirk; Merope Ward, studying children evacuated from London; and Polly Churchill, posing as a shopgirl in the middle of the Blitz. But when the three become unexpectedly trapped in 1940, they struggle not only to find their way home but to survive as Hitler's bombers attempt to pummel London into submission.

Now the situation has grown even more dire. Small discrepancies in the historical record seem to indicate that one or all of them have somehow affected the past, changing the outcome of the war. The belief that the past can be observed but never altered has always been a core belief of time-travel theory, but suddenly it seems that the theory is horribly, tragically wrong.

Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the historians' supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, and 17-year-old Colin Templer, who nurses a powerful crush on Polly, are engaged in a frantic and seemingly impossible struggle of their own - to find three missing needles in the haystack of history.

Told with compassion, humor, and an artistry both uplifting and devastating, All Clear is more than just the triumphant culmination of the adventure that began with Blackout. It's Connie Willis' most humane, heartfelt novel yet - a clear-eyed celebration of faith, love, and the quiet, ordinary acts of heroism and sacrifice too often overlooked by history.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an introduction written and read by author Connie Willis.

©2010 Connie Willis (P)2010 Audible, Inc.
Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction England Feel-Good Heartfelt Witty Time Travel War

Critic Reviews

  • Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2010
  • Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2011
  • Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2010: Readers' Choice (SF Site)

"By the time the three historians and Mr. Dunworthy have unraveled the mystery and arrived at the full-on, three-hanky finale, you’ll no longer be a disinterested observer. Drawn in Willis’s skillful storytelling, you’ll be back in 1941, wondering what’s about to happen next." ( The Village Voice)
"Katherine Kellgren's delightful English accent is perfect for the many characters she portrays." ( AudioFile)
“As vivid an evocation of England during World War II as anyone has ever written.... You’ll find here a novelist who can plot like Agatha Christie and whose books possess a bounce and stylishness that Preston Sturges might envy.” ( The Washington Post)
All stars
Most relevant  
Wonderful and unwieldy. Brilliant story, a little repetitive in parts and could use a final editor imho to tighten up the slack.

Loved seeing the same event from the different perspectives. Artful and surprising.

The narrator does a sterling job but a second edition could look for sentences read in the ‘wrong’ voice. I’m quibbling though. It’s a huge task and she clearly tackled all the voices and emotions head on.

Very good very long

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Very slow going. I liked the concept but boring and you would find your mind wondering.

Could have been more condensed

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I just loved this book and the others in the Oxford Time Traveller series. Imaginative, realistic and great narrative.

Loved it

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I can’t speak highly enough about both the performance and the writing of this wonderful story. I didn’t want it to finish.

A superb performance of a wonderfully written story

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As I write this I am crying, the ending was superb. I cannot recommend this highly enough. It’s a slow burn, but I think that what makes it so impactful. I’ve known about the Blitz but never before has the human experience of it been so intensely conveyed. Character heavy, history heavy, beautifully
read and the ending is 10/10.

An absolutely stunning story

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A simply fantastic conclusion to this 2 part series.
the narrator eventually becomes less annoying:)

a great sequel

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First of let me just say what a wonder performance Katherine has done here. Simply first class. As for Connie’s masterwork, well it’s rare book that can make you feel such a depth of emotion. You may feel like your getting bogged down in the middle but the pay off is so worth it. I can’t wait till I’ve forgotten enough of it to start again. What a wonderful journey.

There will be tears

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I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Oxford time travel series. I even paused To Say Nothing Of The Dog to read Three Men In A Boat which made listening to that one so much more interesting.

I have to ask though, did you time travel to 2020 and see the toilet paper crazies, then go back and write about it, therefore causing people who read your Doomsday book to spark the 2020 toilet paper crazies? Haha.

Thank you for filling my time with your imagination, research and clever words.

Thank You

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