Science Fiction Short Story Review Connie Willis All Seated On The Ground

Photo taken by me – Book Cover to Connie Willis’s Time Is The Fire
Preston, England
December 10, 2018 1:20pm CST
Spoiler Alerts – 2007 Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine - Anthologized in Time Is The Fire –Gollancz SF Masterworks An alien contact story set at Christmas and a total delight throughout. An alien spaceship land in Denver, Colorado. The crew look impatient and grumpy but they give no clues to the motives of their visit, be it peaceful or with intent to invade, conquer and destroy. They just stand around the Denver University Campus, watching in bemused indifference whatever attempts we make to communicate with them. The narrator leads a team of researchers studying them. She takes them round Denver sight-seeing and eventually into a crowded shopping mall a few weeks before Christmas. A group of school-girls are carol singing in the Mall, and their song at that moment is While Shepherds Watched. When they hit the line All Seated On The Ground the aliens all sit down on the ground as if following instructions in the lyrics. The narrator, and the choir master with who she falls in love over the course of the story, start looking for other songs that might appeal to the aliens. They censor several songs in fear that the lyrics about recapturing Israel, or killing the infant children (as Herod does in trying to eradicate Jesus) the aliens might start an attack. With a priest determined to either convert the aliens to Christianity or denounce them as evil, the heroes struggle to use the music to communicate, learning eventually that the aliens seek evidence that humanity can operate in harmony and peace with the music of the choir proving that we can. A lovely, often funny story with much warmth and feeling with a great sense of a very different kind of Xmas miracle than the readers might expect. Arthur Chappell
6 people like this
6 responses
@Courage7 (19635)
• United States
10 Dec 18
Ha I could see it now hanging around the campus (here in Denver) there and the humans with their futile attempts haha I wish I could check this one out sounds delightful. And a bit like me (the human) trying to communicate with son (alien)
2 people like this
• Preston, England
10 Dec 18
@Courage7 I often feel as if I'm the alien
2 people like this
@Courage7 (19635)
• United States
10 Dec 18
@arthurchappell Sure Arthur well it is an admirable state way advanced of the rest of us haha
2 people like this
@Telynor (1763)
• United States
11 Dec 18
Given the theme of this one, I think you might like Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. One of the best sf novels ever, and one of the few books that have made me cry. I've read a few of Willis' works, and I like her, if I am in the right mood.
2 people like this
• Preston, England
11 Dec 18
@Telynor I have read The Sparrow too - it is a terrific novel
@amadeo (111956)
• United States
10 Dec 18
Sounds great there.No familiar with this.
2 people like this
• Preston, England
10 Dec 18
@amadeo it is very good
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (40718)
• Wapello, Iowa
11 Dec 18
This one sounds great. I love the image of the Aliens just standing around in bemused indifference on a college campus. And of taking Aliens to the mall.
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
11 Dec 18
@xander6464 If only they did the same for ET, he might not have gone home
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (40718)
• Wapello, Iowa
11 Dec 18
@arthurchappell They could have done a much better job of making ET feel welcome.
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
11 Dec 18
@xander6464 yes it is no wonder he never came back for ET2
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@TheHorse (203765)
• Walnut Creek, California
10 Dec 18
Ah, sounds cool. I like harmony.
2 people like this
@redurnet (1800)
• United Kingdom
11 Dec 18
Sounds rather strange!
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
11 Dec 18
@redurnet it is, but also great fun