/lit/ - Literature

>>13218759

What are the essential litRPG books? I want to get into them.

>>13218983
see>>13218931

>>13218983
the best way to "get into" litRPG books is to throw them in a burn barrel.

>>13218759

My first true blue scifi short story would be Faith of our Fathers, where good old Dick made sure to include tripping the fuck out as a political and philosophical dimension

Is the Last Question the greatest sci-fi short story ever written?

Jompkonny wrestled the Grandinglian interloper to the floor.The human and financial resources claimed by such projects would be
better devoted to the ongoing project of helping faculty access the cultural
legacy. Even now, a variety of possibilities exists.

>>13218983
Try reading the previous threads before asking the same old questions. For example >>13201016 lists some of the usual suggestions.

>>13218996
I enjoyed it a lot.
If you liked the Last Question read Star by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentle Seduction by Marc Steigler which I've already shilled a few times here.

I've been reading Ted Chiangs short stories which are pretty good, so far i've liked Story of your life, Evolution of human science and Liking what you see the most

Catfag, if you're still around, I've got a short story for you. Not exactly catgirls...but you'll see.

The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

>>13218720
Honestly the whole thing kind of angers me. Hobb spends so long developing fitz and helping him move on from his pain and realizing what he wanted was always just a dream of days gone by that he could never have. Fitz would never have a normal life to take care of someone like that, and though it takes a long time I thought he came to terms with that in the second trilogy and it felt great to see him grow and actually accept his life without regrets or jealousy.

And then Hobb takes a big fat shit all over it killing off a good man for no reason just so Fitz can have his happy "end" for a few years and goes right back to it.

In short, Kettricken would have been the perfect match for him and Molly is a nasty little harlot that irreperably destroyed the poor lad's heart only to give an "oh" when she learns all he went through

>>13219234
Yeah, it piss me off as well. Knocking off Burrich just so Fitz could have his childhood sweetheart, who he should have moved on from. I mean, what was the point of hinting that he and Kettricken would make a good couple if you're not gonna set them up? I might have been okay with them not gettinng together if it'd been made clear that it was a proper fuck-up on Fitz's part, or a "what could have been" thing, but no.
Get sweetheart, knock her up then have her die after pumpming out a kid. Have a disappointing final trilogy that spends half the time spinning its wheels and has a fucking garbage ending that relied on Fitz being a fucking retard.
Fucking hell.

>>13218759
Stanislaw Lem's short stories are amazing, especially the ones featuring either Pirx the pilot or Ijon Tichy as the protagonist. Star Diaries is probably my favorite short story collection.

DISCUSSION TIME

>Did you like the book?
>Wolfe is usually heavy on theme and allegory, what did any of it actually mean? (Story as a whole or individual characters)
>What was the point of the tale our protagonist told Tina?
>Was any of it real?
>What is (true) love? Baby don't hurt me
Feel free to ask your own questions, reply to each other and continue the discussion in coming threads.

Link to an analysis by some guy: https://pastebin.com/cPiyiLHD

Also, don't forget to reply to this post with nominations for next months reading! You may nominate any book but shorter, stand-alone works will be favoured.

>fell for the foundation meme

lol this nigga is autistic this is boring

>>13218931
Her other series is great too.

>>13219480
it would be boring if you had no brain.

>>13219584
She's really cornered the idiot teenage girl market, huh?
From what I've seen, even other teenage girls are smart enough to realise how shit her stuff is.

>>13218931
>>13219584
which one is the smut?

>>13219480
Behold, an actual retard, in this very thread!

>>13218931
>>13219584
Why a fantasy titles so unattractive?

>>13219605
*Why are fantasy titles so unattractive?

>>13219592
>teenage girl
While they're marketed as YA, I don't really think they're appropriate for young teenagers.

>how shit
The Throne of Glass series has a 4.42 avg rating on Goodreads.
A Court of Thorns and Roses has a 4.40 avg rating on Goodreads.
How's that shit?

>>13219598
Neither, unless you think Malazan (as an example) is also smut. In that case both are smut.

Sarah's list of read books is a bit of a rollercoaster.
Her taste is good enough to recognize the classics* and rate them accordingly, but then half her list is populated with trash.
Also a lot of McKillip who is quite a talented writer.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2503402?shelf=read&sort=rating
*I'll just forgive her for rating Picture of Dorian Gray a 3.

>>13219608
titles, or covers? I'm guessig covers, but eh
>titles
because people think they need fancy titles that are fantasy-like
>covers
cover artists are shite

>>13219428
Give me specific names for the stories anon and pick the one or two you liked most.

>>13219660
>The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)
>1 star
Unironically based

>>13219584
I know tweenage girls with better taste than this autist.

>>13219472
I didn't hate it but I didn't "get" it at all. Then I read the pastebin analysis and still didn't get it at all. Maybe Wolfe just isn't for me, because I don't really care about theme and allegory.
For one thing I've always been mystified by the purpose of a story that mostly happens in a character's imagination. Fiction is already non-real, so it seems pointless to make the distinction.

Given that, I'm not sure what else to say. It's a bizarre, disjointed story that didn't mean anything to me. Just like my isekai animu. Tina a cute and a best.

>>13219639
>The Throne of Glass series has a 4.42 avg rating on Goodreads.
>A Court of Thorns and Roses has a 4.40 avg rating on Goodreads.
That shit huh

What's some good portal fantasy? I don't mind if it's litRPG-y or written by chinks, but I'd prefer it if it wasn't.

>>13219681
Wandering Inn

>>13219472
Tigana

What book has the best brownfu?

>>13219688
Probably too long for some but I'd also like this

Lady Elyssa Yamato Amaterasu Wentworth is a seven-hundred-year-old vampire in need of a new servant-- now more than ever as she's suffering the signs of a mysterious ailment that threatens to consume her. As a gift she's been give Jacob, an extraordinary physical specimen, but all wrong when it comes to being...used. A total alpha male, he's not accustomed to submitting to any woman's wishes.
Elyssa soon learns that what really binds Jacob to her are not her sensual midnight hungers, but something far more provocative. It stirs her blood, renews her life, and awakens her soul like only true love can. And the passion between Elyssa and Jacob is about to yield something else unexpected--a shared history that reaches back through the centuries and is fated to challenge their destiny like nothing ever will again...

>>13219714
shitty slef-pub or web serial?

>>13219662
Aside from the stories in "The Cyberiad", they're all named "Voyage #", but one of my favorite voyages with Ijon Tichy is from The Star Diaries: The seventh voyage, in which he finds himself stuck in a time-loop and must work with/against his past and future self in order to escape.

>>13219472
Hot take: The main point of Fanny, as the name hints, was her vagina. She's only there to show of the desperation of women in the other place. Also she's best girl.

>Did you like the book
Kinda. There was many parts that did seem kinda pointless, but knowing Wolfe I'd probably get it after a reread or two. I did actually reread the first chapter after I finished the book and it read really different, throwaway comments suddenly held great importance.
>Was any of it real?
Not that it matters but I think that it was all in his head.

>>13219728
>>13219472
Forgot to leave a nomination, I want to read Lord of Light.

>>13219720
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1285704.The_Vampire_Queen_s_Servant

>>13219740
>Berkley Books
>part of the goddamn Penguin Group
N-nani?!
I guess it's just erotica, in the end, but Jesus, who knew?
Also:
>woman called Joey

Anyone read Octavia Butlers work? How is it? Don't want to just buy one because I'm worried it's just yanks going on about racism again.

>>13219827
>Doesn't know about Joey
>Someone didn't watch the great show ever made for television

>>13219848
I thought Kindred was good. It does go on about racism, becuase it's about a time-travelling black woman forced back and forth between her home with her white husband and the plantation her ancestor was, uh, working at, but it wasn't egregious.
She saves the life of the plantation owner's son when he was a kid, and gets thrown ino different parts of his life and tries to mould him into better, kinder-to-slaves man.

Anybody know of any more masterpieces like these?

>>13219886
His short stories are better.

>>13219890
Recommendations? I tried reading some of his other work and it didn't envelope me anywhere near as much as this series can repeatedly.

>>13219886
never read them, please educate me

>>13219896
Strange relations.

>>13219896

>>13219898
resurrection of entire civilizations spanning the history of earth all at once - mostly historic individuals - all at once in a long river valley by higher beings, just start at book 1 it's not long

>>13219911
>>13219913
thanks

Are there any fantasy books like this ?

>>13219936
Like Twilight Princess in what way? Werewolf protag? Generic Hero's Journey?

>>13219688
I'd ALSO like this one, as I've already started and I'm captivated enough to go very smoothly through the pages. Intrigue and political strife is what I enjoy in fantasy book, more than battles and a million elf-based fantasy races.

>>13220153
You should try Kay's other works, though a lot of /sffg/ looks down on them for being only minorly fantasy - they're mostly set in one universe that's essentially our own. It's got slightly different geography and all the names changed (Christians are Jaddites, Rome is Rhodias, Byzantium is Sarantium), plus a minor bit of magic, like a pagan god, or a character hosting their ancestor inside them that can manipulate the physical world slightly.

>>13219115
Ted Chiang is reddit. You must go deeper. Start with Lord Dunsany

why are elves so overused when an author goes to make a fantasy race for their stories? They seem to cram them everywhere and for everything, not just give them the role Tolkien did.

NELSON
I know you're lurking here shilling Waldo Rabbit.
Whens the next anarchy coming its been a while and the 3 chapters on your fictionpress page are a fucking tease.
Anarchy 2 when?
Waldo Rabbit 5 when?

>>13220283
well elves come from various types of european mythology

Second Variety and faith of our fathers by pkd

>>13220306
I was whining about LOTR-inspired elves, to be more precise - why the fuck do people shove them in whenever they need some non-human race?

>>13219885
Might give that one a go then. Thanks.

>>13220300
seconding that WR comment
I fell for the shilling
they're not amazing or anything, but decent popcorn reads

>>13219472
Man there is a lot to unpack for this novel and it doesn't help that it was my first Wolfe novel.
>Did you like the book?
Mixed on this. The best parts were the first 100 pages and the last 100 pages with the unfortunate slog being the mental institution arc which held the most answers for the puzzles scattered throughout the book. I didn't really understand the Joe Bazooka arc, I mean how are Walsh and North the part of Green's psyche?
>Wolfe is usually heavy on theme and allegory, what did any of it actually mean? (Story as a whole or individual characters)
I think Wolfe was talking about the absurd nature of love and how it varies from species to species so that ordinary men to can seen as valued commodities but I do think that's a very simple and predictable interpretation and something that autistanon covered pretty well on his blogpost. A slightly more interesting (imo) thought would be about one's nature with the Universe and how the different people present in one world can create a wholly unique culture. The first (or second chapter) where he goes to the shop to look for maps and he finds locations to reach Heaven, Hell and Disneyland could be a reference to Green living in a hyper-realistic world. But I think Wolfe suggests that worrying whether the world is real or not doesn't really matter. What matters whether you will feel fulfilled and in the end Green makes it his life mission to chase after Lara. I do think the world where Lara lives is the imagined one where noticeable elements that our MC takes from his own world embellishes the fictional world (think about the WC and the guy who takes him to the hospital on Dr. Nilson's orders.
>What was the point of the tale our protagonist told Tina?
I may be way off than what Wolfe intended the tale to mean but I believe it was about being honest to yourself. Either that or about the importance of trust and companionship between two people can lead a rewarding life. But here's where I get confused because in the Bible, Joseph is the son of Jacob and was sold by his brothers to slavers only to become power and soon forgive his brothers for their "mistake", so I assume there is something important I'm missing.

Cont.

>>13220375
>What is (true) love?
Whatever it is we definitely didn't read about it in this book. After finishing the book I thought this was a pretty strange for a love story but after thinking about it for sometime I've realized that Green was nothing more than an infatuation for Lara and that she isn't being very honest with him. Maybe I'm just projecting because of how Wolfe wrote women in his book and took this to be a puzzle. One interesting thing would be the juxtaposition between the Abrahamic and Paganism-related religions so there might be something there that warrants a second look
Also I just wanted to put this out there but the Protagonist is definitely abnormal. I mean he has suppressed all his negative emotions and only sees time in two seasons (winter and spring). Not to mention the debatable part of whether or not he actually has some mental illness.

>>13220383
Oh yeah almost forgot to nominate but Zero K would be pretty cool for discussion purposes. Though Tigana looks cool and more Zelazny is always welcome.

>>13219472
Good Omens

>>13219472
>>13219688
fourth for Tigana

>>13220526
You people realize that these are just nominations right? Doesn't matter if you nominate something once or if you do it 10 times.
Voting on the nominations, which will take place in the next thread is what will decide the winner.

Mother & Daughter by Philip José Farmer

>>13220540
I don't know about any of the others, but I sure didn't.

>>13219970
Just like a Zelda feel to it
Anything honestly that's similar,shoot

>>13220562
Strange Relations has all his good stories.

>>13219584
is that sansa?

>>13219127
Alright, thanks.
https://archive.org/details/thegameofratandd29614gut
Putting this on the ereader right now :3

>>13219681
Three Hearts and three Lions by Poul Anderson

>>13219352
>I might have been okay with them not gettinng together if it'd been made clear that it was a proper fuck-up on Fitz's part, or a "what could have been" thing, but no.

The sad thing is that would have been fine in the context of fitz's character. It's clear that he's constantly projecting his own low ugly view of himself onto other's opinions of him, and it's very obvious that Kettricken's supposed "loyalty" to Verity, a man she barely knew, is the same thing. It's just Fitz projecting his own loyalty to Verity and also his ridiculous oneitis for Molly onto others and letting that frame his relationship and what he thinks are their perceptions as him.

But the problem is that Fitz should have never been rewarded with Molly after all of that. It should have been his time truly let go and grow past it, to drop his pessimistic and untrusting view of people, and see himself as they truly see him. Intead Hobb saw fit to give him everything he ever wanted and justified all of those negative emotions he carries from his life of abuse and kills Burrich to do it. It just seems so backwards compared to everything else she writes that I can't understand it.

>>13219584
I would not be caught dead reading these as a grown ass man

>>13219660
>Oedipus Rex
>5 stars
Fucking based
>Eye of the World
>1 star
>Dune
>2 stars
Jordan and Herbert BTFO

>>13220821
>>Dune
>>2 stars
>Jordan and Herbert BTFO
This but unironically

>>13219660
>all these one and two star ratings of sacred cows
If this isn't the definition of based I don't know what is.

did you guys read all the black company books available? just finished Dreams of Steel and I think I'm moving on to another series. it was a good enough conclusion imo.

>>13219127
>>13220733
;_;

>>13220942
I did. Soldiers Live is great. But fair enough, man.

>>13220383
>Not to mention the debatable part of whether or not he actually has some mental illness
Is that really debatable? Even leaving Lara and her world out of the equation he have had earlier episodes. And to build on the whole magic/fae land theme, it is not an uncommon idea that people with various mental illnesses have an easier time connecting to "the other side".

>>13219660
>The Old Man and the Sea
>5 stars
wtf /lit/ told me only men could like this book

>>13220980
is it? fuck.. maybe I'll return to it one day. I'll miss those guys tho, even if I liked the old band better, back when they were in the north.

>>13220300
>Waldo Rabbit 5 when?
What? The fourth is out?
Welp. Now i now what im doing this weekend.

>>13220220
>got slightly different geography and all the names changed (Christians are Jaddites, Rome is Rhodias, Byzantium is Sarantium), plus a minor bit of magic, like a pagan god, or a character hosting their ancestor inside them that can manipulate the physical world slightly
aka boring trite

>>13220331
Because dnd

Why are the hobb anons shitting up the general with their misery porn novel?
I don't want any of your fucking feels.

>>13221561
what's non boring sff for you then? Do share for us, the common rabble.

>>13221778
Look, reality with glimpses of the magical is boring shit,

>>13220821
>>13220921
>>13221294
The perfect woman doesn't exi...

>>13221992
...st.

>>13220942
i've read books of the north + the silver spike. i plan on returning for the others

>>13219127
Cordwainer Smith introduced catgirls to the Western world. The Ballad of Lost C'Mell is Patient Zero of Anglophone catgirlism.

>>13222166
>Cordwainer Smith introduced catgirls to the Western world
what a weeb

>>13221992
5/10 at best

>>13222166
Well, damn. I feel like I've inadvertently stumbled onto a piece of lost piece history of significance while reading random old short stories.

>>13218759
Any books that are about a guy who is the last man on earth but his life is somewhat comfy?

>>13218759
Is there an official smut chart or list somewhere, I need inspiration for my own smut I am writing.

>>13219127
>>13222166
Cordwainer Smith was unironically a weeb,his novel Norstrilia is a scifi version of Journey to the West and it's great

>>13220653
Not sure about Twilight Princess, but if you like Wind Waker, you should read A Wizard of Earthsea.

>>13221992
Mommy!

Fuuuck me man... jeez I'm feeling so drained and tired. It's been such a rollercoaster. I just finished Tigana like 2 minutes ago and although the ending was happy, I don't even want to think about whom of the 3 men dies, whom is blessed and who'se life forks.

>>13222605

For all my audiobook niggas out there: How do you feel about John Lee?

>>13222790
Sounds like a faggot.

>>13221894
Well shit, l I am forced to agree with you. I do enjoy balls to the wall magic and obvious fantasy elements.
It's a shame that most modern writers shy away from these elements of the story and seem to always ground the problems in "reality". The villain is a guy, not a monster. The world problems are racism and oppression and poverty, never a bunch of powerful wizards experimenting, threading too close to powers that would end the world. The solution to problems is always diplomacy or physical violence or friendship or unity, never a battle of pure sorcery. The protagonist is always an everyman or rooted into a real character, never an actual magician or fantastic creature in his prime.

Which is why I'm working hard as fuck at my own unapologetically fantasy novel. Already about 100k words in, fuck.

>>13218983
Why in the shit would you do that

>>13219660
>Blind Man with a Pistol
Holy...BASED

that scene in in clash of kings where pia gets locked up in a pillory turned me on, what should I read?

>>13222941
https://exhentai.org/g/518595/245cd4b1a9/

>>13222953
already had that favorited

>>13222643
>>13222217
>Weeb
Cordwainer Smith aka. Col. Paul Linebarger was a pre-WW2 "China Hand" and fluent in Mandarin. What I'm saying is yes.

Can I get a recommendation on a well written, uplifting sci-fi adventure? It doesn't have to be philosophical or intricate or off the wall, just fun to read and well written. Even something for younger people would be great. I'm plagued by difficult things IRL and I have Blood Meridian next in line but I want to read something lighthearted first.
I really liked Children of Time but I want to see if there's something else before buying the next in the series.

What are some books I can jerk off to

>>13218983
I really need to make my litrpg and Amazon self published charts. Too damn lazy.

fantasy > sci fi

>>13223043
Until then...

>>13223037

I read Vance and I feel like he's winking at me the whole time, making me know that he's writing genre and is fully aware of it.

>>13220283
elves are sexy

>>13223062
god fantasy titles and covers are so fucking offputting
I love reading them and know it's all just lowest common denominator marketing but this shit is just embarrassing

>>13223062
I've only read cradle and really enjoyed it. Are any of those at least as good as cradle?

>>13223195
It doesn't help that most titles are lacking in originality as well.

>>13223247
Cradle is the top tier of self pub. Just got to dig around until you find stuff you like.

>>13219660
McKillip is a great writer, Maas is a shite writer.

What does /sffg/ think about this publishing house?

>>13223619
some of the biggest money grubbing jews out there. But them and overlook are all we got.

>>13223619
based

>>13219472

Nominating Vermillion Sands, by Ballard. In keeping with the thread theme.

If shorts are no good, then A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham.

>>13222796

Good stuff m8, keep soldiering on

guys, I heard the witcher books translation is really shit, is it even worth the read?

>>13223619
They promote neo-liberalism out the ass, but they are one of the few publishers out there.

>>13223619
Buy Baen instead

>>13218759
Just finished the first book of black company, really enjoyed it but its not a hooking book by any stretch of the imagination. Its quick and to the point and the prose is good, Croake cowardice and Raven edgness can get a little tiresome though.

Also Catcher and Whisper a cute! A CUTE.

>>13218931
Are they good or not? They look like female salvatore.

>>13218759
Divided by Infinity by Robert Charles Wilson is one of the few solid-gold stories I've ever found in those "Best of the Year" anthologies - it still freaks me out to think about today.

>>13223822
It's YA, so no they're not good.

>>13223822
No they’re not.

>>13223834
YA is such a bs definition, other day saw black company and snow crash under YA.

>>13219472
Exhalation, Ted Chiang

>>13221283
That's the thing, I don't trust Green enough to know that he may or may not be being honest with me. I mean in the book he doesn't talk about his feelings very much save for a paragraph concerning Sheng and North's death and the guilt he feels, but then near the end we see him breakdown crying "for no reason at all". Not to mention the fact that he only spends a month in the Hospital which he uses as the basis for the mental institution. I mean if he was really sick in the mind that he would either be out on the streets or locked up in the loony bin. I think Green is purposely fully omitting details that makes it seem like something is wrong with him but deep down he's concocting a fantasy that he knows isn't real. I don't know what the fuck I just read, kinda felt like meaningless jibber jabber.

>>13223062
>no sci-fi, only fantashit
*yawn*

>>13219127
Read this in a magazine once, this was a weird one

>>13224003
scifi self pub is honestly some of the worst shit out there

In the mountains of MADE UP GIBBERISH there is an MADE UP GIBBERISH with big claws that eats copious ammounts of MADE UP GIBBERISH

>>13224003
>Reading modern scifi

>>13224058
You're no fun

>see some anon list divine dungeon as one of the upper-tier litrpg series
>try it out
>writing is shit, character names are shit, it's very "anime"
seriously, people call sanderson anime, but this shit makes him look far more grounded in comparison
if this is the best litrpgs offer, I'm out

>>13223776
I’m reading the second short story collection and keep wanting to fall asleep. Don’t think n I’ll go any further.

>>13223145
Hey, this book wasn't half-bad
Re-reading the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant and enjoying them even more the 2nd time around.

>>13224575
The Second Chronicles were my favourite - felt a bit let down by the quadrilogy, honestly.

>>13224612
Really? Second Chronicles just seemed like Generic Fantasy Product after the first trilogy.

I've heard nothing good about the Final Chronicles and haven't read them

>>13224619
Yeah, it's far less... colourful than the OT, but I like it more, for whaever reason.
Mmm, the last set isn't great, and breaks the lore a bit.
>Linden gets time-travelled to Berek's era, and they speak the same language as later eras, despite it being noted to be a different language in previous books
>The Haruchai become semi-tyrannical magic-hating overlords of the Land, and it claims it's all because Covenant didn't instruct them to protect the idea of the Land and teach people... which he did, Donaldson, you stupid hack:
“I want you to stay here. In Revelstone. With as many of your people as you can get. For two reasons. To take care of the wounded. The Land's going to need them. It's going to need every man or woman who can possibly be persuaded to face the future. And to protect the city. This is Revelstone, Lord's Keep. It belongs to the Land- not to Corruption or Ravers. I want it safe. So the future will have a place to centre. A place where people can come to learn about the past- and see what the Land means- and make plans. A place of defence. A place of hope. You've already given me everything Banner promised and more. But I want you to do this, too. For me. And for yourselves. Here you can serve something that isn't going to fail you.”

>>13224058
gee, it's almost like you're reading science fiction or fantasy. dumbass

>>13224058
Is this your first time reading a book?

>>13224058
What would you prefer?

I'm been playing Cultist Simulator lately and I'm looking for books with similar themes (cults, art and dreaming leading to madness/higher state of consciousness etc.)

>>13224775
you mean...besides lovecraft right?

>>13224778
Yes, but feel free to recommended some of his stories if they really do fit the theme, I don't think I've read all of his work.

>>13223796

>>13224775
I haven't read it but a buddy I talk about Cultist Simulator with recommended The Athenian Murders for that feel

Also Laird Barron's stories

>>13224941
>The Athenian Murders
Thanks for the suggestion, this one seems really intriguing.

>>13224118

>>13224761

>>13224762
Im just trollin, this is my 6th time reading this book. Still love it.
>>13224773
It obviously suffers from a bit of disconnect per chapter considering jack is a pulpish writter. It zooms from set peice to set peice crazy fast but that was the format of the times. Fritz Leiber did it better imo.

>>13225148
>Im just trollin
(you)

>>13224058
It's criticism that have some merit. In general I hate authors name dropping loads of shit without further explanation (first chapters in Locke Lamora and Way of Kings come to mind) but I think Vance makes it work. The whole writing style is built around the absurd and impossible to understand world, with all it's strange names and occurrences.

>>13224933

>>13224673
>>13224619
>>13224612
>>13224575
>reading Thomas Covenant
>reading Donaldson

>Robert Jordan was an incel

>Liu Enze stopped smiling and ordered loudly, “This person is definitely still nearby. Shatter all the trees within five hundred meters! Spare none of them!”

Noooooooo

>>13225652
He was military. Army wives are one hell of a drug.

>>13225577
what should I read instead?

>>13225732
So many books recently with tree bashing, and you choose now to return, treehugging anon?

Just read Range of Ghosts and I'm honestly not sure what to make of it.
Bear's a fantastic worldbuilder and an absolutely wonderful descriptive writer but the plot of the novel was remarkably generic and pedestrian in its beats being very much just a LotR style journey from place to place.
Characterisation is also a bit strange, most of the core cast are interesting characters but then you have the mute monk, the antagonists and the captive who are all one note fairly generic sketches.
Even the subversion/twist the novel pulls is common enough that I was actually waiting for it to happen.

Gonna keep reading because I'm kind of interested now to see if the writer develops at all since the good writing in this book was miles above what you see in most similar fantasy.

>>13225652
Jordan was a heavy believer in the general idea of men being from Mars and women from Venus. Which is why his characters are incapable of understanding each other and why his females, and sometimes males, are often so exaggerated.

Is a song of ice and fire worth reading? I watched the show, loved it and the last season ruined everything.

Should I wait for it to be finished (lol)?

>>13226088
If you're the sort of brainlet who thinks season 8 was the one that ruined everything then yeah go ahead.

>>13219689
I too, need an answer to this question

>>13225861
Get ready for an awful third book.

>>13226088
>Should I wait for it to be finished (lol)?
Unironically yes. There's no point in spending all that time reading an unfinished series.

>>13226088
Read Dunk & Egg

>>13225652
>>13225733
>>13225940
Didn't he say all his female characters were based on his wife? Must be a hell of a woman

Is this /sffg/ approved?

>>13226382
yes, /sffg/ considers it good
not by me, though, because I'm not a commie fan and as such haven't read it

>>13225442
Ehm, You don't get to bring friends

>>13226382
It's a somewhat simplistic Young Adult power fantasy.

So now that we've outed Sanderson as a sjw, who is our new favorite author? who do we like?

Would it be better to start with Solaris or Lem's short stories? I might pick up something by him over the week but Solaris seems more accessible. What are the chances it goes out of print again like the previous edition?

>>13226666

Wolfe.

What’s the next best fantasy series after Asoiaf, all Toikens books and WOT?

>>13222796
Prolly gay as fuck but i can admire your passion private

>>13222796
Books for the feel of that image?

>>13226888
>putting GRRM and Jordan on the same level as Tolkien
Neck yourself

>>13226888
Bakker

>>13226888
Eragon

>>13226888

I think they'll try and shill Gormenghast but it won't reach the same peak of popularity as Ice and Fire or Lord of the Rings. Gaiman also has a really quirky writing style which I don't think suits the tone of the books at all so no idea how his movie is going to turn out.

>>13226888
Hello newfriend, welcome to the Science Fiction and Fantasy General.

Even though Wolfe fags try to pretend otherwise there has never been nor will there ever be a consensus here on the best series or author as the term best is heavily subjective.

You'll just have to read and read and then read some more to find YOUR best fantasy series which is all that matters in the end.

You can start with a series from the charts in the OP that seems interesting or just anything that gets name dropped here really, even the worst ones usually have their upsides. Except for books written by Brent Weeks who is a brain damaged toad whose writing you should avoid at all costs.

>>13227000
Checked
Someone pay Tyrone to say the lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgHNtzxO0y8

>>13227000
>Except for books written by Brent Weeks who is a brain damaged toad whose writing you should avoid at all costs
Based

For the retard that said the first black company book had no sequel bait go fuck yourself.

>>13227186
>he fell for the epic fantasy bait
kek

Y'all ever read this shit/anything from this series? It's whacky

>starts off with a wealthy military man courting a widow
*flips back to cover* Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?
>military man talks about how a clone was made of him for the purpose of assassinating and then replacing him, but then they adopted the clone and now he's in therapy and goes to college
Ok-k-k-k-k...
>Now the widow has joined the clone brother's bug tofu company that he runs out of the basement
...

I've never read anything in this series or by this author and apparently this is the fourth or fifth book in the series, and holy shit I'm in love with it. The romance is starting to get really... cute? And it's just so well written...

>>13219886
The Fate franchise, but that's some chink stuff so if that bothers you, you are fucked

>>13225577
>He doesn't like the Chronicles of Lonely and Horny man:The Unbeliever

>>13226911
Unironically Book of the New Sun

Hello lads and ladies,

I need a new book series to start reading. Needs to be at least 3 books long and no cap on overall length.

I've read through the following though this is by no means an extensive list of all I've read.

>Black Company
>Dune Series
>Hyperion Cantos
>The Braided Path
>Malazan Book of the Fallen
>Honorverse
>Wheel of Time
>Ring World Series
>The Nightside Series
>Stormlight Archive

Please try to think of something based off this list you think I haven't read yet, scifi or fantasy is fine I enjoy both equally. Keep that YA shit away though.

>>13227466

Maybe Night's Dawn Trilogy? Seems very underrated

>>13226911
Michael Moorcock

>>13227398
Vorkosigan saga is pretty based,comfy AND cute,i love every single female character in that series.

>>13227466
Memory,Sorrow and Thorn

>>13227476
Seems interesting, I'll give it a read

keep the recommendations coming people, these won't keep me busy for long.

>>13227398
The entire series is incredible, it's peak space opera. The writer is a full fledged lefty but her writing is from a different era when it was less about preaching and more about showing ideas, testing them, even presenting counter points and leaving it to the readers to make up their own minds.

The book you're reading and the one before that are the only romance books in the series and yep, they're both hilariously adorable and I'm saying that as someone that usually loathes romance books with a vitriolic passion.

In particular, that dinner scene with bug butter and the mad scientist had me clutching my sides.

>>13219472
In honor of the thread theme, I nominate Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by the lady James Tiptree Jr

>>13227466
If you're looking for quality your list should look like this:
>Dune, first four books
>Hyperion, first two books
>Ringworld, first book

>>13227466
Alastair Reynolds

>>13227466
Broken empire
Book of prophecies.

Was wondering how that Sam Sykes guy seems to have insinuated himself into the circle of contemporary fantasy authors who keep sucking eachothers dicks in cover blurbs (and shows up in anthologies with well known writers), when I'd never heard of any of his stuff. Then I find out his mom is the woman who wrote the Outlander books. Suddenly everything makes sense, though it makes an utter joke of his political stance on Twitter given that he's the very definition of the "privileged mediocre white manchild" his circle complains about.

>>13227466
Prince of nothing

>>13227503
Hell yea, I'm super excited to read the rest of the series now. Any reccomendations of where I should start next? Probably just at the beginning? I currently already have in my possession The Vor Game and Borders of Infinity, so I was just gonna read those next.

A little bummed that I spoiled the whole clone thing for myself when I do go back and read it, but it was worth it for the experience of going into this book blind (I don't even like to read back covers anymore)

>>13227466
Read Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, and read it in the order Left Hand of Darkness, Planet of Exile, Rocannon's World, ... with reading The Dispossessed being last

Ok? Cool.

>>13226382
I dropped it 20% in

Most of my taste in fantasy comes directly from my dad, who introduced me to Tad Williams, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen Donaldson, Piers Anthony, and similar authors most of whom started writing in the 70s and 80s.

I almost never see any of them actually discussed here. The only contemporary fantasy I've read (not written by any of the previously mentioned authors) is ASOIAF and The Poppy War.

Are Sanderson, Roth, and Bakker as good as the boomer fantasy authors? Where else would I start with zoomer fantasy?

>>13228041
>the poppy war
Visible disgust

>>13228041
Bakker is decent but those earlier authors are much better overall because they are good writers who just happen to write fantasy. There are good writers today but /sffg/ almost never mentions them except for maybe Hobb.

>>13228079
The only people who dislike The Poppy War are those that have never read it except for the description.

>>13228091
Please do mention them then. Be the change you want to see, name a few and why you like them.

>>13218759
>>Post your favorite short stories
pic related. Now go ahead and learn french.

>>13228091
>hobb

I don’t think so Jim. What a piece of shit series that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

>>13228120
People like Jacqueline Carey, Josiah Bancroft and Patricia Mckillip come to mind because of their prose.

>>13228041
Mark lawrence.

Today I finished Edge of Eons, a self-published diamond dozen Western wuxia-type deal. It had well writing in some parts, other parts were trope-y (one character always has a grin, etc.) but the main character is written well enough. The story involves a police officer getting killed and isekai'd to Eon, a world of cultivation due to a dragon god calling in people from "other realms" to fight for him. The story is definitely average, and gets better as it goes along but plateaus. The finale isn't too bad and the epilogue is nice (very short PoV from the town MC & Friends are traveling to of another police officer MC knew who randomly disappeared years previously).

https://www.amazon.com/Edge-Eons-Cultivation-Novel-Archives-ebook/dp/B07R5JK32T

What should I read while waiting for book 4 in the "Stormlight Archive" series?
Havent rly read many other books then by brandon sanderson...

>>13228041
>Are Sanderson, Roth, and Bakker as good as the boomer fantasy authors?
No

>>13227907
you should read them in chronological order (not publication) and not in the willy nilly order you are doing right now

Give me some fresh self published books that aren't on any charts or posted before.

>Michael Cisco: I find I’m often compared to Gene Wolfe; those comparisons were what caused me to begin reading his work, and I still don’t see the resemblance all that clearly. I think that, if our work is similar, it’s because we’re both indifferent to the usual snobbish distinctions between genre and “good” literature. Our fields of literary familiarity are, however, generally if not exclusively discrete.

>The text doesn’t contain meaning like a box, it’s a machine for producing meaning when read. The writing doesn’t correspond to anything, or it doesn’t get its value or importance chiefly from correspondances; the writing is something or does something. I write for the most part in the present tense because I am not relating or pretending to relate anything that has happened, I’m making something happen for the reader, which happens only as it is read and in the reading.

>I take a great deal of care with everything I write, and I try to make every choice significant and meaningful, so my style is dense. My favorite books easily sustain rereading, although that often is a matter of enjoyment. I don’t want to write works that need to be laboriously deciphered, but I am addicted to a kind of riddling in my work.

https://bookspotcentral.com/interview-michael-cisco/
My feelings on wolfe exactly. His narrative style is one of his weak points, not strengths.

>>13227466
Lahnkmar series

Any recent works where humanity repels an alien invasion and then does the right thing and finish the job? Too much stuff these days goes the pussy faggot route of promoting forgiveness or some other gay shit.

>>13229176
Sorry anon. Rainbow haired she twinks run the industry now

>>13228041
Based fantasy dad. My dad also got me into tad Williams etc. He's got a new Osten Ard series iirc, waiting for it to finish so I can binge it and tell the old man how it goes (he doesn't read anymore, bad eyes)

>>13225148
>i was merely pretending to be retarded

>>13228097
I was disappointed by the ending, desu

>>13229677
In what way?

>>13219660
>terrible taste
>shits out terrible books

>>13229283
>Renly

Anyone played Pillars of Eternity 2? Is it just me or is the cover of this book that maze in one of the Wael temples in the game? It even has an eye in the middle.

>>13230074
games are for dumbfucks

>>13230078
Kill self

>>13230083
no u come here and do it yourself

>>13230074
Yeah it definitely is, but it's also not an uncommon motif, Wael wasn't exactly the most original character.

>>13228209
>read them in chronological order (not publication)
This has never been true of any piece of media ever

>>13227907
http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-vorkosigan-saga-reading-order.html

Follow the ideal reading order on this page, you can skip Cordelia's 2 books at the beginning and jump directly into Miles' first book (Warriors Apprentice) if you want. They're worth reading though even if they're different from the Miles books.

>>13228097
fug off newfag. Poppy War has been trashed around here by a number of people who've read it, including me.

What the fuck is there even to like, the first half is essentially off the shelf generic, bang average magic school crap and the second half takes a hard 90 turn into grim derp territory without any warning. Wow how original, Magic School AND Grim Derp in one book? Hold all the awards!

There's like 10 pages of describing the horrors of war
>mhmm, war bad, ok?
which sends retards like you into rapture with the brutality of the depiction and then we move onto the fem MC eye fucking her mysterious, cool, handsome crush at every opportunity for the reminder of the book. And of course then there's a love triangle forming, what trashy YA romance doesn't need one?
>b-but she's so conflicted...

You should hang yourself pronto for not only thinking it's a good book but also for being unable to comprehend why others might not share your shit taste.

>>13230220
except when it is the recommended reading order by the author, which the vorkosigan series is one of

>>13219885
That sounds kind of cool.

>>13226911
The Dilvish books or Madwand/Changeling

>>13226580
Beats by doctor Pavel?

>>13230286
>b-but she's so conflicted
The author based the protagonist on Mao Zedong. She spends the entire book telling her wise mentor that all she cares about is the power to defeat her enemies. The book goes out of its way to tell you that Rin is absolutely fucking insane and you're not supposed to empathize with her.

>>13230074
I wanted to but I have heard nothing but bad things regarding the story. Shame because I enjoyed the first game.

>>13218759
Is pic rel dystopian-brainlet filter ?
because i think it fucking sucked

What's the modern equivalent of Howard's Conan? I love the old Conan stories, but they're too short and predictable for me.

>>13219689
Alex Hailey's ROOTS

>>13230688
jerking off onto a piece of bread and making a pb and spunk sandwich

>>13230665
it does suck.
the genre as a whole doesn't have much good stuff though.

>>13230665
it was just the fist to do it that is why its famous its not that good otherwise

>>13219472
Monthly anon if you make the poll before the end of the thread I'll stick it in the op for the next one.

>>13227466
Try Red Mars if you like the idea of what is fundamentally a character drama set to the backdrop of a gruellingly researched hard sci-fi depiction of the colonization of Mars. I came to love the characters, and the setting. Arthur C. Clarke has some quote about how he thinks it’s the best book on the colonization of Mars he’s ever read. There are three books, intended to be read back-to-back, which seems like it should fit your requirements well.

>>13219472
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Other_Worlds

Anyone tried getting a hold of ARCs? Wondering how easy it is after seeing so many ARC reviews on goodreads

>>13230665
I unironically think cyberpunk is a shitty subgenre. It's aesthetic as fuck, true, but everything done in cyberpunk can be done in every other sff subgenre, and much better. Plebs will disagree.

Now I understand the "fantasy is shit and not real literature" meme. I've always loved fantasy but I only read the obvious popular and really good books (Botns(inb4 it's not fantasy), tolkien, dune(inb4 it's not fantasy number 2) the obvious masters of the trade). But nowadays I find myself in need for new books and series so I started a bunch of things that aren't shilled often, mostly modern authors and books, you know, sanderson (but hey, I enjoyed the first Mistborn book), rothfuss, .... And good lord. The writing in almost each of these books is actually, legit shit. No, I'm not joking, my fucking Avatar fanfic has better prose and dialogue than this. Good god.
The only relatively newer stuff that I somewhat enjoyed was Prince of Nothing, but that's only because I like ranty philosophical fantasy and sf.

Anyway, the point of this rant is, can someone recommend me newer fantasy books (can be sf as well, but I do prefer fantasy) that are mostly well written? For me prose and dialogue is very important. The setting comes a close second, and plot isn't really important in the grand scheme of things.

>>13232816
>prose and dialogue is very important
>I enjoyed the first Misborn book
????

>>13232816
The legend of the first empire series is pretty good. Just started reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, it has good reviews everywhere and I got the kindle version for £1.50. So far it is pretty good, if you like dragons you will most likely like it.

>>13232816
Viriconium has good prose

>>13224612
After finished the Last Chronicles and having a few years to reflect, I have to say that they are a fitting end to the series, story wise. While Donaldson cranked the verbosity to the max I loved that the series took several unexpected turns, and really I love to have my expectations subverted in a good way. I've still never read a series as emotionally satisfying and plain weird.

About to start this, lucked out and found all her books in this series (minus Magicant). I would heartily recommend this series to anyone looking for fantastic Sci-fi with a tinge a fantasy and those who enjoyed Thomas Covenant.

>>13232869
The first Mistborn book (and the trilogy in its entirety) I read during one of the best summers of my life. I'll always associate Mistborn with comfy.

>>13232960
Anon you've read less than 10 books in your entire life, got baited by feminist review bombs into buying some shit book with a good cover and worst of all you think Ryria has good prose. Stop recommending books, you have no idea what you're talking about.

I know it's VERY specific, but are there any fantasy, real fantasy books (with blacksmiths and soldiers and kings and taverns) but in which there are fighter aircrafts that are literally the most important thing in that world? Think about technological dragons, only 10x as strong because even in fantasy, when the author says that dragon scales are iron, somehow that rule always gets shoved for the protagonist to win.
Now imagine townsfolk and petty lords in their stone and wood castles and shitty bows trying to fight off even 1 fighter jet.
Can be powered by magic / be an actual magic creation as a sort of flying iron golem.

I'm asking because that's what I wanna write about and I want to know whether it's been done before or not.

Look at this shit. Look at pic related, imagine something like that flying at supersonic speeds above you, and as you hear the sonic boom you look up. In that moment a barrage of missiles taking off and instantly destroying your lord's shitty castle. Then you glance off and see the jet fly off into the distance, sun reflecting off its hull for a sparkling, brilliant second. Done. In a few moments, everything you know about your world turns upside down. The king or lord that has one of these under his control can literally rule the world if he plays his cards right.

>>13230665
Read virtual light instead. His stuff is elevated pulp.

>>13232960
Lol i love this meme.

>>13233384

>>13233384
The Iron Dragon's Daughter is kinda close I guess.

What did I miss? I thought this was pretty uninteresting and couldn't really see what all the hype was about.

2nd murderbot book was fun even if it did feel like the middle chapters of a larger book

Glad the author's moving to a full length novel for the 5th entry in the series

>>13234194
The emotion box was cool, with the almost internet like connection between him and all the other users to the old dude, showing that even in post apocalypse people can still come together, even if under false pretenses and that our own free will is a lie. Also robot sheep.

I am running dangerously low on Fantasy Audible books and I commute 2.5 hrs a day.


DEAR GOD SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME SOMETHING, INCLUDING COMEDIES

>>13232816
Malazan book of the fallen is what you are looking for. Get past the first book and you are in gold territory.

>>13224058
Imagine being this boring


>>13218759
Going with "Fifth Head of Cerberus" by Gene Wolfe (the titular short story as a standalone, not the whole collection)

>>13230665
>because i think it fucking sucked
Agree entirely.
>>13232376
This is unfortunately true, but there's no inherent reason that cyberpunk books need to be so bad as far as I can tell. The subgenre has just produced a huge amount of crap.

>>13234348

Yeah, the book has some nice ideas, but it doesn't help that the writing is so simplistic it doesn't really hold anything together. I was actually surprised to find people praising Dick's writing, I thought it was the worst aspect of the book.

>>13230665
surprised to see so much hate, he is a great writer

>>13234629

Gibson usually gets love here, it just so happened that all the haters came out in numbers today. I don't think he's the best exponent of the genre but he's not bad.

>>13229176
The Undying Mercenaries novel Home World is more or less this.

what novels(other than tolkien) feature a necromancer as the antagonist?

>>13234623
Electric Sheep is not his best work. I liked A Scanner Darkly a lot better.

>>13226382
I enjoyed it tbqh

>>13226888
Bakker of course

>>13227466
prince of nothing

>>13230588
Based. Honestly I loved pretty much everything about the book except the love triangle bullshit

>>13233384
You have an interesting idea and a fine taste in aircrafts. Would read the shit out of it/10.

>>13219660
fucking harry potter above lord of the rings.

Thoughts on Disc world?

>>13235047

Yeah, the movie is one of my favs and I really like the passage about what a scanner see. It's on my to read list.

>>13235047
Valis is his best

>>13234367
Prince of Nothing

>>13235702
mroe like Prince of Everything amirite ?

>>13234194
That book was hellagood. If you didnt like it youre probably a brainlet (anthead)

>>13233197
*tips fedora*

>>13233384
Yes, they are called dragons.

>>13235752

Well, the book does read like it was written by a chicken head.

>>13231460
Do you think you can post the whole thing? I won’t be able to post for a couple of hours. I put the post in a pastebin pastebin.com/SNyiCdB0

>>13236136
I got you.

A NEW WORLD, A BETTER WORLD

>>13236170
>>13236170
>>13236170
>>13236170
>>13236170
>>13236170