Dreamsnake

A fairly good novel, but I think that some of the sentiment behind the nomination and awards for this novel have more to do with the short story that inspired it. The short story - Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand - is absolutely amazing. It is just about as good as it gets in SF.

Unfortunately, the novel is rather more ordinary. I cannot see it deserving of a Hugo or Nebula win, except against a fairly weak field. Since I haven't read any of the other novel nominees for Hugo or Nebula for the relevant years, I can't speculate further.

My rating system: I start at one star meaning c -, and proceed one half star at a time up to 5 stars meaning A+. One half star is reserved for BOMBS - D+ and lower.