SS > Fiction reviews

I use the following subjective ratings to classify my fiction consumption. In the perfect world, all my reading would fall into ratings 1, 2 and high 3s.

1: unmissable

A "classic", that should be read by everyone.

2: great stuff

A good story, well put together, with some definite depth to the plot, characters, or ideas. Definitely re-readable.

3: worth reading

A good enjoyable story, worth the time spent reading, but maybe not particularly deep. Some may be re-readable.

4: passes the time / mind candy

I read it, and it was better than nothing, but I won't be doing so again.

5: waste of time

I read it, but wouldn't have if I'd known... (It might have been saved from unfinishable only because I read it in a single sitting: if I'd been interrupted, I might not have picked it up again.)

6: unfinishable

The covers of this book are too far apart.

-- Ambrose Bierce

I couldn't finish it because it was so bad, or boring, or whatever. I said the Eight Deadly Words: "I Don't Care What Happens to These People". (I classify more books as unfinishable that might have been just a waste of time a few years ago, as I have less time to read, so tend to be more impatient.)

If I were a condemned prisoner, I would put this one aside for the day after my execution.

-- James Nicoll, rec.arts.sf.written, Dec 2000