Beukes wins Arthur C Clarke award

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes has been declared the best science fiction novel of the year and the 25th winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award.

Reviews: “As a piece of social commentary (Zoo City) is unsurpassed in the field.”
Chair of the Judges Paul Billinger

"Zoo City filters brutal social honesty through a stunning imagination to produce a world recognisably ours and obviously different. The plotting is tight, the characterisation strong and the writing superb. We had a fantastic shortlist but for me this was the clear winner." Judge and author Jon Courtenay Grimwood

The library has it on order. Here's an excerpt so long:

“Traffic in Joburg is like the democratic process. Every time you think it’s going to get moving and take you somewhere, you hit another jam. There used to be shortcuts you could take through the suburbs, but they’ve closed them off, illegally: gated communities fortified like privatised citadels. Not so much keeping the world out as keeping the festering middle-class paranoia in.” (From: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes)