/lit/ - Literature

now, delete again and use this

XX Edition

Monthly Reading for January: A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick

Fantasy:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/0935e4cd59/105363.jpg
General:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21328.jpg
Flowchart:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21327.jpg

Science Fiction:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/def184ad8f/124507.jpg
https://imgoat.com/uploads/b44928ae11/114401.jpg
General:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21332.jpg
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21330.jpg

NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21333.jpg

SF&F author listing with ratings and summaries:
http://greatsfandf.com/authors-full-list.php

Previously:
>>12438614
>>12429108
>>12419280
>>12400368
>>12386564
>>12373069
>>12362990
>>12349168

>>12447948
name some books that focus on world building with plot and characters that are 3 stars or more

You have ten seconds to name the greatest SF/F book you've ever read.

>>12447968
Ada

>>12446080
>Why do you lie?
I see no lie. You trying to trick anons into reading this?

>>12447968
Lord of Light

>>12447968
i haven't read a lot, but spiral wars so far

>>12447991
>The Broken Earth
>swordfighting
You had one job

is there anything similar to johannes cabal?

I liked the first book, but the sequels weren't as funny. Also I don't know why but somehow I can't help but mentally compare it to ASoUE

>>12444265
>apocalypse happening survival novel with an op college student as the main character
I told you John Conroe's series. Later he had a male witch that goes to college. It's like greasy food. You know it's bad for you, but it tastes delicious.

>>12448060
the Demon Accords Series? i checked it but i don't get the apocalypse feeling from that series

>>12447968
Lord of the Rings

>>12447968
Stars my Destination

>>12447968
forgotten beasts of eld

>>12448051
Hell in this one was similar to the one in Cabal
>Good Omens
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12067.Good_Omens

You're probably way too old for this one but Cabal was like a cross between the two main characters
>The Bartimaeus Sequence
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/334123.The_Amulet_of_Samarkand

Similar-ish premise nowhere near as funny:
>The Master and Margarita
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Margarita

>>12448038
Do you not know what gay swordfighting is?

>>12448113
>You're probably way too old for this one but Cabal was like a cross between the two main characters

you'd think so but I still read YA at 25.

Granted, part of that is that is because I mostly write YA, but part of that is because I have a moderate-to-severe shame deficiency

>>12448132
Writing is good.

>>12448218
Forgot the download info.

Download: http://b-ok.cc/book/878958/0c476b
The download is slightly faulty, some r:s are replaced with n:s resulting in in misspellings like Jenny instead of Jerry.

>>12448221
Do you want a retail copy?

>>12448221
jenny is a better name than jerry

any pomf site that holds the file for 30 days? we can upload the epub there for monthly reading

wait what the fuck, how have I not read A Scanner Darkly yet

>>12446157
>The Complete Chronicles of Conan
No, you get the Del Rey versions recommended in the selected fantasy chart in the OP. The stories are original, without the changes the Weird Tales editors did, and published in the actual correct order. Also the extra material is amazing.

>>12447968
Unironically The Book of the New Sun.

>>12448226
There probably is a better (i.e retail rip) download if you search a little deeper.

>>12448227
Agreed. But it is a little confusing.

>>12448264
retail rip https://transfer.sh/a7zhK/Dick,%20Philip%20K.%20-%20A%20Scanner%20Darkly%20%28ISBN%209780307497703%29.epub

Super Sales 3 epub fucking where?

are there anything that goes like this : a weak race/species got pushed into a corner, for the first time they fought back and discover that they're really fucking strong

>be me, reading Seven Surrenders
>suddenly Thisbe is an actual, literal witch and there's fucking imps and shit running around
>mfw

>>12448564
Report back when you've read another chapter.

>>12448564
That twist caught me by surprise too. I heard that Perhaps the Stars got delayed until 2020.

>>12448586
>as soon as anyone does anything three other characters come out of the woodwork shouting "Ha, just according to keikaku!"

>>12448587
>I heard that Perhaps the Stars got delayed until 2020
Yeah, unfortunately. From what I've gathered The Will to Battle is not as closely connected as the first two books so perhaps I should postpone reading it until closer to the release of Perhaps the Stars?

which one is better for my eye, bright font dark background or dark font bright background? and why?

>>12448662
Ink and paper, staring at a screen all night messes up your circadian rhythm

>>12447968
Unironically The Wizard

>>12448662
On my phone:
>torrent client for more books
>filza to remotely torrent from sites
>epub/mobi/pdf/azw3 reader set to black background with light grey text
>f.lux
A recipe to staying up until 2:30 AM reading.

>>12448661
I'd still read it. You can always find something else to read in the meantime. Delayed gratification sucks.

>>12448662
I don't know about anyone else, but for me if I try to read a light font on a dark background it really kills my eyes. I can't do it. If I try to read a webpage like that I have to go change the page style or something. It really hurts my eyes and I start seeing a ghost image of the text when I look away.

>>12448687
You don't need white as a font colour on a black background, you can change it to something darker.

>>12448668
i know, but im a college student and thus have no money to buy physical books

>>12448679
i also use flux at night, but the yellowish red screen feels shitty to look at

>>12448687
this happens to me when the contrast and brightness is high, but the battery last much longer with dark backgrounds

Ink and paper isn't good at all. You'll have to shine light on it to read which puts strain on my eyes (I'm the type who likes to read late, late into the night) and if you've had lights shining in your eyes to illuminate the goddamn text you won't be able to sleep afterwards.

Phones are comfier (or something with a backlight but every time I hear someone saying that their ebook reader x literally needs calibre to convert it into something compatible I have a short laugh at their expense) even if they are smaller and you can buy/pirate/borrow books whenever you feel like and get them instantly. Physical books take up room, take time to carry around and the selection is heavily limited. You aren't going to be buying/borrowing them whenever you feel like it. It's just impractical.

