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lkoehl's review against another edition
4.0
Very Short. Only took about 45 minutes to read. Cute story but a bit predictable.
booklady100's review against another edition
3.0
Short and sweet -literally. A short story disguised as a novel. Just plain fun.
nglofile's review against another edition
3.0
Even when I'm not as enamored with a specific work, if it still prompts me to think, "why have I not read more of this author by now?" it's a win.
The plot and development are more thin in this novella than in other Willis works, but it's still a good time. More stereotypically SF in its trappings (not a detriment, just an observation), not quite as tight in its pacing, and perhaps a tad more slapstick in its construct, but it serves its purpose as a snappy diversion just fine.
The plot and development are more thin in this novella than in other Willis works, but it's still a good time. More stereotypically SF in its trappings (not a detriment, just an observation), not quite as tight in its pacing, and perhaps a tad more slapstick in its construct, but it serves its purpose as a snappy diversion just fine.
joelevard's review against another edition
2.0
There comes a point in every successful author's career when people just stop saying no to them. "What's that? You've sold 500,000 books? You've won every major award in your genre? People give your books five stars on Amazon before they are published? Nah, we won't need to be editing you. We can just go ahead and publish your first draft."
This apparently happened to Connie Willis shortly after the publication of To Say Nothing of the Dog, if the page counts of Passage and Blackout/Clearly Not Edited at All are any indication.
But the sickness doesn't stop at overwriting. The "We'll Publish Anything!" disease is also to blame for very short works, often published in fancy limited editions by small presses, that no one would ever look at twice if they didn't have name recognition. I mean, I can think of no other conceivable reason why I read Blockade Billy, or Cemetery Dance published it, than Stephen King's name was on the cover page; I don't give two shits about baseball and even though the story took me one (1) bathtime to read, I still felt like I wasted my time.
So, yeah, this is one of those books -- published as a novella, but barely more than a short story, it probably took Willis about half an hour to write, which is about as long as it took me to read. Girl is unexpectedly recruited into fancy space organization, whines about it, tries to get out of it. There is supposedly a "mystery" as to why she was selected, but it's either too obvious or disappointingly flat (take your pick). Oh also, even though there is a spaceship on the cover, more than half of this very short book takes place at an exciting... school assembly? Which the narrator whines about too.
Hey, don't you want to spend $40 on a limited edition of this? Well, you can't -- it's out of print and probably selling for way more than that.
This apparently happened to Connie Willis shortly after the publication of To Say Nothing of the Dog, if the page counts of Passage and Blackout/Clearly Not Edited at All are any indication.
But the sickness doesn't stop at overwriting. The "We'll Publish Anything!" disease is also to blame for very short works, often published in fancy limited editions by small presses, that no one would ever look at twice if they didn't have name recognition. I mean, I can think of no other conceivable reason why I read Blockade Billy, or Cemetery Dance published it, than Stephen King's name was on the cover page; I don't give two shits about baseball and even though the story took me one (1) bathtime to read, I still felt like I wasted my time.
So, yeah, this is one of those books -- published as a novella, but barely more than a short story, it probably took Willis about half an hour to write, which is about as long as it took me to read. Girl is unexpectedly recruited into fancy space organization, whines about it, tries to get out of it. There is supposedly a "mystery" as to why she was selected, but it's either too obvious or disappointingly flat (take your pick). Oh also, even though there is a spaceship on the cover, more than half of this very short book takes place at an exciting... school assembly? Which the narrator whines about too.
Hey, don't you want to spend $40 on a limited edition of this? Well, you can't -- it's out of print and probably selling for way more than that.
lisalark's review against another edition
4.0
Very cute. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but it was still overall amazing. I love the way Willis puts her characters into crazy situations and has them react exactly as a real person would, rather than suddenly turning into a literary stereotype.
Short, novella length. Well worth reading if you like Willis!
Short, novella length. Well worth reading if you like Willis!
gazeboreader's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
I really enjoyed this one. A great quick story of personality and choices in unexpected circumstances. Very fun!
quietjenn's review against another edition
2.0
Why was this published as a book and not as just a story in a collection? I just don't know. It's fine. There are some interesting things and I wouldn't have minded some more, but ultimately it's pretty fleeting. Which is cool, if that's what you're down for.
jmartindf's review against another edition
4.0
What happens if your high school classmates are obsessed about winning entrance to the Space Academy? And you're not? And you're forced into the program anyway. What would you do? And why? And why were you forcibly entered?
This fun little novella (it sits right at the intersection of being a long novelette or a short novella) answers all of those questions in an entertaining way. And when a story is this short, why not read it?
This fun little novella (it sits right at the intersection of being a long novelette or a short novella) answers all of those questions in an entertaining way. And when a story is this short, why not read it?