Passage by Connie Willis
by Emily Stewart

Connie Willis is the multi award winning author of numerous novels and short stories. She has won six Nebulas, six Hugos and was recognized early in her writing career with the John W. Cambell award.

Prose, poetry, film, music or any good manifestation of art, is a kind of message in a bottle that becomes blurred by the water of the message reader's own experiences, opinions and perceptions. A successful undertaking by any creator to communicate an opinion or sentiment is something that I view with deep respect and a little jealousy. Passage is a fantastic example of such communication.

Early on, the book is steeped with shrouded symbolism and foreshadowing. As the book progresses, it becomes riveting and suspenseful and builds to a literary crescendo solidly built on the preceding foundation. The story was consistently stimulating and very well written.

The story is told, primarily from the perspective of Joanna Lander, a psychologist with a specific focus on Near Death Experiences. Her scientific background presents her with the problem of figuring out if NDEs are a kind of biological defense mechanism. She interviews NDE survivors and sifts through real memories and confabulations, searching for clues as to what exactly an NDE is. Her efforts are often thwarted by Maurice Mandrake, a pop-psychology author, bent on demonstrating his assertion that NDE's are God's communication from the Other Side. Mr. Mandrake consistently leads NDE survivors, often effectively leading them to remember the experiences he believes in. His character is an idyllic science fiction antagonist. Several times during the book, Joanna Lander is racing to interview a NDE survivor before Mr. Mandrake has an opportunity to ruin them.

Very near the beginning of the story, Joanna Lander teams up with Dr. Richard Wright, a doctor who has developed a chemical deception to trick the brain into believing it is dying. Richard Wright and Joanna Lander work to try to find if there is some way to use NDEs to the benefit of dying patients and their focus and determination, along with their own prejudices and desired outcomes and is presented well to make the characters complete.

Masie, a young hospital patient that suffers from cardiomyopathy has a fascination with disaster and dying and a penchant for stalling her visitors. She is presented as an object of Joanna Lander's affection but without the 'pathetic' component one would fear of a character who's a little girl with a potentially fatal disease.

All of the characters and settings are well defined and plausible. The writing is well detailed in design and progression. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone looking for a great read.