All About Emily by Connie Willis
reviewed by Rich Horton
Claire Havilland is an acclaimed actress, perhaps just a bit past her
prime. Her agent inveigles her into an interview with the niece of the Grand Marshal of the Macy's Thanksgiving
Day parade -- said niece is a huge fan of Claire and a bit stagestruck. The kicker is that the Grand Marshal
is a famous roboticist, Dr. Oakes -- and his "niece" is a robot -- or "artificial,"
which is the polite word.
Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis
reviewed by Christopher DeFilippis
In Blackout/All Clear, we revisit the mid-21st Century Oxford University time travel
program featured in The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, where
historians make routine forays into the past in order to study it.
For those familiar with the earlier Oxford books, there are some familiar faces, most notably Professor
James Dunworthy, who heads the time travel program. But a new group of historians takes center stage.
Bellwether by Connie Willis
an audiobook review by Sarah Trowbridge
This is science fiction only in the sense that it is a work of fiction whose principal characters
are scientists. As the work of 2009 Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductee, however, it is
inevitably classified in the genre. It tells
the story of Sandra Foster, a researcher laboring in the corporate catacombs of a company called HiTek. Her
work focuses on fads and their sources, and for her current project she is trying to track down the
mysterious catalyst for the 1920s craze for hair-bobbing.
Promised Land by Connie Willis & Cynthia Felice
reviewed by Donna McMahon
Imagine you are an intelligent, ambitious young woman, just graduated from university. You travel to a
backwater planet in order to settle your deceased mother's affairs, hoping to collect your inheritance,
and get away within 24 hours. When you arrive, the lawyer informs you that you were betrothed as a
child and, under the laws of this dismal colony, you are now legally married to a hick farmer who is
here to take you back to his remote rural hovel.
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Passage by Connie Willis
reviewed by Rich Horton
Her new novel concerns Near Death Experiences (NDEs), and the attempts of
a couple of researchers to explain them as the reaction of the brain and body to the physical
conditions of dying -- with a glimmer of hope that such understanding might even lead to a means
of bringing more people back from the brink of death. As such, the book deals with several
people on the verge of dying -- including some who have, as it were, been there and back.
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis
reviewed by Rich Horton
The Christmas story seems a natural in Willis' hands. Her stories are
almost always at least fun to read, and often very moving. Even though this
collection is restricted to Christmas stories, it reveals her wide range
just as well as her previous collection does. Definitely worth reading, at
any season of the year.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
reviewed by Thomas Myer
As the plot chases down the streets of Victorian Oxford and down
the Thames, our hero collects a gaggle of hilarious characters, trying
to set things straight, bungling about as many things as he gets right.
In the background of the narrative, the entire time-space continuum is at risk, threatening
the end of everything as we know it.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
reviewed by Margo MacDonald
Interwoven with humour, wit and unfailing romanticism, this book is a pure pleasure which leaves you feeling
as relaxed and satisfied as a picnic on a green lawn by a rolling river on a warm summer's day.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
reviewed by Steven H Silver
Steven has enjoyed several Connie Willis short stories or novellas. At longer lengths,
he subscribes to the minority opinion that her work is vastly overrated. While sure that
To Say Nothing of the Dog will sell well and may even garner Willis another Hugo or
Nebula, it is another book supporting his opinion that she should stick with short fiction
and stay away from time travel.
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