/lit/ - Literature

first for sanderfag a hack

Advancement to Underlord is similar to Surgebinding Oaths.

>>13711338
Cringe

>>13711349
Kindly, become an hero.

>>13711297
>Tell us about a book only you have read!
Pic related maybe. Only time I've seen it mentioned here is when I brought it up. It's like The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe, but in reverse. Very phantasmagorical and nightmarish with a strong strain of Horror. At its simplest it's about a teenage boy and his journey in becoming a sorcerer. I saw it described as "Harry Potter in Hell" which actually turned me off from reading it at first because who the fuck wants to read anything compared to Harry Potter, but then I read it anyways and realized it's more like The Wizard Knight in Hell combined with Highlander, but replace the immortal swordsmen with immortal sorcerers and the immortal sorcerers do much, MUCH worse things to one other than simply chop each others' heads off.

>>13711384

Sounds sweet, adding to my list.

>Tfw I'm literally the only one hyped for this
I really liked the two Xeelee sequels. I'm really excited to see what Baxter does with a Manifold soft reboot.

On a related note, does anyone know why Stephen Baxter doesn't even have a proper website or at least a fucking Twitter? I mean he does have a website but it's a horrid thing from like 1999 that never, ever updates.

>>13711512
I wish he didn't have such a hardon for his fucking autistic protagonist. Redemption had some radical concepts but I felt the ending was rather flat for what it was.

>>13711430
Based and redpilled.

>>13711519
The problem is that Poole actually grows a spine and becomes a human character at the end of Vengeance but all his character development just fucking vanishes in Redemption and he's back to being an autistic, single-minded robot for literally no reason.

I have a feeling there's at least one short story collection left in the series, there are just too many loose threads like whatever happened with Miriam Berg and Marsden, the people who stayed on Earth and the virtual civilization in the ship that just fucks off and ends up turning the stars green.

>>13711534
>virtual civilization in the ship that just fucks off and ends up turning the stars green
Yeah what the fuck I was waiting for them to come back as backup or something crazy the entire book and nothing happened except that brief segment.
Poole goes off to help space wizard QuantumPoole with whatever wild shenanigans he wants to do. What a fucking joke. The Xeelee megastructure was neato though.

I have never seen anyone else here talk about this book so I assume only I've read it

>>13711297
The Dossadi Experiment. I'm sure someone's read it since it's Herbert, but I've never seen it mentioned here.

>>13711297
>Tell us about a book only you have read!

Very few people have even read Worm Ouroboros these days but practically no one has ever read the Zimiamvia books. Basically this old chad nobleman dies (at the start, this is not a spoiler) and goes to a bespoke afterlife where he gets to be young again and do medieval/early modern politics in a broken realm where the king has just died, not to mention romancing medieval/early modern broads. Also there's an old wizard who quotes Spinoza and hangs out with a couple of smarmy nymphs and chad and his love interest might just both be God incarnate.

Anyway all this is rendered in beautiful pseudo-Jacobean dialogue. You will never hear a more elegant description of how someone decided not to wear underwear for the night.

I'm looking for a book with a character that can absorb and combine with other people into a single consciousness. It sounds stupid but I think it could be interesting to read.

>>13712232
BotNS
Evangelion lmao

>>13711774
Check the archives

>>13711297
thomas hardy tess of the d'urbervilles

>>13712310
What, are you saying that you are the only one that read Tess of the D'Urbervilles?

>>13711592
Is it any good

I've fallen into despair and want to read an Epic fantasy until I cease to think. Should I read Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, or the Coldfire Trilogy?

>>13712441
Read something more contemplative: Memoirs of Hadrian is absolutely beautiful.

Picked up pic related recently. It's a thousand pages but like all big fantasy books, I'm wondering if it really needed to be that long. Is it good?

>>13712441
Read Bakker. If you must out of those two, read MST

>>13712577
It's trash like all of Sanderson's books.

>>13712577
It's average. It's praised for its worldbuilding but everything else is lackluster and generic.

>>13712577
People here like to meme on it without giving any real reasons, so I'll try and explain why they're right. First one is a good underdog story, second one is alright, but then it devolves into anime bullshit with everyone having their own special snowflake powers like the Jutsus in fucking Naruto and it all goes speeding downhill from there. The anime powers are introduced in the prologue, but that will not prepare you for how dumb they become as you realize his powers were just one of like fucking ten different kinds. Also the female MC is intolerable, at least to me. Her entire personality seems to be smartass and Branderson likes to wank her abusive childhood too much.

It gets so stupid I had to retroactively go back and say I didn't like the first book either. Also--and this is nearly impossible to describe properly but I will try anyway--almost everything he introduces in-universe feels like he's smiling smugly behind the text thinking, "aren't I so clever?" Just the way he brings things up and references them feels way too self-serving, but that's just the feeling I got even as I was enjoying the first book, and it's something I never felt when reading works from his apparent paragon, Robert Jordan.

Basically, all Branderson wants to do is worldbuilding and seems to get annoyed at all the story stuff he needs to put in between, which is weird considering his prose is pretty basic where you'd expect some grand descriptions.

If you're fine with anime bullshit, then by all means, but just be aware that it starts to taste heavily of YA after the second book.

>>13712577
If you like Mormon autism

>>13712577
Shallan chapters are like pulling fucking teeth. Epic Fantasy is shit. Bloated, soap opera shit.

>>13712645
He really should be writing pnp RPG books, not novels. He'd be amazing at that sort of book, but instead he chooses to be a bad novelist beloved by redditors.

>Sanderson told aspiring writers to not bother writing short fiction and instead focus on magic systems
He's the epitome of everything wrong with modern fantasy.

>>13712577
>>13712635

To elaborate on anon's point, his world building is expansive but honestly kind of shallow. There are many places, people and things to read on but none of it feels especially important or memorable. This is perfectly normal in a lot of fantasy, but he writes hundreds of pages of it where a dozen would suffice. I also dislike the languid feel of the plots he writes. Who knows though, you might love it. I certainly enjoyed it years ago, but I have read much since and understand why so many people scorn his work.

>>13712737

I used to like his systems and hard magic in general until The Black Company and Magician made me feel like a dumbass.

What should I read if I fucking love Isaac Asimov's stories? I tried Arthur C Clarke, but I didn't really like it.

>>13712972
Soulcatcher best evil waifu

>>13713001
Foundation...

>>13712949
>>13712645
Good looking out, lads. So are there any good fantasy books out there that are more mature? More subtle with shades of grey. Seemed like everything I looked at at the bookstore had the same stock high fantasy revenge storyline with a female MC that no doubt has zero flaws and I'm getting sick of it. I read the first two Black Company books and enjoyed them, particularly the first one, and I really dug the Book of the New Sun.

>>13713197
See
>>13711384

>>13713197

if you want edgy shit like Black Company read Bakker. it's that to the bone
if you want moral subtlety and vastly better writing read Eddison (>>13712226)

>>13713197
Also, I've had the third Witcher book, the third Black Company book, and Gardens of the Moon waiting to be read for a while now. Should I just jump into one of those?

>>13713197
Check out Guy Gavriel Kay

>>13713221
>if you want edgy shit like Black Company read Bakker.
This is the equivalent of someone who likes mildly spicy food and you suggesting they stick a dozen ghost peppers up their ass. Black Company was edgy for its time, but is nowhere near as edgy compared to today's grimderp and especially Bakker's garbage which is the edgiest. And nowhere near as boring either.

>>13713197

I feel your pain. I've stopped walking into book stores because here in Australia they're stocked with the same shit they've been peddling the last decade. They seem to make room only for the most generic of power fantasies.

If you haven't read the first Magician trilogy I'd recommend it. I wish I could think of something else more contemporary but honestly everything I've read of late is either scifi or shit.

>>13713197
You could check out Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards.
A sheltered scribe gets hired by a group of mercenaries and goes boldly into the world.
No ancient evil awoken, no high conspiracies, no edginess (plenty of bloodshed tho). Just hoods robbin'.

Why is black company so based bros

>>13713197
Just read Wolfe lmao
>Wizard Knight
>Latro series

>>13713329
Because Soulcatcher is in it

>>13713320
Why do the spikes have faces?

>>13713329

Because it has enough edge to be intriguing without being as gratuitous as the modern day shit that gave rise to the term "grimderp". Also because Lady a best.

>>13712411
Yeah it's pretty good though I've read so much since then that I can barely remember it

>>13713370
To style on your enemies while you bash their faces in nigga.
The faces represent two gods of the not so reputable variety. The weapon itself is called the Bloodsounder and is cursed.

>>13713329
Because it has Danny Devito and the dad from Friday as two wizards who are always busting each other's chops and trying to out magic each other but are actually bros 4 life.

>>13713438
Are you trying to make people not read it?

>>13713507
Hey that's who I had in my head playing One Eye and Goblin and I loved it.

>>13713382
Terrible post

>>13713570

The absolute irony.

What’s the best black company book and why is it shadows linger?

>The Wizard Knight is actually fucking isekai

Do I really want to read this?

>>13713626
yes

>>13711512
He's pretty redpilled. I could see him deliberately avoiding social media in order to keep being published.

>>13713633

I'm sold. I actually enjoyed Enchantment by Orson Scott Card so I guess I'll take a small leap of faith.

>>13713626
It actually anticipates the trend of Japanese YA isekai in a lot of weird ways. Just instead of an all-female harem, there are a few male sycophants mixed in.

>>13713637
Brent Weeks is going to be cancelled soon, I wonder if he'll handle it better than Bakker.

>>13713773
What'd he do?

>>13713605
The first one

>>13713773
>going to be cancelled
>has his big lightbringer finale coming out in like two months

Yeah ok I’m sure that’s gonna happen.

>>13713795
He's a Conservative Christian whose got the subtlety of C. S. Lewis, there's already some people complaining about him in the background.

>>13713815
>Christian conservative
>writes grimderp

>>13713834
So, you haven't read anything by Weeks?

>>13713834

Weeks is Heroic Fantasy on cocaine you dumbass.

>>13713848
I read that assassin one.

>I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And the purest. I'm not asking you to fuck. But maybe some day I'll earn the right to ask you for something more permanent." He turned and facing her was harder than facing thirty Highlanders.

>>13713890
Is this rothfuss? It reads like that level of cringe.

>>13713871
Night Angel? but like the entire driving force of those novels are resisting temptation, sacrifice, faith and you fucking know the main character actually quoting the IRL Bible.

>>13713900

I don't recognise it but Rothfuss would be both more grandiloquent and cucked.

>>13713834
Name anything more grimderp than Lilith by George MacDonald.

>>13713900
>>13713900
No it's Weeks.

For a moment I forgot who Brent Weeks was and thought Greg Bear was the one getting cancelled. Was very confused.
Also Dinosaur Summer fucking Kino

>>13713001
Robot series

>>13713125
>>13713975
And then you fuckers complain when everyone just talks about fantasy and self-published crap instead of sci-fi.

