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== Plot summary ==
== Plot summary ==


Kivrin Engle, a young historian specializing in [[medieval]] history, asks her reluctant instructor (and father figure), Professor James Dunworthy, and the authorities running the project to send her to Oxford in 1320.<ref name=tintner2000/> This period had previously been thought too dangerous, because it stretched the time travel net 300 years earlier than it had ever been used before.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9/> Professor Gilchrist, who took charge of the project in the absence of the normal department head, coaxes authorities to allow it, in hopes it would enhance his own prestige, skipping numerous protocols to ensure her safety. Kivrin will be the first historian to visit the period and is confident that she is well prepared for what she will encounter.
Kivrin Engle, a young historian specializing in [[medieval]] history, asks her reluctant instructor, Professor James Dunworthy, and the authorities running the project to send her to Oxford in 1320.<ref name=tintner2000/> This period had previously been thought too dangerous, because it stretched the time travel net 300 years earlier than it had ever been used before.<ref name=rotarian161_3_9/>


Shortly after sending Kivrin to the 14th century, Badri Chaudhuri, the technician who set the time travel coordinates for Kivrin's trip, collapses suddenly, an early victim of a deadly new [[influenza]] epidemic that then disrupts the university and eventually leads to the entire city being quarantined. The time traveler Kivrin also falls ill as soon as she arrives in the past. She awakens, after several days of [[fever]] and [[delirium]], at a nearby manor, whose residents have nursed her. Being moved by her rescuers causes her to lose track of the "drop point," the location where she arrives and must return at a prearranged time in order to get home.
Shortly after sending Kivrin to the 14th century, Badri Chaudhuri, the technician who set the time travel coordinates for the trip, collapses, an early victim of a deadly new [[influenza]] epidemic that disrupts the university and leads to the city being quarantined. Kivrin also falls ill as soon as she arrives in the past. She awakens, after several days of [[fever]] and [[delirium]], at a nearby manor, whose residents have nursed her. Being moved by her rescuers causes her to lose track of the "drop point," the location where she arrives and must return at a prearranged time in order to get home.


The narrative switches between Kivrin in the 14th century and 2054/2055 Oxford during the influenza [[epidemic]]. Kivrin discovers many inconsistencies in what she "knows" about the time: the [[Middle English]] she learned is different from the local dialect, her maps are useless, her clothing is too fine, and she is far too clean. She can also read and write, skills unusual even for educated men of the time and rare among women. As nuns are the only women commonly possessing these skills, some family members conclude Kivrin has fled her convent and plan to return her to the nearest convent. She fakes amnesia, afraid the background story she originally concocted would have similar inconsistencies, as she tries to find the drop point. She fruitlessly attempts to locate Gawyn, who supposedly found her and took her to Skendgate. While this happens, she becomes semi-integrated into society, bonding with the children Agnes and Rosemund. In the other timeline, Dunworthy frantically tries to determine if Kivrin is safe as Oxford collapses into panic. He befriends his friend Mary's grand-nephew, Colin, and they become allies.
The narrative switches between Kivrin in the 14th century and 2054/2055 Oxford during the influenza [[epidemic]]. Kivrin discovers many inconsistencies in what she "knows" about the time: the [[Middle English]] she learned is different from the local dialect, her maps are useless, her clothing is too fine, and she is far too clean. Kivrin fakes amnesia, afraid the background story she originally concocted would have inconsistencies, as she tries to find the drop point. Meanwhile, she becomes semi-integrated into society, bonding with the children Agnes and Rosemund. In the other timeline, Dunworthy tries to determine if Kivrin is safe as Oxford collapses into panic. He befriends his friend Mary's grand-nephew, Colin, and they become allies.


In future Oxford, fears grow that the virus causing the epidemic has been transmitted from the past via the time travel net, despite its scientific impossibility. This causes acting head of Balliol College Professor Gilchrist to order the net closed, effectively stranding Kivrin in the past, even as Professor Dunworthy tries frantically to reverse the decision.
In future Oxford, fears grow that the virus causing the epidemic has been transmitted from the past via the time travel net. This causes acting head of Balliol College Professor Gilchrist to order the net closed, effectively stranding Kivrin in the past.


