Oxford, futur proche. L'université est définitivement dépoussiérée : historien est devenu un métier à haut risque. Car désormais, pour étudier le passé, il faut le vivre. Littéralement. Michael Davies se prépare pour Pearl Harbor, Merope Ward est aux prises avec une volée d'enfants évacués en 1940, Polly Churchill sera vendeuse en plein coeur du Blitz, et le jeune Colin Templer irait n'importe où, n'importe quand, pour Polly...Ils sont aux premières loges. Une aubaine pour des historiens, sauf quand l'Histoire elle-même se met à dérailler.
Et si, finalement, il était possible de changer le passé ?
Prix Hugo du meilleur roman 2011, prix Nebula du meilleur roman 2010 et prix Locus du meilleur roman de science-fiction 2011 avec All Clear.
Londres, 29 décembre 1940 : l'une des nuits les plus meurtrières du Blitz. Pris au coeur de l'un des pires raids de l'époque, les historiens du futur Michael, Merope et Polly cherchent désespérément à revenir au XXIe siècle. En attendant de trouver un moyen de s'échapper, le trio tente de survivre aux bombardements et aux évacuations, mais il y a plus grave encore : d'après les archives oxfordiennes de 2060, il semblerait que leurs interventions aient modifié le cours des événements... et la guerre pourrait bien se terminer autrement, bouleversant l'Histoire à jamais. Quelle que soit l'ampleur des sacrifices exigés, les voyageurs du futur doivent s'engager dans un combat acharné contre le temps...Prix Hugo du meilleur roman 2011, prix Nebula du meilleur roman 2010 et prix Locus du meilleur roman de science-fiction 2011 avec All Clear.« Un thriller qu'on lit d'une traite. » Publishers Weekly« L'évocation la plus saisissante de l'Angleterre pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale que l'on ait jamais écrite. » The Washington Post« L'un des plus grands auteurs américains. » The Denver Post
Quoi de plus naturel, au XXIe siècle, que d'utiliser des transmetteurs temporels pour envoyer des historiens vérifier sur place l'idée qu'ils se font du passé ? Kivrin Engle, elle, a choisi l'an 1320, afin d'étudier les us et coutumes du Moyen Age.
Au XXIe siècle, le professeur Dunworthy dirige une équipe d'historiens qui utilisent des transmetteurs temporels pour voyager dans le temps. Ned Henry, l'un d'eux, effectue ainsi d'incessantes navettes vers le passé pour récolter un maximum d'informations sur la cathédrale de Coventry, détruite par un raid aérien nazi.
Or c'est à ce même Henry, épuisé par ses voyages et passablement déphasé, que Dunworthy confie la tâche de corriger un paradoxe temporel provoqué par une de ses collègues, qui a sauvé un chat de la noyade en 1888 et l'a ramené par inadvertance avec elle dans le futur.
Or l'incongruité de la rencontre de ce matou voyageur avec un chien victorien pourrait bien remettre en cause... la survie de l'humanité !
Cela fait maintenant quelque temps que Trent et Briddey sortent ensemble, et leur amour est assez solide pour qu'il lui pose la question. Pas si elle veut l'épouser, non, si elle est prête à se faire greffer un AEC, un dispositif électronique qui permet à deux amants de partager leurs sentiments sans aucun filtre. Cette technologie dernier cri rend obsolètes les smartphones, les SMS, les e-mails et toute autre forme de communication au sein du couple. Mais Briddey se met un jour à percevoir les émotions et les pensées d'autres que Trent, et le rêve tourne au cauchemar...
Joanna Lander est docteur à l'hôpital Mercy General de Denver où elle fait des recherches sur les expériences de mort imminente (EMI) en recueillant des témoignages. Quand elle rencontre le docteur Richard Wright, elle accepte qu'il lui fasse une injection simulant une EMI. Mais au lieu de découvrir le tunnel dont tout le monde parle, elle se retrouve dans la coursive d'un paquebot...
2060, point de départ des voyages dans le temps. Il semble que quelqu'un ait changé l'issue de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, mettant à mal la théorie selon laquelle il est possible d'observer le passé sans le modifier. Pris Hugo, Nebula et Locus du meilleur roman.
When a time-travel lab suddenly cancels assignments for no apparent reason and switches around everyone's schedules, time-traveling historians Michael, Merope, and Polly find themselves in World War II, facing air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history--to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control.
Ned Henry is a time-travelling historian who specialises in the mid-20th century - currently engaged in researching the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral. He''s also made so many drops into the past that he''s suffering from a dangerously advanced case of ''time-lag''. Unfortunately for Ned, an emergency dash to Victorian England is required and he''s the only available historian. But Ned''s time-lag is so bad that he''s not sure what the errand is - which is bad news since, if he fails, history could unravel around him...
Award-winning author Connie Willis returns with a stunning, enormously entertaining novel of time travel, war, and the deeds - great and small - of ordinary people who shape history.
Une machine à remonter le temps permet aux historiens de l'université d'Oxford, en 2060, de se rendre dans le passé pour y récolter des informations. Mais le moindre changement peut avoir de grandes conséquences... C'est ce qu'apprendront à leurs dépends les personnages de chacun des romans.
Dans un futur pas si lointain, une intervention chirurgicale a été mise au point pour améliorer l'empathie dans le couple. Tous les amoureux en rêvent. Briddey Flannigan se réjouit quand Trent, son petit ami, lui propose cette opération avant leurs fiançailles : leur lien émotionnel s'en trouvera renforcé et la communication n'aura plus de secrets pour eux. Mais les choses ne se déroulent pas tout à fait comme prévu : bien malgré elle, Briddey se retrouve connectée à quelqu'un d'autre.C'est plus qu'elle n'en peut supporter, surtout avec le stress déjà engendré par une famille obsédée par la communication, de jour comme de nuit. Mais ce n'est qu'un début. Alors que la situation empire, Briddey commence à prendre conscience des inconvénients d'un excès d'informations. Elle comprend alors que l'amour - et la communication - s'avèrent bien plus complexes qu'elle ne l'imaginait...« Une critique de notre obsession pour les téléphones portables dans une future Amérique trop proche... Connie Willis y mêle adroitement connaissances scientifiques et personnages hauts en couleur. On obtient une histoire délicate et pleine d'humour où l'héroïne rencontre enfin le prince charmant. Willis juxtapose une réflexion salutaire sur l'ambiguïté des portables et sur la menace que les nouvelles technologies font peser sur l'éthique et la sphère émotionnelle. » Publishers Weekly« Vous pensez que les smartphones et les réseaux sociaux menacent votre intimité ? Imaginez que vous puissiez entendre les pensées des autres... et qu'on entende les vôtres. En plus de maîtriser habilement les ressorts de la comédie, Connie Willis critique la société moderne et nous propose une métaphore sur les joies et les dangers de la connexion humaine. Sous une autre plume, ce roman aurait pu être une succession de clichés, mais il n'en est rien grâce à l'intrigue prenante et à l'humour vivace de Connie Willis. » Kirkus Reviews
This new collection of stories from the multi-award-winning author of DOOMSDAY BOOK and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG contains: A Letter from the Clearys At the Rialto Death on the Nile The Soul Selects Her own Society Fire Watch Inside Job Even the Queen The Winds of Marble Arch All Seated on the Ground Last of the Winnebagos Ten stories - which have all won the HUGO AWARD, the NEBULA AWARD or both - are compulsory reading for the serious science fiction fan.
BLACKOUT is the opening movement of a vast, absorbing two-volume novel that may well prove to be Connie Willis' masterpiece. Like her multi-award winning THE DOOMSDAY BOOK, this stunning new work marries the intricate mechanics of time travel to the gritty - and dangerous - realities of human history.
The narrative opens in Oxford, England in 2060, where a trio of time traveling scholars prepares to depart for various corners of the Second World War. Their mission: to observe, from a safe vantage point, the day-to-day nature of life during this critical historical moment. As the action ranges from the evacuation of Dunkirk to the manor houses of rural England to the quotidian horrors of London during the Blitz, the objective nature of their roles gradually changes. Cut off from the safety net of the future and caught up in the chaotic events that make up history, they are forced to participate, in unexpected ways, in the defining events of the era.
BLACKOUT is an ingeniously constructed time travel novel and a grand entertainment. More than that, it is a moving, exquisitely detailed portrait of a world under siege, a world dominated by chaos, uncertainty, and the threat of imminent extinction. It is the rare sort of book that transcends the limits of genre, offering pleasure, insight, and illumination on virtually every page.
Winner of six Nebula and two Hugo awards for her fiction, Connie Willis is acclaimed for her gifted imagination and bold invention. Here are eleven of her finest stories, surprising tales in which the impossible becomes real, the real becomes impossible, and strangeness lurks at every turn.
The end of the world comes not with a bang but a series of whimpers over many years in "The Last of the Winnebagos."
The terror of pain and dying gives birth to a startling truth about the nature of the stars, a principle known as the "Schwarzschild Radius."
In "Spice Pogrom," an outrageous colony in outer space becomes the setting for a screwball comedy of bizarre complications, mistaken identities, far-too-friendly aliens - and even true love.
Sandra Foster studies fads - from Barbie dolls o the grunge look - how they start and what they mean. Bennett O'Reilly is a chaos theorist studying monkey group behaviour. They both work for the HiTek corporation, strangers until a misdelivered package brings them together. It's a moment of synchronicity - if not serendipity - which leads them into a chaotic system of their own, complete with a million-dollar research grant, caffe latte, tattoos, and a series of unlucky coincidences that leaves Bennett monkeyless, fundless, and nearly jobless. Sandra intercedes with a flock of sheep and an idea for a joint project. (After all, what better animal to study both chaos theory and the herd mentality that so often characterizes human behaviour?) But scientific discovery is rarely straightforward and never simple, and Sandra and Bennett have to endure a series of setbacks, heartbreaks, dead ends, and disasters before they find their ultimate answer...
