/lit/ - Literature

first for having a wank to Storm of Swords boat sex scene

best fantasy books to speedrun?

3rd for anyone who rolls trips in this thread must never touch another book again until they've read every warhammer fantasy novel ever written.

>>10503976
>The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison is great
Yea. Great until she listened to her shipping fan base, and rewrote her novels to have that level. Now no one reads her (at least I don't) anymore because of that cluster fuck brainwashed ending.

That time book she wrote after the hollows flopped. I said it before. Women create great imaginative pieces, it just that they usually ruin it when they let their cunny have it's way and go crazy with the romance.

webnovels are novels too

>>10508695
correct. usually bad, but quality of books should not factor into the validity of discussing them

Inspired by that anon who was working on an Animorphs audio drama...

Anybody able to recommend some good pulpy sci-fi or fantasy book series (preferably public domain but if it's over and hasn't been touched in over a decade that's fine too) that I can give the "The Shadow" treatment and try to make into an audio drama series?

Has anyone actually read pic related and liked it? My ex’s mom said it was her favorite sci-fi book but I’m 22 pages in and dry heaving every other paragraph.

>>10508912
>Has anyone actually read pic related and liked it?
Your ex's mom, for one.

>>10508917
On the board, smartass. I’m not particularly interested in a crazy pseudo-anarchist’s take on it - I already have that.

>>10508926
>pseudo-anarchist
Can you be more specific? Every stripe of anarchist thinks at least one other type of anarchist is a statist.

>>10508933
She just doesn’t vote and spends all her money on video games. As far as I can tell that’s it. She listened to a lot of the Dead Kennedys as well, so there’s that I guess.

>>10508912
I liked it.
but I'm a filthy degenerate, so it's no surprise
>old married father fucking young cunny
>old married used up cunny getting used, then turning your son into a sissy

>>10508912
I swear to god though, so far this book is only about a) the card game Bridge, b) how hot the old man with the paunch and thinning hair is since he’s so stern and in control, and c) how lame his handsome son is.

>>10508972
It’s not even good porn though, so far as I can tell, since it’s so obvious that Farnham is just a stand in for Heinlein to use to do what he wouldn’t be able to in real life

>>10508795
>>10508695
worm is the Ulysses of webnovles

>>10508926
and by "her take" you mean "you and her lived by the book's principles," right?

>>10508558
PSS had a sexual relationship between a human guy and an insect-woman and it was cute

>>10508990
No way, man, and I’m glad of it. Also, I’m a few more pages in and he’s introduced another concept - women needn’t wear shirts. I can fucking hear him jacking off as he writes.

>>10508590
>>10508999
Tough luck bro.

Postan

E-book: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1059
Audio: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8968

>>10508558
Probably not what you were going for OP, but I found the VALIS trilogy very shocking and unsettling - that level of genuine mental instability and anguish, portrayed without a trace of romanticism, is much rarer in SF than the more usual type of "edgy" material

>>10509056
Haha I may be a masochist for forcing myself through Heinline but I’d never take it that far

Bakker is the most taboo fantasy shit ive read probably. Really wish rape goblins were more common.

Do we have a list of candidates for the next book club pick?

>>10508558
>list the most controversial sff books you read
Time Enough for Love, I guess. I've not really read anything that controversial.
>what sff book shocked you the most?
Dystopias, say 1984 or I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, might be depressive but I would not call them shocking. So non, really.
>can modern writers get away with things olden writers got away with?
I doubt anyone would name a cat Nigger-man nowadays. But I don't think writers CAN'T get away with stuff.

>>10508558
>can modern authors get away with

As someome trying to write an implied rapacious noblemans son I can honestly say no, they cannot.
There's no way I can have a 12 year old rape another twelve year old while her sister watches and feel comfortable with myself.
Wouldn't have been a problem in the 60' and 70's

>>10508558
>what sff book shocked you the most?
Prince/King of Thorns, with how awful it was.

>>10509191
just write it retard, that sounds hot.

>>10509191
Not feeling comfortable with juvenile rape is probably a positive change desu

Christ Cyteen is boring. I'm 36 pages in and it's been nothing but meetings and motions and adjournments. Please tell me that it gets going at some point.

>>10508590

Fuck that shit, 50 of them is more than enough

>>10508974

Spoiler alert:
The old man tries to convince his daughter to fuck his nigger manservant; later they emerge into a future where literal fucking Yakub niggers from space are all genius Kangz and all whites are ignorant rapeslaves

That was when I dropped it and, after the shitshow that was the unabridged Stranger in a Strange Land, decided Heinlein was simply not for me

>>10509474
I think I’ll end up disliking similar parts as you for very different reasons, friendo.

>>10509474
Aww. Poor pol. Don't like things that challenge your worldview /doctrine?

>>10509444
Anon I...
It picks up a little when young Ariane makes an appearance, but the book is literally about political infighting.

Is there a reason Robert Jordan wrote 90% of the women in WoT as massive cunts? I'm a few books in and this shit has me baffled.

Do the anon who posted the list of radio dramas, I'm listening to the Black Tapes right now and really liking it. Thanks for the suggestion. On the other hand I dropped Welcome to Nightvale like one minute in. That really did seem like some tumblr shit, to paraphrase that other anon.

>>10509613
You're shitting me, for real? Well, at least it was a christmas gift and not something I paid for.

>>10509644
To contrast them with best girl Tuon

>>10509644
Matriarchy. Not even memeing

>>10509644
His only experience of women came from his harpy of a wife.

>>10509652
It does explore some themes like personhood and cloning, but definitely isn't one of Cherryh's space operas. I sometimes recc it to anons looking for sexually precocious lolis because I'm a bad person (technically true).

There are any books with degeneracy but not smut?
I want a good book, with some good stories, but i dont want everything to revolve about sex and how the protag is amazing and his dick is like honey.

>>10509653
>>10509662
>>10509671
Great. Is there any hope of character growth or should I just bail? If I have to read another 9 books of Egwene maligning Rand for absolutely no reason I might as well do something better with my time.

>>10509760
There is, really, the most hateable woman in the series becomes one of my favorite characters, behind only of rand, even egwene gets redemption.

>>10509760
Egwene is forever a bitch, honestly. Although, minor spoiler, she doesn't spend much time around Rand later on so you won't have to bear that particular interaction. Some other women... change if not exactly develop. I love WoT and in my opinion the female characters don't overshadow the other parts of the story enough that it's not worth to read. But that's my opinion

I am not sure if i should post this here, but well...
There are any other good cosmic terror aside lovecraft and night land(this shit is unreadable)?

>>10509769
Who? Moirane?

Funnily, the evil women in WoT are the most bearable.

>>10508590
challenge accepted

>>10509784
I dont know where you are, but nynaeve becomes more annoying than moiraine.
But you have to understand their reasons.
>nynaeve
>wisdom with confidence problems, always have to be tough to show the others that she is a wisdom no matter her age
Also, she cares for rand, and she sees herself as wisdom, he is her resposability.
Also she has a thing for saving people.
Moiraine gave up everything for the DR, she wants to guide him, this is why she's so fuckin annoying, later she will redeem herself also.

>>10509793
Oh, of course. Nynaeve. Yea, she gets better.
I've read the whole thing already, I'm another anon.

>>10509777
yeah, it's called "i fucked up and rolled a triple in this thread"
>>10508590

Do people actually read modern fantasy novella/novelettes?
I would have thought they'd be more popular considering people read less nowadays but that seems not the be the case

>>10508590
>>10509817
oh shit
where should i begin?

>>10509829
that's the horrific part
you must read them in a random order

>>10509834
do you have any chart for me to roll anon?

>>10509842
nah, m8, i've never read any aside from part of "trollslayer" but maybe the guy who posted that satanic curse can help you

>>10509842
You've got your work cut out for you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Warhammer_Fantasy_novels

>>10509857
holy shit
i am gonna die before i read all this shit

>>10509760
My personal opinion is that it's not worth it. Not because the women or any other characters are insufferable or because the story is bad but because it's 10 000 pages of partly unfinished fantasy that's at best slightly better than average.

>>10509822
For some reason people chose one long as series (most often something by Sanderson) and then spend the rest of the year reading it.

I am thinking of readding warhammer
should i begin with fantasy or with 40k?

>>10509741
Do you want books where the girl's pussy is like honey (tight and wet) then?

>>10509741
heartstone saga

>>10509599

What about cuckold porn and science-denial challenges my world view?

>>10509982
I think youre dense

>>10509982
> Do you want books where the girl's pussy is like honey (tight and wet) then?

Yes, I think I do but only if it's well written and with a decent story.

>>10510035
Emmanuelle

>>10509822

Suggest some? I thought every contemporary author is just jacking off into an ASOIAF style endless series these days

>>10510039
Doesn't belong in /SFfG/

>>10509876

I might actually make a roll chart when I get to my PC and assign dubs/trips/etc. to particularly shitty ones. Just finishing the Horus heresy will be a nightmare in itself since only about 1/4 of them are tolerable

So I started reading The Library at Mount Char and I'm only two chapters in but boy oh boy I hope David dies a horrible death.

Can we discuss sci-fi that involves manipulation/violation of mathematics? I know this occurs in the Xeelee Sequence by Baxter, and Reynolds has used it before in Revelation Space (cryo-arithmetic engines violating 2nd law of thermodynamics). I'd love to read more hard sci-fi that incorporates this kind of shit if anyone can provide me with further reading material. I have nothing important planned after my current book.

>>10510069
I must admit i like the warhammer setting.
Are they really that bad? also why?

>>10510071
>Methuselah's Children
>some autist build a small add on to a ordinary rocket engine making it capable of FTL travel
How I hate Libby...

it's been sitting on my shelf for a month, should i do it guys?
is today the day?
i'm not reading any other scifi currently and the mood has struck

>>10510082

The setting has lots of potential, the authors choose what to do with the setting. I personally like the William King Gotrek and Felix books (declined in quality with each new author), Malus Darkblade (read before I knew about Elric of Melnibone), Brunner and the Matthias Thulmann books are ok, the Wine of Dreams is also a cool standalone that hardly has anything to do with the game setting. The problem is over time they hired cheaper and worse authors, and started asking them to make it more of a commercial for the tabletop products, where originally they just let authors play around in a setting sandbox and even help fill in blank spots as they found them.

Horus Heresy started off strong with the first three books but was a victim of its own success as worse and worse writers were brought in to crank out a new Spess Muhreen book every three months, and black library went downhill from there. Much of that wiki list is fanfic-tier trash.

>>10510097
>After the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100
Do I need to read this shit beforehand?

>>10510106
May as well. I read it over the past ~2 weeks and last thread was rife with discussion. Jump on the wagon.

Are there any decent sci-fi books about time travel but set in the modern day?

Sort of like Quantum Break?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28696617-quantum-break?from_search=true

>>10510200
>Cam Rogers

Where do I know that we from...

>>10510187
Nah. You can jump on and of the Heinlein train at any point. Revolt is also quite boring.

I was hoping someone would surprise me and tell me one or two that everyone's reading/read recently.
I partly asked because I wanted to play with the idea of a novella series

>>10510345
one or two what?

>>10510376

>>10510345
this meant for >>10510055 I fucked up

>>10510015
So you admit you're a filthy facts changing /pol/e

>>10510187
>>10510071
I'm glad you're enjoying library at mount char. I hope you will consider house of blades for the Sandersonesque anime.
>training montage
>summoning techniques
>anime weapons
>animal / cute item companion
>multiple worlds and ways to travel to them
>anime power ups

>hard sci-fi that violates physics

>>10510524
>you're a filthy facts changing /pol/e

This is an American website and in America we speak English

>>10510071
John C. Wright, Golden Age trilogy. Mathematics discovered inside the event horizon of a black hole where infinity = 0.

>>10510573
>"hard" sf
>someone transmutes elements

>>10507964
Asking again about this.
tl:dr - any books that use historical magic systems instead of making up their own?

>fi

>>10510560
I wouldn't say I'm enjoying it but can't say I dislike it either. I am neutral so far. The premise seems a bit bland hunting a missing person but I guess it will be interesting to see what happens given the characters' various disciplines.
If I wanted to read anime I'd just read battle shonen

>>10510726
Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son series uses a lot of American folk magic. Same with Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John stories.

>>10508989
Anything that's termed "the ulysses of web-----s" is bound to be good

There is any good book with a /fit/ protag who fucks pussy?

>reading a novel
>author aggressively starts shilling his aborignal stand in
When will this meme end?

>>10510720
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation
are you retarded?

>>10510814
gee anon I wonder why the Lavoisier picture was attached, maybe he was a great scientist of his age that didn't believe transmutation was real science or something

>>10510823
I'll take that as a yes

>>10508558
Pic related has a few stories that really kind of jarred me in a couple spots. On the Uses of Torture was one, pretty graphic, did not see the ending coming. In the Barn was pretty fucked up. And there was one about fucking some kind of tiny nymph-thing. Would recommend.

I'm halfway through pic related, and wtf is all this shit about hating humanity?

I just finished Hyperion with tears in my eyes. Is the sequel or anything else Simmons writes as good?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26lhb05cV6g

>>10510581
Not my fault that you can't read, along with the penchant to change facts to suit you.

>>10510726
Rick Riordan
Greek magic - Percy Jackson
Egyptian magic - Red Pyramid

>>10510999
She hates humanity because of the Cultural Revolution, that stuff at the beginning. Also cursed digits.

hey guys we love ayyys come discuss scifi

https://discord gg/c37NwyB

>>10511193
>discord
Kill yourself

>>10510803
Conan.

>>10508558
What's the best edition of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings? All I really know is that some have illustrations and other don't.

>>10511717
i have that edition and i really like it. each of the books are the perfect size. i dont think there are any illustrations but its still good.

>>10511193
I miss when shilling chat rooms and shit was actually a banworthy offense on 4chan.

>finally assemble a convoluted story about a guy investigating his heritage only to find out that his conception was the result of a faustian bargain and he and 8 other people who all had a say in making the bargains are now engaged in a futile chess match between outer gods who all have contingencies in place to assure that the world will end if they lose
>step back and realize it's a fucking clusterfuck
>try another idea
>isekai parody of city life and cosmic horror involving two kids whose train unexpectedly goes into another universe forcing them to go on a journey between worlds impeded by a vast and indifferent entity of public transportations systems incarnate just to get home and have dinner
>fuck, I can't think of characters
>try another idea
>superhero story about teenagers with useless superpowers being drafted into a justice league knockoff to fight monsters and supervillains
>cool, I can re-use character concepts
>oh wait, literally nobody reads superhero novels


I'm really fucking starting to hate writing

>>10512371
just write for you bro

>>10511717
Depends what you want. Use the official Tolkien shop website. You can search by format, illustrations, etc.
http://www.tolkien.co.uk/

>>10510999
Tje book opens with her seeing her father beaten to death for trivial reasons, of course there’s a lot of humanity-hate floating around

>>10511088
Fall of Hyperion is a little different in tone, as it’s not a collection of short stories, but if you enjoyed the story so far and the universe it wraps it a up delightfully.

I hated the first two chapters of Gardens of the Moon, like really hated everything about them, from the plot itself to the way characters act and react to every little thing ten times per page and all the convoluted stuff they are thinking to themselves. I don't feel characters think and react like people at. Should I push through? From what i've read a lot of people are really fond of the series.

>>10512721
Have you read any other long fantasy series before? If you have an liked them, Malazan is a pretty good example. If you haven't, there's a possibility that the second-most-autistic genre is not for you.

>>10512890
What's the most autistic?

What are you cunts reading?

>>10511111
Can't argue with those quints.

>>10512944

>>10512944
Just finished Neuromancer, now onto Wytches by Terry Pratchett.

It's a bit of a tonal shift.

>>10509760
They do get character development yeah. Nynaeve becomes great, and on my re-read I actually enjoy her even in the beginning because I know how she turns out. The opposite is true for Egwene who was alright at first. As >>10509769 said, she does get some kind of redemption eventually, even though it's not nearly enough to make up for the huge bitch Mary Sue she becomes under Sanderson. The good points is that the authors both wrote her in a way that clearly shows she is wrong, so you can stomach her.
Other bad or even horrible female characters appear eventually. Some become good, others don't. Nobody tops Egwene though.

What you need to realize is that Jordan's idea of masculinity is that of an immovable obect, ie the strong man does not concern himself with the tantrums of his child of a wife. There are several male characters depicted like that and it's a recurrent theme in the series. that's to take in the light of >>10509671

All in all it's pretty worth it. There are some great moments in the series that will make you feel things.

The Gathering Storm, Veins of Gold (Chapter 50)

>>10509444
>winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel
You only have yourself to blame. The warning that you shouldn't read it is right there on the cover.

>>10509777
Read Awake in the Night Land.

>>10510726
Warlord Chronicles

>>10510803
Undying Mercenaries. Main protag is a pussy magnet. So much so even bitches who hate him and want him dead still fuck him.

>>10510709
Wow it sounds really good!

>>10513018
Cut him some slack, it was published back when that still kind of meant something.

>>10511088
>>10512666
Fall of Hyperion is very different in tone, as it’s not a collection of short stories and plainly bad, so if you enjoyed the story so far and the universe and don't want to spoil your read, skip the sequels.

