Rating: 
Summary: Excellent collection from a top sf writer
Review: Connie is one of the best sf writers today, and these stories show why, from the moving (and award-winning) title story to the humorous "Blued Moon" (where an incineration project results in a permanent blue moon and a rash of coincidences) that show an elegance and range of writing styles and a depth of personal understanding. Sometimes I read something and think I can do just as well. I NEVER think that of Connie Willis.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful soft science fiction, real people, makes you think
Review: Connie Willis is an amazingly diversified writer whose collection of short stories ranges from the near future/near past (Fire Watch; A Letter from the Clearys), somewhat more traditional science fiction (The Sidon in the Mirror), tales of human weakness and morality (I forget the title, but the story involves teenagers in a cross between an orphanage and a boarding school) that kept me thinking about it to for days. And just when you think all she can do is serious stuff, she comes up with one of the funniest stories I've ever read in an anthology (Blue Moon?). Well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing look at time travel.
Review: Connie Willis takes us back to a pivotal place in time during the Second World War, when Britain was being bombarded by Hitler's Blitz Krieg. Saint Paul's Cathedral, in the centre of London, was more than just a building, it was a symbol of Britain's fight against the Nazi threat. The novel revolves around the effort the main time travelling protagonist makes to keep the fire bombs from taking hold on the fabric of Christopher Wren's great architectural masterpiece. The theme of the plot sounds dry, but Connie Willis makes her characters live and breath on the page. Her love of history shines through as we discover that the time traveller is a graduate student from the future, returning to the past. All in all, a well told story that is hard to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak plots, unsatisfying resolutions. Avoid.
Review: Having previously read and enjoyed Willis' novel Bellwether (and, somewhat more problematically, Doomsday Book), I found myself tremendously disappointed in this collection of her early short fiction.The high point of the collection is "Blued Moon", which shares much in common with Bellwether: A light touch to the script, engaging characters, and a comedic flair. Even a touch of romance. It's also a story whose resolution makes sense and is satisfying on its own terms. But those points are exactly what's lacking in most other stories here. The title story, for instance, is little more than a blueprint for Doomsday Book, but it has nothing to say that isn't said better in that (later) novel. The actions of the characters in the resolution is even somewhat befuddling. And it's one of the better stories in the book. (To be fair, it might read better for someone who hasn't already read Doomsday Book, but that novel makes this story superfluous.) At the other end of the spectrum is "All My Darling Daughters" which - at best - seems a reminiscence of how nasty some people found their teenage years. Beyond that, though, it's got a science fictional element (strange animals which the boys on the orbiting boarding school adopt) which is never explained, and no noticible plot with no discernable resolution. "What was the point of that?" was my reaction upon finishing it. In between are one-note joke stories ("Mail-Order Clone"), predestrian post-apocalyptic yarns ("A Letter from the Clearys", mysteriously presented in the author's preface as having a surprising twist, although nothing in it seemed out of the ordinary to me), and a straightforward ghost story ("Service for the Burial of the Dead"). And most of the stories are only borderline science fiction (or even fantasy). The one full-on SF yarn, "The Sidon in the Mirror", is also short on plot and resolution, and even falls down compared to the others in that its setting and distinctive elements (the 'sidon', for instance) are insufficiently described. It's another "what was the point?" tale. Perhaps these stories best reflect Willis' relative inexperience at this point in her career, but she's done much better. Whether you're a fan or a newcomer, there's no compelling reason to work through this set of stories.
Rating:
Summary: Searing
Review: I love Willis' work, and this collection of short stories is perhaps the best intro. She writes with a laser sharp clarity that can devastate you. The language is flowing and easy and basic in some of her stories, and so complicated and playfully perverse in others that I couldn't help but think that this is a writer that loves language and its manipulation. "All My Darling Daughters" and "Sidon in the Mirror" are searing. There is no other words for these stories. The first time I read "Daughters" I was in a mild daze for hours afterwards. It's about the nature of sex and sadism and abuse. And the way that people like to give pain, to hurt others. The words Willis uses in the story are slangy and musical in a terrible way. "Sidon" is about genetic future, love and revenge and horrific uncertainty and identity confusion. The main character's pain made me want to cry -- reading it was like watching a child feel pain, all unknowing and ignorant of what was causing it. Showing her lighter side are "Mail-Order Clone" and "Blued Moon." The first is about a man who orders a clone in a catalog and doesn't realize what he's gotten. "Blued Moon" is a romantic comedy about language, coincidences and the connection between understanding and love. It's a little like a Hollywood screwball comedy. "A Letter from the Clearys" and "Fire Watch" are calm stories about the world ending and how unrelieved despair makes people a little shell-shocked. "Fire Watch" disappointed me somewhat because I guessed the ending almost first thing into the story. "Clearys" feels a little conventional. "Daisy, in the Sun" is a dreamy little story about growing up in a strange time and environment, and a little bit confusing. Dreamy and surreal. "Lost and Found" is about the end of the world coming, and really, what is there to do but wait for Heaven. All in all, one of the best single-author short story collections out there.
Rating:
Summary: good stories that made me think
Review: I really liked this book. The first story inspired me to investigate further into the Battle of Britain and World War II. The story "All my Darling Daughters" creeped me out big time, and told me a truth I didn't want to know. I recommend this book to any one who needs a jump start to their thought processes.
Rating:
Summary: Willis displays an amazing range!
Review: I was so pleased to see Bantam re-release Fire Watch. I feel it is the definitive Connie Willis. It features the first of her Oxford Time Travel universe stories (Fire Watch), which ranks up there with the best time travel stories ever. But what really impresses me about this collection is the wide variety of the stories. They range from the poignant (A Letter from the Clearys) to the comic (the brilliant Blued Moon) to the profoundly disturbing (All My Darling Daughters). I worry that most readers will limit themselves to Willis's novels, and miss out on the short stories, which I believe are Willis's forte.
Rating:
Summary: Not her strongest collection
Review: Not that anything she writes could be bad, but this collection never appealed to me quite as much as Impossible Things. I do adore Blued Moon, and personally think it's worth it just for that. In addition, it's got a time traveler's story (from the same universe as Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog). But it doesn't have as many amazing stories as Impossible Things, so it's only getting 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Not her strongest collection
Review: Not that anything she writes could be bad, but this collection never appealed to me quite as much as Impossible Things. I do adore Blued Moon, and personally think it's worth it just for that. In addition, it's got a time traveler's story (from the same universe as Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog). But it doesn't have as many amazing stories as Impossible Things, so it's only getting 4 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Comparatively unpolished
Review: OK. Let me preface these comments by saying that Ms Willis is among my favourite authors, but...
This collection of short stories is not up to her usually high standard. If you're interested in some short, sharp flights of fancy to the standard of 'The Doomsday Book', check out 'Impossible Things'.
Mind you, each story in 'Fire Watch' has a preamble in which Ms Willis explains her underlying intentions. These pieces were often more interesting for me - a glimpse behind the veil. My favourite was the opening for 'The Sidon in the Mirror': "There's been a lot of research on twins lately, especially twins who were raised seperately. They meet for the first time at age thirty and find that they both smoke Malboros, drive Rabbits, are married to girls named Jennifer, and are computer technicians. You see them on TV. Donahue asks them a question and they both start to answer at the same time, in the same words. They stop, both of them lean backward, put their hands in their knees, reach for a Malboro. Doesn't this strike terror into any hearts besides mine?" Yes. Yes, it does.
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