What are the criteria for "evaluating fiction" ?

My favorite method is quite simple.  I like to forget
about literary terms and look at a bigger picture: How does the work of
fiction connect?

1a.  How does this fiction
of fiction connect to its reader (in general)?  Who is its audience?  Is the audience
real or imaginary, alive or dead?  Male or female?  Young or
old?

1b.  How does the work of fiction connect to you
(specifically)?  Emotionally, ethically, stylistically, thematically, how do you respond
to this work?  Do you agree with its thesis or premise?

2.
 How does the work of fiction connect to other works of fiction?  By genre, theme, tone,
character, setting, organization, does it match up with other
books?

3.  How does the work of fiction connect to the
world?  What makes it relevant now?  What current issues, lifestyles, controversies,
problems does it reflect in our culture today?