All Clear

Connie Willis' two books, "Blackout" and "All Clear", are actually one novel, published in two volumes. Willis won the Hugo for both books, not as a tie, but as a single novel. So I am reviewing the two volumes in one review. These books bowled me over! I think this is the best >1000 page novel I've ever read, except for LOTR. I was dreading reading this because of the cumulative size. But after zooming through the first volume, I couldn't wait to dive into second. "Blackout/All Clear" did for me with WWII that "The Doomsday Book" did with the calamity of the black plague. Willis' attention to the details of daily life in desperate times created another experience that again left me near tears...