Science Fiction & Fantasy Award Winning Book Group discussion

Hey everyone.

This is for discussion of April's group read:
All Clear by Connie Willis

This is the second half of the story and book that jointly won the 2011 Hugo and Nebula award. I'm interested how this will continue on from the first book.

As always use spoiler code if saying anything detailed about the plot.

Yet again Willis doesn't number her chapters but instead dates them which makes it slightly awkward for discussions like this. My edition is 800 pages and I'll read 100 each day.

London 26th October 1940 - London November 1940

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As expected it starts off directly where the last book, Blackout, finished which is no surprise as it was written as one book split in half I’m finding it strange so far however as there’s been no chapters about future Oxford and what’s happening with Colin and the others trying to work out what’s going on. I’m expecting it to switch back for awhile shortly however or it would have a unusual feel compared to how it’s gone until now.
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My edition has 642 pages. It has taken me five days to read the first 123 pages so who knows when I'll finish. At this point I'm forcing myself to pick it up.

London 26th October 1940 - London November 1940 (through page 110)

(view spoiler)[ Nothing has changed. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse but it just seems like everyone's just running in circles.

Also, what happened to Eileen? She seemed like a highly competent character when she was taking care of the children and now that she has met up with Polly and Mike she can barely take care of herself. They hide things from her for fear of scaring her. This really bugs me. It feels like I'm reading about a completely different character. (hide spoiler)]

Jon, regarding what you said;
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I know exactly what you mean here. Everything feels like it's on repeat and they're not doing anything new to help themselves out of this situation.

I'm puzzled with Eileen's character too. I would of thought it was a different person if I didn't know better.
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Up until London November 1940 - page 196

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I didn’t see Bletchley Park coming at all which I could of done as I knew it was happening at that same time but having the Oxford historians getting directly involved not so much. I imagine this is the start of the major divergence and problem as stated on the synopsis on the back of the book. Bletchley was critical to the war so any changes to it would be massive. I’m curious to see how Willis will handle the Paradox part of this as it looks like it’s approaching quite quickly.
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London - November 1940 (pg 111) through London - December 1940 (pg 206)

(view spoiler)[ Finally! We get back to current day Oxford where Dunworthy gives up a little info on what he's worried about. Then he rushes back in time to get Polly. Because of slippage he ends up sometime around Christmas and then he gets 'blowed up'. I'm assuming when next we see him he will be in a hospital. Polly and friends are almost caught up to Christmas at this point so they could meet up soon. And now we know that whoever came through at the end of Blackout it wasn't Dunworthy. Someone else is in play. I think.
Eileen confronts Polly about her lies and omissions. Polly admits that she has a deadline by which she needs to be gone. I went back and reread the section where she sees Eileen on V-E Day and the green coat is rather ominous. The three of them are still kinda hanging around though. Mike is running around like a chicken with it's head cut off but so far they're just spinning their wheels.
Joe, I wonder how much Bletchley Park will figure in the story. At first I thought it was just a way for the author to show more history of WWII but I'm second guessing that. I think the two people looking for Mike aren't the recovery team that he's hoping for but the two guys from Bletchley Park looking to recruit him. Hopefully things keep picking up. (hide spoiler)]

Up until St Paul's Cathedral - September 29th 1940

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The main thing of interest in this section is the three of them discover each other is hiding something and and get them to say what it is. At least partly anyway as Polly is still hiding something. They’ve almost ran out of time now and will no longer know when and where the raids and such will take place so their troubles will get far worse.

Jon, I'm thinking they're Bletchley Park staff looking to recruit him as well. The retrieval team would be a bit early at this point I feel.
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Saltram-on-Sea - December 1940 (pg 207) through London - Winter 1941 (pg 339)

(view spoiler)[ I meant to mention in my last post that I'm also tired of Mike not calling while he is away and Polly and Eileen constantly running around 'Is Mike okay, is Mike okay, is Mike okay?'

It finally dawned on me at the beginning of this section that Agatha Christie is constantly being brought up (she actually appears briefly as a character also) and that readers of her novels never quite figure out what is going on until the end of her books. Lots of misdirection and plot twists. What does that mean for this book, if anything? I've only read two of her books (The Mysterious Affair at Styles and And Then There Were None) so I don't have much to work with there.

Green coat, saw that one coming.

Major development in last paragraph. Joe if you know what I'm talking about did you see it coming? And do you think it's true?

I'm starting to enjoy this much more. Hopefully the action keeps ramping up. (hide spoiler)]

Up until Croydon - October 1944 - page 397

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This section was dominated by Binnie and Alf helping Eileen be a ambulance driver. In Blackout they were just a mildly amusing drawback Eileen had to just put up with but now they’re playing more of a role and picking up on conversation between the three Oxford travellers which could be problematic.

St Pauls is still standing so their fear over them changing history that way is unfounded but what it will turn out to be I can’t begin to guess at yet.
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Up until London Winter 1940

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It finally feels like everything is starting to come together at last. They’ve found Mr Dunworthy but Mike has been killed and now they fear the time continuum itself will kill them and everyone they’ve interacted with. It’s getting a whole lot darker remarkably quickly.

Jon, I didn’t see Mike’s death coming but am doubtful it’s real considering everything else that has happened. I don’t see it working well after building him up into the story for so long and taking him out so fast.
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London - Winter 1941 (pg 340) through Kent - April 1944 (pg 426)

(view spoiler)[ It seemed to me like Mary/Polly had some kind of time mishap happen to her at Croyden. I wonder if the man that disappeared was part of a retrieval team?
So Ernest is really Mike. So does this mean that Mike lived or is the 1944 timeline one of his previous assignments?
And we learn that the man who came through at the end of Blackout was Mr Dunworthy when he was younger on a previous trip. So it looks like no Colin and no retrieval team. (hide spoiler)]

Up to Kent - October 1944 - page 648

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It feels like there’s far more of a focus to the plotting now finally which is nice to see. I’ve felt it’s so muddled for most of the time and the Oxford characters so unfocused and random but now events are changing and they have to change with them.

Mike is not dead. I’m not surprised by this although I didn’t expect the future character of Ernest to be him. I did consider it at one point but dismissed it as events didn’t seem to lead that way.

This is the first time in all four Oxford Time Traveler books that I've found it slightly confusing and not clear as to who is who and why things are happening.
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Imperial War Museum, London - 7 May 1995 (pg 427) through London - Spring 1941 (pg 570)

(view spoiler)[ Joe, I almost said the exact same thing in my last post. There were just too many threads and I couldn't keep track of them. Everything has changed now though and things are starting to come together. I raced through the last 100 plus pages. I wanted to finish tonight but it's after midnight so I'm giving up. Really enjoyed this section. (hide spoiler)]

Finished.

(view spoiler)[
So the final reveals about the characters like Eileen staying behind all happened and whilst I didn’t guess them I also am not surprised by them at all. I liked the writing style but the plot wanders and really takes it’s time to get there. There’s a lot of events that happen that really don’t add much to the plot at all and could of been done far easier and cleaner.

Overall I did enjoy both books and the story but as I said above, it wanders more than it needs. For such a long story I also think the wrap-up and conclusion was rather fast.

I'm puzzled as to why there was an emphasis placed on the way Eileen said goodbye to Colin. Colin's mother was known from To Say Nothing of the Dog, if I remember correctly, so why the emphasis? Odd is all I can saw for now and I'll need to think on it more.
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Finished

(view spoiler)[ Okay so I liked the last 150 to 200 pages but I don't know if that makes up for the monotony of the previous 400 to 500 pages. Not sure if I'm being too harsh here but I almost put this down for good a couple of times. I do agree with you Joe about liking her writing style and that is the only thing that kept me going.

I was a little surprised that Mike was dead. I thought that Colin would get him back in time to be saved. And I was confused about Colin's search and how they couldn't get the drops to open during certain time frames (into the 50's or 60's I think was mentioned) but all of a sudden Colin got the drop to open at the right time to rescue them. I was reading fairly quickly by that point so it's probably my fault for missing something.

Joe, I decided based on some other comments that I think Polly made that once Eileen and Polly saw him as an older man instead of the teenage boy that they recognized him. I think (and I could be wrong) that he looked like the vicar. That's why Eileen said she knew as soon as she saw him that she would stay behind. Or maybe it makes more sense that he looks like Eileen. Something like that. She saw him and realized that he was a descendant of hers and the only way that would be possible would be if she stayed behind. Could be way off on that one but that's what I came up with. Haha. (hide spoiler)]

More end thoughts.

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Jon, I was surprised by Mike being dead after all as well considering everything that had already happened to him. The timing and ability of Colin to suddenly get the drop to open was a little odd I thought.

That thought about Colin being a descendant due to his similarity to the vicar has occurred to me now I've given it more thought. It makes me think of the idea of a paradox however. If Eileen hadn't of gone back Colin would not exist but that means she wouldn't of gone back too so it really seems to be a proper paradox in this case.
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