Gary Lineker is leaving ‘MOTD’ at the end of this season, after a glittering 25-year tenure as the host of the BBC’s flagship football show. Nick Hilton looks back at the pundit’s highs and lows, from predatory striker to top broadcaster and media mogul

Williams played Arya Stark in Game of Thrones for eight seasons

A group representing hunters in the Nordic countries says it’s more optimistic than ever that the European Union will lift a longtime ban on trading seal products that deprived Canadian sealers of their primary market.

Nintendo is set to show off the Donkey Kong Country expansion of its Super Nintendo World theme park today (Monday, November 11) at 5PM ET, the company revealed in a post on X. That means the new Universal Studios Japan area might finally open soon, after being delayed from the previously announced launch window of Spring 2024. 

The new park attraction featuring Mario's barrel-throwing nemesis was first revealed in 2021. The centerpiece is a ride called Mine Cart Madness, named after the best level in the 1994 SNES game Donkey Kong Country. After being blasted out of a barrel cannon, you'll take a mine cart ride through the jungle that includes a "leap across a collapsed track" as Nintendo showed in a render earlier this year.  

The direct livestream appears to be focused on Donkey Kong world alone, and Nintendo specifically pointed out that "no game information will be featured" — so don't expect any news on the next-gen Switch 2 console either. 

Donkey Kong Country will expand the park size by up to 70 percent, Nintendo said when it was announced. Current attractions at the Japan park are the Mario Kart: Kuppa's Challenge rollercoaster and Yoshi Adventure. Nintendo recently announced that it would open a Super Nintendo World attraction at Universal Studios Orlando on May 22nd, 2025 with the same attractions as the park in Osaka. 

For the first time in over two years, Overwatch 2 players will be able to group up in teams of six. A three-week event featuring that format starts tomorrow, November 12. But there’s a twist: you won’t be able to select Kiriko or Sombra, or battle it out with an additional player on each side on Push maps just yet. That’s because in Overwatch 2’s first real taste of 6v6, Blizzard is taking us all the way back to the beginning with a limited-time mode called Overwatch: Classic.

You will be able to experience Overwatch almost exactly as it was upon its May 2016 debut. That means you can choose from the first 21 heroes, who all have their original kits and abilities. That means Hanzo loses his Lunge jump but regains his dreaded Scatter Arrow, Bastion and Torbjorn are vastly different than they are now and Cassidy's Flashbang once again stun locks enemies for a moment. 

Symmetra reverts to being a support who can teleport allies almost anywhere on the map from the spawn room, while Mercy can will once again bring five dead teammates back to life. Ultimate abilities will charge up faster too.

In addition, just like in Overwatch for a brief period at the very beginning, there are initially no limits on hero selection. So if you and your teammates want to run with a composition of four Winstons and two Lucios, have at it. However, this will only apply for the first few days, after which Blizzard will apply the single hero limit rule for the rest of the event. Games will take place under the Quick Play ruleset, rather than the Competitive format.

The original 12 maps will be available too — including the assault maps that Blizzard retired from the main modes during the transition to Overwatch 2. While assault maps are still available in the Arcade and custom games, you'll once again be dealing with the notorious choke points of the otherwise gorgeous Hanamura, Temple of Anubis and Volskaya Industries.

Things won't be exactly as they were in May 2016, however. Original maps that have seen major reworks over the years — Dorado, Numbani, Route 66 and Watchpoint: Gibraltar — will appear as they are in the current game. You'll only be able to use the original default Overwatch skins and no, there are no loot boxes. The user interface remains the same too, which hopefully means the ping system will still be in place.

Blizzard doesn't plan for this to be a one-and-done deal. There will be other Overwatch: Classic events in the future, focusing on various moments in the game's history, like the infamous triple-tank, triple-support GOATS meta. This limited-time mode is also separate from the other 6v6 tests Blizzard plans to run in the coming months as it looks to measure players' interest in that format and garner feedback.

There's a good chance that this limited-time mode will bring some lapsed players back into the mix, even just for a sip of nostalgia. I first played Overwatch several months after its debut, so it'll be fun to see roughly how the game felt at the very beginning. I will be instalocking Mei every match so I can remember what it's like to freeze an opponent before giving them a cheeky wave and firing an icicle into their skull. Ah, memories...

Is Fortnite old enough to elicit nostalgia? Last year’s trial run of bringing back the battle royale game’s original map, weapons and early seasons would suggest so — at least for folks of a certain age. That test led to record-breaking player counts, topping 44.7 million in October 2023. Epic Games said on Tuesday that the OG Fortnite rewind is coming back again, and this time, it’s for good.

OG Fortnite will let you play the original map, along with the loot and seasons as they were in 2017. In addition to the nostalgia factor, many players appreciate that era’s simpler gameplay mechanics, map designs, weapons and items. It was also before expansion updates that added new game modes (it was Battle Royale only) and vehicles like cars, boats and helicopters.

Old-school Fortnite fans have less than a month to wait. The OG version returns to the game on December 6.

Blizzard must have seen something it liked in the 2023 trial. It borrowed a page from Epic and brought back Overwatch in its original form for a three-week event starting today.

Apple has a history of eye-popping price tags, but the company is reaching new heights with a product that isn't even a gadget. After Apple Music unveiled a list of the 100 best albums of all time earlier this year, the streaming service is releasing a companion coffee table book. You can grab one of the 1,500 copies for a cool $450.

I find these endeavors to rank and quantify art hilarious, because music is subjective and personal by nature. But people do love to debate their own artistic opinions, so if that's your jam there's plenty to dig into with Apple Music's assessment. (And before you ask, the top spot was claimed by The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.) This particular countdown was assembled by "Apple Music’s team of experts alongside an exclusive group of artists including Maren Morris, Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Charli XCX, Mark Hoppus, Honey Dijon and Nia Archives, as well as songwriters, producers and industry professionals," according to the book listing.

I'm sure this limited-run hardcover will be very beautiful, and maybe the liner notes analyzing each entry are deeply insightful. But I also wonder who would bother to buy it. If you are one of those 1,500 people who wants one, the book is due to start shipping in January.

President-elect Donald Trump has named Elon Musk as the leader of a new “Department of Government Efficiency," that will “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” The Tesla CEO and owner of X will spearhead the effort along with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump announced in a statement on Truth Social.

The scope of the role isn’t exactly clear. Trump’s press release said that “the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” It also stated that “their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026.”

Musk shared the news on X, but didn’t indicate how the role might impact his obligations at his various other companies. Musk, who poured millions of dollars into Super Pac boosting Trump’s campaign, has previously talked about his desire to work with Trump to cut government spending. He did, however, joke about potential "merch" for the operation. "Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of 'DOGE' for a very long time," Trump's statement said. 

Donald Trump's second term as U.S. president carries implications at home and abroad. That includes potentially wreaking havoc on global economies through the aggressive use of tariffs.

Cineplex Inc. says it will continue adding a fee to some online ticket purchases after being penalized earlier this fall for alleged deceptive marketing, but it will adjust how the charge is communicated to moviegoers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sounded an upbeat note Tuesday on the prospect of working with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, saying Canada has dealt with his trade threats before and can do so again.

Global temperatures through September point to 2024 besting 2023 as the hottest year on record. How many future years set records depends in part on the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election

This year won’t just be the hottest on record—it could be the first to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Paris climate accord aims to keep warming below that level when looking over multiple years

The new Trump administration is likely to reduce subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance plans and roll back Medicaid coverage. Public health authorities worry that antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will be empowered

The Orphan Drug Act (ODA) turned 30 this month, demonstrating that good laws really can have an enduring impact. Amidst the celebrations, a reporter asked me a provocative question: can we afford more orphan drugs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars per year? FDA Matters answered “yes.” However, I added a caveat that should worry everyone eager for orphan drugs to succeed. When genomics and personalized medicine become successful, this will multiply the number of rare diseases and the overall cost of orphan drugs, perhaps beyond what the system can bear.

The General Pharmaceutical Council has said most candidates living in countries with a two-hour or more time difference from the UK will be able to apply to sit the registration assessment at home.

The Food and Drug Administration published a concept paper in early January that describes a preliminary proposal for how the agency will ensure that companies developing antibiotics for administration to animals establish defined, evidence-based durations of use for all medically important antibiotics.