At parallel points in their respective narratives, Kivrin and Professor Dunworthy realize that she has arrived in England in 1348 during the [[Black Death]] pandemic,<ref name=tintner2000/> more than 20 years later than intended. Because there's no slippage (the time shift between a traveler's intended and actual date of arrival, ensuring they can't change history), it's believed that Badri, delirious with illness, input the incorrect coordinates. It turns out that Badri contracted the influenza virus from human remains at the archaeological dig, when he had been helping there, starting the epidemic at future Oxford.
Kivrin and Dunworthy realize that she has arrived in England in 1348 during the [[Black Death]] pandemic,<ref name=tintner2000/> more than 20 years later than intended. Because there's no slippage (the time shift between a traveler's intended and actual date of arrival, ensuring they can't change history), it's believed that Badri, delirious with illness, input the incorrect coordinates. It turns out that Badri contracted the influenza virus from human remains at the archaeological dig, when he had been helping there, starting the epidemic at future Oxford.


The Black Death cuts a swathe through the [[Middle Ages]], just as disease overwhelms the medical staff of the 21st century. There are many parallels between the timelines showing things haven't changed all that much. Of those able to help Professor Dunworthy, many fall ill and die, including his good friend Mary Ahrens, a doctor selflessly treating the infected who then herself succumbs. And Professor Dunworthy himself is stricken by the disease.
The Black Death cuts a swathe through the [[Middle Ages]], just as disease overwhelms the medical staff of the 21st century. Of those able to help Dunworthy, many die, including his friend Mary Ahrens, a doctor treating the infected who herself succumbs. Dunworthy himself is stricken by the disease but survives.


Meanwhile, in the 14th century, two weeks after Kivrin's arrival, a monk infected with the plague comes to the village. Within days, many residents of the village fall ill. Kivrin tries to nurse the victims, but, lacking modern medicines, she can do little to ease their suffering. Her arranged retrieval date passes with neither side able to make it. At last, in desperation, Professor Dunworthy (despite being in feeble health himself) arranges for Badri to send him back in time to rescue Kivrin, whom he cares about and whose situation he feels responsible for.
Meanwhile, in the 14th century, two weeks after Kivrin's arrival, a monk infected with the plague comes to the village. Within days, many residents of the village fall ill. Kivrin’s arranged retrieval date passes with neither side able to make it. At last, Dunworthy arranges for Badri to send him back in time to rescue Kivrin.


In the Middle Ages, Kivrin can only watch while all the people she has come to know die from the Black Death. The last is Father Roche, the priest who found her when she was sick and brought her to the manor. Father Roche insisted on staying with his parishioners, despite Kivrin's attempts to arrange an escape, as he feels it his duty to care for them although it may mean his own death. As Roche lies dying in the chapel, he reveals that he was near the drop site when Kivrin came through and misinterpreted the circumstances of her arrival (shimmering light, condensation, a young woman appearing out of thin air) as God delivering a saint to help during the mysterious illness sweeping through England. He dies still believing that she is God's messenger to him and his congregation, while Kivrin comes to appreciate his selfless devotion to his work and to God. As she sits in the graveyard, unable to dig a grave or finish tolling the peal for his death, her rescuers, Professor Dunworthy and Colin, find her. They barely recognize her: her hair is cropped short (from when she was sick with the flu), she is wearing a boy's [[Jerkin (garment)|jerkin]], and she is covered in dirt and blood from tending to the sick and dying. The three return to 21st century England shortly after New Year's Day, Kivrin safe but traumatized, and Colin excited by the concept of time travel, saying he will go to the Crusades when he is old enough.
In the Middle Ages, Kivrin can only watch while all the people she has come to know die from the Black Death. Dunworthy and Colin then find her. The three return to 21st century England shortly after New Year's Day, Colin excited by the concept of time travel, saying he will go to the Crusades when he is old enough.


== Analysis ==
== Analysis ==

Revision as of 17:43, 16 June 2020

For the survey carried out in England in 1086, see Domesday Book.
Doomsday book
First edition hardcover
AuthorConnie Willis
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherBantam Spectra
Publication date
1992
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages592 pages (paperback)
AwardsLocus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1993)
ISBN0-553-08131-4 (Hardcover)
ISBN 0-553-35167-2 (Paperback)
OCLC24952289
813/.54 20
LC ClassPS3573.I45652 D66 1992

Doomsday Book is a 1992 science fiction novel by American author Connie Willis. The novel won both the Hugo[1] and Nebula[2] Awards, and was shortlisted for other awards.[3] The title of the book refers to the Domesday Book of 1086; Kivrin Engle, the main character, says that her recording is "a record of life in the Middle Ages, which is what William the Conqueror's survey turned out to be."[4]

The novel is the first in a series about the Oxford time-traveling historians, which includes To Say Nothing of the Dog (1998) and Blackout/All Clear (2010).

