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Doomsday Book Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Doomsday Book


Kirvin, a Historian is sent back in time, and due to a calculation error, is sent to 1340's Black Plague. We watch a paradox between two epidemics, future flu epidemic and the plague as it unfolds in an unique character study that seems to be well researched.
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The review of this Book prepared by kathleen




A young historian, Kivrin, is sent to one of the most dangerous periods in history, the 14th Century (Hundred Years War, the Black Death).

Immediately after she is sent, an epidemic breaks out in the 21st Century, and they are not able to make sure that Kivrin has arrived in the right year. Mr. Dunworthy, a professor and friend of Kivrin's, works to find someone who can read the time machine and determine exactly what year Kivrin arrived in. He is hampered by the quarantine that placed on Oxford over the Christmas vacation.

In the 14th Century, Kivrin is sick and delirous. After recovering, she tries to find the "drop" so that she can go back to her own time. She becomes part of the noble household that is staying in a tiny village. Eventually, she discovers that she is not in the intended year of 1320. She finds that she is in 1348, at the height of the Black Death.
The review of this Book prepared by Conor




Oxford history student, Kivrin, is sent back to study 14th Century and is accidently sent to time of Black Plague. Uneasy about this assignment, Kivrin's Oxford tutor, Mr Dunworthy, asks the tech working on the "Drop" to recheck the coordinates. After she is sent, the tech comes to find him, telling Mr.Dunworthy something is wrong. The tech then collapses with a mysterious viral flu. Fear of how this illness has been contracted causes the time travel net to be shut down, stranding Kivrin. She doesn't realize that instead of being sent to 1320, she's been sent to 1348! She sets out to study the era, speaking into a corder fitted into her wrist. She arrives ill from the influenza causing an epidemic in her own time. The people of the village care for her, and she recovers in time for Christmas. The nobles who care for her are the women of the D'Iverie family. They have come from Bath where the rest of the family remains. Kivrin comes to realize that they are nervous about what is going on in Bath, thinking it is about the trial the Lord D'Iverie is involved in. It is actually because The blue sickness has reached England after descimating the rest of Europe. The disease reaches them in the form of a sick Bishop's clerk left at the manor when the entourage moves on. They were invited by the Lord's mother against the wishes of Lady Eliwys at a horrendous cost. The Plague soon spreads through the village, eventually killing all inhabitants. Kivrin shifts her position of observer to caregiver as her new friends are stricken and begin to die. She realizes in the chaos of her duties that she has missed the window to bring her home. In her own time, Mr Dunworthy has fallen ill as well and is only half recovered when he undertakes her rescue. Both feel guilty about letting the other down, but find redemption when Kivrin is retrieved from the past.
The review of this Book prepared by a Level 1 Blue Jay scholar

Kivrin is sent into the Middle Ages to study life there, and gets caught up in the Black Death. Meanwhile, a modern plague ravishes the 21st century.
The review of this Book prepared by Joshua Engel



Chapter Analysis of Doomsday Book

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Plot & Themes

Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence 10%planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 35%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 30%Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places 25% Tone of book    -   depressing/sad    -   suspenseful (sophisticated fear) FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?    -   science fiction story Explore/1st contact/ enviro story    -   Yes Time Travel:    -   largely backwards/past Explore:    -   fighting a disease/illness affecting everyone Is this an adult or child's book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Time Travel story?    -   Yes

Main Character

Identity:    -   Female Profession/status:    -   scholar Age:    -   20's-30's

Setting

Earth setting:    -   general past    -   near future (later in 21st century) Takes place on Earth?    -   Yes

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   explicit references to deaths scientific jargon? (SF only)    -   some scientific explanation How much dialogue?    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Connie Willis Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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