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Doomsday Book

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Doomsday Book

By: Connie Willis
Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
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About this listen

 One of the most respected and awarded of all contemporary science-fiction writers, Connie Willis repeatedly amazes her many admiring fans with her ability to create vivid characters in unusual situations. With Doomsday Book, she takes listeners on a thrilling trip through time to discover the things that make us most human.

For Oxford student Kivrin, traveling back to the 14th century is more than the culmination of her studies - it's the chance for a wonderful adventure. For Dunworthy, her mentor, it is cause for intense worry about the thousands of things that could go wrong. When an accident leaves Kivrin trapped in one of the deadliest eras in human history, the two find themselves in equally gripping - and oddly connected - struggles to survive.

Deftly juggling stories from the 14th and 21st centuries, Willis provides thrilling action - as well as an insightful examination of the things that connect human beings to each other.

©1992 Connie Willis (P)2000 Recorded Books Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Women's Voices Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Time Travel 21st Century Middle Ages

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Critic reviews

  • Hugo Award, Best Novel, 1993
  • Nebula Award, Best Novel, 1992

"Ms. Willis displays impressive control of her material; virtually every detail introduced in the early chapters is made to pay off as the separate threads of the story are brought together." (The New York Times Book Review)
"A stunning novel that encompasses both suffering and hope....The best work yet from one of science fiction's best writers." (The Denver Post)
All stars
Most relevant
I could not empathise with any of the characters: they had no back story and minimal characterisation. The effort went into the time traveller’s experience of the Black Death which, even listening to it during this pandemic made me grateful for what I have and desperate for those who suffer and suffered then. But that was it. Quite an irritating book and superficial. I did finish it though probably due to the excellent reading of Jenny Sterlin.

Shallow characters

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I love the mixture of time travel, history, university politics, science and health in a great story that moves between the middle ages to now in and near Oxford UK. Good main characters and terrific narration too. Very sad to reach the end of it.

Wonderfully swept along with the story

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What did you like best about Doomsday Book? What did you like least?

I got a great feel for what it may have been like to live through the Black Death.
Sadly Connie Willis chose to pad the story out with superfluous repetition, no hint of mobile phones in the mid 21st century leading to silly repetitive story lines about not being able to contact people. In a similar vein if we can invent a sub dermal recording device surly a micro beacon to enable "Historians" to find "the Drop" would not have been beyond the ability of engineers that can send people back to 1348. Again this created irritating repetitive fluff that spoiled what was a great story.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the historical parts of the story but then again I'm a real fan of Historical fiction.

What about Jenny Sterlin’s performance did you like?

She portrayed the emotions of the numerous characters extremely well.

Do you think Doomsday Book needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, it ends rather abruptly having raised loads of questions during the plot building about errors and who was at fault for this disastrous "Drop." Additionally more linking the archaeological evidence to the experiences of Kivrin and what other trips do the University staff embark on.

Drop the Telephone spoils a good story

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This is a really good book. A time Travel assignment run by the Mediaeval Dept at Oxford goes wrong from the start. There are two parallel stories, what is happening in Oxford and what is happening in Mediaeval Oxfordshire. There are incidents a plenty in both and despite the background of epidemic/pandemic and some grim situations, with some very moving and emotional scenes, there is also humour and fun, and bells. It has been noted by other reviewers that there are some factual inaccuracies but I didn't mind them even though I noticed one or two, they didn't really detract from the story for me.
I am very late to discovering this author but will definitely be looking for her other books.
The narrator took a little time to get used to but she is good and the characters were consistent and brought to life.
Definitely worth reading.
Overall 5 stars
Narration 4 stars
Story 4.5 stars.

A good start to the series.

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First of all let me start by saying that I have not yet finished the book. Although I will.
I downloaded this as I am a great fan of Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's and, having read somewhere that Jodi really rates Connie Willis and the theme is similar I thought I would give it a try. I have to say that the two are definitely chalk and cheese.

Doomsday book has none of the humour of St. Mary's and the characters are nowhere near as well drawn. On another note on the characters, at least 80% of them deserve a good slapping as they are incredibly irritating in just about every way possible.

The story line is quite good but the book is overly long with, as others have mentioned, endless repetition of facts and detail. At one point (and I don't know if this was the app or an editor's oversight) a whole chunk was repeated verbatim. That aside, it could still all be a lot zippier.

Again, as others have mentioned, there are a load of anachronisms. Interesting that, although published in 1992, the book talks of the pandemic so was ahead of it's time there - as in fact was the St Mary's series in that respect. However, being set in 2054 there is no mention of mobile phones (sure they were around in 1992), plenty of making trunk calls and a reference to wooden turnstiles at the entrance to the tube - which by that time extends as far as Oxford. An American's concept of the UK perhaps??

Although Connie Willis is American, she has obviously done a fair bit of research on Oxford and the UK in general. Having said that, it took about 20 references to a "muffler" to realise it was a scarf. I know the US use of muffler for a silencer on a car but never heard this one before. Still, that's me.

A lot of people seem to praise the narrator (who died a couple of years ago I understand) but I have to say I find her nasal whining extremely irritating. Granted, it is probably a good representation of the characters who themselves appear to be nasally and whiny. So.....................

Would I recommend the book? Probably not although, as per other reviews, plenty seem to.

Where to start?

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