/lit/ - Literature

Also pls refrain from mentioning, at best, mediocre fantasy writers.
Thank you.

>tfw series goes on so long that the qt waifus get old and die

>>12269735
cock

>tfw phone posting during christmas
Grandma sends her regards, deadline soon!

I was going to make the thread an Amazon Picks Thread.

Anyways. Here everyone, the amazon list I was talking about for months.

>>12269833
>amazon
?

Why are they so based?

>>12269952
Books from Amazon Store...
Do you even read?

>>12270021
>shilling Amazon for free
It could have been books featuring Amazons.

>>12269784
That happens in real life too

>>12270057
I don't have waifus in real life

>>12270040
Okay. I should have put self published books from Amazon.

>>12270197
At least you won't have to watch as they grow old and die, then

>that weird chapter in book 11 of WoT where egwene gets spanked every two paragraphs until she learns to love it

This author was writing bdsm smut on his deathbed and got away with it.

What the fuck is up with Stephenson and weird sex scenes. From the AI collective sex in Diamond Age, to the underage fucking in Snow Crash. What the hell

>>12270197
>RyanGoslingScreaming.jpg

Please recommend me a sci-fi or fantasy series of about 1000-1500 pages in all that tells a satisfying story with a beginning, middle, and end, and not too much dragging in the middle, with as much of the following as possible:

>stars a group of damaged people who at least care about each other on some level but fuck up and hurt each other, but are nonetheless trying
>some amount of hedonism
>really depressing at times but also uplifting at other points
>nice mix of character-driven stuff and action
>whenever there is action/violence, it's really intense

For reference, my second favorite /sffg/ is Vurt, and third is The Magicians Trilogy. Very favorite is Elric, but it doesn't fit the pattern because it isn't really about a collection of people.

>>12268348
I know they are the same person.
When I said infected, I meant Felix changed near the end of super sales. He had his Randy characters try to convince him to open a harem.

>>12270571
In Diamond Age that was how the virus was transmitted. It sucks but because that was why Nell was raped, so she could get the virus. If he'd made the virus transmitted by any body fluids that would have fixed these problems but yes having sex is a biological imperative and a strong and logical vector for spreading infection.

Snow Crash was written when ppl acknowledged that teenagers had sex.

>>12270758
See >>12270203
Trymoon saga

>>12270758
Every wuxia ever

>>12270810
I'll check it out. Thank you.
>>12270814
Any specific recommendations? The more intense the whole thing is, the better.

>>12270837
7 Killers? I've been reading that for my first Wuxia and it's going alright. There's Coiling dragon for a huge Wuxia option.

>fell for the masters of rome meme
>it was worth it

>>12270788
How old is Raven supposed to be. Just struck me as off, innit

>>12270776
>I know they are the same person.
>When I said infected, I meant Felix changed near the end of super sales. He had his Randy characters try to convince him to open a harem.
pretty much just a plot device to make felix accept his harem. it was pretty obvious how it was gonna end when andrea told him in the first book that she is willing to share him with every women in legion if that means that he doesn say no to her.
though you might be delighted to hear that in the future on some books he wants to lower the harem count. not remove it but do a lower number and focus more on interpersonal relations between the characters.

>>12269735
So i'm writing a deconstruction YA. should I still write it?

>>12270837
Renegade Immortal
Sovereign of the Three Realms
Martial World
A Record of a Mortals Journey to Immortality

Are some of the ongoing ones I like the most

>>12270896
So, I read the descriptions of these. Are wuxia basically Chinese shonen anime novels? Because that's fucking awesome.

>>12270890
What have you written before?

>>12270943
wuxia are basically a cross between shonen anime and litrpgs. the vast majority are naruto tier cringe but some are alright. mostly due to the setting and how the culture is portrayed.

>>12270965
Thanks. I'll check some out and see if any click.

Basically what I want is Neuromancer meets BoJack Horseman.

>somewhat edgy blood-pumping sci-fi with seriously damaged people that nonetheless isn't soulless or without hope

>>12270758
The Gap Cycle
The Night's Dawn Trilogy
The Coldfire Trilogy maybe
Waylander
Haven't read it but i heard Thieves World is like that

>>12270918
Pretty much. There's gay shit, straight shit, action shit, cultivation shit, VR shit, lots of fun shit.

Writing a fantasy story, want /sffg/ opinion.

About a group of monster hunters who go after a giant Kaiju attacking trade lines. POV is son of a noble who died in one of the monster's attacks who joins the mercs on their monster killing ship.

This worth writing or is it too low concept?

>>12271166
It could be good, but if you haven't before, watch the original Godzilla (in Japanese because the American version added a whole new story and cut out part of the original one) to see that kaiju stuff can be real art.

>>12271166
dew it. not enough kaiju novels.

>tfw you're too depressed to enjoy anything you read

>>12271166
stop watching anime

>>12270890
Pitch it to us and find out

>>12270758
Curse of Chalion. It's a standalone story and is basically about this middle aged knight who got betrayed and sold to a slave galley, at the start of the story he's finally returned home a broken man, his former patron hires him as a tutor for her granddaughter before she heads off to court. Ultimately he saves the kingdom and wins the heart of a fair lady and so on, but this happy ending is earned through pain and strife.

