/lit/ - Literature

first for sanderfag a hack

Have you started reading yet? I have, I've never read Clarke before and had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.

Downloads: http://b-ok.org/s/?q=Childhood%27s+End

>>10842426
I read it two years ago. Pretty amazing, I recommend it.
Hardly sci-fi, though. At it's core it's almost a religious text.

>>10842390
>fucks sake
>no way back
>the saliva tree
>the monkeys thought 'twas all in fun
Are these titles for real?

>>10842390
Here's a cover for you

I asked this question once before but didn't get any good answers so I'll try again at the beginning of the thread.
_____

Why is almost all high fantasy so low-concept? Every blurb I read sounds like:

>in the land of Clichéa, a guy sets off on a quest to do a thing
or
>the above but with DINOSAURS
or
>the above but it's a 2meta4u parody deconstruction

They all sound like the same thing. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure many of them are great and unique books that are worth reading; but all they have going for them is someone's recommendation - "check it out, it's high fantasy and good". Considering how many of them are also part of doorstopper n-logies, I rarely take the risk to try them.

Sci-fi and low fantasy doesn't seem to have this problem, I usually know whether or not a premise interests me from the start.

>>10842507
non-cliches dont sell.

>>10842515
If you are worried about writing a hit instead of a classic you probably shouldn't be writing at all.

>>10842507
It's because of genre fiction. Most fantasy authors are idea wise bankrupt hacks writing to fit a mold. Like >>10842515 imply, publishers and readers are also to blame because the books sell like hot shit.

>>10842523
If you think you're choosing between a hit and a classic you should probably just try to get some words on the page.

>>10842534
True.

When I'm reading sci-fi or fantasy I always self-insert some made up character who's related to a main character in one way or another, for myself.
I'm not sure why I do it, is it autism?

>>10842507
>Why is almost all high fantasy so low-concept
May I suggest the Road to High Saffron ?

>>10842648
I sometimes do that. Other media as well.

>>10842648
Somebody with autism wouldn’t be good at doing so.

>>10842515
>>10842527
Yeah, but why doesn't that happen as much in sci-fi?

To contrast, I'll write short summaries of Goodreads blurbs of the first four books in the OP's selected recommendations charts. I have not read any of these. I'll try to be fair and unbiased. I omitted Shadow of the Torturer because it's sci-fan, I hope that's not unfair.

fantasy:

>an Earth teenager is transported into a magical world with 7 levels of reality. he is transformed into a man but is still a boy on the inside. he must go on an epic quest to find a sword from a dragon; on his way he will encounter elves, wizards and dragons, as well as other challenges and dangers.
>the capital city of a small country is at the confluence of two rivers. one of the rivers flows from Fairyland, and some centuries earlier the people of the country liked fairies and ate fairy fruit. but then the benevolent Duke was banished and fairies and fairy fruit were banned. now, the mayor of the city's sun is rumored to have eaten fairy fruit, so the mayor must uncover the city's old mysteries to save him.
>the greatest sorcerer in the land was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. in his lust for power and knowledge, he unleashed an evil upon the world. this is the story of how he mastered spells, tamed a dragon and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.
>the first year in the life of the heir to an ancient castle. doom and foreboding, sterile rituals. the villain exploits the aristocracy for his own profit.

sci-fi:

>when a man goes to a planet to study its ocean, he finds a painful repressed memory embodied in a phantom that looks like his long-dead lover. others on the planet are haunted by similar manifestations of their repressed memories. is the ocean creating these creatures and why? the scientists must look inward.
>in a recovering post-apocalyptic world, a group of Christian monks rediscover old world science through the venerated writings of a man they consider a saint
>an epic poem about a luxury space cruiser fleeing an uninhabitable Earth. due to a malfunction they can't land on Mars but instead are knocked into deep space.
>in post-apocalyptic Russia, a man transcribes old books and presents them as the words of the new leader. he is glad that he isn't a hideous mutant forced to pull a harness. he's glad he has mice to eat and can escape the agents who repress free-thinking. a legendary beast screeches in the faraway wilderness.

Now let me be super clear: I am NOT saying that the last four are better books than the first four - again, have not read any of them. But they SOUND a great deal more interesting, at least to me; I want to read them simply based on the premise.
Seems like high fantasy should be more like this, given that anything is possible with magic and a constructed world. So why isn't it?

>>10842649
Isn't that set on Earth?

>>10842840
sci-fi has more cliches that are viable to write about. thus writers have more of a leeway to write about different topics.

its not that fantasy or sci-fi writers cant write whatever they want. its just that not everything sells. a lot of inde writers have carved out their own niche but really big writers cant fall back on that. they need to sell as many copies as possible.

>>10842648
I do that too, or self-insert as one of the main characters and play out what I would have done in my head. Helps me come with ideas.

>>10842840
>in post-apocalyptic Russia, a man transcribes old books and presents them as the words of the new leader. he is glad that he isn't a hideous mutant forced to pull a harness. he's glad he has mice to eat and can escape the agents who repress free-thinking. a legendary beast screeches in the faraway wilderness.

sounds like modern russia desu.

>>10843008
(again,) I haven't read it, but I think that's kind of the point.

>>10842648
Sometimes I pretend one of the characters is in the passenger seat of my car and I talk to them about things (mentally).

I have a few scifi books I want to read. Which should I read first? I have:
>The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
>The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
>A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

>>10842498
What's the book called?

>>10842507
Arwen best girl.

>Why is almost all high fantasy so low-concept?
Does Bakker count as high fantasy?

>>10843113
Leibowitz

>>10842840
>Yeah, but why doesn't that happen as much in sci-fi?
Sci-fi have always been a more idea based genre while fantasy originated in myths and folklore turned adventure and S&S.

>>10843008
>>10843017
if you like this this kind of stories this one was good:

berkem al atomi marauder

http://getdefault.com/losing-fingers-in-fiction-berkem-al-atomi-the-marauder/
http://nerohelp.info/en/en-10232-atomnyy-gorod-maroder-berkem-al-atomi.html

don`t know about it in English version but in Russian it was good, and author seems to know what he is writing

>>10843120

>>10843172
This one went for over a million in 2016

>>10842507
>Why is almost all high fantasy so low-concept?
Because "high-concept" doesn't make a story good or characters interesting.

I've been going over the Codex Alera series.

Picture Roman legionaries with the power to control elemental spirits (furies). There's also about five different races, including the human race (Alerans).

The main character is a boy who can't use any furies and we watch as he gradually goes from nobody to legend.

It's very war heavy too. I've read three of the books and all of them involve a war against some other race.

Definitely a fantasy series I can recommend. Does anyone else have any fantasy series they'd recommend to me?

P.S.: I've already gone through A Song of Ice And Fire.

>>10843348
>I've been going over the Codex Alera series.
>check reviews on goodreads
>all high ratings come from women who post nothing but gifs
Not for me I think.

>>10843383
I don't know about it's fan base but I definitely enjoyed the hell out of it. If you got any questions about the series, feel free to ask.

>>10843348
how much gay, rape, and incest is there in this series, my man?

>>10843405
There is some rape in the first book. I only read the first three though so I don't know if it's gonna be a thing.

There are some sex scenes here and there. There's also some interracial sex with Tavi and Kitai.

>>10843424
no gay sex or incest, though? i don't know if it'll keep my attention.

>>10843348
Wow that sounds terrible.

>>10843348
>romans + pokemon
Not my cup of tea

I'm glad I stuck with Ship Of Magic

it took a damn while to have a plot besides family disputes but starting with the slaver incident the story really picks up.

at this point, I might potentially regret putting it down when I'm done to read some of this month's new releases

>>10843348
Butcher pretty much wrote this series as a joke. Someone challenged him to write something with two wildly different concepts: lost Roman legion and Pokemon and this is what he came up with.

>>10843446
Romans and Pokemon were the two topics that Jim Butcher was told to make a series based off of. IT works pretty well. The "pokemon" aspect is pretty light. It feels more like Avatar: The Last Airbender than Pokemon. With Metal and Wood added to the elements that the Alerans can control.

>>10843480
That seems to be his thing. He wrote the first dresden story for a writing class as an example of what not to do but it turned out good by accident

>tfw you want to read fantasy with gunslingers (like the backstory to The Dark Tower with King Arthur and his knights using six shooters) but there's nothing really like that

>>10843383
Good. I don't want you joining the fanclub.

>>10843497
>With Metal and Wood added to the elements that the Alerans can control.
So basically the Chinese classical elements (although they didn't consider air to be an element). Kind of funny how the story based around old western civilizations uses an eastern system of metaphysics while the one based around asian civilizations uses a western one.

>>10843736
Why do we never get phlogiston, aether, or quintessence in our fantasy elemental metaphysics?

Read Sufficiently Advanced Magic.

>>10843558
I literally haven't even read the plot summary but Powder Mage sounds like it probably has guns.

Just finished the Court of Broken Knives and it was good. I was surprised because the name was super generic and it was written by a womeme. Any other slightly less well-known books that are good? I personally recommend The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

also anyone have good spy novel reccs? I read A Single Spy a while ago and loved it, especially the first 2/3rds of it. Lecarre isnt gritty enough for me and idk any other spy authors.

>>10842648
you are definitely not alone.

>>10843348
You get tired of Tavi Alwaysright pretty fucking quickly. The only saving grace of that entire series was that hermit-y swordsman. wew dat powerlevel

Pic related came today. Paid eight extra bucks for this edition because of the cover, and the fuckers put a sticker on it. Can't wait to read it, though.

Saw Annihilation today. Recommend some books that are like it -- spooky/strange 'zones' with weird happenings (yes I know about the Southern Reach trilogy already)

>>10844210
the library at mount char

>>10844252
As good as it is, it’s time you read something else, friend.

>>10844252
library at mount char anon, do you think i will outlast you on this board or you will outlast me?

>>10842410
Indiana... let it go

I just finished Logan’s Run in two sittings. Was pretty short and predictable. Like a PKD novel without the flair. Why did I feel like I needed to read this book? What part of consumerism culture subconsciously told me this was an important book?

>>10844286
Well, yah gotta read it before yah gets too old eh?

Do any of you listen to anything while reading? If so, what?

>>10844415
I enjoy asmr videos, the "white noise" effect helps me focus when reading, painting, writing or studying.

>>10844055
>stickers on your cover

M8, I feel your pain.

>>10844415
https://youtu.be/A6hYgQ024EE
https://youtu.be/qBn0Jnf7_3M

>>10844415
I listen to Audio Books. Works well with a busy schedule and a car.

>>10844210
roadside picnic

>>10843165
I'm vaguely familiar with a old Lets Play of a game that was made based on the books. Used a overly complicated "3D Jagged Alliance" style game engine IIRC and had been fully translated to English but was never released in English officially because the final release got leaked and the project was canceled, but the LP'er got a "unofficial" copy of it that had been released on a demo disc for a Polish gaming magazine. Quite strange overall.

I thought it was hilarious that it was basically the typical "intensely paranoid John Birch tinfoil rantings about the coming UN invasion of America" but in Russia and the protagonist/author is some Muslim guy from the Urals IIRC.

>>10843558
Okays so for gunpowder fantasy this is what I know of:

Powder Mage by Brian McClellan is the big one. Fantasy kingdom has a revolution and guillotines the nobility, most of the main characters can use certain types of magic by consuming gunpowder.

The Thousand Names by Django Wexler. Cuts much closer to historic Napoleonic events and is more in the style of the Sharpe novels.

Instrumentalities of the Night by Glen Cook: Early Modern period, around 1300 or so, gunpowder warfare is just starting to become practical and Fantasy Europe is facing a apocalypse.

The second Mistborn series has guns in it, but it's more in the style of those old Shadow pulp vigilante books from the 30s by Walter B. Gibson.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik. It's literally the Napoleonic War but with dragons.

Other ones I know of and have on my list but haven't read:
Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Iron Elves series by Chris Evans.
Cold Iron by Stina Leicht.

>>10844210
Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins. Cop in industrialized Fantasy Russia gets called to Not-Moscow to hunt down a terrorist but gets swept up into much stranger things.

>>10843880
I know about Powder Mage, but I'm hankering to read something closer to what I described which doesn't seem to exist.

Are there any male writers who don't spend an inordinate amount of time describing how beautiful some female character is? Reading Gene Wolfe and he definitely has a problem with this.

>>10844415
I used to but the app I used to listen to youtube videos while reading doesn't let me use another app simultaneously anymore for some reason

while I did it was mostly pretty embarassing shit. soundtrack music, anime openings, Homestuck flashes

>>10842507
honestly? high fantasy is primarily written by two groups of people
>bad writers who want to emulate tolkein but have no creativity
>greedy writers who realize generic european fantasy is a bottomless dead horse colon full of gold ingots

There are high-concept high fantasy writers out there but there aren't a lot of them, and most of the ones I see are YA

>>10843296
it doesn't make bad writing better but leaning on tired cliches again and again and again makes passable writing worse and it's a warning sign that the author either lacks creativity or is just phoning it in

one of the purposes of fantasy over any other genre is that it's meant to be a departure from the usual. If you do the same unusual thing over and over again it's not unusual anymore and you might as well not be writing fantasy

>>10844533
butcher only spends like a page and a half describing how hot a half-incinerated woman tribbing her disemboweled cousin to death is

>>10844533
No, you faggot.

Here's one of the many reasons why, when straight non soy-boy males find a woman attractive, like wide eyed fuckable the descriptions and effect it has on them isn't inordinate.

In this instance they show by telling, revealing a large amount of information by describing the heroes reactions, thoughts and observations.

>>10844550
all you're telling me is that you jizz your pants on sight

>>10844554
Beats shitting them instead, you nerd.

>>10844550

>>10844550
I can actually FEEL your virginity through my computer screen.

>>10844415
noisli, lets you stack multiple white noise elements together

>>10844286
Well they made a movie out of it, so it has slightly more fame than books of similar quality.

>>10844658
>autist doesn't understand social ques

Jesus christ, anon.

>>10844550
whoa calm down geek, go wash ur plastic elf ears off before u get heated up again and ya mom bans u from larpin in the basement again faggot

Is Altered Carbonbon any good? How much GRI is involved?

>>10844975
The whole trilogy is pulpy goodness.

>>10844548
Butcher? What? Urobuchi?

>>10845101
Underrated post

>>10843472
>supple cunny gilf strikes again

>>10844252
Marathoned the first 10 pages and it reads like hot shit

>>10843875
>Read Sufficiently Advanced Magic.
>goodreads
>Popular Answered Questions
>Any gay romance or relationship in this book?
>2 Likes · Like 2 Months Ago See All 2 Answers

>Andrew
>This answer contains spoilers… [Yes, there is a male/male relationship between two of the main members of the cast.
Fuck off. Blurb sounds like the author watched that dungeon crawler anime with the headless genie. Magi or w/e the fuck it was named. The guys in that anime looked pretty faggot too.

>>10845281
The G in GRI is not there for no reason bub.

can anyone recommend fantasy books that revolve around mercenary groups? I'm considering writing a story about one, but I don't want to write it all out and then realize I ripped off someone else that I never heard of
>>10842390
rings of saturn has a pretty good cover

>>10842931
1. Is discworld good
2. where do you recommend I start?

>>10845281
think you're in the wrong place homie
its probably a shit book but gay is one of the pillars of /sffg/

>>10845281
>The author clearly ripped off Magi
I'm the guy that recommended it and i wholeheartedly agree. However it's so blatant in places that I'm convinced that he didn't conciously do this.

>>10845438
I disagree, he knew what he was doing and I'm honestly impressed with his ability to fill a market niche.

>>10845272
>Marathoned the first 10 pages and it reads like hot shit
>marathoned
I want /tv/ to leave

>>10845454
I just marathoned the first 3 lines of this post and I was impressed with the very robust prose.

>>10845480
>zack Snyder
>copied frank miller's and Moore's picture books
>can't even copy them right
LOL

>>10845374
Black Company

>>10845423
You certainly are vocal sure. Hopefully noone decides to spam RIP (Ponies) for the next three years.

>>10845480
Thanks based snyder

What do you guys think of Vangrove Story as a title?

I'm trying to evoke an image of dense, dimly lit forest like pic related.

Any science fiction that scared the shit out of you, if only for the ideas presented?

That PKD story about the guy half waking up during hypersleep seems like agonizing torture. And that Stephen King short story about teleportation is fucked as well

can you guys recommend any positive/optimistic sci-fi? like where society gets better instead of going down the drain or becoming nearly alien to us?

>>10845839
Iain M. Banks' "Culture" books

>>10845894
If you think unrestrained hedonism is positive I suppose.

>>10845839
Brave new world

Ian Brandon Anderson writes anime.

>>10845384
1. Yes.
2. At one of the red arrows, the Watch novels is a good bet, but pick whatever seems interesting.

Bear in mind that the first two Rincewind books and the first Witches book (the first to be published) are a little unripe when it comes to the world, some small details are different in the later books when the world takes form. And the last few books to be published are also a little lacking, but owerall most books are good. Reading in publishing order is also an option.


>>10845839
The Poseidon's Children trilogy is, uncharacteristically for Alastair Reynolds, positive when the future of human society is concerned. Of course there are some problems encountered in the narrative, but no galactic calamities or nothing like the Melding Plague or other horrible stuff from his Revelation Space books.

>>10846046
As good a time to post this as any.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_LueUJ05XU

>>10845819
>grove
>evoke an image of dense, dimly lit forest

Is this good?

>>10842840
>Isn't that set on Earth?
The people are certainly not humans.

>>10845955
This, but unironically.

>>10846046
I have the Fifth Elephant lying around, for whatever reason. Can I read it as a standalone without any prior Discworld knowledge or will I simply get nothing out of it?

>>10846386
>delany
>ever

>>10846418
Yea, sure. Might not spot some of the recurring characters, but that's not a big deal. Stuff should be evident. The book has a nice take on Dwarfs, explores the whole "you never see female dwarfs" trope.

>>10844497
>so for gunpowder fantasy this is what I know of
"Chase the Morning" by Michael scott Rohan. I remember it being pretty good.

>>10846433

Seriously? why?

test

>>10846487
>test
you can post your naked pics again and get banned
your choice
You were boasting before that no one gets banned
you sure learned different

going to sound like a fag but after a string of pretty light reads (eg Rothfuss, Lawrence) I'm looking for something a bit more stimulating and/or dense. something like Malazan or Dune, basically. any suggestions?

>>10845819
Sounds like a JRPG

>>10845374
>>10845537
Second for Black Company, it's precisely what you're looking for

>>10846495
GENE
WOLFE

JACK
VANCE

Dune is also ok I guess.

>>10846512
THANKS
ANON

webnovels are novels too

>>10845537
>>10846502
Thank you, I’ll pick it up

What do you all look for in a fantasy map? For me, it’s lots and lots of islands

>>10846558
what's a webnovel

>>10846569
absolutely nothing. I always sigh when I open up a book and see a fucking map. if I wanted to play an RPG I would play a fucking RPG.

>>10846572
Blogs.

>>10846569
FREE toilet paper.

>>10846575
Really? I’ve always thought a good map is essential to a fantasy book, really helps me get the sense of how far the characters are moving around and everything. do you not autistically self insert yourself RPG style into books you read, anon? Or is that just something I do

>>10846569
I like when they include a terrible city map

>>10846569
My personal favorite

>>10846587
escapism is nothing to be ashamed of. it's just that I prefer to picture these things myself, and if the author can't convey the lay of the land through writing, then a map isn't going to do him any good. I sure as fuck am not committing somebody's drawing to memory just so I can have a decent idea of how long and arduous the journey from Shitsberg to Fucksville is.

mind you, the very idea doesn't offend me, but maybe keep that shit for the appendix or official website.

>>10846572
Raw, unrefined authorial output that will never see an editor.

>>10846584
>>10846624
then sure. genius can manifest itself anywhere. traditional publishing only gives you some guarantee of quality.

>>10846623
>committing somebody's drawing to memory
I don't think you understand how maps work anon. You flip to the front and reference it directly. The map is meaningless until you start reading. By putting it at the front they assure that you know it's available when needed.

>>10846635
You misunderstand. Authorial genius and editorial prowess are pretty much orthogonal. That's why people complain when authors get famous enough to always win editorial arguments.
tldr writing ideas and producing a book are different things

>>10846636
I don't think a reader should be interrupting their reading to look up setting elements, of all things. if you don't mind though, then more power to you.

>>10846647
I fail to see what exactly we disagree on

That's a bad cover. Because people won't buy the book because of it, because they don't want frozen blood.

Any fantasy with a similar atmosphere to the Witcher?

>>10846962
I don’t play video games, describe it to me please

>>10846967
>Gritty Feudal world
>big bad empire to the South
>weakers kingdoms in the north
>Elves, Dwarves, gnomes and vampires
>loadsa monsters

>>10847020
Malazan

it is about as high fantasy as fantasy gets though, fair warning

>>10847020

So basically Skyrim

>>10846569
something like the middle earth map, not a big fan of the full color shit. it seems tacky.

>>10846962
the witcher books by sapkowski might be what you're looking for

>>10847123

>>10847075
I haven't done it service

>/sffg/ tells me Iron Gold is shit
>It isn't shit at all
Volga is best girl across the whole franchise and it hurts me that i'll never hold her huge pale hand as we go for a walk in the zoo

>>10847143
She's right anon, they're very similar.

I'm reading Don Quixote at the moment. I haven't come across so many interpolated stories and novelettes since reading Book Of The New Sun. Maybe Wolfe was thinking of Cervantes.

>>10847248
You and I are going to have a fallout very soon.

I just want a good old fashioned fantasy with a masculine protagonist who does masculine shit.

>>10847540
That is NOT okay

I strongly suggest reading Blue Remembered Earth if you like space opera.

Any suggestions on other sci-fi books with religious focuses?

Anyone else read it?

>>10847893
Wow, I'd totally forgotten about that book.

Religion does appear in a many sci-fi books but that's usually to act as opposition to the main characters or plot.

I don't remember reading anything like it's used in the Sparrow novels.

>>10847913
The best I got is A Canticle for Lebowitz but I've finished it before Sparrow so now I have the less talked about sequels for both of them.

Is this good?

>>10847933
yes

>>10847934

The entire saga?

>>10847540
Masculinity is dead. Modern "masculinity" is at best an affectation obtained by working out and eating an unnecessary amount of food in order to have large muscles. The average muscular gym rat is as useless as his out of shape counterpart.

Saying this as a guy who works out and has good muscle tone and strength. There's simply no room for manliness in the modern world. It's openly discouraged and punished. And because the difficulties we face in the developed world are so different now than they were in the past, manliness doesn't naturally occur because it no longer helps anyone to be manly. It pays to bitch and moan more than it pays to be tough and in control.

>>10848013
Yeah okay but any book suggestions?

>>10842390

Bought this book for 10 cents (10 for $1 bin).
This series ended up being one of the best things I read last year, and Schmidt is now one of my favorite sci-fi authors.
It's a shame more people haven't heard of him. You can get his stuff fairly cheap on AbeBooks.

Yes, that is a bear with six-pack abs, human hands, and a rooster comb.
Fucking brilliant.

>>10847540
If you want a more modern take on this then check out the recent novel Brutal. The protag is not Conan levels of masculinity, but he's a refreshing distraction from the grimderp """"protags"""" of our modern times. And don't let the grimderp tag for Brutal fool you; it's not grim dark at all nor particularly brutal in the edgy sense of the word (hell it's not even epic fantasy like it says on the cover either).

>>10847020
That is way too hot to be Meve.

>describing the Witcher without mentioning all the weird anachronisms that actually set it apart from other fantasy
sad

>>10848021
Conan, my dude
Also, BotNS, The Worm Ouroboros, and maybe Night Land. In fact, I would stick to things written in the early 20th century or earlier.

>>10846386

Hilux > Triton

>>10847540
I'm assuming you've read Conan. Have you read other work by Robert E Howard, like Solomon Kane and Kull
Burroughs in general is all about manly men being manly. If you're tired of Tarzan and John Carter typpes, go for The Mucker.

Another good source of manliness is David Gemmell. His Drenai saga is all about badasses and heroic last stands.

The Monster Hunter International series is Urban Fiction as written by /k/, and I mean that in a good way.

>>10848068
>That is way too hot to be Meve.
Delete this immediately

>>10847945
yes

>>10848236
Lyria-Rivia a shit and Meve is an old roastie. They had it coming.

>>10848257
Emhyr get out

>>10848305
Only one worse than Meve was Calanthe.

>>10846962
Witcher is a ripoff of Elric so read that.

>>10848332
Well Calanthe sucks cock, that much is true.

Pretty disappointed with this one. The first book in the series had a lot of great desert Napoleon shit, this one swapped it for "women are just as good as men!" and not enough keikaku and military formations.

>>10848363
>this one swapped it for "women are just as good as men!"
In battle? That shit makes me drop instantly

>>10848393

Sort of. The first book had a chick who was pretending to be a guy in what's basically the French Foreign Legion. In this one, she goes back and meets with her old lesbian lover from when they were in an orphanage, who is now running a grrrl's gang in the slums. There's a lot of lesbian kisses and then all the gang goes to join the army. So I'm sure the battle shit is coming up.

>>10848193
>Monster Hunter International
Been meaning to check this series out in a while. How is it?

>>10848333
i'm still not sure I believe that, considering where the author was when he wrote it. Iron Curtain and all.

>>10848400
>The first book had a chick who was pretending to be a guy in what's basically the French Foreign Legion. In this one, she goes back and meets with her old lesbian lover from when they were in an orphanage
How the fuck do you stand this shit?

>>10848403
Fun, entertaining and unapologetically conservative.

>>10848421
>How the fuck do you stand this shit?

The first one also had a military campaign. That's what I enjoyed. Lots of "FIX BAYONETS!" And there were two other PoV protagonists that were a lot better.

This one had much less of the other two, more of the girl, and another women PoV. I thought it would get better when the French Revolution equivalent happened, but it got much worse.

>>10848412
>considering where the author was when he wrote it. Iron Curtain and all.
Razorfist goes more indepth about it, but he did have access to those Elric stories at one point before he wrote Witcher.

>>10848435
>The first one also had a military campaign. That's what I enjoyed. Lots of "FIX BAYONETS!"
Just read Sharpe and its knockoffs my man

>>10848437
>Razorfist
The metalhead?

>>10848403
If it helps the author is conservative, which is honestly pretty rare these days especially in Fantasy. You avoid dumb shit like this >>10848400. Now that I think about it, I think he's the one who started the whole Sad Puppies thing with the Hugo Awards. The funny thing is the blowout from that whole thing proved him right since the Fantasy genre is now seemingly overrun with politically correct retards.

>>10848437
Razor also things Catherine is a hentai dating sim so, I'm not sure I believe him on a few things even if he can be fairly entertaining.

>>10842390
guys, am i just out of luck trying to buy *new* books of old books like pic related? i've been pirating ebooks since university but I want to reread a few of my favourites and start a neat little collection.

Is this even something I can find in a bookstore nowadays? There was a hueg one in Toronto I remember visiting a while back but I don't remember if it's still even open. Also, how do i even stomach buying books of series that turn shit halfway (i was almost tempted to buy hardcovers Gentleman Bastard until the stupid reveal in book 3. I still might buy it anyways depending on how book 4 turns out.)

>>10848454
seems like this anthology is my only option

>>10848439

Hey, thanks for the recommendation. This looks like what I liked from the other series.

>>10848403

>>10848448
well, at least we have Sanderson to be out conservative fantasy saviour

>>10848478
It should be illegal for women to read. Is that too much to ask?

>>10848333
>>10848412
The only similarities are cosmetic and a couple of names. They're very different in tone, content, plot, theme. Basically everything.

Go away Moorcock.

>>10848495
desu most reviews by men aren't much better

>>10848448
>reading an author just because of his irl politics
Don't be a /pol/cuck. I would personally punch my favorite authors for being idiotic douches that are ruining western civilization with their retarded politics, but they're still good reads. Someone that agrees with me isn't inherently going to be an any better writer.

>>10848480
Where did this meme come from? Just because he's a Mormon doesn't make him a right winger. He's a hardcore leftist in fact.

>>10848496
>OKAY YEA FINE HE DID RIPOFF ELRIC, BUT TOTALLY NOT TO MY SUPER SPECIFIC ARBITRARY EXTENT
I don't really care if he ripped off Elric or not since I'm not a fan of either property, but it's pretty obvious to me Elric definitely was an inspiration. It's just pathetic he wont even ADMIT Elric inspired him.

>>10848510
this. never trust the Eternal Mormon.

>>10848515
The name "White Wolf" might be an homage but that's about it. Their personalities, their roles in life, and in the stories are completely different.

thinking of writing a fantasy series about a medieval european type kingdom being invaded by a tribe of dark skinned men from a tropical land that use their huge penises to rape the native women

do you think this would sell?

>>10848515
>I don't really care if he ripped off Elric or not since I'm not a fan of either property,
Well it is pretty obvious you haven't read either one of them, yeah.

>>10848454
Used book stores my dude. They don't issue reprints of old stuff all that often. Pretty sure I picked up that exact book last year.

>>10848532
maybe in a couple decades, but you'll have to publish online

>>10848532
Just add an additional female POV that enjoys it and is torn between love of country and love of cock. It will sell like hotcakes.

>>10848532
No publisher would touch that. And you'll be labeled as a "racist". I remember seeing a recent discussion on the pic related movie, and how people were crying how racist it was because the subhumans were dark skinned ape looking people who were borderline retarded.

>>10848568
>negros upset about white male/asian female.jpg

>>10848532
easily would work if you changed to dark skinned men to dark skin females. not only would you get an award, but you'd have my guarantee that I'd buy it

how about this

>shy nerdy girl and a angry-looking white teenage male both end up in a fantasy world
>one sets off on a quest to escape and return home while the other sets off on a bloody crusade across the land
>if you thought the girl was the nice one, ooh boy are you in for a surprise

>>10848532
>a medieval european type kingdom being invaded by a tribe of dark skinned men from a tropical land
they'd get wrecked unless they vastly outnumbered the whiteys, which is unlikely if they're below a certain agricultural threshold. they need some kind of technological (also unlikely) or magical advantage to make it believable, which probably wouldn't make them a 'tribe' anymore in the traditional sense.
either that or they need to have an actual civilization of their own which is somewhat advanced to overrun whitey, which kind of defeats the point of your idea.

>>10848665
Not very realistic, how about
>dnd group ends up in fantasy world
>useless rogue gets killed immediately while pickpocketing for no reason
>bandits capture everyone else and gangrape the girls
>one goes catatonic, the other turns vicious
>betas finally snap and become killing machines
Wait, somebody already wrote that one

>>10848682
I'm sure Rome will be relieved to hear it.

>>10848701
why am I even bothering to bring it up? I know I'm never going to write it

If someone wrote an esoteric Hitlerist fantasy series how long would it take before anyone figured out what it's really about.

>>10848706
it seems like he's talking about like sub-saharan africans invading, though. they aren't really the same thing as the "barbarian" kingdoms that threatened or sacked Rome, and who already made up a good portion of the Western Roman government anyway (if you're about talking late antiquity).

>>10848815
I was talking about the stuff you specifically brought up in your post.
>who already made up a good portion of the Western Roman government anyway
That's a good point though

when did /pol/tards completely overrun /sffg/?

Containment clearly isn't working

>>10848855
Cycles of the moon fellow spaceman. Everbuddy gotta north/pol/ anna south/pol/.

>>10848855
Please head back to the nearest Marx thread.

You can't read a single jack vance novel without noticing the influence he had on grrm

>>10848437
>Razorfist
Yeah no.
Elric is fucking shit and moorcock is a faggot. The Witcher games were ight but idk about the books. Just ignore both reccs desu

>>10848855

seek help my dude, not everyone with differing opinions is a part of the evil boogeyman you've made in your own head.

fuck me, why cant i stop buying books. i read them way too slowly. doesnt help that every fantasy series has to have 10 plus tomes in it.
/blogpost
how's your backlog /sffg/?

>>10848701
What book is that?

>>10849105

huge, just added two more today as well.

>>10848855
Retard tier /r9k/ fags and the rest had their boards frozen so that the police could investigate

>>10849105
Far to large, managed to blaze through the sparrow in 4 ish days, so now I gotta decide to read something fun/happy like a discworld book or just keep reading sad shit.

>>10848448
>If it helps the author is conservative, which is honestly pretty rare these days especially in Fantasy.

But conservatives don't write or read SFF in general. They trend towards stuff like Christian books, "black ops gorrila warfare SEAL takes down the terrorists oorah" thrillers, and political books about how liberals are dumb or Islam/China/Russia is out to get them and so on. SFF for them at best is either stories for children or "faggy liberals", and at worst is a tool of a devil to corrupt children and train them in Witchcraft. (I knew a kid growing up who had to read Narnia secretly at church because his parents had banned it)

For example, back when the Sword of Truth guy was insulting the artist who did his book cover, somebody posted a interview where he says he specifically has that specific style of cover because he doesn't want to target fantasy readers, he wants the books to target the people who buy political thrillers.

>>10849195
Don't alt-right boys typically read SFF books as inspiration for their weird views? I know uh... The golden one or whatever does.

>>10849195
Ever heard of poul anderson, jack vance, robert heinlein, vernor vinge, and robert e. Howard? All are right wingers.

>>10849211
Not to mention c.s. lewis, russel kirl, david friedman, and r.a. lafferty.

>>10849126
>/r9k/ still going
>boards frozen so that the police could investigate

>>10849195
>But conservatives don't write or read SFF in general.
Never go full soy, anon.

>>10849195
>>10849324
Conservatives don't read anything except reddit. Why else do you think they keep shitting /lit/ up with retarded e-celeb /pol/ bait threads which screencap twitter accounts, retarded internet philosophy generals and vote up an orange chipmunk that swaps tweets with some other retarded political leader and promises to build a wall while lining up cushy jobs for his family members? Such things don't require brain power or reading.

>>10849211
>Robert "free love" Heinlein

Just because he liked libertarian economics and thought the military was cool doesn't mean conservatives would accept him.

>>10849343
Please head on back to plebbit.

>>10849532
The local sf/f book club is arranging to have a discussion on this book in 2 weeks. Will I be able to handle it if I'm a readlet? (e.g. took me a week to read Foundation and Empire). Also I don't know anything about China including how to pronounce any of those names so will that be a problem?

>>10849209
>alt-right
Jesus this "alt right" boogeyman is fucking hilarious. Just because someone is conservative doesn't mean they're alt right. Stop being fucking retarded.

>>10847247
Enjoy your shit poetic purple prose ruster camp character and nothing happening. Also so much emphasis on loose anal cavities greys.

>>10847933
No

>>10842390
An anon wrote this few days ago in a sci-fi thread on /tv/ about a book he has read, but he couldn't remember the title. Anybody know this story?

>>10849603
>shits up /lit/ with the 9 millionth Rupi Kaur bait thread
WOW the intellectual contributions of nu /pol/ reddit!

>>10847621
>Blue Remembered Earth
>Alastair Reynolds
I dunno my dude..
>One hundred and fifty years from now, in a world where Africa is the dominant technological and economic power
Oh, it's a joke! Hahahaha.

>>10849711
>>One hundred and fifty years from now, in a world where Africa is the dominant technological and economic power
Ah so it's a fantasy.

>>10849211
>>10849216
Also Larry Niven.

>>10849706
OBSESSED

>>10849711
>>10849733
They probably meant south africa.

>>10849711
It wasn't The dominant power, just one of them. History already tells us that it is easier to build up a modern economic system with new technology in a place that doesn't have a complicated system already in place. Hypothetically, because Africa doesn't have an economy and bureaucracy to uproot, in this science fiction scenario it was a great place to start a space industry scratch. Compare the fast rise of SpaceX with the archaic bureaucratic Goliath that is the US government and their sluggish space program.
Especially when the entrepreneur who lead the fictional African it in the book was a pioneering astronaut and scientist who took part in the first mars mission.

It has come to my attention that reddshitors steal memes I make that doesn't have the sffg tag and post them on failbook.
From now on all memes will be properly tagged to prevent normies getting hold of our products.

>>10849847
Why do we care if a few bottom feeding failbookers brighten their day with a few of our priceless memes?

>>10849564
It's not a hard book to read, you'll be fine. However, I do believe that prior knowledge about China's 1900 history and especially the Cultural Revolution increase ones enjoyment of the book.

You can always ask your book club friends about how to pronounce the names.

Are there any male writers who don't spend an inordinate amount of time describing how beautiful some female character is? Reading Gene Wolfe and he definitely has a problem with this.

>>10849747
>/pol/'s response to being called /pol/ is always to say "obsessed"
>they somehow think this convinces people that /pol/ isn't here instead of the other way around
You're the one who's obsessed. Obsessed with defending your shithead of a president.

>>10849118

>>10849747
>>10850102
You're both shitting up this thread and board with your bitching. You should stop.

>>10850138
This

why is this guy considered so influential?

>>10850206
because uncle gene said so

>>10848478
Wonder what race is involved in the pedophilia and abducted girls huh!

Hey sffg, I need a recommendation for some light reading. I'm learning a foreign language and need a book to read in that language. YA stuff wold work, but anything else would as well, as long as the writing isn't very difficult. I did this with Ender's Game, to give an example.

>>10850388
harry potter

>>10850388
Library at mount char

>>10850388
Redwall

>>10850431
unironically this. simple words and you already know the plot

Thanks all

>>10850431
>>10850506

I did consider this and might pick it up, but I usually read for the plot and I'm familiar with HP a bit too much already.

>>10850484

Looks like it wasn't translated.

>>10850497

This might be fun considering I'm also playing "Ghost of a Tale" at the moment.

What's the verdict on Robin Hobb? I've seen it shitted on here a few times, should I just read something else instead? I was going to read Night Angel instead, but I didn't like it as it's something that I was actually trying to avoid (bleak, crawling in my skin world coupled with coming of age story about assassins).

>>10850640
Robin Hobb is great. As far as I'm concerned she's one of the strongest fantasy authors. Anons here often complain about it being "misery porn". The truth is that she's one of the few fantasy authors who excels at characterisation (especially in the Farseer Trilogy) so you actually care when stuff happens to the characters.

Since you have something against assassins then you may want to look into the Liveship Trilogy, which starts a bit slower but is still excellent.

>female authors

can I use real languages for my fantasy story? thinking of making French elvish, gaelic dwarvish, and something meso-american for centaurs. orcs speak Americanized English of course

>>10850743
baka everyone knows welsh is elvish

>>10850640
I wouldn't call her terrible but not great either, a mediocre fantasy writer

>>10850640
dont read night angel

>>10850757
b-but what if my elves are supposed to be snotty assholes, who are sort of vampire-like? would French work then?

>>10850783
French elves would obviously have to be dark elves. And the Dwarves need to speak Scots Gaelic.

Just bought the dragonbone chair by tad williams, what am I in for lads?

>>10850805
A good night's sleep

>>10849531
Vinge too, he's more of a "MUH SINGULARITY" technocrat than a conservative.

The rest of them are just sort of average "cold war conservatives with a dash of libertarianism" types. C.S. Lewis is the obvious exception since he was from a generation before that.

>>10850805
Gay shit for teenagers

>>10850805
it has slow pacing and is very generic in terms of plot and characters but Tad Williams is one of the best writers in sff so it's still an enjoyable read. It's something you enjoy for the journey rather than the destination

>>10850097
>i don't read at all
>let me repost someone's post in hopes of getting some (you)s to help push away the an hero depression

Has there ever been a fantasy author as original as Steven Erikson?

>>10850857
gene wolfe

>>10850484
That book is complicated, why would you try to get him to read that?

>>10850857
uncle gene "not a meme" wolfe

>>10850640
>I was going to read Night Angel instead
Only fine aficionados of GRI can enjoy and digest the complex flavor and aroma that is the Night Angel Trilogy.
Kiddie Readers need not apply. Stick to your Hobb, she might be more your speed.

>>10850857
genie wolfeman

>>10850743
>orcs speak Americanized English of course

>>10850857

>>10850743
make your gaelic race giants intead of dwarves (but still with all the dwarvish stereotypes

>>10849771
Yeah. There's no reason Africa won't experience the same rapid economic growth that Japan, South Korea and China have once the countries start switching away from a resource exploitation economy.

But as usual westerners are still going "lol japan will never be known as a manufacturer of high quality electronics!"

>>10850743
>Americanized English
So... Spanish?

>>10850942
no way esse, Spanish is for my race of aquatic crustacean nomads

>>10850942
It's too subtle for you.
He was talking about the percentage meme.

Are there any books that either do dwarves differently or else keep dwarves as they are but gets intricate with their culture and biology and how it differs from humans.

Literally the only thing I’ve read like that so far is a fucking stick figure webcomic

>>10850973
Library at mount char

>>10849680
Isn't that the plot of The Dig, that lucas arts game?

opinions on Werthead?

>>10850710
I'd say that so far Liveship Traders is faaaaar faster than Farseer which only starts really going around the end of the second book. I'm generally liking Liveship Traders much more, what should I expect from Tawny Man?

any fantasy/sci fi novels where the MC gets cucked?

>>10843113

Leibowitz is what I'm currently reading. I read all post-apoc, from the cheesy kindle shit to the more cerebral. Leibowitz is more on the cerebral end and is interesting to read, especially in the context of the time it was written (late 50's, early 60's if I'm not mistaken). It's funny and a bit sad.

>>10851299
Oh it gets way worse in Fiat Voluntas Tua if you think it's sad in Fiat homo or Fiat lux. Good read though, makes me wanna read more religious stuff like it but I haven't really heard anything great about Horse woman. Doesn't help knowing what happened to the writer and how it affected the second book.

>>10850867
>>10850872
>>10850884
I wish you'd have posted less seriously.

>>10851280
Witcher

>>10851280
The Sparrow, I guess, if you think a priest can get cucked.

>>10851190
Thank you, I guess it's the novelization by Alan Dean Foster

>>10851280
Vox Day.

>>10845374
This, just finished it last night. Well written and fun as hell

>>10851232
>I'm generally liking Liveship Traders much more, what should I expect from Tawny Man?

Tawny Man pretty much continues from Farseer. You'll recognise a few mentions of Liveship characters/events but it doesn't have much to do with Liveship. Tawny Man is slower than Farseer (although maybe you should ignore that since our perception of the pacing seems to be completely different), it's still about (an older) Fitz but the focus is much more on the Fool, who gets some fascinating character development.

I thought it was great and very poignant if you're emotionally invested in the Farseer trilogy characters.

By the way, there are also the Rainwilds books which continue the Liveship story IIRC. Haven't read them but I mean to.

>>10851714
I kind of disliked Royal Assassin for how bloated and uneventful it felt but liked pretty much everything else in the trilogy. I hope that I'm going to like Tawny Man even more. About Rainwild Chronicles, I've heard they're actually kind of mediocre compared to the rest of the Elderlings cycle, so I dunno if I'll be reading them.

>>10851740
Fair enough. You're not alone in preferring Liveship to Farseer BTW. A certain special someone thinks so too (pic related).

>>10851781
I feel inspired to write page-long passages about diarrhea just by looking at his magnificent beard.

>>10851640
>vox day
isn't that the guy who tried to make a republican comic book with absolutely no clue how comics work at all?

Is it just me or does Gaiman kinda... suck

>>10850963
I think his comic was too subtle for YOU, anon. I believe he's referring to the large amount of Mexicans and latinos who have taken up residence in lard land, and continue to speak Spanish instead of learning english

Do any of you fine fellows know of any authors that have a character that is present or at least makes cameos or appearances in all of their books?
A la Hoid or Randall Flagg.

>>10848532
>>10848568

Literally The Painted Man series (the Warded Man in some places).

I had to drop it when what was one of the secondary protagonists stopped everything to detail how through careful raping of white women they'd be able to better the genetic stock, shortly before they cut off the dicks of pathetic soibois who didn't know their negro sand fighting.

So yes it can sell.

>>10852060
The first half of the first book of that series was really good, the rest was complete and utter bollocks.

>>10852071

I wanted it to be good so bad. I love the idea of a world where the night is hostile unless you have magical wards on your house because of demons. How the cultures reacted to it, how people were shaped by it, the idea that traders and jongleurs were seen as incredibly valuable because they were willing to risk the roads.

Then it turned into magical muzzies raping literally everyone they could, including each other.

>>10852094
The feminist shite in it triggered me too. Every man in that series turns into a rapist if he thinks he can get away with it, and there was a Duke's mother who dominates her sons and keeps making comments about the superiority of women. Not to mention the mussies going from keeping women locked up at all times to allowing them to fight in the front lines over night.

So I've been reading this J.G. Keely guys reviews on good reads a bit and he seems to complain about most fantasy books lacking 'mysterious' magic. Do you guys have any ideas of series with mysterious magic? The best I get is discworld and I feel like it kinda cheats a little by being a series that runs on whimsy and farces, not that it makes them bad or anything I love the books i've read.

I want to say thank you to /sffg/ for giving me the gift of GRI, now I ask for another boon:

I'd like some science-fiction horror, that mixture of the two is something compelling to me. I have read Blindsight, Hull Zero Three, and kinda want the feeling of, if you have never had the chance, that Terran Trade Authority artbook about spacewrecks.

>>10850882
CRAWLING

rec me some scifi with weird spiritual shit

>>10851926
But Walter isn't in most King books.

>>10848701
This but also one of the guys made a big titty elf sorceress for an excuse to max her charisma stat and gets stuck as her.

>>10851280
The trysmoon saga.

>>10852215

There's always Dune.

I'll always rec Lord of Light, its not actively religious but the main character is impersonating Buddha.

Flesh by Philip Jose Farmer kinda gets weird in its pagan ritual focus, and it satisfies the GRI demand IIRC.

New Thread
>>10852240
>>10852240
>>10852240

>>10852219
Who's Walter? Flagg? I haven't actually read too much King. I enjoyed The Stand and read that Flagg had made at least another appearance in The Dark Tower.
He was one of the better examples I could think of, I haven't really encountered this trope too often.