Blackout by Connie Willis is a time travel and World War II novel all in one. In 2060, time travel is possible and historians are clamoring to go back to all eras. But when the time travel department starts rearranging people’s trips, all hell starts breaking loose. Connie Willis’ concept is good and the details about WWII England are amazing, but just as the plot starts pulling together the book ends and tells us to wait for the sequel.

In 2060, historians are getting upset because their planned trips to the past are being re-arranged or changed. The extensive changes are wreaking havoc on the planning committees (setup like a Hollywood studio with costuming, props, stunt training and language/accent learning). There are reports that some people are worried about time slippage and historians changing history by going back in time.

The majority of our story deals with three people in 1940 England (Polly, Mike and Eileen) who are trying to witness history (while not changing it). They are also trying to regain contact with the future, but circumstances keep blocking them. Finally they get in contact with each other and attempt to figure out what has happened.

I could spend many paragraphs detailing out the entire story, but it wouldn’t matter because nothing truly happens. We learn at the beginning that something might be wrong with the timeline and then we spend the next almost 500 pages getting hints that something might be wrong. But, for the most part, this is a story about everyday people in WWII. And when we start getting a hint of the bigger story, the book ends and tells us to wait for the sequel.

I can’t really recommend this book. This is at best a half of a book that is missing the majority of the plot. The writing and details are well worth reading, but overall I’d wait for the sequel to come out before reading the two of them together.