Fire Watch
Fire Watchcollects 12 stories from one of science  fiction's most decorated authors. Although the stories are thematically  unrelated, an undercurrent of mortality weights many of the tales with  a powerful sense of humanity's frailties. Two of the best pieces are  "A Letter from the Clearys" and "The Sidon in the  Mirror," both of which show people reacting to death in  characteristically odd (and disappointingly human) ways. Fans of  Willis's time-travel books,The Doomsday BookandTo Say Nothing of  the Dog, will be delighted to find that the title story tells  of another hapless Oxford history student sent back to World War II  Britain to learn a hard lesson. Just when the book threatens to leave  you morose and depressed, Willis reveals her wonderfully absurdist side  in "Mail Order Clone" and "Blued Moon." Willis is a  master of the novel, but her short stories are superb reading as well.  This is a nice collection for a fan's library and a great introduction for those unfamiliar with her work.--Therese  Littleton