/lit/ - Literature

A worst

>>11707754
But that would be L*dy.

A best

>>11707754
Filtered.

NOOOOOOO YOU DID IT WRONG YOU DID IT ALL WRONG YOU MANIACS YOU BLEW IT ALL UP

Also Sanderson is terrible.

>>11707766
There was one more female Taken (from original ones.)

I'm just wondering, do a lot of regulars here just read s&f and just come here for this general?

>>11707780
I'm a college student so my free reading is usually just s&f. I've had enough heavy reading to last a few years.

>>11707780
It really does not matter what (or how much) you read. For the past dozen or so generals any and all discussion is being supressed by the tide of fanasy shitposters. They turned into a genre equivavlent of furries and MPL fucktards.

>>11707773
Moonbiter I think, although she never does anything. Could be Nightcrawler too maybe.
It's a shame the Ten were wasted in the first book.

If I were in the zombie apocalypse, then I'd just climb up a tree and live there. I don't know why people are so dumb in books, because the zombies are always unable to climb trees. Just find a fruit tree and you have all you need to survive.

>>11707780
I gave up looking at the /outerlit/ catalog long ago. I just hop from /sffg/ to /sffg/.

>>11707804
But fatties like you can't climb.

>>11707800
True, I wanted more of them.
Soulcatcher as a waifu.

Fantasyfags please leave

>>11707870

>>11707013

>>11707754
>>11707766
>>11707834
>>11707883
This is no longer the waifu thread. You're late.

>>11707891
Every thread is a waifu thread

>>11707901
Filtered.

>>11707834
Also, I felt that their deaths were rushed at the end of the book.

>>11707907
I don't think Cook intended to make a series at first.

What are we going to read next?
>https://www.strawpoll.me/16366275

Titus Groan,
by Mervyn Peake
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39063.Titus_Groan

Lord of Light,
by Roger Zelazny
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13821.Lord_of_Light

The Night Land,
by William Hope Hodgson
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/970602.The_Night_Land

Blood Music,
by Greg Bear
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/340819.Blood_Music

City,
by Clifford D. Simack
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222093.City

The Lifecycle of Software Objects,
by Ted Chiang
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7886338-the-lifecycle-of-software-objects

A solid 2nd place finish for the British George RR Martin.

>>11707936
Lord of Light. Didn't it come close to winning a while back?

>still no decent fantasy where a hero and villain fall in love
Guess I'll have to stick with weebshit for that.

>>11707945
yikes

>shitpost in a separatist line on a Burmese oral tradition forum
>actually get a physical book sent to me for FREE
What a time to be alive. Well read sometime during the coming weeks.

>>11708034
I'm working on it, man. Give me a couple years instead of asking in every thread - as if Sanderson or some other bestseller could churn one out in the literal afternoon.

The seeds are sown already.

>>11708027
Probably did. It's a sleeper hit around here.

>>11708044
>>11708046

>>11708046
I'm not into furshit though. Sorry.

>>11708075
Well, you've got to either lower your standards or write one yourself. You're being pretty unreasonable as it is, expecting someone else to appeal to your ridiculously specific needs.

>>11708034
Black Company is the closest I can think of.


>>11708091
When did romance between a hero and villain become "ridiculously specific"? It's a fairly common thing in various myths and other forms of media. And nobody should lower their standards so they can read your furfag garbage that you keep shilling in these threads. Fuck off already.

>>11708109
>It's a fairly common thing in various myths and other forms of media.
But you're looking for some in literature, so their prevalence in myths or comic books or film seems to hold no relevance.

Still, it does look like there's a niche there for an aspiring new writer to fill! Why not set to it yourself?

>>11708109
>>11708131
Can you two just fuck off?
The last thing I want to witness is some weeb and a furry having a bitchfight over what they jerk off to.

>>11708131
>Why not set to it yourself?
I came here to read not to lead.

>>11708152
Then I'm afraid my furshit is all you've got.

>>11708147
I'm probably done now, sorry.

>>11708044
You're welcome, man! I hope you'll manage to finish it and maybe add something on Goodreads so that others know to look for it (or be wary of it).

>>11708147
Still better than the usual shit we get about Sanderson or waifus or video games.

>>11708168
>Sanderson or waifus or video games.
Don't remind me.

>>11708147
Then please enlighten us with your proper topics of discussion for /sffg/. Oh that's right, you have nothing to contribute either aside from crying like a bitch. I'd take waifufags over your type any day, now fuck off.

>>11708198
I mean, maybe we could talk about books...?

>>11708208
Where do you think you are?

>>11708046
I asked you for some advise on publishing and KDP Select and other stuff a good number of threads ago--I recently finished my own novel and am in the process of editing it. I'm set on publishing it through Amazon at first, and then through RRL and maybe Wattpad. But I'm on the fence as to whether or not to get it physically printed. Where did you go to get your physical copies made? If you don't mind saying, how many did you order and how much did they cost, per book?

>>11708159
I'm kinda obsessive about finishing books I've started no matter the quality so don't worry, I'll get through it. I looked at the map and first page and I've definitely seen worse. The map gave me Conan vibes with it's densely packed, varied and "exotic" cultures.

>>11708222
>Where did you go to get your physical copies made?
I got them done on Createspace - another friend that'd published before recommended it, and I haven't had anything to complain.

>how many did you order and how much did they cost, per book?
I got myself a dozen copies to throw around to a few friends, plus some extras for any other occasion that might come up (I've still got a few left, hint hint). The whole package, mailing and all, ended up somewhere around 120 euros plus some trouble at the customs.

