Almost a 5!

Listening to tales of war torn London recounted by my Nan when I was a small child, I couldn't help being drawn into this tale of ordinary folk living through the Blitz. In spite of Connie Willis being American and forgiving her a few mistakes on stations & geography, it was very true to the first-hand stories I'd heard. Really brought to life London in the Blitz from a different angle.

Setting the story against the semi Sci Fi backdrop of the 'Net' and time travel gave it an interesting twist that kept me engaged. You get attached to the charachters and want them to get home.

Agree with another review - you must listen to Blackout first to make any sense of it.

There are two reasons it didn't get a 5: -
1). The plot and 'science' behind the net really do get more convoluted than they need to.
and 2). Could the publisher get really radical and employ an actual Brit to read the story?! Brave attempt by Katherine Kellgren and far better than any of my attempts at an American accent, but PLEASE! You have to be really patient to tune out all the strange pronunciations and tune in to the story.

Still worth the patience though.

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Loved this 2 book series

I am a fan of history, and Connie does her research very well. It was a bit convoluted at times, and I had to rewind a few times when I was listening, but my attention was not fully on the story, but it was a very good story. I sometimes got a bit irritated by the americanisation of some of words by the narrator (passage being one of them!), but this was a minor irritation.

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Long, but worth the effort.

I loved the story, but as others have said, it could have been edited down a bit to avoid repetition and to keep the pace up. There are some wonderful characters in there especially Sir Godfrey and Alf and Binnie. I did feel the main 3 characters were a bit inept - they even make Markham look like a consummate professional (nod to JT) - and I did get a bit confused from time to time as to who was who with Polly/Eileen/Merope/Mary/Douglas/Triumph/Michael/Ernest/Kansas etc. a lot of names for 3 people but maybe that's just me.
Enough has been said about the narrator's accents - Marjorie's was particularly odd at the start of the book - but everyone was right. A British voice actor would have been better. Apparently, not all of the 1940s details were accurate (the Victoria line's existence has been mentioned), but I'm no expert so that didn't bother me too much, but it bothers some.

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wonderful unexpected and thrilling

after listening to Blackout i couldn't wait to listen to All Clear and i wasn't disappeared

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good story

good story spoiled by being far too long. really needed editing - cut out repeats and quotations at the beginning of each chapter, which near the end wasn't needed as it was really all one chapter. at this point Katherine kellgrin tried to keep the atmosphere and momentum going but the quotes slowed it down and were irritating.
the characters that stood out for me, apart from the main ones, were the shakespeareian actor sir godfrey and alfie and binnie.
black out leaves you up in the air, all clear pulls all the loose ends together.

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Great story

This and the precursor novel blackout is an excellent time travel novel with many twists and turns. It can get a bit confusing at times but perseverance pays off in the end. That the main ?heroes? of the story come from the most unlikely source is an interesting twist and as a reader/listener you really want the time travellers to get back home.

One word of advice however, read/listed to the two books consecutively. The storyline is so intrinsic that to have a significant gap between the first and second instalment might be frustrating as you try to remember who some of the lesser characters are.

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable story, just don't take it too seriously!

I really enjoyed this book! It is not the best writing in the world but I enjoyed the characters and the premise enough to forgive cutting the first book off mid-action. There were some mistakes by the author in writing English dialogue but that was less distracting than the reader's fairly poor attempt at English accents; to an English ear there were many mistakes. However, she was a good reader and 'told' the story well. There could have been better character development given the scope of two books but this seemed a little overtaken by the author's want to get the historical facts in there. I would definitely recommend this book with the caveat that it shouldn't be taken too seriously. I really enjoyed the ride for what it was. It was clear the author had spent much time carefully researching the history.

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excellent story and brilliant performance

brilliant 2 part story and an excellent reading with characters which were easily recognisable and fantastic twists and resolves

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1 person found this helpful

Good follow up to Blackout

Would you try another book written by Connie Willis or narrated by Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis (introduction) ?

Definitely the Oxford series written by Connie Willis but would avoid anything narrated by Katherine Kellgren in future. The frequent mispronouncing got in the way of a good story e.g passengers and particularly of ARP and FANYS showed ignorance of the subject matter and was irritating. The American accent lacked conviction as did the 'over the top' aristocratic accent. If Aileen (Eileen?) is supposed to be Irish an Irish accent should have been used for her part.

What did you like best about this story?

The fire at St Paul's and the surrounding events. I had read Blackout some time ago and then tried it and all clear as audio books, they work very well, particularly Connie Willis' introduction

Would you be willing to try another one of Katherine Kellgren and Connie Willis (introduction) ’s performances?

See previous comments

Could you see All Clear being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Yes. An English cast. Sam West as Mike, Claire Skinner as Polly

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one of best books ever you must read black out

you must raed black out then all clear
connie willis books are wearth bying
verry hard to put down

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