/lit/ - Literature

first for webnovels are novels too

>>10541359
Is Terra Ignota any good. I just found out about it.

>>10541331
Brorotica = erotica for guys. All the "corporate scientists (in another world) turned me into a were-tiger so now sexy women are throwing themselves at me" type of stuff.

sanderfag a hack

Posting!

>>10541359
yo, somebody hook me up with some rad as shit bizzaro westerns. I need me some cowboys fighting dragons or some wild shit like that.

>>10541390
I really enjoyed it, depends what you're into though. It's good contemporary mid-future scifi and while some people find the general liberality of the future a little annoying I don't think it subtracts from the experience. Try and find it online or get a sample and read the first chapter, as the narration is a little odd but if you dig it, you dig it.

>>10541474
alloy of law

>>10541474
Spellslinger by Joseph Bailey
Deadman's Road by Joe Lansdale

>>10541390
Yes with caveats. It's very interesting, but has a different writing style. The author is a professional historian who specializes in the Renaissance and the book seems to very heavily draw from thematic elements of the period. (and might account for the writing style, but I'm not personally familiar with how people wrote back then)

It also took me close to 2 months to get through the middle of the first book because a lot of it is setting up and introducing a bunch of rich assholes (including literal nobility), I'd read 10 pages and go "UGH THESE ARE RICH ASSHOLES I HATE THEM" and then not read the book for a while.

>>10541492
>>10541527
sweet, danke

Thought y'all would appreciate this one: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2016/11/10/the-cinemax-theory-of-racism/

>>10541597
Why would you think that?
>scalzi
>theory of racism
Not even going to open it.

>>10541623
>TRIGGERED

>>10541623
Well everybody knows that Scalzi's clumsy ripoff of Star Trek makes him the most celebrated sci-fi author since the death of Isaac Asimov.

>>10541625

>>10541597
Why does pollies always try to start shit?
Every. Single. Thread.
People ignore them and they try harder next time.
Why don't you fooks stay in ya echo chamber?

>>10541639
Rothfuss seems so crazy to me. I've never seen so many people universally praise such bad writing.

I mean, I've seen people praise bad writing, but people talk about Rothfuss like he's Tolkien come to walk amongst mortal men once more.

>>10541569
no problem, kumpel

>>10541647
>I've never seen so many people universally praise such bad writing.

Never met H.P. Lovecraft fans I take it?

>but lovecraft/rothypoo is so ~poetic~

>>10541750
I've read Lovecraft. I like some of the things in his works: the sense of dread, the unknowable, eldritch horrors, people going insane, and whatnot. But the man was not a good writer.

Surprised that there are people who praise his writing.

>>10541750
ive never seen a single person praise lovecraft's writing. people praise his worldbuilding and mythos most of all.

>>10541765
>Surprised that there are people who praise his writing.
There aren't.

>>10541645
The cool thing is that you can talk about outright socialist writers and they won't even notice since it's just liberals who they're obsessed with

>>10541750

Lovevraft's prose is superior to 90% of the contemporary authors talked about in this thread.

>>10541817
Outright socialists like John Barnes and China Mieville tend to be decent writers instead of permablocked attention whores.

Even with liberals, it's just the e-celebs, nobody comes in here trying to start things with Aliette de Bodard.

>>10541750
Lovecraft usually writes characters who are frantically recounting their horrifying experiences and his prose works with that. I admit I've not read a ton of classics beyond the basics but I think he gets across a tone of fear and panic in the narrators telling.

Kind of like how 1984 was so fucking boring

>>10541625
You know, this IS 4chan. Why would anyone think users of this site would want to read rumblings of a notorious SJW on racism? Perhaps reddit would appreciate it.

>>10542139
>triggered baby demands safe space on 4chan

What's some good fantasy set mostly in big cities/urban settings? And I don't mean urban fantasy.

>>10542441
What's some good high fantasy with a mundane setting and scope?

>>10541390
I think it's pretty good but it's a lot more like science fantasy than advertised.

Is The Forever War a good entry point for a newfag to reading Sci Fi? About two 3rds through, enjoying it so far

>>10542441
Most of the Discworld books set around Ankh Morpork if you haven't already read them. The Watch ones especially, though some of the later ones are stuff like "Vimes goes to Uberwald on a dipolomatic mission."

Garrett PI by Glen Cook is about a ex-marine private investigator in a fantasy city. Film noir in style.

Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton is sort of a novel set in a fantasy city during the fantasy world's version of the Regency period.

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. Very good story about a government investigator being sent to investigate stuff happening in a conquered city. Sequels are great too but less urban IIRC.

Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories.

Would also suggest the Thief video game series. For the most part the games take place in and around a large city known as, obviously, The City, and concern a thief getting involved in various things.

>>10542466
You could do worse. I'd suggest David Drake's Hammer's Slammers stuff, Drake was a military intelligence guy in Vietnam with a tank unit.

If you decide to read Honor Harrington I would suggest giving it the "Dune sequel" treatment, only read until you can't take it any more, because the writing quality goes down over time and Harrington becomes more and more of a mary sue.

>>10542441
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17332272-something-more-than-night

What does "too meme the lightmeme" mean?

>>10541492
Its not really "bizzaro"

>>10541633
>a homage is a ripoff

>>10542139
But "SJW" is how channers characterise anything that disagrees with their preconceived notions and positions of authority

>>10542441
>I want a fantasy set in an urban setting
>but I don't want urban fantasy
Um...
I understand if you don't want the lowbrow genre that's come to be called 'urban fantasy' but you need to be a bit more specific
Now with that out of the way try some very early examples of this sort of work: Fritz Leibers books Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness
>>10542466
Yes its good
And if you're 2/3 through and enjoying it then its a bit late to ask if its good

>>10542603
>You could do worse. I'd suggest David Drake's Hammer's Slammers stuff, Drake was a military intelligence guy in Vietnam with a tank unit.
>If you decide to read Honor Harrington I would suggest giving it the "Dune sequel" treatment, only read until you can't take it any more, because the writing quality goes down over time and Harrington becomes more and more of a mary sue.

He asked for entry point for a newfag
He did not ask for Baen-tier Military SF
>>10542466
You're already mostly done and you like it so its a moot point
But yes it's a good entry point
Something else to try would be Alfred Besters The Demolished Man

>>10542717
Exactly, why would we want to read that? Was that your point? Were you agreeing with me but mistakenly used the word "but"?

So, whats /sffg/ consensus on Stormlight Archives?

>>10542717
Are you honestly trying to argue that Scalzi isn't a SJW???

>>10541390
I enjoyed it a lot.

>>10542441
Good fantasy: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Comfy fantasy: pic related, seconding the Watch line and then Going Postal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKSfel7Bj_E

>>10542453
>cities are mundane
Calvino would like a word

>>10542603
>thief
Exactly the vibe I'm looking for, Ankh-morpork isn't too far off either

>>10543126
>missing the joke
Anon was asking for a city fantasy that wasn't urban fantasy. That's like asking for a high fantasy that isn't fancy.

>>10542441
gormenghast
book of the new sun. the first one at least.

>>10542833
Trash like all long fantasy series

>>10542675
It's the book "too like the meme" in ops pic.

>>10542675
the book cover for op's image is for a book called "too like the lightning". which is an absolute meme of a book title

>>10541765
>the man was not a good writer
he had his moments
his style worked for shorter stories
it sucked in longer stories but he had to write those for money and most pros only really want to write one way

>>10543361
>book of the new sun
i love the book more than the next guy but come on

>>10543473
it's a line from romeo and juliet, kiddo.

>>10543560
a city so big it's got it's own hallucinatory gardens

>>10543586
That's the memest Shakespeare play though.

Recommend some really bleak/terrifying sci-fi, preferably with a reasonable dose of violence.

>>10541418
>After his audience with Stalin, Wells said that he had “never met a man
more candid, fair and honest,” attributes accounting for “his remarkable
ascendancy over the country since no one is afraid of him and everybody
trusts him”
>In the course of an earlier (1920) visit, Wells came to the conclusion
that the Red Terror, although “fanatical,” was “honest” and “apart from
individual atrocities it did on the whole kill for a reason and to an end”
>H.G. Wells, like Shaw, was attracted to both the Soviet Union and Fascist
Italy, although he had some reservations about the latter. He appreciated the
fascist preoccupation with “discipline and public service” and “a consider-
able boldness in handling education and private property for the public
benef i t. Fascism indeed was not an altogether bad thing … and Mussolini
left his mark on history.”

Any good fantasy with a plot like Twin Peaks? Like a detective focused on a mystery surrounding the actions of some Satan-like magician or entity/demon that nobody understands the nature of. I'm tired of, oh yeah, those are the Fantasyname demons, they've been around and we have stories about them, here's a textbook of all their types or abilities. I want the population of the story to be reasonably confused by some supernatural stuff. Prefer high fantasy (goblins and shit) to modern, but I'll take either.

>>10543930
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

>>10543586
and its still a bad line

>>10543730
blindsight

>>10543730
Metro 2033 and its sequels.

>>10542833
Average writing, way to long for it to be good and the only reasons it get so much praise are muh anime, Sandersonfags and muh worldbuilding.

>not dropping metric shottons of turns on your enemies to discourage them and disable entire armies at once.

What's some good erotic fantasy with sex scenes?

Holy shit Arkady is a based motherfucker

BASED
A
S
E
D

>>10542717
this is simply a false projection

>>10543795
It's to bad those visits and statements came later than the story we're reading, otherwise it'd be interesting to see if there are any fascist/stalinist influence on the story.

>>10543795
>another mainstream author turns out to be a complete idiot
Geez what a surprise

>>10542833
people who say it's shit are fags

>>10544771
Go to bed, Sanderson. You're drunk.

>>10544763
No one who have read anything by Gabriel García Márquez can possibly have drawn the conclusion that he's sane. On the other hand, he's probably the biggest advocate for GRI (+ pedophilia, necrophilia and basically every other philia known to man) making him literally our guy.

>>10544771
Why the homophobia?

>>10544857
Shut up, faggot.

>>10544855
>the biggest advocate
Posted to fast, meant to specify that I meant in the mainstream canon.

>>10544857
Fags are gay.

t. literally gay

>>10544857
Kill yourself, FAGGOT.

>You’re Mendelssohn aping Mozart
David Mitchell should kill himself. Mendelssohn is ten times the musician that memezart will ever be.

I walked into a bookstore yesterday and felt overwhelmingly bored with all of their SF&F stock. I've just started working on a novel of my own, but the experience of going in and finding nothing that grabbed me and realizing my work would just get lost among them has really impacted me.

What can aspiring authors do to stand out from the crowd?

>>10544902
They can't, your entering the most oversaturated market ever to exist. Half the popular authors in these threads have secondary jobs, that's how bad it is.

>>10544902
Just be yourself, bro.

>>10544860
>>10544862
>>10544882
>Sanderson lovers make bad posts
News at 11 boys

>>10544912
I have a job, not trying to make my living off writing, just feel an urge to create something but I can't hold a tune and my drawings are shit.

>>10544857
>>10544920

>>10543025
>Good fantasy: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Just watch the series, the book was garbage.

>>10544933
>watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxtyM9mFMQQ
>"should I just, turn her up?"
>"no"
>instead send the whole beach out to tackle the ship
Impressive display on how to use CGI and a stupid script to totally butcher a scene desu

>>10544950
so the director thinks you solve a beached ship by just righting it up straight?
why did the sails just fall down

wtf

>>10544950
Still better than the fucking snorefest that is the book.

I can't stress enough what a waster of time and ink the book is. Volume I could just as well be three chapters, Volume II could also be cut down a fair bit. Volume III is where virtually everything interesting happens, and even then it's lengthy.

It also doesn't help that one of the main characters and the one you spend most of the book reading about is an unlikeable fucking moron. It should just be Jonathan Strange Does Wizard Shit, fuck Norrell.

>Clarke spent the next ten years working on the novel in her spare time
>Rather than writing the novel from beginning to end, she wrote in fragments and attempted to stitch them together.

Both of these facts are incredibly fucking evident. It's ironic that a lady who's an editor for a living writes one of the books that most badly needs editing I've ever read.

>>10544912
>>10544902
>Mieville: swooned over by Reddit, won multiple awards, constantly shilled by the press
>On social benefits, prostitutes himself to for-profit institutions, receives a salary from a destitute political party funded by a racist
>Publisher scared of ordering reprints because of the lack of sales
>Vox Day: hated by everybody on the internet
>After independently publishing several successful sellers he purchases a villa in the most expensive part of Italy
>On a whim he decides to start a comic book imprint simply to prove a point
>Jesus Fucking Christ he's already outselling John Byrne

>>10544970
I do agree that the book is to long and more of the content could and should have been cut or released as short stories. I also agree that Norrell is quite unlikable, my main complaint against the book is his lack of development.

However, I still really enjoyed the book. It's take on both magic and faeries is superiour to more or less all contemporary fantasy, the historical parts are great and so is the dialogue.

>Still better than the fucking snorefest that is the book
While I do not agree I understand why you dislike the book but I can't fathom what you see in the series.

