To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

 To Say Nothing of the Dog is a wonderfully irreverent time travel science fiction novel replete with absurdist humor and appealing characters. A stand-alone entry in Wills’ Oxford Time Travel series, this story takes the reader to Victorian England by way of World War II, looking for the bishop’s bird stump to complete the restoration of Coventry Cathedral. This is more difficult than one might think, given the iron whims of Lady Schrapnell, who co-opts the entire time travel department to complete her pet project. Unfortunately, time itself is threatened when something unauthorized is brought forward in time, and it’s up to our heroes , Ned Henry and Verity Kindle, to overcome advanced time-lag and put everything right.

 The author, Connie Willis, has been named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America and this novel lives up to her reputation. She was inspired by Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, a Victorian comic novel detailing the small adventures of three gentlemen boating to while away the summer. She translated the river into a Victorian country summer idyll filled with all the small pleasures of lawn parties, croquet, and church fetes, while reveling in the folly and fecklessness of the upper class. She then adds depth and plot by peopling it with professional time-travelers from the future who are forced to reconcile living a life of leisure with preventing a potentially serious catastrophe, while facing personal difficulties of their own. Throughout Willis maintains a light touch, riddled with humor and charm.

 I really enjoyed this read. I appreciate Willis deft touch with combining the serious and the absurd, and the story is laugh-out-loud funny. Her plotting is clever and her timing is right on. Her characters, including their faults, are relatable and lovable, and just a bit hapless, subject to the whims of the story. This is not a serious, in-depth time travel novel; if you’re looking for that try Willis’ Domesday Book. This is a book that uses time travel as almost a McGuffin frame for a confection of a farce.

Time Travel/Manipulation - Tropes

Time Travel/Manipulation

• Something/someone traveling through time or time not traveling as it usually does – speeding up or slowing down.  Sometimes living your life out in real time is considered a form of time travel – traveling through time on the slow path.
• Many stories explore the implications of paradoxes or changing history.  What effect would saving that life have on the future?  Can time be changed? One of the more famous paradoxes is the Grandfather Paradox - what would happen if you went back in time and killed your own grandfather?
• The rules of time vary from story to story.  Can you change the past or not? Is time self-correcting or not? Can you travel into the past and the future?  It depends on what the author needs for the story.
• Time can get very complex.  Sometimes I don’t try to understand; I just go with the flow.  
• SubTropes:
• Lost in time – Stuck time travelers who can’t get home
• Individual time travel – often accidental, alien device, inventor
• Time travel organization – sometimes protecting time, sometimes mining/exploiting time, sometimes exploring time.
• Mission in time – time traveling with a mission to correct an error.
• Colonizing in time – settlements in other time periods – post-apocalyptic or prisons – usually in the deep past.

Books
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (also Humor)
Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Asimov (Short Story)
Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle