I found this handsome hardcover at a local Savers thrift shop, and was delighted - it's been on my wishlist for a while now! Willis provides afterwords for each story, about the inspiration or background - in some cases I found those more fun than the stories themselves {wry grin}. And I loved her introduction as well, where she mentions many of the authors whose works she enjoyed.

As for this collection, its contents vary widely in genre and tone, from a low-key post-apocalyptic vignette to Emily Dickinson saving the world from Martian invasion to her 2006 Worldcon Guest of Honor speech. Among my favorites:

"Death on the Nile," in which a traveler finds herself facing all too real Egyptian gods - a sneaky horror story that mixes typical travel fears with something much darker.

"Fire Watch," a story set in her time-traveling-students universe, and touching on the events of Blackout. But it's complete in itself, and highlights the joy of using time travel to see long-destroyed artistic marvels as they once were.

"Even the Queen" examines a world in which science has enabled women to simply disable their periods permanently - leading to a backlash by young women who want to be "Cyclists", embracing the natural process. It's got some interesting political overtones, and lots of rather hilarious generational conflict, nostalgia, and misunderstandings. In the afterword, Willis mentions her grandmother's response to her youthful raptures about "simpler days" such as those in Anne of Green Gables: "I have two words for you: Kleenex and tampons."

"All Seated on the Ground" is an entertaining tale of alien visitors - who don't do anything but glare at the Earthlings. And then they're brought in to see a Christmas pageant... It's quite funny, yet leaves the question of the aliens' motivation open.

And there's more, humorous and thought-provoking and, here and there, disturbing...

I left this book in the Little Free Library on this snowy day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 The The release challenge. ***