What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading the Classics of Fantasy and SF

'Walton's critical gift is her ability to help you love your favourites even more, and to be fascinating, at length, on books you don't give a damn about. It's a remarkable guided tour through the field.' Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

Award-winning author Jo Walton is, first and foremost, a reader - and chronic re-reader. What Makes This Book So Great is a selection of the best of her musings about her prodigious reading habit.

Among her many subjects are the question of what genre readers mean by 'mainstream'; the field's many approaches to time travel, the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have certainly never read.

Ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems, Jo Walton's infectious, provocative and opinionated thoughts are never less than immensely engaging. Whether you are an inveterate reader of science fiction and fantasy, or a newbie to the genre: if you love a great read, this is a great book for you.

'A collection that is less criticism than a celebration of one reader's journey through the fantastic.' Los Angeles Times

'Terrific insights.' SFX

'For readers unschooled in the history of SF/F, this book is a treasure trove; for those who recognize every title, Walton evokes the joy or returning to a well-worn favourite.' Publishers Weekly (starred review)