Kirjahaku

Few authors have had careers as successful as that of Connie Willis. Inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and recently awarded the title of Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Willis is still going strong. Her smart, heartfelt fiction runs the gamut from screwball comedy to profound tragedy, combining dazzling plot twists, cutting-edge science, and unforgettable characters. From a near future mourning the extinction of dogs to an alternate history in which invading aliens were defeated by none other than Emily Dickinson; from a madcap convention of bumbling quantum physicists in Hollywood to a London whose Underground has become a storehouse of intangible memories both foul and fair--here are the greatest stories of one of the greatest writers working in any genre today. All ten of the stories gathered here are Hugo or Nebula award winners--some even have the distinction of winning both. With a new Introduction by the author and personal afterwords to each story--plus a special look at three of Willis's unique public speeches--this is unquestionably the collection of the season, a book that every Connie Willis fan will treasure, and, to those unfamiliar with her work, the perfect introduction to one of the most accomplished and best-loved writers of our time. Praise for The Best of Connie Willis "Filled with warmth and sadness, great drama, witty dialogue, characters you will care about and moments that you will remember for a long time."--SFF World "If anyone can be named 'best science fiction writer of the age, ' it's Connie Willis, and these stories are the best of her best. Truly."--Analog "Ranging from the hilarious to the profound, these stories show the full range of Connie] Willis's talent for taut, dazzling plots, real science, memorable characters, penetrating dialogue and blistering drama."--Kirkus Reviews "Thank goodness for] Connie Willis, who says many things that desperately need saying in more than one delightful way."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "The Best of Connie Willis? Isn't that like sorting through diamonds?"--Lytherus

Connie Willis is one of science fiction's most decorated authors, with a staggering eleven HUGOs and seven NEBULA AWARDs to her name. She is best known for her sequence of time-travel stories including SF Masterworks DOOMSDAY BOOK and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG and the HUGO AWARD-winning diptych BLACKOUT and ALL CLEAR. This omnibus collects her solo debut, LINCOLN'S DREAMS, which won the JOHN W. CAMPBELL MEMORIAL AWARD and PASSAGE, shortlisted for the HUGO, NEBULA JOHN W. CAMPBELL and ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARDs.

Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.

This new, expanded edition of Miracle and Other Christmas Stories features twelve brilliantly reimagined holiday tales, five of which are collected here for the first time. Christmas comes but once a year, yet the stories in this dazzling collection are fun to read anytime. They put a speculative spin on the holiday, giving fans of acclaimed author Connie Willis a welcome gift and a dozen reasons to be of good cheer. Brimming with Willis's trademark insights and imagination, these heartwarming tales are full of humor, absurdity, human foibles, tragedy, joy, and hope. They both embrace and send up many of the best Christmas traditions, including the holiday newsletter, Secret Santas, office parties, holiday pageants, and Christmas dinners (both elaborate and spare). There are Rockettes, the best and worst Christmas movies, modern-day Magi, Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come--and the triumph of generosity over greed. Like all the timeless classics we return to year after year, these stories affirm our faith in love, magic, and the wonder of the season. Praise for A Lot Like Christmas "A perfect stocking stuffer for Christmas--celebrating fans of Connie] Willis's humorous SF."--Publishers Weekly "A collection of Christmas stories with just the right blend of sugar and spice . . . sweet and sharp, whimsical and heartfelt, funny and warm . . . Fans of Willis's gently comic speculative fiction will love this collection, and it will also appeal to readers looking to get into the holiday spirit."--Kirkus Reviews

"A novel of classical proportions and virtues...humane and moving."-The Washington Post Book World "A love story on more than one level, and Ms. Willis does justice to them all. It was only toward the end of the book that I realized how much tension had been generated, how engrossed I was in the characters, how much I cared about their fates."-The New York Times Book Review For Jeff Johnston, a young historical reseacher for a Civil War novelist, reality is redefined on a bitter cold night near the close of a lingering winter. He meets Annie, an intense and lovely young woman suffering from vivid, intense nightmares. Haunted by the dreamer and her unrelenting dreams, Jeff leads Annie on an emotional odyssey through the heartland of the Civil War in search of a cure. On long-silenced battlefields their relationship blossoms-two obsessed lovers linked by unbreakable chains of history, torn by a duty that could destroy them both. Suspenseful, moving, and highly compelling, Lincoln's Dreams is a novel of rare imaginative power.