Ilium and Olympos are good. Carrion comfort is ok. I haven't read the rest.

>>10509842
Roll anon here, since you rolled 7's I'll let you off with the four Liber Chaotica.
Good luck finding the pdfs
Also the books are kinda hard to get through if you're not a gw fan.
If you scroll over this spoiler you have to post a 2k word review on facebook of each book for your friends and family to see.

What SFFG consensus on Sanderson Stormlight Archive series? I'm half through book 2 and I'm struggling, something is good but the majority of the book is slow, fuck, another 600 pages to go. Give some honest opinon, SFFG, should continue or no?

i just finished authority from the southern reach trilogy. The books got a lot of praise but I found it pretty fucking boring until like the last 50 pages. Took me like two months to get through it as I found any excuse not to continue. It wasn't bad per se, and I think a lot of the themes are well incorporated. The writing is pretty good too. I just felt that it was more a character study than a story.

>>10512930
litRPG

>>10512944
Finishing up some non SFF, then I'm starting >>10509057 and/or the second book of Hobbs Farseer Trilogy.

>>10513062
There's no consensus. Some (including myself) find Sanderson worthless to average while some seem to consider him on of the best contemporary fantasy writer.

>>10513174
>Some (including myself) find Sanderson worthless to average while some seem to consider him on of the best contemporary fantasy writer.
Those two statements aren't mutually exclusive though.

>>10512371
>realize it's a fucking clusterfuck
i did the same thing when i set out to write a novel. i worked my ass off for two months for a minimum of four hours a day, every day, and the day after i finished writing i sat at my desk and it hit me like a hundred foot wave. everything i had written fucking sucked. that was almost three years ago and i haven't written anything since.

>>10513018
It's actually a good book, written by a GrandMaster of the genre. If you aren't into the slow dance of politics though...

>>10512721
>hey i know we just met and i barely know you but i am now madly in love with you
the romance in this series was the worst. thank god it didn't happen very often

So what's wrong with the Hugo's?

>>10513232
it's just a circlejerk for those involved

>>10513232
Read this first:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Puppies

>>10513232
It was taken over by leftshits and they only give the award to the most "progressive" books or writers who aren't white men because they aren't white men.

>>10513196
Fuck. I guess I should have said that it also imply that they consider him good.

>>10513232
Like most awards the winner is not awarded only based on the quality of the work but also on the voters political opinions, friendships with the nominees and other shit.

>>10513015
>reading Wheelie time even once
>willingly giving it a reread

>>10513319
is that bad?

>>10513278
When did this decline start and what white men would you have preferred as winners? Maybe Miéville should have won 2012 but I have not read the winner so I really can't say. I am mad that Cixin Liu or Ada Palmer both lost last year but neither of them is a white man.

>>10513319
>Audio reread while multitasking
So?

>>10513114
Some litrpg (digested through audiobooks) are great. Everyone likes big chests was funny. A dumb no intelligence treasure chest becomes a high ranking player. some litrpg is very much tasty

>>10510999
Just finished the trilogy, nice ride. Really like the epic scope.

was AA an anime girl?

>>10513205
Flavors anon is that you?

>>10513205
>expecting to be good right out of the gate
>not being willing to throw away a million words for the sake of practice
>not checking back on your work and actively seeking out problems and ways to improve
>treating writing as something you're just born good at rather than a craft like painting or sculpting or woodworking
You deserved it t b h.

>>10513326
Everyone says don't read wot. Once autist shills the series and makes it out to be more than it is.

>everyone love Cixin Liu
Have anyone read his short story collection, The Wandering Earth ?

>>10513357
nice assumptions. it wasn't my first time at the rodeo, just the first time i actually completed a novel manuscript after starting and stopping many times before. i don't regret the experience at all. my point was how soul-sucking the experience was for me. short stories are more my speed, but i'd like to attempt a novel again someday.

>>10513361
>>everyone love Cixin Liu
No we don't. It the few real asians in the general shilling one of their country men. Just ignore them and his books.

>>10513355
no. curious who Flavors is though

>>10513365
>i don't regret the experience at all.
Yet it made you quit writing, something you obviously wanted very badly to do.
>short stories are more my speed
Yeah, lots of authors think novels are the only real format, when shorts are a great form in themselves, not just a good way to develop skills. It's too bad you haven't been writing any, though.

>>10513366
Sorry, I'll improve my post.

Some of you seem to enjoy Crixin Lius writing, have anyone of you read his short story collection, The Wandering Earth? Is it any good?

>>10513360
>stop liking what I don't like
>you autist
>I'm so lonely

>>10513369
I don't regret that I saw a manuscript through from beginning to end since I had abandoned other projects more times than I can remember. That alone was a huge win for me. I've always cycled through periods of writing and not writing so this isn't unusual for me, but it has gone on longer than I had intended. I guess by even talking about it I'm already getting the urge to write again. Part of me really wants to rewrite it, part of me wants to leave it as a learning experience and start on something unconnected with a previous writing. I guess if nothing else I should read it again and take note of anything I did right.

>>10512890
Just recently got into it, so far only stormlight archieve and four of the Drenai saga. Oh and asoiaf long time ago. Loved
some parts and didn't really mind some parts that I didn't love but in malazan something just feels off. I'm on the second chapter and the author keeps describing what magic chick feels towards bridge burners and it's all strange. Like the author assumes all kinds of feelings that aren't really there in average people. In Legend hero - fan dynamic was very straight forward and palpable. Here she keeps describing all the strange stuff associated with legends, goes into panic attacks, someone is amused or scowling. Characters are all overly dramatic and read into each other in strange ways. I really feel insane like I'm supposed to see something but it's just not there for me.

does anyone else have a pattern on giving up on series? i just realized if i give up on a series it's always on the fourth book.

>>10513417
When I look through my old writing and poetry I'm always impressed at what I accomplished. Even though the flaws are still there, there are plenty of good points. It's difficult to write something absolutely no one wants to read.

>>10513367
Were you in this general crying about your aspiring novel in 2014?

Flavors anon is someone who thought of writing a novel with metals/elements (atomic) as being distinguished by flavour by his protagonist. Some rat king kinda idea. Haven't seen him in months. Wonder if he finally an heroed.

>>10513432
I don't remember flavors but I remember gas-kun. I actually dl'd his book once, still haven't read it. From what I did read it had that cloying exuberant naivety first-novel first-person narrators tend to have. Did he start releasing the rest?

>>10513375
>ad hominem

>>10513432
Lol, no that wasn't me.

>>10513435
It's not gaskun ding ding I'm talking about. Nor did I read his novel.

>>10513444
gaskun's still around sometimes.

>mfw I've kept my aspiring authorness out of 4chan so I'm not tard-famous
feels pretty good, men

>>10513464
More autism bux for me then, faggot.

So just to make sure that I'm not a complete retard, Burns-Caulfield was a sort of scout/probe sent out by Rorschach, right?

>>10513425
Stop reading series longer than four books then. Basically long series are the equivalent of TV shows.

As far as series that tell a single continuous story instead of episodes, if it's longer than War and Peace don't even start unless you suspect the author is better than Tolstoy (probably not).

>Waterstones no longer supplying Crichton books
The amount of butthurt this guy generates is so fucking priceless.

>>10513500
i've completed and enjoyed some long series. i just found it odd that if i drop one it's always at the fourth entry. just found it odd is all

Is there a horror/supernatural general? I want to find some good, modern ghost stories/novels.

>tfw always give recommendations when anons ask for them, but never see any feedback and having no idea if they actually read what you recommended

>>10513565
i'm up to my eyeballs with books to read, but i'm always down for new recommendations. what have ya got?

>>10510071
Oohh your in for a fuckin ride man

>>10512944
The Riftwar Saga #1.
>call your book Magician
>less than 10% of the book features a magician

>>10513540
Just ask for spooky books you autistic fuck.

>>10513601
then give me some, fucker

>>10513570
The bible

>>10513614
not enough goddamned ghosts

>>10513523
What happened?

>>10513050
>and plainly bad
Really? That bums me out. In what way is it bad?

>>10513626
He was pretty right wing for his time and was a global warming skeptic so naturally he pissed off a lot of (((people))) in the (((publishing world))). This has led to a lot of places low-key refusing to sell his books any more.

Crichton didn't really give a fuck though. And his response to one of the columnists criticising his global warming views was fucking hilarious:
>In 2006, Crichton clashed with journalist Michael Crowley, a senior editor of the magazine The New Republic. In March 2006, Crowley wrote a strongly critical review of State of Fear, focusing on Crichton's stance on global warming.[90] In the same year, Crichton published the novel Next, which contains a minor character named "Mick Crowley", who is a Yale graduate and a Washington, D.C.-based political columnist. The character was portrayed as a child molester with a small penis.[91] The character does not appear elsewhere in the book.[91] The real Crowley, also a Yale graduate, alleged that by including a similarly named character Crichton had libeled him.[92]

rec me some good leftist fantasy

>>10514009
i knew i liked Crichton. now i know why.

>>10514026
Anything written by a woman.

>>10508590
Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

>>10513436
>Argumentum ad Lapidum

>>10512371

The first idea was the only good one teebeehaych

>Isekai

Muh Chinese cartoons, imo, have literally broken the minds of every weeb they touch. I just proof-read a story my brother (watches anime) wrote and it was like reading a poorly dubbed cartoon about a 12 year old school girl buying groceries — and it was supposed to be gritty sci-fi. The Japs knew what they were doing to get even with us for Hiroshima, and it seems they have succeeded.

This is why when somebody says sandermeme is pure anime, my first kneejerk reaction is "gross"

I'm just about finished with The Fall of Hyperion, what do you guys think of the last two books - are they worth picking up?

>>10512944
Just finished Lies of Locke Lamora. Good book, I wish it left something for imagination though.
No idea what to read next because I can't bring myself to read same series in a row. Any recs?

>>10514352
>I wish it left something for imagination though
More like I wish it had left somethings for the imagination, amirite? The scene of the poor horse-piss girl...

>>10514009
>old man fears science

>>10514431
>Anon criticizes author he hasn't read

>>10512944
thining about starting the wheel of time. seems daunting.

>>10514032
If you read McCaffrey's bibliography you can actually see this in reverse; becoming increasingly conservative with every book published until publishers started refusing to publish her unless she worked with another author.

>>10513432
Still alive. Been around

I did end up writing a novel actually, but not that one. That one’s being scrapped for raw ideas

>>10514520
What was it like finishing your first novel?

>>10514431
>yfw global warming was debunked

>>10513432
>distinguished by flavor

>>10514316
What did you think of Fall?
>>10513050 and other mindless cunts seem to dislike it, though I'm a fan

Either way the Endymions are pretty trash

>>10513332
People have been criticizing these awards since at least the 80's, Redshirts winning awoke a lot of people.

>>10514548
Its a proud moment till you realize just how much work is left to be done

>>10513232
it's run by failed authors or members of the "science fiction literature community"
>>10513278
partly correct, but good books are still nominated and can win (ie Three Body)
>>10513248
moreso this

>>10513347
probably, not as anime as Photon though
*pulls out samuri sword and starts chopping up Australians*

>>10513361
Yeah I read them and really enjoyed it. It's very similar to Three Body, in that it's good-ideas-bad-story, with a sinocentric spin. I'd recommend it.

>>10514565
But what white males have lost that should have won? I'm simply doubting that MUH PROGRESSIVES is the actual problem with the Hugos, at least not when compared to circle jerking and a general lack of taste.

>>10513232
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2TIY1P9NNIF3O/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp

I think this Amazon profile pretty much sums it up nicely.

Found this at a garage sale and bought it based on the cover alone. What am I in for?

>>10513062
The consensus was that he was garbage but after the redditors started coming here they started trying to shill his trash

>>10514112
I feel like people just don't realize that novels more suited for different types of stories and themes. I love me some cute 2d girls but so much of what makes jap shit enjoyable is visual, the proof being that WNs, VNs etc. are almost all trash

>>10514660
I like anime but I agree with you. Too many authors try to translate visual imagination, from movies and TV not just Tojo's Revenge, into prose without really understanding what prose is and what it can do.

>>10514618
No idea, that's the sad part. If you find out your generalissimo's only been appointing his relatives to government positions for the last thirty years, you could ask "well, who's better qualified than his retarded half-cousin" but that's pretty far down the list of things to fix.

>>10513114

Yes, but I would argue that hard sci-fi is actually second-most autistic (literally masturbating to various STEM fields) and long fantasy series the third.

does anyone know where I can download the malazan audiobooks for free?

I found a torrent that had all of them but the last 4 books are not the official ones and sound awful.

>>10511111
>>10512980

Joke's on him, now he has to read the entire black library Canon twice

>>10513232

imagine if awful reddit autists in late middle age had to all meet in the physical realm rather than a containment-website

>>10514618
>But what white males have lost that should have won?
Your kidding right?

>>10514556
I should clarify that was never a plot element. The thing with flavor was that the mc had flavorkinesis and could change how things taste on a chemical level.

If it sounds stupid, that’s because it’s supposed to. However, the mc is a culinary prodigy with an encyclopedic knowledge of ingredients. He makes it work

>>10512944

Just finished botns for the first time, can't remember what anons advised about what to read next, I think they said the next book demystifies the setting, which doesn't sound like something I want, but I also want to see what happens to severian next... Also I didn't feel like I remembered any unanswered questions by the end, so not sure if I should go to the trouble of rereading it before moving on

>>10514750
fuck off hard scifi anti-shill
you don't see me laying into pulp just because I don't like it
the masturbating to stem is literally the point of hard scifi, it's scifi for scientists. get over yourself

Give me one good reason not to put lightsabers in my space fantasy novel?

Why should Lucas have the sole right to the lightsaber just because he was born before me?

We don't say "you cannot use that lazer gun because it first appeared in the 1920's", so why do assholes keep telling me to take lightsabers out of my novel?

Fuck 'em, it's here to stay.

>>10514839
Explosive decompression.

>>10514548
>global warming was debunked

Actually it's turning out that the worst-case climate models are the most accurate.

We're already seeing the effects in arid regions. Syria, Yemen, West Africa, China and India's increasingly violent border skirmishes in the Himalayas, Egypt has already threatened to go to war with Ethiopia over a dam the Ethiopians want to build in the Nile headwaters.

>>10514816
>Your kidding right?
Absolutely not, what famous (remember that the Hugos is a popularity contest before you start going on about you diary) white male author is so deserving of the price in modern time? As I said above, maybe Miéville should have won 2012 but that's about it. One of the few good things with the Hugos is that neither Rothfuss, GRRM or Sanderson have ever won.

I simply choose not to whine about the colour of shit when a bunch of circle jerking idiots pick random shit out of a pile of shit.

>>10514838

The point is that it is autistic, not that it is objectively bad or fails to achieve its own goals. I read long fantasy series and yet place them in the top three anyway. The intense autism of your reply is not helping your case

>>10514835
You can skip Urth of the New Sun and go straight for Long Sun if you want to.

>>10514856
>Actually it's turning out that the worst-case climate models are the most accurate.
Not OP but you definitely chose your words carefully because we both know exactly what climate change shit Crichton was skeptical towards; the Al Gore kind.

>>10514839
Originality for its own sake is stupid, do lightsabers if they work.

>>10514878
Thanks.

Swoop Bikes too.

>>10514877
>but that's not REAL socialism!

>>10514863
>One of the few good things with the Hugos is that neither Rothfuss, GRRM or Sanderson have ever won.
>remember that the Hugos is a popularity contest before you start going on about you diary

>>10514839
Do it. He stole lightsabers from somewhere else.

Also make it a plasma saber. Lightsabers make no sense

>>10514899
>nitpicking
A popularity contest in the World Science Fiction Society. Meaning that self publishing literally whos have a very minor chance of receiving a nomination, no matter the political opinions of the voting body.

>>10514892
>>10514856
>The arctic still exists despite the the worst-case climate models predicting it would have been gone by 2013
>but that's not REAL global warming!

>>10514931
Cite these models please.

>>10514930
But that's the fucking problem, it is a popularity contest but it isn't a representative popularity contest, see https://www.blackgate.com/2012/12/27/sff-corruption-part-i/

>>10514930
>self publishing literally whos have a very minor chance of receiving a nomination,
Right, it only goes to SFF superstars like Amal El-Mohtar, Naomi Kritzer, and Rachel Swirsky.

>>10514970
If you want true democracy, go get your votes from Goodreads.

>>10514976
I actually want good books.

>>10514976
Are you having a stroke or something? your argument makes literally zero sense.

>>10514952
I agree. The first post I replied to is >>10513278, I'm arguing (or at least I'm trying) that the problem with the Hugos is that it's an award rewarded by an circle jerking association, not a conspiracy against white male authors.

>>10515007
>not a conspiracy against white male authors.
Are you just feigning ignorance or are you actually just that disconnected from the fandom? they don't hide there's a "conspiracy" against white male authors.

How does sffg feel about John Scalzi and Terry Goodkind?

>>10515098
>John Scalzi
Talentless plagiarist ideologue

>Terry Goodkind
excruciatingly mediocre ideologue

>>10515118
Peter F. Hamilton?

>>10515080
I'm not feigning anything. Give me a link to where I can read about the people in charge of the Hugos admitting that there's a "conspiracy" against white male authors instead of leading me on this merry ride of shitting up the thread.

>>10515098
>Scalzi

First three Old Man's War books were good, now mainly notable for repeatedly antagonizing Theodre Beale and being a dog-whistle for identifying soyboys who whine about how "progressives are destroying science fiction (please ignore the entire history of science fiction)"

>Terry Goodkind

Libertarian propaganda where a guy carves a statue that's so great that everybody converts to Libertarianism. Author has a BDSM fetish and wrote about a evil chicken pooping on a woman's face.

>>10515121
Haven't read anything by him.

>>10515128
context? google didn't find much

>>10515145
Theodre Beale = Vox Day, he's trying to portray it as a Tom and Jerry rivalry but it's mainly just VD laughing at Scalzi on his blog.

>>10515175
>stalking somebody
>"n-n-no guys he's just laughing at him from his blog!"

>>10515206
What's the problem with documenting the actions of a lolcow in the midst of a mental breakdown?

anyone got some comfy fantasy rec, i did actually like sanderson and not a huge fan of the clusterfuck that is malazan.

>>10515270
Have you tried the charts?

>>10515270
Xanth

>>10512944
>>10514509
Just started The Eye of the World, its pretty good so far but it seems I'm missing a little background on what is what. It is cool though I am enjoying the story so far.

>>10514952

jfc all of this seedy underbelly of the GENRE FICTION world stuff is embarrassing. Does anybody actually pick up a book and say "Hmmmm I don't know if—wait, this won the Nebula award? Sold!"

>>10515335
>Does anybody actually pick up a book and say "Hmmmm I don't know if—wait, this won the Nebula award? Sold!"
Yes.

>>10515349

I certainly don't, I've assumed my whole life that "Winner of the X Award" on any piece of media (film, video game, so on) was just irrelevant advertising.

>>10515335
>do people actually accept recommendations

>>10515377
>in the form of a sticker

/sffg/, do you think it's possible for a series to transition from psychological horror to urban fantasy without it becoming complete shit

Does the Witcher series hold up or is it being overrated because of the video games? I just got a $20 gift card at my local book store and I'm looking at picking up either that or Metro 2033

Jack Vance is my favorite author recommended here. I've enjoyed every one of his books so far.

>>10515454
Second desu.

Any opinions on alistair reynolds?

>>10513594
>book is named assassin's apprentice
>no one is assassinated

maybe she phoned it in so the last one would be spectacular

>>10514647
Sanderson was here before you joined the general. It's just that we don't get autistic about him when you guys shit talk. We just ignore you.
Vocal minority =|= majority.

>autism husbando survived to wreck shit another day

Other parts weren't up to the standard of the first two books, but spoiler is really all that matters. Thank you, based Wexler.

>>10515998
When is Winter going to get her pussy fucked by a cock? I'm fed up of the lesbian shit. I want her dicked.

>>10512721
Have this series sitting eye level on the book wall. One of my favorite series. Slows down about Midway through the series but picks back up. Just those damn boring tiste edur

>>10516029
Winter finished the series dick-free after killing Jane and becoming a supernatural cop with Cyte.

>>10513319
I reread all the Jordan books when Sanderson finally took over. Missed the release of 14 by like a year and a half so reread 1-13. Rereading a book is like rewatching a movie IMO and it's one of my favorites for the volume alone

>>10515889
he's not good at it yet, duh

>>10512994
This book is really confusing. I've never heard of almost everyone in this book.

I like Library at Mount Char. 71% through atm, Carolyn just timezapped David, and is talking with Erwin and Steve. I envision Steve in my head as Steve from Stranger Things.

>>10515870
Dude wrote some rad shit and he's smart as fuck.

>>10516029
>fem characters giving up the pussy in 2018

>>10515128
>t. Soyboy

>>10515870
The thinking man's 40k

>>10516356
I remember finishing it at three or four in the morning & not being able to sleep after

>>10516436
piano wire cures redhats :)

>>10516651
>it's a soyboy realizes he doesn't have the upper body strength required to pull piano wire taut episode

One week.

ITS FUCKING HAPPENING
>tfw when a sequel to a book you like comes out and its everything you wanted in it

>tfw you finally found a way to get your story to work
>and it prevents any chance of you making a series and telling the whole thing

fucking kill me

>>10516832
Not everything needs to be a series

>>10516846
true, but so much of what made the story unique and fun to me needs a series to tell.

>>10516870
how about a series of one-offs that are connected by meta narrative.
for example locations, people or events.

>>10516870
Then find something else that gets your story to work. Put your back into it.

>>10516898
I'm honestly not sure I can. No matter what I do I have to shed multiple major parts.

What's some good fantasy that's fucking old like Titus Groan?

>>10517019
>1946
>old
>laughing_eta_hoffmann.jpg
Anyway George MacDonald, E.R. Eddison, and Lord Dunsany are the main meme trio for classic fantasy. You could try William Morris if you like stilted pseudo-medieval language, or even just read Ivanhoe, it's super-fun even if there's no magic in it.

>>10517019
Try Algernon Blackwood and M.R. James.

>>10517019
the bible.

What's a tool a villainous non-necromancer could use to control a horde of pre-existing undead?

>>10517065
a wand/staff, some sort of soul stone.
or if you delegete work some sort of telepath or mind control devices.
or if you go even more basic. plaster the road to enemies with chunks of flesh.

>>10517071
>plaster the road to enemies with chunks of flesh.

I don't think I can do that specifically, but now that I think of it I might be able to do the exact opposite. Rather than making them run towards flesh, what if they were instead corralled with undead repellant like crosses or garlic taped to rc cars?

I mean, I'd need something more dignified than rc cars, but the same principal. Some kind of sheep dog mechanism to make sure they're repelled in the direction of the enemy

>>10517071
just make the mind control really detailed so i can jerk off to it please

>>10514835
i personally recommend Lord of Light as a followup, i just read that after finishing botns recently
next on my list is malzahan, i guess
id rather not burn through my whole load of Wolfe to read all at once

>>10517065
A necromancer's pineal gland on a stick.

>>10517119
>>10517071
wait, no, what am I thinking?

nobody said it had to be human flesh. I could literally just have them following an rc car with a bloody steak on top.

I have to do that. It's that fucking hilarious

>>10516356
Will you give house of blades a try afterwards?

>>10516771
Is this the waldo litrpg you were shilling and raving about last thread?

>>10512371
you could do the 3rd one as a YA novel and it could be a hit
or it could be ignored who knows thats the mystery
but it could work

>>10515270
The Wizard Knight is pretty comfy.

>>10517065
The severed-but-still-alive head of a necromancer.

>>10514509
Very over rated and slow. It was a chore to get through most of it

>>10516740
Like most things, largely automated machines run by a handful of skilled laborers will replace the jobs once done by uneducated semi-literates.
http://www.kentmaster.com/Index.asp

>Multiple Drop Vacuum Systems from Kentmaster are custom designed to meet your specific needs. We have many systems for carcass vacuums, spinal cord removal, brain removal and many other applications.

>Brain Vacuum Features:
>Removes Spinal Cord and Sheath from Backbone.
>Removes Brain from Head.
>Product is contained for disposal.
>Uses separate vacuum or central system.

>>10517228
oh, those things you people use on babies, yeah

>>10517228
>soyboy thinks he'll be a member of tbe peoples party
>hfw he ends up in the work camps waiting to be replaced by a machine.

where can i order books online besides amazon and ebay? physical books

>>10517295
just buy from amazon nerd

>>10517295
i use thriftbooks for most of my used books. free shipping if you spend $10, $5 off coupons every $50 spent. good shit

>>10517228
>soyboy doesn't know he's uneducated and semi-literate

>>10517335
thanks. exactly what i was looking for

>>10515889
I know you're simply memeing but they try several times so I really don't see the problem.

>>10517138
youre welcome.
its very simple solutions. that create the most interesting concepts.
i suggest reading the zombie survival guide.
it is frighteningly "real" in its approach to solutions that deal with the living dead.
my tip for solutions to problems is to take the simplest solution you can immediatly think of and the reduce it further to steps needed to accomplish it and then just cut away the steps that you dont actually need or cut away multiple and subsidize them with a different way. take away the abstract approach from a solution and it becomes that much more believable and doable.

>>10517163
not the guy your responding to but ive read the first two books. its not a litrpg at all. its standard fantasy.

>>10515972
Felt like the second half of Seven Surrenders desu.

>>10508587
Black Company is pretty quick to get through.

>>10517295
Depends on where on the planet you live, obviously.

I just finished the Stormlight archive. It had some big issues but I liked it, especially put next to the Mistborn series which I have no interest in following after reading that first book.
The way Sanderson depicts the setting of the book is what made them so entertaining to me. The one thing that I will definitely remember about the trilogy is the weird fauna, making a world shaken by mortal storms populated by shelled beasts is very imaginative. The Shards were also pretty cool.
The first book is the best of the bunch, I think, it remains coherent and doesn't go in twenty different directions. The second felt short, and the third kinda unmemorable outside of the fiesta that was the battle against Odium and the Singers. Dalinar going super sayen, Jasnash vaporizing people left and right, Shallan doing... Whatever the fuck she was doing with her illusions while Szeth and the girl were playing a cartoon chase for the giant ruby left me kinda confused.
I wish the story focused more on Kaladin, Dalinar, Szeth and the bridge crew instead of spending so much time with Shallan and her fake tumblr multiple personality disorder and love story, there's plenty of human struggle to be found and explored in these characters already and it would have left more pages to tie the loose ends to finish the trilogy with a more satisfying ending. I feel like Sanderson doesn't know how to finish a book and always rushes it.

I don't know what to read, now. Is the Vlad Taltos series any good anons? Any recommendations?

>>10517616
I enjoyed the finale. It was a breathless sequence, and the short, punchy POVs added to the atmosphere. There are another 7 books planned, so Branderson was planting seeds at the end.

I agree that Kaladin, Dalinar, and Szeth should have been given more time, and would also add Adolin to this list.

>>10517661
The moments I preferred in that finale sequence were when Kassadin and Dalinar came to terms with their respective issues. Those were some emotional punches I really enjoyed.
Glad to hear more books are coming!

>>10514557
>>10511088
Fuck. Disregard >>10513050, I'm just a retard and was thinking about the Endymion books all along. Fall of Hyperion is awesome. Stop reading before Endymion though.

>>10513436
I was not making an argument, I was only making fun of you.

>>10514466
>guy writes a book
>guy rapes a child
>"hm guess he should not have done that"
>how can you criticize an author you haven't read
That's your argument in another similar context.

Our babe is getting involved

>>10514509
>>10517193
It only starts slowing down toward the middle of the 5th book. By then you've already decided if it's worth pushing through or not, knowing that books 7-10 or so are really flat.

>>10512944
Kingkiller Chronicle. Just a couple hundred pages into Name of the Wind and I'm liking it so far. The way magic works reminds me of Earthsea stuff.

>>10514352
You can safely forget about the sequels, they are not worth reading. Which is odd since I loved Lies.

>>10517801
>our babe
that's not agia

>>10515128
To be fair BDSM is patrician taste compared to all the cuckold fetishism going on nowadays.

>>10517801
>Ask me anything
>But only ask me about my books :)
>Please don't forget to use genderless pronouns

New Thread
>>10517971
>>10517971
>>10517971