Doomsday Book

Science Fiction, Novel by Connie Willis

Blurb

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.
For nearly a decade, Willis has dazzled readers with her short fiction. Her first novel, Lincoln's Dreams, received unanimous high praise and won the John W. Campbell Award. Now she pens a sensational work about human struggle and redemption set in the time of the Black Plague.

First Published

1992

Member Reviews Write your own review

skunk

Skunk

Das Buch hatte eine gute Idee, für meinen Geschmack ist die Ausführung aber zu langwierig gelungen. Man erfährt viel darüber, wie Universitätsangestellte ihren Vorgesetzten nachtelephonieren und sich untereinander zanken, wie die Klopapierversorgungslage ist und wer im Krankenhaus welche Besuchsrechte genießt. In dem Handlungsstrang im Mittelalter wird viel über quengelige Kinder und die Meckerein einer verbitterten alten Frau berichtet. Solche Nebenerscheinungen nehmen für meine Begriffe viel zu viel Raum in dem Roman ein. Abgesehen davon vermittelt die Geschichte ein gut ausgestaltetes Bild vom Mittelalter und vergleicht Krankheitsfälle damals mit "heute" (bzw in der nahen Zukunft). In vielen Rezensionen (und in dem deutschen Titel) wird die eigentliche Überraschung leider vorweg genommen.

0 Responses posted in July
lajeno75

Lajeno75

Top 5 of my favorite books EVER

0 Responses posted in May
hcburger

Hcburger

A girl travels through time, to medieval England, during the time of the black death. Very uneventful. No interesting ideas.

0 Responses posted in May
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