Plot introduction

Willis' mythos is a near future (first introduced in her story "Fire Watch" (1982)) in which historians conduct field work by traveling into the past as observers. The research is conducted at the University of Oxford, in mid-21st century England.[5]

In the book's fictional universe, history resists time travel that would cause the past to be altered, by preventing visits to certain places or times. Typically the machine used for time travel will refuse to function, rendering the trip impossible. In other cases, "slippage", a shift in the exact time target, occurs. The time-traveler arrives at the nearest place-and-time suitable for preventing a paradox; variance can be anything from 5 minutes to 5 years. Some periods theoretically accessible can also be deemed too dangerous for the historians by the authorities controlling time travel.[5]

Plot summary

Kivrin Engle, a young historian specializing in medieval history, asks her reluctant instructor, Professor James Dunworthy, and the authorities running the project to send her to Oxford in 1320.[6] This period had previously been thought too dangerous, because it stretched the time travel net 300 years earlier than it had ever been used before.[5]

Shortly after sending Kivrin to the 14th century, Badri Chaudhuri, the technician who set the time travel coordinates for the trip, collapses, an early victim of a deadly new influenza epidemic that disrupts the university and leads to the city being quarantined. Kivrin also falls ill as soon as she arrives in the past. She awakens, after several days of fever and delirium, at a nearby manor, whose residents have nursed her. Being moved by her rescuers causes her to lose track of the "drop point," the location where she arrives and must return at a prearranged time in order to get home.

The narrative switches between Kivrin in the 14th century and 2054/2055 Oxford during the influenza epidemic. Kivrin discovers many inconsistencies in what she "knows" about the time: the Middle English she learned is different from the local dialect, her maps are useless, her clothing is too fine, and she is far too clean. Kivrin fakes amnesia, afraid the background story she originally concocted would have inconsistencies, as she tries to find the drop point. Meanwhile, she becomes semi-integrated into society, bonding with the children Agnes and Rosemund. In the other timeline, Dunworthy tries to determine if Kivrin is safe as Oxford collapses into panic. He befriends his friend Mary's grand-nephew, Colin, and they become allies.

In future Oxford, fears grow that the virus causing the epidemic has been transmitted from the past via the time travel net. This causes acting head of Balliol College Professor Gilchrist to order the net closed, effectively stranding Kivrin in the past.

Kivrin and Dunworthy realize that she has arrived in England in 1348 during the Black Death pandemic,[6] more than 20 years later than intended. Because there's no slippage (the time shift between a traveler's intended and actual date of arrival, ensuring they can't change history), it's believed that Badri, delirious with illness, input the incorrect coordinates. It turns out that Badri contracted the influenza virus from human remains at the archaeological dig, when he had been helping there, starting the epidemic at future Oxford.

The Black Death cuts a swathe through the Middle Ages, just as disease overwhelms the medical staff of the 21st century. Of those able to help Dunworthy, many die, including his friend Mary Ahrens, a doctor treating the infected who herself succumbs. Dunworthy himself is stricken by the disease but survives.

Meanwhile, in the 14th century, two weeks after Kivrin's arrival, a monk infected with the plague comes to the village. Within days, many residents of the village fall ill. Kivrin’s arranged retrieval date passes with neither side able to make it. At last, Dunworthy arranges for Badri to send him back in time to rescue Kivrin.

In the Middle Ages, Kivrin can only watch while all the people she has come to know die from the Black Death. Dunworthy and Colin then find her. The three return to 21st century England shortly after New Year's Day, Colin excited by the concept of time travel, saying he will go to the Crusades when he is old enough.

Analysis

Doomsday Book is a rare example of a story where the protagonist of a time travel story is female.[7]

Publication history

References

  1. ^ "1993 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  2. ^ "1992 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  3. ^ "Award wins and nominations for Doomsday Book". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  4. ^ Willis, Connie (1992). Doomsday Book. Bantam Books. p. 14. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  5. ^ a b c "Book Review: The Doomsday Book". The Rotarian. 161 (3): 9. September 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  6. ^ a b Tintner, Adeline R. (2000). The twentieth-century world of Henry James: changes in his work after 1900. LSU Press. p. 165. ISBN 0-8071-2534-2.
  7. ^ "Time tourism - Charlie's Diary". Antipope.org. April 13, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
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