Also it's really annoying when you have multiple layers of books in one bookshelf and you have so many books it's begun to invade your wardrobe.

>>12448662
Dark bg white font. Bonus points on oleds where a black font is fully black.
>>12448710
So get an ereader?

hi anons what do you think about The Sword of Truth? is it worth reading?

>>12447968
A spell for chameleon.

>>12448027
t. shill

You might want to be a bit more subtle about it.

>>12448805
>is it worth reading?
Depends on how much you like bondage sex and Ayn Rand.

>>12448805
The series starts out as a generic albeit fun fantasy series with an obvious author fixation on BDSM. Then after a few book Goodkind suddenly thinks he's the reincarnation of Ayn Rand and turns the entire series into his personal political manifesto and becomes one of the worst things I've ever had the misfortune to read.

Are there any good fantasy novels which don't feature cuckolding?

>>12448851
uhhh jackie chan!

>>12448830
>>12448829
I don't even know who Ayn Rand is. I'm just trying to get my reading habit back by fantasy books. I've watched it's tv series when i was a kid and they were fun.

>>12448851
read wuxia the mc cucks someone instead

>>12448853
The TV series had almost no similarity to the books but I understand why you enjoyed it.

>>12448858
Recommend me some where the translation is not atrocious, and the plot is more than the MC trying to protect his family's honour by punching holes into ancient trees. Also, I don't like Naruto battles that span several chapters.

>>12448851
Fuck knows what you've been reading as I can't think of a single fantasy series that features that.

>>12447968
The Moon is a harsh Mistress

>>12448880
God the 90's were an interesting time.

>tfw the new buffy is gonna be diverse as fuck.

>>12448887
Desolate Era and Coiling Dragon got your protect family honor and stuff
Emperor's Domination for a full blown overlord mc from the start of the novel, and the plot is really fun to read
both translations are top tier since it's on wuxiaworld

>>12448917
anon, that was from 2010.

>>12448924
Holy shit it was too, what a vintage aesthetic.

>>12448918
>Desolate Era and Coiling Dragon got your protect family honor and stuff
When I said "more than protecting the family's honour", what I meant is "no family's honour bullshit at all". Sorry for the misunderstanding.
>Emperor's Domination for a full blown overlord mc from the start of the novel
I don't really like the concept of villain or overpowered MCs, sorry again.

>>12448933
vintage is one word for it.

>>12448944
it's different from the other overpowered mc, no old grandpa or ridiculous luck finding divine artifacts, give it a try

>no family's honour bullshit at all
cant think of one, usually on most novel it doesn't play a big part of the story and filial piety is a strong thing in china so it's hard to find anything without family

>>12448967
>A boy that was imprisoned for millions of years had regained his mortal body. He became a disciple of the declining Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect where its patriarch used to be his disciple. Now, he will bring this sect back to its former glory. This is his journey to reach the apex and take revenge on those who had imprisoned him. This is his story of meeting old friends and making new companions. This is his path of traversing the Nine Worlds and becoming the next ruler of the Heavens.
I don't think I like chinese story-telling, but I'll read at least a few chapters to confirm it and because I have nothing better to do.

>>12448981
Start with something good like warlock of the magus world or spirit vessel.
Emperor of dominion is a specialty taste.

>>12448277
>begging since the 1st of November
It's on private, and the audiobook is out 29th Jan.
I was going to upload it months ago, but remember you told me to "fuck off you faggot". So enjoy your mental anguish.

>>12448531
Yes. Biggest most used trope.
>race/species is strong but mentally enslaved for so many generations that they are docile, and dyel twigs to slap them around
It's usually used in "uprising" novels. Where people rebel, etc.

Hey sffg, I'm looking for fantasy and maybe sci-fi with incredible 1-on-1 duels (Swordfights, Magic and so on). Preferably ones with big emotional weight or build-up.

>>12448244
There are 3 volumes in the Del Rey versions right?

>>12449156
Dragonball Z

>>12449171
No meme answers

https://twitter.com/PatrickRothfuss/status/1087198266813493251?s=20

What the FUCK did Rothfuss mean by this?

>>12449156
Sharps by KJ Parker may or may not interest you

>>12449189
neckbeard trying to be funny/charismatic

>>12449156
WOT

Why is Mark Lawrence such a fucking tool? I want to burn my copies of his Thorns trilogy. Should I do it?

>>12449234
he does good reviews, dont read his novels but read his reviews on goodreads

>>12449260
everything since his first trilogy has been good

funny how authors who improved get looked down on whilst authors who have gotten drastically worse since their debuts still get praise

reading the stork tower right now, who is this jimmy guy? some kind of a local mafia? i forgot what i read

What are some epic fantasy recommendations that aren't too long? Whenever I pick up a 5/6/7hundred pager I get discouraged and I'm having a hard time picking up reading books.

Please no bully.

>>12449409
first book of riftwar cycle

>>12449189
what a clown

>>12449167
Correct.

>>12449007
i tried reading spirit vessel, early chapters translation are really bad, i have to read twice most of the time to understand a sentence

>>12449189
Would you stop obsessing over him? It's embarrassing and this general would be a better place if neither him nor his books where ever mentioned.

What should I read after Throne of Glass.

>>12449418
Thank you, I'll look into it.

>>12448072
This, obviously

>>12448230
just use zippy

>>12449547
Tying a noose for dummies

>>12449562
Don't listen to that faggot, it's trash.

someone give me a supes 3 link, I can't find it anywhere for free

>>12449678
See >>12449126

Fact: We would have colonized Mars by now if it wasn't for anime watchers and harem readers contaminating the gene pool.

>>12449724
lel so some faggot has it and doesn't want to upload it because someone told him off?
What a power trip he must be having, I'm jealous.

I'm honestly surprised how hard it is to find a fantasy series with a halfway decent romance and that has a satisfying conclusion.

>>12447948
Don't ever make a thread again. I know you think you're being clever by consolidating all the links under pastebin but you're actually making it worse.

>Then after a few book Goodkind suddenly thinks he's the reincarnation of Ayn Rand and turns the entire series into his personal political manifesto
Picked up, let's see if he's up to the task.

>>12449844
He;s reaaaaaaaaaaaaally not even by the standards of a hack like Rand.

>>12449409
I'm currently reading The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock. Pretty short.

>>12449831
The Traitor Baru Cormorant has surprisingly good romance, it ties into the main storyline really well and it's not a case of the MC having a romantic interest for the sake of having one.
The conclusion is god tier too but ymmv if you're looking for a traditionally satisfactory ending to a romantic plot.

>>12449767
Some people just have too much pride. I was going to up it at the weekend (two days from when he asked). I just asked him to say he was sorry for calling some book shit. He told me to fuck off. Two weeks later he still begging.... now two months have passed and he still begging. If he just said sorry, he would have finished reading it by now. I'm not going to help him now. He looks like one of those arrogant shits that doesn't realize that his boastful personality is the reason he is failing at life, and why no one genuinely helps him without forceful coercion.

>>12449844
You got to see what you can update your manifesto with, huh?

>>12450058
based

>>12449844
Books are filled with cuckshit too, it ain't worth it trust me.

>>12450063
Do you ever stop crying?

11/22/63 book or TV series?

>>12450078
>reading King
Save yourself the disappointment.
Hasn’t wrote a good book since Salem’s Lot.

>>12450100
Have you even read it? From what I've heard it's considered his best.

>>12450058
>/sffg/ is one person
You know there are like 3 people here who like litrpg right?

>>12450141
yeah but there's only 1 person asking for super sales 3

>>12450140
I swore him off after what he did to gunslinger.

>>12447968
LOTR obviously
I read them when I was 7.

>>12450072
Is it the elucidating sort of "shit" though?

>>12449189
>he/him
FUCK THIS FATTY
he literally wrote a full manuscript for the third book and then he junked it, wtf
>>12449541
yeah he went from being a celebrity author to just a celebrity, now he just shits around on the internet

Should I read Dune lads?
Getting a lot of mixed messages on it. I want something I can get engrossed in, but I'm kinda sad right now and I don't know if I'm willing to put any work in. Is it a slog?

I might just read something dumb and fun again. That or watch people shouting at each other in restaurants on youtube till the sun comes up.

>>12450161
Not true, I asked and he showed me a post that somebody asked before in the thread
Though you could call me a samefag and be done with it, I have no way to prove it. I don't care that much, it's not like they were great books anyway.

>>12450201
>watch people shouting at each other in restaurants
i suggest you go to kitchen nightmares and watch all the videos
it's fun[/spoilers]

>>12449189
dude's career is literally being an eceleb, what a guy

>>12449547
Read the porn sequel Throne of Ass

>>12449418
When does the riftwar cycle goes to shit? i was planning on reading it,i heard that after serpentwar is the best part to leave the series

>>12450078
>reading stephen king
Do americans really do this?

>>12450321
im still halfway on silverthorn, taking a break since i marathoned the first 2 books without any break
i really want to like this series

>>12450321
After serpentwar yes

>>12450201
Dune is fun
Is it a fantastic work of sff?
A great many argue about that, either way, you will never know what it is for you until you read it, and it is too talked about to avoid it simply because of some mixed messages, everyone should at least give it a go.

>mfw I read on wiki that Sanderson will write 10 books in total in the Stormlight Archive series, and Kaladin will probably not be prominent at all in the later volumes
>mfw Brandon says there will be a big time skip between books 5 and 6
>mfw the next book is gonna focus on some boring non essential character and it's how the subsequent books are gonna be
gotta tell you lads my enthusiasm for his future books has been dimmed greatly.

>>12450660
fuck fantasy books

>>12449844
Don't do it to yourself. >>12448853 is not memeing.

I wish I could find the blog post going over some of Goodkinds laughably bad writing and ideas.

>>12450203
>>12450141
Peter paid for Paul and Paul paid for all.

>>12450660
Isn't it confirm that it's because it's basically a different series between 5 and 6?
1-5 is it's own story ending concluding with 5 and then 6-10 is a new story in the same universe similar to how Mistborne did it with different eras?

>>12449831
Curse of Chalion has some good romance bits in the first and third books.

>>12450058
lol I think you've got me confused with somebody else.

>>12450334
stephen king is one of the few authors american normies frequently read
especially old people

>>12450368
>>12450438
Thanks

>>12450896
>Curse of Chalion
Can you tell me what you like about it? I remember reading the first 50 pages or so thinking the writing was alright but there was nothing that compelled me to pick it up again.

I've been arguing with myself on whether or not to get into Wheel of Time.
How good is it actually? It just seems too big.

>>12451286

It's a lot. It's definitely one of those series you had to get in as a child and you just grew up with it.

I love it, but the idea of going back and re-reading it? Fuck off

Anyone here read Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone? Is it good?

>>12451441
No. First book had a lot of shot, but the second book completely shit the bed. Avoid.

>>12450742
Oh right yeah, fuck.
Thanks for reminding me, I can rest easy when book 5 comes out. He's not gonna make me suffer like Rothfuss, Lynch and GRRM do.

>>12451482
Can you elaborate?

>>12451286
Those people that like it really like it. Likewise anything that popular gets a lot of hate. As >>12451306 says it may be a series it's better to start when you're younger but frankly if you're seriously into fantasy it's a series you should at least attempt to start.

>>12450660
At least he writes his garbage unlike all these other fat fucks who shitpost on Twitter all day.

>>12449189
there's little that triggers me more than rich celebrities bitching about trump on twitter.

>>12451642
> Rothfuss
> rich celebrity.

>>12451626
I love that little progress bar on his website. Other hacks should take note and get off their asses.
>GRRM can't release the next book until the show ends
>Rothfuss doesn't care anymore
>Lynch is fucked in the head and from his marriage
also grateful for Abercrombie who pumps books out regularly.

>>12451725
What happened with Lynch?

>>12451680
I mean he's rich enough to waste money on an LGBT bookshop.

>>12451731
Thorn of Emberlain has been delayed since at least the past three years and he wrote that his divorce fucked him up and he's stressed out by the mortgage and crap like that, it was hilarious. I think he also said that half the book's undone and he's got no clue how it'll end or something.

>>12450163
>haven't read it
>screams that it's shit
>>12448737
Dumbest post here. Enjoy your blue-wavelength induced sickness.

>dumb purple prose
>dialogue reads almost like the name of the wind
>overly complicated religion (apparently shared by the whole world)
>pedo priests, gay aristocrats
>one MC is a prodigious singer with perfect memory
>20 years ago evil wizard casts a spell so the name of a place is erased from everyone's memory
>MC in tears when he learns the name of his birthplace (where he lived 1 or 2 years as a baby)
>also the title of the book
>their secret sign code is literally a fucking metal sign /../,
I'm going to keep reading it but I fucking hate you, Anon.

>>12451986
I just started reading this today, 70 pages in. Bracing myself, I heard it's really "emotional" and that either you love it or hate it and most people just tell you that Lions of Al-Rassan is much better.

>>12451286
>>12451580
I'm at the start of book 6 now and I love it, hear it gets worse from 7-10 though, but not sure in what way, guess I'll see. My only problem so far are some small pacing issues in certain parts (not the fact that it's long, I could read 50 books of this if they had consistent pacing), I even like all the female characters that people complain about except Egwene, she's a bitch

I think you need at least some tolerance for soap opera style plots, but I love both character drama and the anime sword fights so the series is pretty perfect for me.

>>12451865
I’ve read enough king to know his formula. Don’t need to read his entire catalog to understand his style

>>12452098
Thanks, I think I'll try getting into it after I finish with Elric.

>>12452098
> I hear it gets worse from 7-10
The main issue with those books is the pacing and story structure. They are essentially one or two *huge* books that had to be split up so characters vanish for an entire book and the timeline of events confused many people.

It's worth getting through them though as the pay off in the end is totally worth it. Say what you like about Sanderson's own work but not many people could have done a as good a job given the circumstances.

>>12450660
The main characters will still have chapters, if they're still alive, and dead characters will still get flashbacks if they are dead by the time their book arrives. Last five--in no particular order--Lift, Jasnah, Ash, Taln, Renarin.
There is a 10 year gap between Books 5 and 6.
>>12450742
Not particularly. There are two five-book arcs and still the entire ten-book mega-arc.

>>12448084
I'm reading this right now it's pretty based

Has anyone read any James branch Cabell? I finished Jurgen recently and quite enjoyed it.

>>12452098
>hear it gets worse from 7-10 though, but not sure in what way, guess I'll see.
Yep, 7-10 are extremely sloggy. 7 is by far the worst in the series, 8 is almost as bad, 9 & 10 are ok. There's just a lot of unnecessary world building, characters you don't care about, side plots you don't care about and pov's that you can't stand (fuck you Perrin) and the power puff girls will make you contemplate suicide.
On the upside, there's actually a lot of high points and major events separated by all the slog. And if you like Mat, he peaks in this stretch of books before Sanderson gets a hold of him in 12 and turns him into generic wisecracking nice guy character with the depth of a puddle.

>>12447968
Botns

>>12451543
First book had a few bad spots, but the concept was good enough to allow me to ignore the shit, and make me try book two.

Book two, was literally My Dick; The Novel. The protagonist was willing to throw everything away for some pussy he never even tasted. This guy was going the extreme, it literally made no sense. If you wanna try it, go ahead.

>>12452681
>before Sanderson
You know everything Sanderson did was reviewed and okayed by Jordan's wife? The same wife who was Jordan's editor?

>>12451642
I hope that is because they can read all day, and have money to survive that lifestyle and what's happening, and not because you like and support a certain someone.

>>12452811
You just KNOW

>>12452836
He dropped sauce on her that enlightened her to the existence of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, in private late night sessions.

>read Clifford Simak's City
>one of the best things I ever spent time one
>excitedly jump into Way Station
>complete garbage
the heck?

Can someone help me get around the paywall for the something awful forums? (I'm trying to find the post about Book of the New Sun)

Does the girl in orphans of chaos ever get pounded by the older authoritative males that all the goodreads reviews are crying she's fantasizing about? I don't want to bother if it's just cockteasing.

>>12448887
Reverend insanity/Daoist Gu Master is really good imo although if you really dont like mcs that are powerful you shouldnt read wuxia tbqh.

How do I stop playing video games and start reading books?

Also, any books with succubi in them?

>>12453193
Start small and work your way up. I started off reading 25 pages a day of accesible literature and now I regularly read 50 pages on days I’m working and 100+ on weekends. The important thing is to build up a habit and not force yourself to binge read every once in a while. After a couple months the ADD like feeling that reading induces in most zoomers goes away.

>>12453208
I love binge reading though

>>12452889
>what is this? A picture for ants?

Otherland. Is it good?

>see this cover and the blurb
>expecting fairly straight laced scifi
>start reading
>it's full on action science fantasy with literal magic
hell yeah dude

Is this okay to show without killing off any characters?

>setting is an ancient city discovered by the MC filled to the breaking point with color-coded booby traps
>these traps range from snares of barbed wire to spiked pits, crossbows, slamming walls, changing corridors and torrents of animate ink

>>12453193
if you live in a city, read on the subway. If you don't, take the bus and read on that.

honestly, I don't understand why people would want to drive. Owning a car is way too expensive, and you can't do anything while you're driving

>>12453475
>honestly, I don't understand why people would want to drive. Owning a car is way too expensive, and you can't do anything while you're driving
If you live in America you don't really have a choice unless you live in NYC or some shit.

>>12453443
The goodreads page has fantasy. I don't see how you are shocked.

>>12453193
>Also, any books with succubi in them?
Many. And they are all shit. More specifically, cuckshit. It's inherent to succubi books.

To quote a book I read a while ago:
>"I was curious about how she paid for the car, but I decided not to ask. She is a succubus, and she has only one coin they would take"

>>12453543
I didn't need one when I lived in DC

>>12453571
>and she has only one coin they would take"
More like a coin slot...

>>12451999
It gets worse. A terrible thing just happened, something that overturned several people's lives, and literally 3 hours later the characters are already nonchalantly joking, singing, flirting, etc.
This oath is supposed to be epic
>"Tigana, let my memory of you be like a blade in my soul."

Someone recommended it to me because I liked BotNS. I haven't read the likes of this piece of shit in a very long time. No wonder so many of you think The Way of Kings and The Name of the Wind are well written. You are literal children who can't tell good prose from amateur shit.

>>12447968
>Botns

>>12448670
Really?
The Knight seems so light in tone and I'm moving well along through it, trying to imagine The Wizard taking the whole thing to beyond BotNS is well, it's got to be one hell of a book.

>>12447968
The Silmarillion

Do not read this. It was awful.

>>12452858
Yeah,Simak can be pretty hit or miss,try "Why call them back from Heaven" or "All Flesh is Grass"

>>12453743
Other than BotNS, what else have you liked?

>>12453876
Lord of Light. I also liked Prince of Nothing. I know most of the meme authors tbqh. All the Black Company variations I've read were bad.
I'm mostly into old literary fiction (Soseki, Russians) but I like modern stuff too (my last 2 reads were The Secret History and Under the Volcano).

what seems like a more interesting setting to navigate?

>area consumed by gelatinous bodies of nanobots that convert all organic matter to pigments and then paint the world with them
>the exact opposite: nanobots consume all pigments, including the hemoglobin in a person's blood if they get into a wound
>city-sized SAW gameroom

>>12453959

The first one

Do you guys fuck with Jack Vance?

>read a whole book a day for 5 days in a row

I can't tell if I'm reading faster or just reading more

>book comes with a preview of Senlin ascends in the back
I liked the half of SA I read well enough but I don't get why the publisher is pushing it so hard, esp. considering most people read it when it was self-pub

I wish I could still pick up any work of fantasy, read the whole damn thing and think to myself "this is the best thing I ever read!"

Now everything looks shitty to me, and seeing as I'm not an elitist I can't even pride myself on developing better taste

>>12449156
The first Amber series by Roger Zelazny. Zelazny was a fencer, knew what he was talking about when it came to swordfighting.

>>12445928
Celebrant by Michael Cisco. The Narrator by him as well.

>>12452889
>the paywall for the something awful forums
HAHAHAHAH, for what purpose?

>>12453993
Wish I could but he's dead anon.

sanderson is a hack

>>12451119
I like it because everything feels fairly "authentic" for a fantasy novel. Like the basic story is this dude who got betrayed and sold into slavery recovering and then saving the kingdom and winning the heart of a fair maiden and so on, but he has to go through a ton of harrowing trouble and pain to get those things done. It doesn't feel "unearned" like most fantasy stories.

>>12452889
You can bypass the paywall with $10. Stay out of D&D btw.

>>12453993
Yeah he's great.

>>12453931
>Black Company variations
What does this mean? I'm going to start reading Black Company soon but this has me weirded out.

I've been trying to get into Sanderson and started with Elantris, but I think it's absolute pure garbage. Should I bother with his other stuff when I find Elantris to be the equivalent of shit?

I Earthsea worth finishing?
It's been a while, but last time I left it I was some way into the third book. I really, really liked Tombs of Atuan, but was kind of bored by Wizard of Earthsea. The third book I was kind of getting bored with. I think I was up to the part where the prince was kidnapped by slavers.

>>12447968
Blood - Michael Moorcock

>>12447968
the dying earth

>>12449539
Did you read it on wuxia world or accidentally get machine translations?

>>12454985
read it on wuxia

are there any good western isekai?

>>12455033
My web novel.
Once it's written.

>>12454718
>Should I bother with his other stuff when I find Elantris to be the equivalent of shit?
Image related. However, since you seem to have realized that Sanderson is not that good you might stop now. If you have not finished Elantris you might want to do, the deus ex autismo of an ending is hilariously stupid.

What are you fags reading?
How much do you hate it?

>>12455182
is warbreaker really that good?

https://www.goodreads.com/series/96465-the-riyria-revelations anyone here read this? how is this compared to the ryria chronicles

Just finished The Fifth Head of Cerberus and was very impressed

Is BOTNS similar? Are there any other genre fiction authors with a hard on for Proust?

>>12455243
>What are you fags reading?
Seven Surrenders.
>How much do you hate it?
It's unironically so good that I have to force myself not to post to much about it because I don't want to appear to shill it. Jehovah is not my God, Sniper did nothing wrong.

