Doomsday Book

I’d never heard of Connie Willis and her time travel series until Keren Form (self-professed mega-nerd) joined me to talk fantasy for all readers on What Should I Read Next. The first book opens on Kivrin, an Oxford University student and the first woman to travel back to the Middle Ages. Her instructors are part of a group of historians who use time travel for the sole purpose of historical preservation and study. Unfortunately, when Kivrin arrives in the past, she contracts a virus that leaves her delirious for weeks, relying on a medieval family to nurse her back to health. At the same time, her advisor is struck down by a virus, making the whole situation ever more precarious. Within this time travel story is a page-turning mystery, witty humor, and a deeply human story about how we care for others over the course of history. Keren also professed love for the next installment, which takes the characters to Victorian England.