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--from Barbie dolls to the grunge look--how they start and what they mean, for the HiTek corporation. Bennett O'Reilly studies 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. What better animal to study both chaos theory and the herd mentality that so often characterizes human behavior? Unfortunately, Sandra and Bennett must endure a series of setbacks, heartbreaks, dead ends, and disasters before they are able to find answers to their questions--with the unintended help of the errant, forgetful, and careless office assistant Flip. "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" "Reading, an experienced science fiction narrator, has a knack for making even the most otherworldly and bizarre stories sound entirely plausible and real. Reading's delivery is smooth and unwavering yet weighted with a certain uneasiness that abounds in the central character of Sandra Foster. As Flip, the annoying yet helpful sidekick, Reading becomes a distracted, disorganized individual, yet one with underplayed redeeming qualities that inadvertently save the day." -- "AudioFile" "The versatile Kate Reading skillfully renders Sandra's first-person voice throughout, does well with audibly differentiating the various characters from one another, and especially shines when it comes to Flip's 'Valley Girl' drawl. Bellwether is an amusing diversion for anyone who has ever wondered how fads get started and how they spread." -- "SFSite.com" "Willis' story builds slowly but is realistic and engrossing." -- "Midwest Book Review" Connie Willis is a science fiction writer and winner of eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards--more major science fiction awards than any other writer. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011. She was presented with the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award in 2012 and has received a number of other awards, including an Inkpot Award at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2008. Her first short-story collection, Fire Watch , was a New York Times Notable Book. Kate Reading , named an AudioFile Golden Voice, has recorded hundreds of audiobooks across many genres, over a thirty-year plus career and won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. Among other awards, she has been recognized as an AudioFile Magazine Voice of the Century, Narrator of the Year, Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and winner of an Publisher's Weekly's Listen-Up Award. She records at her home studio, Madison Productions, Inc., in Maryland.