Customer Reviews

Uncharted Territory

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Uncharted Territory was short and rather dense. Willis does not do much explaining, and you have to be willing to "not know stuff" for the first part of the book. But if you keep reading, you will find this book to be clever and interesting. I did. Willis does a lot of clue imbedding throughout and if you pay attention, you might be able to guess what's coming, but it's enjoyable even if you don't. I actually liked it better the second time through because I caught so much more. Recommended.

By any other writer, Uncharted Territory would have been a decent read, but from Connie Willis, it had too many possibilities. A lot of the usual Willis charm is in there -- well-developed characters, an interesting romantic subplot, and a slapstick humor underlying the whole plot -- but it left me thinking she could have done much more with the story.

Something else I've come to expect from Ms. Willis is the touch of depth that she adds to her stories without becoming obtuse, and Uncharted Territory was just fluff. Don't get me wrong -- I like fun, empty reads (I had a blast reading one of those Hercules: The Legendary Adventures novels), and this novel was a fun diversion, but I was looking for something akin to "Ado" or "The Pony," where even the silly or frightening points have something to say. Uncharted Territory was a little too shallow.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read that kept me engrossed, but I wish it could have stood up to the standard Ms. Willis has set for her fiction. After reading To Say Nothing of the Dog and Bellwether (two of her books I would recommend without hesitation), I will continue to read her fiction, but I wouldn't recommend Uncharted Territory to someone who has read her other work first.

Having read both the Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, I thought that nothing written by Connie Willis could go wrong. Unfortunatly, this book shows that perfection is not a constant. I don't know how this got through (maybe the publishers were eager for another Connie Willis book to sell), but this book for me was uninspiring, pointless, and confusing. Although the interaction of the characters were humorous at certain time, for the most part, I was left wondering if anything was really happening. Another problem I had (and maybe i'm just too dense) was the fact that none of the characters were introduced. I was halfway though the book before I realized that Fin was female. Unless if there was a prequel that explained it all, anyone could be left wondering if a name belonged to a person, place, or a thing. All in all, this book is a disspointment from someone who has won Hugos and Nebulas for her works, but then nobody should expect perfection all the time and should be grateful for the other books Ms Willis has written. :)

If you are a Connie Willis fan, this book is not what you'd expect. But, if you admire her versatility and imagination, you won't be disappointed.

This is a short, but smart book. There are some strong socially critical themes throughout, which only add to the action and the twists. As usual, Willis's characters are lovable, flaws and all.

The book is a bit too short, and a bit too much is left to the imagination, but otherwise this is a quite enjoyable and worthwhile read.

This book wasn't like most of Connie's other books I have read... but I really enjoyed it. I want to see a few more books about this realm and the characters...(!!)

It was extremely short, which I originaly thought would help me... considering my busy schedule... though keeping track of "what was what" was a challenge some times (it all ways is hard for me to keep up, in novels that speak of other realms... where things are named differntly than I would be used to -- but that's just the price to pay for some thing realy differnt -- and I don't mind it, I pretty much love it).

It took me longer to read/follow this story than Doomsday Book (and Doomsday Book was hugely longer than Uncharted Territory). I read Doomsday Book in one week end. It took me around 3 weeks to get through Uncharted Territory... but it was well worth it to me.

It is a book about "Uncharted Territory"... an expidition of sorts... and there are things happening beneath the surface that maybe some people don't pick up on -- it was very intersting to me, and I was not disapointed at all... but I see it has not gotten real good reviews from other people. I thought it was great and it ranks pretty way up there with me.

I'm sorry some of you folks didn't enjoy it, I hate when that happens... you pick up a book thinking this is going to be the greatest, and then get let down... but I honestly don't feel let down about this one. Maybe it just appeals to a certain type of person (insane ones may be, like me?? ::grin::)

Sincerely, swann

Connie Willis has done 100 times better with humor in Bellwether. Thankfully, the book is short because not much ever really happens. There are minor surprises and discoveries along the way but I hoping something exciting would happen and was disappointed.

A funny yarn that doesn't seem to go anywhere--until it does. And leaves you with a satisfying tale of two explorers, man and woman, chosen by the bureaucrats for their "gender balance" but whose relationship matures into something closer to love. While their indigenous scout has romantic notions of his (her?) own. Meanwhile, it's a wickedly funny satire on political correctness, sensitivity training, and multiculturalism. All SF authors seem to delight in sending up bureaucracies, but Willis does it better than most.

You can always count on Connie Willis to have a fresh story that makes you think. I had a hard time putting it down. Great little read for the beach.

I tend to reach for this book if I'm feeling down, and it always cheers me up. Ms. Willis likes to make her readers work, which I love--so the story starts in medias res. This will lead the unwary into making assumptions which get blasted away one by one until what's really going on on Boohte is revealed. Read it, then go back to the start and read it again. I promise you'll enjoy it even more the second time.

Oh, and "Where did you put the binoculars?" has entered my family's lexicon as a way of saying "I love you."

This was an enjoyable and quick read. The humor at the beginning was wonderful and the surprise in the plot was perfect. I throughly enjoyed this read.