GLP-1 receptor agonists, used to treat Type 2 diabetes and now widely prescribed for weight loss, have seen […]

Denzel Washington has confirmed he will star in Black Panther 3 before his retirement. The 69-year-old actor is the first to talk about the existence of a third film in the blockbuster Marvel franchise — which will follow the 2018 original and 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — and has also revealed the film will be among a handful of roles he will take on before he bows out of acting after a career spanning four decades. Confirming director Ryan Coogler has written a role just for the Oscar-winner for the third instalment, Denzel told Australia's Today show: "At this point in my career, I'm only interested in working with the best, I don't know how many more films I will make, probably not that many. I want to do things that I haven't done." Sharing the roles he has lined up before he bids farewell to his Hollywood career, he said: "I played Othello at 22, I'm now going to play it at 70. After that, I'm playing Hannibal. After that, I've been talking with Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler is writing a part for me in the next Black Panther.

SINGAPORE - When an online retailer began selling his products on e-commerce platform Qoo10 in August 2023, he did not bat an eyelid when it took 30 to 45 days for the platform to disburse his first payout, compared with about three to seven days for other e-commerce sites he was using. But nearly a year later in July, payments owed to his business by Qoo10 had ballooned to about $1.6 million, as the platform’s payment delays exceeded two months and disbursements began trickling in, in smaller amounts. The Singaporean, who wanted to be known only as Mr T and did not wish to divulge what he sold, pulled the plug on his Qoo10 shop this year in the middle of July, and filed a civil claim with the courts. He obtained a default judgment in October for Qoo10 to pay him what he is owed, after the e-commerce site failed to serve a notice of intention to contest or not contest the claim. Mr T, who added that he had borrowed nearly $1 million from banks, friends and relatives to pay his suppliers, said: “I am not holding out hope that I will get much, or any, of my money back from Qoo10... By this point, I just want closure because it’s been so stressful.”

Jan 10, 2023

Technology will play a crucial role in that process. Since 2014, Ukraine has been at the forefront of the digital revolution through a journey marked by strength, adaptability, and success.  Digital transformation transcends and affects all economic sectors in Ukraine. Digital solutions have been applied in a wide range of sectors including banking and finance, agriculture and food production, and energy, to cite a few. In that regard, digital transformation is key to a well-functioning society, affecting democratic participation, education, and public services.

Dec 13, 2016

"Unlike the digital revolution that relied on pre-existing technologies, the new bioeconomy will involve more local research, teaching and commercialization. This will require greater involvement of local universities, especially those with an entrepreneurial inclination."

May 22, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increased pressure to agree to a hostage and cease-fire deal, including from close allies like President Biden, Benny Gantz and Yoav Gallant. But key to any long-term cease-fire is the question of who will police the Gaza Strip the next day. In some ways, it is easier to imagine a “day after the day after.” It entails a reformed, legitimate Palestinian Authority that takes control of both the West Bank and Gaza and engages in serious negotiations for a two-state solution. But how to get there? How will the transition between a cease-fire and the establishment of a revitalized Palestinian Authority be managed in Gaza?

May 28, 2024

Artificial intelligence is coming for our democratic politics, from how politicians campaign to how the legal system functions.

May 30, 2024

Gen AI tools are rapidly making these emails more advanced, harder to spot, and significantly more dangerous. Recent research showed that 60% of participants fell victim to artificial intelligence (AI)-automated phishing, which is comparable to the success rates of non-AI-phishing messages created by human experts. Companies need to: 1) understand the asymmetrical capabilities of AI-enhanced phishing, 2) determine the company or division’s phishing threat severity level, and 3) confirm their current phishing awareness routines.

Apr 12, 2024

The share of Russians who would like to leave Russia for permanent residence in another country has reached a record low, according to the results of a national poll conducted by Russia’s Levada Center on March 21-27, 2024.  Of the countries Russians were eager to relocate to, the U.S. topped the list (11%), followed by Germany (8%) and Italy and Turkey (6% each). China ranked 10-11 along with Canada.That seven out of the top 11 countries Russians would like to relocate to are members of the collective West, with 46% interested in moving to these countries, also shows the limits of the Kremlin’s efforts to instill anti-Western sentiments in the Russian public.

Apr 17, 2024

Meghan O’Sullivan, Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs director and former Deputy National Security Advisor, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East conflict, the potential impact of new sanctions on Iran, what a possible retaliatory strikes from Israel could look like, and more.

Mar 13, 2024

David Kearn argues that even in the absence of restrictive resource and budgetary constraints, a focus on identifying and achieving concrete objectives that will position the United States and its allies to effectively deter aggression in critical regional flashpoints should be the priority given the stressed nature of the defense industrial base and the nuclear enterprise.

Alien Invasion Might Happen

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Northwestern Mutual Rose Parade float will support the fight against childhood cancer

Healthcare leaders and the public say how they would balance the NHS� books

Connie Willis's Doomsday Book is one of my favorite books, and also one of the best books ever written. It is a masterpiece.

It's also extremely sad, and happens to be about deadly epidemics. So I'll start by saying that depending on what you've experienced in the past year, this may not be the book for you right now. Alternately, it might be exactly the book for you right now. I think it depends on whether and how much you're grieving, whether you've been traumatized, and whether it helps you, as you process, to share those feelings with people inside a book. For me, this can be a touch-and-go sort of question… When is a book comforting, and when is it exacerbating my difficult feelings? I've read this book before, so I knew what I was getting into last week when I sat down to reread it. For me, it helped me access, and settle, my own overwhelmed, confused feelings from the last year. But I say that as a person who is not a COVID nurse or doctor and has not lost a loved one to COVID-19. I am, however, a person with PTSD. As such, I'd advise that if you've been spending anxious time at someone's sickbed — or not been allowed to spend time at their sickbed, only allowed to imagine it — or if you're one of the overworked caregivers — this might be a book to save for another time. Among other things, it contains a lot of graphic descriptions of human sickness and suffering. It also puts you inside the head of a character who's gradually being traumatized by the sadness and death around her. Please spare yourself, if that's not a good headspace for you right now. (This post, on the other hand, will contain no graphic descriptions, and I don't linger on the trauma.)

I'll also say that, maybe moreso than the other posts in my craft series, this post will contain some plot spoilers. Not all the plot spoilers! Willis does some excellent weaving that creates surprises for the reader I won't reveal. But it's impossible to talk about this book without revealing some important plot points. If you don't want to know, stop reading now. (If you're undecided, I can say that it's thrilling reading even if you know what's going to happen.)

In Doomsday Book, Kivrin, a young Oxford historian in December 2054, is set to travel back to the Oxfordshire of December 1320, to observe the lives of the locals at Christmas in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, on the very day of Kivrin's travel, a new influenza virus arises in 2054 Oxford, and the tech responsible for running Kivrin's travel coordinates (or, "getting the fix"), Badri Chaudhuri, falls ill. He doesn't know he's ill — no one knows Badri is ill — until it's too late. In the disorientation of his illness, Badri gets the coordinates jumbled, and Kivrin is accidentally sent to December 1348 — which is when the bubonic plague reached Oxfordshire. The circumstances of Kivrin's passage ensure that it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to get her back to 2054. Kivrin is trapped.

The novel then alternates between 2054/55, where a frightening new influenza epidemic is arising, and 1348, where Kivrin is gradually coming to realize what's about to befall the people around her. Connecting the two timelines is an Oxford historian named Mr. Dunworthy, a deeply caring and pessimistic man who is desperately trying to figure out how to rescue Kivrin from her accidental fate, and bring her back to 2054/55. (For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to keep referring to the future timeline as 2054 from this point on, even though the year turns to 2055 partway through the novel.)

Incidentally, that plot twist I just casually revealed — the one where it turns out Kivrin is in the year 1348 instead of 1320 — isn't revealed to the reader until page 384. Willis's slow and brilliant pacing, her careful, drawn out reveal of the horror that has happened and the horror that's coming, is one of the magnificent accomplishments of this book. It's not what I'm planning to talk about today, though. In truth, I could write a long series of craft posts about "Things a Writer Could Learn from Doomsday Book." But today I'm going to single out one of the things I took from my latest reading: namely, her construction of parallel characters in separate timelines.

All page references are to the 1992 Bantam Books mass-market edition, though I've also listened to the 2008 Recorded Books audiobook narrated by Jenny Sterling, which is excellent (and deliciously long!).

Before I dive deep into Willis's construction of parallel characters, I want to speak more generally about the potential for parallels — echoes — inside a book, when that book takes place in multiple timelines. Many books do take place in more than one timeline, of course, whether or not they involve time travel! And there's so much you can do with that kind of structure. As you can imagine, life in Oxfordshire in 1348 is dramatically different from life in Oxford in 2054. But Willis weaves so many parallels into these two stories, big and small things, connecting them deftly, and showing us that some things never really change. I suppose the most obvious parallel in this particular book is the rise of disease. The less obvious is some of the fallout that follows the rise of disease, no matter the era: denial; fanaticism; racism and other prejudices; isolationism; depression and despair; depletion of supplies (yes, they are running out of toilet paper in 2054). She also sets these timelines in the same physical location, the Oxfords and Oxfordshires of 1348 and 2054 — the same towns, the same churches. Some of the physical objects from 1348 still exist in 2054. She sets both stories at Christmas, and we see that some of the traditions are the same. She also weaves the most beautiful web between timelines using bells, bellringers, and the significance of the sound of bells tolling. 

Simply by creating two timelines, then establishing that some objects, structures, and activities are the same and that some human behaviors are the same across the timelines, she can go on and tell two divergent plots, yet create echoes between them. These echoes give the book an internal resonance. (Are you starting to appreciate why it was so thematically smart for her to bring bells to the forefront of her story?) They also give the book a sense of timelessness. It becomes one of those masterworks that presents the best and worst of humanity in all times, for the reader to see and recognize. Epidemics lay us bare. In all times, people are bound by the limitations of their scientific knowledge. In all times, people (the good ones and the bad ones) struggle to find a bearable framework, a way to conceive of the horrors without succumbing to despair. And in all times, some people respond with kindness and generosity, working themselves to the bone in order to help others; and some people allow their fear to turn them into selfish, craven, unfeeling hypocrites, striking out at others in defense of themselves. By letting these echoes ring across the timelines of her book, Connie Willis captures her themes magnificently.

And now I'm going to focus on the echoes in her character-building: on the way she creates characters who are unique individuals, yet who strike the reader with extra force because of the ways they parallel each other across time. I'll offer a range of examples. Some are small, isolated moments in which characters from 1348 and 2054 perform similar activities. Some are people who have similar attitudes or spirits, even as they perform different roles. Most of them are loose parallels, drawn with a light touch. One of the parallels is quite clear and deep, two people who are characteristically similar, to the point where you feel like one could practically be the 2054 version of the other. This is one of Connie Willis's special skills: she draws her parallels lightly in some places, heavily in others, never hamfisted, none of them tied too tightly, all of them open to interpretation, and all of them reaching for her larger, more timeless themes about what it means to be human. 

Smaller Parallel Moments

I'll start with a few moments that are brief, but also plainly deliberate.

Here's one: There's a moment when Agnes, a five-year-old girl from 1348, tries to feed hay to the cow, but is clearly afraid of the cow. First she holds the hay out "a good meter from the cow's mouth" (304), then she throws the hay at the cow and runs to safety behind Kivrin's back. 

Skip ahead to page 551, where Colin Templer, a twelve-year-old boy from 2054, is trying to feed a horse. He offers "the horse a piece of grass from a distance of several feet. The starving animal lunged at it and Colin jumped back, dropping it" (551).

Moments like this are brief and might seem insignificant, but they do a lot of heavy lifting in the text. This particular parallel is funny, but also sad, because while Colin Templer is one of this book's bright gifts to the reader — he's incorrigible, he's funny, he lives — by the time we see him feeding that horse, Agnes has died of the plague.

Here's another detail that resonates within the book, and will also resonate with present-day readers: Both in 1348 and 2054, people with medical knowledge implore laypeople to please, please, put on their masks. (This happens here and there, but see pages 345 and 440 for a couple examples across timelines.)

And here's one last small behavioral parallel: In 2054 Oxford, Mr. Dunworthy's assistant, Mr. Finch, is stuck caring for a team of American bellringers trapped in the Oxford quarantine. The bellringers, who start out as pretty annoying characters, gradually begin to endear themselves to Finch (and to the reader), and Finch begins to practice bellringing with them. He gains a true appreciation for how heavy the bells are and how challenging the art of bellringing is. Then we see the bellringers begin to come down with the influenza, and cease to be able to ring their bells (Chapters 21 and 24). 

At the very end of the book, this is echoed when Kivrin, still in 1348, is trying to toll the church bell to send the souls of the dead to heaven, and Mr. Dunworthy, who's traveled back in time to find her, is trying to help her. She's injured. He's having an influenza relapse. Between them, they can barely manage it (pages 566-567). The physical challenges of bellringing connect across time.

Broader Character Parallels

There are also some broader parallels drawn between characters, especially between characters' roles in their respective pandemics. For example: In Oxford 2054, Dr. Mary Ahrens is at the head of the effort to locate the source of the influenza, sequence it, and find a vaccine. She cares for her patients tirelessly. Her 1348 parallel is Father Roche, who of course has none of her scientific knowledge, but has a similar fervent devotion to helping other people. Roche hardly sleeps in his efforts to care for his parishioners as they fall sick with the plague. 

The reader cares deeply for both of these characters, probably because of their tireless competence and their selfless dedication to other people. When first, Dr. Ahrens dies of the influenza, and then, Father Roche dies of the plague, it is, at least for this reader, the book's most heartbreaking echo.

I'll note that one of the things that makes this parallel so effective is that it doesn't map perfectly. Dr. Ahrens and Father Roche are drastically different in their approaches — one is pure science and one pure religious faith — and also, they aren't each other's only character parallels. Kivrin, too, tirelessly cares for the plague victims in 1348, with a lot more scientific knowledge than Father Roche has. In 2054, many different kinds of doctors and nurses are caring for lots of patients, in lots of different ways. Twelve-year-old Colin is also caring for people, in his cheerful and forthright way. Mr. Dunworthy's overburdened and tireless assistant, Mr. Finch, is constantly in the background of the 2054 timeline, moving mountains to turn college halls into infirmaries, find food and supplies for everyone stuck in quarantine, and care for the American bellringers. A lot of varying people step up to become caretakers, differing from each other and paralleling each other in all kinds of fluid and inexact ways.

Also, the book is chock-full of characters who don't necessarily map onto parallels with anyone, but have other important functions in the book. In 2054, a young Oxford student named William is having liaisons with practically every female nurse and student in the quarantine perimeter. Also in 2054, archaeologist Lupe Montoya is excavating a historic site nearby. A secret love story is unfolding between a married woman named Eliwys and her husband's servant, Gawyn, in 1348. Also in 1348, Rosemund, Agnes's twelve-year-old sister, is struggling with her obligation to marry a leering older man. All of this character development matters, but often for purposes other than creating echoes and resonance. 

When done well, this kind of layered, complicated character development — some characters paralleling others, some not, and each character having more than one function in the text — goes a long way toward making a fictional world feel real. It also allows the author to touch on themes without beating them to death. And yet, sometimes this kind of light touch is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve. In my experience as a writer who often writes complicated plots, it isn't until later drafts of a book, when my structure is more solidly in place, that I finally have the space to sit back, breathe, and look for places where I can create little connections, or spots where I'm pushing a theme too hard.

Deeper Parallels: Mr. Gilchrist and Lady Imeyne

There's one character parallel in this book that I find to be drawn with a heavier pen, and appropriately so.

In 2054, Mr. Gilchrist is the acting head of the History Faculty. Self-important, self-righteous, ignorant about how time travel works, and focused on his own glory, he supervises Kivrin's travel to the Middle Ages with little care for Kivrin's safety. Ultimately, it's largely Mr. Gilchrist's fault that Kivrin ends up in such a dangerous and traumatizing place, and gets stuck there. 

When Gilchrist's culpability becomes clear, he blames and threatens everyone else. For example, when the tech, Badri, collapses onto the net consul, clearly ill, Gilchrist decides, out of nowhere, that Badri must be a drug user. Here's the way he talks (to Mr. Dunworthy): "You can't wait to inform [actual head of the History Faculty] Basingame of what you perceive to be Mediaeval's failure, can you?… In spite of the fact that it was your tech who has jeopardized this drop by using drugs, a fact of which you may be sure I will inform Mr. Basingame on his return…. I'm certain Mr. Basingame will also be interested in hearing that it was your failure to have your tech screened that's resulted in this drop being jeopardized…. It seems distinctly odd that after being so concerned about the precautions Mediaeval was taking that you wouldn't take the obvious precaution of screening your tech for drugs..." (64-65). Agh. Every time he opens his mouth, he says something pompous, repetitive, obnoxious, and untrue.

In 1348, Lady Imeyne is part of the household where Kivrin ends up living. Self-important, self-righteous, sanctimonious, selfish, and ignorant, she ignores the imprecations of wiser people, and, for the sake of her own status, invites visitors to the household — who turn out to be carrying the plague. It is essentially Lady Imeyne's doing that the plague comes to her town. 

When this becomes clear, Lady Imeyne blames everyone else. While others in the household are working themselves to exhaustion trying to care for the sick, she kneels in the corner, ignoring the need for help, and praying. "Your sins have brought this," she tells her daughter-in-law Eliwys, the one who's in love with her own husband's servant (432). Later, she turns on kind, patient Father Roche. "You have brought this sickness," she says. "It is your sins have brought the sickness here." Then she begins to list his sins: "He said the litany for Martinmas on St. Eusebius's Day. His alb is dirty…. He put the candles out by pinching them and broke the wicks" (444).

