Heh, “just deserts” is one of those classic archaic sayings that’s stuck around primarily to confuse people. I personally group it into the spellings like spelt, spoilt, leapt, burnt, and so on, which are chiefly British but not unheard of around the world. Desert is also weird because, like the sandy desert and the tasty dessert, it’s a noun, and talking about things people deserve via nouns is kind of weird. I think most people say “beyond what they deserve.”
Anyway, I applaud Mr. Swanwick and think it’s a very good point that as an author, his goal is not to unnecessarily criticize another author’s books. If he was at a meeting with that author, or he and the author were working together, undoubtedly he would offer much criticism to the individual. But wasting his time and the time of his readers to focus on negativity doesn’t help anyone, considering he is well aware that his opinion will influence others much more than a friend or a book review.
I think this is also the same mentality behind creative people not responding to reviews or public criticisms of their work. At least, the classy ones don’t.
