We realize that we're not professional literature critics -- we're just a group of readers who love to read and write about speculative fiction -- but we started this site to help SFF readers decide what to read and most consumers, whether of fine dining, vacuum cleaners, or fantasy novels, seem to like some sort of quantification. Thus, we assign "ratings," even though a few of us find the notion disagreeable. We challenged ourselves to come up with a standardized rating system. Though Marion and Ryan a couple of us are notoriously stingy with our stars, we still managed to come up with a scheme that we could agree on:
I loved pretty much all aspects of this book: story, style, and characters. It will be one of the best books I read this year. Perhaps it blew my mind or cha... Read More