Status Updates From Canary Fever: Reviews

I set this down for almost a complete year. I desperately need it now. I have completely lost my reviewing mojo. I'm piling up RTC's. Hoping this will shock my system.

Reading Clute is a pleasure. I don't even think it's hyperbole to say he's probably the best book reviewer alive. What a privilege to have had him cover SFF for so long. Need more of his ilk in the genre space-- someone who takes the work seriously.

I would give anything to be able to write reviews like this. It's such a shame that I've read (or even heard of) so few of the books in this collection to see if I even align with his taste and judgements.

The more you read a great critic the more I can't believe that people aren't interested in making it the most dominant and celebrated form of review. Capability aside, why do people *want* to do meme reviews? What are you hoping to accomplish?

Clute basically writes the rant I've always been trying to have about writers who want to write Science Fiction without studying it. #1 offender of this practice Margaret Atwood basically gets destroyed in his review of Oryx and Crake.

For the first time, Clute defends the fact that he spoils every book he reviews. While I greatly sympathize with his desire to explain how a plot gets from here to there and how it *works*, I can't help but feel like he's ignoring one of the most critical functions of a review-- to help the reader make an informed investment.

No doubt he's a wonderful critic, maybe the best SFF has ever had-- but c'mon man.

If you remove the term "Body English" from every sentence in which appears, at least 95% of the sentences would still mean the same exact thing.