Comments on: WINNER: 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Award

By: Russ Allbery

Russ Allbery — Sat, 01 May 2010 23:27:45 +0000

I haven't yet read the rest of the field, so cannot comment on the comparative merits, but The City & The City is an exceptionally good book. I think it's Mieville's best work to date. So as far as that goes, it doesn't seem like a lazy pick to me.

I think you'll change your mind about "non-genre" after you've read it. While the basic underlying idea doesn't have solid SF justification inside the story, the way that Mieville works out the consequences and implications has an extrapolative soliditity that I think will feel quite familiar to hard SF readers. (Not to mention that Mieville is firmly within the larger genre if one includes fantasy.)

By: Tam

Tam — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:50:25 +0000

You mean there’s no space elevators in The City & the City?

By: Rick York

Rick York — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:44:25 +0000

I haven't read this yet. And, I intend to. However, irrespective of its quality, it seems to me extremely lazy that the Clarke awad board would decide on giving it to the same author three times. Last year saw an excellent collection of novels including Anathem, Galileo's Dream, Julian Comstock and several others. The only book they could find was The City and The City?

Sorry, but that's infuriating. And, it seems they want to avoid a genre book Clarke was a Science Fiction writer. Right?