All Clear

Alright, I have to give this series more credit than I did after I read the last book. Willis did a masterful job tying all the threads from Blackout together. However, I still did not enjoy it as much as her other books, and I really feel that Blackout and All Clear would have been much better as one book.

This one took a long time, as my husband and I listened to the audiobook in the car on long trips. However, it was well worth the wait. The characters grew so much and the world-building was great and rich.

It was at once: historical fiction, found family, science fiction, and much more.

I liked this one more than the first part, and it was indeed just like those Agatha Christie stories where in the end, it turns out you were completely wrong. As was I in my previous review.

There's very little ‘science fiction' in this series. It's mostly ‘historical fiction' with a generous amount of ‘romance'. In my opinion, this series is an example of how the industry has changed since it has become so easy to publish books. The whole four book series should have been edited down to one, or possibly two books. The whole trope regarding World War II and Nazi's is overused - especially in time travel stories.

Well, this volume moved much more quickly than [b:Blackout 6506307 Blackout Connie Willis https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402428101s/6506307.jpg 6697901] did! Having read a brief piece written by Ms. Willis thanking those who stood by her as one book spread into two, I think I have a slightly better understanding now of what happened that led to my unhappiness with the way the first book ended. They really shouldn't be two books, but they couldn't physically fit into one volume. Or, for many e-readers, one ebook.It is still a large book! And, as in [b:Blackout 6506307 Blackout Connie Willis https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402428101s/6506307.jpg 6697901], it isn't always clear just who a character is. I'm reading along happily and all of a sudden, there's a new main character! Wait, who is this? Has Colin gotten through somehow? Or is it another historian? Or another trip by one of the people we already know? Or–but–...Ms. Willis does a marvelous job of keeping us guessing. And the historians' habit of using different names on different assignments meant that I didn't always know which person I was reading about even when I thought I did know who he or she was! The reader has to catch the tiniest details to know that something isn't quite right, or be left completely surprised at the reveal! The many references to [a:Agatha Christie 123715 Agatha Christie https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg] are definitely meaningful, and I've come to believe that I haven't read nearly enough of her work!I've always considered Ms. Willis a cerebral author, but my emotions were heavily engaged here. The analogy of Polly, Sir Godfrey, and The Admirable Crichton was so apt, and that dreadful business in the Phoenix had me bawling. By the time a hero we'd grown to know and love dearly fell, and fell so, so close to home, I was a basket case. After finishing this massive duology (which really should count as one enormous book spread across two volumes), you would think that I would be sick and tired of all things Willis and not want to read another word by her for the next year or so. Instead, I want to know, right now, what comes next. I want to read about Eileen and the Vicar, and watch Alf and Binnie grow up. I want to see Polly and Colin's relationship grow.I imagine Ms. Willis is rather tired of all of them, though, and happy to rest for a while and remember what it is to live back in this century again. The Oxford Time Travel universe offers so many rich and fascinating possibilities for fiction, and I hope she chooses to write many more novels set in it. I'll definitely be willing to read them!

It wasn't until about page 250 that I realized this was Part 2 of which I hadn't read Part 1. By then it was too late. Willis had gripped me, which was unfortunate because these have been busy weeks leaving little time for reading.

All Clear isn't Zany Connie. I hesitate to call it Drama Connie. Maybe Noble Connie? Sacrifice. Choice. Acceptance. Joy. This is a powerful, moving story. Her characters end up larger than life, but they didn't start that way. Was it the War? The zeitgeist? Their circumstances? Willis is roundabout in how she lets us see it, but they grow into who they are. And it works.