New Review: Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone
September 3, 2002 (7:42 PM) ( link )

ADDED a review of Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone. Light, frothy read. Don't do it unless you have a thing for semi-sentient evil swords with names like Stormbringer and Mournblade.

I recently discovered that Neil Gaiman's American Gods has won the 2002 Hugo Awards. Hm. As you know I didn't really like that book--and it definitely should not have won against China Mieville's Perdido Street Station (which was, shamefully, fifth place in the polls). After a Hugo for The Goblet of Fire last year (which was a good book, but not deserving of a Hugo), and now American Gods, I'm starting to lose my faith in the Hugos. Not that the Nebulas are any better, or the Top 100 Science Fiction list. I guess tastes vary too much for a large and diverse body of readers to agree on a canon that everybody likes, but that only makes reading more painful (especially since bad speculative fiction is really, really bad). Oh well--I've read enough stunners recently to restore my faith in the strengths of science fiction and fantasy as genres, so until I reach another dark streak of stinkers I'll just bite my tongue at where the awards go and keep on reading.