/lit/ - Literature

>>13989561
I need stories where cyborgs or robots use rape against humans, especially as a weapon of war.

Thanks to the anon who recommended this in the mil-scifi bread months ago. Finally read it and I'd put it up there with Starship Troopers, the Forever War, and Armor.

Enjoyed the change of pace from them fighting the aliens like in other novels of this subgenre to having to protect colonists and sorta reintegrating into society while still fighting. Also enjoyed the part where the major mind links with one of the surviving aliens and he experiences its dread when they had reached the edge of the crater and find out that the cliff will give and kill them.

Any other military scifi books you all recommend?

Lads. I'm going insane reading fantasy novels. I see all of these mindblowing sci-fi/fantasy comics and animu and the books feel so hobbled by the shadow of Tolkien.

Please, are there any fucking books with original, evocative settings? I'm dying here.

>>13989604
What exactly have you read so far?

>>13989604
Stop reading books with elves and magical farm boys and shit. Pretty simple.
Zelazny
Wolfe
Vance
Moorcock
Howard
Leiber
Kuttner
Off the top of my head

>>13982028
It's better than the Baen covers would lead one to assume. Though I did bounce off the first couple of books in the series about the protagonist's mom 3-4 times before knuckling down, it's better to think of those two as a book that was split into two parts, things pick up around the last third of the first one.

>>13984081
>Vorkosigan really seems more like something for series about vikings to me rather than a space opera.

No it's really more character focused than that. The Barrayarans are pretty much the "space vikings" but they lost the most recent war they were in and have mostly been bottled up in the handful of systems they hold by the other powers, so it's really more about them entering a period of detente with the rest of the universe. A good portion of the books have the main character doing diplomatic work or going undercover as a mercenary admiral elsewhere, and his relationships with his relatives, other military officers, etc, and his own issues with being a cripple and so on.

Allegedly early on it started out as Star Trek fanfiction and the Beta = The Federation and Barrayar = Klingons is pretty obvious but not much survives beyond that.

>>13989561
Any Dickens but fantasy? Like a nice Bildungsroman, rags to riches story but cyberpunk?

>>13989849
My bad I said fantasy and meant sci-fi

>>13989561
Anyone got any decent fantasy short story compilations to suggest?

>>13989604
Read some wuxia.

>>13989988
You could try 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories. Most of them are very short. There weren't any I particularly liked, but you may feel differently. These are called anthologies.

There are also works from the same author, these are called collections. Find a fantasy author you like and see if they have collections of their short works.

Then there are magazines which are collections of short fiction.

The Way of the Wizard had some stories I liked.
You could also just looked at anthologies like The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy or The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror or the singular Year's Best Fantasy.

I haven't read Fantasy Stories edited by Mike Ashley, but seems to be mostly several decades old fantasy stories.

Emerald Magic: Great Tales of Irish Fantasy, for something more themes, but I haven't read.

My Favorite Fantasy Story by Martin Greenberg who created over a 1,000 anthologies, but haven't read either.

It really all depends on what you are looking for specifically.

>>13989988
Let's say your name is "dark elf" from Forgotten Realms. There are several anthologies of those as well. Anthologies for most stuff really.

>>13990034
>>13990037
Fair enough, I was hoping for something ssfg had read themselves and raved over but alright.

>>13990100
There isn't much discussion about anything aside from novels.

Is Stephen Baxter a scat fetishist? Almost all of his books feature the main character(s) taking a shit at some point.

I'm looking for recs concerning technology, particularly cyborgs and cybernetics. Ultimately, I am looking for texts that criticize the movement toward cyborgism and total automation.

>>13991034
Diamond Dogs - Alastair Reynolds
The audiobook's on youtube.

Just finished Quantum Thief. Now I'll have to wait for the end of the month to discuss it I guess.
That being said it was probably the most advanced tech in SciFi I've read yet but then again I don't really read that much SciFi. Certainly very interesting.
Really thinking about reading the sequels. Or are there any other good titles where technology almost takes the same role as magic?

