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Title: The Best of Connie Willis: Award-winning Stories
Author: Connie Willis
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy short stories collection
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: A collection of Willis' short fiction.
Thoughts: It's rare to like every single story in a collection, but given that every story in this book won some kind of major award, I suppose it's not that surprising. The first half of the book is good. But it's with "Inside Job", in which a skeptic discovers a fake medium who seems to be channeling H. L. Mencken, that they really pick up for me. It's funny and clever and surprisingly warm. "Even the Queen", a feminist story about feminism run amuck, might be on the slight side, but it's still bitingly witty. "The Winds of Marble Arch" is about the inevitability of decay and death and love. "All Seated on the Ground" is I think one of my favorite Christmas stories ever, featuring one of the more surprising alien encounters I've seen. And "The Last of the Winnebagos" is both deeply touching on an emotional level and constructed well enough to both inspire me and make me despair over my own writing.
It's a really solid collection that makes it easy to see why Willis enjoys the reputation she has.
Author: Connie Willis
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy short stories collection
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: A collection of Willis' short fiction.
Thoughts: It's rare to like every single story in a collection, but given that every story in this book won some kind of major award, I suppose it's not that surprising. The first half of the book is good. But it's with "Inside Job", in which a skeptic discovers a fake medium who seems to be channeling H. L. Mencken, that they really pick up for me. It's funny and clever and surprisingly warm. "Even the Queen", a feminist story about feminism run amuck, might be on the slight side, but it's still bitingly witty. "The Winds of Marble Arch" is about the inevitability of decay and death and love. "All Seated on the Ground" is I think one of my favorite Christmas stories ever, featuring one of the more surprising alien encounters I've seen. And "The Last of the Winnebagos" is both deeply touching on an emotional level and constructed well enough to both inspire me and make me despair over my own writing.
It's a really solid collection that makes it easy to see why Willis enjoys the reputation she has.
