SF. Collection of short stories by one of my favorite SF authors

A lot of the stories are apocalypse-themed, which is normally a big turn-off for me, but there was some very good work in here anyway. ( )

Witty and wise, poignant and playful, this collection of Connie Willis' short stories blends a bit of science fiction, a pinch of speculative history, and a dash of satire and screwball comedy. All of the stories are beautifully written, and each is prefaced by a brief explanation of its history or origin---how Willis came up with the idea or what she hoped to achieve in the writing of it. Some of the stories made me laugh, a handful made me cry, and a couple of them made me wish I'd thought to pick up a degree in physics while I was busily chipping away at my BA. If you're looking for a superbly written short story or just some very smart science fiction, give Impossible Things a read. ( )

fairly hit and miss for me, unfortunately ( )

This rather thick story collection from Connie Willis plays primarily with the ideas she explores in more depth in work I've already read by her (comedies of errors, English literature, time travel, university settings, lighthearted exasperation with paperwork, bleakness of war). To my excitement, however, it also engages a few more ideas that are new to me (a world without dogs? alien extra terrestrials? linguistics?).

"The Last of the Winnebagos" is my favorite piece of the collection, probably because it's serious and multilayered in its themes. The first few pages set us up for a rollicking and complex mystery as follows: On his way to a photoshoot of a zoo and the last Winnebago, our protagonist sees a jackal dead on the side of the road and is thrown into a flashback of the death of his dog in similar fashion; he reports the roadkill, and governmental wheels start to churn.... ★★★★½

"Even the Queen" is humorous fiction on 1992 "women's issues": when Perdita decides to become a Cyclist, the women in her family come together to talk her out of it. I'll admit to laughing a number of times here. ★★★★

"Schwarzschild Radius" says "war is bad". It is a bit excessive in hitting that theme for my taste, but it is a well-written and quite atmospheric story. ★★★★

"Ado" is too heavy handed for me. It's a satire of political correctness in education, and culminates with Hamlet being distilled to about 5 lines that could never get someone sued. ★★

"Spice Pogrom" is a whimsical tale of first alien contact, mistaken romance, and linguistic misunderstanding. I quite liked this one. It seemed different from what I've previously read by Willis, though still clearly hers. ★★★★

"Winter's Tale" is Connie Willis's fictional take on the mystery of Shakespearean authorship. It's a nice story, and for me I suspect it would have stood better without trying to tie into history -- but I was never an English major. I like her interpretation quite a lot, but I'd have liked it better in non-fiction or humorous blog form, I suspect.... ★★★

"Chance"

"In the Late Cretaceous"

"Time Out"

"Jack"

"At the Rialto" ( )