Rating: 
Summary: A Victorian time-travelling hoot!
Review: Connie Willis proves that Science Fiction does not have to be dour, dull, or ponderous. In a wild melange of time travel, Victoriana and mayhem, she has her hapless hero floundering in his efforts to evade the bulllying Lady Schriapnell while restoring Coventry Cathedral to its Victorian imperfection. I chortled my way through all 500-plus pages Good show, Ms. Willis!.
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Summary: Fast-Paced and Endlessly Amusing
Review: First, a confession - I am addicted to the writing of Connie Willis and have a Misery-esque fantasy about keeping her prisoner and forcing her to write stories for me around the clock. To Say Nothing of the Dog was worth waiting for. The plot might almost be described as "zany"; the characters are likeable in an affectionate, goofy way. The story flits around from one sub-plot to another, leaving the reader breathlessly giddy (time-lagged???) Come on, Connie, I need another fix!
Rating: 
Summary: An amusing but messy and treacly little wine
Review: How do I begin? Yes, this was an amusing diversion. Yes, the chaos theory theme was cleverly explicated through manic human folly and jumble (rummage) sales filled with useless Victorian bric-a-brac. But why was the reader always a hundred pages ahead of the scientist/historian characters when it came to figuring out what was going on? Why did the author feel the need by turns to impersonate P.D. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Dororthy Sayers and Jerome K. Jerome and then go on to point out the deed over and over again as if the reader was thick as a brick? Why does Willis insist on sappy heroines and even sappier romances reminiscent of those Disney used to mount for the adolescent Hayley Mills? Get an editor! Get an edge!
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Summary: The mutant child of Wodehouse, Sayers and Turtledove?
Review: If P.G. Wodehouse, Dorothy Sayers and Harry Turtledove had a child (never mind the scientific impossibility - this is science fiction, it could happen!) that child, while probably carrying the longest last name in history and hopelessly confused about which man to call "Dad", might write a book similar to Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog". This book has the sidesplittingly funny near-musical-comedy elements of P.G. Wodehouse (including a hero - frequently as befuddled as Bertie Wooster - trapped in the middle, dodging Cupids arrows whilst romance breaks out like the plague did in Willis' earlier novel, _Doomsday Book_), the mystery of a Sayers novel (but with a decidedly Wodehouse-like wrap-up), and the time-travel, history-altering and (believe it or not) tension of Harry Turtledove's best works. It is also reminiscent of 1940's screwball comedies, or Willis' own "Bellwether" or the "Rialto" story in "Impossible Things". It kept me up past my bedtime and made me for work several times; I just couldn't bear to put it down once I picked it up! I gave up my social life for two days just so I could finish this book. Highly recommended.
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Summary: "A unique historical novel that transcends genres..."
Review: In "To Say Nothing Of the Dog," Connie Willis has fashioned a loving tribute to the nineteenth century style novel - with dozens of adventurous subplots, numerous romantic pairings, and fully fleshed, larger than life characters (such as Professor Peddick, who argues historical theory at the drop of a hat and collects rare species of fish; or Baine, the Jeeves-like butler who is wise beyond his station and more resourceful than a house full of servants). In the midst of this saturnalia, Willis ponders big questions like humankind's hubris concerning nature and history, or the wisdom of playing with something as ephemeral as time - all this while maintaining a swift narrative pace and still evoking out and out laughter. This comedy of manners (and errors) would do P.G. Wodehouse proud. It's the best and most hilarious book of its kind since John Irving's "The Water-Method Man," or "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. Part mystery, part romantic comedy and part science fiction adventure, Connie Willis has produced a unique historical novel that transcends genres while embracing any and all readers. -- Copyright 1998, "Des Moines Sunday Register."
Rating: 
Summary: Not what she's cracked up to be
Review: Before beginning this review of Connie Willis's latest novel, To Say Nothing of the Dog, I would like to give a little background information. In addition to reading science fiction, I am a trained medieval historian. A few years ago, when Willis's novel Doomsday Book was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula and received rave reviews, I attempted to read it, several times. Suffice it to say that I found Willis's future Oxford to be completely unbelievable, even when I tried to read it as a comedy, and her knowledge of the medieval period to be anachronistic in its depiction, although not necessarily in ways I could point a finger to, especially at this late date. In the current (Winter 1998) issue of the SFWA Bulletin, Willis mentions that before writing Doomsday Book she had no knowledge of the period. Although other readers and reviewers seem to think she presents the period well, I'm still of the opinion that her research did not come across as accurate. When I made the decision to try reading To Say Nothing of the Dog, I was a little concerned, but because I have less detailed knowledge of the Victorian period than of the medieval one, I hoped I would be able to enjoy it on a more basic level. What To Say Nothing of the Dog did was highlight one of the problems I noticed in Doomsday Book but couldn't put my finger on. In both books, the main characters are, ostensibly, historians. However, none of the characters, whether it is Kivrin from Doomsday Book, or Ned Henry and Verity Kindle from To Say Nothing of the Dog think like historians. Nor do they seem to know anything about history beyond what they learn after they leap into the past. The historical arguments Willis portrays in To Say Nothing of the Dog, most notably Peddick's debate with Overforce over whether history is the result of grand forces or individuals, is extremely watered down and none of Willis's twenty-first century historians involve themselves in the debate or even bring any advanced arguments to the topic when listening to the nineteenth-century Oxford dons argue. The novel, as indicated by the subtitle, has a loose plot as the time travelers search for an artifact known as the "Bishop's bird stump." However, since little progress is made in the search, and the nature of the bird stump is never clearly understood, the scavenger hunt never really grips the reader. As with the earlier novel, in which Willis had to inflict her modern Oxfordians with a plague in order to get them to behave in the extremely irrational way which would permit them to act in a manner consistant with Willis's plot, in To Say Nothing of the Dog, Willis inflicts Ned Henry with time-lag, a sort of version of jet-lag, and nearly everyone else with an almost unnatural fear and loathing of Lady Schrapnell, whose project to restore Coventry Cathedral is the catalyst for all the action in the novel. To Say Nothing of the Dog is heavily based on Jerome K. Jerome's classic novel Three Men in a Boat (1889). Instead of being subtle about her novel's lineage in this respect, Willis uses the Victorian novel's sub-title as her title, mentions the novel in the dedication, and consistanly has Ned Henry, who seems to know about as much about Victorian literature as he does about any history, consistantly quote Jerome's novel, causing the reader to wonder why he has so much of the work memorized. I have read several stories by Connie Willis which I have enjoyed. However, these have all been short stories or novellas. At longer lengths, based on the three Willis novels I've read, I'm afraid I am in the minority opinion that her work is vastly overrated. While I'm sure To Say Nothing of the Dog will sell well and may even garner Willis another Hugo or Nebula, it is another Willis book which adds to my opinion that she should stick with short fiction and stay away from time travel.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful novel, in the spirit of Jerome K. Jerome
Review:
Connie Willis' Doomsday Book is one of the best novels of the last 10 years. It tells the story of a young woman trapped in the past in England, during the Plague. Her new novel, To Say Nothing of the Dog (hereafter simply called TSNOTD), is set in the same time-traveling universe (and even features a character from Doomsday Book), but it's a very different type of book. It's a charming, delightful book. Though much lighter than Doomsday Book, it's a major novel in its own right. On one level, TSNOTD is a direct descendent of Jerome K. Jerome's marvelous Three Men in a Boat (whose subtitle becomes the title of Willis' novel). The style, the tone, and even the way in which the novel sidetracks from time to time are very much in the spirit of Jerome. In the present day of the novel (in the next century), a rich Britisher (Lady Schrapnell) is trying to restore Coventry cathedral (destroyed in the blitz in World War II). She is rich enough to send out teams of time travelers to try to determine details about the cathedral: she wants things to be 100% authentic. Only one thing is missing: the Bishop's bird stump (an overdone, garrish vase). A number of time travelers, including the main character (Ned) have been sent back to look for it. At the novel's start, Ned has traveled into the past so many times in such a short span (mostly to look at jumble sales - the British equivalent of yard sales) that he is time lagged (a state in which he is somewhat confused and Unable to Distinguish Sounds). Meanwhile, Verity, returning from the late 1800s, has done something that is supposed to be impossible and could cause a disaster: she has brought a cat back with her. Ned is given 2 weeks of R&R in Victorian England, with his only assignment to return the cat. What follows is a delightful trip down the Thames (in which Ned and his companion - to say nothing off the dog even encounter Jerome, George, and Harris - to say nothing of Montmorecy, their dog), filled with touches of Jerome, Wodehouse, and, at times, Sayers, all wrapped up and sprinkled with doses of screwball comedy movies. As Ned and Verity try to set things right, things instead seem to get worse. On another level, this is a wonderful time travel story of the "it's really, really hard to change the past" school of time travel stories (of which Fritz Leiber wrote several great stories). In fact, Willis produces one of the most wonderfully complex and convoluted examples of the universe writing itself that I've ever seen. As I noted earlier, this is a wonderful book. If it were a 1997 book, it would be my choice for the Hugo. As it is, it will be on my 1998 Hugo list.
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Summary: A throwback to SF's "Golden Years"?
Review: A consistent characteristic of Connie Willis' writing is that it has a calming effect on the reader. Her books are pleasant to read, with just enough "dynamic tension" woven through the plot and characters to hold your attention without resorting to tricks and gimmicks. I think this is a sign that she respects the reader. From this perspective, this book is vintage C.W. It has her usual immaculate eye for detail, skillfully blended so that the reader doesn't feel a part of a PBS documentary. There's just enough science and pseudo-science to keep the book true to its genre, but if your literary cup of tea runs to "Star Wars/Trek/Troopers," this book is not for you. This is writing for readers...for those who appreciate a good turn of phrase for both its inherent artistry as well as its contribution to moving the plot forward. Another review in these pages called C.W.'s use of humor "shrill" but I didn't see it. Plus, no one - but NO one - can anthropomorphize a dog like her, without ever giving the mutt a single speaking part! My only quibble with the book is an intellectual disagreement over the assumption on which the author based her ending. However, I cannot elaborate without revealing that ending, so you'll just have to see for yourself.
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Summary: Screwball comedy and Chaos theory in the Victorian era
Review: Connie Willis' books tend to combine her love of history, literature, chaos theory and Preston Sturges-type screwball comedies to varying effect. In "To Say Nothing of the Dog," her sort-of-squel to "The Doomsday Book," she finally perfects the combination. Following the format of Victorian era books such as Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)", from which she takes the books name, Connie takes us on a romp through time to locate an urn called the Bishop's Bird Stump, which a wealthy American crackpot wants for her true-to-the-tiniest-detail 22nd century reconstruction of Coventry Cathedtral, which was bombed during World War II. But a time traveller coming back from the Victorian era has made a critical and previously thought impossible mistake by bringing something back through with her, something that must be returned or the entire space time conintinuum might fall apart. Ned Henry is sent back to the Victorian era to rest and recover from a bad case of time lag, and to return the object before it's absend can rip apart the fabric of time and causality. But almost from the moment of his arrival, things go wrong, and Ned and the beautiful time-travelling Verity have to think on their feet, while juggling an overbearing Victorian matricarch, a possibily murderous butler, thieving mediums, a bulldog, a cat that likes exotic fish, and Verity's ditzy "cousin" Tossie, an ideal example of Victorian womanhood and the nexus around whom everything turns. History, science, math, poetry, chaos theory, time travel and animal husbandry all come together in a terribly clever way to help Ned and Verity solve a mystery, while several young loves blossom in spite of a host of obstacles. A clever, engaging and literate adventure that just gets better everytime I read it.
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Summary: A stitch in time
Review: This story takes off from the same setting that Willis used in her earlier novel, "Doomsday Book", about Oxford historians who travel back in time to investigate past events and occasionally recover artifacts. But the main characters from that book aren't re-used, and the style and themes are entirely different. This is a light novel, with elements of a romance and a comedy of manners. Ned Henry is suffering from time lag, having been run ragged by Lady Schrapnell, a wealthy heiress who is providing most of the funds to keep the research going. Lady Schrapnell is a stickler for detail in her elaborate reconstruction of the Coventry Cathedral, and insists that the historians provide the Bishop's bird stump, a strikingly ugly work of art that was lost when the Cathedral was bombed in 1940. The only way Ned can escape from Schrapnell is to go back to before she was born, so he is given a simple courier assignment to make a delivery in the Victorian era, where he can rest up for a few weeks after his task is completed. Unfortunately, Ned is too time-lagged to be able to understand his instructions, so he is left wandering about the 1880s uncertain what he is delivering to whom, and never quite aware of whether he is preserving the proper time line or undermining it. He does know that Tossie, the distant ancestress of Lady Schrapnell whose family home he is a guest in, is supposed to fall in love with her future husband in a few days, but he doesn't know who that is - only that it definitely isn't Cyril, the young gentleman he accidentally introduced to her, who is now wooing her with marked success. The plot is complex and worked out in great detail - many apparently random details are ultimately brought together in an ending that is almost too clever. The characters, major and minor, are nicely drawn. All in all, thoroughly enjoyable.
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