Recommendations based on Blackoutby Connie Willis

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. All Clear

    by Connie Willis
    Time-traveling historians attempt to rescue their colleagues stuck in the past.

    It is the year 2060, and the historians (time-traveling research staff) at Oxford University are a hair's breadth away from revolting. Mr. Dunworthy keeps changing their assignments at the last ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Doomsday Book

    by Connie Willis
    A time-traveling historian struggles to contain a deadly pandemic in the Middle Ages.

    For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi ... (Goodreads)

  3. To Say Nothing of the Dog

    by Connie Willis
    Time-traveling historian visits Victorian England in search of an artifact, amidst a comedy of errors.

    Ned Henry is a time traveler in 1940 studying Coventry Cathedral after the Coventry Blitz of World War II . He is specifically searching for the location of the "Bishop's bird stump ", a MacGuffin ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Windup Girl

    by Paolo Bacigalupi
    A dystopian future where energy scarcity and biotechnology have caused massive upheaval in society.

    Anderson Lake is an economic hitman for the AgriGen Corporation, working in Thailand. He owns a factory trying to mass-produce a revolutionary new model of kink-spring (the successor, in the absence ... (Wikipedia)

  5. A Canticle for Leibowitz

    by Walter M. Miller Jr.
    A post-apocalyptic tale of a world struggling to rebuild after a devastating nuclear war.

    After 20th century civilization was destroyed by a global nuclear war , known as the "Flame Deluge", there was a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Memory

    by Lois McMaster Bujold
    A young woman's quest to uncover the mysteries of her family's past and her own identity.

    While leading the Dendarii Mercenaries on a hostage rescue mission, Miles Vorkosigan has a seizure — a recurring consequence of his death and resuscitation in, Mirror Dance, — which results in his ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Barrayar

    by Lois McMaster Bujold
    A woman's journey of self-discovery as she navigates the rules and expectations of her home planet.

    Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan are expecting their first child. Before crafty old Emperor Ezar Vorbarra died, he maneuvered a very reluctant Aral into agreeing to serve as regent for Ezar's young ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Red Mars

    by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Colonists brave the harsh landscapes of Mars, striving to make the planet their new home.

    Red Mars starts in 2026 with the first colonial voyage to Mars aboard the Ares , the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built and home to a crew who are to be the first hundred Martian colonists. ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Paladin of Souls

    by Lois McMaster Bujold
    A fantasy tale of a woman facing her own dark past to save her kingdom.

    In a land threatened by treacherous war and beset by demons, royal dowager Ista, released from the curse of madness and manipulated by an untrustworthy god, is plunged into a desperate struggle to ... (Goodreads)

  10. Among Others

    by Jo Walton
    A young girl navigates life after a traumatic event, finding solace in books and magic.

    The novel is presented as the diary of Morgana, a 15-year-old Welsh science fiction and fantasy fan, in 1979 and 1980. She and her twin sister Morwenna, both frequently using the nicknames "Mor" or ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Neverwhere

    by Neil Gaiman
    A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.

    Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)

  12. The Magicians

    by Lev Grossman
    A coming-of-age story of a young man's journey to a magical world, learning to wield its power.

    The, New York Times, bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on, SYFY,“,The Magicians, is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  13. Speaker for the Dead

    by Orson Scott Card
    A search for the truth about an alien species, uncovering secrets of the past.

    Now available in mass market, the revised, definitive edition of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic. In this second book in the saga set 3,000 years after the terrible war, Ender Wiggin is ... (Goodreads)

  14. Venetia

    by Georgette Heyer
    A spirited young woman's thrilling adventure to win her true love.

    The beautiful Venetia Lanyon, thanks to a reclusive and over-protective father, grew up in the country, away from the world with only her younger brother Aubrey, bookish and lame, for company. Her ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Year of Wonders

    by Geraldine Brooks
    A small English village grapples with the effects of the bubonic plague.

    When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of ... (Goodreads)

  16. Time and Again

    by Jack Finney
    A man travels back in time to the past to explore its secrets and mysteries.

    In November 1970, Simon Morley, an advertising sketch artist, is approached by U.S. Army Major Ruben Prien to participate in a secret government project. He is taken to a huge warehouse on the West ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

    by Alan Bradley
    A young girl's detective journey to solve a murder mystery in a picturesque English village.

    As the novel opens, Flavia Sabina de Luce schemes revenge against her two older sisters, Ophelia (17) and Daphne (13), who have locked her inside a closet in Buckshaw, the family's country manor home ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Parable of the Sower

    by Octavia E. Butler
    A post-apocalyptic story of survival, hope, and the power of community.

    This highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from award-winning author Octavia E. Butler "pairs well with, 1984, or, The Handmaid's Tale," (John Green,, New York Times,)–now with a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. The Sparrow

    by Mary Doria Russell
    A Jesuit mission to an alien planet ends in tragedy, raising questions about faith, morality, and the nature of God.

    In the year 2019, the SETI program at Arecibo Observatory discovers radio broadcasts of music from the vicinity of Alpha Centauri . The first expedition to Rakhat, the world that is sending the ... (Wikipedia)

  20. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)

  21. When You Reach Me

    by Rebecca Stead
    A young girl in 1970s New York City receives mysterious notes that seem to predict the future. She must unravel the mystery before it's too late.

    Miranda is an ordinary sixth grader, until she starts receiving mysterious messages from somebody who knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Grand Sophy

    by Georgette Heyer
    An unconventional young woman's spirited adventure to restore order and joy to her new family.

    For the past several years Sophia Stanton-Lacy (known as Sophy to everyone) has lived away from England, following her diplomat father Sir Horace around Europe while the Napoleonic Wars raged on. Now ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Fire

    by Kristin Cashore
    A young girl's quest to find her place in a hostile world, learning to use her magical powers.

    It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies ... (Goodreads)

  24. Case Histories

    by Kate Atkinson
    A series of intertwining stories of people whose lives are changed by an unexpected event.

    'Case Histories' tells the story of Jackson Brodie, a private investigator who tries to find out the truth of some cases. Brodie meets some people who reclaims his help to solve their cases Kirkus ... (Wikipedia)

  25. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

    by Robert A. Heinlein
    Revolutionary group fight for freedom from an oppressive lunar colony.

    In 2075, the Moon (Luna) is used as a penal colony by Earth's government, with three million inhabitants (called "Loonies") living in underground cities. Most Loonies are criminals, political exiles, ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Three Men in a Boat

    by Jerome K. Jerome
    Three friends and a dog embark on a whimsical boat journey down the Thames, encountering unexpected adventures and mishaps.

    A comic masterpiece that has never been out of print since it was first published in 1889, Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat includes an introduction and notes by Jeremy Lewis in Penguin ... (Goodreads)

  27. Cryptonomicon

    by Neal Stephenson
    A thrilling journey through the past and present, combining tech, history and adventure.

    The action takes place in two periods—World War II and the late 1990s, during the Internet boom and Asian financial crisis . In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, a young United States Navy code ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov
    Exploring the possibilities of a galactic empire in a future driven by science and technology.

    For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future – to a dark age ... (Goodreads)

  29. Anathem

    by Neal Stephenson
    A philosophical novel set in a monastic society, exploring the limits of knowledge.

    Anathem is set on the fictional planet of Arbre. Thousands of years before the events in the novel, the planet's intellectuals entered concents ( monastic communities) to protect their activities ... (Wikipedia)

  30. A Wizard of Earthsea

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A young wizard embarks on a quest to master his own magical powers and battle a mysterious force of evil.

    Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon ... (Goodreads)