The sequel is about a different character going on a pilgrimage after the end of the book. The third book is a prequel set hundreds of years before, they're both worth reading. I haven't read the Penric short stories yet but I'm sure they're great too. I'd also point to the series as being one of the few real decent engagements with religion in modern fantasy writing.

>>12270758
>>12270837
>>12270918
Try desolate era, library of heavens path, tales of demons and gods(was good but now is 1 chapter per month), against the gods, coiling dragon, emperor's domination, martial god asura, the human emperor, douluo dalu 1-3

it's a mix of good and somewhat bad but those are the ones i enjoy reading

>>12270918
Wuxia is basically historic fantasy stuff about kung-fu heroes. Probably the most notable example would be The Legend of Condor Heroes, which I believe recently got a "official" English translation, or alternatively the movies Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero.

Xianxia, cultivation on the other hand, is far more fantastical and is essentially about crack smoking warlocks smoking magical spirit crack to get more powerful.

fixed

Any good novels starring Drow or drow-like races or having an underdark setting?

>>12270857
I'd guess at least mid 20s up to earlyl 30s, same as Hiro, because their fathers were in the war together but idk if it says somewhere specifically.

Why do web novel writers add so much pointless liberal garbage

>>12272200
such as?

>>12270943
No, I haven't written anything before, other than two previous drafts. But given the written quality of YA, I think I can manage.

>>12271404
I can describe it, but I don't know how to pitch it.

>>12272410
>I can describe it
Go ahead anon

>>12272076
Why not feature Le Morte D’Arthur in some way? On a chart claiming to be a guide to the subject it’s kinda essential.

>>12272410
>reads a bunch of good novels
>writes RP1
I can't wait to see how garbage RP2 is

>>12272632
Didn't RP1 had a sequel? Something about Yoda kush?

>>12272410
>I can describe it,
Hopefully you can do better than "deconstruction YA"

>>12272076
Add Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff

>>12272076
>Malory and Spenser on the list but no Chretien de Troyes
Can't have an essential Arthurian reading list without him desu

>>12270203
The Raveling deserves to be on there.

Why does everything eventually has to end ;__;

>>12269735
Is Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr as good as Little, Big?

So I'm working on a fantasy trilogy. I expect it to be around 1,200 pages when finished. Anyway, so far I have planned about 6 rape scenes. These are of course not the total number of rapes that occur, just the instances which get described thoroughly. Is this too many for a work of that length?

>>12272841
>rule 63 Elric
I've never had a waifu before, but now?

>>12272953
Are you writing a Coldplay album? Because that sounds tedious and same-y.

>>12272971
No, they'll be quite varied. Only one of them involves amputation, for instance.

>>12272900
>Crowley
>a crow on the cover
Pottery

>>12272900
I'll read it and find out

>>12272410
>And, of course, Kevin Smith.

>>12270758

You just described The Great Book of Amber.

Are there any novels written from the POV of a low ranking medieval soldier who knows that his chance of dying soon in a pointless battle is very high?

>>12273075
antiquity rather than medieval but the ten thousand by paul kearney

>>12273075

There's quite a bit of this in The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.

>>12269735
I've read the first mistborn book and I enjoyed it. Should I feel bad about myself sffg?

>>12273151
Yes

>>12272975
>this song is about how you're sad because your friend died and this one is about how you're sad because your friend is sad and this one is about how you're sad because your friendship with your friend is kind of rocky right now

Any good ongoing fantasy series with 2-3 books out so far and 2-3 more expected?

Especially if there are badass women who are still more or less decent people.

>>12273192
So what you're saying is maybe only have about 3 or 4 rape scenes rather than 6.

>>12272841
I'm still waiting for the guy to test me if I've really read these books.

>>12273202
Throne of Glass or pic related.

>>12273207
I'm saying only include scenes of any kind if they're vital to the story, and don't write stories that are just about rape unless you're just writing weird beat-off fantasy for yourself to post on literotica or something.

Who would you say is better at developing the whole "dying earth" concept; Jack Vance or Gene Wolfe?

>>12273202
the bel dame apocrypha series by kameron hurley may be what you're after

>>12273211
>I'm saying only include scenes of any kind if they're vital to the story,
I feel like there is a political prejudice that this type of scene *cannot* be vital to a story except until exceptional circumstances, which would even then be arguable.
>and don't write stories that are just about rape unless you're just writing weird beat-off fantasy for yourself to post on literotica or something.
How would a handful of rape scenes in 1,200 pages mean the work is "just about rape"?

What's the noisiest, grimiest, most aggressive fantasy series you know? Something with ferocity. Like, punk rock fantasy, or better, noise rock fantasy. If Melt-Banana wrote a fantasy novel, or like, Chronicles of Amber: Fury Road. Something like the Elric saga but shorter and more overtly brutal in its brutal parts.

I want to feel like the book or series is screaming in my ears and love it.

>>12273249
Sorry, anon, but you have to have at least 1,000 pages of boring worldbuilding in order to write a fantasy novel.

