Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is the best book about time travel that I know of, with the notable exception of “This is how you lose the time war”. It’s started out good, and then proceeded to kick me in the feelings. Repeatedly.
Time travel in the modern world (2050s), but it’s mostly about one of the main characters traveling to 1340s England. While I appreciated the historical accuracies and the soft snark, I struggle to put into words what made this book so good for me. It is the story, but not the plot, I think. The overal story arc is predictable, but the details are perfect. There is a lot of details, a lot of real life in all its glorious mess, and no Checkov’s guns, no too-convenient accidents. Just people, and life, and that’s honestly rare in SFF. The tone was so consistent and realistic and warm that it charmed me before I even noticed what it was doing. Great book – and I’ve heard that the next one is even better, so I’m looking forward to that.
