Egads… a book review…
Doomsday Book : Connie Willis
What? Science Fiction? Time Travel? 14th Century Europe?
Wasn’t that the time of the Black Plague? The Blue Illness?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.
I’ve discovered Connie Willis.. sort of like Columbus discovered America. Doomsday Book won the Hugo and Nebula in 93. She has won 11 Hugos and 7 Nebulas. So maybe others have discovered her too. But those that like SF respond to my question of Connie Willis and Doomsday Book with puzzled looks.
Doomsday Book is story telling at its best. Willis spent over 5 years writing this book and I expect that those who love it as I do, consume it in a very short time.
It is a story of youthful exuberance. Of the power of belief, not in a religious fashion, but from a spirituality that shines from within. Something that can come from within formal religion and from outside it. It is both joyous and heartbreaking.
I witnessed this book. I don’t say this about books.
-neil