"Variety is the soul of pleasure," And variety is what this comprehensive new collection of Connie Willis is all about. The stories cover the entire spectrum, from sad to sparkling to terrifying, from classics to hard-to-find treasures with everything in between - orangutans, Egypt, earthworms, roast goose, college professors, mothers-in-law, aliens, secret codes, Secret Santas, tube stations, choir practice, the post office, the green light on Daisy's dock, weddings, divorces, death, and assorted plagues, from scarlet fever to "It's a Wonderful Life." And a dog.
Famous for her "sure-hand plotting, unforgettable characters, and top-notch writing," Willis has been called, "the most relentlessly delightful science fiction writer alive," and there are numerous examples here. Among them, Willis's most famous stories - the Hugo- and Nebula-Award-winning "Fire Watch" and "Even the Queen" and "The Last of the Winnebagos" - along with undiscovered gems like Willis's heartfelt homage to Jack Williamson, "Nonstop to Portales." Her magical Christmas stories are here, too, from "Newsletter" to "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know..." which last year was made into the TV movie, Snow Wonder, starring Mary Tyler Moore.
We've collected stories from throughout Willis's career, from early ones like "Cash Crop" and "Daisy, in the Sun," right up to her newest stories, including the wonderful "The Winds of Marble Arch." There's literally something for everyone here. If you're a diehard Willis fan, you'll be delighted with hard-to-find treasures like the until-now uncollected, "The Soul Selects Her Own Society..." If you've never read Connie Willis, this is your chance to discover "A Letter from the Clearys" and, well, "Chance." To say nothing of, "At the Rialto," the funniest story ever written about quantum physicists. And Willis's chilling, "All My Darling Daughters."
And...oh, there are too many great stories here to list and pleasures galore. So enjoy!
For Jeff Johnston, a young historical researcher for a Civil War novelist, reality is redefined on a bitter cold night near the close of a lingering winter. He meets Annie, an intense and lovely young woman suffering from vivid, intense nightmares. Haunted by the dreamer and her unrelenting dreams, Jeff leads Annie on an emotional odyssey through the heartland of the Civil War in search of a cure. On long-silenced battlefields their relationship blossoms - two obsessed lovers linked by unbreakable chains of history, torn by a duty that could destroy them both. Suspenseful, moving and highly compelling, Lincoln's Dreams is a novel of rare imaginative power that strikes a chord deep within the hearts of us all.
Connie Willis is one of science fiction's most decorated authors, with a staggering eleven HUGOs and seven NEBULA AWARDs to her name. She is best known for her sequence of time-travel stories including SF Masterworks DOOMSDAY BOOK and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG and the HUGO AWARD-winning diptych BLACKOUT and ALL CLEAR. This omnibus collects her solo debut, LINCOLN'S DREAMS, which won the JOHN W. CAMPBELL MEMORIAL AWARD and PASSAGE, shortlisted for the HUGO, NEBULA JOHN W. CAMPBELL and ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARDs.
Planetary surveyors Fin and Carson battle hostile terrain, bureaucratic red tape, and renegade "planet crashers" in this latest novella by the talented author of Doomsday Book.
Connie Willis continues to demonstrate her endless versatility in this archly written satire, which is both a love story and a shameless expose of the dark side of political correctness.
The winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, Connie Willis capture the timeless essence of generosity and goodwill in this magical collection of Christmas stories. These eight tales boldly re-imagine the stories of Christmas while celebrating the power of love and compassion. This enchanting treasury includes:
"Miracle", in which a young woman's carefully devised plans to find romance go awry when her guardian angel shows her the true meaning of love.
"In Coppelius's Toyshop", where a jaded narcissist finds himself trapped in a crowded toy store at Christmastime.
"Epiphany", in which three modern-day wise men embark on a quest unlike any they've ever experienced.
"Inn", where a choir singer gives shelter to a homeless man and his pregnant wife-only to learn later that there's much more to the couple than meets the eye.
And more . . .
Winner of seven Nebula and eleven Hugo awards, Connie Willis is one of the most acclaimed and imaginative authors of our time. Her startling and powerful works have redefined the boundaries of contemporary science fiction.
Here in one volume are twelve of her greatest stories, including double award-winner "Fire Watch", set in the universe of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, in which a time-travelling student learns one of history's hardest lessons. In "A Letter from the Clearys", a routine message from distant friends shatters the fragile world of a beleaguered family. In "The Sidon in the Mirror", a mutant with the unconscious urge to become other people finds himself becoming both killer and victim.
Disturbing, revealing and provocative, this remarkable collection of short fiction brings together some of the best work of an incomparable writer whose ability to amaze, confound and enlighten never fails.
