/lit/ - Literature

the Kingkiller Chronicle is a literal masterpiece

>>11583500
Foxes>cats

Where do I begin with Lord Dunsany?

>last thread lasted less than 2 days
Is this the notorious "summer effect" that I always see bandied about this time of year for my past 10?
please help me leave

Why would you choose such a horrifying image for this deeply interesting and salubrious topic?

Best XX

>>11583527
The King of Elfland's Daughter

>>11583500
>what is your preference catgirls or foxgirls
dogs are where it's at

What are Philip K. Dick's most underrated works? I've read The Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ubik, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said and a couple of his short stories and I plan on reading Valis, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly. What am I missing? Which of his short story collections are worth checking out?

>>11583500
Furries are a blight on everything that's good and decent.

>>11583532
long time no see catfag
Why haven't you been direly diligently shilling feline debatably delectable delicacies recently?

>>11583659
I would

>>11583673
I don't get a chance to read many :(

>>11583659
So you wouldn't fuck a female Minotaur?
I don't want a furfag catgirl(a giant walking cat) a human with cat like features are acceptable.

>>11583673
>debatably

>>11583673
Besides, it isn't like I ever leave this iniquitous den of trashmunchers.

Do any you write your own fantasy/scifi despite knowing full well that nobody will ever read it?

>>11583659
Cat/foxgirls are not inherently furry.

>>11584048
MODS

>>11583518

Brandon Sanderson

>>11584092
does he practice looking punchable in the mirror or is it just natural

>>11584115
he's probably written a novel on that topic

>>11583531
does the whole traditional 'summerfag' thing even exist now that every single schoolkid out there has a cellphone and unlimited data plan, and can shitpost from school?

feel like true summerfaggotry hasn't existed since ~2010

More likely it's because Europe's been having an unusually hot summer and nobody wants to go outside.

>>11583518
Indeed.

>>11583536
that's not Soulcatcher

>>11584242
>hahaha even if you're fucking the girl I'm head over heels in love with I'm in the friendzone so I'll always be there for her
I still can't believe is real. I dropped it halfway though the first book because how utterly boring it was but looks like I dodged a bullet. And this series is supposed to be popular as fuck too. The absolute state of modern fantasy protagonists.

>in all the thousands of years Aes Sedai have existed none of them thought to use the other two of the five elements to heal stilling

>>11584282
>wtf I can't self insert this book sucks!

nobody is forcing you to think he's making the right move here

talk to me about Malazan or something else I've read please, I had to stay up for another 6 hours

>>11584320
*have

fuck

>>11584316
Kvothe is Pat's self insert.

>>11584327
so?

>>11583518
I get genuinely triggered when I think about the praise heaped upon this terrible terrible writer.

>>11584337
It's sad!

Devi best girl

Is 4chins noticeably slower to anyone?
Updating and loading pics is taking ages, and it isn't my internet.

>>11584348
I think he's a fine writer, not the best but his books are quite good, I don't care if he had ED from jerking it to too much BBC cuckold porn if he writes a decent story

>>11584316
Read my post again you fucking idiot. Nowhere did I complain about not being able to "self inset" into Kvothe. I pointed out the Kvothe is a pathetic protagonist who goes full white knight over a literal whore.

>>11584348

>>11584370
>I think he's a fine writer
Then you have pretty low standards.

Who are some modern sff writers that are the anithesis of onions?

>>11584380
ok then he's an unlikable protagonist

>>11584395
b.v larson

Even though this is basically gay slashfic I really enjoyed it.

>>11583552
despite it's dumb name, Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb is pretty good post-apoc and brings a lot of cool ideas to that genre. regarding his short stories, just get The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. It's five volumes. I can't say that any one is better than the others, so just start with vol. 1 and go from there. His short stories are kind of hit-or-miss, but they're short (duh), so even a dud doesn't feel like a waste of time.

which is worse, cyberpunk or steampunk

both share the same problem of each work of fiction resembling it's predessors too much. Too many cogs, neon lights and people being plugged into machines etc

I didn't care about Denna until Rothfuss came out and said the reason people dislike her is because of muh sexism. Fuck that noise. I always try to separate an author and their work, but I gave up with Rothfuss. Guy is a 100% soaking wet faggot.

>>11583552
Read "Second Variety", I really liked that story.

>>11584425
I haven't read deeply in either genre but I thought The Windup Girl was pretty good. Feel like cyberpunk works better as a video game/film setting.

>>11584438
denna obviously read stirner

>>11584425
Steampunk is tackier

>>11583937
i had, do and will continue to do so. i had a 100+ page fantasy story that i wrote throughout middle school, but it never finished and i realized that it's pretty dumb. i had a 100+ page sci-fi / space opera story that i wrote throughout highschool and undergrad, but it never finished and i realized it's not exceptionally interesting. i have a 57k word fantasy novel that i actually just finished earlier this summer. i'm considering publishing it on RRL and amazon. i hope that at least a few people will read it. at least my friends will (for whatever that's worth)--they've at least read the short stories that i have written the past few years.

>>11584425
It's easy to ignore steampunk because they hide in their holes and at least are passionate about it. Cyberpunk is something that the ordinary joe thinks is "cool" and "aesthetic" so when a new Cyberpunk movie or game comes out we get dozens of /v/tards or /tv/tards making tons of intro to cyberpunk threads. Then they read a few chapters of Neuromancer before dropping it and forget about it until the next Ghost in the Shell or Blade Runner inspired thing comes out. And fuck Synthwave

>>11584464
>57k word

how many pages?

also it's pretty unlikely but your stories might be good, steven king threw his first major book away in the trash because he thought it sucked.

Who is the faggot who chose this shitty picture? There are thousands of fantasy/sci-fi pictures that are top-tier.

>>11584242
Not that I'm defending this but isn't Kvothe a teenager here? Most teens act stupidly when it comes to their crush, especially a first crush. What makes this painful to read as that said crush is a literal whore.

>>11584487
the problem with this argument is that you still have to read through it

>>11584487
he's like 15 or something, and spent the first (10?) years of his life as a beggar and thief who had no friends

>>11583937
I have a bunch of fantasy stories written out though I've only finished one. I know for a fact that nobody will ever read my poorly written trash, it's just that I like writing my out ideas. I have no particular interest in becoming a published author.

>>11583531
>60 post in less than 3 hours
Yea. Summer has started.

get a load of this metaphor, the acid rain sizzling on the energy shield of the city is called the great snake, and its implied to be a rattlesnake, how's that for foreshadowing

>>11584568
it's almost ending

>Yes, I know we invaded your solar system and and kidnapped all those spaceship crews/passengers, but we're totally peaceful lmao
>That selfless act was really convincing. I know we're in the middle of a war, but why don't we just give you half of our technologically superior fleet and call it good. Civilized people don't fight lol roll credits lmao
3/5 lithium bombs cause I didn't hate it but it was sure dumb

>read scifi
>humans are the real monsters, heheh, don't get us angry, you will regret it :)

>>11584487
If his crush is a whore, why doesn't he just pay for her services 24/7, 365 days a year?

>>11584614
she didn't actually fuck them

"that part of her" is her pussy

>>11584614
>marry her
>get a bank account together
>pay her for sex
>every time you pay her, the money goes right back into your bank account
shit, this might be the greatest plan!

>>11584627

>>11584604
>That one Culture short story where the Earth humies successfully cause their infiltrator to go native and make the AI Minds decide to keep Earth off-limits

>>11584115
it comes with being mormon. i think he teaches a class on it.

>>11584646
I distinctly remember that she bailed after a few weeks before they would start getting impatient for sex

>when kvothe brings out the lute

YOOOO THIS NIGGA FINNA GET DABBED ON

>teacher says if Kvothe is so smart then why doesn't he teach the class with a wry smirk

YOOO THIS NIGGA FINNA GET DABBED ON

>>11584604
HFY is utter shite, don't read it.

>read fantasy
>monsters are the real humans

>>11583552
Game Players of Titan is a true hidden gem in my opinion.

Unlike that other anon I found Dr. Bloodmoney a total slog.

Solar Lottery is a fun read.

His short stories are excellent. You should definitely find a collection, I had a pretty nice one that I think was just called Collected Stories of PKD, it was a smaller collection but they were all gems.

There has to be something else we can talk about besides your favorite's author self-insert nice guy. This general is turning into literary /r9k where we discuss who wrote the biggest loser of them all.

I wish more fantasy had female on male rape.

>>11584841
Write it yourself and cash in on the fetish

>>11584667
She literally says something along the lines of "every horse gets ridden no matter whether it's a peasants one or a kings" to a prospective fellow hooker who was wondering if she could do the job without getting fucked.

She was taking dicks buddyboyo.

>>11584841
Wheel of Time

>>11584872
>every horse gets ridden
Literally not true.

Ambrose did nothing wrong

>>11584348
I mean he's pretty terrible but I only have so many triggers to give.

>>11584903
There are no incels among horses.

>>11584919
Why not move on to some other author to trigger you?

>>11584614
He can't afford it

Guys. Guys. I have an idea.

A parody of the Kingkiller Chronicle... starring an already established character, in an already established world, telling a story we've already read in a book when it first happened. He just really obviously overblows his own importance and makes himself a Mary Sue who single-handedly solves every problem in the book and gets all the girls.

Basically take the thing Rothfuss claims is going on, and make it 100% clear that this is happening and that the character actually isn't an overblown Sue. Since, you know, you already saw how it all really went.

Good idea? Bad idea?

>>11584937
Clever

>>11584967
Who'd give you permission to do this?

>>11584967
And who's gonna read something so open about being a satire? You have to be subtle.
Take Wheel of Time (or more precisely the first book) in which we don't go 50 pages without some female character shitting on men.
You let that happen 2 or 3 times, for the reader to get comfortable, and then you have the hero of the story slap her silly. And keep slapping.

>>11585001
Awfully sexist

>>11585001
God I loved every part when the aes sedai got schooled by men.

>>11585008
So have the bad guy do it if you lack the testicular fortitude. He's evil anyway.

>>11585029
Oh they do? I guess it's a reward of sorts for those who didn't drop the book.

>>11585001
That kind of happened when Sanderson took over. And when Cadsuane got told to fuck off.

>>11584999
Obviously it'd be a character of my own.

So I'd need to first publish something and get it famous and well-known... so, yeah.

>>11585056
You could do it with a historical figure.

>>11585072
That is true.

>>11585054
Oh great. So I only have to go through, what, 11 or 12 books.

>>11584967
>He just really obviously overblows his own importance and makes himself a Mary Sue who single-handedly solves every problem in the book and gets all the girls.
So like a reverse Ciaphas Cain?

Someone should edit Wot

>>11585085
You can't edit cliches and bad writing.

>>11585101
But can't you edit out filler?

>>11585008
There's nothing sexist about it though?

>>11585105
there wouldn't be anything left

>>11585105
I dropped it mid first book, but I have a feeling the filler is the WoT.

Read a new translation if possible as the old one contain some minor errors that fuck up continuity! Downloads at the usual place.

>>11583500
>only 4 previous threads
IMBECILE

>>11584421
Been meaning to read this for a while.

>gay slashfic
Noice.

>>11584348
Does anyone actually think of women this way? They're too shallow to be admired for how they behave.

I just bought this, what am I in for?

Aside from the usual trash from a female author, atleast

>>11585213
More like A Darker Shade of Gay.

>>11584470
>And fuck Synthwave
Fuck literally every 'omg so 80s aesthetic' thing which is only 'so 80s' according to people who either did not exist during that decade or were like 5 years old when it ended.

What are some people’s favourite books based primarily on the characters within them? Run out of things to read and am looking for some character driven stuff

>>11585345
The First Law trilogy.

>>11585345
Conan.

>>11585345
I personally loved Soul Music and the His Dark Materials trilogy

What are the goods Christopher Priest's books? I already read The Affirmation and The Inverted World.

>>11583552
The Penultimate Truth

>>11585345
book of the new sun

So, why are Warders so happy to be enslaved?

How do you anons feel about David Eddings? Belgariad got me into the Fantasy genre as a kid.

Have any great, non-soi horror novels came out recently?

>>11585840
I've only read the first book in Belgariad, want to continue it at some point.

>>11585840
Trash with awful Whedon/Tumblr fanfiction level characters/dialog from before either of those existed. I read all his stuff in high school when I was systematically reading every fantasy book in the school library and it's all worse than even the Scholastic YA stuff I read.

>>11584667
you're so friendzoned by a fictional character that you believe her when she tells you lies. impressive

>>11583937
Yes. If I'm lucky maybe my brother and a friend might read my sci-fi story loosely inspired by /biz/ memes.

>>11584402
Which is shitty writing when you consider how the author reacts when his fans comment on this kind of things, he got pissed off at fans for theorizing that kvothe was embellishing his story and he genuinely doesn't understand why some of the readers don't like Denna

>>11585920
>he got pissed off at fans for theorizing that kvothe was embellishing his story
Really? I legit thought all the mary sue shit was just Kvothe being an unreliable narrator and making shit up to make himself look better. Damn, Rothfuss is a bigger hack than I first thought.

>>11585783
>Al'lan

oh nononono

>>11585920

Can I please get a source on him getting pissed off like this? I really want it to be true.

>>11585840
Great when you're a kid. Utter trash if you read it now.

>>11585050
The series is basically a long conga line of Aes Sedai fucking things up and looking incompetent despite the society venerating them.

>>11585540

>>11583937
I have an English degree with a writing emphasis. The question isn’t if I’ll get published but if I can break out of the mid list to write full time.

>>11584425
Cyberpunk actually has some good books. If all you’ve read are the standard ones, you missed out on how the others pushed the boundaries: Software by Rucker, Synners by Pat Cadigan, Eclipse by John Shirley (original, not revised), and Vurt by Jeff Noon, just to name at few.

>>11586343
t. adhd kid

I'm sure there are some transformer novels out there for you

>>11585840
The Belgariad is so Comfy. I still like them. Not the Mallorean series tho. I didn’t bother with the rest of his series but I’ll probably pick up Polgara or Belgarath at some point.

>>11586393
Eh, he's right, Abercrombie is the most meandering writer in fantasy.

>>11586426
I think the pacing is better than WOT, but everyone loves that shit.

Guys I'm sorry to ask this but I really need recommendations for sci-fi. My life at the moment involves reading and dealing with some pretty heavy corporate law and I need to read something beyond my usual history, biography or non-fiction.
Thing is I'm picky as fuck.
>I love old classic sci-fi. Anything pre 1980 is great. However I feel like I've read all of it.
>I don't mind cyberpunk
>I don't like genre fiction
>I have no interest in read a 12 book series of doorsteps about someone's donut steel OC
>I can't read anything with gay furry space muslims being oppressed by the ebil Orange Emperor Clump
>if my mind gets a sense that the book was written simply because we needed another "diverse" voice I'll get sick.
>I will throw the book across the room if I see another one dimensional stronk wymon
>Cod Latin the Space Marine is right out.

All I want is a sense of wonder and possibly some explosions. It seems like modern sci-fi doesn't really cater to that at all any more.
The last thing I really enjoyed was the Sector General series by James Whyte. Before that was Wyndhams triffids some of his other work.

>also willing to discuss why my taste in books and authors makes me feel sort of guilty in 2018.

Hey /sffg/ I'm trying to find a book I read ages ago. I cant remember the main plot but I think it was about a detective trying to solve a strange murder

What I do remember is there was a boy in it who was being held in a containment device in a secret lab. The boy had telekinesis and remote viewing abilities and the people who ran the lab were forcing him to carry out murders and other black ops using his powers.

One part in the novel involves the boy crashing a plane(with no survivors) by remote controlling the pilot.

I thought it was a Stephen King novel or short story but none of them seem to fit.

Any help appreciated.

>>11586545
Weird question, do you remember the age of the book or what the cover was like? I think I've read this.

>>11586552
I dont remember the cover but I read it more than 8 years ago, so 80s, 90s, early 00s maybe.

I think it was more horror/mystery than straight scifi.

>>11586530
>>I love old classic sci-fi. Anything pre 1980 is great. However I feel like I've read all of it.

You might have already read these guys but just checking: Cordwainer Smith, James Blish, Robert Silverberg, Clifford Simak, Jack Williamson, H. Beam Piper. "Second-tier" classic SF authors with some very solid work.

The Three Body Problem has a very Arthur C. Clarke vibe, although Cixin Liu has a finer touch than Clarke, I think. Worth a read if you haven't already.

I haven't read his very newest stuff, but John C. Wright's Golden Age & Count to a Trillion books are great (read in that order). Definitely meet your criteria, just DON'T READ HIS WEBPAGE. DON'T DO IT. I FUCKING WARNED YOU. He deliberately amalgamates classic SF and classical mythology in his stories, for the most part.

This is a little outside your criteria, but China Mieville. Embassytown, The Scar, or Perdido Street Station to start.

>>11586530
Murrr?

>>11586614
isnt that literally just a dude going around fucking this one catgirl while that other catgirl is jelly cause she cant have the human dick?

>>11586623
No?
I can't see you that's even remotely similar to the plot.

>>11586594
Thanks for the reply anon.
>para 1
I'm afraid I've read (and really liked) everyone there except Cordwainer Smith. Who I'm about to now.
>para 2
I will give this a shot. Clarke (especially his early stuff when he had a sense of humour) is great.
>para 3
I'm kind of curious about the website now anon. I know you and Goethe agree there are things best left unread but why?
>para 4
I'm terribly sorry but I forgot to mention China Meiville in previous post as the nadir of modern sci-(fanstasy?) writing. Thank you though for the thought and if you enjoy him I wish you well and please do not be offended by my dislike.

>>11586623
Isn't that a Larry Niven story?

>>11586530
How 'bout Vance? I quite like Emphyrio.
>also willing to discuss why my taste in books and authors makes me feel sort of guilty in 2018
We're all bored here, shoot.

>>11583937
I write my own fantasy and draw maps and character art and landscapes. I've even painted a couple of the landscapes. I doubt I'll ever publish any of it, it's just a hobby so I don't kill myself working a soulless job.

>>11586426
No he's not. Abercrombie's pacing are narrative focus are fine, especially in the First Law stand alones.

>>11586426
I've seen this complaint a lot but the First Law trilogy was not slow or meandering at all. I'm starting to suspect the people complaining about it are low attention span kids who can't stand reading books longer than 200 pages.

>>11586651
Sorry anon. Vance who?
>shoot
Well I feel kind of guilty that I look at say the Hugo awards and my mind says "woman, woman, African, woman, African woman, that thing from io9" and instantly dismisses them. I have tried hard to read science fiction written by ladies and it never chimes for me. I guess as I say it's not being written for me.
Maybe we've lost something in sci-fi? Or it's changed? For example I read some reviews of Dan Simmons Hyperion and was impressed, then I read it...

>>11586484
>but everyone loves that shit.
Even people who love WoT rip on it for how slow and bloated the story gets over time. I've read WoT several times and I always like picking up Eye of the World for a quick comfort read when I'm between authors. It's like soul food, I know it's not good, but it's comfy to read.

What was your favorite in the series? I'm partial to MoI

>>11586686
Bugg and Tehol are probably my favorite duo in the series, but pretty much every scene with Iskaral Pust is hysterically funny.

>>11586676
Jack my dawg
>I have tried hard to read science fiction written by ladies and it never chimes for me. I guess as I say it's not being written for me.
Check out older stuff by ladies then, like Cherryh for example.

>>11586119
Perhaps getting pissed is a strong way of phrasing it, it was from an interview with a book club of some trendy millenial online publication, don't have the link, what I do remember very well is he saying something along the lines of:

One of the most irritating comments I get is how Kvothe is so good at everything, so he must be telling a the story to make himself look better. But he is constantly making bad decisions, if I wanted to make myself look better I would leave out all those terrible choices I made."

>>11586545

Sounds like Sole Survivor, by Dean Koontz I think.

>>11586594
>Robert Silverberg
I really loved those Majipoor books as a kid. I wonder if they hold up.

alright lads what should i read next?
>wheel of time book 2
>the black company
>song for arbonne
>watership down

>>11586983
>bloated generic fantasy series
>bloated edgy fantasy series
>never read it
>an actual classic book

Watership Down

>>11586686
I'm only up to Toll the Hounds but Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice were the high points to me. Midnight Tides was great too but I'm still bitter about Trull's fate.

Honestly most of my favorite characters are dead now or apparently forgotten so I'm not enjoying the series as much. The move away from Imperial stuff bummed me out and I'm tired of new characters showing up 7 books in.

Are the Esslemont books worth reading? I'm half way through Crimson Guard but I'm considering dropping it.

>>11586686
Asking for my favorite in Malazan is kind of like asking for the least smelly part in a big watery turd.

>>11587120
Go away Rothfuss

is it anthropomorphicalization if the animal is unchanged but a human can understand it?
Dr Doolittle as a prime example.

>>11587158
Yes. Adding any kind of human elements, including just speech, counts.

>>11587158
Dr. Doolittle animals are highly anthropomorphized, just not in appearance. Compare the rabbityness of the Watership Down rabbits.

>Kneel and swear to the Lord Dragon...or you will be knelt.

>>11586686
Deadhouse Gates is the best in the entire series. The rest of the books have great 'moments', but I remember DG being consistently good. Plus I love that the background story was a Highlander-like war between shapeshifters to decide who the new shapeshifter god would be.

So the Short Sun planets, Blue and Green, are the planets from Fifth Head of Cerberus, right?

>>11586530
>>11586594
>just DON'T READ HIS WEBPAGE. DON'T DO IT. I FUCKING WARNED YOU
You're saying this to an anon who specifically said he didn't want to read any 'woke' literature. I think he might be perfectly fine visiting Wright's website. Also I second recommending Wright. I read his Superluminary series which is absolutely MASSIVE in scale space opera with a hard sci-fi bent (as in he goes super into detail explaining how this science fiction craziness can work). I'm not saying it's hard sci-fi space opera, but he doesn't just shrug and say "lol it's super technology; I ain't gotta explain shit."

>>11586676
That's because you're not reading right wing female authors. Try Leigh Brackett.

>>11586676
I haven't read any of her stuff yet, but Dominika Lein is apparently writing some nice, non-soi stuff. Recommendations for her come from a site that also hates 'woke' literature.

Saw people on /v/ talking about how New Sun is bad because it's too grimdark and edgy

Is it true?

>>11587426
New Sun is bad for a whole lot of reasons.

>>11587431
Like what?

>>11587426
There is plenty of valid criticism for the New Sun, but none of those are 2bh.

>>11587453
LIKE WHAT

>>11587470
Like the fact it's split onto parts when it's clearly intended to be one book read all at once.
The person defending the New Sun in that thread is pretty much right though, if you set up your definition of grim dark and edgy are "dark things are implied to have happened" then the hobbit is a grim dark edgy book too and the definition is pointless.

>>11587426
>>>/v/426973413

>>11587486
Wasn't it the publisher's fault that the book was split into parts? I can also imagine that it's much more plausible for an average reader to just pick up the first book and see if they like it instead of spending a hefty sum on a giant 1000 page tome

>last book with a anthropomorphic animal
I'm reading it now, Iluminatus trilogy.
I don't mind it, it fine if it's too much I just accept it as representation of something human.
Cat>dog I s just how it is.

>>11587501
Still a valid criticism.
Just as the use of archaic and strange words that don't particularly add to the story any more than other similar words which leads to the often cites condescending tone in the book.

>>11587521
Most of Gene Wolfe's made up words actually have roots in real languages, giving nice little Easter eggs to anyone familiar or willing to do some research

I do see how it could be annoying, but personally I love that kind of stuff. I started with Dune so I love learning a new lexicon whenever I pick up a new book

>>11587502
Bunny>cat>dog

>>11587502
>Illiuminatus Trilogy

My nigga

>>11586916
YES THAT'S IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Was racking my brain trying to remember it.

>>11583500
>last book where the author humanized an animal
Last book I read in general was Doctor Rat, where the main character is the titular rat. He lives in a animal experimentation lab which does all kinds of over the top, cruel for the lulz shit, which he completly agrees with because he, by his own account, went insane long ago and sympathizes with the humans. Then a revolution starts, and there are also many chapters dealing with animals on the outside, who start gathering for big conferences - only to get shot up by the humans in the end.

Quite heavyhanded in parts, but some of the lab parts where well made, if a bit repetetitive. The once on the outside where often comfy, sometimes bullshit like a pig having an existential epiphany and towards the end also over the top cruel. All in all an worthwhile read.

Has any science-fiction book been written about turning an asteroid into a spaceship by hollowing it out and adding propulsion? I mean this could be a "rudimentary" way of camourflage, for those civilizations who don't have cloaking technology. When you're being chased, just go to the nearest asteroid belt and shut off your engines.
You could also create a spaceship with traditional shapes and add chunks of asteroid rocks as camo.

>>11584425
Cyberpunk has the advantage of actually being "real". The crazy stuff like AI or full sensory VR didn't come true, but the cyberpunk "feel" itself is kind of what we're living right now.

>>11587735
I remember reading something where the aliens used asteroids as starships. Was space opera I believe.

>>11587437
Like the fact that Wolfe wrote it.

>>11587735
>Has any science-fiction book been written about turning an asteroid into a spaceship by hollowing it out and adding propulsion?
I think there were quite a few novels with that premise.
As for the camouflage bit that's utter retardation.

Anyone on patreon know when this guy finishes editing book 3?
I think someone said August, but I'd like to know if there is a newer date.

>>11587884
Reading it is one thing, but I seriously hope nobody here financially supports this faggot.

>>11587292
>>11587385
>woke
I don't speak English as a first language. I assume this term means "aware" but I feel it has more connotations than I am picking up.

>>11587908
>woke
it's like when a stoner does a benign observation and frames it as a world changing revelation, like
>dude, ever noticed how you can't see the back of your head?!
>duuuuuude
often applies to social shit though. Like realizing many black people are criminals because they have been systematically pushed into isolated, poor communities without a chance at proper work.

>>11587892
I wouldn't support the guy on patreon, but the books are nice, and I don't feel bad paying 3 bucks or something for a fun read. Money in exchange for goods.
Patreon on the other hand exchanges money for a promise. A Promise to keep working, and no way to regulate or enforce the actual work done. Fuck that.

>>11585213
Juvenile characters and plot. Pointless YA drivel, even though the author supposedly meant the book for a more mature audience.

>>11586530
Try something from Alastair Reynolds

>>11587735
On the Steel Breeze. Has lots of scenes about living on them, as they're generation ships.

>>11587735
When will /lit/ reach the singularity? Oumuamua is Hawaiian for messenger. The "asteroid" was discovered by Hawaiian NASA people. It was an exciting discovery because NASA people doesn't understand how the shape is possible by physical laws.

This shit is so obviously alien. Ffs.

>>11587908
>I don't speak English as a first language. I assume this term means "aware" but I feel it has more connotations than I am picking up
Why do euro fags speak english in such shitty, convoluted way? Can't you just say "english is not my first language, but i feel the word means something else?" Better yet, couldn't you have just googled "woke"?

>>11587962
Whoa there, no need to get mad

>>11587920
Ah. So it's like that meme
>rips bong
>stars are giant eyes in space
>>11587962
Hello America.
It is mostly because we speak (and think) in one language and that changed how we learnt English.
Also. Fuck you.

>>11587962
>t. Googled "connotation"

>>11587962
are you retarded

This is so comfy. Wtf people told me it sucks.

>>11588068
People have a hateboner for Tom Bombadil. Don't pay them heed.

>>11588077
The fuck is wrong with Tom?
Admittedly I kind of want to bang his wife.
Aren't they just a faulty typical Celtic god & goddess very thinly disguised?

>>11588093
>faulty
Fairly

>>11588029
>retarded
The common tongue of the British Isles happens not to be my mother one. I do assume the term means "backward," but I sense it possesses more connotations than those it impresses upon my mind.

>>11588106
There's nothing quite like being aut/lit/ic

>>11587854
better than Abercrombie

>>11587570
other than posting on /sffg/, how do you get the word out about your self-published novel? i am the anon who was asking for advice a few threads ago. i am considering posting my novel on Royal Road (for free), two chapters a week, but also have the whole thing up on Amazon for purchase. The hope is that some of the RR readers will either be impatient or will want to support me and will buy it (or, even better, review it) on Amazon. so that taps the RR community, but i don't know how else to promote myself.

>>11584425
Cyberpunk has a few good novels and a couple of good films. I don't get why so many people like steampunk. It's a purely aesthetic gimmick that hasn't produced any worthwhile art or entertainment.

>>11585855
Thomas Ligotti released a new short-story collection back in 2014. It's called The Spectral Link. Although if you aren't familiar with Ligotti I would recommend reading Songs of a Dead Dreamer, Grimscribe: His Lives and Works, and My Work Is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Terror before you go near The Spectral Link.

>>11584470
But steampunk is entirely worthless. Yeah, the cyberpunk aesthetic has become saturated but at least the genre once produced worthwhile stuff.

>>11588325
>how do you get the word out about your self-published novel?
Don't stick yourself on a single thread on a single board: there's a bunch of others, and then also the other chans and shit if you feel like it. Reddit, Facebook, and Tumblr should work well too. And of course shilling it to all your little friends on every Discord server you're on (or IRC if you're old-school).

You can also do free promotions on Amazon: I grabbed my copy from one of those.

*thinks poorly of the other gender*

>read dungeon deposed
>author's degeneracy has moved onto fucking thinkerbell as a human
Jesus

Am I bad at counting, or is Robin Hobb? I swear by the end of Assassin's Apprentice, Fitz was about 18 years old, but in the beginning of the next book, he's explicitly stated to be 15.

>>11588627
>reading robin hobb

Funny

>>11588625
hot. picked up.

>>11588627
>Am I bad
yes you are bad at picking novels to read

>>11588627
Is it just me or are there like 20 "XXX's apprentice" trilogies all with the same characters, and plots, with only setting details changing?

>>11588474
She deserves trolloc rape followed by myrdraal torture. Maybe then she won't have such a huge stick up her ass.

>>11588663
okay well what would you recommend instead? Also, I'm not gonna lie and say I found the first two books (the only ones I've read) to be perfect. The second was frustrating as shit and relied way too heavily on the idiot ball. A common issue with middle installments, I understand, but Hobb took it too far, imo. It went a little far into misery porn territory as well, imo.

There are aspects of the series that do appeal to me, though. The characters are mostly interesting and well developed (still waiting for Regal to not be shit), and her prose is really engaging to me. But I swear, her continuity errors can be really frustrating for someone as analytical as me.

And please, if someone actually knows the answer, just tell me.

>>11588642
My taste isn't perfect, but if you can recommend something that's similar to what she offers, but better, that'd be appreciated. Something less repetitive, but with equally or more compelling characters, etc. Really, I'd love to hear it.

>>11588663
I'm actually the poster who's gone on several rants in this board about how idiotic the plot of Royal Assassin was.

Has anyone here read Semiosis?

If I enjoyed the first John Carter story A Princess of Mars, should I continue?

>>11588757
yes. you can say what you want about the series but its consistent.
if you liked it you will like the rest.

>>11588474
>*thinks poorly of the other gender*
>a short sharp slap to the back of the head by one of the characters
>you actually get some character development

Make way the for greatest generic fantasy ever written. Want a cliched chosen one story but want it to actually be enjoyable with great characters and dialogue? This here is what you're looking for.

>>11588843
Sure it's great when you're 12
>tfw no tsundere half-nymph princess gf promised to me by destiny

>>11588849
It still holds up as enjoyable adventure store when you're older. Far better than WoT ever was.

>>11588677
I did notice that when reading Assassin's Apprentice. It did remind me of Ranger's Apprentice, which I read as a kid. But I'm pretty sure Assassin came first. And ultimately, they do have very different tones, plots, and audiences. Halt is absolutely just a manlet Chade, though.

>>11588663
I'll be the first to admit that Royal Assassin needed a straight up plot revamp.

>>11588843
Everything about this is basic and cliched, from the world-building to the characterization. The one thing Eddings has going for him that a lot more sophisticated writers lack is that he knows how to keep the pages turning.

>>11588905
But it's because it's the very basics that I like it. It's comfy

>>11588905
>he knows how to keep the pages turning
If the book is so bland, what is it that keeps you turning the pages?

>>11588912
The plot it pretty typical fantasy adventure fair but it is well written and engaging. Eddings knows how to write dialogue so that characters actually feel lively and he can pace a story properly. He's a very talented writer which is unusualfor modern fantasy.

>>11588912
I'm not sure desu, I just remember dusting off an old copy of one of the Mallorean books, opening it at random and getting drawn back in immediately.

It's like a comfy Sunday morning cartoon I guess. There's no depth but there's a zippy story, straightforward prose, and cartoonish broad-strokes characters to cheer for.

>>11588960
The characters finding out that the thousand year old all powerful wizard getting his arm broken when a tree limb lands him and the theif dude making fun of him for it will always be my favorite scene from any story I've ever read.

They're good rainy day reads.

>>11588947
Sounds like a pretty good book then. Cliched doesn't mean bad.

>>11588843
>that part where garrion is drugged out of his mind and about to become a sex slave for a jungle priestess

>>11584348
[Vomiting]

>>11588843
I want her to be my aunty!

>>11589115
I borrowed the entire series from my super conservative private school library. I made sure to read it away from anyone because I didn't want them removing the series before I finished.

>>11588843
I love that it's generic though. To be completely honest I'd rather reread the entire series again over going back to shit like Kingkiller Chronicles or the Starlight Archive after I dropped both of them.

Who do people hate more, Shallan or Denna?

>>11587543
>Most of Gene Wolfe's made up words actually have roots in real languages, giving nice little Easter eggs to anyone familiar or willing to do some research
>Most

All of them do, every single one. I realize we live in an age where analogies had to removed from the SAT because they discriminated against strivers cramming "vocabulary" instead of actually reading anything, but Wolfe's "made up words" demonstrate incredible subtlety, and in fact (although I think "alzabo" really pushes it) aren't even made up.

>>11587735
The Whorl is a hollowed out asteroid. But it's covered in landers so it's not camoed.

>>11587735
My favorite story in Baxter's Vacuum Diagrams, "pilot", is about this.

>>11589338
Denna isn't actually bad as a character. Shallan is way worse.

i need to start something tonight, help me decide

>>11589388
I haven't read The Stars My Destination but I read The Demolished Man and really liked it. If I were in your position I would trust in Bester and read The Stars My Destination.

>>11589388
read Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon instead
I picked it up one morning and couldn't put it down - it's not massively action packed but it's so freaking enthralling and page-turning it's crazy

>>11589338
I'd say Shallan since she's one of the main protagonists of her series so you have to read through her retardation a lot more. To be fair I don't know if she got better since I dropped this shit as soon as Sanderson started setting up for a love triangle.

>>11589388
Childhood's End > The Stars My Destination > Roadside Picnic > Red Mars > A Fire Upon the Deep > the rest

>>11589388
Stars My Destination would be my first choice. Then Roadside Picnic, Red Mars, Childhood's End.

>>11589548
Seconding this

I actually really likes the first Kingkiller Chronicle book because I thought it was meant to be some sort of satire. It felt like a fantasy version of some washed up rock star dictating his biography and embellishing every little detail. It was fun.

But then I got half way through the second book and realized it was supposed to be serious and dropped it because it was so stupid. Then the author always acting like a year didn't really help.

>>11589403
It was, interesting, but enthralling is not a word I'd use.

What are some books that stray from run of th\e mill sci-fi and fantasy books? Anything surrealist would be ideal.

>>11589650
Mostly anything from Moorcock.

>>11589650
You asked for it.

>>11589626
>It felt like a fantasy version of some washed up rock star dictating his biography and embellishing every little detail. It was fun.
I recall there was some other fantasy book that did this but a lot more blatantly. Anyone recall the title? It was about some old warrior going on adventures again with shitloads of obvious rockstar parallels and mocking bards.

>>11589677
Is that Kings of the Wyld?

>>11589650
Ubik - Philip K. Dick

>>11589658
>moorcock
I'm much more of a Ligma fan myself.
>>11589666
thanks Satan, I'll check it out.

>>11589650
Old pulp sword and sorcery. It's a shame sword and sorcery is a dead genre these days. Everything has to be ten book epics about empires and shit.

>>11589686
It is.

>>11589677
>>11589686
>Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1)

Holy shit that sounds great already.

>start reading Malazan
>8% into the first book
>already can't tell which army the PoV character is fighting for
My brainlet ass isn't gonna make it, is it?

>>11589694
I wrote a sword & sorcery story. >>11587570

I mean it has a king too, but nobody really cares. And the whole thing wraps up in a single book.

>>11589711
I had to tap out a few chapters into Gardens of the Moon. So much random shit and no reason to care about any of it. Bummed me out because it seems like people who can get over the hump really love the series.

>>11587570
>>11589713
I'm going to read this and it better be good or I'm going to smack your furry ass ok

>>11589723
If you somehow manage to get through to the end, I'll bend over for you to smack it.

I promise I won't like it.

>>11589713
Cool I'll see if I can find a torrent for it.

>>11589711
If it helps, all of the soldiers in GotM are soldiers in the same Empire, just different divisions.

It's also the weakest of the Malazan books because it just throws you right in to the middle of a conflict and all the strands of the story don't click until like 75% through. I think it is worth trying to stick with. Once you get to the second act of the book it reads much better.

I'd almost recommend people read Deadhouse Gates first then come back to Gardens after but one of the group's DG follows have their story carried over from GotM so it might be a bit rough.

>>11589751
I'd upload it here just for you but it's too big.

>>11589742
>first word indicates second person
droPPed

j/k starting now

>>11589751
also it's on Kindle unlimited so it's literally free unless you're not paying Papa bezos his shekels

I am bored. Recommend me some good urban fantasy. Something well written.

>>11589900
Bartimaeus Trilogy.

I've heard good things of Dresden Files as well but I haven't read it myself.

>>11589913
Dresden Files has a good premise but the first book sucked ass. I knew I was going to struggle with when Dresden feeds his cat Coca-Cola and describes how badass he is because he wears a duster and reads lots of paperbacks. It's like reading a story about that weird kid in highschool who wore Naruto headbands.

It had some good ideas but the execution sucked. Maybe the rest of the books are better but after finishing the first I has no desire to read more.

Iron Druid Chronicles was more interesting because it doesn't take itself nearly as seriously and has a main character that isn't an insufferable twat.

>>11589913
>Bartimaeus
isn't that for literal 12 year olds
I'm pretty sure I read it around that time

>>11589944
Urban fantasy is all for 12 year olds

>>11589944
As someone who did this also I'm pretty sure it is.
It's one of those books I don't want to go back and read again to ruin my happy memories of reading it.

>>11589913
>Dresden Files
They're okay for a light quick read but not exactly quality lit. Hacky formulaic popcorn fodder with a side of wish fulfilment.

>>11589900
Guards! Guards!

Fellas what the fuck am I getting into, this is on page 1

>>11590024
Sounds like a cheap Discworld rip-off.

>fuzzy, digitigrade feet
Okay now I KNOW you're a furry
Based
I'll stop liveblogging this now and just review it when I'm done

>>11590024
Oh man :/
Rooting for self-published bro but that doesn't sound good.

>>11590034
"self-published" is key for "shit until proven otherwise".

Who is the biggest sff author working atm?

>>11589900
Did he have to replace the drone?

>>11589913
Bartimaeus main problem is that it's way too long. It would really work better with 2/3 the lenght. Chapters from Bartimaues perspective are funny though.

>>11590024
Holy fuck that's going to be shit.

>>11590034
>>11590042
Actually aside from a few errors (it should be "still-occupied" rather than "still occupied" - shit like that that only I care about) it's actually pretty appealing so far
give it a download and read along, the footnotes aren't exactly discworld tier but they're not terrible past the first either

author: I'm reading this with the voice of the narrator from Constructus Corporation's album
I don't know if that's a complement to the style you wanted or not but there you go

>>11590042
You really can't undersell the the value of a good editor for a first-time novelist.

>>11590024
Wallacian

Don't know what to read next desu

>>11590058
If you exclude people like Koontz and Stephen King it's GRRM and JK Rowling for fantasy. IDK about sci-fi, maybe Atwood atm?

>>11590058
The Brandy Man

>>11590125
>a fraudulent homosexual

>>11590092
>they're not terrible past the first either
In my defense, the first one's the only double-footnote in the book.

I'm glad you don't dislike it so far.

/r/Fantasy prides itself on being a safe, welcoming space for speculative fiction fans of all stripes to come together and geek out. That’s what it says on the sidebar, and the mod team takes that seriously - as do most of the core users here. However, it is an inescapable fact that our friendly little corner of the internet is part of the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is, well, the rest of the internet.

Literally embarrassing
No wonder books are shit, the only thing they care about is shoving women in places they don’t belong

>>11590145
>the only thing they care about is shoving women in places they don’t belong
Isn't it tragic how almost literally every form of entertainment does that nowadays? Can't even go to movies or play a video game without all them women all over the place.

>>11590145
this, but unironically

>>11590157
The worst is when they try to make me care about women's sports.

>>11590145
As GRRM said, if you want more representation of what you identity as in literature write it.

>>11590145
>prides
hah, nice.

>>11589900
LARPers are so pathetic, just sad.

>>11590202
Dumb libs don’t even know that pride is a sin.

>>11589694
ikr. Simple yet thrilling asskicking is a lost art.

>>11589694
>>11590216
Sword & Sorcery has ceased being a thing because it was entirely absorbed into Dungeons & Dragons. Why read about simple mindless action when you can play it?

>>11589900
I really hope that spear guy was somehow in the right there, because that was a nice shot, and I've always wanted to see somebody take down a drone. It's beautiful.

New Thread
>>11590237
>>11590237
>>11590237

>>11590024
wut. I think it's trying too hard, for one thing. Trying too hard to be ...I want to say quirky in it's delivery. Trying too hard to weird you out on page one. Let us know if it gets better, please.

>>11590231
Change "read" to "write" and I think you've got it
I don't know many players capable of writing publishable stuff but I know some DMs who could do it

>>11589650
I enjoy the Jack West books, the writing is kapow boom tier simple but it's certainly entertaining which I all I give a shit about. Only a total nigger would hate on those books for not being well written.

>>11590241
He already did: >>11590092

>>11590231
idk, why read stories set in the real world when you already live there?

And jokes aside, it really is bugging me: was Fitz 18 or not by the end of Assassin's Apprentice? One of my biggest gripes with the author is she seems to make senseless continuity errors and retcons sometimes.

>>11590024
What is it?

>>11590242
I have seen /tg/ stories that were more entertaining than actual published books, like Shoggy stuff, so I believe it.

>>11590261
Some brainlet's self-published try-hard Discworld drek.

>>11589338
Why do people hate Denna? I mean, isn't the problem that idiot Kvothe and his stupid attitude?

>>11589382
>>11590312
Denna is fine, she has her own thing going on and does it. Kovthe is love drunk friend zoned with a girl who doesn't care for him and it's painful to read his stupidity for her at the expense of other potential love interests who are just as if not more interesting.

>>11589913
>Dresden Files
I was actually looking something a bit more serious. Like Constantine, but better written. And without half-vampire heroines dressed in tight leather pants

>Bartimaeus Trilogy
Not that is just mean anon.

>>11590208
Dude those are not your American LARPers. Those are hard core Euro re-enacters, as evidence by the melee in the background and just how handy that dude was with an axe.
Sometimes you just want to Luddite out for a weekend.

>>11590232
>>11590059
I think that was an ax akshually. Also I like to think there was an honor duel over the drone later on.

>>11587920
>Like realizing many black people are criminals because they have been systematically pushed into isolated, poor communities without a chance at proper work.
LOL good one.

>>11587385
>Dominika Lein

droll at best, trying too hard at worst.

from everything I've read in it, "pulp rev" is "80s nostalgia" style buzzwords intended to trick people into reading bad writing.

>>11590736
Nice try, Scalzi.

I've been playing with this story idea for a few hours now, this is what I've got so far. Let me know if it's shit or deritive but I've basically only got a beginning and end.

Basically a portal to another world thing book with young teenagers as the stars.

Premise is basically the same as Finland before WW2. Soviet union simmilar figure are going to make territorial claims and it's pretty much a matter of when not if they attack. Government has begun moving people away from the border including our protaganist and his boarding-school pupils.

The protag is a fairly mild-mannered kid from a poor background, smart, got leadership qualities but doesn't really know it because he's been more of a loner. He's not looking forward to being evacuated home to the city in the west because he loves the countryside, very much a more rural person than Urban. Also he's scared of returning becuase his Dad has an undiagnsed illness that's basically making him wither and frail, he doesn't want to see the man he admires and views as his ultimate role model get into a worse and worse state physically etc.

So the protag and a couple of other kids are some of the few whose parents haven't picked them up(basically each kid is a reflection of difference stances on the upcoming war, so one is like a self-hating pro-soviet who thinks the only reason they're invading is because his country has been greedy and hasn't shared their wealth as they could, another kid is basically the kind who thinks everyone else will come to save them and that the British/americans will run in at the last minute and beat the soviets back, protag is pretty uninterested and doesn't have an opinion but throughout the piece becomes more of a "it's our duty to defend ourselves and no-one is going to fight out battles for us" kind of guy, and there's a kid who just tries to be overly diplomatic and takes the middleground in every argument trying to please everyon). They're going to be transported by truck by the school caretaker and a teacher.

But they don't make it home. Truck slips on ice or some shit and goes off a bridge into the water below. Whole thing fades to black as they drown and the kid thinks he's dying.

>>11591077
Kids ain't dead. They're pulled out of our world into some other land/dimension/spirit world/whatever and things basically become pretty Narnia for them(Think some kind of middling fantasy bullshit with a couple escalating vllains of the week which symbolise key urban and rural problems(poverty, racial injustice, etc) untill the big bad comes at them (genocide or some shit) and they manage to unite all of the bullshit fairytale creatures and defeat them. Things move from harry potter levels of danger to YA shit to very hard fantasty stuff escalating as the story advances.

So they've beaten the big bad and they live happily ever after. But it's been a few years and they're all aging at a normal rate, they think they'll never return home so they actually settle down and build families etc. Until some shit comes up and they have to take a ship to a place or something, ship goes down in a storm and everyone drowns, wakes up on the lakeside in the real world after having been pulled out. They're basically all emotionally fucked, begging to be sent back in where their families and friends all are, one tries running back and drowning himself hoping to go back but is stopped by the caretaker/teacher

Overtime the kids slowly forget their experiences in the land after they get home. The war starts before the protag gets home though and his family are killed in an air raid or some shit. He's the only one not forgetting and it's fucking him up. He begins stalking the other members of the group who begin to think it was all just a game they played together. Book ends in tears as he confronts the person he started a family with in the fantasy world, person who he had a kid with, and she can't even remember. He's just there in fucking pieces and nobody knows why, he can't do anything about it.
Does this sound too shit or is there something I could use?

>>11591084
I think it’s too unbelievable that everyone else decides it’s a game they played. Living there for years and starting a family isn’t something you just write off or forget. I’d believe any other cause: they purposefully choose to move on (their children are basically dead and this does break up marriages) or someone’s gone crazy from the change back and is on antipsychotics, etc. The only reason Susan “forgot” Narnia was that Lewis was being pedantic.

If anyone was zapped back 10 years or whatever to their younger body, they’d still have years of learned knowledge and maturity and wouldn’t be wouldn’t be able to fi anymore.

>>11591367
*fit in

>>11591367
Fair criticism. Thanks What'd you think of the rest? Too derivative?

I was going to try to link the reason for him not forgetting back with his family dying.

Like he never fully returned to his normal life after.

But I'm also thinking of just having him remember it, if it really happened from the initial return.

>>11590157
>go walking around my city
>literally every other person is a woman
What the FUCK was God thinking?

What's with Russian books having so many lore dumps?