Blackout is the 1st book in the Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis. It’s about a group of time traveling historians from the year 2060, who go back in time to change history as we know it.
The historians’ goal is to prevent or alter major, catastrophic events, including 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the American Civil War. When the bosses at the time traveling lab start canceling and rescheduling assignments, historians are thrown into situations they’re not trained on and prepared for, and everything goes haywire.
This book really wasn’t very good. The writing in Blackout has a very sleepy, relaxed cadence to it, which is fine. But much of its dialogue seems overly lengthy and irrelevant. The story moves so slowly, that is feels like nothing is progressing.
Also, each chapter feels overly repetitive, like the same experiences are being repeated by every character. During the first 100 pages, we learn the assignments are being jumbled up. Next, the author gives very long explanations about how specific characters think something is off about the timeline they landed in. Then, we learn at the end of each chapter that said characters arrived into the future a few days later than expected. How frustrating! And incredibly boring.
The next book that comes after Blackout is All Clear (2010).
Other books by Connie Willis include:
- Crosstalk (2016)
- The Road to Roswell (2023)
Last Updated on January 19, 2026 by Sarah Ann
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