/lit/ - Literature

>>13029496
>mil sci-fi books that you've read and liked.
I liked pretty much every Alliance-Union book from C.J. Cheerioyeh (maybe an exception for the one about the gay genius clones and the asshole genius girl clone. It dragged on pretty badly and then the ending was limp as hell but I still enjoyed reading it). Every single person in space is an asshole, apparently.

>>13029553
Cyteen is pretty dry, yeah. I liked it though.

If anybody has played Emperor of the Fading Suns, computer or tabletop, are there any sci-fi books with a similar setting and lore?

>>13029646
No idea what that is, but Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy has a similar title!

MONTHLY SLAVE GET IN HERE AND DO THE POLL

>>13029713
how is it so hard to put the poll in the OP?

>>13029496
Joe Haldeman's "Forever War" (and sequels) is one of my favorite scifi books. plus he did an interview on What a Hell of a Way to Die, so he's even cooler

Is coming of age fantasy inherently YA?

Just finished A Fire Upon the Deep and I really like the "zones of thought" concept
Made a really nice explanation for how there can be primitives and transcendent AIs in the same galaxy
It also made a lot of sense to me in a visual sense. It made me imagine the galaxy sitting vertically and going down the y-axis towards the deep rather than moving horizontally along a horizontal galaxy

>>13030093
Oh by the way, does anyone know if the sequel(s?) is/are worth reading?

What is /sffg/'s opinion on the recent Middle-earth games (Mordor/War)?

>>13030139
Worse than fan fiction, and the ass creed gameplay is tired.

I started reading this over the weekend. I'm not really too far into it but, am I right in thinking the cover has nothing to do with the actual stories?
Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it but I thought it was supposed to be sci-fi

>>13030167
It is fantasy through and through. It is set in the far future, but society has decayed, and what we would consider 'technology' is long-forgotten. Dumb cover for an amazing series - particularly the first short story collection.

>>13030196
I see
I'm not disappointed since I like fantasy, I was just curious if I would actually get spaceships and shit later on.

>>13030210
>I was just curious if I would actually get spaceships and shit later on.
There is one story that has flying machines like a jet; in fact they might even be jets. But no spaceships.

Is Neal Asher worth reading?

Why must horror stories in fantasy settings be so rare? And no I'm not talking about grimderp which is just edgy epic fantasy. You can have straight up pure horror stories in a fantasy setting without resorting to needlessly graphic rape and violence.

>>13030294
>horror stories in fantasy settings be so rare
I have never read such a thing, are there any you would recommend?

>>13029831
Forever war is a shitty book.

>lukewarm combat
>shitty ftl mechanics
>50/50 male female space marine squads
>very weird sex roster where everyone is forced to sleep with everyone
>weed lmao
>muh space is too large whatever we do its pointless

Yeah... dropped.

>>13030304
Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton. It actually does have graphic rape and violence in some of the stories, but not all of them and it helps there's a streak of black humor running throughout the collection.

Discussion time my Numbers!

>How did you like the book?
>It's impossible not to compare We to later dystopian novels. 1984 criticize communism, Brave New World hedonism, etc, what do We argue against? Was there even any point in writing 1984?
>Who are we, the audience reading D-503's notes actually supposed to be? Did the Integral leave for space and find intelligent life or what?
>How the fuck do you build society, apartment complexes, etc according to Taylor series?

Feel free to ask your own questions, disregard mine or just rant about the book. Poll for next month coming in next post, I'm on a tight schedule.

>>13030355
>1984 criticize communism
When the fuck are you retards going to stop repeating this
We're on /lit/, where people are supposed to know the bare minimum about literature

>>13030373
What does it criticize

I want to read some epic fantasy that has a low fantasy setting.
So no kooky races or anime tier magic like Malazan.
Any recommendations?

Next month is Gene Wolfe month, what are we going to read?

Peace, ~275 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60213.Peace

The Devil in a Forest, 250 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/463361.The_Devil_in_a_Forest

Free Live Free, ~425 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/755010.Free_Live_Free

The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, ~375 pages (short story collection)
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/271587.The_Island_of_Dr_Death_and_Other_Stories_and_Other_Stories

There Are Doors, ~325 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/666601.There_Are_Doors

Innocents Aboard, ~300 pages (short story collection)
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/344946.Innocents_Aboard

Pirate Freedom, ~325 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/703026.Pirate_Freedom

The Land Across, ~300 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17332287-the-land-across

A Borrowed Man, ~300 pages
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848252-a-borrowed-man

Poll: https://www.strawpoll.me/17910286
Lets hope the voting works better today, I actually contacted Strawpoll support (the shit I do for free) and they said they had technical problems that caused a delay but that no votes were actually lost.

>>13030384
>I want to read some epic fantasy that has a low fantasy setting.
The Warlord Chronicles

>>13030373
I mean, yes and no. Of course it's more nuanced than that and it's more a criticism of totalitarianism and a warning of what Orwell, as a socialist, fear might happen if his own ideology take a wrong turn and also bla bla bla inspired by Soviet Union, Lenin, Stalin etc but I'm not about to write a long ass essay when coming up with questions about We.

>>13030355
>How did you like the book?
It was decent, I wasn't really a fan of the writing even if it was a nice touch to move from autistic writing to more purple prose as D503 became closer to the rebellion.
>Was there even any point in writing 1984?
Yes, I know you're not supposed to love 1984 on /lit/ but the writing is clearly superior and the book is exponentially more emotional than We.

>>13030373
Did this commie really think he was reading an anti hitler book? Ohnononono

>>13030390
No historical fiction or arthurian legends.

>>13030434
The Warlord Chronicles

>>13030384
game of thrones (there are kooky races but they're not the focus)

>>13030436
>I actually expected to get some serious recommendations here

>>13030384
First Law
That one thing where the entire first book is just about a siege on some monastery some mercs are defending
There was something else about mercenaries I forgot

>>13030440
Already know the plot, more or less, from the TV show, so have to motivation to read it. And that GRRM is never going to finish the books, so that gives me even less motivation to start them.

>>13030444
Already read the First Law trilogy and the 3 standalone books.

>>13030442
You asked for epic fantasy with barely any fantasy in it. That's the equivalent of asking for a martial arts film that barely has any martial arts in it. The closest you're going to get is A Song of Ice and Fire which no one would recommend because it's shit and is never going to be finished.

>>13030458
Something close ASOIAF or First Law in terms of portrayal of generic fantasy elements is what I want. If I wanted anime I'd go watch anime and I'm not interested in seeing Tolkien races rehashed with a slight spin for a thousandth time. Unfortunately, I am not motivated to read ASOIAF as I'm watching the TV show and I know GRRM won't finish the books.

What are some dark sword and sorcery novels? I'm talking very descriptive prose aka Fritz Leiber but minis the whimsical characters and humour
>inb4 no fun

>>13030312
your dumb

>>13030355
>good communist cog derailed by manic pixie dream girl.
It wasn't bad, though. I liked that bit at the start of one of the chapters where they didn't even bother clearing the factory floor before test-firing the Integral's engines, and in the process killed dozens of workers. And D-503 is proud of the fact that no one so much as flinched. Of course, it's impossible to read the book without reading it as a critique of early Bolshevism, and I think it does better as an allegory of the impossibility of the Bolshevik social revolution than as a sci-fi novel.

>Did the Integral leave for space and find intelligent life or what?
Here's my hot take: Humanity colonised the solar system before the Two Hundred Year War, and the One State has only just redeveloped space flight, so they're getting ready to head out and bring the enlightenment of the Benefactor to the scattered pockets of humanity. I know D-503 was probably speaking metaphorically when he was referring to the denizens of Venus and Uranus, but I like to think maybe they're leftover humans. Of course it's probably really more just the logical conclusion of Trotsky's eternal revolution.

>>13030417
1984/Orwell were never anti-communist. Orwell was anti-Stalin, and 1984 is anti-authoritarian (with a bunch of references to Stalin's regime, but not explicitly any socialist system.) To the end of his life Orwell remained a social democrat and agitated along socialist lines for better working conditions and poor relief.

>>13029496
>Asimov able to offer more satisfaction over Clarke, Vance or Heinlein
>Neuromancer over literally any other cyberpunk fiction
>shilling for the crappy Barnes and Noble edition of H.P. Lovecraft's collected stories with all of those awful Joshi inserts when the Gollancz and Knickerbocker editions exist
That'll be a singular "yikes" from me, canine.

>>13030503
Great argument. Im bedding you with sgt. Bigcock tonight. And thats an order.

>>13030512
>I liked that bit at the start of one of the chapters where they didn't even bother clearing the factory floor before test-firing the Integral's engines, and in the process killed dozens of workers
I've a hard time deciding. Mathematically speaking, since they're all autists, it seem like an unsound waste. Even if the burnt workers are a limit approaching zero they're still a dozen compared to basically zero cost when put in context. I feel like the scene is important for the setting but could have been executed better.

>>13030512
Communism is inherintly authoritorian as it has to force equality on the population by means of bureauracy and or violence.

Social democracy is not exactly communism and in contrast to the latter, actually works in homogenous populations.

>>13030355
The book reminded me of PKD, with all the delirium and questioning what is real. O-90 is best girl and her unintentional low key revolution is obviously more feasible than I-330's crazy ass plans.

>>13030512
>Here's my hot take
Gotta say, that's a really interesting take. I never thought further than to assume that there were other, similar states scattered over the earth. However I did think about how it was weird that technology had not developed further during all that time, a problem solved by your idea.

>>13030210
>>13030226
In tales of the dying earth they do eventually travel through space, dont wanna spoil it though

Is Wheel of Time any good?

>>13030563
It's a little good from time to time but not good enough considering the time you have to commit to read the whole thing.

Why do we hate this harmless Mormon again? I forgot

>>13030577
Hé cute

>>13030529
>Communism is inherintly authoritorian

>>13030500
Karl Edward Wagner's Bran Mak Morn pastiche Legion from the Shadows. Wagner's prose is especially fantastic and it's a dark and horror-filled story. It does suffer from padding though which Wagner does his best to hide with his prose. You should also read Worms of the Earth by Howard beforehand if you've never read it before since Legion from the Shadows is basically a sequel to that story. Plus you should read Worms of the Earth anyways because it's fucking great.

>>13030577
>harmless
He espouses world-building over everything else and that line of thought among modern writers has damn near ruined fantasy and sci-fi.

>>13030595
Reality disagrees, but please off out of he thread with this bullshit.

What are some books with tsundere princess love interests? I've already read the Belgariad and a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs

>>13030608
I'm just saying man. I mean, you think Communism is forcing 'equality on the population by means of bureauracy and or violence' which literally no Communist society has ever believed, attempted, or held up as an ideal. Your entire premise is wrong, before we even get to why 'communism = authoritarianism' is incorrect.

Check out The Narrator by Michael Cisco for some real weird military SF(?)

>>13030615
There's something like that in Quest for Lost Heroes by Gemmell, but it's not the main story; just part of it.

>>13030624
Thats me, not him, but (you)re a disgusting commie retard and you need to go back to leftypol.
I bet you dont even read cool fantasy books like eragon.

>>13030651
Whats this? It looks very cool

>>13030648
It's funny how anyone who understands communism/socialism/marxism and then tries to point out errors in other people's understanding of them is immediately labelled a communist/socialist/marxist. I'm none of those things, my dude. I've just read enough to understand them. Once you do the same, you (sorry, I mean 'you both') might understand what Orwell was trying to say a little better.

>>13030655
Senlin Ascends from the series The Books of Babel.
You see in the picture the lower part of the Tower, which is actually tens of "ringdoms" high. It is the ultimate tourist trap and a beacon of human ingenuity, that mercilessly grinds its visitors down to their bones and seldom shares its wondrous fruits. The series follows the main character Senlin up the tower and down through the depths of human depravity, all the while growing (or devolving?) as a character as morals and ideals are challenged by the harsh reality of the Tower.
The books have, I've found, a unique tone and are a delight to read.

>>13030669
First of all, I'm not the one you're replying to and you're basically right. But in popular speech communism is synonymous with the totalitarian regimes that almost inevitably arise following anyone trying (or pretending) to implement communism and not realizing/accepting this is quite autistic of you.

>read The Lions of Al-Rassan
>expect reconquista
>get el CID being blacked and Jews being good boys who din du nuffin

>>13030529
Nigga you are literally forced to vote if you dont vote you get fined if you dont pay the fine you get thrown in prison
So much for capitalistic democracy or whatever

>>13030712
Yeah, and I wouldn’t correct someone at a house party who casually confuses communism and authoritarianism as synonymous. But we’re literally on a specialised discussion board where the topic at hand is literature out of or responding to the Soviet Union. Fuck yes I’m going to hold people to a slightly more exacting standard than just: “Normies are confused by this so we should let it slide.”

>>13030717
>>get el CID being blacked and Jews being good boys who din du nuffin
Let me guess; it won at least one literary award?

>>13030355
>How did you like the book?
>It's impossible not to compare We to later dystopian novels. 1984 criticize communism, Brave New World hedonism, etc, what do We argue against? Was there even any point in writing 1984?
>Who are we, the audience reading D-503's notes actually supposed to be? Did the Integral leave for space and find intelligent life or what?
>How the fuck do you build society, apartment complexes, etc according to Taylor series?

I can't even copy and paste text what a fucking faggot.
>>13030355
>How did you like the book?
I wasn't keen on it. D never really felt autistic enough, and his weird hangup about imaginary numbers made no sense to me. I kept wondering about obviously irrelevant things like where they get their petroleum from if no one leaves their glass walled cities. And I didn't care for the writing style. Mostly it's just a book that didn't suit me well.
>It's impossible not to compare We to later dystopian novels. 1984 criticize communism, Brave New World hedonism, etc, what do We argue against? Was there even any point in writing 1984?
They depict totalitarian societies that repress and numb their populations by different primary means: 1984 by fear, Brave New World by pleasure, and We by reason. We is more about control by the system whereas the others are control by an elite using a system. I think they're all different enough to be complementary, even though I enjoyed We least of the three.
>How the fuck do you build society, apartment complexes, etc according to Taylor series?
The edition I read suggests Taylor refers to efficiency expert Frederick Winslow Taylor rather than mathematician Brook Taylor. Which makes more sense, and suggests that Maclaurin is mentioned as a joke and to link the world of the Timetable with D's mathematics and engineering.

Yo, so I read the Three Body Problem and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'm about 3/4ths of the way through The Dark Forest and it's absolute dogshit by comparison. The fuck happened? Not planning on reading the third one as of now, although I do much prefer the translator that did 1 and he did 3, so...nah, fuck it.

>>13030759
>D never really felt autistic enough, and his weird hangup about imaginary numbers made no sense to me
It's literally him being autistic mate.

>>13030787
But it's autism that makes no sense from someone with a mathematical education as he supposedly has. Never mind the fact that he calls i "irrational" rather than "imaginary".

>>13030759
>Taylor refers to efficiency expert Frederick Winslow Taylor rather than mathematician Brook Taylor
Well now I feel like a idiot.

>>13030864
It was specifically correcting a widely held misconception made by earlier readers and translators, so you shouldn't feel too bad.

>>13030669
Ok commie bitch.
>>13030735
You realize you are ranting about communism in the science fiction and fantasy district of the literature board right?
Tell me, have you even read the great classics such as Eragon and the Mistborn Trilogy?

>>13030690
Noted for my reading list. Thanks for the book kind stranger!

This is like the 3rd time I'm rewriting the first chapter and the beginning. Everything else, fucking 60k words of it, is perfect and goes along what I envisioned. But the beginning always sucks and I'm absolutely never satisfied.
How do I get over this hurdle? Why don't I have a clear vision of how a story should begin? Why am I writing introductions and startups so poorly?
Frank Herbert was right, the beginning really is something fragile.

>>13029496
I've been reading this,
it's like star wars fan fic meets generation kill
not bad

>>13030512
>didn't even bother clearing the factory floor before test-firing the Integral's engines
That scene really bothered me. D rants forever about how perfectly in lockstep everyone is and then suddenly there are loiterers? Where did they come from?

Did anybody read Empire of Moghul? Worth reading? Writer 'Alex Rutherford' is actually joint pseudonym for Diana and Michael Preston. It's a six vol series. Seeing an oriental stuff I thought of giving it a shot. But couldn't find any pdf.

Is it worth buying? Or boring like Martin's GOT?

>>13026700 #
Wow flavours anon, you've gone through so many iterations. What about the edible stone thing you were working on. What about altering food on a molecular level to adjust it's taste?

>>13030970
>look up the tables for today
>12:30, stand around at the factory floor
>look up the tables for my workspace
>12:30, test fire main engines
>mfw

>>13030956
I read this too, some time ago. Pretty good military science fiction, but I don't recall it having much of an overarching plot. It felt more like inter-connected short stories that just kind of end. I might be remembering wrong though.

>>13031028
You are definitely remembering wrong. It's one story and does have a plot.

>>13031030
Like I said, I read it a while ago so maybe I've forgotten gaps. What I do remember is the war with the frog people, then a big time skip to some time after and one of the legionaries has become a bounty hunter.

>>13030651
>>13030655
>>13030690
>>13030923
Samefag shill.

>>13030976
>if I can't find pdfs, it isn't available for free online.

>>13031062
Bro enlighten me. I am good at getting academic books only. But fiction pdf's are not easy to find, especially the new ones.

Lend a hand if you can!

>>13030624
>>13030669
Communism in theory is one thing and Communism when it is tried in real life another. Every time Communists (i.e. people who believed in communist theory) tried to lay the foundations for a society that would one day become communism it ended exactly as how the other anon described.

>>13030669
Banks' Culture is communist in nature, i think. And yeah, there was never actual communism on this planet - always a statist authoritarian regime, with imperialistic tendencies in one case (see CCCP), and heavy worker exploitation. Unlike in communism, where means of production are property of workers, said workers were told that all belongs to country, and thus thechnicaly to them, while in reality it all belongd to the ruling party.
The only way to get an actual communism is through high-tech - advanced/smart automation, near-free energy etc, where human mind is the means of production - where a single human can build a city/industry/infrastructure etc.
>>13030712
Communism is used a a veil and justification by totalitarian/authoritarian regimes. How else can they rationalise their bloodthirsty desire to displace the ruling class, then become one, and then reap the rewards? Notice how they always immediately supress any opposition after revolution.
Also, funny thing. Marx would be executed by any "communist" regime. That says something, doesnt it?

All in all, Culture is a nice thing to have.

>>13031060
No, you are mistaken.
What books would you recommend then?

Why shouldn't I read the Mistborn trilogy?

>>13031087
You use epubs, you luddite.

>>13031134
Because its gay

>create absolutely amazing lore
>use none of it
What the fuck man. Whats the point of describing all these intense locations and mystical creatures if thte actual plot is about going to find your telepathic gf, then retracing your steps back?

>>13031136
epubs are untrustworthy. Uploader can alter the book. Scanned pdf is the only way.

>>13031145
Why is it gay?

>>13031118
You recommended yourself a book, from a photo. No question about something specific was asked. You replied to your post asking what that picture was and the rest is history.

>>13031156
It's full of gay sex. Nothing but pages and pages of gay butt sex.

>>13031155
Then fuck off.
>doesn't know my buddy turns epubs into pdf
So much for "unaltered"

>>13031145
>>13031159
Why do you lurk in sffg? You don't even read, you just shitpost.

>>13031159
A Mormon would never write about that.

>>13031163
>getting triggered over this
You need a girlfriend, mate.

>>13031169
A gay Mormon would.

>>13030759
>D never really felt autistic enough, and his weird hangup about imaginary numbers made no sense to me
I think it's solving imaginary numbers part that scared him. Its something takes a bit of creativity and imagination (and a willingness to take liberties) which was seen as a mental illness in the world of WE

Test

>>13030385
Hey I appreciate what you do for us anon.

>>13031171
> shitposting on an anonymous message board for days at a time
you need a life mate

>>13031155
>pdfs can't be altered

>>13031155
> scanning
That's not how ebook pdf's are made. Just get the epub or mobi. You're trying to get a book for free so have no right to complain about a few typos.

>>13031175
>Its something takes a bit of creativity and imagination
Nonsense. It takes creativity and imagination to invent/discover them, but that's true of any invention/discovery. Using them only requires you to follow the simple rules that describe them. They're no spookier than negative numbers, and exist for much the same reason.

>>13031190
Old fashioned scanned pdf. Not the unicoded text ones.
>>13031160
>So much for "unaltered"
What the heck you are doing in /lit/ if you are happy with altered muh epub -_-

>>13031187
What do you do on lunch breaks gayboi?

>>13031206
>images can't be edited

>>13031193
Okay didn't expect suggestion of compromising typos and ruining a writers works.
>>13031216
It's hard work. So they stick with epubs as goys love it without any doubt.

>>13031224
If you appreciate the writers work that much buy the fucking book!

>>13031224
>It's hard work
Irrelevant. Your argument is that people can alter epubs, not that they do. And likewise so can pdfs of any description.
No one sabotages epubs either because there's no fucking point.

>>13030596
Thanks dude, just got the kindle edition of Worms of the Earth for $2.50. Will let you know what I think.

Are the witcher books any good?

Thoughts on GRRM's Thousand Worlds, do you even want ASOIAF to be connected to it or should it be its own different thing?

What are some series similar to ASOIAF (low fantasy setting, political intrigue, and cool lore) that are finished or will be finished?

>>13031419

Gormenghast

Any fantasy books where you pov the healsluts and not the main tank?

>>13031419
The Warlord Chronicles

>>13031377
>In a 1932 letter to August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, discussing the current issue of Weird Tales, stated that "Howard’s “Worms of the Earth” seems to be the one real first-rater."[3] In an obituary for Howard, H. P. Lovecraft said " Few readers will ever forget the hideous and compelling power of that macabre masterpiece, "Worms of the Earth"". [4] Robert Weinberg called "Worms of the Earth" "an effective blend of horror and adventure", and said it was one of Howard's "best works".[2]

>>13030577
I love him.

>>13031185
Stop doing shit to get banned, and stop ban evading.

>>13031211
Read books.

>>13031483
There's no magic in that, faggot.

>>13031436
>Gormenghast

>>13031483
Is this going to be your new shill master rome/ maas anon?

>>13031436
>Gormenghast
It wasn't finished

>>13031516
Gay

>>13031538
The magic is left up to the reader to decide if it's real or not, homo-lord
>>13031543
The Warlord Chronicles is exactly what you queers are asking for with low fantasy; the fantasy doesn't get any lower when the author leaves it up to YOU to decide if it's actually real or not.

>>13031538
>sacrifice a human been to start a storm
>no magic

>>13031612
But listen, faggot, we want some fantasy and magic, just not Sanderson tier animu shit.

>>13031419
Wolfeblade

>>13031483
>tfw Derfel's waifu doesn't exist irl

>>13031235
Duh... I said I wanna buy >>13030976

>>13031244
Calm down (((anon))), we have had enough.

Can anyone recommend anything more like Forever War? I love the idea of Vietnam in space. The less pulpy the better.

>>13031630
>Wolfeblade
>written by a woman

How often do you completely wing it /sffg/?Just walk into a bookstore with no specific book or even genre in mind and just grab something that piques your interest without looking up any info or reviews other than just the synopsis on the book?

>>13031772
Femfags are 21st century liberal military. Suits for this thread.

>>13031815
>walk into a bookstore

Does anything like this exist
>no cheesy fantasy creatures (i.e. dragons, orcs, elves, fairies, or slightly altered derivatives)
>no cheesy chosen one plot or returns of an old evil
>no cheesy 10 syllable fantasy names
>features rarely used monsters and mythology (something cool like manticores or slavic/baltic/finno-ugric inspired mythology)
>No overuse of magic, magic is rare, used by only a few characters, or/and comes with a great cost.
>Setting is an age of decline where much of the worlds true history has been lost or erased
>Political and religious intrigue between old nations and emerging nations
>Gods are not really Gods, just humans that accessed powers making them akin to Gods to the masses, that do not play much of a direct role for good reasons
>Themes of religion vs secularism, order vs freedom, ultimate meaning vs subjectivity
>realistic female POV (i.e. women manipulates men with her sexuality rather than being a super ninja warrior that can take on 10 men)
>no old barbarian or knight POV
>some of the POV characters actually fail and never achieve their goals (that's life)
>no black and white portrayal of good and evil, even the big bad actually has rational and well thought out reasons for being a big bad
Or will I have to write it myself?

>>13030440
>>13030444
Shit recs
>>13030390
Based and Cornpilled

>>13031060
Apologize

>>13031390
Can anyone actually recc me some military sci fi EXCLUDING that piss story "forever war"?

>>13031905
Chronicles of Amber

>>13030312
Armor is great, but so is the forever war. While both are military sci fi, they discuss different things

>>13031419
Dune, up to a point.

>>13030518
>Clarke
Is overrated. Heinlein and Asimov both wrote better stories

>>13031151
>Reading for the lore
That's kinda cringe,bro

Any fantasy with Cvrnish characters?

>Vietnam War in Space
what book comes to mind

>>13030923
>kind stranger
Please tell me you're posting this ironically

>>13031151
But was it good anyway?

>>13029496
>>13031945
Dorsai
Legion of the Damned by William C Dietz
The Sten Chronicles
Hammer's Slammers
The Paratwa Trilogy

>>13031905
Oh yeah and I forgot
>horror elements

>>13030384
name of the wind?

>>13031905
Not exactly what you are looking for but Malazan ticks a lot of those boxes

>>13029496
>What are you reading?
Scalzi's Collapsing Empire. Palletable but not great. Exposition comes from dialoge of the worst kind and the politics is pretty plain.
>Recommend some mil sci-fi books that you've read and liked.
B.V. Larson's series are good. Protagonist is a bit cheesy, but it will scratch the itch

>>13031815
Always
Except I do go specifically for SFF. This is SFFG after all.

>>13032090
Malazan is littered with dozens of cheesy fantasy elements, though. And the guy that writes it writes like he's writing a DnD rpg book rather than fantasy books.

>>13031966
Am I the only one that cringed at forever war"s military sex roster? What was the point?

>>13032086
Ruthpuss will never finish it.

>>13032046
Looks hellacool

>>13032086
Do people actually recommend The Name of the Wind because they liked it, or because it's a meme? Like some kind of ironic recommendation? The book is literal shit.

>>13032099
>>13032090
it fits:

no cheesy chosen ..
rarely used monsters/myth
age of decline
religious intrigue ...
gods are not really gods...
realistic female pov (imo)
povs failing and no black and white good and evil
and horror elements

>>13032106
still worth reading imo

>>13032118
I quite liked it, main reason I see people hate it is just silliness like "wtf the main character is too competent", when really he isn't, he works hard and his main competiton are random priveleged fuckbois while he has a real drive and was trained by an arcanist ever since he was like 8, also he fails all the time and isn't even the best at anything.

he's good at magic, decent with a sword etc, he's not amazing at anything and his life is about to turn to shit in the 3rd book which is what made him become kote

>>13032118
Both. It has definitely reached meme status here, but it's hugely popular, so there will always be someone who enjoyed it unironically.

>>13032118
I only ever see people shit on it here.
>>13032119
I already slogged through Malazan. I enjoyed it, but it's not what I'm looking for. Too much magic, too much of everything.

List of times Kvothe fucked up/jobbed or did morally questionable stuff

>thought he could take that pawnshop girl, got BTFO and she kicked him out and could have killed him

>Got BTFO by Denna a bunch and is a literal cuckold for her, lost his temper and ruined his relationship with her multiple times

>Got beaten up and almost killed by random thugs multiple times

>almost killed himself jumping off a building, got lucky and survived

>Killed like 15 men and woman in cold blood after posioning them (some of them were bad people)

>got beaten up by a literal 12 year old girl, even after adem training he's shit tier by their standards and at best could take on like 3 ordinary men with no training

>Got outsmarted/BTFO by Ambrose and some of the teachers at the academy multiple times\

just off the top of my head, the only thing he really excels at is music, which is fine, characters are allowed to be talented

>>13032165
Don’t forget how he fucked a sex goddess so well, despite being a virgin, that she decided to let him live. When she has fucked literally thousands of men to death. But not our masterful lover of women Roth- I mean Kvothe.

>>13032192
that's not what happened

>>13032199
It most definitely is.

>>13032165
>>13032192
You can just tell Rothuss is a seriously perverted fat incel

>>13032204
she didn't let him live because he was really good at sex or anything, she never even killed people iirc, they just died of heart attacks and stuff, she was mainly enticed by his personality and music/strorytelling

>>13032225
>they just died of heart attacks
Happens. System Overload. Just like in Helstrom's Hive. Fucked to death.

>>13032225
>she never really killed people, she just fucked them till their bodies gave out. Nobody makes it out alive, to the point that everyone runs away in fear at the thought of being trapped in her realm and forced to fuck her.

Did you even read the book? Only our sooper special protag makes it out, to show the whole world what a sex god he is.

Tell me if this sounds cool or gay as fuck.

Humans are living in a pre-agricultural age in a world they share with dangerous monsters and creatures that are hunting humanity to extinction. The daily existence of humanity is one of fighting tooth and nail for survival.

One day, two Gods arrive from the heavens. The two Gods are brothers with differing philosophies and they choose humanity as test subjects for their respective philosophies. They gift humanity with knowledge about the material and magical world. After a thousand years, humanity has established civilizations, mastered the physical world, and pushed all the monsters into the periphery of the world. One of the Gods shared some of his power with human disciples, the other did not.

The God that shared created a more prosperous civilization, but some of his disciples wanted more power. So they schemed with the loser brother and attacked the other bother and his loyal disciples. The jealous God and the power hungry disciples won, and stole the Gods power. Then the powerful disciples turned on the jealous God, but they could not defeat him, so instead they locked him away.

For the following thousand years, these disciples established themselves as Gods on earth and erased the true history, but overtime, they grew more disinterested and miserable. Despite having great power and immorality, they were still human. They grew bored, depressed, and isolated over the ages. Another thousand years passed, then another. By then these disciples had become abstract deities that played no direct role. To some, they were even legends and myths.

Without a direct role by the disciples, many civilizations declined or collapsed. This is the current setting.

>>13032046
All of these sound good. Will add to possible reads with redliners. thanks

>>13032100
It was legitimately a common view in the 1970s that In The Future, sex would be No Big Deal. Like drinking a glass of water, as a famous free lover once said.

It seemed plausible because the 1970s was a Golden Age of rawdog fucking, being post-Pill post-Roe vs Wade post-1960s; AIDS killed it in the 80s.

Having an actual roster is sort of a joke about the military, I think.

>character from our world somehow ends up in a fantasy/sci-fi world and is thrown in the middle of other people's conflicts
What are some decent books that do this? I've already read A Princess of Mars, Gor and The Wizard Knight.

>>13032297
>>13032100
>It was legitimately a common view in the 1970s that In The Future, sex would be No Big Deal. Like drinking a glass of water, as a famous free lover once said.
not him, but see the character from Ringworld that the main character finds and takes back with him. Her job on her crew was to relieve stress by fucking everyone. Cant remember her name, its been a while

>>13029496
>Recommend some mil sci-fi books that you've read and liked.
Ive only read the big ones
>Starship Troopers
>The Forever War
>Armor
and if you count it as Mil-Scifi, Space Viking
All are pretty good.
How's Cobra by Timothy Zahn? Sounds like it could be good

>>13032336
Well if you’ve read Gor you like trash, so try Daniel Black.

>>13032384
>Well if you’ve read Gor you like trash

>>13032336
Wizard of Oz

>>13032344
Haptoprylpilar. Or just Pryl. Escort service, there was a whole bunch of them. Ship-whores, just far more sensuous, skilled and beautiful.

>>13032396
thats the bitch

Since we're dealing with Military sci-fi, how are Elizabeth Moons works?

You ask the question with your pc >>13031118, and answer with your phone >>13031931
Stop samefagging.

>>13032126
Your whole post shows you are underage, and that you don't read much. When you read 200 books get back to us.

>>13032336
Daniel Black

This is kind of /v/ related, but do you think Dark Souls 3 is inspired by The Book of the New Sun's imagery? Miyazaki admitted the series was inspired by western fantas literature and New Sun is relatively known in Japan.

I see this on the recommended image. I own this book and it was hard for me to read since it felt like it had a lot of typos and errors. Did anyone else notice this? Specifically the *great* book of amber by the way.

>>13032247
Tell me it sounds cool, you fags.

>>13032642
It sounds way too generic
Stories with gods and rarely good, if ever. Prove me wrong faggot.

>>13032297
>>13032344

So the writer just put in the women for "stress relief"? Geesz, hippies are weird and dumb.

>>13032247
Interesting setting. Is this just a historical fiction/mythology story?
I could see potential with it

>>13032420
Just give up faggot. Give up and read Eragon.

>>13032642
It sounds like an ok backstory for the setting. That's not the REAL plot though, right?

Though I don't see why there is a "loser" brother. What was their initial conflict? I thought they just wanted to experiment. Why would the loser brother need to team up with the humans to defeat the "winner" brother? Did the winner god gain anything from winning that made him more powerful than the loser? Shouldn't sharing his power with the humans already make him weaker by default? Also what happened to the loser god's disciples?

>>13032396
>>13032344
What'd you all think of ring world engineers? I thought having Louis become a wirehead after his sex obsession with pryl in the first made sense. Having Teela brown become a super being seemed a little off though

>>13032688
specifically that one, she was a crew member with the specific job of sexual satisfaction

>>13032707
books 2-4 are on my list, but i procrastinated so long after reading 1 that I would have to read it again to get caught up before starting the rest

>>13032688
>stress relief
Yes. If voyage takes two years or so, you will want a hookup.

>>13032756
>books 2-4 are on my list
Ive heard theres a big drop off after 2 in quality so I havent touched 3 or 4 yet. May at some point though

>>13032707
They could have done better job. A bit of risk assessment would have not hurt them or cost them much.
I will need to re-read the novel again, been mighty long time since i read it.

>>13032675
The two brothers are only Gods relative to the average human. They could just be highly advanced aliens from another world, dimension, reality, or perhaps they are from the same world.
>>13032706
Yeah it's just back story.
The conflict is quite simply millennia old jealousy and competition, one of the brothers creations are always better (more advanced, longer lasting, and more powerful), no matter where they go. The brother that is betrayed represents order and the jealous brother represents chaos. The brother that represents chaos doesn't have any disciples, he establishes the rudiments of civilization and allows them total freedom to create and do as they please. This has many benefits as the civilizations are very creative, but they often destroy themselves without a guiding hand. In the current setting, the side of the world established by the brother of chaos has the most eclectic countries. It's where the "free" city states are. The side of the world established by the brother representing order has the longest lasting and powerful civilization, but it is monolithic.
The brothers were of similar power, to ensure total victory, he needed to team up.
>>13032699
It's background history for a world I'm trying to create and then hopefully write a story within.
The actual story I haven't totally worked out yet. I have an idea for a main antagonist and some POV .

>>13030606
Yeah, fuck unique world building. I want more books about farm boys saving princesses. The more generic Tolkien rip off the better.

I'm trying to create a magic system for a low fantasy setting. I want two main forms of magic. A generic form that allows someone to do various feats (like a typical wizard, magician, etc) and something that grants a very special ability, but also a big downside (such as being able to turn yourself or your body parts to iron, at the cost of losing human traits). The former is limited to a very few people and cannot be learned. The latter can be gained by anyone if they gain access to it and are willing to pay the price. I'm just unsure what to use as the method of transmission for the second form of magic. Since nobody is born with it, it must be acquired. Magical stones are very overdone, so that's out of the window.

>>13033185
can you make it so the latter get their magic from the former, either through a pact, a curse or a magic item?

>>13031905
The novel I'm currently revising covers a lot of that. Not everything though.

>>13033185
go with the age old system of regular magic that anyone can really do but its fucking weak. and something like either borrowed magic that someone externally gets by something like praying to a god, making rituals or sacrifices. you could also go the bloodline route. like for example someone has a troll ancastor or something and as such they can heal incredibly quickly but are vulnerably to fire and have some troll traits like deformities or tusks or weird skin color maybe a taste for human flesh or something.

>>13031718
>>13031945
>>13031987
Redliners by David Drake

>>13032757
Sorry I only want to kill aliens with two years worth of cum in my balls, rip them apart with my bare hands in a roar of transcendant testosterone, and the fact that you dont feel the same makes me upset.

>>13033308
I don't say this often but holy shit cringe

>>13030385
>you'll never read Attanasio with /lit/
I may as well make my own threads and talk to myself because nobody reads what I read ;_;

>>13032336
Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.M Stirling

>>13033308
Based and redpilled my fellow redditor :)

>>13032336
Pretty sure Xeelee does this. Lots of timefuckery.

>>13032516
I'm not a gamer, but just from what I've seen of Dark Souls I'd say writers like Clark Ashton Smith and Michael Moorcock may have been an influence. Especially CAS.

>>13033104
Farm boys saving princesses is PLOT, you absolute fucking retard.

>>13033185
>I'm trying to create a magic system for a low fantasy setting.

>>13033294
This is a troll post right?

>>13033362
It's funny how different I look and behave compared to the onions boy meme. I think you'd be shocked.

>>13033185
Just make it so that it's an occult technique that you need to learn from rare books on the subject

>>13033355
exactly

>>13033308
I certainly dont feel the way you do. Hyper/cold/cryo-sleep/stasis is the way to go provided there are no significant downsides to it. Dont want to be like Uncle Martin that one time on Heaven's Gate.
Then again, if its a two-year trip, i would not mind spending it pulling ship maintenance duty, playing games and snu-snu with girls.

>>13033495
I don't want it to be something that is learned as a skill, I want it to be something even a lowly peasant could acquire (if they steal it or come into possession of it by luck). It could be also sold and traded on black markets.

>>13033185
Use a moment that the advanced form has to be claimed or accepted a la Words of Radiance

>>13033326
>A.A. Attanasio

My protagonist's love interest is a /fit/ orc girl obsessed with breeding strong bloodline. Am I doing this right?

Why are there so many writerlets begging for help in the fucking general about reading?

>>13033974
Read Wild Wastes books.

>>13033974
what do orc girls smell like?

>>13034078
Probably like sweat and ass.

>>13033983
Because it's fun

I know that you guys don't like to talk about ASOIAF because it's so popular, but can you guys really name series that are better than it?

For fantasy, I know that Tolkien and Dune are better, but can you name 3 more series that are legitimately better from a world-building and storytelling perspective?

>>13034247
>For fantasy, I know that Tolkien and Dune are better,
Nice b8. Here is your (you)

>>13034270
>the truth is b8
>Dune is science fiction
come on pham

>>13034247
>praising an unfinished series as the peak of anything

>>13034247
I like ASOIAF better than Dune. Honestly I love the way GURM writes characters and how he autistically worries about details. I don't think there's many fantasy writes capable of creating characters as complex and alive as GURM's.

>>13034247
There's nothing special about the world-building or the storytelling in ASOIAF. The world-building is as generic as you can get; which there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but it's not special at all. And the story is typical political intrigue you'd find in a historical fiction drama, but with dragons thrown in. And as this anon noted >>13034280 it's not even fucking finished and never will be. Not to mention even among its FANS it's universally agreed the series goes to shit after book 3. People need to realize that SUBVERTING DEM EXPECTATIONS is not a substitute for a good story and having horrible things happen to your characters just to have them happen doesn't make for good characterization.

>>13034311
World Building fags need to get the noose. I'm sure you're that fag from /tg/ that autisticly spregs over that map making anon.

>>13034334
I'm the fag that posted this actually >>13033362
World-building is the least important aspect of a story which was my point when I said a world can be completely generic because the characters and story should come first and be the most important aspect. The world-building of ASOIAF is as generic as it gets so why people would praise it is beyond me. Unless they've barely read any other fantasy or are just genuinely stupid.

>>13034311
Wrong. What's special about ASOIAF's worldbuilding is that the author actually tried to give his world some sense of history, something you never really see in fantasy, and that's what makes Westeros so rich. Hell, you usually don't even know what happened five years before the story began. In ASOIAF you every house, no matter how small, has it's own little piece of backstory, every war and event has shaped the land and the characters. It's far more than what your typical author does and it's certainly much more than >muh subverted expectations. Now, about the political intrigue, it's well done and the characters are actually trying to outsmart each other. They never behave like idiots just because the plot demands it. And when you say the character development is guided by horrible things happening I assume you're particularly refering to Jaime. And Jaime is much more than horrible shit happening to him, just take a look at his last chapters in book 4 and compare them to the first few in book 3. Again, I think you're just taking a shit on GRRM because you think it's cool.

>>13034359
>World-building is the least important aspect of a story
it's like you never studied history IRL

>>13034371
>>13034425
Don't be retards like these retards who think MUH WORLD-BUILDING is important. It isn't. It's only important when your story and characters are shit and you only have world-building to fall back on. And I'm not even saying don't have world-building, but these morons think MUH DEEP FAKE HISTORY is impressive or important when it really isn't.

>>13034247
Lord of the Rings
Dune
Book of the New Sun, Wizard Knight
Space Trilogy
Spiral Arm Series
Earthsea (only read the first 2)
Gormenghast (haven't read much of it, so I'm going half on reputation here for that)
Better worldbuilding: Foundation Trilogy, Robot books
Faulkner's stories in Yoknapatawpha are vastly better storytelling, though I imagine you meant SF/F.

Worldbuilding is a rather distinct subset of storytelling, and far from the most important part of it. And the worldbuilding in ASOIAF isn't anything special, if there's anything in particular to praise aside from the complexity of narrative interweaving it's the tone set early on with Ned's death and the Red Wedding. That largely comes down to bait and switching the audience about importance of characters, though.
>>13034371
That same exposition of immediate political backdrop to the extent relevant to the story is blatantly apparent in Lord of the Rings, Dune, BotNS, Wizard Knight, and Foundation. Martin's entire focus is the political backdrop of the different houses, of course he goes into more detail about that than series working on an entirely different scope. Doesn't mean the politics in the Silmarillion are any less detailed, or that the relations between the planets in That Hideous Strength are anyless impactful.

>>13031987
Forever War

>>13034247
>h
>>13034287
>>13034311
>>13034359
>>13034371
different anon here. thoughts on Wheel of Time?

unrelated to my above quotes: thoughts on Kim Stanley Robinson?

>>13034595
>thoughts on Wheel of Time?

>>13031000
hi anon, sorry for the late response. I haven't really changed as radically as you think I have, it's just that there are two somewhat similar stories:

>the subway/wonderland story is the one with the flavor compound transmutation, the food shortage, the rat king, and the warring gods.
>the wandering chef story is the one with the edible rocks/wood, the old asian master, the racist MC, and the healing potion made from an undecided bodily fluid

I'm working on the former, but I'm currently on hiatus because I'm working on some confidence-building exercises that I hope will help me build up momentum and keep me from getting discouraged. I intend to come back to it the saturday after next if all goes well, but I'm not very good at sticking to plans

>>13034247
I don't want to make claims about better or worse, when I haven't read ASOIAF, but since I suspect you're looking for recommendations, here's three great ones that probably won't be mentioned otherwise

>The City of Brass
>The Twelve Kings of Sharakhai
>The Orphan's Tales

>>13034595

The anti worldbuilding crowd dislikes it. Its slow and has some profoundly annoying POV chars. I personally enjoyed it for the deep worldbuilding and magic system, struck a nice balance of high and low fantasy. The first book is pretty derivative and mediocre, I think it shines best immediately after that before slowing down in the middle books.

>>13034712
Im actually finishing knife of dreams.Ive been worrying about the brandon sanderson books hoping he hasn't shit the bed with the last three. Is it a decent ending or is it a huge let down. I wanted to finish before any of the tv show crap starts up but its going to suck if its not good after sinking so much time in it.

>>13034779
I actually felt he did a decent job. The ending fit, I think. I was satisfied, albeit drained since it was something I read as they came out

>>13034595
Read it whole. Nice. Sometimes it drags, as in - not eventfull. Then there are times when it gets mighty spicy.
I recommend it. Its totaly worth it.

And since we are on the topic, red R.E. Feist's Magician. First trilogy is sublime.

>>13033914
>lives in Hawaii
>takes shitloads of drugs
>writes books
He's basically Dick.

>>13029496
Anyone know any good /k/-tier sci-fi that doesn't revolve around the military?

>>13034526
>Better worldbuilding: Foundation Trilogy, Robot books
oh I already knew that
>Space Trilogy
>Faulkner's stories in Yoknapatawpha are vastly better storytelling, though I imagine you meant SF/F.
I'm excludind SF entirely from my query. They don't scratch the same itch for me.
>>13034512
World-building is important BECAUSE it sets of good characters. People/Characters are not just their personalities. Who they are includes where they came from. Having a world with good history, distinct reasons for the world being the way that it is, and believable, interesting stories having happened to have made the world the way it is is what makes ASOIAF unique and is it's greatest strength. It's a significant strength in the SF/F genre and you can't just dismiss it like it means nothing.

It's the same reason you can't appreciate WW1 without also knowing and appreciating 19th century history.

Just finished this.
It's not bad, definitely gets better after the momentum starts, but the whole time it feels like the author cares more about showing off the world he made up than the actual story, if you cut out the chapters that obviously existed for no reason than to show off a tribe with little to no relevance to the overall plot the book would be at least a hundred pages shorter.

>>13035180
World-building is the LEAST important aspect of storytelling. Characters and story come first and in a distant third is world-building. And there is NOTHING unique about ASOIAF's world-building. It's just ripping off Western European history and throwing some dragons in. But I'm not even condemning ASOIAF for having generic world-building because as I said; world-building is the least important part of storytelling. You can have the most generic setting imaginable but still make an amazing story with amazing characters. I just don't understand how people can actually say it's unique and special unless they've never read anything else in their entire lives.

>>13035213
>Characters and story come first
but I just described how, in a fictional universe, world-building is just the context and meaning in which characters and story take place. You can't have good characters in a fantasy world without good world-building, period.
>NOTHING unique about ASOIAF's world-building. It's just ripping off Western European history and throwing some dragons in
what matters is the complexity, believability, and the narrative of the world'ds history. The aesthetic and flavor are the least important parts of world building. It seems like you don't know what you're talking about at all.

What makes ASOIAF interesting is that roberts rebellion is a compelling story. That's a compelling story because of the history of the targaryans and their conquest of westeros. That's a compelling story because of the history of valyria, etc etc.

That's what world-buildng is. World-building isn't "dude some people are immune to dragon fire and dude there be zombies lmao." You have such a tony brain. You are completely unable to expand upon your opinion or delve deeper into explaining it at all.

>>13030577
>she struggled to contain her awesomeness

>>13035238
You are so goddamn stupid. You keep trying to force an argument on me I'm not even trying to make. I've never claimed ASOIAF put world-building ahead of story or characters (even though GRRM definitely is doing that now). But retards like YOU seem to think the fake history of the series is the most important aspect and it isn't. It's the STORY and the CHARACTERS that people like most about ASOIAF. I guess the only reason why some of you seem to be so focused on the pointless world-building NOW is because that's all GRRM has to offer anymore. The story he started is never going to be finished, but hey at least he can go back in history and do a bunch of stuff there that has no bearing on the actual story he'll never finish so that's something, right?

Also ASOIAF's world-building still isn't unique. GRRM took European history and sprinkled some fantasy shit on it and patted himself on the back. It's the same thing every epic fantasy writer has done and damn near every heroic fantasy writer in general really. Just because he goes pointlessly in-depth doesn't make it unique or original.

>>13035238
Think of it like a movie. Say... Alien. Have you seen Alien? 95% of Alien takes place on a spaceship and the other 5% on that alien spaceship they find (world-building). We didn't need to know ANYTHING about those spaceships beyond the service they provided to the characters and the story. The human spaceship was a mining ship and the alien ship was a mystery. Boom. That's it. End of world-building.

>>13035280
the story and the characters and the world-building are the same thing in ASOIAF

>>13035312
I literally watched Alien two days ago again. Alien has fucking exceptional world-building. In fact, it's one of the biggest complaints that plebs throw at the movie. It spend almost half of it's run time before the alien ever kills a person. That first hour of the movie shows us how the nostromo looks, how the characters interact, what life is like for these people in this year, what they each care about, the human attitude at the time towards finding alien life... I mean fuck Alien is the best cinematic example of what I'm trying to say. The story of Ripley being the only survivor of the nostromo is only interesting because the film spent a lot of fucking time making a believable, complex, and interesting WORLD to drop an alien into and fuck things up.

Where should I start with the Culture novels? Player of Games?

>>13035403
Alien works because it weaves the world building into the story, none of it just feels like it's there because the director spent a lot of time daydreaming about it and you're gonna appreciate all those hours god dammit! The story and characters are still the main focus with the world building being the spice, rather than the plot feeling like it was made just because the producer said "sir, this is just a disjointed private wiki"

>>13035414
Start at the beginning like any normal person.

>>13035403
>Alien has fucking exceptional world-building.
I agree, because the world-building is in SERVICE to the characters and story. It wasn't THE story. There's a difference between having a well developed world/setting IN SERVICE to the characters and story, and a well developed world/setting that SUPERSEDES the characters and story. Malazan is horribly guilty of doing this.

>>13033453
yes I'm sure you're VERY gruff and manly ;)

>>13029496
I read starship troopers recently and it went beyond my expectations
I had heard it was different from the movie and somewhat controversial but wow it was excellent
It even made me reconsider my stance on corporal punishment
Although I found the "paddling a puppy" metaphor a bit weak, I dont know anyone who paddles puppies

>>13033914
>>13035077
based hobo writer

What is some xianxia that isn't ABSURDLY LONG?

>>13035702
Cradle?

Are there any other people out there doing actual real reviews (and not the usual "5/5 it had dragons!" genre reviews) of self-published stuff aside from Mark Lawrance's yearly contest? Especially for science fiction.

>>13035961
>reviewing

If ur gonna write so hard in a vain attempt to importance you might as well work on your sf/f novel.

You do have a sf/f novel in the works right?

So...
Is it normal to read Neuromancer beginning to end and have absolute no idea what the fuck happened at pretty much any point?
I mean I can follow a Cormac McCarthy book just fine even with the bizarre prose and lack of punctuation, but I tried to give Neuromancer a go and shit just seems to jump from one scene to the next without anything connecting them and eventually I had no idea what was going on.

I have been going through the Enders Game saga. Just finished Speaker for the Dead. It wasn't really military, but I hear the later books get a lot more action in them like the first

>>13034638
I think it is a decent series. A bit long winded and too wordy, but the world it takes place in is interesting

>>13035702
whats xianxia

>>13036119

>>13032246
no other people make it out they just ended up crazy because they wanted her poosy so badly, that's how her legend spread

>>13034371
>Wrong. What's special about ASOIAF's worldbuilding is that the author actually tried to give his world some sense of history, something you never really see in fantasy, and that's what makes Westeros so rich.

what is Malazan

>>13036232
>what is Malazan

Somehow, even worse than ASoIaF.

>>13036234
has objectively better worldbuilding and has that sense of history in the world, muh potsherds etc

>>13036119
Same here, i couldnt get into it it was so confusing. I guess i'll just stick to low iq books from now on

I have literally never read science fiction. Is Hyperion a good entry into the genre?

>>13035904
Not shit it isn't absurdly long because it isn't even completed yet.

>>13036408
>I have literally never read science fiction. Is Hyperion a good entry into the genre?
It's more of a fantasy series than science fiction, really.

>>13036427
no shit*

>>13036408
Hyperion is very much a Science Fantasy series, that said I found it really enjoyable.
You may have a hard time with the narrative structure of the first book since Simmons wrote it to be some kind of scifi Canterbury Tales.

it's agreed that asoif is objectively terrible right?

>>13034247
>Dune
What makes Dune (series as a whole) better than ASOIAF?
Or are you just a parrot?

>can you guys really name series that are better than it?
Plenty, depending on what you actually want.

>>13036166
Chink power fantasy.
Somebody starts out weak, fights a lot and eventually he starts curbstomping literal gods.

>>13036535
I could never get into it, the style of writing is simply tedious. I felt like I had to following every word slowly because of the overly descriptive sentences and wonky sentence structures. And I'm a guy who feels pleasure from reading Gene Wolfe.

Is Angel Exterminatus the best warhammer 40k book?

>>13036562
not at all, Fulgrim, Horus Rising and first heretic are all better

>>13036559
i just thought it was a mess this guy dies randomly ending his character arc and this subplot you thought was going to be something fizzles to nothing without any closure

>but muh realistic deconstructionist fantasy

>>13036572
Can I just jump straight into those or do I need to read others first?

I'm reading this right now. Holyshit is all I can say.

>>13036572
>>13036562
where should i start with 40k? i played the game but never read any of the books

>>13036586
The books mentioned would be a good place to start.
Also some of the lore videos are really good. The emperor of man: the rise of humanity is a good video, and the channel that uploaded it is fantastic.

>>13036578
Horus rising conviently is the first book, It's best to read the first 4 books in a row which are all good and then you can kinda jump wherever, the first 4 books are like core linear narrative though

>>13036586
books mentioned or Eisenhorn or Gaunts ghosts, pretty accessible

>>13036580
Holy shit in a good way or bad way? The synopsis sounds pretty interesting.

Opinions on Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe?

Are there any books like Daniel Black but without magic? I'm looking for books where someone uses modern knowledge to gain advantage in a less civilised time/world

>>13036535
>objectively terrible
I'd say they are overrated not terrible

>>13036629
I'm enjoying it, but it's edgy as fuck.
Within the first 10 minutes, one of the female characters feels her pussy get wet while thinking of one of the male characters and they explore a tomb where a mad cult impales people on a stone demons cock as a sacrifice to hell. Another character that is introduced is an owner of a brothel and he manipulates clients to suck his cock (i.e. makes rich kids fall into debt in the brothel and then suck his cock to free the debt).
I am only about 12% through it.

The girl felt the words in her chest. In the deepest, darkest place, where the hope children breathe and adults mourn withered and fell away, floating like ashes on the wind.
**
If her face were a puzzle, most would put it back in the box, unfinished.
**
Something had followed her from that place. The place above the music where her father died. Something hungry. A blind, grub consciousness, dreaming of shoulders crowned with translucent wings. And she, who would gift them.

"She introduced her boot to his partner's groin, kicking him hard enough to cripple his unborn children."

WHY DOES WOLFE MAKE UP SO MANY GOD DAMN FUCKIN WORDS REEEEE

Why aren't you reading her books?

>>13036753
Wow, thats neat

>>13036608
watching vid now

NEW THREAD
>>13036840
>>13036840
>>13036840

>>13035414
I feel like I enjoyed Consider Phlebas more because I'd read Use of Weapons and PoG first so probably those 2. Not really important desu.