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To: JenB
How are her other books?
65 posted on 03/15/2004 4:56:52 PM PST by Fedora
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To: Fedora; RosieCotton
Yes, Passage is her latest.

The Willis novels I've read and liked:

Bellwether, written pre-Doomsday Book. Lighthearted, romantic, chaotic. About trends, sheep, science, and love. Good quick read.

To Say Nothing of the Dog, after Doomsday Book, set in the same universe but a mostly different cast. Ned Henry is a beleaugered time travel who, in order to get some rest and locate the Bishop's Bird Stump, visits Victorian England. Only that turns out to be not quite the most restful time period. Hilarious. Lots of literary influences, from Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, to Jerome K Jerome. Romantic, lighthearted, insane. Very tightly written plot, I reread it just to get a good feel for plotting.

Passage: about Near Death Experiences. A very different book. Not lighthearted, though there are some funny bits. You won't believe what Joanna's Near-Death Experience is. Sweet, it makes me cry, and is in typical Willis style, a tight plot with just tons of details in hundreds of areas (this book is where I learned of the Great Molasses Flood, in which 37 people met a pancakelike fate). Don't read this if you're feeling overly emotional.

Miracle and Other Christmas Stories is, well, a collection of Christmas stories. Some are brilliant. I love "Newsletter", which has an alien invasion. And the one with Chris, the Ghost of Christmas Present. Some of the others are less good.

She has a couple other novels. Some are collaborations and I find them weak. Some are collections of stories and - some of the stories are funny or touching (I love 'Ado' and 'Even the Queen') but some are lousy or... nasty stories. There's also two novels, "Lincoln's Dreams" and "Remake" which are among her earliest work and just aren't up to snuff. Willis has improved greatly; I think her earlier writing is ok, but her later stuff is wonderful.

Does that help?
68 posted on 03/15/2004 5:08:33 PM PST by JenB
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