One of my SantaThing gifts. I've heard of the author, but never read her before.

It was an enjoyable SF book. Some humans are exploring an alien world with a native guide. There are various disasters and discoveries and miscommunications and nobody quite knows what's going on. I don't know if it's part of a series, but it reads like it is, like there are things I'm missing from before this book and more exciting adventures to come in later books. ( )

A mix of classic style SF and humour, the novella which makes up most of the novel (there are also two short stories) is entertaining and enjoyable. Fin and Carson are planetary surveyors who are constantly being fined by their indigenous guide for everything from swearing to leaving footprints. They also have to contend with a government who tracks their every move, a tech who wants a landmark - any landmark - named after her and a new assistant who is their biggest fan.

Exploring courtship rituals.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/09... ( )

The best and worst of Connie Willis, in one slim volume! The first half of this book annoyed me so much I almost considered not finishing it. In describing the problems facing interplanetary surveyors Carson and Findriddy, Willis, as she often does, pokes fun at the stupidity of bureaucracy; however, it felt like all the humor in this book totally missed the mark. It was like *actually* being stuck in line at the DMV as opposed to reading a funny satire about such a situation. But then, Willis does something very, very cool—a little narrative trick that I admire immensely and don't want to spoil here. It turns the whole narrative on its ear, and while it doesn't *cure* the other problems, it certainly made me want to keep reading.

The novel, however, remains uneven. The romance plotline(s) never seemed believable to me, which rather lessens the impact of the end. Still, that one twist—I do feel like all the annoying stuff was worth wading through for that. I'm glad I did.