Reviews
http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/...
I started off with this dual volume (which begins with Blackout) pretty skeptical: I had liked the first two books in the series well enough (The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing Of The Dog), but wasn't quite convinced about this one. Boy, was I wrong. This book was truly epic in scope, and Willis's ability to manipulate the many threads and timelines of the story as well as the theory of time travel as her world believes it is really wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed this story from beginning to end, and actually found myself cheering on the characters and mourning their losses. If you're at all a fan of World War II history and especially if you're interested in life during the Luftwaffe's bombing of Britain, you'll find this an engaging and enlightening read. The only reason I can't give it the full four stars is that the multiple personalities/timelines weren't always deftly managed and became confusing by about halfway through this volume, though that problem righted itself as the book went along. Also, I'll admit that though I loved the story she told and it informed the progression of the book, hearing Connie Willis's voice (I "read" this as an audiobook) in the story's prologue was grating and I found it distractingly annoying. Otherwise though, highly recommended and a great read.
This was quite a disappointing follow-up to Blackout, which ended with a cliffhanger. 'Blackout' dragged on a bit but things picked up in the second half of the book so when it ended so abruptly, I couldn't wait to get my hands on 'All Clear'. I turns out the book was really repetitive and it took ages for the story to develop. I liked the characters and the historical details are very interesting but the book is simply too long. I only finished it because I'm a huge Willis fan...