>>10544857
I was just passing by, but stopped just to tell you to save your faggotry for the plebs.

>>10544984
I know a guy who knows Vox Day personally, and Vox apparently has a day job that makes quite a lot of money. He does his publishing house and such as a hobby.

>>10544987
>While I do not agree I understand why you dislike the book but I can't fathom what you see in the series.

It's the best stuff in the book without the rest of the time sink. It's only ok, but it's still a lot better than the source.

end the containment! free sffg!

>>10544417
Check here >>10540405

>>10541359
is this a good read?

>>10544984
Holy fucking BASED.

>>10545137
Yeah it bangs. Make sure you read Fall of Hyperion too, but avoid the Endymion

>>10545137
It is and it isn't if you catch my meaning. It has plenty of nice ideas but every time it has one it gets bogged down with stupid shit like John Keats and not having any real answers to the mysteries it raises.

>>10545003
>>10544970
>>10544933
I never understand why tv fags come on the literature board to shitpost about reading being boring, and that you should watch a show instead. If we wanted shows we would be on tv.

>>10545149
You can't talk about anything expect /pol/ topics on /tv/ though.

Any recs for semi-modern military low scifi/fantasy? Like WWI to near future but with one or two major changes.
>WWI but instead of the Spanish Flu the dead rise from their graves
>Vietnam but with mechas
>the cold war but with aliens instead of Russia
Not necessarily alt history, just semi-modern tech and tactics plus weird shit. I'll take anything from Youjo Senki to MuvLuv: Alternative.

>>10544544
wait til you see what Sax does when he takes up gardening
>>10542885
I am saying denunciations of der SJWs are spurious

>>10545137
It is, although if you read it just buy Fall of Hyperion as well since they're basically two halves of one book.

Stop there though; the Endymion books suck.

>>10545001
I wouldn't be surprised, we've had a person in theses that claimed to have worked with him and said he was extremely professional and easy to work with. Doesn't he also speak several languages fluently?

>>10545155
Tim Powers Declare
le Carre-esque Cold War espionage... with magic
I don't mean cheesy Dresden Files or Monster Hunter magic
I mean arcane ritualistic magic that really will creep you out

>>10544984
Are his books any good? There is a lot on Kindle Unlimited (which I forgot to cancel after the free period last month) and I've got nothing else on my table right now. There's A Throne of Bones, A Magic Broken and some sci-fi.

>>10545215
They aren't bad but they aren't exactly suited to modern tastes; there isn't any GRI, no pretentious worldbuilding for its own sake, doesn't go out of its way to subvert tropes. Think Narnia not The Magicians.

>>10545149
It's a more general problem. Take Goodreads for example, their Facebook page is like 1/3 actual books, 1/3 shit somewhat related to books and 1/3 adaptations.

>>10545237
>there isn't any GRI
That's somewhat disappointing, but if the writing is good, the characters are interesting and there is a semblance to a plot somewhere, it's better than most things I've tried to read recently.

>>10545237
What's a GRI?

>>10545273
One of the corner stones of good stories.

>>10545170
Seconding this

There are any good science fiction books?
ive already read most of the great names like asimov and etc

>>10544912
>the most oversaturated market ever to exist
No that would be the music market

>>10545281
Someone said they were going to sort out books they read and put together a gri seal of approval chart months ago. Where is it?

>>10545388
Who is etc? You just showed you only read Asimov.

>>10545395
Here >>10545124. I was about to call it shit but there's already a warning in the chart that quality may vary so I guess it's accurate.

>>10545402
read the man who folded himself a few years ago, what a trip

>>10545215
>Are his books any good?
Yes, but he could give less of a fuck about modern trends in fantasy (GRI, political correctness, SJWism, etc,.). With Arts of Dark and Light he basically said he could do A Song of Ice and Fire but better.

>>10545436
Actually scratch that about the GRI because there is rape, but it's in service to the characters and story and not simply used for shock value.

>>10544930
can always pay for ads yourself

Lads, a friend of mind keeps trying to get me into Wheel of Time.
How is it quality wise compared to something like ASOIAF?

>>10543930
Robert Jackson Bennett - The Company Man

It's set in an a mostly realistic world were the industrial revolution was kick started by an improbably prolific genius in the past. Follows an eccentric detective who investigates a crime where an underground trolley car arrives at a station with its passengers splattered were they sat.

>>10545388

>>10545514
I wouldn't say it's anywhere near as good but if you're looking to get into a series that's really really long it's got you covered.

>>10544902
I suggest working hard at your normal job. That way you can write literally what you want to write. A group of people will like it. You will be feeling accomplished and the story you wanted to tell will be told.

>>10545388
A Fire Upon the Deep

>>10545527
>Vampires in Space
>Vampires are autistic
>Aliens are also vampires

note thats all in the first book, i never read the second

>>10545626
Sounds like science fiction to me. What's the problem?

the autarch decides on sev as a successor after two meetings? why

>>10545514
About the same. Less politics and intrigues, more adventures and heroism, less GRI, even longer and also slightly unfinished.

>>10545436
>A Song of Ice and Fire but better
That is not very impressive. Does he use 1000s of POV too?

>>10545698
what is GRI?

>>10545646
>after two meetings
If I remember correctly it was decided from the start. But some Wolfe nerd will have to confirm.

>>10545710
Read the thread holy fuck.

>>10545710
It's a code word for edgy shlock.

>>10545388
Blindsight and Echopraxia, Lord of Light, Three Body Problem, Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Quantum Thief, Gateway, Spin, Dune, House of Suns, Culture, Childhood's End, Solaris, Accelerando, Permutation City, A Deepness in the Sky, Hyperion

>>10545723
Decent post desu

>>10545723
lord of light is fantasy, no sci-fi
culture is dogshit
old sci-fi is generally lacking in the sort of "augmented reality" that will become very common in the near future.

>>10545646
Father Inire decided, not the Autarch. Father Inire is not a normal human.

>>10545705
>Does he use 1000s of POV too?
If you think A Song of Ice and Fire used too many POVs then I suggest you read Malazan to fully understand what 'too many POVs' actually means. And that ain't me defending ASOIAF, but Malazan is the worst series I've ever read with POV overload.

>>10545761
Lord of Light is sci-fi because of loopholes. Sorry man, it squeaks in.

>>10545643
Then you should have no problem with Weber then.

>>10545149
I generally prefer books, but for that particular book, the tv show was better.

>>10545442
wut

>>10545139
>>10545170
>>10545331
The Endymion books were way worse (especially because of the protagonist) but I think most people who read the first two will want to read them simply to find out what happens next.

>>10545785
Then there's another book for me to keep away from. Thanks for the heads up. After a point, instead of clarifying and introducing the world to the reader, it starts confusing them instead. I have enough trouble remembering a few names, after some time I would never be able to keep up with it if there were a lot of them and the character they introduce. 3 is the sweet spot for me and 5 is as much as I am willing to tolerate.

>>10545155
You'd probably like Hammers Slammers even though it's way more futuristic than what you're after (as in available technology), but the politics, tactics and combat in general is essentially cold war era.

You might also like Orphanage by Jason Wander, where humans fight off an alien assault (not an invasion, but a barrage of relativistic KE missiles from an alien outpost on Ganymede). Humanity fights back by modifying regular space shuttles and VentureStars and loading them up with soldiers carrying regular cold war/modern era weapons before a long trip to Ganymede.

>>10545626
The aliens weren't vampires. Just because you couldn't be bothered to Google "topology" and had to put the book down doesn't mean you need to spread your ignorance here.

>>10545723
Good post

>>10542833
Doubt there will be a consensus but for me there much more to love than to hate. After moving on to other works i really miss stuff like prohibition of any forms of fortunetelling, "safe glove" and other stuff like that that makes sense and makes you question everything that "it is so" in your life. I'm not saying that it's peak writing but models like that that feel grounded are extremely enjoyable for me and from my shallow experience authors don't bother to make a feeling of rich history for quirks, there are mostly quirks that are there because they are quirky.

What are you fags reading?

>>10546536
Ubik

>>10546536
The Man In The High Castle.

>>10546536
the twilight series

>>10546536
Obelisk Gate

>>10546536
Unabomber manifesto

>>10546380
Be more clear, please.

>>10546536
Star Maker

>>10546380
>After moving on to other works i really miss stuff like prohibition of any forms of fortunetelling, "safe glove" and other stuff like that that makes sense and makes you question everything that "it is so" in your life.

wut

>>10546536
Not /sffg/ but I've been trying to read Wagner's The Illusion of Conscious Will, which Watt's references in the Blindsight notes.

>>10546536
All systems red

>>10544149
Seconded. I went looking for a better example of cosmic horror when Lovecraft didn't satisfy. Blindsight really scratches that itch.

Any /lit/ in the style of Black Mirror?

>>10546065
Lots of people want to read the Rama sequels for the same reason, and they always regret it because those books are garbage. Ditto for Endymion.

Ok, so I've just finished The Forever War
I have Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Neuromancer sitting on my shelf. Which one should I read next?

>>10547099
Orphans of Chaos.

>>10546991
Collections of short stories?

>>10547109
But I can't start that tonight because pdfs are gay >:(

>>10546991
Dangerous Visions

just finished stormlight archive book three. liked it a LOT. what other fantasy books are out there for a brainlet like me? I tried reading sanderson's mistborn series, but even though the magic system is a bit interesting, I find his writing in it much worse than his writing in stormlight, same with the worldbuilding in it. I've head lots of praise from the second trilogy that's set in the future, should I just skip ahead?

I'm tired of rubber foreheaded aliums.

Give me some Sci-Fi with the weirdest aliums. I really liked Embassy town and how it explored alien language.

>>10547172
Count to the Eschaton series.

>Whether they can be called organisms is a matter of debate. These viral motes operated on the submolecular level, eating electrons. In swarms of sufficient mass, their electronic interactions were complex enough to imitate thought, and such swarms met only while the need for thought was present, dispersing thereafter: a strange existence without continuity. The motes were not bound to any planetary body or stellar system. Instead, they swarmed in the rich dust clouds that formed central veins and arteries of material thickly gathered along the main gravitational axis of each arm. The Outer Arm, farther than the others from the core and from the fierce light-pressure of its high stellar winds, had a thicker river of debris running up its curving midline...

>Here among the flying mountains of space evolved a plethora of creatures of gossamer thread. In the outer swarms of gravel and ice, the threadlike beings anchored on the dust motes and snowballs and cometary masses, and spun out million-mile-long antennae to absorb and manipulate ultralow-frequency waves far below the wavelengths known to man. Their reproductive processes were unique: longer, more advanced thread forms grew out of simpler roots. Due to this, a single organism sharing one memory chain outlived its own genus—that is, these creatures were as if an ape would grow by Lamarckian evolution into an ape-man and then a man in one lifetime.
>Drifting on solar wind, surfing the radiation pressure from star to star, but always staying in the cool, outer reaches where their unique molecular and mechanical processes were unharmed by the unhealthy heat of even the dimmest stars, the many outer asteroid belts of the many star systems of the Sagittarius Arm were colonized. The constellations were meshed in cobwebs.

>These were a form of life existing precisely where the Colloquium never dreamed to look for them: born from erratic and extravagant forms of consciousness, housed in the freakishly complex self-sustaining electromagnetic fields of hot ultraviolet giants, blue supergiants, and among the rare Wolf-Rayet stars, which were dying supergiants whose hydrogen layers had been blown into space by radiation pressure. Here were creatures stranger than dragons, beings of pure energy, jinn sculpted of flame. These beings dwelt in short-lived stars, but found that the power of a nova could cast their bodies of plasma across space at near lightspeed, where they could fall upon other stars, reengineer them to produce the complex fields needed for their energy-based life processes, replicate themselves, and prosper.

>>10547211
>The creature was like an eight-armed starfish.
>The upper integument of the ophiuroid was black and crusted with many bony ossicles and paxillae-like whiskers. Four of its long, tapering feet held its huge body above the glassy deck beneath which the galaxy burned. The underside was off the deck, and he saw the mouth at the joint of all the legs, a horrid circle of needle-teeth.
>Four other legs were rearing and spread. At the tip of each of these uplifted legs was an orifice, perhaps a nostril, snuffing and swaying, making the whole creature seem remarkably like a headless elephant lifting many trunks to scent the four directions of the compass. The thing itself gave off a stench of brine and blood.
>“Who the hell are you?” said Montrose aloud.
>Two of the trunklike limbs now curved down toward him. He saw the nostrils were bewhiskered with fine hairs. He felt the warm, wet breath of the creature on his naked flesh. It touched him lightly here and there, sniffing and scenting while his skin crawled...
>Peering more closely, Montrose now saw along the underside of the creature’s leg hundreds of boneless growths and slugs of unknown kingdoms, lithotrophs and organotrophs that formed neither plant nor animal, tendrils and bags and pulsing shapes intertwined in a network of thorns and arteries. Each vein was tipped with a clamp or needle clutching or penetrating one or several victims, who was penetrating others in turn. It was a labyrinth of parasites upon parasites that formed one ever-changing neural and circulatory system.
>As best he could tell, there were no species. None looked remotely like its neighbor. Everything was impromptu, jury-rigged. All the organisms were made up of mixed and mismatched organs forced into supraorganic combinations.
>The major overall structures, such as the muscles and armor of the arms and the channels of the scenting tubes, seemed a well-disciplined cooperative venture, more like the roads and sewers in a town than the centralized circulatory or sensory systems of any earthlike organism.