>>13713228
Read gardens. Only people I've met either really like Malazan and marathoned it or figured out pretty quick it wasn't for them.

>>13713815
>>13713904
>read Night Angel
>thought it was okay
>look it up on goodreads
>see seething women reviewers
>give 5 stars

>>13713001
>>13713125
The original Foundation trilogy is your best bet with Asimov

>>13713550
You gotta do what you gotta do.

>>13714024
>Oddly homophobic and misogynistic. Compelling story but a SEVERE lack of well rounded female characters who aren't in power due to marriage or sex.
Also: Every gay character was molested, abused, raped, or inherently cruel.

>But some of the recurring, heavy-handed themes (e.g., celibacy as virtue; positive sexuality existing solely in the context of marriage between a man and a woman; sexuality between men and extra-marital sex between heterosexuals placed exclusively in the provinces of brutality and deviation; thinly-veiled musings of Christianity)

Shieeet nigga you weren't kidding. And those are three star reviews by basedboys.

>>13714129
>Also: Every gay character was molested, abused, raped, or inherently cruel.
Redpilled

So, what do you need to do for a web novel to be somewhat successful?
By what I could gather, it needs to:
>Pander to someone, generally young guys
>Not be outright garbage ie good enough to maybe reach airport literature at its best(the web novel, that is)
>Shill it EVERYWHERE, non stop, until it hits some critical mass
Am I missing something?

Why didn't any one warn me Hyperion was going to be this good. Just finished the poet's story and God damn it just keeps getting better and better

>>13714197
>Am I missing something?
Yes.
It's this little thing called QUALITY.

>>13714212
>It's this little thing called QUALITY.
That is covered by the not being outright garbage point.

>>13714249
>That is covered by the not being outright garbage point.
That's not QUALITY.

>>13714257
>That's not QUALITY.
What would it be, then?

>>13714197
>So, what do you need to do for a web novel to be somewhat successful?
>By what I could gather, it needs to:
>>Pander to someone, generally young guys
>>Not be outright garbage ie good enough to maybe reach airport literature at its best(the web novel, that is)
>>Shill it EVERYWHERE, non stop, until it hits some critical mass
>Am I missing something?
absolutely wrong.

all you need is not shit grammar and a regular schedule.
if you update your web novel lets say every tueday and thursday. then you have to actually do it.
when people know they get a new chapter at certain times they will come to expect it and form a habit around it.

>>13714293
Not being a writer myself I have never really dissected the reasons behind the quality of someones work.
But if I were to try I would say that it mostly comes down to the pride one puts in ones craft. If all you want to do is make a quick buck by pandering to a certain demographic I think that's a waste of time and energy. I am not sure if you can reach the "airport literature" level of quality by mindlessly churning out two or three chapters weekly to put it politely. That's on top of the time and energy you put into shilling it wherever web novels are being shilled. Mind you there is no assurance you will ever reach the critical mass needed for someone to put you into a collage and post here so we can make fun of you.
There are more lucrative professions which require less effort.
Focusing on actual quality writing and lets say not going against the current year trends would probably serve you better.

Dr. Adder by K. W. Jetter. Highly recommend it, like PKD but edgy as fuck.

>>13714445
>Highly recommend it, like PKD but edgy as fuck.
You're kind of giving mixed signals here.

>>13714469
What I mean is that PKD style crazy ride but if he tried to write a horror novel.
Unless Dick part that turns you off, then we would have to agree to disagree.

>>13714536
I just looked it up and it seems kind of dated.

>>13714207
I tried to start it like three times but I can't get past the first few pages. I find the prose and descriptions kind of hard to read as an ESL, I can't imagine how anything looks like.

>>13713197
Read the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Unbeliever, redditors fucking hate Donaldson because "it's too depressing"

>get recommended a book with the word Chronicles in it
>Read the Chronicles of Amber instead

>>13713626
portal fantasy existed way before your flavor of the month anime genre

>>13714753
Based amber poster

There is literally nothing wrong reading YA fantasy

>>13714875
There is everything wrong with you reading YA fantasy.

>>13714536
Most Dick novels are horror, deep down.

>>13714909

>>13714642
Same. I also don't really like anthologies.

>>13711297
>Tell us about a book only you have read!
It's whole series but Chronicles of an Age of Darkness is pretty obscure i never see it mentioned anywhere and has like 100 ratings on goodreads, also the author probably has autism

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_an_Age_of_Darkness
>"an ambitious outline for a series of twenty novels. This would have been followed by two equally long series[...]This SIXTY volume scheme ended with the publication of the tenth volume because of disappointing sales"
>"...the naming scheme, consisting of continual alliterative "W"-titles featuring unusual words put people off"

>>13711384
Saw it rec'd here, read it, liked it.

I also saw someone recommend Fire and Sword by Dylan Doosey, read it and didn't like it. Got tricked by the 4+ rating on GoodReads.

Someone was talking recently about Transall Saga being the only scifi-survival novel but I wanted to shout out Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein (>>13711297)

>>13714445
He wrote a trilogy of Boba Fett books I remember reading as a kid.

>>13713001
>>13713125
>>13713975
>>13714062
Guy says he loves Asimov and wants to know what else to try based on that, having tried and not enjoyed Clarke. Anons proceed to recommend Asimov books. I thought this is meant to be the part of 4chan where people can read and understand written language.

>>13715029
But are they good

New sample from "A Little Hatred" (next First Law series)

https://io9.gizmodo.com/a-feisty-warrior-reluctantly-explores-her-psychic-gifts-1837510540

Thoughts?

>>13715568
>Thoughts?
>>gizmodo

>>13715526
Perhaps

>>13715568
I tend to significantly prefer Abercrombie in audiobook, bc Pacey does a good enough job w/ his performance that it smooths over the things that ring false for me on the page. This excerpt does not change my stance.

Any sff spy books?

>>13715979
Cold Iron

>>13715979
Through Struggle, The Stars

>>13712577
>It's a Dalinar chapter
>It's a Shallan chapter
>It's a kid Kaladin chapter
>It's a literally who chapter
I'm 900 pages in and I just enjoyed like 20% of it, I wish I had read something else

>tfw want to read some dank S&S or Heroic Fantasy set in the Stone Age and there isn't any

>>13715979
1984

Question bros: Gryphon, griffin or griffon?

>>13716363
Gryffin.

>>13716363
Griphin

>>13716363
flying bird-lion

>>13715979
Flandry series by Poul Anderson. Baen collected the stories into anthologies with awful covers. An ebook read for sure. Dominic Flandry, agent of the slowly decaying Terran Empire, working to keep it from sliding into the long night. Stories vary in quality but I like them.

>>13716328
REH wrote a bunch, bro

>>13716621
He did not. I'm specifically talking about the Stone Age with Stone Age weapons and shit. He wrote stories very, very close to the Stone Age though (The Valley of the Worm is awesome).

>>13713197
Take your pick, look up the blurb or ask in this general. These are some of the cream of the crop I read over the years.

>>13715979
The atrocity archives

>>13716695
And you make sure every knows by posting every chart you've ever made every single thread.

>>13716647
>He did not
>Literally about Cro-Magnons versus Neanderthals
Do you read anything besides Conan?

>>13716763
Really most of the Laundry Files, I liked that series, even though it was kinda dumb

>>13716647
Garden of Fear, and Spear and Fang come to mind

Where do you guys get your books from? I've been reading incessantly of late and buying new books has been a pain in the wallet. I've looked online but most of the shit around is public domain from the early 20th century and beyond.

>>13716363
Gryphus

>>13717228
Z-library mainly.

I'm reading Mistborn by Sanderson right now. Any recs for fantasy that isn't video gamey and goofy? More literary, aesthetic and esoteric?

>>13717296
See >>13716695

>>13717296

Read the recommendations in the OP. It sounds like you're looking for soft magic, clandestine and unknowable. Sanderson writes hard magic, which is thoroughly explored, codified and refined. Hard magic sucks all the fun out fantasy, if you ask me.

>>13717228
IRCHighway for fiction, and libgen for non-fiction

Can I get a rec for GOOD gritty urban fantasy. I've already been through Dresden Files and Sandman Slim like 4 times. I even read that awful Hallows young adult stuff by Kim Harrison. I'm hankering for more but I can't find anything that pulls me in.

>>13716022
Fak aff

is borges any good?

Where should I start, book of sand?

>>13717384
>GOOD gritty urban fantasy
there is none.
even dresden files became shit after the 4th book or so.

>>13717228
>>13717228
Library book sales where they sell books donated by community members. Every summer there's around 2-3 big ones within a 10-20 minute drive of me that tend to have 100k+ books on offer. Good way to get books cheap and support the local library. I show up early on the first day, and early on the half-price day towards the end. Consistently find a good amount of books or authors that I've been keeping an eye out for. This year so far I've spent about $125 on 64 books, all in good condition and a several hardcover. Another sale coming up soon.
For ebooks I keep an eye on the daily and monthly deals... and for stuff I'm not sure about sometimes use libg+n or irc

>>13717296
Lord of Light (or a lot of other Zelazny, he is very good), Book of the New Sun. Both of those are technically science-fantasy but they are very neat (though fairly surface-level recommendations around these parts).

>>13717408
Borges is GOAT
Start with Ficciones then read The Aleph

Did anyone here read of Yatzhee's books?
He has a new one coming, a sequel to "will save the universe for food"
(the guy that makes the zero punctuation videos on the escapist)

>>13717503
i unironically like the chzo mythos games. they are fantastic.
his books are fucking horrible though. all of them.

Are there any resources for bolstering my fantasy lexicon? I feel fucking retarded when it comes time to write and I can't paint the right kind of picture for the reader. I don't know the terms for different pieces of architecture.

What the fuck IS a part of a building that pops up over the city sidewalk and provides shelter in rainfall.

What is this building called? How about that one?

The same applies to landscapes. Furnishings. I just struggle with these things.

>>13717384
just read comics nibba

>>13713637
>He's pretty redpilled
How? You should read his Time Tapestry novels, he loves to shit on European history and worship mudslimes and others.

>>13712577
A buddy of mine listened to the series on his commute and said that Brian needs to edit his books better.. He claims that the first two can be combined and shortened and nothing will be missed. And this is coming from a dude who reads normie fantasy on the reg and enjoys it.

>>13713001
I'm the opposite of you. I can't stand Asimov's prose.

>>13717415
>>13717542
Thanks for the useless replies. Anyone have something of substance?

>>13717577
>Anyone have something of substance?
Yeah. Fuck off and don't return here.

>>13717532
Here's what you do: write only in first-person POV and make sure your characters are stupid. That way it doesn't come across as you, the author, trying to explain what something is and failing; it comes across as your retarded MC trying to explain what something is and failing.

>>13717532
Read more.

>>13711384
I've never read the wizard knight but I have read a chinkshit web novel called wizard world which seems to some extent inspired by t.
I'm definitely adding mask of the sorcerer to my list.

>>13717503
He's like retarded Terry Pratchett, don't

>>13717532
>What the fuck IS a part of a building that pops up over the city sidewalk and provides shelter in rainfall.

Do you mean a verandah or alcove?

Descriptions always get me also, your best bet is to write specifically landscape descriptions and then repeat them everytime it comes up.

>>13717532
>What the fuck IS a part of a building that pops up over the city sidewalk and provides shelter in rainfall.

An awning if it's made of any kind of cloth.

In addition to what >>13717590 said, I would suggest reading history literature that matches the era of your chosen world. You don't even have to read, you can watch youtube videos or documentaries if you want. A lot of the most eloquent authors are history and english professors with a lifetime of knowledge behind them. It's time to catch up nigga.

>>13715467
He said 'stories', which in my book doesn't cover novels. Also he didn't say 'who else'.

>>13716022
Are you trying to meme me?

>>13717974
Your book is wrong, please correct it.

Is this good?

>>13717384
>hollows
>ya
What YA deals with rape and slavery? I mean almost everyone was rapey in that series. If she didn't rewrite her ending to fit the shippers her career wouldn't be dead now.

After Dresden files and Anita Blake, "urban fantasy" usually means a detective with some knowledge of the occult or supernatural solving crimes. Let me tell you they hit the shitter after a few books/series, I burnt myself out on them years ago. You can try this chart for some I read years ago.

>>13718049

Read it and let us know

>>13717995
No. Conservatives are BAD.

>>13717532
A lot of fantasy authors prior to this recent obsession with Edwardian prose didn't have a particularly good lexicon; you aren't retarded your just comparing yourself to the greats, that ain't fair.

>>13718489
On the other hand if he was not to compare himself with the greats, he might end up writing web novels.

>>13718589
Didn't a bunch of web novels and fan fictions win awards last week?

>>13717384
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

>>13718137
>What YA deals with rape and slavery?
Even Hunger Games does this. Probably tons more but I avoid YA.

>>13718379
I have, I just don't know what we think about it.

>tfw I've forgotten posting the image
>Wha'?

>>13718950
>samuel r. delany
Hell no, he's a fucking pedo

just finished chapter 4 of eye of the world
are egwene and nynaeve going to be bitches the whole time? i feel like theyre going to be the obligatory mouthy-cunt characters the whole book

>>13718964
Show us where hogg touched you.

>>13719320
Jordan's main theme is that men are from mars and women from venus, with a few exceptions they will keep behaving as idiots in regards to each other for the rest of the series.

>>13719320
Yes, but you'll learn to get used to it. If it makes you feel any better, you'll get some catharsis when Mat goes on a thot patrol later in the series.

>>13719320
>the whole book
Books anon, whole books.

>>13719320
>>13719352
Why would you read that embarrassment of an author, if you can just watch anime?

>>13719320
Nynaeve becomes best girl. Egwene goes through the most of any of the girls and ends

>>13719369
The first three books are unironically good and then simmers down to acceptably entertaining, reaching a nadir around volume 9 and suffering from Branderson's hand, the true master of anime, from vol 12 and on. Generally I'd say it's mostly lambasted by people who are far more concerned with making you abundantly aware of what they haven't read instead of what they have.

But admittedly it's understandable why some people would advise against embarking on a journey of 4,000,000+ words and suggest reading 40 short novels instead.

Time for a detour.
OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH LIGHT NOVEL TITLES. 25 EXAMPLES.
These are not recommendations,.
They are to simply show the absurdity of titles.
The titles become much absurd when going to only fan translated ones, but that's a different matter.

An Archdemon's Dilemma - How to Love Your Slave Elf Bride
Apparently It's My Fault That My Husband Has the Head of a Beast
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill
Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
I Became the Secretary of a Hero!
I Shall Survive Using Potions!
I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level
JK* Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World (*JK means "high school girl")
Lazy Dungeon Master
Middle-Aged Businessman, Arise in Another World
Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension
Paying to Win in a VRMMO
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon
Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy
Reincarnated as a Sword
Saving 80,000 Gold in an Another World for Retirement
Strongest Gamer
The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’s Heroes
The Greatest Magicmaster's Retirement Plan
The Hero is Overpowered But Overly Cautious
Welcome to Japan, Ms Elf!

>>13719369
I read him 10 years ago, when I did not know better.

>>13719477
>best girl in wheel of time
Not hard

>>13719502
To anyone wondering why the titles are so absurd: it is a combination of Japanese light novel writers being teens or early adults and just generally being shit writers (obviously) plus another factor.

To truly understand the shit of Light Novels, you must first understand the soul-crushing lifestyle of your average asian. They are not looking for literary genius or compelling stories, they are looking for an escape. They live in their tiny one-room apartments, wake up, and ride a packed train to work. Your average Japanese salaryman must survive some of the worst corporate culture in the world where no one is really allowed to excel and climb the corporate ladder. All workers are expected to leave only when the boss leaves (they are expected to apologize if they must leave beforehand), and must appear to be "working" at all times even when there is not work to do, which ends up in the entire office slapping their keyboards for an extra two hours as the boss pretends to work too so he looks good to his boss. After this day, they return home to their empty apartment and either go to bed early because they are too tired to engage in any hobby, or stay up far too late playing online games and masturbating to anime to distract themselves from their empty lives.

This is where the light novel comes in. They need something they can read on the train rides to and from home, and generally read the whole volume in one to two sessions and are mostly interested in stories about escapism, (hence the prevalence of harems, overpowered self-insert MCs, and isekai). They pick it out before their ride, and want to be certain of what they are getting.

This creates an arms race of LN titles to be as descriptive as possible, since it's the only thing the reader will go on to make their knee-jerk decision in the minutes before their train leaves. I could go on for hours about this shittiness of Japanese media, but I hope this little tidbit has enlightened you

>>13719502
Well done, you noticed that different cultures are different.
>Ascendance of a Bookworm
What's wrong with this?
>Lazy Dungeon Master
>Strongest Gamer
>Reincarnated as a Sword
Blandly descriptive, but hardly absurd.
Most of them are just a one sentence summary of the premise.

>>13719502
'From the Earth to the Moon Direct in 97 Hours 20 Minutes' is my favorite light novel.

>>13715979
Declare - tim powers is exactly what youre looking for

>>13719502
These titles are absolutely hilarious. With the monthly reading vote coming up, is any of these of suitable length to satisfy monthly reading anon?

>>13719569
That's some interesting insight.

>>13719352
So WoT is fantasy for boomers that hate their wives?

>>13719502
Officially Translated Light Novels (LNs) v7.0
https://nyaa.si/view/1150989
Also has a mega.

>>13718137
>What YA deals with rape and slavery?
Most YA is targeted to women, and women love rape so probably a fuck ton of them

>>13719663
Individually LNs are tiny, but they're pretty much all indefinitely long serials.

>>13719502
As a note, a lot of these are serialized in magazines as well. That's not really the case now, but a long ago in the US, pulp novels were regularly serialized and then published as novels. As such, in some cases they could be pushing out a new volume, chapter by chapter, every few months. Increasingly the case is that they begin as webnovels or otherwise digital native.

>>13719682
Well, yeah. Also works well as babbys's first fantasy.

>>13719502
litrpgs are the light novels of the west.

>>13719569
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoshi
>Karoshi (過労死), which can be translated literally as "overwork death" in Japanese, is occupational sudden mortality

It's a serious problem.

>>13719719
YA is the west's equivalent of LNs. Litrpg is Western isekai.

>>13719735
Nah, YA is equal to Japan's standard novel.
They have very little "serious" literature.
The majority of all paper in Japan is used for manga.

>>13719754
>Manga makes up over 40% of all published magazines and books in Japan. Also, 40% of the movies produced in Japan are Anime

>>13718399
By what author?

>>13719754
This is called the Murakami effect, during the translation process his books get "smarten up" and end up reading significantly better than the source material. Banana's stuff receives the same treatment.

Also I don't understand why we're discussing this on /sffg/ but at this point the threads can't get any worse,

>>13719807
>>13716022

>>13719817
Miles Cameron?

>>13719816
Because it's still science fiction and fantasy.

>>13719821
Oh no, you’ve set the bait.

>>13719830
Did I just summon someone?

>>13719833
Just triggering the few /pol/tards who sometimes frequent here, assuming they are around.

>>13719833
MILES CAMERON IS A FAG WITH MOMMY ISSUES

If anyone here is a fan of the lord of the rings, I'm doing a week per chapter series. First episode is out, a good chance to join at the beginning and read along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtD0TNAr0LI

>>13719502
And now for 25 examples of fan translated light novels:

A Slave Career Planner Can Be A Successful Profession
Curing Incurable Disease With Semen (his sister's disease)
Did You Think Another World Would Motivate A NEET
Even in a different world, I’m being loved to death by Yanderes
Founding a nation in the different world for the sake protecting 1000 Homunculus girls
I’m a NEET but When I Went to Hello Work I Got Taken to Another World
I Almost Became a Living Cheat When I Raised my Level in Real Life
I Became an NPC
I Made a Slave Harem Using a Charm Cheat in a Different World
Let’s Make a Harem of Monster Girls
Nobunaga’s Younger Sister is My Wife
Oh no! After I Reincarnated, My Moms Became Son-cons!
Raising Slaves on the Other World While on a Journey
Reincarnated as a Cheat Magician, therefore I will create a harem. I will also save a world while I’m at it.
Reincarnated into a selfish woman
Sisters Violated Many Times in Dream and Reality
Skill Taker’s World Domination ~ Building a Slave Harem from Scratch
Skill Up With Login Bonus
Taking back the Princess in the Different World, I Raped Little Girls Pussy With My Big Dick
The Chronicles of a Lost Man in His Forties Founding a Nation
The monologue of a certain lady who got divorced and fully enjoyed her freedom
The Slave Life of a Half-Dragon Girl
The Strongest Guild Master Founded a Nation in a Week
When I Summoned a Succubus Slave, My Sister Is the One That Appeared
When I Woke up in the Morning I Became a Silver Haired Loli Vampire

>>13719946
>I Became an NPC

Are you going to read the best cuckoldry kino in science fiction this year?

Best YA sci-fi?

Any books about modern day armys getting sent back in time and just wrecking the show?

>>13720262
That cover is so fucking ugly. Why would anyone okay that?

>>13720277
Yes, several.
One was even originally posted to reddit.
REDDIT WEBNOVEL

>>13720280
Well, it's supposed to be one of the first ever human AIs that still has an uncanny valley design. It's literally supposed to look like shit.

>>13719502
>>13719946
Nice to see Chuck Tingle expand his horizons.

>>13720300
What an excuse.
Maybe you even wrote it after watching a black mirror episode or Humans or Real Humans.
>IMMIGRANTS ARE COMING FOR OUR JOBS AND ROBOTS ARE COME FOR OUR WOMEN!

>>13720300
Is the book any good? Sounds right up my alley.

>>13719502
Those suspiciously sound like JAV titles.
Like this gem:
The Fart Olympics Complete Edition Ass Jobbing Beautiful Women Are Twitching And Throbbing Their Asses With Massive Excitement
https://www.r18.com/videos/vod/movies/detail/-/id=parathd02520/

>>13720327
I'm currently reading it and I think it's amazing.

>>13720324
Only if you let them.

>>13720277
I looked a random article that says:

The Guns of the South
Rome, Sweet Rome
Janissaries
Lest Darkness Fall
Gate
1632
Nantucket series

>>13720351
That's Japanese naming for you.
Basically the same with all their media.

>>13720262
Isn't this the faggot that said his book about robots isn't science fiction because it's super serious and doesn't have rayguns?

>>13720365
Whats so interesting about it?
It sounds like standard romance chicklit with a sci-fi veneer.

>>13720387
I guess they fulfill similar niches.

>>13720403
S P E C U L A T I V E
F I C T I O N

>>13720421

>>13720407
>I guess they fulfill similar niches.
Fleeting satiation of the void of meaningless and the utter futility of existence.

>>13720421
I'll take that as a yes. I'll pass then, I read enough shit by retards on here.

>>13720407
>standard romance chicklit with a sci-fi veneer
even though >>13720403 this attitude from people like McEwan and Atwood is annoying, it doesn't change that Ian McEwan writes in elevated prose and tackles the philosophical implications of human AI more deeply than the average sci-fi author
>>13720476
enjoy your Brandon Sanderson I guess

>>13720476
Whatever a literary author writes is by definition literary because they are literary.

>>13720485
>tackles the philosophical implications of human AI more deeply than the average sci-fi author
"Better than average" is not a resounding endorsement. And His boasting about his ignorance of the genre doesn't really suggest to me he has anything worth saying.

>>13720462
Don't be such a loser anon.

>>13720485
>and tackles the philosophical implications of human AI more deeply than the average sci-fi autho
Well that must be deep, seeing as it's being used as a sex toy.

Any recs for good fantasy (high or low) with an emphasis on political struggle? I guess if I had to pick something in a similar vein itd be the warring factions in GoT. I tried to read goblin emperor but it was just too boring

>>13720532
First thing that comes to mind is the The Dagger and the Coin series, but may not be exactly what you want.

>>13720558
Seems interesting, I'll give it a shot. I've also gotten a couple recs from friends for Cursw Of Chalion, is it any good?

>>13720575
I haven't read it, or really seen it mentioned, so I don't know.

>>13711297
IDK OP I'd really just like to talk about the Unincorporated Man by Dani and Eytan Kollins.
Book 1 was great, so was book 2. 3 & 4 felt half-assed, I think the brothers had a disagreement about something

>>13720642
I only read the first books several years ago.
I barely finished it because it made me so angry. I didn't read any other of the books.

>>13720675
*book
It was a very rage-inducing omipresent ideology book for me.

>>13720485

What's some good "literary" sci-fi? Would you count Ursula K Le Guin as literary?

>>13720277
Destroyermen
Fata Morgana
Princess Rescue INC

>>13720735
"Literary" is whatever the academic establishment literary critics deemed to be literary. Thus, J. R. R. Tolkien is now literary. All the fantastical, clearly fantasy works, of many classical works are literary, because they say so. Cormac McCarthy's The Road isn't post-apocalyptic science-fiction, it's LITERARY!. 1984? LITERARY! Brave New World? LITERARY! etc etc etc

>>13720778
>Cormac McCarthy's The Road isn't post-apocalyptic science-fiction, it's
Hot garbage.

>>13720743
>Destroyermen
Haven't read that one but heard good things.

>Fata Morgana
Very good book. Incredibly well written and one of the most heart warming love stories in fiction ever told.

>Princess Rescue INC
Chris Hechtl is one of those authors that should write user manuals instead. I've read the Space Engineer series and the autistic detail he goes into is both amazing and disturbing.
No idea about this princess book but if its anything like the engineer books i'd expect lots of exposition, weird characters with strange quirks and lots and lots of autistic detailed world/lore building along aforementioned exposition.

Fantasy? No, I don't read such genre fiction trash! I read MAGICAL REALISM. Which is what serious writers with literary aspirations write. Back to the gutter with you!

>>13720806
Does magical realism have succubi ?

>>13720822
Be your own succubus.

>>13720827
I guess that's a no.

>>13720822
>has a hexagram rather than pentagram
Literally Jewish succubus.

>>13720822
Those asians sure are silly.

>>13720827
I'm not flexible enough to bend that far.

>>13720880
>>13720864
>>13720822
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagome_crest

>>13720273
Animorphs and the mortal engines series

>>13717384
Felix Castor,series by Mike Carey, an exorcist who is just trying to make a living, no sitcom type remarks or comebacks. Good Ol snark tho, solid characters and mystery and progression and gritty, not pg 13 but not edgy for the sake of being edgy.

Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch, sorta like Felix Castor but different vein and great characters, good series highly reccomend, deals more with ghosts and stuff rather than demons like the felix castor one.

>>13721017
>Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch, sorta like Felix Castor but different vein and great characters, good series highly reccomend, deals more with ghosts and stuff rather than demons like the felix castor one.

More like spends 5 books talking about how hard it is to be black in England. The whole reason the main villain hates him is because he’s black. Just non stop racial whining.

>>13721055
Really? I didn't notice it much at all, it was a while back. I'll re-read it to check but I genuinely just remember the interesting/fun parts.

>>13721069
>>13721055
Is this some kind of pol purity test?

Has there ever been a satisfying depiction of precognition/future sight in fiction? As in, it doesn't do either of these things:
>The future can be predicted, but the predicted outcome can also be changed
>Everything has always been predetermined

>>13721201
I hope you realize you are saying that you want future predictions that can't be changed but are also not predetermined. I don't know what that would exclude.

