Wednesday Word

Continuum (kən tin’ yoo wəm) 1. a continuous whole, quantity or series; thing whose parts cannot be separated or separately discerned…

The Continuum, the continuous, inseparable whole of space and time, is almost a character in and of itself in Blackout and All Clear (as well as other novels) by Connie Willis. It is a chaotic system, and as such, not “a conscious entity,” according to time travel theory. The Continuum, however, cannot, or perhaps will not, be manipulated, but instead is a manipulator, allowing the historians into history only where they will do no harm. It protects itself, but not necessarily the time travelers, who are trespassers in the domain of history.

In All Clear the concept of the Continuum is complicated even further, and its function (if not motivation) is part of a puzzle to be solved. But this chaotic system takes care of itself so well that one must question whether it really is not a conscious entity. Could the Continuum actually be the self-aware caretaker of all of time and history? I suppose there are things that people, even time traveling historians, were not meant to know.

I just love the way well-written science fiction can make one forget that it isn’t real!



Coming next: my thoughts on On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder