Time Travel with Phil ROUS 14:29

Fire Watch Connie Willis 1982

The Plain Facts

1. Length:     36 pages
2. Genre:      Science Fiction
3. Category:  Time Travel
4. Epigraph:    History both trumped over time, which besides it nothing but eternity hath triumphed over. - Sir Walter Raleigh
   

Characters

Teacher	Students	Catalysts
Dunworthy	Kivrin	Langley
	Bartholomew

Setting

• St Paul's Cathedral, England. 

Time Origin	Lands On	Exits On
2040	September 20th 1940	January 3rd 1941

So, what's It About Man?

A student is sent to the future to find the perfect survivor from the Blitzkrieg of London and especially St. Paul's Cathedral.  

First Words

Septermeber 20- Of course the first thing I looked for was the fire watch stone.(pg. 214)

Last Words

Because Dunworthy is not blinking against the fatal sunlight of the morning, but into the gloom of that first afternoon, looking in the great west doors of St. Paul's at what is, like Langby, like all of it, every moment is us, saved forever. pg 251

Favorite Quote

1. There are no guidelines for historians, and no restrictions either.  I could tell everyone I'm from the future if I thought they would believe me.  I could murder Hitler .... or could I?  Time paradoxes talk abounds in the history department ...Is there a tough immutable past? Or is thre a new past every day and we, the historians make it?  And what are the consequences of what we do, if there are consequences?....pg 223
   

What Writing Element Did I Like Most

• Journal Entries show the movement of time well.   We start with September 20th and end on January 3rd, we know that three months have passed, a quarter of a year. 

Turnip Tips

1. The story can be seen as a precursor to her highly acclaimed and Hugo Award winner the Doomsday Book. 
2. She blogs. 
3. The story won both a Hugo Award for Best Novelette and a Nebula award for Best Novelette. 

Favorite Words Used

Where to Find This Story

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century Edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg.