/lit/ - Literature

Fuck, so much I need to rewrite, but I have to press forward

Rephrasing question from a few threads back.
I need some novels where an empire expands by converting people into some religion. Most fantasy novels keep that in the background as a plot point, but I'd really like to get into the theological discussion that takes place in a world where there may be many gods, or maybe it's just creatures with super powers, who the fuck knows?

>>10246386
I havn't read any sci-fi for a few years, I mostly enjoy space operas and hard sci-fi like Alastair Reynolds, Steven Baxter, Iain M Banks and Peter Hamilton etc. Can any anons recommend any exciting, easy-to-read and awe-inspiring new-ish novels in the vein of the authors I listed above? Thank you in advance!

Finally I am early

Best SF vidya is SOMA. Any Watts fans really oughtta watch a playthrough of it.

>>10246580
pic related

>>10246386
>What's your pick and why isn't it FF7
Don't care much for jrpg

>>10246386
Remember to put the thread title in lowercase next time so my filter deletes the thread, you ass,

>>10246704
Better filter my trip 'cause I'm gonna post all 2e4 variations of sFFg now.
>>/outerlit/

>>10246580
>>10246598
Or you could, I dunno, play it yourself?

hey this is actually very good and thanks to the anon who recommended it to me a couple weeks back

>>10246540
Count to a Trillion. m'lady

>>10246386
>What's your pick and why isn't it FF7
Because FF7 is boring and tedious and spends way too long trying to convince me I'm emotionally invested in any of the characters, while Deus Ex is exciting and tense and got me to read The Man Who Was Thursday.

Then again, I played Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri so much I can now quote a bunch of famous philosophers, so there's that.

>>10246900
>Count to a Trillion
Thanks. Sound abit American, any Euro/Brit recommends?

>>10246906
You just listed all the famous Scot SF writers. Maybe Adam Roberts then, Stone sounds more like what you're looking for.

this any good?

Do you know some good sci-fi or fantasy books with a female protagonist?
I've read "Reclamation" by Sarah Zettel. It's a good book but unfortunately it's a bit confused: there are too many names and, sometimes, the style is not very simple. But I've liked the mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

What do you think of the books by Pat Cadigan, Ann Leckie and Elizabeth Moon?

>>10246939
>#1 new shit shit shit shit
WHO NOES

>>10247067
Mistborn, Paksenarrion, Nevernight Chronicles, Sabriel, The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Red Sister

>>10246939
Well, the cover looks good, and it kind of reminds me of feast of crows, I dont know what's the book about but judging it by the cover, this book loks like the kind of stuff that I would grab on the book store and consider for a couple of minutew if I should buy it or not, wether I do it or I don't I wouls take a quick photo of the cover for later use, like making a search on google about the book itself and maybe (just maybe, not always) look for the pdf on the iņternet

>>10247097
>look for the pdf on the iņternet
you naughty boy

>>10247067
Also, Babel-17.

>>10247115

wat

>>10247067
divine cities

Do you know post-apocalyptic books (or sci-fi books) with a mix of fantasy and science fiction?

>>10246386
/lit/ do you know if anything has been written where its a mad max or fallout, post apocalypse type thing, except on the steppe instead of the desert and with tanks?

Could just be a fantasy world too, as long as its about a tank crew adventuring across a vast steppe.

Would also be cool if it had cozy parts around a campfire with the crew too.

Idea based off this webm
>http://i.4cdn.org/wsg/1508885030775.webm

>>10247148
Do we? DO we?

>>10247148

The Broken Empire and The Red Queen's War.

>>10247158

lèl

>>10247148
The Dark Tower series is kind of hard to classify, but it's definitely post apocalyptic with a mix of everything.

A World Out of Time by Larry Niven could qualify.

>>10247152
Do you by any chance play world of thanks sir?

>>10247148
The Crimson Queen

What the fuck is his problem?

>>10246540
Saved

>>10247179
No desu. Should I?

>>10246704
Thanks for telling me, I will use alterations next time I make the thread.
>they actually discuss books
>let me filter them
I wonder if you filter the other shit that anons post in outer lit. I'm guessing not, maybe you don't want to post in here because your previous attempts to subvert the thread lead to a ban?

>>10247115
>Babel-17.
>recommending the scat, buggery, rape, gay, brutal gay rape, pedo, golden shower loving, cucking, orgie, pegging, scat eating author

>>10247152
>newsfront
Stormfront renamed to avoid bad press?

>>10246939
it's YA so no

>>10247148
Land fit for Heroes, Dark Tower

>>10247202
Isn't that a Goodreads reviewer?

Is steampunk a genre with real literary presence or a glorified aesthetic that mostly exists in gaming?

>>10247417
The latter. The only good steampunk book I've ever read is Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon.

>>10247417
Every *punk genre only exists as a glorified aesthetic for games.

>>10246540
Alastair Reynolds and Steven Baxter did a collaboration, The Medusa Chronicles. I thought it was pretty interesting.

>>10247235
No. Play War thunder before World of Tanks, but if you can, neither.

>>10247140
Let's judge fictional works by their creators!

>>10247468
>Don't judge a book by its cover
>Don't judge a book by its author
What if I don't want to invest time reading every single book before judging them when I know that the fact the author is a person I find repugnant increases the risks that I dislike the book as well?
And it's not even a matter of having opinions different than the author's. Her >implying whole appearance revolves around shoving said opinions in people's faces. Why would I ignore the risk that the book didn't magically escape the same process, especially when I always have a list of books I want to read next?

>>10246540
Quantum Thief

Has this leaked online yet?

I know some anon's got lucky, but my brick and mortars are honoring the release date and that chaps my ass.
I need my fix.

>>10247558
ain't on my tracker at least

>>10247558
Synopsis for way of Kings sounds interesting, but the only fantasy series I've read have been Game of Thrones and Harry Potter when I was but a child.

Would you reccommend it for a newbie?

>>10247152
that's a bit too specific to exist outside your head

what are the best star wars books? I've read Rule of Two but it was kinda meh. Are there any better? Old republic era, canon, and eu are all fair game if they're good enough.

Have heard from someone I trust the Plagueis book is probably the best, any anons agree?

>>10247613
Hard to say. The prose certainly isn't a barrier but autismal world-building and magic systems aren't everyone's cup of tea. They're also stupidly long.

Kaladin's arc is a decent hook however.

>>10247613
I would love to say yes. Sanderson is a master of the craft, and Stormlight is his magnum opus. Dude was selected to finish Wheel of Time. He's good, and he keeps improving.

However, you need to trust him.

WoK throws a lot at you, and explains very little at first. The first time I picked it up, I couldn't make it past the first hundred pages. I was so lost in the world and I didn't know what the fuck was going on. But, I eventually pushed through and at around the quarter-mark it was a magnificent rollercoaster and I couldn't put it down. Then I powered through Words of Radiance. Then I was distraught to learn I broke a promise to myself: never start an unfinished series. I've been counting down the days until Oathbringer ever since it got a release date.

Sanderson himself admits that Stormlight takes a little time and trust before it sucks you in. If you don't know how to feel about that, maybe give Mistborn a try. It's an earlier work, so it's not as polished as Stormlight, but that's much easier to get into. If it tickles your fancy, you'd be delighted to hear that Sanderson has a bunch of books all in a shared universe (the Cosmere) and there's a background narrative that drives the whole thing. Although, you don't need to read every series to appreciate any given book.

I never thought I would be a nerd about magic systems (best I know of), or worldbuilding, or fantasy for that matter (SciFi is my shit). But this fucking guy made a believer out of me.

tl;dr- maybe

>>10247613
Sanderson is very easy to read in terms of storytelling and prose. But his books are extremely long and take a while to come together. One of the main appeals of his books is the world building, not just the size and originality of it, but the fact that he knows how to properly build suspense and mystery surrounding his setting. So that you end up craving more information about his world and want to solve its mysteries. Once he has his world building hooks in you you're his hostage and will probably end up liking a few his characters as you go as well, though characters are less his strong suit.

>>10247623
I only ever read the Timothy Zahn stuff and this was years ago but fair enough. He recently did another Thrawn book so that's probably alright?

Star Wars general on /tg/ probably better place to ask.

>>10246704
lern2regex muh lad

Where do i start with Moorcoock?

I can't decide if I should go on reading this. I like the prose, and the whole premise of gods leaving the world is cool, but so far all I'm getting is some real generic characters and dialogue mixed in with all this Germanic culture shit which I'm not a fan of. Can anyone tell me if I should go on if I'm not into it thus far? If so, can I get some incentivizing spoilers or something?

>>10247762
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P80UTMrpFIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mndtu4X4IGI

>>10247152
Wikipedia says that West Texas is a steppe. This might bear some resemblance to your request.

>>10247623
I like the X-Wing series.

>>10246800
I have a toaster and its a walking simulator. I did buy it during the GOG sale though.

>>10247202
He's pompous. His only review I really disagree with is his "muh soggy knees" BotNS review.

>>10247771
Shits fucked everyone’s fucked, unless they’re a strong independent woman

>>10247815
That's all I needed, anon. Thanks.

>top grace of kings review moaning about no women

how's that work? All I remember is wall to wall female mary sues.

>>10247202
None, really. He's spot on most of the time. Did you get hurt because someone dared to disagree with your shit taste?

>>10246939

Read the first half of the first book of the previous trilogy based in the same universe

Ugly girl with freckles/acne gains a power and is in a love traingle with the strongest mage in the world (Tall dark and brooding) and her best friend who grew up with her in an orphanage.

TL:DR no

Excerpt from the beginning of The Black Abbot of Puthuum, A Zothique tale of adventure and black sorcery that's not unlike something from Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser:

---

Zobal the archer and Cushara the pikebearer had poured many a libation to their friendship in the sanguine liquors of Yoros and the blood of the kingdom's enemies. In that long and lusty amity, broken only by such passing quarrels as concerned the division of a wine-skin or the apportioning of a wench, they had served amid the soldiery of King Hoaraph for a strenuous decade. Savage warfare and wild, fantastic hazard had been their lot. The renown of their valor had drawn upon them, ultimately, the honor of Hoaraph's attention, and he had assigned them for duty among the picked warriors that guarded his palace in Faraad. And sometimes the twain were sent together on such missions as required no common hardihood and no disputable fealty to the king.

Now, in company with the eunuch Simban, chief purveyor to Hoaraph's well-replenished harem, Zobal and Cushara had gone on a tedious journey through the tract known as Izdrel, which clove the western part of Yoros asunder with its rusty-colored wedge of desolation. The king had sent them to learn if haply there abode any verity in certain travelers' tales, which concerned a young maiden of celestial beauty who had been seen among the pastoral peoples beyond Izdrel. Simban bore at his girdle a bag of gold coins with which, if the girl's pulchritude should be in any wise commensurate with the renown thereof, he was empowered to bargain for her purchase. The king had deemed that Zobal and Cushara should form an escort equal to all contingencies: for Izdrel was a land reputedly free of robbers, or, indeed, of any human inhabitants. Men said, however, that malign goblins, tall as giants and humped like camels, had oftentimes beset the wayfarers through Izdrel, that fair but ill-meaning lamiae had lured them to an eldritch death. Simban, quaking corpulently in his saddle, rode with small willingness on that outward journey; but the archer and the pike bearer, full of wholesome skepticism, divided their bawdy jests between the timid eunuch and the elusive demons.

Without other mishap than the rupturing of a wine-skin from the force of the new vintage it contained, they came to the verdurous pasture-lands beyond that dreary desert. Here, in low valleys that held the middle meanderings of the river Vos, cattle and dromedaries were kept by a tribe of herders who sent biannual tribute to Hoaraph from their teeming droves. Simban and his companions found the girl, who dwelt with her grandmother in a village beside the Vos; and even the eunuch acknowledged that their journey was well rewarded.

>>10247982
Damn CASbro, you've already finished your BotNS reread?

Also, will you post an excerpt of every CAS story you read? That'd be pretty cool.

>>1024802

I'm having a small break between Shadow Of The Torturer and Claw Of The Conciliator with some random short stories. I'lll probably start Claw on Monday.

That's what I've been doing with CAS for a while, but I'd already read a good number of them before I started. Still there are a good deal of stories left. He was extremely prolific in the medium in order to provide for two elderly and ailing parents. Once I've exhausted the Fantasy Masterworks collection I'll be hunting down the lesser collected stuff.

>>10246386
>What's your pick and why isn't it FF7
Possibly because I've not played it. The one that gave me the best sci-fi feeling was probably the first Mass Effect. It wasn't as fun or interesting as say KotOR or BG&E but the feeling of exploring space was incredible.

>>10247067
Ann Leckie is good enough to be read worthy, don't know about the other two.

>>10247115
Don't read this, it's really nothing special. The first half is a decent coming of age story but then it goes to shit with a generic war between magic and science where there's literally no difference between the two and the only reason people do stuff is "because".

>>10247202
First time I heard about him, I don't really agree with him giving GOT 1/5 but his review is well written and this line is almost as good as Rothfuss' fan mail response:
>The problem is when people who are not comfortable with their own sexuality start writing about it, which seems to plague every mainstream fantasy author. Their pen gets away from them, their own hangups start leaking into the scene, until it's not even about the characters anymore, it's just the author cybering about his favorite fetish--and if I cyber with a fat, bearded stranger, I expect to be paid for it.

>>10248172
Oh that was him? I remember this.

>>10246386
>vidya

Elite

>>10247775
That would be great if it weren't literally a Jewish power fantasy

Any recs for some good heroic fiction or S&S by modern day authors? Preferably no longer than 450pgs in length. Doorstoppers kill me. Indie recs are ok.

>>10248269
Would manga/light novels be an acceptable answer?

>>10248269
Wolf of the North. Straightforward stuff. Also not fantasy but Cornwell's Saxon Stories are so elemental it might as well be.

>>10248285
Never really looked at em, so... sure!

>>10248268
>jews can't have fun

What are some good escapist bookaroos?

>>10247067

>>10248439
Does she fuck the dragon?

>>10248419
This is kind of vague...

What do you mean by "escapist"?

>>10242931
>started with Locke Lamora anyway
>first "chapter" is cringeworthy as fuck
Damn, I might regret this.

>>10248419

>>10246386
I really like Malazan.

>>10247637
Kaladin got nearly insufferable for a while during WoR though. Adolin on the other hand has grown on me a lot, and his arc going forward seems the most interesting.

in the fire of industry
... the forests will fall
"WE WILL DRIVE THE MACHINE OF WAR WITH THE SWORD AND THE SPEAR AND THE IRON FIST"

Tolkien was not subtle at all haha

>>10247152

>>10248448
No, but if I recall correctly they wingman for each other (the dragon's a female) and they both get dreamy husbands of their own species.

Actually, I want to reread. Rewrede. Those were a lot of fun.

>>10248480
I mean, I did try to warn you.... sorry anon. You’ll never get that time back.

Should /sffg/-related writing be discussed here? The rest of the board barely stands us because "genre fiction is not art and all writing should be art REEEEEEEEE" but I wouldn't want the discussion of already established fantasy poluted by 20 different anons posting their own shit.

Any Ideas?

>>10248600
Being at the Somme colors your perspective.
>tfw the very first time Frodo sees combat leaves him with an invisible wound that fills his heart with sorrow for the rest of his life
Tolkien knew what he was talking about.

>>10248650
There's an autistic meme-anon that will reee just as hard at you but we still talk about it now and then, though judging by your WoW art and general infamiliarity with these threads I doubt yours'll be any good.

We should seriously direct aspiring authors to the dead discord more. Here. https://discord.gg/KxPGpmU Some of those zombies are sure to have thoughts.

>>10248269
David Gemmell. Specifically his Drenai series.

>>10248667
>I Immediately know how many books you've read by virtue of you posting an image
God forbid we like more than one thing, anon.

>>10248711
Your picture was less of a tell than your refusal to lurk. Go ahead and post your 3x3 though. We'll wait.

>>10248648
30 or so pages later, it's gotten slightly better. Still cringe worthy but if it continue improving some more I might end up not hating it.

And regarding trusting /sffg/, the amount of Sandersson fans materializing out of thin air now that Oathbringer is getting close have made me suspicious to any recommendations or warnings posted here.

>>10248729
His stuff is popular and accessible, and there are always fans of meme series popping up around release dates. At least it's not Bakker season.

>>10248722
I lurk. I don't normally post but I see how these threads do. Less than a year ago any mention of genre fiction was scoffed at by /lit/. There's no point in mentioning books I've read because, besides the fact that you will find them shit-tier (which granted, could very well be the case), that wasn't the point of my original post. I just wanted to be polite and not shit the thread with unrelated things. The very last thread this general hard was sent to shit by politics and I don't want that to repeat. I don't want to start an argument, either. So I'll kindly fuck off until I see interest, I guess.

>>10248667
Wow, not much has changed since I last checked on the Discord...

>>10248650
>>10248667
A quality zing whilst answering the question is 4chan's most endearing characteristic.

My opinion is that meta questions regarding the mechanics of writing would be interesting but still best left to outer/lit/, along with regular writing samples. There was a consistent writing critique thread (I haven't checked recently); that seems like the best forum for the content. The same critiques are going to apply no matter the genre.

>>10248419
Why does Juliana look like she wants to Administer some Doctoring to my Coxs while she is bent over?

>>10248786
On the one hand /sffg/ can only be so broad before half the thread isn't fun for half the anons, on the other hand it's pretty solidly enclaved from outer /lit/ and there's not really a chance of a genre writing general getting any traction.

>>10248793
Because she used to be a hooker, silly.

>>10248798
>The same critiques are going to apply no matter the genre.
I'm open to rebuttals on this.
If a hypothetical anon can't handle some REEing from outer/lit/ in the general critique thread, then 4chan isn't the forum he's looking for.
>>10242849

>>10247613
>"Kuso yarou!" snarled Szeth, wiping a ribbon of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Ore ga dare da to omotte yaru?!"

>Electric guitars wailed in Kaladin's head as he watched light coalesce around Szeth's raised blade, indicating the preparation of Messatsu Tensei Ougi: Zantetsugetsumetsuken. Szeth's scream grew louder, while small rocks floated up off the quaking earth.

>"Yare yare daze," muttered Kaladin.

>>10248820
>>10248798
I'm the anon that asked. I don't care about harsh critique, I've just seen ">genre trash" as a response with no semblance of constructive criticism. But hey maybe things have changed over the years. I'll give it a go.

>>10248823
KEK

>boring start
>building up to a conflict
>shit starts going down
>changes POV
REEEEEEEEEE

Why do authors hate readers?

i want this as a book.
hit me /sffg/

>>10248838
Just remember that if all you receive is insults, you can always choose to interpret that as jealousy from your fellow aspiring authors.

>>10248899
>write a good single POV
>ruin it by adding in a bunch of subpar POVs

>>10248899
but they totally need to explain whats going on with all the other characters! How else would you get the story??

i want this as a book.
hit me /sffg/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M_5oYU-IsU

>>10248944
Islands in the Net.

>>10248965
>Islands in the Net.
I stopped reading after she finished her jog

>>10248967
honestly all I remember was Grenada being a world power and also spending way too long on a nuclear sub

>>10248899
He wants you to keep reading through some more boring exposition he has to do to set up some later stuff and cliffhangers are how he gets you to do that

>>10248899
grrm has a lot to answer for

is this the good kind of bad?

>>10249039
Yes. Lots of gri, with a side of cucking. Lots of edge. Lots of characters dying for the sake of edge.

>>10248899
Erikson.

>>10249047
well alright then

>>10248693
Thanks! Those look great!

>>10248419
BSG was her best work

>>10249088
>best
Shes had plenty of great, varied roles the past 30 years. One of the advantages of not having children I suppose
>tfw she will never pass down her beauty

>>10248899
Homestuck was the absolute worst for this. Not only were there 50+ perspectives to cycle through, anything cool always happened off-screen or was heavily abstracted.

Larry Correia any good? Don't read much urban fantasy.

>>10249083
Gemmell was the king of heroic fantasy; which is pretty much the descendant of sword and sorcery.

>>10249275
If you're not a soyboy then his stuff is very entertaining.

>>10249288
>I showed you my dick answer me

>>10248904
And what is "this"? It looks like sailor moon type drawing.
I think you guys are confusing here with /a/ /v/ and /tv/ if you think we know what your animes, video gaems and movies are with just a photo.

>>10249353
Dude, we all know it's Irresponsible Captain Tylor, we're just not responding because we don't know any books that combine good space opera with whimsy the way that show does.

>>10247442
>>10247514
Sick ta for the recommends boys

>>10249364
>we all know
>we

>>10246540

>>10249304
>Middle aged out of shape balding faggot tries to look tough with a beard to hide his gelatinous jawline

Seems like I recall an anon talking about new space opera being a thing several threads back.

>>10247202
I can see his points most of the time, but he tends to really over-hype the things he likes. I've read some of his favorites (Perdido Street Station, The Broken Sword, Gloriana) and I found them all mediocre.
He likes a good simple story told in the gripping style of old where narrative and flow supersede and overshadow technical details. That's what his taste boils down to basically.

>>10249413
And what hair style do you suggest for a out of shape balding faggot? A beard is literally the only legitimate choice.

33,000 words into my fantasy novel, guys. How do I know if I'm gonna make it? Last thing I want is to spend a year on this thing and find out its not gonna get picked up.

Thinking of trying my hand at writing sci-fi and I have been a bit inspired by Peter F Hamilton and the whole space habitat idea.

Would you read a book about a collection of habitats undertaking a secret military buildup in order to secure their independance from earth?

>>10249477
You don't. Get good criticism from impartial parties, but know what to keep and what to throw out. Learn about the publishing game and who to suck up to if you want to get involved in it, it's not based on quality as much as connections.

Above all, though, write a complete novel that works and makes sense and is enjoyable to read.

>>10249477
are you writing a romantic comedy with qt alien guys + a female protagonist + spending the money to get a decent cover ?

>>10249477
You must write without fear of consequence, friend. Succeed or fail you must tell the story that you must tell.

>>10249490
There is a little romance, and a couple female POVs....

>>10249498
Thanks for the inspo brother. My world is original if nothing else

>>10249486
Sure, if it's well written.

Finished 2nd book in the Black Company series - it's alright but I'm not that keen on it, is it worth continuing?

>>10247148
Gene Wolfe

>>10249609
I'm a fan of the series, and most of Cook's writing, but if you don't like it I wouldn't suggest continuing past the first three.

>>10249509
>multiple POVs
don't fall for the meme

>>10249672
How come

>>10249724
Hisssss

>>10249672
>>10249724
I'm half way through Jynabare +2 and it jumps around in POVs a bit, but it seems to work. The juxtaposition in viewpoints supports the emerging shift in consciousness of the entire species.
if you into Amish/robot/supermodel threesomes

any fantasy series where the resident 21st century feminist insert gets btfo?

>>10249786
I am not into corruption of the innocent or "religious people are just repressed" please and thank you.

>>10249823
I'm sure there is but you're just making me think of Sicario and that's crowding everything else out. Man that was a good movie.

>>10248899
DAMN YOU GIBSON

>>10249908
man that shot in the desert during dusk was great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb0X4kIFS0Q

>>10249914
awww yes

>>10249914
Amazing tactical dad aesthetics.

>>10246403
Endymion/Rise of Endymion has some pretty heavy religious themes.

You will have to read through Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion first which I would say are the better books in the series anyways.

>>10249976
>tactical dad aesthetics

kek

>tfw you need either a static image or html/css to render your fictional god's name properly

Why can't there just be a special character that's Z but backwards?

just finished the traitor baru cormorant and it was really good (although i'm sure the "progressive" stuff in it will turn many on here off) any other obscure shit thats actually good? I've read or dropped all the meme series.

>>10249904
I see your point, but the Amish character is neither repressed nor currupted. He's more like a vehicle through which the broader post-human concepts are explored. He's more like a 'last man" archetype, than a stand in for religious critique.

>>10249672
2 POVs is fine, more than that is a bit too many.

>>10249039
absolutely. The most comfy edgefest ive ever read.

>>10249285
Different anon, but agree. Gemmell was the best. Can’t find anybody like him.

>>10247668
> WoK throws a lot at you, and explains very little at first.

What the fuck have you been reading. He literally takes your hand and tells you everything. Often more than once to make sure you got it...

>>10249609
First 3 are good. You can basically stop reading after the ending in the 3rd. After that its downhill. Could barely keep up the next 2-3 and had to stop afterward.

>>10247745
He wants to avoid us.. Not find us.

>>10250371
...and he would need better regexfu for that.

>>10250330
Not in the first 10% of the fairly large book. After that, you get a good grip on things.

Roshar is a pretty complex world, that's far from a standard fantasy trope, and it thrusts you right in. Maybe if fantasy is your thing one might have an easier time with it, but as I said, SciFi is my shit.

Up until stumbling into the Cosmere, the entirety of my fantasy reading experience can be summed up to: Redwall, Eragon, LotR, and the Great Tree of Avalon trilogy. That's all. Anon was asking if it were good for a newbie, and I'm very much a newbie with fantasy.

>>10248823

This. Sanderson's is a total weeb. I just recently read the last book of WoT and the fight between Slayer and Perrin in the world of dreams screamed of DBZ. I could practically picture Slayer going "H-hayai!" as they kept disappearing and reappearing behind one another.

>>10248587
>Malazan
the true, definitive patrician's choice

>>10248049
Why not just order the collected stories that Night Shade put out? I recently purcgased the set if six (five collecting all his fantasies, the sixth containing his non-fabtastic stories as well as The Hasish-Eater) and can attest that they have everything a CAS can could want short of one good actual sculptures.

>>10250601
>that's far from a standard fantasy trope
How? Sure he's thought his world through but that's not really unique in the genre. Really the only detail that stand out is that a small part of his world (Shinovar) is actually more like ours while the rest is fantasyish.

>>10250810
The standard trope would be:
>middle age setting
>Fantasy races: dwarves, elves, goblins
>chosen one story
>evil wizard
>royalty drama
>Wise mentor
>etc

Roshar is a barren wasteland, tormented by a derecho (piloted by the memory of a dead God), populated almost entirely by crustaceans. Society is vaguely medieval, sure. But overall it hardly fits the tropes.

It's objectively fantasy, but it's not exactly basic.

>>10250840
Yeaaaah, that's because you've only read Tolkien & Friends. The vest majority of fantasy books written since the 80s try to use their own settings.
I agree that Sanderson is a good entry author for fantasy though.

Sanderson is the literary equivalent of a video game company making games that are awesome if you're a casual but not that great if you're a veteran who wants a challenge.

>>10250840
>The standard trope would be
I have to disagree, that's a horribly generic view of fantasy. Like something my father would say, and his only experience with fantasy is reading LotR 40 years ago.

>>10250885
>>10250890
Kinda what I mean by standard trope, my dudes.
Told y'all I'm a fantasy newbie, so you get a newbie perspective.

>>10248360
>I have to find great something written for a different demographics

>>10249039
Anyone got more comfy edge recs?

>>10250919

>ecology
>heuristics
>epistemic
>cognition
>semantic apocalypse
>heuristic neglect theory

Who am I, /sffg/?

Any good First Contact stories where shit doesn't hit the fan, and we get along with the ayy lmao's?

What are some books like Banks' The Culture?

>>10250794
That would have been the efficient way. However, I was unfamiliar with Smith so I started with the Penguin edition, enjoyed that, and then bought the 500+ page Fantasy Masterworks collection, figuring that would do it. It turns out I underestimated how much I would enjoy CAS, as well as the volume of his output. These two books seem to cover most of the best material and were a lot cheaper than the Night Shade volumes.

Also, a public service announcement for everybody else: one or two people are putting the audiobook editions of the Night Shade press CAS stories on youtube.

So Kellhus had some nigger's head hanging from his hips entirety of TUC and no one says or asks anything?

>>10251082
Why do you do this pol? You are around cultured personages. No need to give into your racist brethren in here. We are all free.

>>10251152
>implying casual racism is /pol/'s sole demesne

>>10247417
Lin Carter's Callisto is a bit steampunk, though it's set on a jungle planet not in victorian london.

>>10249786
Is this good? It sounds interesting but also looks pretty amateurish when I google it.

One day till Worm 2 starts. Anyone here planning on reading?

>>10248904

It's literally based off a light novel series.

>>10251043
Adam Roberts' Stone, in my opinion it's his attempt at deconstructing the Culture (like he took on The Dispossessed in Salt).

>>10249976
What's some more SFF about OPERATORS?

>>10250339
>>10249645
Thanks, will finish the first 3 then.

>>10251152
kys faggot, you are worse than pol tards

>>10251152
>getting up in arms when someone uses "nigger" on 4chan
bruh..

Reminded me of the Edge Chronicles

>>10247558
So I've read the first 2 books of Mistborn, some moments were enjoyable but overall it smelled of anime fanfics a bit too much for me.
I see Stormlight hyped up quite a lot in these threads, should I try reading it or will it feel the same?

>>10251432
...what?

>>10251491
shitty recent meme fad

>>10251279
What critique of The Culture could he make that wasnt already implicitly there in the series itself?

>>10251432
>>10251491
It's a recent /polint/ meme that America is 56% white, thus Americans are whitish goblins. The joke is that in the Edge Chronicles, humans are a mixture of all the different goblin/elf/troll species in the world into a new race.

>>10251538
A lot of readers unironically want to live there, anon. Of course Banks isn't self-confident enough to act like it's a real utopia, but Roberts spells it out.

>>10251279
wich gundam pls?

>>10251082
He actually has two heads hanging on his belt all along during the aspect Emperor, but nobody cares because they’re demons, so it’s ok.

>>10251434
Haven't read Mistborn, but Stormlight gets pretty anime with its fights, especially during the climax of book 2. I didn't mind it, and the rest of the books are not at all this way.

>>10251279
>What's some more SFF about OPERATORS?
It's shit though.

>>10251687
Why is that biker holding a gun?

>>10251635
Unicorn.

Anything good NOT written by Cucks, Leftards, Feminists, White Knights, SJWs, Dykes ? probably not. The whole genre has been hijacked by these degenerates and thier ludicrous Mary Sue characters.

>>10251993
try a little harder next time

Anyone read this? Someone just mentioned it on HN and it sounds interesting.
>The idea that people could literally affect the world around them via "magic spells" which mapped aliases of a invented language that would be picked up by microphones and then executed on computers.

>>10251993
>I am a whiny faggot please rape my face

>>10251276
me senpai, can't wait. Worm is criminally underrated and one of the best sci fi (i think its more sci fi than fantasy but it's kind of a hybrid) stories ive ever read.

>>10252007
LMAO

Guys, suggest me some fantasies that are like my Japanese animes.

>>10252053
Jane Yolen, Dragon's Blood.

4 days left for Oathbringer

>>10252063
Why didn't it come out before the long weekend aaaaaa

>>10252053
Broken Earth

>>10252053
Will Wright’s travelers gate or Cradle series.

>>10252053
red rising is pretty anime desu

>>10252006
I've read it and the sequel. They were good. Probably somewhat dated now but probably still worth reading.

The other book by him that I've read, Kill Decision, was mostly just a generic technothriller with some interesting stuff about drones. Mostly it read like a Bay movie. Also the main character is named Odin and has a couple pet crows he uses for recon, there's a hilarious sex scene where the crows watch him and the heroine bone.

>>10252063
I'm really bothered at how well everywhere is abiding by the release date. Even my grimy ass Walmart.
Fuck. I'm not a patient man, and reading the preview chapters made it worse.

>>10248574

Witches>Watch>Death>Rincewind

>>10252285
Watch>Death>Moist>Witches>Rincewind>those last few novels his daughter phoned in for him

>>10249100
Older women will become crazy if they don't have kids.

>>10252016

I'm excited as well. Still waiting on Wildbow to edit Worm up to snuff and release it in print. Tons of potential there.

>>10252548
And they become crazy when they do have kids. Really makes your pistachios reorient.

>His book doesn't even have a magic system!

>>10252652
I don't understand the point of this post

>>10252676
To make fun of the scrubs with no magic systems.

I started re-reading Claw Of The Conciliator. I was reminded how much Wolfe has packed into the first fifty pages of this volume:

The variously back-stabbing, superstitious, bloodthirsty and unctuous people of Saltus (the village mindset is portrayed very keenly here indeed), the executions, the green man at the fair, the letter, the cave man-apes at the mine.

An eventful time indeed, after the comparatively static beginning of the last volume.

Recommend me something Jungian.

>>10252760
City of Illusions.

>>10252195
But I thought it was communist propaganda.

>>10252760
He's awash in New Wave era science fiction, where I suspect most writers had Jung on their shelves. Particularly Philip K Dick - most overtly of all - but also Brian Aldiss, who plays with Jungian symbols, e.g. the devouring mother is a womb-like plant in one of his books.

I present to you the goat science fiction and fantasy writer

>>10252563
yeah i really do think it has the potential to be huge considering how low the bar is(athough i dont think it would translate well to tv, maybe as an anime). What do you think the next protag's power will be? I'm slightly worried because i know WB considered killing Taylor off multiple times and i dont think the series would have been as good if it hadn't followed her. I also can't think of another power as great as the bug control, but i didn't write W1 so im trying to have faith. Would you have the Simourghs baby?

>>10252652
>>10252698
Easy there, we have Le Guin fans here too. Let's play nice.

>>10252864
Le Guin's got a better magic system than Sanderson though, it's just not spelled out.
>calling it a magic system when there's no contagion or similarity

>>10252878
Le Guin is also a woman who has sucked dozens, perhaps hundreds of cocks

>>10252878
What do you mean by contagion?

>>10252889
yes, and she is proud of her abortion and refused to write another good word after 1975, but Le Guin's got a better magic system than Sanderson.

>>10252893
Contagion is the tendency for things to infect nearby things with their nature, so that things left at shrines have a little bit of shrine in them or tools owned by murderers have a little bit of murderer in them. Similarity is the effect things have on things that look like them, voodoo dolls and some types of herbal medicine and dressing like demons to scare them away. There's a lot more to these, even in their expression in modern fantasy, but most human societies act or have acted in the past like they're physical laws (even though as far as we can tell they're nothing of the sort). Probably the tendency to believe them is innate to human instinct and part of the thrill we get reading fantasy, which is why Sanderson feels like SF in fantasy clothes.

>>10252913
i honestly never realized people actually liked those faggy "primitive" magic systems. I love it when there are actual rules that govern the magic so and characters use them in clever ways. Maybe thats because im a stem autist though.

>>10252952
What are the best rule-based magic systems, then?

>>10252952
There are, there are actually really well-developed rules, but these are the basic principles they're based on. What are Sanderson's rules based on? What are the actual rules that make color = physical force, in-universe? You don't sound like a STEM autist, you sound like a video game autist.

>>10252913
Thanks, that's interesting. What's your favorite magic system? In anything, doesn't have to be from a book.

>>10252952
I would like to know yours too.

>>10252962

WoT's channeling

What's some good modern pulp stuff with Manly Chads taking on shit like nazi space wizards and gorilla super scientists?

>>10253038
The Hermetic Millennia.

>>10253034
?

>>10252972
I love true name magic like in Earthsea or Jonathan Strange, and I really love it when magic is all-powerful and even somewhat sinister, like in Jonathan Strange. Forget turning magic into some nuts-and-bolts addition to our technological toolkit, make it something that could destroy and remake all of creation, which explains why you don't hear about it much because despite its power it's just that dangerous.

Also the telekinesis in Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, how they're all trying to develop theirs like they're X-Men with unique powers or something until the quiet fat man discovers it's all based on the strength of your imagination and becomes absolutely unstoppable.

>>10252962
muh warrens and deck of dragons

>>10252808
Well maybe, If anything it's an attack on Plato's 'ideal city' but it didn't end up especially one-sided.

>>10253050
Kek to the stars.

I came across a list of rules for writers of short fantasy and SF stories by Mr Bisson. There are sixty in all, mostly common sense, but here are several of the most interesting for the benefit of the aspiring writers in here. My observations in brackets:

3. The SF reader is a gamer who brings a problem-solving intelligence to the story. This is the SF writer's one great advantage. Use it. (what is the mindset of the fantasy reader?)

8. One world only. Dreams are out of place in a short story. (the relation of dreams and dream-like states is a long literary tradition)

16. Genre is a matrix of expectations. They are yours to grant, deny or delay, but you must know what they are. Don't be writing SF if you haven't read it. (agreed - Brandon Sanderson also says the same things in his youtube lectures.)

20. The main character should be a little stupid. This flatters the reader. (the 'watson' - but it's easy to imagine how an intelligent and able protagonist can also be interesting.)

37. No wizards or dragons. They will make your short story seem like a part of a longer, less interesting piece. (this would seem to deny the reader the climax or central spectacle that many readers would enjoy - and I've encountered monsters and fantastical elements in the short fiction of Vance, Lovecraft, CAS, Leiber.)

40. Fights are only interesting in real life. They are boring in stories. (REH and Leiber would have disagreed.)

44. Sex is out of place in a short story, unless it has already happened or will happen after the story is over. (sort of agree - have only seen robert silverberg do this successfully)

46. Try to put something interesting on every page. This is Gene Wolfe' s rule.

47. Telling can be better than showing. It all depends on who's doing the telling. (this one's always up for debate - mix and match I say)

50. Go easy on character descriptions. Nobody cares what your characters look like. They only need to be able to tell them apart. (if I wrote short fiction I would probably fall afoul of this)

54. Withhold as much information as possible for as long as possible. When the reader knows everything, the story is over. (short fiction as a blue-balling tease. It feels like novels are often written with this same idea)

57. Read your story aloud. It must run under a half an hour. This is about 4000 words. Anything longer than this and people start to fidget.

how do you write a narcissist having a mental breakdown in the middle of the final fight?

My "a god am I" speech came out pretty crappy and generic and I kind of feel like everything the guy is yelling in the middle of the fight is either generic or repetative

>>10253365
>No, this can't be happening! I'm in charge here!

>>10253377
He's not convinced he's losing. it's more for a situation when his plan's been ruined so he's just going berserk and trying to kill everyone with magic

>tfw you have to call police and afterwards realize you're in a thrift store parking lot so you go inside and buy 10 mint SFF hardbacks for $10

Can someone please recommend me something emotional or depressing?

>>10253485
Your biography

>>10253485
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

>>10253377
hows this?

>“Philistines!” He bellowed, turning his gaze between the cook struggling to his feet and the flash-blind seer. “Why is it that every time a visionary walks among you, with a dream of making magic great again, that the small-thinkers and dimwits try to hold paradise back? The new world is here ladies and gentlemen! It's a lot like the first one but with my name in lights!”

>“Get down!”

>“This is my world!”

>*cue all hell breaking loose*

>>10253341
Quality post, thank you.
>16. Genre is a matrix of expectations. They are yours to grant, deny or delay, but you must know what they are. Don't be writing SF if you haven't read it. (agreed - Brandon Sanderson also says the same things in his youtube lectures.)
Know the tropes, in other words? If my paraphrase is true, it strikes me that it could place limits on your work: 'Simpsons did it', for one. You never know, you might do it better out of sheer ignorance.
>20. The main character should be a little stupid. This flatters the reader. (the 'watson' - but it's easy to imagine how an intelligent and able protagonist can also be interesting.)
I see this point as being more of an authorial opinion on not limiting your potential market for sales, which brought something to mind: I know a reader who professes to dislike works where they have to remember a lot of names or places. I wonder if this is evidence of difference in scope of imagination; if so, it could apply just as well in terms of limiting market potential. Then again, #16 may dictate that fantasy, for example, has the expectation of thorough world-building (and explicit magic rulesets?).

>>10253506
Such an underrated series, especially the first 2 trilogies. The first book in his new fantasy trilogy, The Great Gods War, comes out soon.

>>10251042
Left Hand of Darkness. Kinda.

>>10253034
Unironically this. But Sanderson ruined it and also well defined magic systems are shit.

>>10253963
>If my paraphrase is true, it strikes me that it could place limits on your work: 'Simpsons did it', for one.
That's not how I read it at all. He said you can use or not use the conventions of the genre as you choose, but you must do so knowingly.

I know it's not fantasy but Baller's other stuff is really good. I just finished Disciple of the Dog and I would heavily recommend it.

>>10253341
>50. Go easy on character descriptions. Nobody cares what your characters look like. They only need to be able to tell them apart.
This is shitty and great advice at the same time. It's true that no one care what your character look like, beyond some basic features. But it's absolutely crucial that your character differ in personality and behaviour.

>>10254248
>But it's absolutely crucial that your character differ in personality and behaviour.
which have nothing to do with appearance

>>10254262
I'm going to keep implying.
>implying character descriptions is all about looks

Is it true that wheel has animulike waifu characters?

>>10254299
No. Only spanking.

>>10253341
>3. The SF reader is a gamer who brings a problem-solving intelligence to the story. This is the SF writer's one great advantage. Use it. (what is the mindset of the fantasy reader?)

An escapist I suppose. Somebody who doesn't want big ideas or allegories or whatever, rather wanting a simple, clearcut adventure story where, if there is a moral or a idea, it's clearcut and black and white.

The type of person who'd go see the next Michael Bay explosion fest instead of the next Arrival.

Are fantasy novels written by literal nazis?
All I'm seeing is blonde hair, blue eyes and slender. It's happening too steady to be a coincidence. It's like the author is signaling.

>>10254343
if only

>>10254343
Because the background is usually "fantasy medieval EUROPE", back in the time there werent exactly a lot of niggers in europe.

>>10254353
Its the trysmoon book. It's not Europe as far as I see.

>>10254315
I say this for your own good: please get your head out of your ass.

>>10254280
That's what character description means, yes. Is English not your first language?

>>10254424
No, it's not. Is character description actually exclusive to looks?

>Worm 2 protagonist is Vicky

Speaking of Aryans! Didn't expect that choice of protag, but I'm quite pleased with it.

>>10254343
There was a very good essay a while back in a science fiction writing magazine (Science Fiction Studies IIRC) about fascist themes in SFF and the author pointed out that a lot of fantasy stories seem to unknowingly use the same themes and (ugh I hate this word now) tropes as fascist propaganda and so on. I'd suggest hunting down the article if you have JSTOR access or whatever.

>>10254353
what are scandinavians and germans then?

>>10251276
>>10252848
>>10252563

Holy fuck Worm 2 is up and happening as of this very moment. Chapter one is here, Worm 2 I real. Fuuuuuck yes.

>1 like is 1 prayer for all the drowned sentai themed heroes who died in Leviathan’s attack on japan.

Since the author died, is it worth starting wheel or its unfinished?

>>10254600
it's finished. Sanderson finished it i believe.

is there any fantasy with a WW1 or WW2 setting/aesthetic/technology level that is not alt history, time travel or lovecraftian horror? In the same way the cookie cutter fantasy is just magical medieval England, I want magical Europe with moist nuggets and mustard gas. Only things I've found so far in any media are Laputa Castle in the Sky, Full Metal Alchemist and Valkyria Chronicles. All Japanese and not a single novel.

>>10254600
it's finished, the last 3(?) were written by Sanderson, I think he did a good job with wrapping the series up, at least as good as Jordan would have.

>>10253365
Let him hallucinate PKD style

>>10254619
You could try asking r/printsf.
Attack on Titan has a WWIish tech level in the latest arc, but thats only about 10% of the whole manga.

>>10254650
I'm looking to read a novel though, but thank you

>>10254650
>that pic
The fuck

Did AoT get interesting again? I got bored around the time the ruling class got overthrown, and the gang was still looking for the secret basement.

>>10254702
Being purposefully vague. AoT changes a LOT from when the basement is eventually found.

>>10254714
Worth picking up again?

>>10254702
No. I fucking hated it. As boring as shit

>>10254619
The Wolfhound Century series by Peter Higgins and the City of Stairs series by Robert Jackson Bennett are probably what you want. Respectively they're late WWII and early WWI/Boer War period settings, but in fantasy worlds that have modernized.

If you're willing to expand to the early modern to Napoleonic period there is also Glen Cook's Instrumentalities of the Night (the opening is some soldiers changing Everything by shooting a demon with a cannon loaded with silver coins), The Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler, and The Powder Mage series by Brian McClellan. (both heavily inspired by revolutionary France)

>>10254724
desu I'd just say you should google the chapter they get to the basement, invest an hour or two reading from there. Decide for yourself. Can always go back and pick up from where you left off, even if it will be spoiled a bit.

>>10251152
hello friend, you are not in neogaf no more...

>>10254541
>lot of fantasy stories seem to unknowingly use the same themes and tropes as fascist propaganda
What a face-meltingly hot take.

>>10254885
What the fuck, how's Stranger in a Strange Land/Silmarilion/Plague Dogs gonna turn me into a fascist?

>>10255002
The same way that reading Ivanhoe will:
it won't but modern academics are morons when it comes to what's specifically fascism and what's fascism pulling attractive, nostalgic, near-forgotten concepts out of history.

>>10254885
God Moorcock is such a cunt.

>>10254619
The Mistborn books that come after the first three have a circa 1900 tech level. It has rifles, though the main character also uses revolvers and shotguns. Try reading a few chapters of The Alloy of Law. The tech level advances somewhat during these books.

>>10254650
If you're going Japanese there's tons of that stuff, they don't care about medieval techlevels in their fantasy.

>>10254600
I was quite disappointed by the ending. The difference between Jordan and Sandersons writing is quite noticeable.

>>10247148
Sword of Shannara

>>10247148
This

>>10247148
Or this

>>10247152
You might like this. Nothing cozy about it though. And it's a movie, not a book.

>>10249823
Try this

Any good books with cute waifus?
and cute romance?
Like the wot series?

>>10254544

>Victoria Dallon rides again

Are you ready for this, anon?

>>10254726
Everything here except glen cook book (can't vouch for it seeing as I haven't read it).

>>10254768
Never went there..

>>10255172
Going Japanese..........

New Thread
Eat it up boyos
>>10255483
>>10255483
>>10255483

>>10252235
I'll have a go at Daemon then, thanks anon.

>>10247152
>adventuring across a vast steppe