To be able to mix and cross genres successfully is a rare feat, but even more so when the genres are Historical Fiction and Science Fiction. [a:Connie Willis|14032|Connie Willis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1529284935p2/14032.jpg] creates this perfect little bubble of a world where historians from Oxford go traipsing across time and space to study the past in detail. Time travel had been invented prior to the events Willis writes about, and was invented to make loads of cash by stealing relics from the past for, presumably, the Black Market. However, Time (an entity all to itself in some respects) doesn't allow for such paradoxes and self-corrects or prevents when needed. Thus, the time-traveling historians find their place in the future world.

Willis writes some of the best British humor around - especially for one who was born in Colorado - and her opening scenes alone make these books worth the read. I could not get enough of our main character, Ned Henry. Being introduced to Ned was like turning on an episode of an old TV show: Ah, I know him! He's just adorable. The fluidity with which Willis writes and the ease with which she introduces new characters to the scene is extraordinary. And, though, like the previous novel of hers I read, [b:Doomsday Book|24983|Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1)|Connie Willis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403972500l/24983._SY75_.jpg|2439628], I figured out one or two of the mysteries early on, I so enjoyed going down the road as our characters discovered it. That's when you know you've got a winner. I think I know what's going to happen, but I don't care, this is great!