>>12455289
>is warbreaker really that good?
It's not really that good but it's decent and self-contained. It contain the anime-esque qualities of many of Sanderson's works in an setting that feels magical without boring you with 5000 pages of pointless worldbuilding. And the characters are interesting without being cliché. Actually many of them are cliché as they are Gods of an outstanding but not defining trait of their previous lives, which might be the only successful deconstruction Sanderson have manged but it seems like he fail to realize it since he don't mention it in his essay on the subject.

>>12455295
>riyria revelations
You are suppose to read this first. You are reading backwards if you read chronicles first, and you're now asking about revelations.
Revelations is what made him famous. Then he said he will never release more stories in the world because he wrote everything that had to be said, and that it would detract from what was written... Then he released 10 novellas about it. Including a new one last year.

>>12455300
>Seven Surrenders.
You surrendered your: mouth, anus, urethra, 2 hands, thighs, and foreskin?

>>12455359
To whom? However I'd never surrender my foreskin since I'm neither American nor raised in an Abrahamic religion.

>>12455349
my bad, i meant the legend of the first empire series, got that mixed up
people here are saying it's really bad

>>12451286
it's mediocre, average at best. if it was one book or even a trilogy but that's okay, but for a 10+ book series it's simply not good enough.

>>12453993
he's pretty based

Wheel of Time? Bad? Good? Gay? Rape? Imcest?

>>12455300
>tfw Palmer will never cuck Jemisin out of the Hugos
The Hugos are frequented by people of shit taste

>>12455503
>Wheel of Time? Bad? Good?
Somewhere in between, it has both incredible highs and devastating lows, it's up to you if you think the pay offs are worth it. Seriously anon it's been discussed to death already.

>Gay? Rape? Imcest?
No on the gays and incest but there's rape and there's also a harem.

>>12455503
I liked it, but it does seem to polarize people. There's absolutely no gayness (at least until Branderson starts writing and makes a passing comment that one of the incredibly minor characters is gay) and no incest. The only rape I can recall was female on male, and I think one of the minor female character got raped off-screen, but it's not really prominent at all.

It's a completely straight-faced, "Giant, unequivocal evil is going to destroy the world so the forces of good must defeat him"-type fantasy with no real twists and a fairly interesting magic system. You'll probably find yourself getting annoyed when the perspective switches off of your favorite character because there's like five separate plots going on at any given time with focus shared between several groups each doing their own thing, and what >>12455523 said.

So I finished A Scanner Darkly and enjoyed it, but that's the first PKD novel I've read and want to try a few others to get a better sense of his style. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards "Electric Sheep" and "Man in the High Castle" as they seem like they'll be quite different.

>>12455531
>There's absolutely no gayness (at least until Branderson starts writing and makes a passing comment that one of the incredibly minor characters is gay
Jordan actually touches upon this in New Spring. Moiraine and Siuan are "pillow friends" during their Novice and Accepted years.

>>12455565
I liked Electric Sheep a lot. Give it a try.

>>12455503
Wheel of Time's not terrible but it's also not that good and demands way too much reading for what it is.

You're better off reading like 5 different trilogies instead

>>12448853
>I don't even know who Ayn Rand is.
Why? The books are ok, they get worse and worse with each new book. blood of the fallen or something was the best one I think. books after book 11 seem to be written by a brain damaged ghost writer.

>>12453193
audio books are the way. There is a whole wiki that lists every book that has a succubus in it. most of them are garbage even by "male fantasy wish fulfillment" standard, mostly because they fail to be sexy and to actually fulfill male fantasies.
>>12453571
stop reading cuckshit and pick up stories were chad turns even succubi into loyal pets.

>>12455243
Aaron Dennis - Cayneian A Man from Blood
dry as fuck.

>>12455243
Michael Moorcock - The Eternal Champion
It's good and I was up for reading something short.

>>12455378
It is bad. Avoid like the plague. Unless you like forced sfw pandering in your books, things that make no sense, and logic that is thrown completely out the window.

>>12455719
what about the riyria chronicles and revelations series? anything like that?

>>12447968
The Scar

>>12455725
>revelations
Read those. If you want more read the chronicles. If you want more after those, find another author. Age of [insert word here] series is shit.

>>12455754
alright thanks friend

>>12455576
Thanks. I'm thinking I'll definitely get that one since it's one of his classics, I love Blade Runner and it's fairly short as well. Also, the concept of Man in the High Castle sounds really interesting so I'm leaning towards that as well. I haven't seen the series either and would rather read the book before digging into the series, even if it isn't a very faithful adaptation.

>>12455656
>stop reading cuckshit and pick up stories were chad turns even succubi into loyal pets.
Name 10 (ten). Or one... I'm not feeling very demanding right now.

>>12452811
When will you tire of posting this?

>>12455862
Until it stops giving me an erection knowing that Sanderson put Jordan's widow in the er with broken hips.

>>12447968
I quite enjoyed Neuromancer. The first love is often the strongest.

How is Neal Stephenson liked here? The gratuitous complexity was really annoying but the pay offs always make it worth the headache.

>>12455033
Isekai. Good. Kys weebnigger.

>>12455995
junk food still tastes good

>>12448086

My based nigga. I should really reread it, my grandmother got it for me and I read it a bit too young to understand some of the stuff that happened, but I loved the idea of alluding to this grand narrative through the histories of these great beasts.

>>12452679

GreatSFandF does a great write up on him:

http://greatsfandf.com/AUTHORS/BranchCabell.php

Jurgen is a good and enjoyable work, but his Biography of Manuel transcends genre for me.

>>12448662
Light text on black with OLED screen. It is flawless.

