September 24, 2013 / Leslie

Review: The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories

The Best of Connie Willis:
Award-Winning Stories
by Connie Willis

Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Del Rey
Publish Date: July 9, 2013
Format: Hard | 496 pages
Rating: 5 of 5

Publisher’s Synopsis:

All ten of the stories gathered here are Hugo or Nebula award winners—some even have the distinction of winning both. With a new Introduction by the author and personal afterwords to each story—plus a special look at three of Willis’s unique public speeches—this is unquestionably the collection of the season, a book that every Connie Willis fan will treasure, and, to those unfamiliar with her work, the perfect introduction to one of the most accomplished and best-loved writers of our time.

My Thoughts:

For those who enjoy speculative fiction, Connie Willis is a must-read author. Her stories span the range from humor to horror, whimsical to serious. She has written short stories, novellas, novels and a few really long 800-page novels. As the author herself says in the introduction, science fiction isn’t just rockets blasting through space and planets filled with multi-eyed monsters. And I agree, it’s much more than that. It can also be brilliant, thought-provoking, compelling stories with realistic characters.

As a long-time fan of Connie Willis, I had already read several of the stories in this collection. My favorite was Fire Watch, a time-travel story about the Blitz in London, which ultimately inspired the novels Blackout/All Clear. Alternate history, a journey to the afterworld, Emily Dickinson, a bizarre physics convention, and a hysterical send-up on women’s liberation are only a few of the other experiences to be had. There is something for everyone.

I first discovered the delight of a Connie Willis story when I read her novel The Doomsday Book, historical fiction with a science fiction twist: Time-traveling Oxford historians visit a 14th-century English village to conduct research and end up in the middle of the plague. I was hooked!

This book is more than just another collection of award-winning stories. It’s also a great introduction to her work for new readers plus insight into the author’s thoughts in the form of commentary at the end of each story. As someone who is already a fan this was a special treat for me.

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Source: Review copy provided by Del Rey through NetGalley.
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