Connie Willis

She's a new-to-me author but she's been winning awards for decades (more Nebula awards than any other) for her science fiction. Her's is the kind of sci-fi I can't get enough of - witty, human, comic and relatable and I don't consider myself much of a sci-fi reader. I've read 3 of her books in the last 4 months and am eagerly awaiting the return of a too-soon-lent-out 4th title. Since I've greatly appreciated each of them, I thought I would gather the reviews in one total homage to Ms Willis.

I started my foray into Ms Willis' work with Bellwether which can barely be considered science fiction as its more about scientists researching scientific ideas and topics than about anything imagined. It is also the slimmest book I've found of hers so considering her other hefty tomes, it's a great intro for falling in love with her dry humor and love of the ludicrous. One of my male friends was upset to be surprised to discover a love story in the midst and one of my female friends was upset that she 'figured it out' from the start but I thought the love story was obvious and just a vehicle for the real story of the book which was about order and discovery amidst chaos. Don't be fooled by the main character, the love story or the research in the story: the real heart of the book is the annoying, impossible, sullen and opposite-of-helpful interdepartmental-aide Flip. In my mind everything revolves around her, particularly the finale.

I started To Say Nothing of the Dog almost immediately after finishing Bellwether. This book was the reason I discovered Willis in the first place: Book Lust had mentioned and recommended it though I mixed it up with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime when haunting Borders one day. The book has a special quirky following likely due to her many allusions to classic literary sources, the smart science and 'serious' Englishmen tossed into completely ludicrous situations. Our futuristic hero tries valiantly to undo potential damage to the space-time continuum originating in Victorian-age Britain and meets many a beautiful, silly, austere, scatter-brained, rogueish character. To Say Nothing... reads to me like a sci-fi Midsummer Night's Dream due to its situational comedy. I found it light, silly, fun and witty.

To Say Nothing of the Dog set me up for another comedy of errors when I started Doomsday Book (Willis' Nebula and Edgar awards winner) and it was nothing of the sort. Dry humor was abundant and the world is the same as the Dog irritatingly obtuse characters abounded but this is really a tragedy of errors if anything. While I found the irksomeness of some silly or stupid characters in the Dog amusing, they were too plentiful and the stakes too high in Doomsday. They didn't bother me so much while I was still expecting everything to work out well and conclude with the smart happy ending, which is what the Dog taught me to expect. Instead the tale turned to a serious look at how humanity deals with the seeming absence of God in terrible climes, here the Dark Ages of Europe during the plague. I was oblivious to the outside world as I stayed with the last 150 pages to find out what was going to happen and they are what finally won me over with their deep sadness and despair and my identification with the main character struggling to understand her purpose amidst such a state of affairs.
 
All in all, I'm a converted fan of Ms. Willis and I look forward to reading more - particularly her 2-part series during WWII of which the sequel was just released.