Rating: 
Summary: Get your feet wet
Review: This is a great way to try Connie Willis. Always poignant, wry, and never sentimental, her short stories are complete, with excellent, full characterizations. She is a master of the short-story genre. The collection showcases her variety of subject and style. I read "Ado" to my children on a (long) train ride, and we got to our stop with one page to go. Little did I know that other passengers were listening to the tale -- and they were *not* pleased to have us disembark without finishing the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Connie Willis is one of the most surprising voices in SF
Review: This will always be one of my favorite books, if only because of the presence of the wonderful "Last of the Winnebagoes." I remember I put off reading that story for a long time, assuming from the title it was an exploration of the decline of native Americans, and would not be light reading. Then I read it, and cried, and read it again, and cried. And quickly decided that it was one of my favorite stories of all time, regardless of genre. And it is a story about the decline of native Americans, but not the sort that are defined by ethnicity. And most of all, it is the most beautiful dog story I have ever read.But the book has other gems. Even as a guy, I still found "Even the Queen" a brilliant little story (and I couldn't have been the only guy who thought so, since it won a Hugo award), despite being a story about three generations of women discussing ... Well, read the story. Like most of her stories, it seems lighthearted at first, then POW! Spice Pogram is a pure madcap romp, full of puns, and misunderstandings, and coincidences, and missed meetings, and precocious children, and enigmatic (but charming) aliens. This will make you laugh out loud. (And if you really like it, you need to read "Blued Moon" in her first collection Fire Watch.) Each of these stories alone would be reason to buy this book, but together, it's a must for any SF reader's bookshelf. And the other stories are excellent as well, especially "Jack" and "At the Rialto."
Rating:
Summary: Connie Willis is one of the most surprising voices in SF
Review: This will always be one of my favorite books, if only because of the presence of the wonderful "Last of the Winnebagoes." I remember I put off reading that story for a long time, assuming from the title it was an exploration of the decline of native Americans, and would not be light reading. Then I read it, and cried, and read it again, and cried. And quickly decided that it was one of my favorite stories of all time, regardless of genre. And it is a story about the decline of native Americans, but not the sort that are defined by ethnicity. And most of all, it is the most beautiful dog story I have ever read. But the book has other gems. Even as a guy, I still found "Even the Queen" a brilliant little story (and I couldn't have been the only guy who thought so, since it won a Hugo award), despite being a story about three generations of women discussing ... Well, read the story. Like most of her stories, it seems lighthearted at first, then POW! Spice Pogram is a pure madcap romp, full of puns, and misunderstandings, and coincidences, and missed meetings, and precocious children, and enigmatic (but charming) aliens. This will make you laugh out loud. (And if you really like it, you need to read "Blued Moon" in her first collection Fire Watch.) Each of these stories alone would be reason to buy this book, but together, it's a must for any SF reader's bookshelf. And the other stories are excellent as well, especially "Jack" and "At the Rialto."
Rating:
Summary: Connie Willis is one of the most surprising voices in SF
Review: This will always be one of my favorite books, if only because of the presence of the wonderful "Last of the Winnebagoes." I remember I put off reading that story for a long time, assuming from the title it was an exploration of the decline of native Americans, and would not be light reading. Then I read it, and cried, and read it again, and cried. And quickly decided that it was one of my favorite stories of all time, regardless of genre. And it is a story about the decline of native Americans, but not the sort that are defined by ethnicity. And most of all, it is the most beautiful dog story I have ever read. But the book has other gems. Even as a guy, I still found "Even the Queen" a brilliant little story (and I couldn't have been the only guy who thought so, since it won a Hugo award), despite being a story about three generations of women discussing ... Well, read the story. Like most of her stories, it seems lighthearted at first, then POW! Spice Pogram is a pure madcap romp, full of puns, and misunderstandings, and coincidences, and missed meetings, and precocious children, and enigmatic (but charming) aliens. This will make you laugh out loud. (And if you really like it, you need to read "Blued Moon" in her first collection Fire Watch.) Each of these stories alone would be reason to buy this book, but together, it's a must for any SF reader's bookshelf. And the other stories are excellent as well, especially "Jack" and "At the Rialto."
Rating:
Summary: Off the wall, except you never know where the wall is
Review: Too many science fiction authors focus on novels. Admittedly they have to make a living. However, the length is artificial, and far too many authors become bogged down in the middle of a writing that is beyond its natural length. Connie Willis' short stories are as long as the story needs to be. So you don't feel she is writing to maintain an artificial length and thus damaging the story. I have yet to read any of her novels, but hope she found topics that would naturally carry that length. Connie is able to carry a dozen threads of possible stories through a single short story. Often you don't know where the real story lies until close to the end. Her writing is unpredictible. Whereas many science fiction writers wind up with long boring sections of "must be book length" stories, Connie does not. I would describe her writing as off the wall, but you never know where the wall is in her stories. The word "wonderful" comes to mind. Dave Clary
Rating:
Summary: Top notch writing that should transcend the SF genre
Review: Willis delivers again with this stellar collection. While as a whole it isn't quite as good as Fire Watch, there are stories that match the title story of that collection. Last of the Winnebagos, like all of Willis's work, uses the SF framework to tell a story that resonates far beyond science fiction. I find it hard to believe that anyone could find Willis's work "mundane."
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