Worlds Without End Blog

Wow, I have to park my prejudice re Connie Willis’ "Blackout/All Clear." It’s doing very well. I’ve read "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" and was utterly surprised by it. Recalled the experience when I first read Zelazny, particularly "Lord of Light." Jemisin succeeds brilliantly in creating "new" myths and gods and displayed exceptional understanding of human’s internal struggle. A really well-crafted narrative. Also, it’s a delight to see "Kraken" getting some love – it’s not Miéville best, but certainly a very underrated novel. "Ship Breaker" was a predictable winner. It’s the sort of YA novel that fits the Locus mold to a tee. Bacigalupi is fast becoming a very favourite author of mine. I think, all in all, not much wrong with the Locus choice.

I’m reading Blackout right now (as part of the Hugo electronic package). I’m more than 100 pages in, and I’m not loving it. It’s "fine," but it doesn’t seem weighty to me (at least in content. If I were reading the book rather than the e-book, it would seem very weighty at 500 pages.) I haven’t read any of her books before, but I’m thinking that this one is typical. I’d like to know what others who’ve read her think.

For the most part, Blackout/All Clear is a book that you need to read with your heart rather than your head. What I admire about Willis’ books—I read her Hugo winners, too—is that they evoke emotions in me. I have a sense of what it was like to live in England during WWII. All Clear gave me almost a gut level feeling of the sacrifices that ordinary citizens made. Be aware that the All Clear part of the story is slightly different: the pacing is faster, and there is more emphasis on piecing the different story lines together to try to understand what is really going on. Blackout/All Clear is more of a historical fiction novel with science fiction elements rather than a SF book. I had family members (in the US) who often talked about living through WWII, which influenced my reaction to the story.

Thanks, Kata. I’m going to keep reading.

Hmm, anyone think Willis is going to pull off the hat trick and nab a Hugo?

I thought The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was brilliant, but the plot was too dark for me to actually enjoy.

Aha, @Mattastropic, would a true hat trick not include the Campbell? Judging by Willis’ recent performance and the "sudden increase" of positive reviews, I dare say she may just nab that Hugo as well. Often the voting is based on the "popularity" of an author rather than content and literary critque of the work in question. Case in point: Robert Sawyer *ducks* Blackout/All Clear is really one looong novel, so it’s not surprising to find All Clear picking up the pace.

@Emil, your discussion of how popularity influences things intrigued me more after considering that McDonald won the Campbell, which is decided by a fairly small committee of people. It would be interesting to have popularity percentages of some kind because from what you are saying it seems we need to consider how a book’s popularity surges when it starts gaining notoriety by winning nominations and awards. The Hugo would probably be a very different competition if it came before the others, before a voter knew what would be remembered for netting multiple awards. As for your comment on Sawyer…I’ve never read anything by him, but I’m very leery. More so now (which may be a good thing)!