>>13721230
The future is changed by observing it. That is, changed into the future that ends up being observed.

>>13721201
Philip K. Dick?

>>13721245
Did you just read about the double slit experiment?

>>13721275
That has nothing to do with this.

>>13721288
That is exactly what you just described.

>>13721292
To be more specific, that all is in flux and undetermined until it's observed.

>>13721288
>>13721245
>>13721245
A related idea is a person being able to control what happens in the future by shifting into a different timeline where their preferred outcome is what occurs.

>>13721245
Retrocausality. What happens in the future affects the past.

>>13721201
JoJo's bizarre adventure part 5

>>13721201
It is not possible because everything has always been predetemined. Free will is a comforting lie.

Since we are on the weeb topic:
Lovecrafts dreamcycle and the adventures of Randolph Carter could technically be interpreted as Isekai. and to be honest my fingers are itching to write my own dreamland adventures with questionable quality.

>>13721500
Lovecraft has inspired so much entirely idiotic stuff.

>>13721516
i think its because at the time his perspective made his ideas novel and unique.
newer authors lack his personal worldview and as such only manage a shallow copy that merely thematically counts as lovecraftian but lacks everything that made his writing good.

>>13721569
To be fair, misanthropic shut-ins don't usually get published.

>>13721516
Alice in wonderland for example is much older so he probably didn't really inspire it that much.
"Brought to a new world" as genre is quite old already.
I just liked the idea that the dreamlands aren't something completely locked off but rather that can be visited again and again and maybe it has always something different in store.
Most of the dreamland descriptions could be very well be one of Clark A. Smith's more exotic world's he writes Evey now and then.

Most of the "other world" stuff usually throws you out there to gaze in wonder for a few pages at the new marvels and then you just become more and more familiar with it and it loses its appeal.

>>13721597
Nothing is stopping them. Every idiot can now earn money self-publishing books thanks to kindle.

>>13721598
I think you are focusing on the wrong stuff

>>13721622
Earn pocket change for almost all, sure.

These are actually general discussion threads.

>>13721622
>Every idiot can now earn money self-publishing books thanks to kindle.
This is a good thing though despite all the trash.

>>13721797
Actually it's rather bad

>>13721805
No it isn't. Imagine nothing but Jemisin and Scalzi-tier authors if indie and self publishing wasn't a thing.

>>13721818
I am very sad that you actually believe that. My condolences for your sincerity.

>>13721156
/pol/ needs to fuck back to their containment board

>>13721866
Pol is more active now than b and certainly more influential. Worse as well.

>>13721156
Look anon, it might not bother you when someone writes about the chip on their shoulder they have growing up black in England, but that’s not what I want out of a series. But keep crying about your boogieman.

>>13721891
It's a cesspool, and they're all incel faggots

>>13721866
>>13721891
>>13721999
Based /pol/ working these incels into a shoot.

>>13722117
nihilistic oppurtunist

/sffg/, I think my desire to write is leaking away without me having accomplished anything. I'm not even avoiding it anymore, my passion is just gone

>>13711297
Just finished pic related today. It was...decent, more than anything it made me wish there were more western/dark fantasy books out there.
Might pick up the second one purely to keep up with Mutt, he was the only reason I kept reading

>>13722363
Good
You were never going to make it anyway with that attitude. Might as well rip that bandage off early, faggot. Alternatively, stop being a little bitch and realize writing is a choice and if you go around chasing passion and capricious inspiration you've already failed

>>13721999
>everyone I don't agree with is an incel faggot!
>NOOOOOOOO! YOU CANT HAVE A DIFFERENT POLITICAL VIEW THAN MEEE!!!!
>DIDNT YOU SEE THOSE CRYING MEXICAN KIDS!!!!????

>>13719946
>Reincarnated into a selfish woman
So, a woman

>>13717582
While you may think the smell of your own shitposts pleasant, others don't.

>>13717454
My cities libraries throw away books all the time because "it's cheaper than selling or donating them."

>>13718137
Thanks for an actual answer. I guess it's just the hamhanded romance shit that makes me think YA and the lack of solid back lore. At times the series seriously comes across like one of those terrible 90-00s shows like Charmed or Buffy.

I dont read much fantasy or sci fi but I loved the much memed book of the new sun. Made me feel really good. Didnt know what most of the weird words meant

>>13722770
Based and Catholicpilled.

>>13720532

Daughter of the Empire by Feist.

Anyone read all of Malazan? I'm intrigued, but I'm curious if it's worth the time investment for the story.

>>13723038
Even if it's worth it for them, doesn't mean it'd be worth it for you.

>>13723038

There's only one way to find out.

THREAD BITCH

>>13723185
Saying that didn't work out well for you last time.
Do you really want to try again?
Delete this or I won't make the thread.

>>13723216
Shut up and make the new thread, faggot.

>>13723236
I would prefer not to.

>>13723236
>>13723243

Guys we're running out of time, we're already on page 5. At this rate the general will die in like, 15 hours.

>>13723256
You make it then.

>>13723261

I did you fags

>>13723334
>>13723334
>>13723334

>>13722388
>Felicia Dey praising it
Yeah, that will be a pass for me.

>>13720575
Curse of Chalion and the sequel Paladin of Souls are both good. However they aren't really what you're specifically looking for I think. Definitely give Chalion a go at some point though.

>>13722750
Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

>>13722750
that's no library and it isn't run by librarians

FUCKING USELESS THREAD SLUT

I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME