Book Author :: Connie Willis

I’ve always loved Connie Willis. She’s the kind of writer who makes reading fun, whose stories engage her readers and really makes them think. Her stories are full of the whimsical, absurd, and humorous with endearing characters, clever prose, and witty dialogue. Connie’s collection of Christmas-themed short stories was first published in 2000, but lucky us, this year we get an updated and expanded edition in A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS. Connie writes Christmas with heart and delight, hope and joy, but still with her signature twisty elements that take you where you don’t expect–and to a better story. I love The Washington Post‘s quote from the flyer insert the publisher included: “A novelist who can plot like Agatha Christie and whose books possess a bounce and stylishness…” What better way to read about Christmas than with “bounce and stylishness” because that implies a joy for the process of telling a story.

All of the short stories are great because she’s not afraid to mix faith and science fiction, allowing religion center stage without forcing it on readers. Here are some of my favorites from the collection.
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ALL CLEAR by Connie Willis (Amazon) is the sequel to this year’s BLACKOUT (EBR Review). Although “sequel” isn’t really the proper word for it. “Sequel” makes it sound like the first book had some closure to it, a conclusion. “Sequel” makes it sound like this book, ALL CLEAR, is going to recap what happened in the previous volume and catch you up. Both of those things are not true of this duology. ALL CLEAR, better said is the second half of the story begun in BLACKOUT. The reason for the split in the story is that it’s so long. ALL CLEAR clocks in at 640 pages in hardback and BLACKOUT was about the same. I’ve seen Brandon Sanderson books that are shorter than these two put together (I kid, we love Brandon around here).
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I was first introduced to Connie Willis about five years ago when, during the summer, I read both of her Hugo winning novels THE DOOMSDAY BOOK (Amazon) and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG (Amazon). Since then I have been an avid fan of her work. When I heard about her latest work, BLACKOUT (Amazon), I knew it was a must read.

In BLACKOUT, Willis returns to the world of both THE DOOMSDAY BOOK and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG. In this world Willis focuses on a group of historians who, through the use of time travel, are able to go back in time to witness and experience first-hand certain events in history and get accurate data on them.
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