/lit/ - Literature

>>22284177
I only really read and enjoy Tolkien, literally every day for about 2 years now, because ereader and History of Middle-earth, among his other work. I am fully committed to the first age now, I can't get enough of it. I want to study it and translate it and be a mega sperg about it. Before that, I just read The Red Book annually but that aspect of Tolkien is still close to my heart.
I don't care for most books, and finding recommendations online usually just consists of digging a lot beneath the Hype Train mainstream and creating lots of filters. I've only actually read a few of the popular ones like the thread picrelated you referenced. I read Neuromancer and I can personally groove on it because certain cyberpunkscifi really do it for me, but I understand anybody who doesn't. I like that, but not PKD for example.

Many years ago, I asked my IRC friends (half of whom were Tolkien nerds) for Tolkien-like recommendations, or at least anything kind of related, and I have a long to-read of 20 or so books. Out of them, a few years ago, I chose Shadow of the Torturer, and it grabbed me and held on because it was not generic, to my mind. I drop most books early on. It wasn't power fulfillment fantasy, it wasn't grimdark lame, it wasn't only dialogue trash, long periods of time are skipped over with a few sentences, it's not pretentious, the adventure doesn't stop or foreshadow or telegraph or treat you like an idiot. Gene Wolfe even inserts a bunch of tasty philosophical reflections which really make you think. There are elements of language, like Tolkien. There are many nuggets of cool-sounding story seeds which are never explained and passed over quickly, kind of like Tolkien. I initially was hooked because it is unpredictable and feels like a real adventure for me, which is one aspect of what hooked me into Tolkien in the first place.

I am not saying you will like it just because Tolkien, I am only saying there are elements I sought for years of failure, our quest for books that don't suck, which Gene Wolfe fulfilled for me. You might hate it, but at least look into it and read a few chapters past when he is exiled to get a taste. If you don't dig it by then, feel free to drop it. There's also more in a series if you want it. If not, you can safely drop it like a piece of hard scifi "neat!" photograph and still have enjoyed it.

"Claw of the Conciliator" by Gene Wolfe

A sequel to a book. Setting is a kind of future fantasy in a dying world. A tradesman is exiled and sent to a new lesser land to practice his trade, goes on a journey with that goal, and in this book is continuing that journey. I read the first book a few years ago, and rather enjoyed it, but life got in the way and left me a few chapters in to 'Claw'. Reading the first book again recently, and started the second, I was afraid that the sequel would not live up to my expectations, diverging away from the value I saw in the first book. I am more than pleased that Gene Wolfe did not fail me. There are so many unexpected and unnecessary asides, in addition to tasty language and prose. It is not cookie-cutter or predictable, and feels like a proper adventure. I have struck gold for my own tastes. Indeed when I asked recommendations, for something resembling Tolkien (I am a fan of the deepest sort), this matches what I sought. For too many moon, I sought and tried various other fantasy in vain (which I regard with disdain, the fans of whom are lame) but Gene Wolfe has really hit my sweet spot. I had given up hope that I would find anything else which would work well for me. So far, my reading has taken place via my ereader (an invaluable boon for any consumer of the written word, hack it and you can read anything) but have now ordered a one-volume physical tree-corpse tome. This series will certainly yield many rereads, and this volume will facilitate that. I have even ordered a special accompanying guide, crafted by a loving fan, titled "Lexicon Urthus", which is a dictionary for the obscure terms used in these books.

For my reading environ, a dark, cool, quiet room with a warm mug of sencha; or in summer as now: an ice-cold glass of water or barley tea.