Connie Willis - Passage

Pros: interesting topic and good basic plot
Cons: single-faceted characters, myriad plot detours, logical weaknesses

There is a chain of ice cream stores in Texas (throughout the south, for all I know) that calls itself "Marble Slab Creamery." Every store has a big, shiny slab of native stone on which those ice cream jockeys mix Gummi Bears or Reese's Pieces or whatnot...

Pros: Gripping, compelling novel about near death experiences.
Cons: Too dark for those grieving.

~=~ The Unknown ~=~

Perhaps the greatest unknown frontier left for humans to explore is death. Since earliest records, people have been curious about what happens at death. Religions have explanations which satisfy some, pique...

Pros: Intelligent, surprising and suspenseful story. Well written. Many strong characters.
Cons: Some very frustrating slow sections. Some uneveness of tone. A few annoying characters.

"I must go in, the fog is rising." -- Emily Dickinson's last words

"Why, man, they couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--" -- American Civil War General John Sedgwick's last words, at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse

"I beg...

Pros: Explores lots of interesting ideas, multi-layered meanings, great characters
Cons: I have to give the book back to Darkmistress... It's excessive at times...

One of my favorite phrases in the English language has to be, "I have a book for you to read!" It's even better when the person saying that phrase is a person who reads the kind of books that I like to read. In this instance, it was Darkmistress, who...

Pros: Offbeat, well-written and curiously moving.
Cons: Extreme length and some one-note characters hurt overall impact.

I don't generally enjoy science fiction novels; many of them are humorless, pretentious and overloaded with plot detail and techno-jargon. That being mentioned, Connie Willis' book Passage hooked me right away. Her humor, realism and clarity are a...

Pros: Great characters, great plot, great research, breath taking climax
Cons: It doesn't quit while it's ahead.

I didn’t know Connie Willis was due out with another book or I would have been hassling Ruin13 to look for it as she unloaded the skids. I spotted it walking past the shelves one day and owned it within 24 hours. You heard me, cheapskate Darkmistress...

Pros: Great science fiction, if you have any interest in the afterlife at all.
Cons: None really.

This is a science fiction novel about two scientists who are studying near death experiences. Hard Science Fiction This wouldn't seem a good subject for a hard science fiction novel, but Connie Willis has studied near death experiences, the ...

Pros: As with all of Willis' books, eminently readable with very likeable characters
Cons: Parts of this book are so painful it's like sticking a pencil in your eye

Let me say, for the record, that I am a huge fan of Connie Willis. The instant I saw she had written a new book I seized it off the shelf and bought it immediately, without even reading the book jacket. And I will almost certainly do that with her next...

Pros: Fascinating, complex plot and agreeable characters
Cons: A bit slow in the middle; complication can be overwhelming

I, for one, was eagerly searching the shelves of my local bookstore on the day Passage was released, having been forewarned that the latest work of my favorite author was soon to be available. Overall, I was pleased with the conception and design of the...