Pop culture, chaos theory and matters of the heart collide in this unique novella from the Hugo and Nebula winning author of Doomsday Book. Sandra Foster studies fads and their meanings for the HiTek corporation. Bennet O'Reilly works with monkey group behavior and chaos theory for the same company. When the two are thrust together due to a misdelivered package and a run of seemingly bad luck, they find a joint project in a flock of sheep. But a series of setbacks and disappointments arise before they are able to find answers to their questions.

Winner of six Nebula and two Hugo awards for her fiction, Connie Willis is acclaimed for her gifted imagination and bold invention. Here are eleven of her finest stories, surprising tales in which the impossible becomes real, the real becomes impossible, and strangeness lurks at every turn. The end of the world comes not with a bang but a series of whimpers over many years in "The Last of the Winnebagos." The terror of pain and dying gives birth to a startling truth about the nature of the stars, a principle known as the "Schwarzschild Radius." In "Spice Pogrom," an outrageous colony in outer space becomes the setting for a screwball comedy of bizarre complications, mistaken identities, far-too-friendly aliens--and even true love.

From Connie Willis, winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, comes a comedic romp through an unpredictable world of mystery, love, and time travel...Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940s searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid over a hundred years earlier. But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right--not only to save the project but to prevent altering history itself. "The most hilarious book of its kind since John Irving's The Water-Method Man and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole."--Des Moines Sunday Register"An utter delight. Ms. Willis's unique, engaging voice will carry you off to a place where chaos theory makes perfect sense, time travel is a REASONABLE mode of transport, and safeguarding the fate of humanity is a respectable day job."--Amanda Quick"Willis effortlessly juggles comedy of manners, chaos theory and a wide range of literary allusions [with a] near flawlessness of plot, character and prose."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)"I have long thought that Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men In A Boat is one of the highest points of Inimitable British Humor. I chuckle; I gurgle; I know those three men--to say nothing of the dog. And now I am convinced there was a woman concealed in that boat, too: Connie Willis."--Laurie R. King

The winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, Connie Willis capture the timeless essence of generosity and goodwill in this magical collection if Christmas stories. These eight tales-two of which have never before been published-boldly reimagine the stories of Christmas while celebrating the power of love and compassion. This enchanting treasury includes: "Miracle," in which a young woman's carefully devised plans to find romance go awry when her guardian angel shows her the true meaning of love"In Coppelius's Toyshop," where a jaded narcissist finds himself trapped in a crowded toy store at Christmastime"Epiphany," in which three modern-day wisemen embark on a quest unlike any they've ever experienced"Inn," where a choir singer gives shelter to a homeless man and his pregnant wife-only to learn later that there's much more to the couple than meets the eyeAnd more

Traveling back in time, from Oxford circa 2060 into the thick of World War II, was a routine excursion for three British historians eager to study firsthand the heroism and horrors of the Dunkirk evacuation and the London Blitz. But getting marooned in war-torn 1940 England has turned Michael Davies, Merope Ward, and Polly Churchill from temporal tourists into besieged citizens struggling to survive Hitler’s devastating onslaught. And now there’s more to worry about than just getting back home: The impossibility of altering past events has always been a core belief of time-travel theory but it may be tragically wrong. When discrepancies in the historical record begin cropping up, it suggests that one or all of the future visitors have somehow changed the past and, ultimately, the outcome of the war. Meanwhile, in 2060 Oxford, the stranded historians’ supervisor, Mr. Dunworthy, frantically confronts the seemingly impossible task of rescuing his students three missing needles in the haystack of history. The thrilling time-tripping adventure that began with Blackout now hurtles to its stunning resolution in All Clear.

A Second World War time-travel masterpiece.

The thrilling sequel to BLACKOUT, and a superb WWII novel.

A HUGO AWARD-winning time travel novel from the SFWA grandmaster.

A Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel of plague and time travel by an SFWA Grand Master of Science Fiction.

An original collection of stories from the SFWA GRAND MASTER AWARD-winning author - the first original SF Masterwork!

A delightful novel about alien invasions, conspiracies, and the incredibly silly things people are willing to believe--some of which may actually be true--from the Nebula and Hugo award-winning author of Blackout and All Clear "An absolute blast with abundant humor, copious references to old westerns, and . . . a delightful, intergalactic twist on the romantic comedy."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - LOCUS AWARD FINALIST When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommate's UFO-themed wedding--complete with a true-believer bridegroom--she can't help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously don't exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one. Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles. Nor is Francie the only victim of the alien's abduction spree. Before long, he has acquired a charming con man named Wade, a sweet little old lady with a casino addiction, a retiree with a huge RV and a love for old Westerns, and a UFO-chasing nutjob who is thoroughly convinced the alien intends to probe them and/or take over the planet. But the more Francie gets to know the alien, the more convinced she becomes that he's not an invader. That he's in trouble and she has to help him. Only she doesn't know how--or even what the trouble is. Part alien-abduction adventure, part road trip saga, part romantic comedy, The Road to Roswell is packed full of Men in Black, Elvis impersonators, tourist traps, rattlesnakes, chemtrails, and Close Encounters of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth kind. Can Francie, stuck in a neon green bridesmaid's dress, save the world--and still make it back for the wedding?

Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering, and the indomitable will of the human spirit."A tour de force."--The New York Times Book Review For Kivrin, preparing to travel back in time to study one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received. But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin--barely of age herself--finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.

"Willis effortlessly juggles comedy of manners, chaos theory and a wide range of literary allusions with a] near flawlessness of plot, character and prose."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) From Connie Willis, winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, comes a comedic romp through an unpredictable world of mystery, love, and time travel. Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He's been shuttling between the twenty-first century and the 1940s in search of a hideous Victorian vase called "the bishop's bird stump" as part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid. But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right--not only to save the project but also to prevent altering history itself.

Ned Henry is a time-travelling historian who specialises in the mid-20th century - currently engaged in researching the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral. He's also made so many drops into the past that he's suffering from a dangerously advanced case of 'time-lag'. Unfortunately for Ned, an emergency dash to Victorian England is required and he's the only available historian. But Ned's time-lag is so bad that he's not sure what the errand is - which is bad news since, if he fails, history could unravel around him...

Francie is a reluctant Maid of Honor, for several reasons.The first is that her friend Serena has terrible taste in men. Previous fiancés have included a storm-chaser, a shaman and a kamikaze base-jumper. This is the closest a wedding has come to happening, and it's to a UFO-chaser.The second is that, as a result, the wedding is being held in New Mexico. In Roswell. During the UFO festival.After a series of travel disasters that end with her car sharing with another wedding guest - who also happens to be an FBI agent - a wedding due to take place in the UFO Museum, conducted by a high priest from the Church of Galactic Truth, and a frankly repellent bridesmaid dress, the alien abduction is actually a high point of Francie's day.Bundled by an alien into an SUV, which she is forced to drive, what follows is a chaotic road trip, picking up other waifs and strays, hotwiring an RV, and desperately trying to work out what their alien captor actually wants.This chaotic road trip of a story is delightful fun, perfect for fans of PAUL, GALAXY QUEST and THE ORVILLE. It's a stand-alone entry point into the world of multi-award-winner Connie Willis.