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Bellwether cover art

Bellwether

By: Connie Willis
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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Summary

Audie Award, Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2010

Pop culture, chaos theory, and matters of the heart collide in this unique novella from the Hugo and Nebula Award - winning author of Doomsday Book.  

Sandra Foster studies fads and their meanings for the HiTek corporation. Bennett O'Reilly works with monkey group behavior and chaos theory for the same company. When the two are thrust together due to a misdelivered package and a run of seemingly bad luck, they find a joint project in a flock of sheep. But a series of setbacks and disappointments arise before they are able to find answers to their questions - with the unintended help of the errant, forgetful, and careless office assistant Flip.

©1996 Connie Willis (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Connie Willis deploys the apparatus of science fiction to illuminate character and relationships, and her writing is fresh, subtle and deeply moving." ( New York Times Book Review)
"Willis's story builds slowly but is realistic and engrossing." ( Midwest Book Review)

What listeners say about Bellwether

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great fun

Connie Willis is a witty and perceptive writer and Bellwether manages to be many things - biting social commentary, a thriller, a romance, a comedy - and a great story, too. Some of the characters may be (by necessity) stereotypical, but they are multi-dimensional, believable, quirky and original stereotypes. This had me laughing out loud and this is as much due to Kate Reading's wonderful narration as to Connie Willis' writing. Although I guessed the ending, it was hugely enjoyable to observe the characters antics as the story unravelled. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent diversion from real life

This is my first Connie Willis book and I am now on a quest to find the rest. It's a fantastic book, interesting and fun.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unexpected find

I downloaded this book on a whim,looking for something different,and absolutely loved it.It is extremely funny( laugh out loud funny at many points).The whole concept of Sandra,the heroine,studying fads,and the regular snippets of information about this throughout the story,sounds strange but works brilliantly.So there is science,chaos theory,the quirks of the corporation where she works,mad office assistants,romance,sheep....all combined in an enjoyable and well-narrated package. Highly recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Listen This Year

This has been the most enjoyable book I've listened to. It is not science fiction but is set in a present day research company. The author's voice and the narrator mesh perfectly, and for anyone who has worked in the world of management the humour is sharply to the point. It's a book I shall return to more than once. I wouldn't have chosen this title but for a friend's recommendation.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Enjoyable book for anyone who likes data and history. Stands the rest of time. Interesting snippets on fads in the last century.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

bell weather

interesting storyline. well red kept my attention all the way through the book would recommend

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun and enlightening

Whilst enjoying the story I also learned many interesting facts during this listen. The great thing about the Plus Catalogue is that you come across genres and titles you may not ordinarily try.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

very interesting

to say this book is very interesting is to underestimate how interesting it is based on the assumption that you will enjoy it as much as I did for its whittiness and dry homour.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good fun

That was a pleasant surprise. Having spent 40 years in a science research environment added much to my enjoyment. This writer was unknown to me and I’ll check out more of her work now

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Laugh-out-loud. Really enjoyable.

Great writing and the reader’s characterisation of the annoying youngsters and idiotic manager was excellent.

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