Clare L. Deming

To Say Nothing of the Dog is another book in Connie Willis’ time travel series based in a future Oxford. I had started this one before reading her World War II book, Blackout, since that is the official series order. I then jumped ahead to Blackout, returning to finish this book afterwards. I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Steven Crossley.

Here is the blurb:

Connie Willis’ Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Doomsday Book uses time travel for a serious look at how people connect with each other. In this Hugo-winning companion to that novel, she offers a completely different kind of time travel adventure: a delightful romantic comedy that pays hilarious homage to Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat.

When too many jumps back to 1940 leave 21st century Oxford history student Ned Henry exhausted, a relaxing trip to Victorian England seems the perfect solution. But complexities like recalcitrant rowboats, missing cats, and love at first sight make Ned’s holiday anything but restful – to say nothing of the way hideous pieces of Victorian art can jeopardize the entire course of history.

This was a much lighter read than The Doomsday Book or Blackout (see my review here). It’s about cats, dogs, fishing, and the Bishop’s bird stump, a hideous flower vase. Most of the story is set in Victorian England, with some scenes in the Oxford historians’ current time of the 2060’s and others during World War II. Unlike The Doomsday Book, it has a happy ending. It also won the Hugo and Locus Awards and was nominated for a Nebula Award.

I’m not familiar with Three Men in a Boat which is mentioned in the blurb, but I don’t think that detracted from my enjoyment of this book. The themes in this book are definitely echoed in Blackout and All Clear, so while it isn’t critical to read this book prior to the author’s WWII duology, it may add some perspective. (I have almost finished reading All Clear as I write this).

Have you read any of Connie Willis’ time travel books? Let me know if the comments below!

Read more of my reviews here.