To Say Nothing of the Dog

By the mid 21st-century time-travel has been made possible and historians travel to the past as part of their research. In 2057 Lady Schrapnell, of whom we do not learn much else than that she's a tyrannical employer and believes that 'God is in the details', is rebuilding the Coventry Cathedral. She sends a group of historians to Coventry in 1940 to try and find an object called the bishop's bird stump in order to document it and thus help Lady Schrapnell to remake even that little detail of the decoration for her replica cathedral. However, too many trips to the past cause time-lag and one of the historians, Ned Henry, is sent back to present time to recuperate. In the present time Ned learns that something unheard of has happened. It should not be possible to bring anything back from the past, but one of his colleagues has managed to do just that. In order to escape Lady Schrapnell's wrath, as he did not find the bishop's bird stump, and also to save the world from serious trouble and prevent history from altering, and also to get well again, Ned is sent to Victorian era, where he first must find out what it was he was supposed to do there (one of the symptoms of time-lag is difficulty in distinguishing sounds and Ned is not at all sure what was said to him before he jumped into the time-travelling net) and then, together with another historian (who, of course, is a beautiful woman ;)), to prevent history from altering.

Connie Willis has won numerous Hugo and Nebula Awards. Her time-traveller novel To Say Nothing of the Dog is a fast and easy read. The story in all its simplicity is nicely humorous and engaging. It was extra fun that Willis uses a lot of literary details in the story: names of novels, allusions to literary works, and Ned Henry actually passes the Three Men in a Boat while travelling on the river Thames. Of course, also the name of the novel comes from Three Men in a Boat. :)

This was my second Connie Willis book. I read Doomsday Book many years ago. I liked it a lot and have always meant to read more of her work. I'm glad I finally did. Someone of you my fellow bloggers (sorry, don't remember who!) mentioned To Say Nothing of the Dog a while ago and I thought it might be a book I would like. I was right. There is no doubt I will read more Willis in the future.