SF Masterwork of the Week: To Say Nothing of the Dog

Our current SF Masterwork of the Week is Connie Willis‘s 1998 time-travel comedy-cum-mystery novel To Say Nothing of the Dog.

Ned Henry is a time-travelling historian who specialises in the mid-20th century – currently engaged in researching the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral. He’s also made so many drops into the past that he’s suffering from a dangerously advanced case of ‘time-lag’.

Unfortunately for Ned, an emergency dash to Victorian England is required and he’s the only available historian. But Ned’s time-lag is so bad that he’s not sure what the errand is – which is bad news since, if he fails, history could unravel around him…

Normally at this point, we’d point out any awards the Masterwork in question has won – and we’d be right to do so, as it’s as objective an indication of quality as one can find; only . . .  well . . . this is Connie Willis; everything she writes wins awards! Lincoln’s Dreams won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Doomsday Book won the Hugo, Nebula and a raft of translation awards, the Blackout/All Clear diptych won the Hugo and the Nebula Awards – and, yes, To Say Nothing of the Dog won the Hugo Award for best novel.

All in all, Connie Willis is the proud owner of no fewer than eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards, was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009, and in 2012 was named a SFWA Grandmaster.

Still need more convincing to read To Say Nothing of the Dog? Then we refer you to Cheryl Morgan‘s excellent review at the SF Mistressworks site . . .

To Say Nothing of the Dog is available as an SF Masterworks paperback and an SF Gateway eBook. You can find Connie Willis‘s books via her author page at the SF Gateway and read more about her in her entry at The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.