Uncharted Territory, by Connie Willis

Connie Willis herself admits it in an interview:

"The answer to your question about Uncharted Territory is, no, you weren't supposed to have figured it out. Yes, I was trying to trick you. No, I do not intend to apologize."

I got this book partly for the sake of completeness (since I now own most of Connie Willis' books), without knowing too much about it. What comments or reviews I had come across were a bit inconsistent, but I love Connie Willis' work so much, I decided to take a chance.

Uncharted Territory is fairly short - it's probably classified as novella rather than a novel - and it is unusual (as far as I know) among Willis' work because, as she admits, to a certain extent she is trying to trick the reader. The story seems a little bit confusing at first, because you don't get all the details and things don't quite make sense-- but it helps to realize that this is intentional, and is certainly not the result of shoddy writing.

I don't want to reveal too much, because I would hate to spoil the surprise for anyone. I will say that this book has some interesting things to say about gender and attraction. And, by virtue of the way Willis tricks the reader, it may reveal some of our own assumptions, by the things we take for granted when reading a book, even when we have not explicitly been told.

Title:	Uncharted Territory
Author:	Connie Willis
Date published:	1994
Genre:	Science Fiction
Number of pages:	160