Last week, armed with my Kindle, a lunch break and a desire to read short fiction, I settled on a couple of ebook shorter works from multiple award winning author Connie Willis.

In the novella All Seated on the Ground, aliens have landed in Denver, Colorado. Contrary to our long-held fears, they did not come to subjugate us, nor to steal our women; they don’t even seem particularly interested in being taken to our leader(s). What they do seem to be interested in, is nothing. A Commission is formed to attempt to communicate with the aliens, and after several months of failures, the membership is dwindling and those remaining are running out of ideas. With December 25th fast approaching, the Commission resorts to taking the aliens with them to experience the variety of an American Christmas. The results are quite surprising. My rating: 7.5/10

D.A. (which stands for something that matters in the story…thus no spoilers), is a novella that is reminiscent of the juvenile fiction of Robert A. Heinlein, particularly the story The Menace from Earth, in that it features a spirited teenage girl in a future where space travel is a reality. Theodora Baumgarten is an atypical teenager in that she is one of the few high school kids who has no desire to get into IASA’s space cadet program. When she is unexpectedly chosen, despite not applying, she will stop at nothing to determine how this cruel joke happened to her and what she can do to get her way. My rating: 8.5/10

All Seated on the Ground won the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and is a perfect story to read in December, with its Christmas themes. Connie Willis is known for the clever humor woven into many of her stories, and that humor is present here. The humor is ever-so-slightly more wacky than I recall from other stories of hers that I have read, though it works well within the context of the holiday setting.

The primary protagonist in this novella is Meg, who continues to hope against hope that she can find a way to communicate with the aliens. She is an overlooked member of what remains of the Commission, but that underdog status puts her in the perfect position to see a potential breakthrough when it comes in a mall outside, of all places, a Victoria’s Secret store.

Willis embodies the story with wonderful seasonal elements and a nice romantic story thread, which you can see coming a mile away, yet will please you nonetheless.

I enjoyed All Seated on the Ground and would recommend it for a December read. There are two reasons why I knocked some points off of my rating, the overall reason being that the story went on too long for me. While I thought I had the ending figured out (not quite!), I felt that once Meg was on the right track that the story could have been edited down slightly to get to the climactic scene earlier. To a much lesser degree, I was disappointed in the stereotypical portrayal of the Christian religious figure. I wasn’t offended by it, don’t get me wrong. It was sadly an accurate portrayal of some people that we’ve all met. It is my opinion that, in a story where every character is something of a “type”, given the story’s length, this character was so one-dimensional that he had no dimensions. That being said, my only chuckle-out-loud moment came at the expense of this character.

At a current price of $4.99 it is not a story I would recommend you run out and buy, but if you can track it down in a collection or online, it is well worth taking the time to make it a part of your Christmas Season reading.
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I mentioned in the opening that D.A. is a Heinleinesque story, and I stand by that assertion. If you’ve read The Menace from Earth, or Podkayne of Mars, which feature young adult female leads, or even stories like Star Beast or Starman Jones that feature female characters, you will recognize the spirit of the Heinlein, and maybe even Andre Norton, juveniles here. Over the last decade I have become enormously fond of those stories, and so I compare them in order to compliment Willis on this novella.

Theodora Baumgarten is an engaging, entertaining protagonist. Connie Willis writes her with 21st century sensibilities while also managing to get that teenage voice just right. She is smart and resourceful, but also willful and potentially reckless. I won’t say much about the story as it is one you need to experience unspoiled to get the full effect. I will reiterate what I wrote above, which is that Theodora finds herself chosen to participate in IASA’s Space Academy, an honor that she neither deserves (according to admission standards), nor wants. But despite doing everything she can to get out of this assignment, she ends up in space. What she does while there is what makes the story interesting, and informs it’s title.

I loved this one. It is a quick read and those who are not fond of short stories may lament that they are just getting to know this fun character when it is all over, but for me D.A. is a testament of what can be done when a talented author sets out to write a fun, entertaining short story. It won’t change your life, but it will make you glad you took a moment to read it.

D.A. is $2.99 on the Kindle, and it is my opinion that it was three dollars well spent. This is one I will read again. In fact, I will probably read it aloud to my wife here soon as it would be fun to share with her and I would get the bonus of being able to spend time with Theodora Baumgarten again. If Willis ever decides to feature her in a full-length novel, she could count on me for a release-week sale.