Excerpt, The Bride Of The Man-Horse by Lord Dunsany.

---

In the morning of his two hundred and fiftieth year Shepperalk the centaur went to the golden coffer, wherein the treasure of the centaurs was, and taking from it the hoarded amulet that his father, Jyshak, in the year of his prime, had hammered from mountain gold and set with opals bartered from the gnomes, he put it upon his wrist, and said no word, but walked from his mother's cavern. And he took with him too that clarion of the centaurs, that famous silver horn, that in its time had summoned to surrender seventeen cities of Man, and for twenty years had brayed at star-girt walls in the Siege of Tholdenblarna, the citadel of the gods, what time the centaurs waged their fabulous war and were not broken by any force of arms, but retreated slowly in a cloud of dust before the final miracle of the gods that They brought in Their desperate need from Their ultimate armoury. He took it and strode away, and his mother only sighed and let him go.

She knew that today he would not drink at the stream coming down from the terraces of Varpa Niger, the inner land of the mountains, that today he would not wonder awhile at the sunset and afterwards trot back to the cavern again to sleep on rushes pulled by rivers that know not Man. She knew that it was with him as it had been of old with his father, and with Goom the father of Jyshak, and long ago with the gods. Therefore she only sighed and let him go.

But he, coming out from the cavern that was his home, went for the first time over the little stream, and going round the corner of the crags saw glittering beneath him the mundane plain. And the wind of the autumn that was gilding the world, rushing up the slopes of the mountain, beat cold on his naked flanks. He raised his head and snorted.

"I am a man-horse now!" he shouted aloud; and leaping from crag to crag he galloped by valley and chasm, by torrent-bed and scar of avalanche, until he came to the wandering leagues of the plain, and left behind him for ever the Athraminaurian mountains.

His goal was Zretazoola, the city of Sombelenë. What legend of Sombelenë's inhuman beauty or of the wonder of her mystery had ever floated over the mundane plain to the fabulous cradle of the centaurs' race, the Athraminaurian mountains, I do not know. Yet in the blood of man there is a tide, an old sea-current, rather, that is somehow akin to the twilight, which brings him rumours of beauty from however far away, as driftwood is found at sea from islands not yet discovered; and this springtide of current that visits the blood of man comes from the fabulous quarter of his lineage, from the legendary, of old; it takes him out to the woodlands, out to the hills; he listens to ancient song.

>>10547099
I hate neuromancer. I can't stand the characters or the style of the writing at all. Only the setting is cool.

>>10542833
>So, whats /sffg/ consensus on Stormlight Archives?

Good plot, average prose. Each book is like reading 10 volumes of a pretty good manga. In that way, it's both more and less anime than people claim. The third book was the best so far.

>>10546875
Any good? I noticed it's authored by a woman.

>>10547172
A Fire Upon the Deep has the weirdest ones I've ever read about. They kind of are individuals and not at the same time, because each of them is actually a collection of dog/rat like creatures (kind of comparable to parrots intelligence-wise) that form a superior collective mind through sharing thoughts´and sensory inputs with ultrasonic sounds emanating from specialized organs. So as they gain or lose pack members their personality and memories change.

>>10547172
Blindsight

>>10547257
Is that a personal thing or do you think the writing is objectively bad

>>10547252
this shit is awful

>>10547211
This sounds interesting but 6 books? I don’t reslly have the time for a longer series what’s your advice? Can I get away with reading one or two? Are they short books?

>>10544902
if you're worried about "standing out" and how you're going to sell enough books you shouldnt be writing books.

Anyone know any good fantasy set in caves?

>>10547298
Dunsany is an acquired taste - and as for myself I have to be in the right mood to read him. It might be illuminating to mention that Bride Of The Man Horse is from The Book Of Wonder, which are all very short stories of about five pages. They're very densely lyrical flights of fancy, but at his best there is a pleasing mellifluous quality - try reading this stuff aloud.

I'll be posting similar highlights from The Book Of Wonder for the next couple of week - by a formerly very popular author of pre-Tolkein fantasy.

>>10547329
Play Zork.

>>10546625
What do you think so far? What do you like the most about it? Anything you confused about?

There will never be a 5th book will there?

How are Glen Cooks other works? I read all the Black Company. I'm looking at Dread Empire and Swordbearer(If I can ever find a physical copy)

guys, I think I had the most kino idea for a fantasy creature of all time. Bear with me on this one

Wereplane

its my birthday & im fucked up
i just want to say im thankful for /sffg/ bringing out my love of reading & i love posting random shit about whatever im reading and getting some (You)s

>>10547687
happy birthday :)

>>10547331
It's shit and we don't want to see more.

>>10547298
>this shit is awful

>>10547687
happy birthday anon. have fun

>>10547331
>I'll be posting similar highlights from The Book Of Wonder for the next couple of week - by a formerly very popular author of pre-Tolkein fantasy.

Good, I've been meaning to read Dunsany for years but never got around to it

>>10547687
Here's a (you)

>>10543600
but it doesnt
you just travel via something like the mirrors
to another part of earth
or a folded part of spacetime
its not a hallucinatory garden
its a wrong physics garden of uncertain geography and location

>>10541359
>Nothing really "happens"
>Ending doesn't really resolve anything or finish the development of any of the characters

>Still an enjoyable read

What was the deal with this? Did PKD just not know how to finish it or was rushed?

Fun fact: I actually bought a copy of the I Ching because of this book.

>>10542441
Brooks' Word & Void books and by extension, the genesis of Shannara books.

>>10545137
Hyperion and Fall Of Hyperion are fucking great. I crapped out after that since it turns out that the third book deals with a sci-fi Jesus or some shit.

>>10545170
>Stop there though; the Endymion books suck.

Thank you for confirming my suspicions, I smelled shit just by reading Endymion's synopsis.

>>10547013
this is so fucking true
as anote: the RAMA sequels were written by other random shits, so obviously couldn't even be play in the same league

but the Endymion duo was horrible, because plot and resolution were telegraphed and obvious after the first 20% of the first book,

yet the main character is a stupid idiot
and his lolita jailbait girlfriend is too much of a pussy to just deal him in on whats going on

it's just stuid start to finish
and in no way surprises you if you have 2 braincells and read the two Hyperion books beforehand

such a shame :(

>>10547974
PKD says the I Ching guided every decision he made writing the book.

>>10545143
thats the truth
honestly, I didn't read a single one of the poems but just skipped over them - they're little more than hollow padding to an otherwise intersting story

>>10547013
Rama II was good though.

>>10548011
What's some SFF with lolita jailbat gfs that aren't pussies?

>>10547602
swordbearer was imho rather boring
childrens book level fairytale stuff

>>10547974
its a problem with many of Dicks works, they're mostly creative concepts off to a good start, but imho most if not close to all of his works are lacking in the resolution

very much like a joke where you are never told the pun

hist stories are more an examination of some concept and its implications

but more often than not fail as a story and lack resolution or tension or proper highpoints

which may or may not also be due to the way in which back then most of these SF novels were written - as more or less serialized shortstories published in some dirtcheap collection ( the way we know of mangas being released nowadays ).

You just got to deal with it and not worry so much about resolution or character arcs and accept that this is the way all his stories go.

>>10548026
pussies as in " unwilling to act and scared of what might happen / a scaredycat / reluctant to the point of stupidity "
not as in
> vagina

>>10547974
The Man in the High Castle was probably the LEAST rushed novel PKD wrote. He apparently plotted the book by consulting the I Ching, which probably goes a long way towards its aimlessness. He did write some notes for a sequel but never got around to writing it.

>>10547758
>"I am a man-horse now!" he shouted aloud

>>10548021
no, it really wasnt
and you need to die
or make an argument about why it was good
so that i may mock your argument then
and you
for your bland taste
and stupidity

>>10548038
Agreed but his short stories don't suffer from this as much as his novels. "Faith of Our Fathers" is god-tier.

>>10548066
trudat

>>10548057
What was wrong with it? It was more or less just more of Rendezvous.

Wass wong, did Nicole des Jardins having children by two different men for the sake of genetic diversity trigger you?

>>10548044
That's what I was asking for, yes. Lolita jailbait gfs that are assertive and bold (without being overbearing).

>>10548080
>It was more or less just more of Rendezvous.
From my mercifully brief encounter with that book that's a major strike against it.

>>10548098
Jesus, OKAY I get it, you didn't like it. Too bad, so sad.

>>10548101
I'm not bad-grammar-anon, I just never miss a chance to call Clarke bad. He's a worse stain on >>10545723 than Stross.

why don't people like reaper's gale? it was in my top three of malazan books so far.

>>10548101
>>10548080
I love you man :) You sound very much like a sjw soyboy who tries to hide his insecurities and shortcomings - by baselessly attacking an imagined enemy via impotent aping of his own mannerisms and speech

>>10548092
desu, I'm not sure I've ever come across something like that? Maybe Seria Mau Genlicher in Light? At least in some regards?
In General, most female characters are written like shit.

Good Examples of strong female characters...
> Shadow of the Torturer and its sequels
there's some young women / girls in there who are very much proper characters, supportive, bold and strong, especially resurrected dead girl

as for good female characters I'd recommend the Expanse novels, Chrisjen Avasarala, Bobbie Draper and Naomi Nagata are, all three of them, great

they're not Lolitas, however, sorry :(

>>10548108
>Clarke bad

But Childhood's End is fucking great you absolute fucking plebeian.

>>10548131
>You sound very much like a sjw soyboy who

WEW, breakin' out them ad hominems ayy?

>>10548132
>muh directional/purposeful evolution
>muh advanced aliens are always right
>muh galaxy brain religious commentary
go choke on a Sri Lankan child prostitute's dick

>>10548150
Imagine not being able to understand a science fiction book

>>10548132
I'll second this,
Clarke has some good Novels,
> the City and the Stars
is a great young adult adventure novel and good entry into SF - I recently fed it to my niece and nephew who both loved it ( they're 7 and 9 )

> RAMA
is decent

> Childhoods End
is great and possibly a personal favourite of mine

> Songs of Distant Earth
is, as many of his shortstories, quite crazy and entertaining

>>10548150
I-I-I don't like speculation in my science fiction!!!! REEE REEEEEEEEE!!

I don't think science fiction is the genre for you anon.

>>10548155
imagine basing your identity on having read a Philosophy 101 space novel

>>10548167
Imagine projecting this hard

>>10548164
>whoah man like what if the stars just like, went out, wouldn't that be whooah

>>10541359
I love the Ringworld and I wish it was more fleshed out.

Shame Niven will never come back to it. The Pak are badass.

>>10548184
off the top of my head
> Ringworld
> Rw Engineers
> Rw Throne
> Rw Children
> some co written book
there's literally half a dozen books in that series, is that not "fleshed out enough" ?

Related: After having Read the foreword of the second Installation in the series, where Niven details how he perused 90s era message boards and stumbled over fanfictions of different ringworld humans all fucking each other

I was surprised that "rishing" actually became a plotpoint

including "giantpeople" fucking tiny women

wtf

authors shouldnt use internet fan-fapfiction as an actual basis for their sequels O_O

What is a short fun Fantasy series? Maybe a trilogy. Something smooth to read through.

>>10548237
>>>After having Read the foreword of the second Installation in the series, where Niven details how he perused 90s era message boards and stumbled over fanfictions of different ringworld humans all fucking each other

I had no idea, but that makes Ringworld Throne make so much more sense.

Recommend me books similar to Fallout you fucking assholes.

>>10548375
You're welcome.

>>10548253
the magicians

>>10548129
The way people rank mbotf is dynamic. I like Midnight Tides the most.

>>10541394
fuck you man you suck lol

>>10548375
A Canticle for Leibowitz and I Am Legend are two books the creators themselves claim to have been inspired by.
Metro 2033-35 for something more modern.

botns

>>10548732
Yes?

I just started Bonehunters and am having to consult a wiki to refresh my memory of like half the returning characters. I don't think I've ever had to do this for any sort of book series. Midnight Tides was fantastic but it took me forever to get through due to being so busy, and now my memory of the first 4 books is getting fuzzy especially after all the new names and plot points being thrown at me in MT.

Do these books ever all converge or is each book going to keep jumping around until the end? Halfway through the series and I'm starting to have trouble keeping up with all the twists and turns. I don't want to keep consulting a Wiki.

Also are the non-Erikson books worth reading in between or should I just focus on the main series?

>>10548747
Just focus on the main series, you don't want to have to jump around even more.

Anyone read The Burning Isle?

Is there a wrong way to set up a sequel in a novel?

>>10544850
I am not drunk

>>10548754
Good point. I have a feeling if I enjoy this series enough by the end I'll be rereading it at some point because I know I've missed tons of shit by now.

>>10548838
Making it a prequel seems to be a really good way to throw your readers for a loop.

>>10546536
Royal Assassin, while no master piece it's actually quite good.

Shitty concept, help.

The fantasy novel I am starting in on begins with a central concept. Create individuality as a commodity and remove the fact that an individual human is tied to an individual identity. The society operates on the following logic:
>each and every person, save for a untouchable caste, wear masks
>several humans may wear the same mask
>an individual is not tied to the human wearing the mask, but the mask itself
>meaning that four people who each have an identical mask have one group identity and are treated as such
>giving someone an identical mask to yours is essentially make an extension of your identity, their actions and your actions are one and the same
>an individual may have more than one mask, and will essentially be able to change identities
>for the poor these masks are not much more than masks, and this system is less strict
>among the wealthy these masks have a metaphysical significance, with groups wearing the same mask thinking in similar patterns and perhaps even on some level having an empathetic link
>having many masks/identities means one spreads thin their individuality, and can in fact entirely lose themselves to the group think of the shared identity and stop being a person but an agent of the shared identity
>main character is a maskless who an aristocrat discovers has a special talent
>he is able to recreate masks, the metaphysical ones that the aristocrats believes they can use to their advantage
>this aristocrat are four young women
>they take him in with a bid to overturn a deal to essentially abandon their own identity and take up the masks of another in a marriage-like ceremony
>mask politics are complicated and the maskless main character is thrust into world
>impersonating a mask is at minimum punishable by death, even among the low caste

The setting also exists entirely in a ten mile high thirty mile thick wall that circles the equator, the mega structure is honeycombed with the society. They exist in the top layers, the farther down you go the stranger things become. The aristocracy's masks from the orgy of shadow and fractals below. Is this too garbage?

>>10548946
I'd read consider reading it. Even a shitty idea can be a masterwork in the hands of a good author. What really matters now that you have a premise, is the execution. SO WRITE IT MOTHERFUCKER

>>10546536
The Wise Man's Fear, I'm 200 pages in and I approve of it so far.

I want to start reading some Brandon Sanderson stuff but I'm a bit confused in which order I should tackle it, since it seems he's working on multiple series in parallel.

I've heard good things about both Mistborn and Stormlight Archives, and I've seen some people say Mistborn is a better starting spot.

There also seems to be a variety of short stories and novellas, but I believe most of those are in the Arcanum Unbounded collection? I'm not sure if these stories are essential or not. I've also heard that Warbreaker should be read before the second Stormlight book despite being set in a different world.

Basically what I'm wondering is if I would be okay with this order.

Mistborn Era 1:
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages
The Eleventh Metal (from Arcanum Unbounded)

Mistborn Era 2:
The Alloy of Law
Allomancer Jak (Arcanum Unbounded)
Shadows of Self
The Bands of Mourning
Mistborn: Secret History (Arcanum Unbounded)
The Lost Metal

Stormlight:
The Way of Kings
Warbreaker
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Arcanum Unbounded)
Oathbringer

Sorry for my autism.
Am I missing something here or is something in the wrong order, should anything be skipped entirely?

>>10549246
I'm not going to pretend I know my shit well but starting Elantris would be the correct choice, then read Mistborn.

>>10544850

Friendly reminder that PKD, Wolfe, Lem, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, H. G. Wells and A. C. Clarke are the only worthwhile SFF authors to ever exist.

>>10549282
> no harlan ellison

>>10549287
Oh yeah, I forgot about him.

>>10549267
From my understanding there's not too much connecting Elantris with Mistborn and Stormlight, but I could be wrong.

The reason why I thought to save it is because some people said it can be a bad first impression of the universe, and also because there are more Elantris books planned, so I figured I could wait until some more are released.

>>10549293
Mistoborn is fine then.

>>10549246
Start with The Final Empire and see how you like it. If you like it, finish the first era. Then Secret History/Mistborn 2/Stormlight, the order doesn't matter as long as you read the books within in order. Stormlight is his best work so you could begin with The Way of Kings as well like I did.

>>10549293
Yeah, Elantris can be skipped

>>10549313
I've already ordered the original Mistborn Trilogy and plan to read them all before ordering any more books, but I wanted to plan it out a bit first to soothe my autism a bit. Thanks anon.

>>10549296
>>10549327
Thanks, I'm pretty excited to get back into reading even if some anons here seem to look down on Brandon Sanderson a bit.
I've become somewhat of a brainlet though recently so I think any reading is an improvement.

>>10548946
Seriously for the last time stop using /lit/ as alpha testers John Wright.

>>10548946
I like the mask idea, but it's entirely up to execution whether it actually works. What kind of themes and mood are you going for here? I don't see the reason for the megastructure.

>>10549246
Depends on if you like meta.

>>10549327
>skipping Elantris
Too bad your parents didn't skip contraception.

>>10549246
>>10549419
Ah fuck I was too hasty and uploaded the wrong image.

are the halo novels worth reading past contact harvest?

I want to read a super dorky hard sci-fi book, set in a big world with lots of space travel. I don't read much sci-fi usually, but I've read some Asimov, Dick, etc.

I saw someone reading Leviathan Wakes on the tube this morning and I thought the cover looked and great and it sounds like the sort of thing I'm after. Is this good, or is there something else you'd recommend?

>>10549561
>hard sci-fi
>lots of space travel
Pick one.

>>10549610
alright not necessarily lots, but imaginative worlds and not rooted to a single location, especially not on earth

>>10549618
The Martian and Mars trilogy are the only hard sci-fi books I know that are set away from Earth.
Did you read Rendezvous With Rama yet?

>>10547270
It's interesting enough, and pretty short. Not quite what I expected.
Also, you should not be prejudiced toward woman writers just because they are women. Makes you look an idiot.

>>10549624
No I've not read that, I really didn't like Childhood's End and that put me off Clarke. Is this worth giving him another go?

>>10549631
It certainly isn't like Childhood's End, it's just about people discovering something and trying to figure out what it is before it leaves the solar system. The story is about the exploration and the mystery. Not that long either.

>>10549634
Alright cool, I'll put that on my to-read list. Thanks.
If anyone has any opinions on Leviathan Wakes I'd be interested to hear

>>10547573
Finished it last night. I think the characters are well written. All of them are distinct and I don't dislike any of them with the exception of Jija who was fucking pathetic. Essun is also a total bitch at times but I still sympathize with her. The book answered a lot of questions while opening up some new ones in a nice ratio. The action isn't very exciting because it's over so quickly. At times when the book isn't exploring questions about the world or there's no tension, it's a bit boring but those times don't last very long.

I like it quite a bit. I think I understood everything that I was supposed to understand. Will be moving onto Stone Sky after reading something else first, I like to let things sink in.

>>10546536
Iliad

>>10548038
This.

Only PKD book that had an ending that I enjoyed was A Scanner Darkly.

>>10549708
Did you also want to dick Essun's rogga hole?

>>10549282
>no Jack Vance
Either you're an utter plebeian, with a respectable taste for dinosaurs, or you forgot a whole bunch of authors.

>>10549752
Nah, though I found Schaffa x Damaya quite hot.

>>10549752
The wrinkles make her more attractive, what foul sorcery is this?

>>10549843
does are the types of wrinkles you get from smiling a lot. not for getting old.

>>10549846
I wouldn't know, nobody ever smiles at me.

>>10549849
its ok anon.
you will find happiness eventually.

>>10549851
I don't need happiness, I have books.

>>10549282
>>10549809

>>10549851
When I find the sweet release of death.

>>10547303
You can't get away with reading one or two. In fact the first book is practically just a prologue to the rest of the series.

It's a "long series" but on the other hand it's a self-contained and COMPLETED story. Frankly I wish it were longer; it covers from about AD 2200 to the heat death of the universe and glosses over a fuckton of interesting stuff in support of its insane scale.

>>10541647
>Rothfuss
I just don't understand why his work is so praise.I bought the two books after seeing how well review it was,that was 2 years ago,to this day I haven't gone beyond pg 567.Kvothe is so unlikable to me and by association Denna this girl that only he could truly appreciate for all of her quirkiness.The only time that I actually enjoy the book was when he was talking with the professor trying to convince him to teach about the name of the wind.I would actually like to her why some of you like or dislike the books,since I'm more of a casual fantasy reader I might be misjudging the book if so should I go back and finish the book?

>>10545137
Its fine, just dont read the last 10 pages.

>>10549977
If you don't like you have no obligation to read it. I enjoyed it a lot though, I thought Kvothe's pettiness and the way he could never let go of a slight or a insult makes him very relatable as I'm as shitty of a person as he is.

>>10548946
sounds better as a novella than a long novel/series

i could see that kind of thing working really well in wolfe's style

>>10549977
In general I liked the writing, the worldbuilding is interesting, and it's fun to have a protagonist who's such a blend of genius and incompetent. He's an arrogant asshole, but he constantly pays for it, and he's just smart enough to constantly outsmart himself.
He's like if Cudgel the Clever was a wizard.

>>10546536
The Worm Ourobous Im really liking the underlying story and world but jesus the pose can be rough

>>10549977
people like that series because it has everything critics and reviewers have convinced people a fantasy novel "should" have
it just has no real substance behind the checklist
i didn't even make it as far as you did, the dialogue was too godawful for me to make it past the part where he was getting access to the library and "saved" some librarian lady from a guy hitting on her

>>10548375
The Jerusalem Man

>>10549977
It's a bunch of clichés, stupid plot points, side quests, horrid characters and lack of editing (to be fair this not a problem in the first book) hidden behind enjoyable prose meaning that the idiots that make up the bulk of fantasy readers loved it.

>>10549561
>>10549655
LW isn't particularly hard. There's some cool stuff in there but the writing is pretty bland, which I could forgive if it wasn't way longer than it needs to be. Wouldn't recommend personally

>>10549977
I find his work really interesting and engaging and I like how myth is merged with reality in the story. also escapism to a degree I guess. Although I wouldn't wanna be like kvothe

Reading the first book of Thomas Covenant right now. Does the protagonist get less dislikable with time?

I'm on the part where he's going to the Lords with the girl's mother and his contant hostility, insistence on unreality of his surrounding, is getting on my nerves at this point. I might as well drop it if this is how the protagonist will remain

>>10550245
He gets worse lol

It pays off though

>>10550245
>Does the protagonist get less dislikable with time?
Murrhurrhurrhurr

>>10548253
please respond
it can be generic fantasy I'm not picky

>>10550324
>>10550253
I'm about a third in and feels like a generic fantasy land with an asshole protagonist as a gimmick

>>10549920
>it covers from about AD 2200 to the heat death of the universe
Sounds like a chore and a bore.

Hello /lit/, do you have any books set in a low-magic settings ? By low, I mean primitive magic, at its early stages.
I would like the story to be raw, mature and focused on a small group of individuals (or even a single character).

Do you have anything like that ?

>>10550375
It's supposed to feel that way, but it is most assuredly not a gimmick.

>>10550345
Carnivores of Light and Darkness fits the bill I suppose.

>>10546536
a fire upon the deep

>>10550245
i was kinda taken aback by how quickly he raped that poor innocent nubile young girl

>>10550515
big mistake

>>10545556
A Deepness in the Sky is better

Did I get memed by people saying this book is good? The start of it is kingkiller shit 2.0, let me tell you a story about how I killed the emperor, starting with my super special exclusive school days, and the kid is about as much of a flawless shitstain as Kvothe, if not worse. One good thing I can say is the pacing is about 5x better, but does it go anywhere?

>>10550635
I thought it was quite adequate for what it was, but the sequels are much much worse.

>>10550635
how far you are?

>>10550657
Not very, he just went up a river to take some test in his super special exclusive military school. Does it get any better?

>>10550674
he will always be an ace but it'll have much less prominence in the story later on, if that helps. whereas kingkiller focuses on kvothes genius as the plot driver throughout.
imo it makes perfect sense to make a coming of age character extremely gifted in these kinds of stories, you need some way to justify their significance in the plot, and it's as good a reason as any

>>10550633
>Deepness
is that even a word?

>>10550695
of being deep. deepness

>>10550686
I don't really hate it in every case either, but here the pacing has been such that there's literally nothing to his character yet besides being super talented, and sometimes getting sad about his mom. And the plot is kingkiller on speed, hopefully the dumb school stuff is done soon and something interesting happens, as that other anon said the sequels seem to be universally hated, was just going to read this as a standalone.

>>10550734
you won't be stuck in the academy the whole book, and as I said, from there it'll focus a lot less on his growth.
though personally I really like that shit so I can't really judge. also the fact that it's not multiple pov takes it up a notch automatically in my view

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>>10550748
>>10550748
>>10550748

>>10550395
Magician by Feist, I guess. There are powerful magicians, but most are rudimentary. Don't go with too much thirst, tough, the story of the book is much more than the story of a magician, it tends to dwell on stuff. I skipped several pages of stuff and wish I had skipped more.

>>10550633
I only read the first book fearing the second wouldn't be as good. I read the summary and all I got from it was "dog politics". Should I keep going?

>>10548056

It's a factually accurate statement

Just bought pic related. Did I fall for a meme or is it actually as good as everyone says it is?