I believe black text on light background is crisper because your aperture closes a bit more. So it might be easier to read small text. But in general you don't want to be starting at more light after you're fully grown.

>>12449156
Red rising. It gets shit on here but it's still a lot of fun.

Who is the worse Terry? Goodkind or Brooks?

>>12448662
Black background green text. If you read for extended periods on an LCD with a white background you're basically retarded.

>>12456409
Pratchett

>>12456501
Cease your lies, vermin scum! Pratchett is love.

>>12456498
>green text
which green? do you have the rgb code

>>12456595
Green's Green. You can add in blues and red if you're really that picky, but I just use 0 / 160 / 0, aka 00aa00 for a nice mid-tier green

>>12455899
I've been meaning to ask this too
I have all his books and I tried getting into Antathem or whatever it's called and it seems needlessly complex and basically going through every page feels like a slog, the pages don't flow easily like they do with books I like.

>>12449156
>5 posts and no mention of Stormlight Archive
literal niggers, the whole lot of you. Anon, read this series asap. It's fun as hell and you'll love it.

>>12448662
its scientificially proven to be better for your eyes to read light text on dark background and not the other way around. something like a solarized theme is ideal. pic related. its very popular with programmers. it reduces eye strain significantly for reading i found switch it up between solarized dark or a simple black background with white text.

>>12456752
>sanderson lovers are from pol
Who knew?

>>12449156
Snow Crash
BotNS
Lord of Light

>>12456752
Do I have to read all his other stuff beforehand like Mistborn? Only thing I've read from Sanderson is Elantris, and that's fucking shit in my opinion.

>>12456752
Personally I found the first book of the Stormlight Archives to be fairly good so long as the focus was on Kaladin. Everyone loves a good underdog story and the whole concept of running bridges across dozens of chasms was pretty inventive, but the second book started to lose me as the focus shifted off palpable suffering and triumph to anime powers, and the third book even more so, and when the plot stopped being interesting to me, Branderson's dull prose really started to grate on me. Not sure I'll bother reading the fourth when it comes out.

>>12451286
Fuck Egwene and fuck Perrin

>>12456685
thanks, green is pretty comfy

>>12456769
i havent thought about applying code color schemes for general reading, i will try this later

>>12456833
Egwene was only interesting when she was captive inside the White Tower. Perrin was interesting during the attack on the Two Rivers, but not after. Mat was fun and interesting all the time and Rand was only really interesting after he finally got away from the Aiel

>>12456831
Why does that man look like Adam Sandler?

>>12456860
>i havent thought about applying code color schemes for general reading, i will try this later
i use sumatra pdf on windows for reading. and the config is a simple file that you can edit however you want with any colors you wish to. pic related. selecting advanced settings from the sumatra menu opens up the config file in your default text editor.

if my brain could stop trying to reinvent homestuck every time I brainstorm ideas that would be great

>>12456773
is he /pol/? ive only read mistborn and he didn't come off that way

>>12456871
Mat is best boy and could have carried a series on his own.

>>12457087
> mfw we'll never have the adventures of Mat in the lands of the Seanchan

>>12454781
Based

>>12457087
Fuck nobility

>>12457134
Tell me about the boots

>>12455299
When I started The Fifth Head of Cerberus I felt like I was reading a lost piece of Book of the New Sun, even though I wasn't.
You should like it.

>>12456800
no, not at all. Just read the main series, Stormlight Archive.
>>12456831
cope

>>12456773
It's not the word, it's the context in which it's being said
the word nigger is very versatile, if gays can highjack a word that meant happiness I sure as shit will use nigger when I feel it's right.
For instance, grow up nigger, it's a unique word. You can't use shitskin or chink the same way you can use this word, that's what makes it special.

>>12457379
>ʞek imma use it as much as possible because someone is going to get ass blasted

Thoughts on The Belgariad series?

>>12457425
Not high fantasy but high on pure fun. Nothing original but the quintessential coming of age teenage fantasy story.

has anyone here read this?

>>12457559
lewis and tolkien liked this books and many others regarded it as the best fiction of the century. harold bloom wrote his first and only fiction inspired by it

>>12457559
It's pretty based,but it's not for everyone,if you liked the Night Land your are probably gonna like this.

>>12455565
THE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH
MARTIAN TIME-SLIP
TIME OUT OF JOINT
Ubik was my second Dick and I feel I need to reread it at some point because I read Dick completely different now. VALIS was my first and that felt completely different to most everything Dick I've read so far

I am enjoying ASD - I have gotten to Bob taking the boys out to replace the mcguffin while his house gets wired. I have a question though as I am having a tough time figuring out Bob: he's an actual recreational "doper" as his real identity, yes? Just to clarify that, what a double life.

>>12457898
Have you read A Maze of Death?

>>12457930
Yes. That was a wild one, reminded me of Neoquest II

>>12455033
Isekai as in just transported to another world? Or litRPG another world with numbers and stats? Because I can think of a few interesting in the former and the latter being utter shite.

>>12455033

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Spellsinger

>>12456769
whenever I see something bright on a dark background, it starts to flicker for me and leave blurry smears across my vision when I move it.
How do I deal with this?

>>12458223
try lowering the contrast between the background and what you are focusing on. for example if you are using a black background dont go for white text instead use shades of grey. additionally get your eyes checked because that isnt normal. could also just be your monitor. lcd screens are horrible. get a tn panel or an ips screen. they are a bit more expensive but have great color representation and no flickering what so ever.

>>12455033
opinions are split on this one but i personally liked it.

Anyone read this? The sequel just came out and so far I'm liking it. I just wish we could have the story focus solely on Nahari. Why is it that the male pov characters in arabian fantasy are always so boring? Or is it just that they're not the main character so I care about them less

>>12458297
I liked it too

>>12455565
Ubik and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch are amazing.

