Connie Willis loves Christmas. This book of eight short stories is both entertaining and though-provoking. My favorites were "Miracle" and Epiphany", the first and last stories in the book. The first is a chaotic, magical story where nothing seems to go right, the last a modern retelling of the Three Magi. And don't skip the introduction or the afterward, you'll find references to great Christmas stories there, as well as in the included lists of twelve great Christmas reads and twelve great Christmas movies. ( )

(Alistair) Well, this was my over-Christmas reading. (I mention this mostly for those of you wondering, as since I am booklogging it in January, it might seem that I read it an an odd time. This is not the case - it's just that my booklogging developed something of a backlog over the holiday season and this is the one I didn't get done. In fact, you're about to get four booklog posts in rapid succession: this one, the two books I read over the Christmas/New Year period, including the Chicago for New Year trip, and the one new book I read today on account of it being small and therefore quick.)

And this was most appropriate for over-Christmas reading, containing as it does a variety of short Christmas stories from the heartwarming "Miracle" to the rather-creepy-even-if-the-bad (i.e. child-disliking) guy-gets-his-comeuppance-stories-are-a-staple "In Coppelius's Toyshop" through the bibliophile-delighting "Adaptation". In genre, it wanders around the various SFnal and fantasy subgenres with merry abandon (probably closest to so-called "magical realism"), around the central Christmas theme, but never fails to please.

Excellent and heart-lightening Christmas fiction, I think is how I would sum it up. I'm fairly certain I shall be digging it out again next year.

(First Note: Actually, this is the first Connie Willis I have managed to get around to reading. Must add some of her other work to the top of my to-be-read-soon pile.)

(Second Note: Also, must really find time to watch Miracle on 34th Street.)
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )

This was a Christmas gift from Margaret. I enjoyed it. I haven't ever really learned how to read short stories, I always feel like I must read them like a book, each one, straight through, from beginning to end. Well, this book went pretty fast, but I didn't care for all the stories. I'm not that excited about Willis's writing style, though she comes highly recommended by Margaret. It's fine and fun and easy to read. Sometimes she seems repetitive and the style seems kind of stilted, particularly for stories that to all appearances are supposed to be pretty contemporary. A few of the stories (The Pony, Epiphany, Adaptation) I didn't really get what had happened at the end. I don't like being left up-in-the-air. My favorites, though, were The Inn (time travel! yeah!) and In Coppelius' Toyshop (weirdly creepy). ( )

http://gr4c5.wordpress.com/2007/12/16... ( )

A wonderful collection of Christmas science-fiction short stories, all reflecting Willis' own love of the season and her particular tastes about the books and movies about it. The title story is a wonderful bit of fantasy and a take-off of sorts on "Miracle on 34th Street", a Willis favorite. There is even a horror story, of sorts, and a mystery, all with a Christmas theme. And Willis includes a terrific gift at the end; her own list of personal favorites of "Twelve Terrific Things to Read at Christmas", and "Twelve to Watch". I plan to check out these lists around the holidays, with gratitude to Connie Willis. ( )