Tag: author: connie willis

Review – The Road to Roswell

Posted on by Taking One Step at a Time

Frothy, screwball, science fiction romances is a type of book that Connie Willis has mastered. Like Bellwether, To Say Nothing of the Dog, All Seated on the Ground, and Crosstalk, The Road to Roswell belongs to this category. I read this book for precisely this reason: I adore Willis’s romances.

The science fiction is an important descriptor of these stories. Although they aren’t, quite, “hard” science fiction, they are clearly science fiction. In The Road to Roswell, this is the facts behind alien conspiracies, and some of the theories around alien visitation, both pro and con. As the title suggests, some of the theories center around Roswell, New Mexico, and the incident that happened in 1947. The story also leans into the alien abduction and first contact tropes, and mines both suspense and humor from them.

Once you understand the type of novel this is, spoilers aren’t really an issue, so I won’t try to avoid them. Yes, the girl gets the boy in the end, although I think he deserves to get a little more roughed up before he gets his happy ending. As well, Willis has a delightful way with zany side characters, some of whom aren’t quite what they appear to be. The alien is actually alien, communication is difficult through most of the story, and their motives are clear as mud through almost all of it.

A delightful romp, as I expected and hoped for from Willis.

Willis, Connie. The Road to Roswell. New York, New York: Del Rey Books, 2023. 127,103 words. 5 stars.

Review – D.A. by Connie Willis

Posted on by Taking One Step at a Time

When the recruiter from the International Space Academy comes to Winfrey High to solicit applications from the students there, Theodora Baumgarten is one of the few students who has no interest in applying.  As she tells the recruiter, “There’s no air, you’re squashed into a ship the size of a juice can, and it takes years to get anywhere interesting. If you get there and aren’t killed first by a meteor or a solar flare or a systems malfunction.”  So, it’s something of a surprise when she finds out that her (nonexistent) application has been accepted.  And, since everyone would be thrilled and honored to be accepted, no one but her best friend, Kimkim, believes her.

This is the setup for Connie Willis’s novella D.A.  The meaning of those initials, and why Theodora was “accepted” as a cadet, are too good to spoil, and getting there is much of the fun.  Especially good is the name of the Academy space station, the Robert A. Heinlein.

For those of us who loved traditional science fiction since childhood, but are now far too aware of what can go wrong, D.A. is a delightful treat.

Willis, Connie.  D.A.  Burton, MI:  Subterranean Press, 2007.  Kindle edition.  Amazon.

Review – I Met a Traveller in an Ancient Land by Connie Willis

Posted on by Taking One Step at a Time

Although this isn’t one of my favorite of Connie Willis’s stories, it is a worthy addition to her oeuvre.  Told in the first person, the narrator is doing publicity for his blog, Gone for Good, about things that are just that.  He is also trying to get a deal to turn his blog into a book.  After a particularly bad interview, he takes a walk in midtown Manhattan, is caught by a rainstorm, and finds shelter in Ozymandias Books.

The rest of the story is his experience within Ozymandias Books, what he finds there, and how it changes him.  As he is led through the shop by Cassie, an employee, he notes many of the book titles, including an old favorite of his from childhood.  As he realizes what the shop truly is, his agent calls him that an interview has been moved up and he has to leave.  I’ll leave what happens next for the reader to enjoy.

Unlike my favorite Willis stories, there is little humor.  It does have the character’s obsessive noting of details, the strangeness of the setting, and action that moves the plot forward.  The story is a quick read, and one that will stick with me.  I recommend it.