>>12456501
I could never get into Prachett's own stories or Gaiman's own stories but Good Omens was GOAT

>>12458305
>Why is it that the male pov characters in arabian fantasy are always so boring?
Maybe because what you really want to do is read a book about lolis in an arabian setting

>>12458297
It's alright but it has a pacing problem. It is all over the place.

>>12458305
*
I don't mean that sexually by the way.

>>12458297
I have enjoyed those books a lot. Are there similar series? I haven't been able to find anything even remotely close to destinies crucible.

>>12458371
I've read seven different arabian fantasy stories so far (not including the 1001 which I haven't read most of) and only one of them had a loli mc – and she barely even appeared in her own story. The other three with female mcs – the ones I'm talking about – were all over 18

>>12458411
>I've read seven different arabian fantasy stories so far
That's a lot, I think I've only read one. Which one was your favourite by the way?

>>12458111
>The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
I stumble upon this gem while reading the author's wikipedia:

>Conversely, in 1986, David Langford published an essay by Nick Lowe, in which Lowe suggested "a way to derive pleasure from Stephen Donaldson books. (Needless to say, it doesn't involve reading them.)"[3] This proposal involved a game he called "Clench Racing", wherein players each open a volume of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant to a random page; the winner is the first to find the word "clench". Lowe describes it as a "fast" game – "sixty seconds is unusually drawn out".
fucking destroyed

>>12458419
the orphan's tales. no question.

It might not be for everyone though, so if you're looking into getting into something more familiar in terms of epic fantasy, go with either The Twelve Kings of Sharkai or The City of Brass. However, if you're one of those people who can't stand female MCs, The Kingdom of the Crescent Moon might be better, just don't bother waiting for a sequel.

The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn is a good taste if you just want to wet your appetite, and it's free on tor's site, but it's just a short story, albeit an amazing one

>>12458297
>his big dramatic speech is just a copy paste Frankenstein of famous speeches, doesn’t even bother to make it flow

Big laff

>>12458434
That is a pet peeve of mine when a word is used way to any times. So many instances of "said" where any number of verbs could have not just worked, but sounds better.

>>12458463
I've already read the Twelve Kings in Sharakhai (in fact I'm waiting for book number 4) to be honest.
>the orphan's tales
I'll try that one, thanks anon!

Is it a bad idea to write multiple things at the same time?

Like, I just set a rule for myself that I have to write 500 words a night. It doesn't matter which story I write or how many as long as I get 500 words down

>>12458557
depends on you. some authors are fine writing on multiple different series at a time, others finish one up first. you have to experiment and see what works best for you.

>>12458557
William D Arand is that you?

>>12458486
I should warn you in advance that it might be a bit different than you're expecting, as it's not epic fantasy and in fact it's not even strictly arabian. It's got a mix of world mythologies plus some stuff that's completely original. The reason I classified it as arabian fantasy is that it's a spiritual successor to the 1001. However, it's both more enchanting and more convoluted, with all the stories tying into each other, resulting in you spending most of the body three or four flashbacks deep.

>>12458599
I just want to find a way to work around my indecisiveness.

>>12458603
more like michael scott earle. dude wrote like 7 series at once before he got booted of amazon.
im still not sure if he is comming back to amazon or not. the latest fanletter said over christmas and new years his correspondance with amazon was paused and amazon is willing to work things out with him somewhere by the end of january so i guess well know soon.

>>12458660
found it. this was in the latest newsletter from late december. dont know what has happened so far though. dont have a facebook account so i cant check his group there.

>>12458660
>>12458691
He finally decided to write the smut and not fade to black too. Did he get caught botting or something?

>>12447968
We

>>12458709
no one knows at this point. mse was massively popular and regularly hit amazons bestsellers charts. which really insnt all that hard to achieve. first people though he was doing bookstuffing or linking to the end of his books to game the system. that was disproven however. since none of his books had those things in them. then a while back there was a huge wave of romance authors being banned for either botting or selling their books on other platforms which is against the amazon TOS.
theres no proof that he was botting however. currently its his word against amazon. that being said there have been cases in the past where less successful authors sicked bots on competetors to drive them out of business. its the current running theory. doesnt help that mse is pretty arrogant. he had a lot of people that were pissed at him or jealous for one reason or another.

tl;dr: amazon things he botted. we dont know if its true as there is nor evidence for or against it. could be a some jelly author sicking bots on him could be MSE was botting.
we dont know.

>>12458691
>2000 words per hour
What the fuck? How is that even possible? That's about as fast as I write my own diary. Are each of his books just the same rehashed story over and over? Because there's no way you could produce anything of quality at that pace.

>>12458771
There are fanfiction authors with a million word count on their fanfics.

New Thread
>>12458798
>>12458798
>>12458798

>>12458771
he regularly livestreamed writing his books so its no lie on that account.
https://www.twitch.tv/michaelscotte

>>12458810
>No videos or clips
I was actually genuinely curious

>>12458821
yeah i just noticed that. you will have to take my word for it because ive seen a few of his streams.
its no lie. i watched him write half of a tamer book in an 8 hour sitting once. granted i didnt actually all the time attentively but had it on my second screen while i did things glance on it every now and then and listening to him answer fan questions.

>>12458483
is your pic a good series?

>Dear ol' Dad is obsessed with Terry Pratchett books

What other authors would he like lads?

>>12459906
He's read every Terry Pratchett book and doesn't know what to read anymore so he's been reduced to reading stuff like Janet Evanovich books and it's alarming to see him reading such dreck

>>12458810
>michaelscotte
alright I'm following, I wanna see this happen when it does.