I'd highly recommend getting some physical copies, because a lot of people still like to read printed books over anything on computer or pads, and feeling those up between your fingers is a bit of a thrill - as is watching my friends (and a couple anons) post pictures of their copy having arrived in the mail.

On the whole, from what I've heard since I published mine, you may want to avoid KDP Select. It gives you some benefits over at Amazon, but at the cost of being unable to sell your thing elsewhere for a while - and, you know, it's Amazon. At the end of the day it may have hurt my sales a bit. But it's also a moderately big decision so you may want to look up on it yourself, find a second or third opinion, before committing to things. You're in no rush after all!

What's your book about?

Lady x Soulcatcher

Finally finished Malazan Book of the Fallen. I thought it was a decent story.

>>11708301
Decent enough to make it worth wasting so much time reading through so many books?

>>11708303
>reading books is a waste of time, I'm just here to shitpost
Thanks for making that clear.

>>11708308
>I have no standards whatsoever, I will read everything put in front of me with no preference or gag reflex
You got it, mate.

>>11708308
I think asking if a series that lasts aslong as Malazan does and is only decent is worth the time needed to read it is a fair question.

>>11708319
Are you lost fren?
Lemme help you out >>>/lit/

>>11708303
Sure. I liked the first three novels and decided to see where the series would go. Also it's not like there are many other options for a long and finished fantasy series like it.

>>11708341
>Also it's not like there are many other options for a long and finished fantasy series like it.
It does honestly feel like you've got either single-book stories like Discworld, trilogies like Sanderson's shit, or neverending stories that just keep churning out books without ever actually finishing - or throw a few and then go on a permanent hiatus - like ASOIAF.

You guys are consuming threads like you're alcoholics on a night out. Can't you take it a bit slower so I don't have to skip so much.

>>11708800
I must ladypost at least 3 times a day to stay alive.

>>11708815
The way you're waifufagging seems awfully close to both avatarfagging and shitposting, both of which are bannable offences. I wonder how mods would react to people actually reporting your shit.

>>11708841
>mods
>reacting

>>11708841
S-sorry

>>11708865
/lit/ seems to have relatively active mods who regularly delete low quality threads and I wouldn't be surprised if they are willing to delete low quality replies as well. There are boards with much more inactive and useless mods.

Any good stuff based on celtic mythology?

>>11708973
Warlord Chronicles.

>>11708973
The second Corum trilogy.

>>11708973
Heard of the Arthurian legends?

>>11708800
You aren't missing much these days trust me

Anyone starting to get bored of fantasy in general? Or am I just getting old?

>>11709296
I know this feel

>>11708046
based

>>11709296
>tfw there are no books with Deedlit tier elf waifus

>>11709385
Yeah it sucks. I'm pretty sure she was my first fictional crush. It seems like most fantasy writers either avoid elves or go the extra mile to make them as far from the tolkien mold as possible.

>>11709408
Elves are pretty tired and overdone by this point, as are dwarves. I pretty much automatically drop any book that features either.

>>11709425
Fair enough, But I still think that a lot of authors are afraid of being labeled as generic so they try too hard to appear unique. Sometimes it works wonderfully but most of the time it's just painful to read.

what do you think Jasnah's pussy taste like?

>>11709545

>>11709545
It gets more and more disgusting every time you post this.

>>11709296
The problem is fantasy authors tend to rehash the same garbage over and over again. They will occasionally try and change things up: this time it "Arabian Nights" or "China" themed or the protagonist is fucks other dudes or maybe the necromancers are just misunderstood or the orcs aren't just faceless monsters, at which point they win awards for "deconstructing" genre fiction, but at the end of the day it all just comes back around to the same narrative equivalent of a gas station hot dog that's been sitting out for most of the day.

>>11709608
Are all fantasy authors stuck under the thumb of Tolkien for all time?

board ate my post, so going for a more concise one
How do you deal with a series that, while starting promising, has now delved into nearly 50% flashbacks and perspective changes from the main character?

The reason why I picked up the series, and got to book 5, was the premise and the main were pretty interesting. But at this point there are so many flash backs to people and times irrelevant to the main expect to flesh out the world a bit, and it takes up so much print, that at this point I drop the book and try to do something else for a couple minutes every time I see the page break signaling a perspective shift.

>>11709650
Just finish it ya pussy

>>11704839
>harem
Real shit? I eat garbage fantasy and sci-fi on the daily, so if this is some quality spaceing with a decently written harem- then sign me the fuck up

>>11709650
I fucking hate flashbacks. I skipped most of the Dalinar chapters because of this. I feel that if it is supremely important to the current plot, then it should either be very concise, or, if that is not possible, have one POV in the past and one in the present concurrently, but this is too gimmicky to be used as a standard.

>>11709660
If they had direct relevence to what was happening next to the mc, or even involved him, maybe I'd still care, but most of the time it's a 10 page tragic backstory on everyone who died around an item the mc just found, and he's like "cool." Such a waste of time he could have shoehorned the info in some other way, or at least more concisely.

>>11709684
Agreed. I understand why authors feel the need to have them, and they can be done really well, but when it starts to creep to be a majority of the content, instead of, you know, the main plot or characters, or reason of the series being enjoyable at all, it's hard not to just drop it.

>>11708253
i honestly can't think of a place other than Amazon to sell my book, so i don't mind the exclusivity. it's only for 3 months at a time, so i'm not worried. where do you go to advertise/shill your book other than /sffg/?

my book is a straightforward coming-of-age story about finding one's place in society. sounds boring, sure, but the setting is a fantasy world at the paleolithic level of technology. everybody is capable of wielding magic, so the main sell of the book (in my opinion at least) is how the ubiquity of certain magical abilities has affected technology and shaped the tribal society of the main character.

i'm working on getting good cover art. i'm working on a blurb for the book (more articulate and enticing than what i typed above) too, because i understand that that's quite important.

Anyone who can use magic should be exterminated no matter what setting or world they're in.

>>11709792
>no series where mc hooks up with a centaur, forming a formidable cavalry combo
Life's unfair.

>no fantasy series where mc hooks up with a centaur, forming a formidable cavalry combo
Life's unfair.

>>11709836
>ywn put your waifu down after she breaks her leg
why live

>>11709851
>you break your leg
>your qt centaur combat companion looks at you in absolute horror and sadness
>her grim expression turns to resolve as she reaches for her sword to do what must be done
>you frantically try to explain that humans break legs "all the time" and that it'll heal in no time
>she's not buying it

>>11709622
I think some of the authors trying to write stuff coming from different cultural perspectives might be important in "breaking the Giant's stranglehold" so to speak. Tolkien is popular for a reason, and it's going to take time for authors who aren't writing the same old crap to horn in on the market. And even then anything successful spawns a horde of generic imitators, The Black Company was the first of the big "dark" fantasy stories and now every "G.C. Hambercombie" and their brother (or sister writing under a pseudonym) is teleporting behind their editor with the latest "Blayde Darksoul of the Very Bad Mercenary Company" manuscript.

>>11709667
Haha no. Captain Ivan Vorpatril is mostly a supporting character in the series and is a competent but unambitious officer who's main goals in life are being a playboy, avoiding his mother's attempts to get him married, and trying to avoid the antics of his cousin, for which he's mainly the straight man. The book is mainly about him meeting a woman on the run from some criminals, marrying her so she doesn't get arrested, and then trying to get a divorce.

Now his cousin Miles is more of the "harem" type but that's more a thing where he's got relationships with multiple women that are sometimes also romantic. Though IIRC in one of the books his clone brother, Mark, describes his brother as having a "hellish harem" of "terrifying amazons."

>>11709851
>ywn your waifu hears a bee and dies of a heart attack out of fear

>>11709857
Had a nice giggle, thanks anon.

>>11709876
np, I was just fishing to see if there was a series out there that had a centaur heroine or a female interest for the protagonist. I'd even settle for litrpg if that meant it existed somewhere, but I honestly think it doesn't.

Why does /lit/ hate Sanderson so much?

>>11709972
He's popular and he's not the best thing ever, that's reason enough

>>11709972
He's Mormon.

>Does anyone else find Kvothe to be a creepy stalker?
>If you just objectively look at his behavior in book 1 in regards to the love interest it just seems like he is aggressively stalking her and interfering in her romantic life. Showing up to dates and getting into confrontations with guys going out with the girl you like is not okay. It is actually very not okay. Like restraining order level not okay.

is reddit finally seeing the light?

>>11710010
No
See >>11707945

>>11709923
>but I honestly think it doesn't.
That's because it's fucked up.

>>11710037
You'd figure with all the monster girl stuff gaining acceptance in the last couple of years, even stuff like this >>11708046
centaurs would be okay. I mean no one has issues with lamila, right?

>>11710096
No, man. That's just nasty. I mean
>horse pussy
I shouldn't even need to elaborate.

>>11710096
There’s always Narnia

>>11707741
>thread name

>>11709296
Maybe you should start reading good fantasy

>>11707741
fucking newfag retard so this is why i can't find the thread

>character instantly becomes an expert military tactician just because they get control of an army

>>11709780
networking. the thing i've seen most of are "blog tours" where new writers will shill/interview/book giveaway on each other's blogs.

>>11710640
I think the amount of networking involved in marketing your book is what makes it hard for me since I'm not a part of any writers groups or have any contacts in the industry.

I was thinking of setting up a website to publish some stuff online for free, but realised this is pretty much only place I could shill it and there's no way I'm going to do that.

>>11710519
>character obtains control of an army and they fuck up drastically leading to them being demoted and having to work even harder to get promoted again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvFk717st_Q
https://www.amazon.com/Atlantropa-Articles-Novel-Cody-Franklin-ebook/dp/B07BWKZYXP
>youtubers novel
their channels are good desu i would read this one

>>11707945
>Rothfuss at three, actually climbed a rank

god mother fucking dammit why, even if you actually like the series the mother fucker hasn't written a real book in 7 fucking years and counting, has anyone garnered as much attention for doing as little as fucking Rothfuss?

So im nearly half way through worm. Does the bug girl ever get her stick out of her ass and stops being such a moralfag? I get she wants to be a good person but she is against everything that involves torture or violence.

>>11709780
>where do you go to advertise/shill your book other than /sffg/?
I've spread the word a bit on /tg/ and /trash/ as well, on account of my book having themes that I like to think both boards might like. Yours could probably fit /tg/ as well - look around for any literature threads there, one pops up on occasion. I went to /r9k/ for a bit once. And of course I'm in a couple Discord groups with some friends: one of them is writing-related so I could maybe link it to you.

Other than that, I'm in the same boat as you are in that I have absolutely no writing group contacts. I've tried to reach out on Goodreads with a giveaway campaign that seems to be doing well, but it's pretty outrageously expensive and I can't with cood conscience recommend it to you. Plus it only reaches out to US for some reason I can't even begin to comprehend. Then a couple ad campaigns in Reddit that appear to be literally useless and doing nothing except draining my money into the void.

You need to be willing to spend a lot of money if you want people to know about your writing, and even then they probably won't. There's just too much competition - too many people like you and me, reaching out from the mire of mediocrity.

I think I might be able to find a publisher for the next one, though. Maybe it'd go better then. We'll see.

>>11708034
Since there are no villainous waifus.
Anything were the hero and heroine start the story being rivals/enemies, absolutely hating each other's guts, but end up fucking. Not in a cutesy way, I want them to actually try to butcher each other at first.

>>11711217
Your hatefucking premise seems ridiculously unrealistic even for fantasy books. Give it up.

>>11711270
I can see it happening, but I can't think of any examples off the top of my head.

Two enemies are forced into a situation, possibly as a result of their own fighting, where they must work together to save themselves or save something they both consider more important than killing the other.

>>11711125
Sounds like a good attitude to be had desu.

>>11711391
low teste

>>11711391
>>11711125
i didnt read it but this sounds like an excuse for bad character development

>>11711391
She is a villain though and isn't even okay with torturing mass murderers for the greater good. Starting to piss me off. Or how she doesn't let her insects use their poison to not cause any allergic reactions.

>>11711270
What about a edgy villain mc that falls in love with a heroine and corrupts her.

>>11711865
Meh. Female villain reformed is better.

>>11711865
What about an edgy villain mc that falls in love with a heroine adn kidnaps her and keeps her in her basement for decades until she finally gets hold of a sharp object and kills herself having birthed 7 children she never even saw.

>>11711865
Hannibal?

>>11711894
A Handmaid's Tale?

>>11711894
Yes please.

>>11711894
Fritzl please leave

>>11707901
Soulcatcher, eh? Any good?

>>11711939
No.

Why do you really hate Sanderson so much, /lit/?
You're a tsundere little slut and only hate him because he's popular, but give me something more. Tell me your true feelings.

>>11711939
Good waifu, but author chose another for mc.

>>11711939
Yes. Ignore the tubby chaser.

>>11711956
>>11711954
>>11711942
Thanks lads, I'm downloading the Chronicles of the Black Company now. Any other half-decent written books with some fun ideas? I enjoy Sanderson.

>>11711962
>I enjoy Sanderson.
Check out some anime then.

>>11711953
I tried reading mistborn but it was rather boring. I didn't like portrayal of nobility or the fact that there are many non whites in his books.
>>11711962
>I'm downloading the Chronicles of the Black Company now.
Know that it's all downhill after the first book, for the most part.

>>11711962
If you enjoy Sanderson, you might not like Black Company so much. The two books are pretty different.

I'd suggest to drop both and go instead with older classics, such as Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Michael Moorcock, C.L. Moore, and if you somehow have not picked him up by this point, Tolkien.

>>11711962
>Any other half-decent written books with some fun ideas?
I still have a few copies of The Straggler's Mask left if you want one. Send me your address through Goodreads or something.

>>11711967
when Murgen starts narrating the Siege of... that City in the South... it actually picks up again

best imagine it not being a serious story,
but rather equivalent to a D&D-Campaign-Writeup, which I actually have suspected some of the larger-cast Fantasy to be

>>11711993
I do like that part were they live in flooded city.

>>11711993
Black Company being just someone's shitty D&D game written into fantasy novels would explain a lot.

>>11711993
Whenever the start using that wizard for spying on people and were basically able to see everything not involving Soulcatcher I dropped. So dumb.

>>11712006
>someone's shitty D&D game written into fantasy novels
That's seriously how Malazan was created.

>>11712167
Remind me why people like it again?

>>11712168
Same reason people like Stormlight or WoT. It's long as fuck so regardless of quality you'll form an emotional bond with the characters.

>>11711993
>some
Most.

What do we all think of the Black Library from Games Workshop?

>>11712299
Nice trap.

I think it's a great place for sci-fi authors to cut their teeth. Huge, well developed setting and easy to follow briefs about what they want.

Books are a bit shit, enjoyed elfslayer though.

>>11711497
>Or how she doesn't let her insects use their poison to not cause any allergic reactions.
What kind of villain is this?

>>11712510
The female kind. Really hope she drops that shit eventually once she realizes it's not worth it. But I suspect it won't happen

>>11712510
Seems like one who is destined to be waifed.

I remember Elantris having a problem where Sanderson felt the need to narrate really obvious shit. Besides that and the rather boring prose I enjoyed it. Is that still a problem in later books?

>>11712327
That's actually a girl. She is a Russian twitch slut.

If you guys weren't such fantasy faggots we might have some discussion going on but noooo.

Anyone got any good books with fantasy AND scifi elements?

Why fight when we could have both? Why pigeonhole ourselves into a rigid and well-established genre when we could be free and unrestrained?

>>11712605
BOTNS
O
T
N
S

>>11712612
>good

>>11712640

None of you ratfuckers even remember AE Van Vogt

Is the Foundation series amazing or overrated?

>>11712735
Overrated. It was revolutionary so if you're interested in the history of sci-fi you should probably read it.

>>11712605
galactic mage.
starts off as fantasy about a wizard who wants to go to the moon of his planet. turns into scifi-fantasy mishmash about technologically advanced humans and fantasy humans making contact and all the shit that ensues.

>>11711953
>gloved hands
>shallan
>jasnah
>kalladin
>anime
Need I go further?

>>11712168
Is there another 10 book epic fantasy series as good or better than it?

>>11712862
Why does it have to be ten books long? What story could not be told in a single book, three at most?

>>11712870
I think you're looking at this all wrong. It's not really about storytelling or literary merit. It's about how long can the author go on with the story to maximize profits.

Holy shit I fucking hate you fantasyfags why have you taken over

>>11712937
This was always a fantasy thread. If you're so upset about it, start talking about scifi stuff and we'll join in should there be merit to it.

Be the change you want to see.

>>11712937
The real reading in >>11707936 is sci-fi because it's better but fantasy is fun to shitpost about. Why are you mad?

>>11712954
>Why are you mad?
He gets mad at the trolls and the shitposters, therefore further provoking them. What a fool.

>>11713115
No one cares.

>>11710934
People are idiots.

>>11710668
You're going to have to put yourself out there. I'd find other new writers who wrote similar kinds of books and ask them to cross promote. Or see if you can ask one of the more established writers if you could cross promote with them.


>>11711209
What are you spending your money on for promoting?

I'm trying to go down the big publishing house route but I know they're going to tell me to do most of the promotion myself. That's just how the industry works now. Unless they think you wrote the new Hunger Games/Harry Potter, they're not going to spend much time or money on you.

>>11712521
Only if her soul is caught by a certain someone.

>>11712605
Grim Company.

>Not having a small arsenal of firearms and MREs hidden in your attic for the impending solar flare/asteroid impact which will reduce human civilization back to the stone age overnight like it did 12 thousand years ago in the younger dryas.

>>11707936
If we read Night Land can it include both The Night Land, and The House on the Borderland? As a double feature

>>11713370
No. The 50 pages a week is already an impossible enough pace that most normal IQ people can't reach and you know it so we only have Night Land. There's no need to pretend here that you're some super fucking duper fast reader since we're all anonymous.

>>11713442
have a (you) brainlet

>>11713442
>The 50 pages a week is already an impossible enough pace
Anon, most people can read 50 pages in a day...

>>11713469
Most people don't read

>>11713482
Most people aren't here on /lit/ in a fantasy thread voting for a fantasy book to be read.

Alright I'll try this again since the last time I asked here I only got condescending shitpost replies but what is your favorite non-fiction fantasy novel? I'm really into the genre right now and would like to know if you guys like it too?

>>11713524
What the fuck is a "non-fiction fantasy novel"?

>>11713524
First you'll have to explain us, just how can a fantasy novel be non-fiction? Perhaps give us a few examples?

If you can't, you really will be taken as just a shitposter.

>>11713524
>non-fiction fantasy novel?
Am I a brainlet? I don't know how this works.

>>11713524
The Quran

>>11713524
Do you mean historical fantasy?
Like cave men or something.
We just don't understand what you mean, give us your favorite so that we have something more to go on.

>>11713621
Well if you're new to the genre you should probably start with something like String theory and M-theory: A modern introduction or just https://math.berkeley.edu/~reb/papers/monster/monster.pdf to get the lay of the land before diving in but as you can see with the shitposts >>11713537 , >>11713543 , >>11713563 and >>11713571 they probably just want to shit on the genre without reason instead of having a discussion.

>>11713647
>ask what the genre is
>shitposts
Fuck off cunt

>>11713654
You fucking brainlet if you need it simply spelled out for you it's theories of the physical spawned by founding on ZFC sets or similarly on some ( mostly arbitrary) types instead of empirical observation.

>>11713537
>>11713543
>>11713563
>>11713571
>>11713621
>>11713654
You're too easy.

>urban fantasy
>no one thinks of using guns to solve their problems
I fucking hate urban fantasy. Why is it so prominent? It's almost fundamentally flawed.
>there's a whole secret supernatural underworld
>nobody knows about it because reasons
"No!"

>regular fantasy
>no one thinks of using swords to solve their problems
I fucking hate fantasy. Why is it so prominent? It's almost fundamentally flawed.
>there's a whole secret supernatural underworld
>nobody knows about it because reasons
"No!"

>>11713712
>>11713720
What about non-fiction fantasy?

>>11713524
Lord of the Rings

>>11713720
>fantasy without swords
Name 1 (one) book that does this. And hiding you secret underworld is much easier if you have no internet and other mass media.

>>11713712
Guns aren't really all that much better at killing wizards than crossbows would be.

>>11713786
They would be far fucking better you dolt.

>>11713799
You clearly have no idea how lethal and easy to use a crossbow can be.

>>11713799
>chain contingency with mantle and 2 Horrid Wiltings
You've clearly never read litrgp which this thread is actually for. Bullets won't do shit.

>>11713829
>>11713834
Can a crossbow blow a wizard's head off from 2 miles away? No.
Don't reply to me.

>>11713647
This is gibberish :(
Is that monster one your favorite?

>>11713846
Gun can't either.

>>11713846
>contingency kicks in as the bullet is about to pierce the wizard's flesh
>makes him invulnerable to it
>wizard stops time for everyone aside from himself
>drops a meteor on and drains all the water out of the shooter's body before time resumes its flow
Fuck off rpglitlet

>>11713884
The algebraic tie-in is just mostly to lead you into the non-fiction fantasy world of string theory.

>>11713886
>>11713901
>replying despite explicit instructions not to do so
Absolute state

Currently reading Vacuum Diagrams from Xeelee Sequence, after finishing the previous four works from the series. Baxter created a really interesting universe full of life and fascinating concepts. I cant get enough.