>>12273214
hard to say. i feel like wolfe's book of the new sun is way better and improves on the concept but it wouldnt even exist without vance's dying earth.
are there any other authors or series that would fit under the "dying earth" sub genre?

>>12273255
Wait, what's the Swords of Lankhmar then?

>>12273220
>I feel like there is a political prejudice that this type of scene *cannot* be vital to a story except until exceptional circumstances, which would even then be arguable.
I've always felt that when people are unreasonably upset by something, the best course of action is to rub their faces in it.

>>12273214
I wouldn’t say that any one of them does it better. They use the setting for vastly different kind of stories. Wolfe develop the concept in more interesting ways but his take is not necessarily better.

>tfw I reach the halfway point in TLtL and the GRI-meter suddenly go through the roof
The start was a little shaky but what a wild ride it turned into.

What is the Kate Bush Running Up That Hill of fantasy?

And please don't say The Iron Dragon's Daughter.

What is the /sffg/ equivalent of Full Metal Daemon Muramasa?

>>12273151
Very bad.

>>12273327
Fuck off weeb.

>>12273349
>Fuck off weeb.
I'm asking for a non-weeb work to read, though.

>>12272121
What is a drow? Some part of a boat?

>>12272786
Never got around to reading that. Something always made me not touch it....

Trying to come up with a justifiable reason for a story set in a world with somewhat advanced technology to involve characters fighting with melee weapons and not guns.

>>12273308
>trying to appeal to my gri senses
It won't work shill. I'm not touching too like the meme

>>12273487
Current line of thought is that guns exist but there is something about current technology which makes them useless in most instances. But this creates the problem of why people haven't just made better guns. Fuck guns, man, that shit just complicates everything.

>>12273515
I’m not the one you’re thinking about, I just got convinced by their shilling. I might shill the series in the future if I like how the book end.

>>12273487
Nanotech saturation in the atmosphere prevents objects moving fast as / faster than the sound barrier. You need to put in large amounts of x energy to get something to travel at high speeds, and it will still be moving at a very small fraction of the expected momentum with that much energy behind it. This is also why you can't just brute force your way off the planet with a rocket. It's just too expensive.

Make guns and projectile weapons VERY EXPENSIVE to use. Think of the nanoparticles as non Newtonian fluids in the atmosphere, above a certain threshold you meet heavy resistance.

>>12273560
Those are good ideas, thanks. I'd considered the speed of bullets angle before, but I'd only thought of some sort of force field that would stop things moving at high speeds. But the obvious question is why it wouldn't stop things moving at lower speeds as well, among other problems.

>>12273129

>>12273477
Wouldn't bother if i were you desu, the first book is good but the second book went to shit in the most predictable fashion.
New authors really need to learn that more povs doesn't mean they are telling a better story. The first book too was stretching it a bit but he expanded to even more povs in the second book and the story slowed down to a crawl and killed all the momentum.

>>12273642
It’s always a pleasure to read this, one of the best reviews I’ve ever read.

>>12272076
>Once and Future King
>Warlord
>Le Morte D'Arthur
Based
>Mist of Avalon
Based and Milfpilled
>The Crystal Cave
Cringe

>>12272121
Starlight and Shadows

>>12273249
K A N E by Karl Wagner,semi naked readheaded bearded axe-wielding immortal.

>>12273214
Clark Ashton Smith

>>12273267
Literally Hundreds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Earth_genre

Why are people allowed to publish a web novel before they have written 1000 chapters

A normie friend of me recommended 'The Way Of Kings', is it any good /lit/?

>>12274109
there's worse

Is the site down?

Yup

Why does anyone bother writing when they know they'll never be able to compete with Guy Gavriel Kay?

>>12269735
Never read sci fi before. What's a good intro?

>>12273589
No problem anon. Glad i could help.

>>12274182
The image server is down. Can post text, but no macros.

>>12274511
why does anyone bother to do anything when they know someone will always be better than them?

>>12274530
Depends on what you like?
Do you like:
>exploration
>research
>technology
>futuristic technology
>advanced civilizations
>ayyys lmao
>ayyy lmao civilizations
>political intrigue
>political intrigue in SPACE!
>space travel
>colonizing worlds
>philosophical ramblings of man and technology
>man vs technology
>man vs AI
>how man will evolve with the help of technology
>transferring consciousnesses with technology
>using advance weapons to subjugate a weaker people
>dealing with invasions
>as much GRI as possible

We can recommend something depending on what you like.

>>12274511
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3833655&pagenumber=18#post482396949

>>12274530
Stars my Destination and Childhood's End

>>12272841
How's that autism working out for you?

>>12272953
>MGR Revengeance: Cyborgs are immune to small arms fire but vulnerable to vibro-weapons wielded by other cyborgs
>KSBD: Sorcerors can transform and deflect bullets, but swords are connected directly to the body and soul of the wielder, so they cant be easily magicked away

>>12272076
Which translation of Le Morte d'Arthur?

>>12270918
Wuxia inspired anime much more than people give it credit for
I don't think Dragon Ball style chi blasts would exist without it
There are some classic novels from the 50's and 60's that are on par with Tolkien, and some newer ones still being written that are more like Japanese light novels with less estrogen

I wrote the Chronicles of Black Company, and I thought it was alright. Though I liked it more when it was mercenaries doing mercenary things like the first book, whereas the second book spent a lot of time on a single character's descent into criminality while the third book had the Black Company assume more of a stereotypical Resistance role and spending a lot of time on fleshing out another single character's backstory, while I liked that angle of moral ambiguity and the more down-to-earth battles which didn't involve fighting ancient evils. I don't think it was particularly bad or anything, but the unique qualities of the first book started to degrade with the sequels.

I read that the quality of the series steeply declines with the fourth book, should I press on?

>>12274883
>Dragon Ball
dragon ball is wuxia anon.
akira toriyama said so himself.

>>12274939
>i wrote

>>12274973
I meant "I read"
I don't know how I fucked that one up

>>12274969
I just wish more people would acknowledge it since no one outside China and Taiwan seems to care

WTF AM I READING???

>>12275019
>actually giving a fuck
I knew there were Chinese users in here. I bet you are the one that shills Three Body Problem, seeing as you Chinese always support your own.

>>12275022
fun romp that doesnt make any sense and needs a sequel set in space desperately.

>>12274109
It’s average. Third book in the series is supposedly shit, I’ve not bothered to read it.

>>12275039
I think I'm going to drop it.

>>12275034
I can barely read English let alone Chinese

>>12275081
but its cute guns doing cute things. how could you?

>>12269833
Add https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CZX4CQG/ and https://www.amazon.com/Baynes-Climb-Sword-Ursian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0049H94XE

>>12273075
The Black Company is basically this entire premise. The first trilogy is. The stuff after it... eh.

>>12269833
>Turns Out: The "Demon Weed" actually IS a gateway!
>A gateway to hell! Literally. Not a metaphor. Now, technically, the place was called "The Abyss" but it was, unequivocally, a street preacher's vision of hell.
>And Tom Perkinje, transfer student to Harding High was now trapped in the Abyss after inhaling a grand total of two times. Oh, yeah, he was also a twelve-foot tall demon with hooves, bat-wings, horns, tail, full deal!
>Now, as if that wasn't bad enough, he was also enslaved, against his will, to a group of myopic wizards that had not only mistaken him for a demon on the Astral Plane; but who had bound him to his current demonic form and left him stranded in the Abyss to await their bidding.
>He really wished he had not let his new friend Reggie talk him into trying the stupid drug.
This is what happens when you fuck with Reggie

>mithradades fucks his sister-wife so long she has to beg for quarter

>>12273917
>Milfpilled
You what now?

>>12275383
>This is what happens when you fuck with Reggie
demons of astlan is actually fantastic the whole premise is fresh and interesting and the story telling is pretty good too.

>plow through the rest of TLtL
>the last words in the book are:
>Here ends... ...the first half of Mycroft Canner’s history
Reeeeeeeeeee, why did no one tell me it was a two parter? Now I have to wait...

Anyone read V.E. Schwabs "A Darker Shade of Magic" series?

>>12275421
okay FINE mom I downloaded it

Looking for something melancholic/somber/sad in tone. Both sf or fantasy is fine. Whatchu got?

>>12275642
slight spoilers but it really explained early on if you want to know.
the crux of the matter is the "demone weed" isnt actually weed. iits just a tool used on earth specifically. basically it puts you in a state of mind that allows you to be summoned to other planes as a demon. these summoners dont actually know that the people they are summoning as demons are humans or other creatures. it gets really interesting and incredibly funny through situations that are completely out of whack.

>>12275664
sidequest in realms ungoogled. its a lovestory at heart that is both sweet and bitter but not in a bad way.

>>12274703
This guy seems pretty smart. What are his favorite books?

>>12275451
Someone here said it was 6/10 when I asked so I never read past the third chapter

>>12275664
farseer books

I finally took the gene wolfe pill and read the fifth head of cerberus and it was amazing. Should I just order the book of new sun now?
Do his short stories in the island of doctor death have similar connections to each other like fifth head?

>>12275689
He doesn't like genre-fiction.
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3833655

>>12275852
It's really refreshing to see someone completely and utterly destroy Wolfe and BOTNS.

Also I never really looked at somethingawful before. I'm surprised how big and active the site's book section is, might be a good place to find new titles to read.

>>12269805
Read the first two stories. So far, not SUPER compelled. Does it get more interesting?

Not sure why this is described as science fiction, seems more like straight fantasy to me.

>>12274530
Schismatrix

>>12275898
We should ask him to read Throne of Glass.

Why does The traitor baru cormorant have lgbt tags on goodreads? Is it SJW fiction like The Broken Earth?

>>12275852
>>12275898
>but Severian has no distinguishable voice or personality
I feel like I replied to this exact sentence a couple of days ago. It's utterly wrong. I find it really strange that someone that manage to write such hard hitting critique (I have a hard time coming up with a better defense of Wolfes prose than >I liek it) would write something so stupid in the same post. The only reasonable explanation would be if the poster only read the first book, but I don't think that's the case, and even then Severian have a quite distinguishable personality, it's only that everything is not yet "clear".

>open fantasy novel
>it has a map

>>12275689
Gormenghast

>>12273589

>>12275091
>how could you?
I'm not a weebo?

>>12275678
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS MEME
THIS FUCKER HAD ME READ THE WORST BOOK FOR THE YEAR JESUS FUCK I WANT TO END HIM

what should I read when im depressed enough to find anything boring?

>>12276397
Hentai

>>12276397
>what should I read when im depressed enough to find anything boring?
Either a comedy series like Discworld or Clovenhoof.

Alternatively some fun mindless trash on KU.

out of curiosity, are there any books - adult or YA - that get really elaborate and interesting with the food descriptions?

that can sometimes cheer me up

>>12276428
I don't enjoy Pratchett's writing style, even if I can deeply appreciate his humor and skill when someone else is describing it to me second-hand

also, what are the other two?

>>12276397
Anita Blake The Vampire Hunter.
Treat the first book as a standalone.

It's a brilliant urban fantasy action flick. A short satisfying read.

So classic SFF read like classic novels and plays, but the stories weren't that complex. Modern SFF reads like a movie, but is much more complex.

Any Mother of Learning fans here?
I'm sad that it's almost over now, was a hella fun ride.
I hope the writer continues with a new story in the same world after it ends.

>>12273487
Guns are a war crime, they are used in expensive assassinations but your country can get retaliatory nukes if it's found a citizen used them.

Mass hypnosis keeps citizens from even considering the use of guns, even if they own them, they can be desperate for their lives with a loaded gun in their hands and still use it as a bludgeon.

Malignant ghosts roam the land, in the normal course of life and death they aren't even noticeable but explosions of any kind send them into murderous rages.

The characters all love honor more than life, and using firearms is the most scummy thing any of them can think of.

>>12276480
Anita Blake was one of the best urban fantasy series I've read, dark gritty well plotted crime elements with great UF world building and characters, but I don't think I've ever seen an author tank a series so hard.

>>12276061
And I replied to your reply but you ignored it

>>12276183
>fantasy novel is describing a battle
>no idea if the barbarians are on the northeast or southeast side of the city
>oh wait for the first time in the book it's mentioned that it's the ocean to the north
>gosh I wish there was a map

>>12276183
Huh? A good map is simply part of a sprawling fantasy epic. I can't even imagine LotR or WoT without their maps they are so integral to the story.

Oh my fucking god so much fucking this. I never understood (or I did) why ultra liberal genre authors were obsessed with the medieval world, or why they made their heroes kings and queens and knights. There's literally nothing more reactionary than monarchy. Egalitarianism, equality, and freedoms of all sorts are inherently antithetical to a monarchical order.

>>12273151
About halfway through the first book right now, and I love it.

It's like a cinematic experience

>>12276636
>>12273151
How? I'm not a snob I enjoy a lot of popular series but I dropped this one like a hot potato. It was genuinely like reading a script for a really bad hollywood movie.

who is the stephen king of sf

>>12276681
John Scalzi

>>12276528

Has the web serial finally become as respectable as the printed serial once was?

>>12270203
Is this a meme or are these really worth my time?

>>12276732
you wont know until you read it. different things appeal to different readers. youd loose only a bit of time if you tried.

>>12276727
Nah, not even close, they're still a pretty niche realm desu and the fact that 95%+ of webnovels are completely awful and written by amateurs doesn't help.

>>12276681
Neil Gaiman obviously. Right down to being the go-to guy to write a blurb on books, or comics, or just about anywhere a blurb will fit.

>>12276813
Neil Gaiman writes fantasy....

>>12276568
Being so much of a brainlet that you need a map to picture things

>>12276627
Being in a position of born power is surface-level fantasy escapism, and it more matches what these children of Harvard grads desire from their own lives.
https://spottedtoad.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/getting-your-owl/

>>12276823
>...
get out

>>12276899
No...

I wonder, if by some miracle I did manage to write the story that's been in my head for four years and then realized it was shit, would I be able to move on, or would I become all the more consumed by it?

>>12277353
Flavors anon just fucking write your food fetish rat king book.

>>12276627
>The virgin King/Prince main character
Vs
>The Chad Barbarian main character

https://www.strawpoll.me/17103631

>>12277412

sorry anon. I realize my schtick is more than a little annoying.

>>12277353
If you're a new writer the chances are it won't be great. It might be ok though. So you can either write it or you can practice writing other things to get better. either way, writing isn't easy.

>>12276528
i head about it but never got to read it
what is it about?

>>12277834
It's a time-loop story in a well thought out fantasy setting. The protagonist isn't the original looper. I've been following it for a long time, and it's nearing the end.

>>12277866
does it read like haruhi or some shit or is it still understandable

>>12277922
It's well written, and not like the endless eight; the main character relatively quickly realizes he's in a time-loop and starts to take advantage of it. I don't want to spoil things, but there is a plot and everything happens for a reason in the story.

>>12277930
sounds nice, im adding it to my library

>>12276554
>but you ignored it
Sorry mate, I probably did not see it. And I won't have time to reply to it if you repost it now either, christmas and all being here.

>>12276681
Stephen King.

>>12275664
gormenghast, book of the new sun

>>12278127
>christmas and all being here.
It's 3:45am 24th December 2018

>>12278307
America is not the whole world. Not everyone celebrate on the 25th.

>pro:
>Harvard PhD in History
>kinda qt for a nerd
>contra:
>female
Should I read Ada Palmer's "Too Like the Lightning" (2016)?

>>12270890
>>12272410
the thing is that deconstruction in itself has no value, because it's just reference, either directly like RP1, or indirectly with genre tropes.
A work has to stand on it's own, the genre deconstruction is just a bonus.
Also, simply inverting a trope isn't a deconstruction.
Discuss

>>12278371
>implying I'm Americlap

>>12278391
I just finished it yesterday and really liked it, can't wait to read Seven Surrenders. If you dislike pretentious books it's probably not for you, I generally don't mind but some of the earlier chapters were a little to much even for me. Also Ada is quite obviously obsessed with the Marquis de Sade, make of that what you want.

>>12278446
>Ada is quite obviously obsessed with the Marquis de Sade
Whoa, no need to oversell it.

>>12277353
you will move on pretty easily unless you're mega autistic

>>12276183
>map has no relation to the book or story what so ever

>>12278391
I sampled it and hated the prose but ppl say it's a good story so I might try again

Just finished this, are the other books worth reading? I read the synopsis of the second novel and it seems like a mix of Rambo and Raiders of the Lost Ark instead of detective noir

>>12276594
Wheel of times map is literally just a square

>Being autistic enough to seriously care about maps in books

>open masters of rome
>see map of europe
>see map of italy
>see map of spain
>see map of gaul
>see map of rome
>see map of pontus
>see portraits of all major characters
>see 50 pages of roman political offices
>get crash course on latin

>>12276397
>to find anything boring
Shit I have this. Am I depressed? Any quick remedy for it?

>>12278938
>Am I depressed? Any quick remedy for it?
Yes, just stop being depressed lol.

>>12278975
Based Hitchens

lads whats wrong with me i've been reading like 4+ books at the same time on and off for a year now

how do i just finish one help

>>12279138
Sit down and read daily. It doesn't really matter whether you focus on one book or not, not being able to finish 4 books in a year just means you never read.

>>12279142
yeah but i dunno its more than that i get frustrated with the books like my sister gave me sanderson to read but he's a fucking hack but i feel obligated to read it etc etc....

>>12279150
How much of a little beta fuckboy are you? Don't read books you don't want to read, as simple as that. Just tell her it wasn't to your taste like a normal human being. If it's been a whole year it's not like anyone expects you to report back.

>>12279154
its deeper than that i've read maybe 100 pages in the characters have gone nowhere theirs no pay off yet so i feel compelled to keep reading but i know it will just be another chapter of grim dark suffering and then probably another 5 on top of that before the character moves on to a higher station

>>12274511
I read one of his books (Tigiana) and thought it was pure garbage, didn't eve get 50 pages in

dont reply to bait posts

>>12279170
There's nothing deep about that anon. If you're dreading and putting off reading something so much you haven't finished in over a year, you don't actually want to read it. Also Sanderson is just slow with lots of filler worldbuilding, lots of people dislike that. Read shorter / standalone books if you want faster pacing.

>>12279200
thanks anon

>>12279170
You've got a serious case of the spooks my m8

>>12279179
What's it like being on the spectrum?

>>12279293
i feel like i stepped in shit the first time i picked up anything written by sanderson

I spent most of the year reading Cyberpunk/post cyberpunk etc. Now I'm kinda in the mood for space opera stuff, any suggestions?

>>12279170
they eventually get somewhere. unfortunately they will regress back into their grimderp suffering nonsense in the other books again. sanderfag is most definitely a hack

>>12279305
Ggk is a hack who writes historical fiction with a smidgen of the fantastical, and calls it fantasy. I got memed into reading 2 of his books. Fuck you shill.

>trying to establish a fantasy setting
>characters?
Easy
>plot?
Yep
>lore/history?
Plenty
>architecture/aesthetic/what the world looks like?
????
How do I get this last part to work lads? It's the one thing that gets in the way of me envisioning my works.

>>12273642
Does First Law not get better? I thought the first one was alright except for the shitty prose and occasionally cringey dialogue.

>>12269805
Is there a discord for this?

>>12279466
>Ggk is a hack
False
> who writes historical fiction with a smidgen of the fantastical, and calls it fantasy
Yes? Because it is?

>>12279522
You need to dream something up out of your imagination.

>>12279522
Observe the biology to make natural deductions about the lifestyle and customs of a race.

>>12273249
I've been mulling around something like that. A grungy post-apocalyptic shitworld full of blood and gore. It's peak Boomer core, and I'm hesitant to get started on it.

>>12273249
Conan

>>12279556
I do that, but then whatever I come up with feels illogical, if that makes any sense. Like, it feels as if it will distract from the story itself by virtue of being too much an entity in its own right.

>>12279606
Then put it in medieval Western Europe, and do slightly more research than the average bear so you don't have >>12273642 problems, it'll be practically invisible.

Unless you can come up with an aesthetic that resonates with the other bits, that's possible.

Happy Yuletide dickheads!

Is Shallan Sanderson's attempt at finally writing a deep complex character?
I think I would actually rate Stormlight Archive as above average if not for that stupid bitch, with her in it, it's barely average.
I don't expect characters with depth when I read Sanderson because I know that's not his shtick, I just want anime magic systems and large fantasy worlds which is what he's good at. In his attempt to write a character driven plot he ended up creating an abomination, Shallan is probably the worst character I've ever read.

What is the best place to download audiobooks ?

only 25 pages into His Majesty's Dragon and im already cringing. does it get better?

>>12279812

She is horrible that's for sure.

>>12279879
audiobookbay.pl

anything new coming out that's on ted chiang's level? lifecycle of software object was the best thing i've read in sci-fi if i don't count gene wolfe.

or anything that's similar to texhnolyze? something that looks like ligotti wrote it but deals with tech and not obscure pseudo occult stuff?

Please recommend books that appeal to my mommy fetish.

>>12279914
>modern female author
You've only you to blame.

>>12280196
>implying men are anything but marginally better at this point

SFF is dead

>>12279551
>animefag

>>12280008
cheers

>the virgin dune
>The Chad Hyperion

>>12279812
You have no idea how happy I was when he decided shallan and kaladin shouldnt exist.

>>12280133
The Sorcerer's Son
Skinwalkers by Wendy Wagner
Dragonsbane (only the first one,the sequels are utter grimderp shit)
Vorkosigan Saga
Dancers at the End of Time (the main character has a incestous relationship with his single mother)
Caught in Crystal by Patricia Wrede (widowed warrior mommy)
The Empire Trilogy
Boneshaker (kinda shit but the mom is cute)
The Reindeer People
Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt
Dune (at least the first one)
The Gap

Any good sff review sites?
I want to read something but I’m sick of (((critics))) telling me to read Jemisin.

>>12280133
The Broken Sword
The Bridge of D'Arnath
Hythrun Chronicles: Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon (most of her books are about mothers,either evil queen moms or good warrior moms)

>>12280249
I haven't watched anime in 2 months

>>12280623
when your mom is too hot it ruins your perspective on women

>>12280623
>Ywn be Huscarl
>>12280627
Can confirm

>>12280545
Check this >>12270203
And these. Wall of Text inoming:
All You Zombies
The (sort of) Dark Mage
Sunset(Nightlord #1) (stop at this book)
Fimbulwinter
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1)
Ancient Ruins (Ancient Dreams #1) (read this only)
The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
Treason by Orson Scott Card
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
Legend by David Gemmell
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
Girl Parts by John M. Cusick
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Good Intentions by Elliott Kay (read this one only)
Something More Than Night by Ian Tregillis
The Trysmoon Saga by Brian K. Fuller
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Metro 2033
Out of the Dark by David Weber
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer
Johannes Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard
Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
Rough Magick by Kenny Soward (rare book based on gnomes)

These are 3.5-4.5 stars and one 5 star. Mileage may vary. Enjoy.

Which of the lesser known works from Gene Wolfe are worth reading?
I really enjoyed BotNS but I don't want to commit to another tetralogy.

>>12278936
Check out SPQR. It's a much easier read about a senator essentially solving murder cases in Ancient Rome. Pretty good with authenticity, though.

>>12269735
Anyone read Binti? I ask because the entire descriptions like ALERT in text form.

>Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

>>12270758
The Starfish trilogy by Peter Watts

>>12280870
>move to another place
>expect everyone to respect your customs

>>12281169
extremely ebin post anon
you sure showed that libtard cuck

>>12281169
>When in Rome, bitch and moan about how weird and foreign the Romans are

>>12280870
It's mediocre as hell. Thr nigger shit was somewhat refreshing but apart from that it's generic and the main character was a Mary Sue.

>>12280133
The villain in City of Miracles has a huge mommy complex for his henchwoman.

>>12280759
Soldier of the Mist + Soldier of Arete

Eww why is this place dead on Christmas eve? Don't tell me you fags are actually family fags.

>tfw I did not get a single SFF related gift
Reeeeeeeee

>>12281761
Either that or drowning their sorrows

>reading His Majesty's Dragon
>the fucking dragon speaks perfect english from the moment it hatches
>nope the fuck out of there and try a different book
>The Invisible Library
>Looking fine until the MC casts a spell
>which she does by giving inanimate objects orders in kindergarten-level english

fuck, so much for reading something lighthearted and whimsical. I hope Quicksilver doesn't turn to shit after the first few chapters

>>12281848
Have this wallpaper anon

>>12281861
IIRC the dragon speaks English because it absorbs it from MC's brain telepathically, which is why he has to be the one using it since everyone else on board speaks French or something.

>what SFF works are you guys looking forward to in 2019?
>are you even going to see 2019?

>>12278446
>tfw my experience was soured by the hamfisted gender bullshit
It was good otherwise

Anyway, sci-fi/space horror December review 3/5: Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo

Wew this was not good. Or, to be more precise, the concepts were sound but the execution and realization were very poor. Prose was simple, which at least meant it read quickly and easily, but that is about all I can say for it. The author sets up several interesting (if not necessarily complimentary) premises and themes which go nowhere and receive no payoff. The philosophical, moral and religious conundrums which crop up are only superficially explored and imo a missed opportunity for some rich exploration. Bizarrely for a 1st person narration the characterization is pretty poor as well, particularly the MC. Other than a couple of powerful scenes and set pieces the basic plot falls flat about 70% the way through when it becomes clear that nothing the author has set up will be properly capitalized on. The ending was trite and despite the drama lacked any sort of impact due to these issues. All in all, yet another sf novel which is overrated and fails to live up to the potential of its premise.

Next up: Blindsight by Peter Watts

Also Merry Christmas everyone

>>12280133
Trysmoon saga

>>12282666
>you will never meet a girl, fuck her, then fuck and stay with the mother
Why can't I get some milf pussy?

>>12280835
>Mary beard
>authenticity
I legitimately hope you get aids

>>12275400
Wait til he gets his daughter-wife, Anon.
>>12278936
Based McCullough giving us a textbook on late Republican culture, politics, society, economics, and military developments; all while being more entertaining than anything else I've ever read except maybe Colonel Kassad's story in Hylerion.
>>12280133
Masters of Rome, specifically the beginning of Caesar's Women. Thicc little dominatrix Servilia bullying her pussy son Brutus while getting pounded by chad blond god Caesar on the side.
>>12280835
>senator solving murder cases
C'mon man. Saylor's novels, and Pompeii by Harris, are better for shorter accurate Rome fiction.

>>12282733
He truly was a chad.

>>12282748
Masters of Rome really has everything right? how can one series be so based

What's some fantasy that's straight up fun and unpretentious besides diskworld?

>>12283146

the John Carter of Mars books

>>12282282
>blindsight is next
Don’t do it, you can still save yourself from that terrible book

>>12283149
reading classics – even genre fiction classics – is still kind of pretentious

>>12283146
Face in the Frost.

Just finished Tau Zero, good read.

>>12281931
>the new Erin Morgenstern novel
>it's not that far away

>>12283177
>patrician

>>12283159
I'm determined to see my shitty list through to the end anon

Finally finished up the Black Company series. I’m a little surprised that Cook wants to do one more in the series- not counting side stories. I mean where exactly does he go at this point?
All the old company is basically dead, Kina is dead, Lady is off doing Lady things, and Croaker is a happy demi god. What’s there left to cover at this point?

Also I’m about halfway through Port of Shadows. It’s not bad, but I wish there was more focus in the Company fighting the Rebel instead of Croaker and Mischievous Rain.

Recent author discovery; Robert Anton Wilson

definitely has Pynchon/PKD vibes if that strikes your fancy

>>12283392
Illuminatus! is definitely based.

>>12283436
I've got that and the Schrödinger's Cat trilogy in the mail, but with holidays it might be a bit :^ (

>>12279537
Yeah
Right here
This is the discord
:emoji:

>>12283171
Just think of them as old anon.
Being too good for old books is pretentious too.

>>12283392
I've been meaning to reread Schrodinger's Cat. It was great.

>>12283373
Problem with port of Shadows is it's an interquel that has to be forgotten for continuity's sake so you KNOW what you're reading is pointless. I feel like "Long Ago" parts were necessary padding, though. The Domination and the Dominator didn't really need explanations.

>>12280973
>The Starfish trilogy
is it really that good? I've seen it recommended multiple times.

>>12282282
I honestly feel that the novel handled gender quite well. Without most of society being neutered in regards to gender a character like Dominic Seneschal or the extreme fetishizeation of gender at Madame's brothel would have seemed absurd.

>>12283819
i dont read that, but there are only 2 genders and outside that then it's not "handled quite well"

>>12282953
It has everything except fantasy

New threas when???
Hurry before that amazon chart guy makes the thread.

>>12283975
>lurk a fiction general
>can't comprehend fiction
kek

>>12284357
i can't comprehend shitty fiction

make a new thread already

>>12284470
>>12284218
It's Christmas, I'm off duty.

>>12284550
>>12284550
>>12284550

>>12283819
It's not the concept of a gender neutral society being used as a setting that's galling, it's the condescending presentation of it in-text. Mycroft's descriptions of different character's genders varies wildly and is largely inconsistent. If nothing else it bogs down the flow of reading. I understand what Palmer is trying to do, but to have Mycroft mock his audience halfway through the book by literally accusing the reader of assuming a characters gender (incorrectly probably, since by then the reader should be wise to the mental gender gynmastics the book demends) just smacks of smug self-congratulation. Like when a creator intentially makes a piece of media convoluted and impossible to follow and then mocks them for not understanding. I can't help thinking that the issue should have had a more subtle approach, with everyone referred to as 'They' but Mycroft more and more dropping subtle hints as events converge around Madame's brothel. It would have made the contrast of what goes on there genderwise more stark as well.