The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories

Connie Willis is a certified treasure, whether she's writing a time travel novel that puts you squarely in medieval England, or whether it's a story that starts out like it came from REDBOOK, and then slaps you in the face. This monster volume isn't cheap, but it brings together twenty-three short stories and novellas plus an introduction, and that works out to $1.67 per story -- or less than six cents a page. A very good deal for writing of this quality. Some of these, like the award-winning "Fire Watch" (which set the tone for so much of her later work) and "Even the Queen" (about a civilization-changing liberation half the world's population can get behind) and "The Last of the Winnebagos" (about yearning and extinction), you've probably read before. Others, like the soul-satisfying title story about what came before and what comes after, may not be so familiar. "Blued Moon" is a very funny love story, "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" is an equally funny possible-end-of-the-world story, and "Daisy, in the Sun" is a quietly desperate piece that finally settles into resignation and acceptance. "A Letter from the Clearys" is a much less settled after-the-holocaust story, while "Nonstop to Portales" is a lovely little tribute to one of sf's nicest people. "Newsletter," on the other hand, leads you down the alien invasion garden path and then zings you right at the very end, and "Ado" has some pointed things to say about identity politics and social censorship. "Inn" is a slightly strange story about Joseph and Mary and what Christianity has become, and "Samaritan" is about the fine line between humans and nonhumans . . . and what Christianity has become. "Jack," one of the best in the book, is a poignant and somewhat spooky piece about the Civil Defense during the London Blitz. (Willis obviously has a thing for the Blitz.) "Service for the Burial for the Dead" is a ghost story right out of Poe (with an idea swiped from Twain), while "The Soul Selects Her Own Society" is a generally successful academic pastiche about Emily Dickinson's penmanship. "Chance" is a slightly depressing investigation of the consequences of bad personal choices, while "At the Rialto" is a dryly funny piece about personal quantum physics. Finally, "Epiphany" is a definite keeper. Connie isn't afraid to write stories with a religious theme, though always from a very particular point of view, and this tale of the Three Kings (pay attention to the names) traveling through the Midwest in search of a carnival is one of her best. Finally, for me, the weakest stories in the volume (relatively speaking) are "All My Darling Daughters" and "The Curse of Kings" and "Cash Crop," all of which are all setting and not much plot. All in all, though, this is a terrific book.

In a sentence: short stories of mystery and mayhem in settings of Science Fiction. Willis has a distinctive style. Plots build quickly to a fast pace whereby the main character is pressed for time, has too many tasks, runs up against dead ends, follows false leads and has hairbreadth escapes from any number of pursuers who might vary between deadly villains or boring relatives. There is always a strong central mystery or problem of baffling nature with a simple yet frustratingly elusive solution. Settings are subtly SF; if futuristic, it is usually the `foreseeable' future of a few years but many stories are set in the present or, indeed, the past. "Fire Watch" and "Jack" take place during The Blitz, the former courtesy of Oxford University's time travelling History Department, familiar from novels "Doomsday Book" and "Not To Mention The Dog", while the latter simply follows a rescue team in which the central figure has a strong inkling that one of his team-mates is a vampire. Another of Willis' strongest traits is the compassion, which gradually builds up to an often startling final effect. Compassion for her characters, yes; but also for humanity and life in general, one suspects. "Inn" takes place during a church group's rehearsal of their Nativity Play as one of the choir discovers the real Joseph and Mary - lost in time and space - seeking admittance (and directions!) at the back door. The resolution of the plot is heart-warming enough in itself but Willis continues and concludes the story by focussing momentarily on one of the minor characters, providing a mental image which encapsulates the simple human love which is both the spirit of Christmas and of this particular Christmas story. Last, but far from least, Willis is funny - at times uproariously so. "Newsletter" is a satire on those awful family newsletters which some feel prompted to send out to even casual acquaintances, as well as a parody of the typical `Attack of the Pod People' movie, with a wry O'Henry ending to boot. "At The Rialto" not only makes the service at `Fawlty Towers' look 5 Star but provides a paradigm for quantum physics worthy of the Marx Brothers. Readers as yet unaware of Connie Willis could do no better than take a tasting here, and even if you've read most of her work already, there's all the more reason that you'll want to reread the cream of the crop in this collection. With 23 stories and 700 pages, this isn't just a good anthology; it is a big, fat chocolate box of some of Connie Willis' best short stories.

This is a wonderful collection of stories by Ms. Willis. Engaging from beginning to end. So like her other stories, so full of life and research and astonishment. A collection of stories to be cherished.

The Winds of Marble Arch is Connie Willis at her best. The collection of short stories includes several oldie but goodies easily availble in other books (Last of the Winnibagoes, Firewatch) as well as several short stories I have not been able to find (Even the Queen). She has romance, tragedy, horror and comedy in this omnibus. A definite must buy for all her fans.