>>11713917
Oh.... I don't even really believe in quantum mechanics. You may be looking in the wrong place for fellow fans.

>>11713115
I wish he'd replied "And here you are interacting with me on my account with 1 follower."

any fantasy with cute alligator pet?

>>11714229
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

>>11714239
magic isnt real so does friendship

>>11714265
>fantasy

>>11714270
even in fantasy

Oy one of you said I should read something in the Culture series before Consider Phlebas, what was it again?

>>11714279
Bofa.

>>11714279
Probably Inversions, I kinda remember that post. Most people don't start there tho

>>11714279
honestly it really doesn't matter that much

>>11714348
Welp, Inversions isn't on Audible, guess I'll fucking kill myself

The last thread I asked for some good zombie apocalypse novels. I was playing Dying Light which got in the mood for more zombie realted media. Naturally I came here to ask for recommendations.
The first answer was just insulting, bringing up crap like Dresden Files.
I would like to thank the anon who recommended me the Mountin Man by Keith C. Blackmore. It had all the necesessary components for a pleasant post-apocalyptic reading including, unfortunately, the cartonishly crazy evil character sticking like a sore thumb.
It's like Walking Dead (the comic, not the series) all over again. You can't go 50 miles without stumbling upon some power tripping, self destructive lunatic. It seems to be a bog standard trope in zombie apocalype sub-genre (along with the "the real monsters are the humans") but I find it really annoying.
The writing was okay, the premise was standard, but the "villain" (besides the hordes of shambling undead) made me drop the book.

Moving on, I had no idea that zombie books suffer from the same problem fantasy does - namely, overly long series of books. Just like your standard phone book fantasy, you can also pick up zombie sagas spanning six or more books (the body count must be staggering).
Which brings me to the next novel I picked up - Zombie Fallout by Mark Tufo (spanning eleven books).
This novel was horrible. The writing, the characters, the "humor". The author is not even playing with the tropes. This is a bog standard zombie apocalypse written badly.
Avoid at all costs.

Next up - Fortress Britain by Glynn James and Michael Stephen Fuchs. Third's the charm - right? Wrong.
The premise was interesting enough. The rest of the world has fallen to the zombies (infected in this case, but same shit) except proud Albion. Now teams of high speed, low drag operatos from all over the world are flying around the world, searching for a cure. One of the authors is a fantasy writter. The other is known for his "hi-tech, hi-octane, action apcked" D-Boys series which turns out is about the Deltas (as in US Army special operations, etc.).
Turns out this crap was written for mall ninjas and other security "experts" and gear queers that frequent /k.
I am bombarded with this superfluous mess of weapon models and equipment.
Something along the lines of "character aims down his [full weapon model designation] with the [full model desigantion] optics, followed by [almost commercial list of capabilities]". Not to mention the characters sidearm (Colt .45 naturally) and wakizashi (I shit you not) for when the zombies get real close.
The photo is one of the authors.

>>11714572
Oh yeah, almost forgot. That's the first book out of twelve.
There must be a lot of mall ninjas.

Bear in mind I am still playing the game and having a blast doing parkour and bashing zombies.
So let's pick up another title.
Monster Island by David Wellington (only three books).
The premise is interesting - only places where even 14 year olds are armed (places like Somalia, Avganistan and similar) manage to resist the undead. Turns out one of the Somalian warlords is HIV postitive so it's up to our whiny UN weapons inspector (who was being generally useless in Africa prior to the outbreak) to get him some antivirals... from New York (one of those leftist shitholes (like Sweden) that were unable to defend themselves). As I said the premise is interesting but it all unravels later on with sentinent zombies and mummies from the Museum. The plot just goes off the rails.
Avoid.

>>11707741
>no subject
>CTRL-F "sffg" no work
>Grug wish zoomer post better
Seriously though, don't be like OP.

At this point it's clear finding something zombie realted worth reading will be about as hard as finding an original fantasy novel. That means really reading blurbs... And I hate reading blurbs.
Next up - The Last Mailman: Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Zombies by Kevin J. Burke. Again the premise is interesting. Our Mailman sets forth from the safe zones into the zombie infested wasteland to bring back personal items and when possible closure (usually by a headshot) to the grieveing families back in safe zones. The novel dores try to impress upon us the gravitas of this kind of work and just how damaged the Mailman is. That is until him or any other character opens his or her mouth. Everyone, and I mean everyone, mand or women, talks like a New Yorker. It's so jarring, so out of place, it basically kills the novel dead.
Best to be avoided.

Once upon a time (it may have been more than a year ago) one anon told me about a fantasy book with a male mc and a woman mc, they're both mercs. He said that it was a very good representation of a female warrior and mentioned at one point of the story the male mc hit the female mc and felt bad about it.
Any clues?

>>11714661
Sweden have lots of guns per capita, though. Anyway, your own fault for looking for good titles about one of the most saturate genres of the decade.

What do I read next?
>Star Maker
>Caltraps of Time
>Collected PKD stories V5
>Electric Dreams (PKD short story collection)
>Lies, Inc.
>Non-Stop
>The Simulacra
>Time Out of Joint
>The World Jones Made
>This Immortal
>

/sffg/-related books with this feel?

>>11715422
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas.

>>11715412

>>11715499
>Prince
>Not the Gender Formerly Known as Prince

>>11715516
i agree. totally missed opportunity.

>>11715422
sabrina the teenage witch books.

>>11713524
every fucking time

>>11713760
Vurt
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Last Call
The Last Unicorn
The Night Circus
etc

>>11712605
Shadowrun

Amazon /sffg/core WHEN

Can someone give me a good mystery SciFi to read. I remember growing up and playing Halo and Homeworld with these massive alien structures of long dead species. It always gave me such wonder and curiosity, I found it beautiful.

>>11709792
>poles wrote themselves as villains
What did Andrzej Sapkowski mean by this

>>11715757
Knights of Dark Renown

>>11715633
This list features science-fiction, some urban fantasy and alternative history and one story about a unicorn. None of that is standard fantasy. To have a standard fantasy without swords it would require either the world to have passed an industrial revolution where guns are the norm, but then it's just like urban fantasy, or something that magic is so overpowered that swords are useless.

>>11715786
>usurp the powers of mankind's rightful governments
>start 3 wars
>murder kings because you'll never get caught
>get caught
>it was for the greater good
>one king calls yous bs and butchers you to the last
>villain

>>11715788
Oh fuck off.

>>11715499
>Bipolar junction transistor
dear lord my fucking sides

>>11715757
Leviathan Wakes

>>11715738
Make the next thread and do it yourself.

What's the dark souls of fantasy lit?

I will fucking murder anyone that says shadow of the torturer.

>>11716763
A label that literally everything to come since is compared into if it's even the slightest bit hard to get into?

Unironically Silmarillion.

>>11716779
Something that takes a classic structure, changes it, and becomes that staple for how things work going forward.

Basically what fantasy lit changed how fantasy lit works

>>11716796
Still Silmarillion, or maybe Lord of the Rings.

>the story of Wuxia is the journey of a drug addict in his never ending quest to go even higher
it makes so much sense if you think about it.

>>11716763
Elric

>>11707780
/lit/ regulars are just marxists too afraid to post in /pol/ for fear of getting BTFO.

>>11709296
The vast majority of fantasy writers either write epic fantasy or grimderp and both of them are beyond tired by this point.

The tale of suffering while reading genre fiction continues. I read this crap so you don't have to (most posters here are too busy with rereading fantasy crap I guess).
Next on my list is Dead Team Alpha by Jake Bible.
This one was just boring. Yet another "hooah!" with the zombie backdrop. Actually scratch that, there's something even worse out in the wasteland.

>>11716923
I appreciate your suffering, but why do you feel the need to go through with this? Aren't there any good books you could read instead?

>>11716763
its not shadow of the torturer is the book of the new sun as a whole. yes, it is

>>11715757
Revelation Space

>>11716763
malazan

>>11716977
I'd like to put out a warning;
sometimes Malazan, Book of the Fallen will be shilled by some dudes, but the truth is, it just straight up sucks after the very first book ( Gardens of the Moon ) and degenerates into ever more splintering plotthreads with less and less and less relevance to anything, culminating in the prequel books Forge of Darkness and Fall of Light - wherein the first book has basically nothing happening and the second just expands on secondary and tertiary characters from the first; meanwhile failing to retrospectively craft any kind of interesting narrative concerning the civil war and its causes;

its even worse than the original books, because in the original books scope is usually ground-level footsoldiers for most practical purposes, divorced from the absurdity of imperial administration and politics, while the prequels delve DEEPLY into the people making actual decisions - and all of them are irrationally stupid and retarded

do not waste your time reading those 10+ books.

Now this one almost made the cut - The Return Man by V.M. Zito.
The premise is similar to The Mailman here >>11714831. Go out into the wilde, bash some poor fuckers skull, get word back to familily.
After the outbreak and zombie trying to eat everyone, everything west of the mighty Mississippi river was written off. What remains of the US of A huddles in the East. Intersting as far as these things go. And from there everything goes downhill.
The New Republicans, riding on the public's fear of immigrants, I mean zombies, seizes power and implements policies that are apparently too harsh even for the zombie apocalypse. Some eye rolling later the Chinese show up. A sleeper agent, twirling his fu-manchu moustache, working on bringing down the decadent USA.
I am sure the novel introduced even more jarring characters and plot threads but I already checked out at this point.

>>11716927
I am on a zombie binge. Movies, games, books - it's all fair game. But I gotta say this sub-genre is about as bad as the fantasy stuff being posted here. Once I get bored of zombies I'll go back to reading Tolstoyevsky.

>>11713469
There's a difference between reading as much as you possibly can and reading for pleasure before you go out to your dead-end job

So here's where I am right now.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot series (consisting of twelve fucking books) by W.J. Lundy.
The Al-Qaeda has released a virus best described as super rabies (think 28 Days Later zombies) in Afghanistan, which rapidly spread throughout the world (but of course).
Now you have this rag-tag group of soldiers tryin' to survive in zombie infested border area between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
Surprisingly enough I am still reading it. The novel crosses out a lot of zombie check-boxes but it still hasn't gotten offensively bad.
That's it for now. Keep reading shit /sffg.

>>11717033
>Keep reading shit /sffg.
We mostly complain about shit, but thanks.

>>11714661
Heh. Sweden is big and has hi tech. By the time the first infections happen, the army will have secured key locations. Let the zombies lose themselves in the empty landscape. Frankly, when the apocalypse comes in this guise, Sweden is the place I'd want to be. It's the place least likely to become ruled by warlords with the biggest guns and preachers with the biggest mouths.

>>11707945
What is this? The top books to avoid reading?

