All Clear

[unraveling]

"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." -Albert Einstein (from my Zen calendar)

I need to write about All Clear while I can still remember it. Not that it was unmemorable; I just have a crap memory.

There are some srs spoilers for All Clear by Connie Willis here, obviously - I wouldn't go any further unless you've read it!

BTW, my random thoughts on Blackout are here.

I think I had to finish All Clear to appreciate Blackout. I don't know if that's because it feels like a whole, complete book, or because it had just been long enough when I finished that the things that bothered me in Blackout seem lessened. I mean, there were some things in Blackout that just couldn't be fixed after, but what could be, I felt, was. That arc of plot or something.

I am right there with my usual lateness, so we'll do bullet points. Here's hoping they don't get out of hand like they did before.

(Some of) The Good!

• Characters did develop individual personalities. Too late, imo, but they did. It was a few chapters into the book - I'd say about a quarter of the way through. 1/4 of the way through the 2nd half of your epic seems a little late to TELL MAJOR CHARACTERS APART but maybe I was not paying the right sort of attention in Blackout?
  
• Mr. Dunworthy's entrance added a lot of interest, I thought. It was sad that he just turned into this decrepit invalid, but I liked his presence implying that it really was hopeless, and his not-very-convincing theories that had apparently destroyed his entire life. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment. ;) More likely I assumed they'd get out of it somehow and the more the chips were down, the cooler the solution would be.
  
• As far as I can remember, all of the (new) just-missed connections and running late because of X, Y, and Z seemed to be to some purpose, even while they were happening.
  
• Contemps. :D :D :D There were fewer new ones in All Clear, but there deeper development of ones that I knew. They were, predictably, fantastic. I got teary several times at Sir G. Still my hero!
  
• Colin! We barely saw him... how is he so awesome? At first I thought that we don't see grownup Colin with the negative qualities he had before - but maybe there was a little of that impatience / impetuousness? He definitely jumps to conclusions, often erroneously.

(Some of) The Bad:

• I just don't buy the idea that G/T/W (from my old Quantum Leap fandom days: G/T/W = God/Time/Whatever) - aka 'the continuum' is a non-sentient entity that naturally favors the continuation of human civilization. We aren't very good for the Earth, as a general rule, and why 'the continuum' would even care about Earth is beyond me. I just don't see why the Axis powers losing is obviously something that nature favors. I mean, I'm glad they did and that humanity wasn't wiped out, as (Polly I think?) put it, of course. However. I'm no astrophysicist, but even I can see that time is a lot bigger than just this planet. It seems pretty important that the reader buy the opposite, as the plot hinges on it, but I just had to chalk it up to 'worldbuilding I had to go with as part of the book,' and move on. The story might not have really hit me in the intended way because of that.
  
• It really was Mike in that field. :( Which is only a Bad because I didn't like Mike nearly as much as I liked Ernest. You'll probably have to see the next one for the explanation of that one.
  
• That horrible moment around the Peter Pan statue. Hoooo boy. It's pretty rare that I reach a point with a book that I seriously, seriously consider just stopping and/or throwing it, because I am SO angry with every single character in it who have made irredeemable and awful choices. In this case it was every single one of the main three, which was worse. Maybe it was a combined effect of a book and a half of frustration, but all three at once omg so awful.
  [Polly] seemed to believe that she needed to hide things like her deadline 'to spare the others the angst' and take it allll on her shoulders. She never thought in all this self-sacrificing hooey that it might be useful for their escape. They'd already questioned poor Eileen for weeks about every detail of a conversation she'd barely heard and had no reason to pay attention to in The Future... perhaps a tiny thing like I SPENT MONTHS HERE BEFORE YOU THINK I FIRST ARRIVED could be helpful. God.
  [Eileen] did something to Polly that, if it had been done to me, that would have been the end of the friendship. They were thrown together, so I guess there wasn't really a choice, but wow. That was truly awful, and I didn't know that Eileen - who seemed capable and decisive on her own in Blackout and totally fell apart and became dependent on the others in All Clear - was capable. She outed Polly, right or wrong, like the detective doing the denouement in one of her Agatha Christie novels. It wasn't so much what she said, it was that she did it in front of Mike without giving Polly any option to defend herself. Polly was stupid, but she hadn't committed a murder. Eileen didn't give any thought to the possibility that Polly had a reason beyond 'I felt like it' for deceiving them (she didn't, but still) and called her out publicly in this incredibly callous way. It was no way to treat a friend. That would be really hard to forgive.
  And [Mike]. In some ways, the worst of the lot. The number of times he said "I'll get you out of this" or "I'll take care of you both" or "I swear I'll find a way" drove me absolutely freaking bonkers, and he did it AGAIN right around here. I realize it was foreshadowing or something like that. ;) But I so, so much wanted Polly (who was usually the listener here) to say something like, "No you fucking won't, WE will all get out of this together, because Eileen and I are capable and confident women of The Future and there is no reason for three of us to rely on one person. Now stop being an ass and help me figure this timeline thing out." Alas, she did not. But it would have been awesome.
  In the end, I'm glad I didn't put it down. But I came closer than I have with any book I can remember, Harry Potter included (at least I expected curveballs of character there), and that isn't nothing.
  
• Er, why did Michael have to fake his own death? I still don't get it. Maybe it will become clear if I reread?
  
• Polly's sense of self-sacrifice gets a little out of hand. Everything revolves around her, therefore everyone is making sacrifices for HER and all the guilt falls on HER and she doesn't want to tell the truth because it will concern others when it's really just HER that should be concerned etc etc etc. Maybe this is just built-up frustration again.

The parade of false names continued here, but there weren't as many new ones as in Blackout.
Polly Churchill = Polly Sebastien = Mary Kent = 'Douglas'
Merope Ward = Eileen O'Reilly
Michael Davies = Mike Davis = Ernest Worthing
Colin Templer = Connor Cross = Calvin Knight
Mr. Dunworthy = Mr. Hobbe
Also there are two Daphnes, which was just the icing on the cake.
Did I miss any?

Again, it sounds like I didn't enjoy it. I did, would (and probably will) read again! But I'm glad I'll know what the hell is going on this time around. I think not knowing made me miss things, which I guess was the point. CW is still very good at showcasing the everyday heroism of the contemps, but I think that was better developed in Blackout while All Clear was more about the mystery of Why They Are Stuck and How To Get Home and What The Hell Is Happening With All These Names.

I did have some questions after the end, but a reread would (I hope) clear them up.
Did Stephen Lang actually know Mary Kent/Polly?
If all their drops were working at the end, was it really critical that they use Colin's?
Can I request the 'next chapter' for Yuletide? ;)

Ok, not that many. Or not that many that I can remember!

Right, I've rambled a LOT. What did you think, Book Club? It doesn't matter if you come across this post ages from now... if notifications are functional, I'll get it. ;) I'm planning my reread for (*looks at stack of books*) sometime in 2060, so it will be very timely. Ahahaha. Ha. Er.