Bellwether

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2010

Pop culture, chaos theory, and matters of the heart collide in this unique novella from the Hugo and Nebula Award - winning author of Doomsday Book.

Sandra Foster studies fads and their meanings for the HiTek corporation. Bennett 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 - with the unintended help of the errant, forgetful, and careless office assistant Flip.

©1996 Connie Willis (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Connie Willis deploys the apparatus of science fiction to illuminate character and relationships, and her writing is fresh, subtle and deeply moving." ( New York Times Book Review)
"Willis's story builds slowly but is realistic and engrossing." ( Midwest Book Review)

Charming and witty

Fast-moving romantic comedy punctuated with tidbits about cultural fads from throughout history. Wonderful performance by Kate Reading.

Brilliant and informative.

A brilliant piece of fiction by a master story teller. The reader is interesting and funny and brings the book alive. This book is filled with great quotes, interesting facts and is a wonderfully touching love story as well.

Delightfully unexpected.

I absolutely love it when an author is skilled enough to give me all of the info required to figure out the big twist and still keep me totally distracted and in the dark. This book is a fun ride.

The book is light and refreshing

And the person reading it was simply delightful (although I suspect she mispronounced “Carnegie” 😉). Minor but fun

Excellent short book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bellwether?

This book had all of the best of Connie Willis -- wit, charm, fabulous characters, deep research, intricate plotting, hilarity -- without a lot of the bloat that can creep into her longer fictional works. Thoroughly enjoyable and not at all vexing.

Which character – as performed by Kate Reading – was your favorite?

Kate Reading is always a joy to listen to.

A fun read!

I was a full 3/4 of the way through this book and knew it was heating up to a boil- I just had no idea what was cooking, lol. I was initially hooked by the interspersed historical trend info, but felt the story was meandering and somewhat unfocused. As I turns out, I was correct, about the lack of focus, but oh so wrong about the why. The lack of clear plot is actually a very clever device. Touché, Ms. Willis!

As for the performance, Kate Reading is a consummate talent who could bring the pages of a phone book to life. Another great piece from her, as usual.

So well woven, with tons of humor!

The research that went into this tale - like all Willis' stories - blows me away. She weaves it all into a tale of chaos and hilarity with an ever-patient main character who takes it all in stride. Fire Watch, Blackout, and All Clear are my favorite Willis titles, but after reading Bellwether, I'm going to seek out the rest of the books outside her time travel series. This one was just as clever and highly enjoyable.

Entertaining and funny.

I was very surprised and unexpectedly charmed by this book. Entertaining, funny and interesting.

great!!!!

so much fun!! I will read everything she writes
enjoyable book worth the price or the credit

"Optional" headline

Magnificent corporate satire with chaos theory, fads, and sheep. (Nedless words added to appease algorithm.)