>>11708894
>sucking mod dick
Kill yourself you fat faggot

as a fat guy myself who has tried fasting i could actually live without food for months at a time. i think i'd survive

>>11717052
Honestly Glasgow would be best, zombies would get their bullocks kicked in.

>>11711978
You have convinced me to try your book, I'll see if I can work my way through the kindle version this weekend.

>>11717624
No man you would be the first to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o78D7GFFkk

>>11709836

>>11718051
>China Mieville
Think I'll pass.

>>11718060

Hey, not saying it's good. But you (or whoever anon was) asked for human-centaurs relationships, and this one has two, including a gay one and a woman / lizard centaur one.

>>11718076
You people disgust me.

>>11718051
*dabs on china*

The best thing to happen to Wheel of Time was Robert Jordan's death, do you think the fat man dying will save Asoiaf?

>>11718110
>>11718081
>>11718060

I'll readily admit it's one of the worst in a mediocre writer's output. Wouldn't have brought it up if not for the specific theme's request.

>>11718190
I can't say Sanderson has done much better job with it.

The OP and previous threads are fucked up and I can't find anything.

>>11718581
No shit. There's been like three other fantasy threads because no one can find this one.

>>11718812
That's good. The last thing we need is more fantasy.

>>11718830
I remember you trying to split scifi away into its own thing. They tended to die.

Doesn't that tell you anything?

>>11718830
Why moan about it? Post about something you like instead.

>>11713966
>I don't even really believe in quantum mechanics.
Wot

>>11719378
It doesn't make any sense. Reads like a bunch of autists went off the deep end.

>>11719808
u fuckin wot m8

>>11719823
He just wants to shitpost, ignore

>>11719823
>>11719833
I'm completely serious. The calcified structures of my brain cannot reconcile such ideas with the entirety of my corporeal experience.

>>11719378
Quantum mechanics is a whole other level of fucked up. "I can fuck your mother while not fucking your mother, and she's pregnant until proven not to be and even if she isn't she may bear a child"

huh, actually better than I thought it'd be

>>11721437
sure it is, al

>>11718190
>The best thing to happen to Wheel of Time was Robert Jordan's death

So, this was stupid.

Is all of Heinleins work like this? Was interested in Stranger In A Strange Land and Starship Troopers but after reading this I am not so sure anymore.

>>11722240
seething

"Ball Lighting" is engaging but has a disappointing third act.

Thanks to link-sharing anon for sharing the link.

Also, who keeps blowing the OP?

Next time this happens, I vote we start a new thread and suck OP's dick until he or she is blind.

>>11722646
>dick
>she
Threatening me with a good time?

>>11722658
Put it in the smasher, whore.

>>11722607
Mind sharing?

>>11721437
is there any risk at all inside the game? or just mc playing game with no death risk at all

>>11722546
Friday was bad. Some ppl including me think he lost it in 1970 with I Will Fear No Evil. Number of the Beast and Job were ok but the rest of his later work was cringey.

>>11722874
What happened?

I'm trying to read some fantasy novels but they all read like fan fiction and the protagonist is just a huge Mary Sue character. Just terrible stuff. Last one I tried is Jhereg and the only reason the incredibly dumb and impossible plan the protagonist put together is because the other characters are suddenly turned to complete idiots. The it turns out the guy wrote like 15 more books of this nonsense. What the hell.

>>11722917
A lot of people like power fantasies, I guess, which is why this sort of a habit prevails. Give them someone really competent and flawless, but with little to no personality or backstory, to allow them to insert themselves into the character and vicariously live through him or her.

But others, like myself and probably you, enjoy underdogs. We like to see the heroes struggle and fight and go through a lot of trouble for victories, and even then victory is never certain - and so I tried to make my protagonist one. Maybe you'd like that instead.

>>11722925
Many of those books have a very twisted sense of what a hero is. Their idea of a hero is a human outsmarting a bunch of amoebas. No sense of real danger or accomplishment. I'll try Gormenghast next, I hear it's really good. Let's hope so.

>>11722961
I've heard the same, and have had Gormenghast on my list for a while now. It looks like Titus Groan has a decent shot at winning the monthly reading too, so maybe we can all do it then.

>>11722879
By 1970 he was a superstar in sff so he could get away with publishing almost anything. His plots got unfocused and bloated, he got preachy about his views and preoccupied with sex and incest.

I'm probably being too generous with Number and Job but at least they had decent concepts if not execution

>>11722871
still reading the first book but apparently there's a random risk that if you die you lose memories and experience and there's no way to know if it will happen or not

>>11722970
>he got preachy about his views
Wasn’t Heinlein always regarded as preachy about his views since he began writing? Either way, that seems to a textbook case of a writer becoming big and then just coasting on his fame over actual talent(I have already heard that the larger is the author name relative to the title, the worse it is).

Whoever makes the new thread, make the theme about Amazon books.

>>11723087
Why?

>>11723061
The difference is in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress you get a rebellion and launching moon rock bombs among a bunch of talking. Later books lose any narrative drive and it’s like having to listen to grandpa at the dinner table talk for the millionth time about how governments are bad while he's staring at your sisters tits.

Would one of you brave fruitcakes make a new thread? Don't fuck it up this time, ta.

>>11723326
If you want something done right, do it yourself.

>>11723059
lame

>>11723334
Or get someone else to do it and berate them if they do it wrong.

>>11723395
also you wake up naked and have to do a corpse run, reminds me of Everquest

FRESH BREAD!!!
>>11723456
>>11723456
>>11723456