Time travel has a self-correcting mechanism called slippage, moving time travelers either in time or place from their target in order to protect history. The combination of muddled lessons, imprecise instructions, and the jump to 1888 worsening the time lag leaves him confused about where he is supposed to be, who he should meet, where he should go, and no idea at all about the out-of-time object he is carrying. Ned, who only knows 20th century history, and still suffering from time lag, is given a crash course on Victorian times while simultaneously being told his mission and destination. The historians and scientists who invented the time machine believe the object may rip time itself apart if it isn't promptly returned. Theoretically, nothing may be brought through the time machine in either direction as it might cause time to unravel, and safeguards have been put in place in order to prevent significant objects making the journey. Before he can be conscripted by Schrapnell, Professor Dunworthy (who is in charge of the time machine) decides to send him back to the Victorian Era, specifically 1888, for his rest.ĭunworthy has an ulterior motive in sending him to 1888, as another time traveler appears to have violated the laws of the continuum by bringing an object back from then to 2057. Lady Schrapnell, however, insists he go back on another trip. Before going on further trips Ned must recuperate from his time lag and is sent to the hospital.

She has conscripted most of Oxford's history department to rebuild the cathedral exactly as it was before it was destroyed. The Bishop's bird stump is needed for a restoration of the cathedral funded by Lady Schrapnell, a wealthy American neo-aristocratic woman with a will of iron. He returns, unsuccessful, to his time, 2057, at Oxford University. The narrator shows confusion explained by 'time-lag', the time-travel-induced form of jet lag. He is specifically searching for the location of the 'Bishop's bird stump', a MacGuffin that is not defined by the narrator. Ned Henry is a time traveler in 1940 studying Coventry Cathedral after the Coventry Blitz of World War II. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog.' Heinlein, who, in Have Space Suit-Will Travel, first introduced me to Jerome K.

The book's title is inspired by the subtitle of an 1889 classic work, as explained by the author in the dedication: To Say Nothing of the Dog won both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1999, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1998. It uses the same setting, including time-traveling historians, which Willis explored in Fire Watch (1982), Doomsday Book (1992), and Blackout/All Clear (2010). To Say Nothing of the Dog: or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last is a 1997 comic science fiction novel by Connie Willis.

Fire watch by connie willis