/lit/ - Literature

webnovels are NOT novels

webnovels are the future
publishers are going to be dead in five years time

>>11518284
novels written by AIs will be the future

which edition of enders game should i get?
ive heard that some lines were modified in the authors definitive version

Not best girl

what is everyone reading?

>>11518325
https://www.webnovel.com/book/6831850602000905/Library-of-Heaven's-Path

Why in the blue fuck did I start to read Endymion?

Why couldn't I just pretend the whole thing ended with Fall of Hyperion? What possessed me to go on?

This is the correct thread

So why did the Protogen mercenaries board the Donnager? Couldn't they have just shot it? It's established that they have far superior torpedoes and cloaking techniques.

>>11518325
Lyonesse Trilogy

i'm four chapters in to ready player one and i am already regretting it. it's redditcore to the max

>>11518586
another one bites the dust

>>11518325
Still getting through SOIAF

>>11518586
t. maximum pleb

>>11518586
“I would argue that masturbation is the human animal's most important adaptation. The very cornerstone of our technological civilization. Our hands evolved to grip tools, all right—including our own. You see, thinkers, inventors, and scientists are usually geeks, and geeks have a harder time getting laid than anyone. Without the built-in sexual release valve provided by masturbation, it's doubtful that early humans would have ever mastered the secrets of fire or discovered the wheel. And you can bet that Galileo, Newton, and Einstein never would have made their discoveries if they hadn't first been able to clear their heads by slapping the salami (or "knocking a few protons off the old hydrogen atom"). The same goes for Marie Curie. Before she discovered radium, you can be certain she first discovered the little man in the canoe.”

>>11518656
>thinkers scientists and inventors are usually geeks

This is the worst part desu. The geek obsession in this book is so even more repulsive than the other reddit shit. Dude im a geek im so weird and smart lol

>>11518656
I refuse to belive that anybody unironically wrote this.

>>11518670
Not even the worst he has written. Go read his porn poem.

>>11518249
>what books did you regret reading this year?
I don't really regret it but Solaris and Foundation have been disappointments.
>how do you deal with the knowledge you could have read other things in the time frame?
It doesn't really bother me. I'm not old yet.
>what are you going to regret reading next?
This thread.

>>11518656
this sprang to mind instantly.

gene wolfe is too hard and not comfy at all ;_;

>>11518325
I just started the third Conan collection by Del Rey, The Conquering Sword of Conan. I expect it to be enjoyable but slightly worse than the first two collections.

>>11518965
It's okay bb I'll take care of you, just come to daddy....

>>11518301
bump

I'm reading Emerilia, and the treehugging anon would be pissed. The amount of tree destruction is unbelievable. It's only now that I'm noticing tree destruction is fantasy and scifi.

Shrike vs xeelee who would win

This is some good shit right here

>>11518249
>>what books did you regret reading this year?
blindsight

>>how do you deal with the knowledge you could have read other things in the time frame?
i rage and anti shill blindsight anon

>>what are you going to regret reading next?
his master's voice

I dropped Necrotech. It's not even entertainingly shit like Super Sales.

>>11518301
bump

>>11518358
I made the same mistake. Get out while you still can.

>>11518284
what the fuck is a webnovel anyway?

>>11518965
>>11518965
really? I thought botns was comfy tbqhwy

>>11519413
a story published independantly on the internet, usually by an amateur author.

>>11519413
Literally in the name, my guy. It's an untapped well of pateronbux. I'm still studying the landscape to see what works and what doesn't. Capeshit and urban fantasy are the most common.

>>11518249
I only have a limited amount of time left in my summer, and want to read a really good space opera. Therefore, I was wondering if "Consider Phelbas" was good as a standalone work. If not, is "The Algebraist" any good?

>webnovels
Are fanfics novels?

I know Sanderson isn't particularly liked here, but can somebody give me a fair assessment of The Reckoners?

I'm curious because there's a board game being made based on it.

>>11519515
>webnovels
Short stories aren't novels and are /lit/. Same with plays and poetry.

So it doesn't actually matter if webnovels are novels.

>>11519528
I've read all the books. Steelheart > Calamity > Firefight. Typical Sanderson fanfare, the trilogy gets worse as it goes on. Steelheart is a fairly entertaining and despite being YA dystopia it doesn't take itself too seriously. But except terrible dialogue far worse than Sanderson's usual shit. Firefight throws away most of the maincast from the 1st with one note fags who get killed off and barely make an impact. Calamity is worse than Steelheart because you see the twists and where the plot's going from a mile away but there's some cool Sanderson(tm) fight scenes in there at least.

>>>11518055
>zod wallop
One of the best modern fantasies I've read. William Browning Spencer is criminally overlooked.

What do I read now after exhausting Gene Wolfe's catalog? I tried to start Ringworld but it was garbage

>>11518325
Finished reading the books of the sequel powdermage series that are out a while ago. Kind of not been reading anything since uni started again.

>>11519621
What do you want, exactly? Tone, length, sci-fi vs. fantasy, anything that could help narrow it down from "not Gene Wolfe or Ringworld."

>>11519642
Something that doesn't feel like it was written for middle schoolers. I'm not looking for an easy read. I know it sounds pretentious but I was particularly in love with the prose and complexity of Gene Wolfe. I read Moby Dick and Blood Meridian right before my Wolfe bender so I guess maybe something along those lines too

Length doesn't really matter but I would prefer something longer

>>11519680
The prose isn't as complex, but Hyperion.

Can someone recommend me some books with a tone similar to Vurt and the comics Hellblazer and Preacher?

>damaged protagonists who aren't particularly heroic (at least not all the time) but generally aren't malevolent
>violent but not *quite* so gratuitously so that life and death become meaningless
>dark and gritty as fuck, and depressing at times, but not consistently sad or depressing, sometimes showing the world as having hope and beauty in it too
>features grim humor but not enough to be a comedy
>willing to get weird as fuck (Preacher has a teenage boy who took a shotgun to his own face befriend Hitler in hell and the two of them escape together; Vurt features feathers that are also drugs that are also the Matrix that are also parallel universes)

>>11517286
There aren't actually samurai robots in the third Kovacs book right?
I see russia also puts ratings on the books, sometimes I could really appreciate that.

>>11519967
>tfw having to go into the underbelly of St. Petersburgh into the criminal underworld in order to get a fake ID to buy books

>>11518301
bump plz

>>11518315
>Lanfear
tfw no Forsaken gf

I'm sorry but sanderson is NOT a good writer.

>>11519894
I don't think anyone compares to Jeff Noon. I assume you've read Pollen, Nymphomation, and his short story collection Pixel Juice? I wish I could say the rest of his books were as good but I can't. I can only refer you to another dark book that's one of my favorites but isn't /sffg/, Story of My Life by Jay McInerney

>>11519894 #
I don't think anyone compares to Jeff Noon. I assume you've read Pollen, Nymphomation, and his short story collection Pixel Juice? I wish I could say the rest of his books were as good as these but I can't. I can only refer you to another dark book that's one of my favorites but isn't /sffg/, Story of My Life by Jay McInerney

Any book like the Ys series out there?

>>11520358
no one ever said he is.

>>11520391
I actually haven't read anything by him besides Vurt.

Something about this very harsh, "edgy" but not in a soulless, calculating way tone that you find especially in Vurt and Ennis' less wacky shit, really meshes with how I think, I guess.

Is Falling Out of Cars good? It's been on my list for a while.

>>11520518
A book where storytelling takes a backseat to gameplay? I don't even think that's the case in the better gamebooks.

The Trails/Kiseki games are better than Ys, in my personal opinion, but if you disagree I respect your right to your own opinions.

>>11519857
I've already read Hyperion... I really didn't like it

First book was decent. But the second one was laughably bad to me.

>>11520643
I thought Falling Out of Cars had none of the style and creativity of Vurt. But definitely check out Pollen and Nymphomation which are loose sequels to Vurt. Pixel Juice has short stories set in the Vurt world. I liked Cobralingus but it's his poetry.

>>11518325
I finished Meddling Kids -> High-Rise -> now reading Ship of Fools.

Someone recommend me a book.

>>11520869
>I thought Falling Out of Cars had none of the style and creativity of Vurt.
Aw, I was thinking it would be something like Trainspotting meets The Road. I'll definitely read Pollen, Nymphomation, and Pixel Juice.

Reading his poetry sounds cool too. I've never seen poetry with the kind of ferocity Vurt has. It might encourage me to try writing poetry again too.

>>11519432
op mc and isekai setting is the most common one

>>11520882
grace of kings by ken liu
tell me how it is

>>11521087
Middle of the road Game of Thrones knockoff that's only really notable for having a Three Kingdoms gloss to it, the sequel is bad.

>>11521094
damn, i had such high hopes. have you read song of arbonne?

>>11519621
I read ringworld this summer, interesting concept, but it seemed to me that Larry niven has some deep obsession or perhaps fantasy about everyone having sex all the time, anywhere, with everyone, every single day, even on an unprecedented mission for all of humankind into the unknown alien megastructure in the middle of space.

Like seriously they get off the spaceship and step on to an alien world and are like
>hey let's throw down a fucking towel and FUCK behind some bushes

It only seems like a fantasy because I dont think Larry gets laid in real life

>>11518249
>what did you regret reading this year
I read The Left Hand of God series. It presented itself as a fantasy series, but it was basically a historical fiction novel and nothing interesting happened.

I bought this book for $7 from a discount bin in my local grocery store with no intention of taking it seriously.

I actually kind of liked it

Are the other books any good?

are there any reverse isekai books? you know someone from a fantasy world going to modern day earth?

>>11521390
GATE has elemtes of this

>>11521407
id like western books. im only using the term isekai since it describes the setting perfectly. im not much for manga or anime. i liked older stuff like gto or outlaw star but i really dislike anime after 2007

>>11521407
>elemtes

Who's your favorite loli, anon?

>>11521643
I don't read books with female characters.

>>11521680
so you dont read books at all?

>>11521643
All of them.

Why does /sffg/ hate Sanderson? Legit reasons or contrarianism?

>>11521828
Pumps out YA trash

>>11521828
he's the michael bay of fantasy authors

>>11518249
How are the Warhammer 40k novels. I don't play the board game, but the world it takes place in interests me

>>11521880
The qualiy varies wildly, theres a ton of different authors.
I'd say give Gaunts Ghosts a shot.

>>11521835
>>11521879
Elaborate further.

>>11521828
He's a professional through and through, can deliver a minimum viable product in time but the results are soulless.

>>11521268
>other books
Butcher dropped Dresden Files years ago to write "reddit cats" the series, years later he still hasn't released reddit cats says part 2...

>>11521703
Even this one?

>>11521884
>minimum viable product
This is a term best used for some shitty chunk of code, not for novels. It implies so many negative things about the readers of such novels.

>>11521934
>This is a term best used for some shitty chunk of code
But don't you know? Sanderson uses learning AI algorithms to write his novels.

>>11521934
>It implies so many negative things about the readers of such novels.
it should

>>11521884
>soulless.
This word means absolutely nothing now.

>>11521643
Palmer Eldritch.

>>11519680
The sparrow
More than human
Stars my destination

Can anyone help with the name and author of this sci fi book that has been evading me for a while. I think it was written in the 90s or early 00s.

It's about this random everyday man who has been selected to represent mankind and in some intergalactic space gladiator tournament against other alien species. The main antagonist alien is some sort of humanoid space bounty hunter who essentially cheats. It's basically some shitty Dan Brown-esque airport novel I've read once but kinda want to read again.

>>11522027
That sounds like something neckbeards would be gushing over had it been written by Iain Banks

>>11522004

get in here

>>11522036
Yeah, the author is fucking eluding me but he's basically one of those "techno-thriller" hacks like Matthew Reilly, Douglas Preston etc.

>>11518325
Your post.

>>11519249
It's shit.

>>11518325
>Rising Son by Michael Crichton
Crichton's got a bit of a hate boner going on for the Japs. It is funny reading about how advanced and sophisticated VHS tapes are and how incredible it is that the Japanese have created a camera smaller than your palm.

>>11520518
There's The King of Ys

>>11520190
>ywn be in the timeline where Rand leaves with her and becomes a devoted lover

>>11521828
/sffg/ doesn't hate Sanderson. He's generally recognized as an inoffensively bland author with a good work ethic. The sheer amount of complaining has been higher now than in the past.

>>11522215
probably because oathbringer came out relatively recently and was trash

>>11521828
I hate anyone that had a part to play in Wheel of Time.

>>11521828
I don't. I very much like many of his books.
>>11521883
He also writes books for younger audiences.

>>11522038
>coloured sugar water

>>11520645
Ys gameplay is better although i guess you can't really compare action to turn based. Kiseki is too easily broken/easy.

>>11519621
What's the worst Gene Wolfe stuff?

>>11522215
/sffg/ doesn't hate Sanderson

>>11522322
All of it
no wonder this general sucks his cock so hard

>>11522411
>You'll never understand why book of the new sun is praised so much

>>11518325
The Bridge of Alcantara by German author Frank Baer. Pretty based historical novel, set in the time of the Spanish reconquista.

>>11519504
>I was wondering if "Consider Phelbas" was good as a standalone work. If not, is "The Algebraist" any good?
Consider Phlebas is good, Player of Games is another great book from the Culture series that can be read as stand alone novel. Algebraist is good too, but the end is a bit disappointing.

>>11522416
It's mostly moralfags that like all the crammed in Christianity.

>>11521109
>have you read song of arbonne?
Do you mean Song for Arbonne? No the guy youare talking too, but it is a really good book. A bit heavy on the romance side but still good.

It's ok. Not everyone can balance writing multiple books, doing a podcast, teaching writing courses, going to book signings, and attending conventions. I'm sure you're very talented and the one book you put out after writing it on and off for half your life meets you with some mild success. Now excuse me, I'm writing a novella as a warm up for today.

>>11522409
We don't hate him you tripfag scum. The boisterous few does not speak for the silent many.

>>11522456
Of all the people you could have defended on a Romanian disorganized crime forum, you picked Sanderson.
I know you hear this a lot, but that is so very disappointing.

>>11522456
Ahh yes because as we all know quantity > quality

>>11522443
You can pretty much ignore the Christianity though and it comes a pulpy adventure that is written well

>>11519249

Are you that anon from /sp/ to which I recommended this?

>>11522114

You're shit.

Almost half way through and even though there are some really good scenes/ideas et cetera in this book, I don't really "click" with it.

Anybody else had this experience reading it?

>>11522529
I did, enjoyed some parts but over all was just meh

>>11522529
Not really. I read that book as a wee lad and everything was super cool. I doubt that would be the case for a repeated reading.

>>11522529
I had pretty much the same opinion back when I read it.

>>11522485
>Shitting on Sanderson
>Watches anime

>>11522504
Never implied that. Just pointing out that if you're going to read a popcorn novel might as well go with the guy who actually has a work ethic and isn't putting out books each stage of your life.

>>11519260
Why did you think blindsight wasn't good, lad?

>>11522529
>>11522551
I reread it recently and still liked it a lot

>>11522551
>it's okay for grils to fool you with push up bras
>but i can't walk around with my stuffed with eggplant

>>11522319
Yeah, but the Kiseki worldbuilding is 10/10 and Olivier is one of my favorite characters in any medium.

>>11523040
>Playing a game that doesn't have good gameplay for story
literally pick up a book faggot, there's plenty of novels written by autists that love spending hundreds of pages explaining shit about their worlds that doesn't have anything to do with the simple as fuck plot

>>11523059
they all have pretty decent turn based jrpg gameplay on the higher difficulties, certainly better than many other games

>>11523059
The gameplay isn't as good as Ys. That doesn't mean it's bad by any stretch.

The Kiseki games also do a good job of integrating the worldbuilding into the story, allowing you to learn more through side quests if you want or skip them if you're not interested. It isn't just infodumps everywhere or anything.

>>11522763
Who's stopping you?

>>11523215
me

Is it worth a read?

>>11519260
Glad to see someone else does not like it as well.

>>11523230
The fist 2 decently yes. But it's all downhill for m there.

>>11522529
I enjoyed it but from what I recall Gibson has some shitty prose. I remember having to reread sections because I simply didn't know what was going on.

muh-cyberpunk

Who else reads Matthew Reilly? Best action author alive.

>>11522243
>Oathbringer trash
JUST

Sanderson is not bland! The chasmfiend cavern sequence between Shallan and Kaladin was kino. Almost believed they were gonna fuck each other. Damn, Shallan needs a good ramming up her backside.

>>11523306
>Kaladin even considering pointing his dick in the direction of a lighteyed whore

>>11518586
Just drop it now. It doesn't get better, trust me.

>>11522574
>Watches anime
I think that makes me far more suited to criticize Sanderson. The quality, the plot, the action, the writing is pretty much the same

>>11522763
Oh come on you eggplant degenerate.
It's cosplay and she's some badass gun nun. Where do you think small, floppy, realistic titties factor in that image? Don't answer that was a rhetorical question.

>>11522732
Oh I am not saying it's bad. It's a classic that inspired so many people.

>>11522526
Nope that wasnt me
I've had this book on my shelf for ages now, just never got around to reading it

say something nice about him

>>11521828
For me it's the blatant leftism. Fuck this guy.

>>11522529
The book is the one to click with you, not the other way around.

>>11523531
He used his TV connections effectively to get a TV series. Although the success of the LOTR movies did ofcourse help him as well. A great combination of luck and connections.

>>11523531
He's very rich

>>11523040
Didn't Oliver die in an airplane crash? Honestly I tried playing those Coldsteel games but got turned off because of the bland gameplay. None of the characters grabbed me, while some thought had gone into the worldbuilding nothing was actually different from the usual, and the fucking endless extremely missable sidequests irritate the shit out of me.

I don't really understand the love the series gets.

>>11523615
overdetailed worldbuilding

>>11523531
He was a good friend of Roger Zelazny

>>11522456
Maybe if he dropped half of those he could write a decent book.

Can anyone recommend a military space opera?

>>11524335
Dread Empire's Fall
Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines)

>>11524335
Blindsight
The Forever War
Starship Troopers
Armor
Foundation series
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (anime(OVAs))

>>11521828
They may bash him, but they all read him....

holy shit just found out a new Felix Castor book came out
I thought Carey was finished with the series after his move to YA did so well

Gods of Riverworld

Actually all of Riverworld except To Your Scattered Bodies Go

>>11523549
lol he's barely even left-liberal

>>11523549
Kek, he's a fucking Mormon

tfw a sequel comes out to a series you enjoyed but you've totally forgotten what happened in the last two books beyond like one plot point

Robert Jordan is terrible at creating unique characters.

>>11519894
The Eyes of the Overworld.

>>11523721
Thinking about getting that huge volume with all ten Amber books. Worth it? I've liked most of Zelazny's story but I'm suspicious of massive fantasy series; even good authors use them to take a break and collect some cash.

>tarmon gai'don

wow I feel like a brainlet. Only just now realized that's a play off of Armageddon. but to be fair I never said it aloud

Humble request: I need recs for sf/f with excellent prose. Horror also appreciated. I've read much of Gene Wolfe's work, and I'm looking for stories written with that caliber (or close enough to it) of prose. I also read Dune, thought it was great.

>>11524883
Ballard, Delaney, Disch. Spinrad too when he decides to be.
If you want something recent Brian Catling is a fantastic writer

Couple of questions.
Is Armor worth reading if I've already read Starship Troopers and Forever War?
Any books like the Metal Gear Solid series? (Mechs, government conspiracies, philosophy, postmodernism, introspection, satisfying character arcs, any good mixture of these)

>>11524905
Thank you very much!
>>11524911
I've heard genocidal organ is like mgs, but I haven't read it. Has anybody here read it?

>>11524911
>Is Armor worth reading if I've already read Starship Troopers and Forever War?

If you liked them? Yes.

>Any books like the Metal Gear Solid series?
None of these are an exact match but might be worth a look: Dune, Too Like The Lightning, Revelation Space

>>11524883
Jack Vance. Dying Earth is NOT a typical example of his style but an early work. Dip your toe in with Demon Princes or go whole hog with The Eyes of the Overworld.

>>11524911
unfortunately military sci fi is pretty hard to find because its great imo. Armor is not as good as forever war of ST but its decent. Old Mans War is also decent. Forever War is the absolute GOAT of that genre and probably always will be imo.

>>11524948
pretty hard to find, which is sad because its great*

>>11524948
>unfortunately military sci fi is pretty hard to find

What? MilSF is one of the most popular subgenres of SF. Just most of it isn't good because it's Myke Cole/John Ringo chest-thumping macho garbage written by former-enlisted (or non-service loudmouths) who wasted their GI Bill on a degree from Phoenix University.

>>11525082
every single I SERVED IN THE MILITARY author worked as like a radio operator in a base lol

>>11525095
We need more stories about the heroic sacrifices of all those personal trainers and defense contractors named Jody comforting Lance Corporal Slabchest's girlfriend/stripper-married-for-housing-benefits while he's deployed to Planet Space Iraq shooting bugs and complaining about Democrats or whatever.

>>11524777
The first series is great. The second is a huge drop in quality. I felt like he was making stuff up as he went along in S2 so random things kept happening.

>>11525095
not HH Munro

>he reads fictions

>>11525377
>he reads ficciones

>>11523549
>Mormon
>Thinks organized religion is important for society
>Heavily anti-abortion

I think those 3 beliefs alone would mark him pretty much as an enemy of the vast majority of leftist in the first world.

>>11521828
I just finished reading his Mistborn trilogy and quite enjoyed it, I was looking for some fantasy to read on the side while I read something more serious and I have to admit I quite enjoyed them.
They are nothing that will blow your mind but are entertaining enough. Don't understand why he gets so much heat.

>>11525460
haven't you heard? anybody to the left of a Ukrainian neo-nazi is now a turbo-socialist who wants full communism.

>>11525466
4chan is full of contrarian hacks who love obscure oddball old shit
Go to /v/ and they will REE if you enjoy Uncharted or nuGod of War.
Talk about anything except Tarkovsky and Kurosawa and /tv/ starts REEing. It's the same here. Just ignore it and remember this site is shitpost central.

>>11525466
Beeing mediocre is not praise worthy.
>>11525492
Holla plebit no fuck off

>>11525492
/tv/ hasnt been like that for years lmao. We need more elitism if anything. Its all capeshit now

>>11525568
>Being mediocre is not praise worthy.
Being mediocre also doesn't warrant the amount of hate this guy gets.
That's beside the point though since I don't consider him mediocre, given the amount of work he does it seems to me he is quite good at doing what he does, and people are mad at him for not delivering the kinds of works he never even promised to deliver to you.

>>11525492
>Talk about anything except Tarkovsky and Kurosawa and /tv/ starts REEing
When was the last time you browsed /tv/, 2008?

>>11524834
There's lots of stuff like that in WoT. The name of the Dark One is also the Arabic word for devil and where we get the name Satan from. There's a couple other kinda bizarre references to Earth history too.

>>11523615
You have to start with Trails in the Sky or you just won't care. Not pushing you to if you aren't interested, mind.

>Didn't Olivier die in an airplane crash?
Allegedly.

>BURN ME!

Post the last 4 books you read and the book you're currently reading and give a rating and/or short review

>Blindsight by Peter Watts
Had been meaning to read it before it became an /sffg/ meme. Really liked it, author clearly researched his shit
8/10
>Echopraxia by Peter Watts
Much less horror than the last but a bit more cereberal
I liked parts of it a lot more than Blindsight and liked parts of it a lot less
7/10
>Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky Brothers
Jumped the gun on this month's reading because I'm impatient and go through books quickly
Fucking loved it, hit a lot of my buttons
Bunch of incomprehensible nonsense presented in a horror capacity, good shit
9/10
>His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem
Was a bit of a rollercoaster as far as my investment, started out slow but really got going by the end
Reminded me of what I liked about Solaris but on a different scale
Much less horror but the same feeling of unknowable grand purpose in the universe
8/10
>Currently reading Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
I needed something a little more pulpy and less philosophical to cool down from a long streak of deeper books
I'm enjoying it so far, about halfway through
It's a bit silly for my tastes but maybe it'll be explained later
Can't really give it a rating yet

>>11525602
Yeah like how Tar Valon sounds like HAIR SALON

>>11525744
And Avalon. But I like HAIR SALON better.

>>11525725
Posting the last SF&F books I read.

>The Stars My Destination
4/5
>A Voyage to Arcturus
3/5
>Solaris
2/5
>The Mists of Avalon
5/5

>>11525668
>Blood and bloody ashes!
>Flaming women!
>If you think two rivers men are stubborn just wait til you see the women!

>>11525906
stubborn-ness is literally an undesirable personality "trait" t.b.h.

>>11525906
>mother's milk in a cup

>read novel with adult themes written by a woman
>sex and rape galore

I masturbated to these books quite a lot as a youth.

>>11525725
>Black God's Kiss by C.L. Moore
It's basically Conan except with a chick so it's only slightly worse. 7/10
>His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
I was told the first book would be great and the rest shit, but I don't know if this one was that great either. Decent worldbuilding and alt history, but eh. 6/10
>Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Picked it up by morbid curiosity. Ugh. 3/10
>The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe
Back to Sword & Sorcery. Liked it enough to maybe possibly pick up the rest. Properly swordy and sorcerey and dark. 6/10
>Currently reading The Straggler's Mask by Juho Pohjalainen
More Sword & Sorcery. Kinda meandering, but I'm reading it through just to see if someone will hug the main character. Can't rate yet.

>>11525377
>he watches kpop

>>11526202
Black Jewels Trilogy?

>>11518301
I have no clue about modifications, but frankly the original is the book everyone was impressed by, not the redrafts.

What makes a good fantasy book?

>>11525725
>High-Rise by J.G. Ballard more like Wentworth IT'S MY MONEY AND I WANT IT NOW
Pretty decent but a bit mediocre in my opinion. I thought the premise was great but my suspension of belief was strained throughout (e.g., surviving and isolating even after running water stopped being a thing, etc.). The ending felt a bit devoid of anything substantial too, like the confrontation between Wilder and Royal where Royal simply gets shot and das it mane
>Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
It was wonky and difficult to get into but it shaped up to be a fun story with some wild shit at the end. I enjoyed it. Some elements of the book's prose seems to be the author being full of himself but it could just be the way he writes too. Meh.
>The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Dug it. Great book. We're all in agreement.
>Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds
Meh. Pacing was poor. Took too long for anything to happen and even then, it was lackluster. Wouldn't read again or particularly recommend.
>Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang
Decent novella, short and to the point. I thought the ending reveal was cool.
>currently reading Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo
I'm nearly halfway through and really want to find out what is going on with the alien starship.

>>11526160
Stubbornness and persistence are the same trait, just described by someone who is bothered by vs. someone who admires it.

>>11526883
It i need cash now. Not want cash now. You fucking avatarfag

Since Jeff Noon's Automated Alice is intended as a 'threequel' to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, I'm thinking of reading (in order)...

Alice in Wonderland
Through the Looking Glass
Automated Alice
Nymphomation
Vurt
Pollen
Pixel Juice

Just to see what the experience is like all together like that.

>>11526956
Nymphomation goes after Pollen. I haven't read Automated Alice, only glanced through it, but consensus sends to be split, a love it or hate it novel. The Vurt books are great.

>>11527052
It goes after Pollen in publication order, but before Vurt in in-universe chronology.

>Book saves itself in the last twenty pages
Wew. Was kind of expecting something like that, but the way it was executed made the whole thing worthwhile.

>>11527221
>Dickinson has blogged about explicitly addressing issues around gender and feminism, race and homosexuality, as well as imperialism in the world of Baru Cormorant.
yeah no thanks....

>>11527245
Just because someone wants to explore issues doesn't mean they do it badly. The issue with a lot of SJWs isn't that they write about that shit, but that they do it in a preachy and annoying way.

>>11526879
>good
>fantasy book

Give me edgy fairytale retellings that aren't written by Cum Loudly.

>>11527332
The Last Wish by Sapowski

>>11527369
It's more tongue-in-cheek fun than edgy for the most part though

>>11518284
rendez-vous in five years

>>11527378
The Beauty and the Beast one sure. Snow White was pretty fucked up through.

>>11527332
The Color Master by Aimee Bender is possibly my favorite short story

Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber is a short story collection that's pretty well regarded in that subgenre

FUCK THE ANON THAT RECOMMENDED ME EMERILIA
FUCK THAT SHIT
FUCK THIS GENERAL
SELF PUBLISH IS TRASH SHIT AND NEEDS TO BE DROWNED

>>11526680
okay, thank you

>>11527555
>reading litRPG
you deserve it

>>11527555
>here eat this shit
>okay
>wait what the fuck this is shit! FUCK YOU

What litrpg are you guys reading?

How many here liked this series?

>>11527855
You mean after they went south? It was ok. Really not as good as the first part tho

>>11518249
Are the altered carbon books actually any good? From what I’ve heard the tv show is a slight diversion but I really enjoyed it anyway.

>>11527855
I've not bothered reading past the first 3 (which I liked but thought it was a natural place to end at)
Sell me on the rest.

>>11527925
I've read the first one and it was a decent romp, read pretty much like an action movie so I'm not suprised at all that it got adapted. I've heard the later ones aren't that strong, but worth it anyway, and apparently they drop the cyberpunky-noirish detective schtick for something else.

>>11525589
>given the amount of work he does it seems to me he is quite good at doing what he does
So he's prolifically mediocre. Great for him.

How do people feel about Revelation Space/Reynolds in general? Looking for some good space opera

>>11527555
>First sentence of its description on Goodreads is in bold letters telling you it's a litrpg

YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME

>Non-Stop
5/5

>Earthlight
3/5

>Hard to be a god
2/5

>War of the Worlds
4/5

>The Time Machine
4/5

>>11528020
Read the first two, Revelation space was an overlong slog, Chasm City a lot better but still not strong enough to make me want to keep with the series. He has some fascinating ideas, but what I remember most from the first book was how I had to go through dry and seemingly endless sections of petty politics on some unimportant planet to get to the mildly interesting parts. I've also read people who like these books say the series gets worse as it goes on, so I don't want to invest time in it, especially as I was reading some other similarly bleak stuff about a humanity that's pretty much forgotten its roots and now feels lost in space, and after something like 1500 pages of that back to back left me burnt out and wanting something different.

>>11527855
I liked it until they went south, Cook seemed to fall in love with Lady too much.

>>11527955
Cool thanks anon!

>>11527555
>decide to read Emerilia
>decide to drop it around page 4
Sucks to be you, nigga.

>>11528020
The RS universe is pretty wild with loads of interesting concepts and intrigue. The first book itself is slow to build up but the trilogy is worthwhile (barring some silliness that I can't spoil) as well as the myriad of short stories and novellas within the universe.

>>11518249
>regrets
The Man in the High Castle, it's short but painful. I can't even finish it.

>how do you deal with the knowledge you could have read other things in the time frame?
I stroke beef to moo ladies with summer sausages in the front, of course.

>wot next?
Probably the other two Baxter Manifolds; Space and whatever one that's not Time

>>11527948
>Sell me on the rest.
I can't. You made the right decision.

>Foreword more verbose than the actual book it's in

>>11526545
Nah, one series followed characters over a few centuries in Celtic/Roman Britain and a fantasy novel where the main character is a guy with wings who can fly and is an "immortal" servant for the kingdom who fight interdimensional beetles. There's a rather detailed scene of the MC chasing down a girl and raping her, not sure why the author felt the need to describe the MC's semen mixed blood running out the victims vagina.

I shall seal the heavens friggin sucks, dunno why people recommend it

>>11528345
>Man in the High Castle

What? You have no taste. That is clearly a good book from start to finish.

What were you expecting? Another high stakes thriller?

I'm getting on writing my Royalroad litrpg right now. When do I start profiting?

>>11528201
>>11528321
Excellent, thanks guys. Will take a look at the first one and go from there

>Book 6 of wheel of time
Is this the start of the shit books?

Buy my books.

>>11528737
no, 6 is kino

8 is when it gets shit

>>11528767
>Perrin, Faille and Egwene chapters are back
>kino
are you sure?

>humanity's sole contribution to galactic culture is Coca Cola

>Not since Terry Goodkind unsheathed the Sword of Truth has there been such an epic tale of heroism and magic that so captures the imagination as this monumental new work by a master storyteller.

>>11528860
but sword of truth is shit

>>11527332
Have you read the originals? They were pretty edgy.

>>11528888
the post is obviously mocking the quote, which is taken from a goodreads review. nice quads btw

>>11527332
Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned

>Sequel switches to a new protagonist who was some minor character that got pushed into irrelevancy early on

>>11528860
What book?

>>11528860
>sword of truth
Isn’t that the series with evil chicken?

>>11529087
Fifth Sorceress

Give me a fantasy book with good action like Sandman writes

>>11529186
Wheel of Time

>>11526244
>It's basically Conan except with a chick

I read that a while back too and I'd say that's not quite accurate, the stories are more a focus on Jirel's mental strength and willpower than her physical strength.

>>11529088
Yes, and it's the one where the hero carves a statue of his wife that's so beautiful that it makes people endorse libertarianism. And where the hero is "forced" to slaughter a bunch of "evil hippies" for protesting war at him.

>>11529055
Glen Cook does this in the Starfishers series and it works out okay, the new protagonist turns out to have been a deep cover spy IIRC. Sadly I didn't really like the series at all, but Passage at Arms is a excellent "Das Boot in Space" standalone and requires no knowledge of the other books to read.

>>11529091
>Honestly, when I read through the first fifty pages of Fifth Sorceress, I thought 'Hey this book ain't so bad... What's with all the terrible reviews?' Then I arrived at the point where Tristan played catch with his horse and I thought, 'Oh.'

>Every character in this book talks too much, often engaging in aggravating one-sided conversations sustained by lines consisting of 'Don't you know?', 'You must be wondering...', 'Are you surprised? I will now tell you my scheme,' followed by merciless pages of boring exposition. When a savage, beast-like creature appeared and introduced itself with, 'I am a wiktor,' (followed by 2 pages of exposition about its own nature, origin, and motivation) I know that I was in for a delightful ride.

What do the chosen get out of serving the dark one? It seems like he just treats them all like shit and sets up dumb rules they don't benefit from.

Is Kovacs actually a black guy in the second book?
Because they just cast Anthony Mackie as the lead for a second season of the show and I'm wondering if they're actually going to continue adapting or doing more of their own thing.

>>11529447
Lurk for at least two more years until you know how to greentext properly, newfag trash

Apparently Amazon is upholding Michael Scott Earle's ban.

>make $200k a month writing shitty Men's Adventure scifi novellas
>piss it all away hiring kindle unlimited click farms to boost your books

>>11529720
Lurk for three more years until you learn the board culture, newfag. Anon’s engaging in a rich board tradition and you’re putting your ignorance on display for everyone to see.

>>11529488
this is fantasy. we dont go into the economics and incentives of the world friendo

>>11529773
The fuck are you talking about?

>>11528321
>>>decide to read Emerilia
>>decide to drop it around page 4
This.

>>11529730
>$200k/mo
Doubtful

>>11529488
Immortality

At what point will I start caring about anything that happens in Malazan? There's no intrigue, the characters are uninteresting and the narrative style is like being given homework and being rewarded with nerd one-upmanship and sunk costs fallacies.

>>11530222
Probably you're just dead inside :(

>>11518325
Finally getting around to reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I'm honestly surprised there's not more genre stuff set in this period.

>>11530300
Tv show is mor3 entertaining.

>>11530311
Is it? I'll check it out after, then.

>>11526883
>I'm nearly halfway through and really want to find out what is going on with the alien starship.
Oh boy.

>>11529599
That's just Altered Carbon getting the Netflix treatment.

>>11530222
How many books have you read so far?

>>11529488
Various reasons, but the root of it was they were greedy and saw the Dark One as an opportunity to advance their ambitions. Some of them wanted to rule over the world after he won, others simply wanted to indulge their own desires that they normally would be forbidden. Among them, only Ishamael joined for ideological reasons rather than a personal goal. He just fell into absolute despair after realizing the cyclical nature of time, that mankind was doomed to repeat the war against the Dark One forever and ever as long as the world existed, and the only way to break out of the loop of endless suffering and war was for the Dark One to win. So he joined him, to end the war, end the repetition. He alone also seemed to be aware somewhat of the past iterations of the conflict, though that may have just been him being crazy as fuck.

>>11529730
apparently currently amazon is still investigating. nothing is definite.
the issue is no one knows why he was banned. the haters say he is inflating pagecount or something or padding out his books. but while i agree that his formatting is something you have to get used to it does not seem to be inflated or padded out in any way. even the copyright thing should not have lead to a ban. also if he really would have manipulated KU numbers then it would have been a KU only ban and his books would still be on amazon. i mean the audiobooks still are.
no one knows why he was actually banned and amazon doesnt want to talk.
the people that hate him hate him only because of how popular he was and how much money he was making. the 200k a month was fairly accurate actually. and thats from KU alone. this guy was massively popular.
he is doing a livestreams on twitch where hes still writing books and keeping people on the up and up. and last he said is amazon just started to investigate a few days ago.

>>11530451
I actually liked how with both Ishamael and Rand it's kept fairly ambiguous how much of their insanity is from the taint and how much of it is them just having knowledge that they're not equipped to deal with.

I also like how the series doesn't bash you over the head with the cyclical theme, despite the name. There's not even much made about the First Age being our own time, or whatever.

>>11530222
Book 3 is when you start caring
Book 4 is where it really hits its stride
First 2 books are genuinely study materials as you say, although 2 ends pretty well

>>11530398
I think Ship of Fools could have used another 10-15%, it ended right when things were happening.

>>11530222
Don't listen to them, if you hate it by the end of book 2 you'll hate the rest of them too. Usually people seem to love or hate malazan, I just thought it had some good elements and a lot of bad ones so it drops somewhere in the middle for me, dropped it during book 7 or something that's where it starts to really drag.

"God I fucking hate this book," said Anon as he finishes book 13 out of 30 of The Chronicles of Legacy Precursor and starts the next 600 page entry in the series.

>>11531382
hateboners are a thing anon. you can hate a person so much that you want to fuck them.

Can someone recommend some nice fantasy book not centered around a big journey or an epic quest. Just people dealing with their lives and relationship in a different world. The farseer books for example were at their best when the the focus was on the life in the castle and the surrounding town.

>>11531382
I don't get if this is aimed at this or not >>11531363 because I both said I didn't hate the series and that I didn't finish the 7th book. There's some good povs among the shit ones and learning about the setting was interesting for a while, decent action at the end of every book too. But then Reaper's gale just ramps up the rambling speeches to 11 and you get such amazing povs as fucking Red Mask, probably the most boring fantasy book I tried to read to date.

>>11521643
Palmer Eldritch

>>11530211
But he obviously wants to kill them.

>>11530698
>first age is our own time
wut?

Anyone got stories about advanced humans making first contact with less advanced species? Preferrably with human tech being advanced, but still distinctly human, and a focus on the alien viewpoint, and their perception of humans and that technology. I like to be put in an alien mindset and view humanity from the outside.
Nice example is the Spiders from Children of Time.

>>11531512
There's an offhand reference to an apocalyptic war between "Mosc and Merc" or some such. Plus there's all the Arthurian references and the aforementioned references to the Last Battle being cyclical. I could be wrong since it's been a while since I read them, but I think it even says something about the ages alternating golden and dark. The way I see it, at some point the discovery of channeling starts the Second Age. This also explains all the magitech style shit that the Forsaken have access to.

There's a couple other things here which I'd forgotten: http://wot.wikia.com/wiki/First_Age

>>11524911
>Any books like the Metal Gear Solid series? (Mechs, government conspiracies, philosophy, postmodernism, introspection, satisfying character arcs, any good mixture of these)
Try the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold. No mechs but great characters, plots and conspiracies. The Honor Harrington series by david Weber might also be for you, sadly the books get steadily worse after the first one.

What to read if I loved Richard Morgan’s Broken Angels? Really liked the “we don’t belong here” vibe and the completely incomprehensible level of technology the Martians are on in the book.

I liked some Lovecraft stuff and the Halo Forerunner saga, if that helps.

>>11531732
I don't know, I doubt that was meant to be taken seriously.

>>11531833
I think it fits nicely with the cyclical time angle. Also, who gives a fuck how it was meant? Death of the Author and such. I can also admit I probably like WoT more than most here because it was one of my first experiences with fantasy. Lots of things suck about the series, mainly the characters and pacing, but not the setting.

>>11531870
Although even the characters are a lot better than Sanderson. Rodel Ituralde is pretty great.

>>11524584
>>11524589
>>11525460
A person can be a mormon and still be a liberal shill, you fucking retarded imbeciles. The stormlight archive is filled to the brim with allusions to white supremacy, colonialism, slavery, and the repression of women (who in case you haven't noticed, are all, without a single exception, empowered figures who are smarter than the men around them). Go fuck yourselves.

>>11531876
Yeah, politics has nuance and grey areas. The Left and Right are both extremely varied and fractious. Who knew?

>>11531870
>I think it fits nicely with the cyclical time angle
But there hasn't been a constant battle between light and darkness in our world.

>>11531732
>everyone starts speaking the old language in the second age
>3rd age comes and everyone decides they like English better again

>>11531908
Well, the Dark One wasn't able to influence the world until the Bore was opened. It was then sealed imperfectly which allowed the Dark One to influence the world subtly, more so as the seals weaken. Rand then seals it perfectly at the end of the Last Battle leaving the Dark One once again unable to influence the world. It's part of the cycle.
Again, this is just my reading of it.

>>11531918
Well, yeah. A cyclical timeline wouldn't work at all realistically for all sorts of reasons. Linguistic evolution and biological evolution are too. There's a reference to a First Age beast that looks like a giraffe or some shit. How could they evolve, go extinct, then evolve again? But you know, fantasy, magic and shit. Plus it's literally called Wheel of Time, so I suspend a little disbelief.

>>11530690
But if that's the case then why did the ban come in the same "wave" as bans that hit a bunch of other well-known KU scammers in the romance writing community?

>>11532266
amazon is currently investigating him according to his facebook account. the going theory is he is being hit by association because he knows the chick from the cocky gate thing publically.

>>11531693
Mote in god's eye.

Recommend me some edgy fantasy shit (besides Bakker, Abercrombie and Erikson).

Has anyone read Chris Wooding's YA novels (Poison, Storm Thief, Alaizabel Cray)? I remember Poison and Storm Thief being very well-written fantasy, despite the genre. Unique, imaginative, and most of all, fun.

>>11532610
Haven't read it but isn't Glen Cook's The Black Company supposed to be edgy as fuck

>>11532619
It's pretty dark, but I dunno if I'd use the word edgy for it. For me edgy is when it's trying too hard for everything do be dark as fuck, but Black Company has plenty of stuff that's 'fair'.

>>11532619
Black Company was edgy for its time, it was a trailblazer for gritty fantasy like Malazan Book of the Fallen, which Erikson sites as a big influence on him, but these days it would be considered fairly tame.

>>11530698
I didn't think the male Forsaken were affected by the taint. I thought Ishamael's madness was a result of constantly channeling the True Power and also being forced to live as a kind of ghost for 3000 years.

>>11531004
I actually think the end was fitting and in line with the books theme.
The aliens remained alien.

>>11533015
I basically thought that the Dark One, the True Power and the taint were more or less the same thing. I just thought that the male Forsaken could channel saidin without touching the taint.

Has anyone managed to succeed at writing something like Homestuck that didn't end up being shit?

Like homestuck I mean in the sense of being a modern-day creation myth with an ambitious and convoluted story

>>11533404
>I just thought that the male Forsaken could channel saidin without touching the taint.
That is how it worked, yes. The Dark One gave the male Forsaken a bridge to touch Saiden without going through the taint. But the True Source was different, it was his own personal power and only his favored minions could use it. It had several bad side effects though, one of which was madness similar to what was caused by the taint on saidin.

>>11533482
How is Homosuck a " modern-day creation myth with an ambitious and convoluted story"?
It's just another shitty web comic.

>>11533496
If you had bothered to read it before criticizing you'd know the answer to that question already

>>11532610
Night Angel Triolgy. Can't recommend it, though, it's edgy as fuck. Just look at the name.

>>11530690
>but while i agree that his formatting is something you have to get used to it does not seem to be inflated or padded out in any way
I have to disagree. The official page count in some of his books were like 700 pages, and anyone reading it would instantly know that could never be true. One such case I'd guess to be 120 pages, 200 tops, and being generous. I think it was Tamer3, very large double space and letters, but many others could qualify, but I don't read much of his stuff anyway.

>>11533482
>modern-day creation myth
Please elaborate.

>>11533508
I guess I am just going to have to make peace with he fact that I missed out on such a work of art.

>>11533537
as in a work of fantasy (or scifi) that shows the creation of life, the world or the universe in a manner relevant to modern readers, often at the hands of the main characters. These settings are rarely pure fantasy and usually involve either science as part of the myth, or a very meta approach where worlds are created in a manner similar to stories themselves

Homestuck for example tells it in a manner involving programming concepts such as recursion, metafiction and reproductive sciences depicting the way in which a universe is created as akin to the process of insemination while also playing on the fact that sperm look like tadpoles

>>11533540
I mean, you can still read it, though the hype has cooled off and the ending isn't all that satisfying

>try reading homestuck
>suffer epileptic fit
wow what art

>>11533598
The whole concept feels so contrived I struggle to see how anyone could write it so that it would not devolve into a neckbeard power fantasy with SCIENCE! and pop culture references. Yes, I know where I'm posting

>>11533598
>I mean, you can still read it
I avoid web comic, litRPG and similar low quality fare.

>>11533598
but if the main characters are the ones who create life, how were they created?
:thinking:

>>11532344
>he is being hit by association because he knows the chick from the cocky gate thing publically.

Which wouldn't matter because because it's a thing automatically triggered by algorithms?

>>11533617
I mean, that's literally what homestuck does but it's one of those things that's all about execution. Homestuck had all the pieces of a garbage pop-culture wankfest, but at least until the end it was simply written well enough that it was fun and exciting instead of cringeworthy

every story has a different explanation

>>11533612
good job taking a half-second clip in a video out of context. Really hammers in the fictitious point that doesn't really have any relevance to the quality of the story

>>11533638
>story is told through primarily visual means
>visuals are fucking obnoxious
....

>>11533645
it's a half second animation that you extended to play on repeat

>>11533654
Yeah look at all the editing I did...
https://www.homestuck.com/story/3007

>>11533630
>Which wouldn't matter because because it's a thing automatically triggered by algorithms?
normally that's true. authors get banned in waves. however on that particular day only he and j.a. cipriano got hit. both of which are known associates of that lady. also why so suddenly. mind you i'm not actually defending michael-scott earle. i only like the sort of like the tamer books and couldn't care less about the others. but it does seem weird. plus amazons page count system seems to take into account double spacing and font size and internally actually uses word counts rather than page counts to represent books. i do think word counts would be a better measurement rather than page-counts. i mean its really subjective in the first place. i mostly read on my pc and most books that have over 700 pages or so on amazon barely have 240 when i open them up. so it really isn't a good measure for the length of a novel. also the fact that amazon is actually answering his questions and is willing to look into things speaks in favor for him. i mean amazon really doesn't give a fuck most of the time.

>>11518332
This is silly how he says things that are impossible for him to know

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>>11533730
>>11533730