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)

So clever!

Seems random in the beginning but coalesces into a cute clever little package. Super funny too! A cross between the office and… I don’t know. Something science-y. Comforting to know that stupidity is rife among “smart” people too.

Solid contemporary fiction

Hints of science fiction in what's primarily a novel about human relationships; genuinely enjoyable and a comfortable amount of thought provoking themes, but not too much, which is appropriate for the novel.

Such a Fun Read!

Solid five stars from me; I loved this book.
Sandra is a psychologist working at HiTek researching how and why fads start. This book was written in 1996, and it was fun re-visiting the trends from the past. Each chapter began with little historical tidbits on fad origins throughout history. I found those very interesting.
Bennett also works at HiTek and is studying group behavior in animals. He is a chaos theorists very much immune to any type of fad. He wears thick glasses and clothes that never match.
This is a fun book more about office antics than science. Working in an office myself, I could totally relate and really enjoyed the quirky characters.
By the end of the book, it begins to make sense how all things are related and tie together. Bennett's chaos theories intertwine with Sandra's fad theories. Friendships are made, secrets revealed, understandings developed.
Narration was so good. I got such a kick out of Kate Reading's interpretation of Flip. Loved it!

Better than I expected

I came into this book thinking I was going to hate it and force myself through it but the story was much better than I anticipated and I enjoyed it so much. As a person who enjoys random facts, the ones dispersed throughout the story were fun and well appreciated.

fun and thought provoking

Connie Willis is a brilliant author and this is pure comedy of errors territory. Enjoy!

Intelligent and fun

Willis’s characters never disappoint. Her plots are complicated and entertaining — and informative without being pedantic. This one, with its characters’ work on the emergence of fads and chaos theory, is both intelligent and great fun!

listen to the end

I love it, but I didn't know I loved it until I got to the end!

Takes a bit, but turns out being great!

This was a delightfully quirky novel, that starts slow but makes up for it in the second half. The humor and unique characters made this book. Flip (the office clerk) and other crazy characters in the office made this book more tangible too. The description of past fads spread throughout the book were interesting and added to the story. The geeky love story wraps this book up for a little bit of everything from science to fiction to fashion. It is very enjoyable.

Does not hold up over time

One of my first Audible purchases, and I was staggered how much this did not hold up with the passage of time, and how dated it had become. Still I enjoyed the interaction between the characters (and haven't we all worked with a Flip at one time or another) but I was disappointed and felt some of it was awkwardly contrived.

Gave it 4 stars as a dated Connie Willis is still better than 95% of the tosh that is out there.

A really good listen

Where does Bellwether rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top of the list

Who was your favorite character and why?

Flip is so 'dense' the character became amusing. She reminded me of a lot of today's young women being ruled by what is fashionable.

What does Kate Reading bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I did not read the book but I think Kate brought out the eccentricities of the characters, making each character sound unique and different to the other characters.

Any additional comments?

Great book! Very interesting characters, good story and narrated well. Besides being very funny there are lots of interesting facts about 'fads' throughout recent history. I would recommend this book to anyone, irrespective of their favourite reading genre.