"She's trying to justify her own guilt," Kivrin thinks. "She can't bear the knowledge that she helped bring the plague here"… But Kivrin can't summon up any pity. "You have no right to blame Roche, she thought, he has done everything he can. And you've knelt in a corner and prayed." (444-445). Similarly, Mr. Dunworthy sees right through Mr. Gilchrist, even at one point considering him Kivrin's murderer (484).

Mr. Gilchrist and Lady Imeyne are UNBEARABLE. They're the characters in this book that you most hate, or at least that I do — maybe especially in 2020/21, when we're plagued in real life by dangerous people like them. Later, in possibly the book's most satisfying moment, we learn that Gilchrist has died of the influenza. The book doesn't revel in his death; none of the characters revel. But I sure do. Good riddance, you harmful, self-important, lying hypocrite. This is one of fiction's safe spaces: the intense, guilt-free satisfaction of an asshole being punished.

Similarly, Lady Imeyne dies of the plague. It's a relief. But it's also a bit harder to revel, because with the exception of Kivrin, who's immune, every character in the 1348 timeline dies of the plague. Every single character. It is so desperately sad, not least because it's exactly what happened in 1348. As the book reminds us repeatedly, entire towns were wiped out. There was no one left to toll the bells, or bury the dead. No one is left but Kivrin. Our hearts break for her.

I'm glad that Connie Willis teases out the parallel between Mr. Gilchrist and Lady Imeyne more than she does with a lot of the other character parallels. I think it's important; I think that these two characters embody a clear and recognizable type of human who will always exist in eras of human suffering. I'm relieved she kills them; and I'm relieved she doesn't kill everyone we love. In particular, she doesn't kill Mr. Dunworthy and she doesn't kill Kivrin… Which leads me to one last powerful character parallel in this book.

Mr. Dunworthy and Kivrin, God and Jesus

This character parallel is in a different category from the others. It doesn't stretch across the 1348 and 2054 timelines, or not exactly, anyway. It exists on a different plane: It's a parallel between the story of Mr. Dunworthy and Kivrin, and the story of God sending his son, Jesus, down to earth to live among humans.

The people of 1348 believe the story of God sending his son down to earth. They believe it literally; it's one of their guiding principles. Kivrin, Mr. Dunworthy, and many of the people of 2054 do not believe that story in the literal sense. Kivrin and Mr. Dunworthy don't believe in God. 

And yet, there are times when the vocal recordings Kivrin is making for historical purposes begin to sound like pleas to God: "Over fifty percent of the village has it. Please don't let Eliwys get it. Or Roche" (467). "You bastard! I will not let you take her. She's only a child. But that's your specialty, isn't it? Slaughtering the innocents? You've already killed the steward's baby and Agnes's puppy and the boy who went for help when I was in the hut, and that's enough. I won't let you kill her, too, you son of a bitch! I won't let you!" (493). 

And Father Roche, who finally reveals to Kivrin that on the day she arrived, he saw the net open and Kivrin appear, believes with all his heart that Kivrin is a saint, sent by God to help his parishioners in their time of need. "I feared that God would forsake us utterly," he says, as he's dying. "But in His great mercy He did not… But sent His saint unto us." He says, "Yet have you saved me… From fear.… And unbelief" (542-543). He means what he says. Kivrin's ministrations to the sick and to Roche do save him from despair.

And back in the Oxford of 2054, Dunworthy lies sick in his hospital bed, considering Kivrin, whom he's sent to a terrible place. As a rather unbearable character named Mrs. Gaddson stands at his bedside "helpfully" reading him Bible verses, Dunworthy thinks to himself, "God didn't know where His Son was.... He had sent His only begotten Son into the world, and something had gone wrong with the fix, someone had turned off the net, so that He couldn't get to him, and they had arrested him and put a crown of thorns on his head and nailed him to a cross…. Kivrin would have no idea what had happened. She would think she had the wrong place or the wrong time, that she had lost count of the days somehow during the plague, that something had gone wrong with the drop. She would think they had forsaken her" (475).

I love the questions these moments raise for the reader. Who represents what here? What is God, really? Why, when Badri became ill, did the net send Kivrin to that particular time? Who, or what, are we talking to, when we shout our fury to the universe? Maybe Mr. Dunworthy, sending historians into the past from his lab in Oxford, is a kind of god. And maybe Kivrin is a kind of Jesus, or a kind of saint. Maybe Father Roche has the right idea when he believes what he believes, even if he has some of the particulars wrong.

Near the very end, Kivrin speaks into her recorder addressing Mr. Dunworthy: "It's strange. When I couldn't find the drop and the plague came, you seemed so far away I would not ever be able to find you again. But I know now that you were here all along, and that nothing, not the Black Death nor seven hundred years, nor death nor things to come nor any other creature could ever separate me from your caring and concern. It was with me every minute" (544).

And then, with great difficulty, Mr. Dunworthy comes for Kivrin. He finds her in 1348, heartbroken and surrounded by the dead, and he brings her back home. "I knew you'd come," Kivrin says (578). There's a way in which the justified faith of these characters — Father Roche's faith in God's saint Kivrin, and Kivrin's faith in Mr. Dunworthy's care — show the reader that even in the darkest, most death-ridden times, love doesn't forsake us.

That's a pretty timeless theme. 

***

If you've made it to the end of my post about character parallels in Connie Willis's magnificent Doomsday Book, I hope I've given you a sense of what a powerful tool this can be. It's pretty closely related to some of my other writing lessons here on the blog. Creating webs like Tiffany D. Jackson did in Monday's Not Coming; creating connections like Victor LaValle did in The Changeling. Writing is often about finding the internal connections that'll best support the themes of the story you're trying to tell. I think that especially if your book takes place in multiple timelines, character parallels can go a long way!

Usually I end my craft posts with a photo showing the book filled with post-it flags from my careful rereading, but this time around, I reread by listening to the audiobook. My paper copy is flag-free — but I took eight pages of notes while I was listening! So here's a different photo of my process.

My web magician and I have set up some really cool code for The Daily Coyote. Starting tomorrow and forevermore, the top post of this site will feature a photo of Charlie from our vast archives, which will change with every visit the blog. I didn’t want the daily pictures to end, or for Charlie’s […]

HBO CEO Casey Bloys has given an update on the Game of Thrones movie reportedly in the works. Speaking during a press event on Tuesday, Bloys did confirm that a movie is forthcoming. However, he stressed that it’s more in the development stages than actually being fully fleshed out. Bloys considered the project more of […]

The post Game of Thrones Movie Update Given, George R.R. Martin Will Be Involved appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.

Fans are waiting in anticipation for Landman‘s release team on Paramount+. The series, centered on the energy industry, is set to make a bold debut with its first two episodes available simultaneously. With much buzz around the series, knowing the exact Landman release date, time, and schedule will help fans tune in at the right time. Here […]

The post What Time Will Landman Release on Paramount+? Schedule Explained appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.

“There can be no middle ground, not in this moment.” As the U.S. presidential race draws to a close, Bishop William Barber, the national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School and co-author of White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy, explains why he is endorsing Kamala Harris for president in his personal capacity. In contrast to Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric and policies that will benefit the rich, Barber says “we see clearly Harris trying to unify.” He makes a theological argument for opposing Trump and also discusses voting rights and access in his home state of North Carolina.

Kamala Harris is blasting Donald Trump for vowing to protect women whether they “like it or not” at the same time he is calling for Republican Liz Cheney to be shot in the face. We get response from The Nation's abortion access correspondent Amy Littlefield and talk about 10 states with abortion rights on the ballot, including Arizona, Nevada, Florida, South Dakota and Missouri. Trump's remarks are a “succinct and clear definition of patriarchy,” says Littlefield. She argues the 2024 election will be decided in large part by white women and whether they will vote for abortion rights. Trump is “laying out the bargain that white patriarchy has offered for white women in this country,” says Littlefield. “He is saying, 'White women, we will protect you from Brown and Black men.'”

“Why is it that the issues that most of the public agrees with — healthcare, living wages, voting rights, democracy — why is it that those issues weren’t more up front?” We speak to Bishop William Barber about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s failed election campaigns, Donald Trump’s election as president and the urgent need to unite the poor and working class. Barber is the national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, president and senior lecturer at Repairers of the Breach and a co-author of the book White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy. He urges the Democratic Party to recenter economic security and poverty alleviation in its platform and draws on historical setbacks for U.S. progressive policies to encourage voters to “get back up” and “continue to fight.”

The upcoming US presidential election will determine how the country regulates tech, combats the climate crisis and decides on access to abortion