Francie travels to Roswell for her best friend’s wedding, and ends up being abducted by a seemingly-non-verbal alien.

The story unfolds with exactly the same pace, level of miscommunication and frustratingly-steady-stream-of-things-going-wrong which I expected from Willis, but it took me much longer than I’d expected to find all of that engrossing. But I’m glad I persevered, because I really enjoyed the rest of it! I grew increasingly fond of several of the characters and increasingly invested in their attempts to communicate with their alien abductor.

There was a twist I’d somewhat predicted, and that was satisfying, and more twists which completely took me by surprise, and that was satisfying too.

There are lots of references to alien invasion movies and to Westerns, two genres I have only a cursory familiarity with (Admittedly, I’m well acquainted with Doctor Who’s brand of alien invasions, but not so much Hollywood’s). I assume The Road to Roswell is also doing at least something with these references which I just didn’t pick up on? ( )

Francie thought it would be a breeze talking her friend Serena out of marriage to a UFO fanatic, even if she has to travel to Roswell (where the wedding is to be held) to do it. But then everything that can go wrong, does: Serena can’t meet her at the airport, Francie has to wait forever to rent a car because, naturally, there’s a UFO convention going on in Roswell and everybody going to it needs transportation; Serena asks her to wait to pick up another wedding guest, but then that person’s plane is delayed significantly, so when Francie finally gets her car, she leaves without him. She does meet up with Serena, but the latter barely has time to say hello because she’s so busy with wedding plans, and then Serena asks Francie to pick up some lights from her car - and Francie is promptly kidnapped, by an alien…. Connie Willis is a wonderful writer whom I’ve loved for ages; she tends to alternate between serious science fiction/time travel/philosophical stories and madcap adventure/romances, and “The Road to Roswell” is in the latter camp. Not, to my mind, her finest work (that would probably be “Passage,” given that I am still blown away by its last line, more than 20 years after I read it), but still quite good. It’s a very goofy premise (the alien looks like a tumbleweed) with the abductees essentially all determined to help “Indy” achieve his quest rather than trying to escape, and of course there’s a love story thrown in for good measure. Ms. Willis is writing less than she used to, so it’s a joy to find this recent (2023) novel and revel in its sheer goofiness; recommended! ( )

IMO, a potentially cute concept that fell short in execution. Maybe it could have made screwball sci-fi romance, but at 400+ pages, it was at least 200 pages too many.

The main character (Francine?) is as boring, vanilla, and devoid of personality as they come. She's dropped into this kooky annual Roswell alien convention when she flies in for a college friend's wedding. An alien abduction and manic roadtrip ensue during which several stereotypical locals become inadvertent ridealongs. Somewhere along the way, the alien is named "Indy," and an ET plot line develops in which "Indy" needs help getting home (or something?) and they careen around the desert in search of a destination to reveal itself.

This didn't work for me as a buddy comedy, an adventure of misfits, or a romance/meet-cute, but YMMV. Heard about it on a podcast and am generally down with a weird book especially a witty one. The reality was just okay.

Tom Robbins this was not.

My recommendation borrowed and tweaked from someone else: if you try it, give it 100 pages less your age and if you're not loving it, bag it and tag it. ( )

Francie, unlike everyone else headed to Roswell on the weekend she travels there for a friend's wedding, definitely doesn't believe in UFOs or aliens. Right up until she's abducted by an alien. Then she finds herself trying to understand her new abductor and help him achieve his goal. Along the way, they'll pick up several other people, all with their own secrets but all equally invested in helping this strange alien on his quest.

I've yet to find a Connie Willis novel I didn't enjoy and her newest novel is no exception. The cast of characters is a delight and the vaguely Quixotic journey they go on as they try to assist their alien abductor is fun and funny. A good time for readers who enjoy their sci fi, light on the sci and high on the humour. ( )

Every screwball comedy needs a believable, attractive protagonist. But after four hundred dialogue-filled pages with our heroine, Francie, all we know about her is that she's scatterbrained, inclined to jump to conclusions, loyal, and heterosexual. Career? Family background? Unique quirks? Not present or not described. And she's not too bright. Your patience may be repeatedly tested as you spend page after page trapped with her short-sighted internal ruminations. The other characters are similarly cardboard, most of them more so. We've got the bone-stupid UFO conspiracy theorist, the little granny who gambles, and the RV owner who speaks in 1940s movie-cowboy dialect like a waiter at a theme restaurant. Oh, and the con man Who May Not Be Who He Seems. Not a real person in the bunch, though the con man comes closest, as the multiple layers of persona hint at the complexity of a living human being.

These characters are thrown together over a period of days as they ramble around the highways of the Southwest, guided by a cute alien being like a basketball-sized Flying Spaghetti Monster. Those hoping for a convincing portrayal of aliens and alien technology will be disappointed: this one's main ability is to turn an internal combustion engine into a perpetual motion machine in minutes without so much as a single spare part or drop of lubricant. This helps keep the show on the road without stopping for gas, which would get in the way of the plot.

Although set in the modern day, characters use their cell phones only to make calls; when they can't, they oddly complain that they've got no "coverage." No one seems to know about texting or apps.

What's good? The author's choice to favor dialogue over exposition, although somewhat exhausting, does help give the book the air of the 1940s movie farce it's obviously aiming for. The increasingly affectionate relationship between the alien — a kind of fugitive, as it turns out — and its victims-turned-protectors is touching at times. But as the plot holes and logical inconsistencies pile up, the screwball thing wears thin, and the book ends, confusingly, in mid-conversation and mid-scene, a bit like the infamous (and much darker) ending of The Sopranos. I actually reported it as a defect in my ebook before a number of reviews convinced me that what I'd read was the author's intent. ( )