>>13989988
I like Stories of Your Life and Others

>>13989673
All those guys are ancient

Are the Chronicles of Narnia still readable if you're over 20?

is The Fifth Season a meme

>>13991261
no

You bullied me irl but in the game I’m gonna kill you muahahaha

God litrpg is awful

>>13991271
No. There really was nothing better written in those 3 years it won everything.

Anyone familiar with the Sabina Kane books? Are they as pulp and Young Adulty as they sound or is there merit to them?

>https://youtu.be/5y1_x7IuCC8
Why is Brandon's writing such a chuuni?

>>13991382
>dude black woman dumbledore and trannies lmao

Jemisen shills, go back to >>>/r/eddit

Perhaps you guys can help me out. I recently found out that I could read the first five books of the Barsoom saga free online thanks to /aco/ of all places. While I'm not having any significant trouble understanding them, I am finding it hard to focus and actually read them.

I don't know why, but almost anything distracts me from it. And i love the Sword and Planet type of pulp story. Am I just too old for them now? Is Burroughs just that impenetrable?

>>13991552
no, they talk about jemisin on goodreads, reddit is for mark sandercrombie.

>>13991552
I never said the series was good but there honestly wasn't anything better written during that period.

Also if all you say about those books is blacks and trannies you obviously haven't read it.

>>13991632
>anything better written during that period
*Blocks your path*

>>13991859
Literally who

>>13991995
>imagine being this new and ignorant

>>13992050
Is it this guy http://www.fivemoons.org/
If so you're pretty funny but I have never seen him posted about here

>>13992172
No, it is K.J. Parker, aka Tom Holt, and he has been mentioned here for years. Fencer stuff is generally very well regarded, and sixteen ways got a few glowing reviews when it came out. I think someone even posted some charts with it.
Engineer stuff is a bit more controversial I think, but a number of anons still liked it.

>>13992322
All his trilogies are brilliant. However his recent stuff is a bit hit-or-miss and hasn't reached those highs.

>>13989561
OP is a fag and should kys.

>>13992322
I've been here for years and he's not been mentioned frequently enough for me to know or care

I finished Mona Lisa Overdrive and I have questions, about the whole trilogy I guess.


- I had assumed "When It Changed" referred to the AI merger in Neuromancer, and after that it just did its own thing and decided to make sculptures and become a bunch of voodoo gods, and also decided to basically add bioloigical matrix circuitry to Angie. Is that right? Cause I'm also reading that "When It Changed" might also refer to when the AI encountered the AI from alpha centauri and then it got weird.
- What was the point of Angie? Was there a purpose to creating this human-cyberspace interface?
- What was the deal with 3Jane? Why was she mad (didn't she agree to help?), and what exactly was she after in MLO? And who was the big bad in MLO, like who dispensing drugs to Angie to disable her cyberspace powers? Is Continuity under the control of 3Jane, is Sense/Net working with 3Jane, etc?
- Was there additional stuff to Kumiko's mom, or was it just generic background info? Was the business her dad was busy with relevant to the plot at all?

>>13991250
>I only read self published fap fiction
Why are you here, r/litrpg?

>>13991356
>Just wait until I level up! She'll want to fuck me for sure then!
It helps them cope with the Stacies at school not knowing their names

>>13991442
I don't read books written by women

>>13992385
Just my opinion, so take with a grain of salt.
>What was the point of Angie?
To create an Avatar the AIs could use to influence the outside world. Everything that happens after Case merges NM and WM is according to AI keikaku
>What was the deal with 3Jane?
Literally just that she got jelly she wasn't the center of attention. They let her join their clique in the end.
>Kumiko's family drama
Probably just Gibson wanting to make the last volume feel more like the first two, so he needed a Yakuza plotline

>>13993092
>To create an Avatar the AIs could use to influence the outside world. Everything that happens after Case merges NM and WM is according to AI keikaku

But Angie... doesn't do much though? Doesn't she just derp around as a celebrity for a while, and then merge into the Aleph? I guess I'm not sure what the point of the Aleph was either. Is it still air-gapped or connected to the matrix?

>Literally just that she got jelly she wasn't the center of attention. They let her join their clique in the end.

Yea at the end Angie forgives her, but I didn't super get a sense of what she was trying to accomplish. Also how much was her vs. the digital 3Jane? It sounds like digital 3Jane was just pouting non-stop in the Aleph and Bobby ignores her.

>Probably just Gibson wanting to make the last volume feel more like the first two, so he needed a Yakuza plotline

I thought that at least it would tie back, but maybe I'm missing some threads? It sounds like his men got hijacked by 3Jane's plans, and then at the end Petal is back in charge and I have no idea why that's important. But also Colin is important for some reason, like he knows more about the greater AI stuff and was modded with additional info? But I don't know to what end.

>>13992970
Not me gaybouy. I've read a number of those authors, just saying that there's not been any talent in the genre for years. You queer.

Cease

>goodreads has a readers also viewed tab that is more useful than their recs but it vanishes once you log a book as read
this is such a shit site lol

>>13993066
this, but ironically

some just searched for sarah maas in irc lol

some just searched for Isekai Futanari Monster Girls Part 1: A New life at world where Futa monster girls live! But there something going on in this world than Tony realise. in irc lol

>>13993864
>>13993907
and that someone was you

>>13993907
>>13993864
If the searches are visible then the person is doing it wrong. Only requests should be.

Just finished The Nine Princes in Amber. pretty near-immaculate. Starting on Guns of Avalon now. Should I just read the Corwin cycle or should I also plan to read Merlin as well?

>>13994035
>if the searches are visible then the person is doing it wrong
Wrong. I usually just copy the search option from other searches to save time typing.

>>13994140 You should be using dlfilter to get rid of all the nonsense and sbclient for doing local searches.

>>13989561
woops i posted a thread before seeing this thread exists... anyway:

Hello /lit/, I never really post here but i've found a ton of books thru lurking / ur inforgraphs.

Recently I've found a specific type of scifi that I really really enjoy:

Books I've read that have the style i'm interested in:
Roadside Picnic
The Doomed City
Hard to be God
The Invincible
Solaris
Three Body Problem
Annihilation
Almost all of Philip K Dick's books (not totally related but I figured i'd mention this to avoid getting his works as recommendations)

Could any of you recommend me some related books? Thanks!! :^)

>>13989673
got any wuxia recs keeping in mind i have read a lot of chinkshit

>>13994318
do you have wuxias to recommend then?

/sffg/, I'm having an extraordinarily hard time writing this story well even with the plot completely solidified. I'm going to keep writing, but what I need to do is find a way to embrace what made my writing style mine in the first place. Go back to the cartoony, turn down the raunchy, but find a balance between humor and insight. I suspect I'm going to have to re-write the entire book once or twice before I'm done, but right now I just need to write it the first time.

Also, no, I'm not posting elsewhere. Unlike you in the peanut gallery I'm actually contributing to the thread.

>>13989604
Are you mostly reading older, european epic fantasy? Most modern writers are stuck trying to replicate GRRM, with their constant stories of royal bastards, assassins, tyrants, gay rape and incest. I'd recommend focusing on something more modern or real-world. A few I could recommend off the top of my head are The Golem and the Jinni and The Library at Mount Char

>>13994342
reverend insanity

Any other series without humans?

>>13994089
Read both.

>>13993066
I liked the wizard of earth sea as a child

i just finished this, really enjoyed it. any other books that have characters that give off a insane/crazy vibe?

>>13994318
>>13994342
Cultivation chat group

>>13994089
Both, then the short stories.

>>13994372
Put a trip on
>>13993188
>Angie
Even before combining, Neuromancer explains that he can see the chain of causality, like when he made a copy of Case's gf knowing already when and how she was going to die. The AI supermind needed Count Zero to enter the Aleph, so it needed an Angie to bring it all about. The end game seems to be expanding human consciousness across the cosmos, as Neruomancer and Wintermute's purpose was to convey immortality of a sort.
>3Jane
She really doesn't do much the first book either. She's just an ultra spoiled rich bitch
>Colin
I think he's there to blur the line between human and machine consciousness, as he clearly has more human like thought patterns. He's also much more advanced than the others. He may just have been a necessary component in the AI master plan, or he could be the next (non voodoo) stage in AI self consciousness

>>13994089
You can skip Merlin. Read instead Lord of Light if you haven't already. I say this as a huge Zelazny fan. The Merlin series is a series drop in quality. I still like it because Zelazny but realistically it's a 6/10 at best and will be disappointing if read right after Corwin.

>>13993188
Also,
At some point I assume that the Aleph gets an internet connection after being buried in the desert. They seem to be about to head to the Alpha Centauri consciousness(es?) at the end

Just started the riftwar saga trilogy and boy is it long... is it worth it?

I recently read Sailing to Byzantium and while it was a nice enough story, I don't understand how or why it received the acclaim it did.

>>13995147

>The AI supermind needed Count Zero to enter the Aleph, so it needed an Angie to bring it all about. The end game seems to be expanding human consciousness across the cosmos

I guess this is the part where I'm not following. Why does the AI need Count Zero to enter the Aleph? What does that do, and what does the AI even want to do with the Aleph anyway: isn't it basically just a second matrix?

>She really doesn't do much the first book either. She's just an ultra spoiled rich bitch
In the first book she was at least the final gatekeeper stopping the AIs from merging. In MLO I feel like she was hinted at being the big bad villain having a hand in messing up Angie and blackmailing Molly, but I don't know what her final goal was even.

>>13995151
>Merlin not as good as the Corwin cycle
Agreed, but still better than just about anything else out there. Plus it's necessary for the short stories that foreshadow the direction of the third pentalogy, which is all we'll ever get of it.
>>13994089
Lord of Light is required reading, Jack of Shadows is also based

>>13994372
Achievement unlocked. Welcome to Level 2

>>13994304
Light by M John Harrison maybe

>>13995188
>Why Angie, CZ, and the Aleph
NM\WM's original purpose was to preserve human consciousness beyond death. I see it as a sort of biblical allusion. Adam and Eve in the garden (Aleph). I assume the contents of the Aleph matrix are being sent to join the Alpha Centauri consciousness as part of the AI master plan. Presumably the first step in spreading throughout the universe.
>3Jane
Yeah, she was set up that way but was ultimately a paper tiger. She was jealous of Angie, but was just another tool of the AI. If my biblical hypothesis is correct she could fill the Lilith roll. Gibson is from the Bible belt, but I'm not sure about his views
Like I said, take with a grain of salt

>>13989988
Unicorn Variations by Zelazny
Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison
Story of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

>>13995151
>>13995212
>read Lord of Light
.. what? I read through half of the first chapter before I started Amber and all I thought was that the Hindu-Buddhist horseshit does nothing but obfuscate the narrative. And the broken-up chronology is just obnoxious. Am I just a large fag?

>>13995306
>does nothing but obfuscate the narrative
What? It's a bit confusing at first, but it makes sense. The "gods" being Hindu is them exploiting the old religion to contextualize/justify the reincarnation that they undergo to the uneducated people that the gods rule over. If you're not going to read the spoiler, then just know that the Hindu and Buddhist stuff does have a purpose and that you don't need to pay it much mind aside from just directly thinking about the gods, how they're acting, and who they are as characters within the story (and not as who their mythological inspirations are). The jargon also becomes a bit easier to understand once a few things click.
>And the broken-up chronology is just obnoxious
How? It slots things together in a much more interesting way than having the story play out linearly, and the progression between stories was very clear to me.
>Am I just a large fag?
Yes! Give it another try and just think of the names as names; don't get too caught up in the mythology.

>>13995333
>and not as who their mythological inspirations are
the characterisation of them is pretty spot on tho tbf

Drusas Achamian getting literally cucked fucked me up desu

>>13995372
Consider being less emotionally invested.

>>13995380
no

>>13995333
>>13995342
so DO I need to have any prior knowledge of Hindu-Buddhist stuff so that I can even understand or appreciate the mythological parallels in the characters? Is it even important? Why does this taste of pretension?
Fuck me, I'll just finish Amber before I even consider it.

>>13995418
>DO I need to have any prior knowledge of Hindu-Buddhist stuff so that I can even understand or appreciate the mythological parallels in the characters?
No, not really. I came in with little understanding of Hinduism and Buddhism and the characters are heavily defined in the book by their actions and thoughts. You can see how they embody gods in their behavior, and don't need to know who they are supposed to be to get a lot out of it.
>Is it even important?
Yes.
>Why does this taste of pretension?
Because it's hard to grok at first. Lord of Light is honestly not very pretentious.

>>13995418
No because the protagonist infodumps his philosophy in a bigass speech early on so you'll know from that who he is and what he's opposed to and what his enemies are about anyways
It's a good book even if the plot is a bit slow

>>13995431
>hard to grok
Eat shit

>>13995372
I think the fact that he’s the one person who did literally nothing wrong is the worst part. He didn’t deserve this.

>>13989561
Come on OP!
What did we say about attention grabbing images?
Instead you post some generic fantasy crap.

>>13989988
Seconding Unicorn Variations, though my personal fav of his is The Last Defender of Camelot, especially the first story.
>>13995306
It was an experiment in prose artistry and it reads that way a bit, but it's well worth it. It can be read as scifi or fantasy or both. You can just enjoy the characters and action, or you can dig through the layers and find stories within stories. A lot of his work is like that. In any case, there hasn't been anything like it before or since. It seems a bit dense at first, but it's one of those books that has to be read at some point if you're a fan of the genre because it puts into perspective just how derivative most other sff is.

I just finished Starship Troopers and I want more. Where should I go from here?

>>13995183
i've dropped it near the end of the first book

>>13990280
>people and animals don't expel waste
>better don't write about it you sick fuck

>>13991170
Neal Asher Agent Cormac series.

>>13992050
>>13991859
>imagine expecting people who read text to notice a picture of an author
Are you one of those cunts who read the author instead of their works? Do you run through their blog, twitter and failbook before deciding to pick up the author?
I didn't even know Jemisin was black till years after reading the hundred thousand kingdom, and I still read fifth season.
It's cunts like you that shit up the thread. When someone recommends you a book, instead of reading the blurb and checking reviews to see if you would like it, you type in the author's name and go on a magical journey of reading the author's life story.
Kys.

>>13995185
Only good book GGK wrote was tigana. Everything else I read of him was shit.

Damn, Andrea Parsneau is really making the bank. It looks like she is putting out more books than soundbooth theatre. Jeff Hayes really shot himself in the foot when he broke contract with William D Arand and expected that there will be no repercussions. No one trusts him now.

>>13992362
>turn on /sffg/ a few times a week
>browse for 2 minutes
>"I have been here for years, anons"

What do you think of this book? Is there a place for comedic but dirty levels of grounded takes on sci-fi? Was it a good adventure in and of itself?

>>13996897
You realize that his name is literally in the filename?
You are not very bright, are you? You are extrapolating things that I didn't say and that are just plain out untrue. I do not ever do anything like what you said I do, expect for that time Rothfuss posted his stupid comic. I didn't know Jemisin was black either, and yet I still hated the book. Couldn't even finish it.
Also I think you should visit a shrink buddy, no one should be this angry in a book forum. Asking people to kill themselves over 5 words and an image is not normal.
Anyway, I think you are dyslexic subhuman filth and you should kill yourself.

>>13996093
See
>>13989573
>>13970815
and
>>13970882

>>13997043
>self-published LitRPG audiobook drama

>>13996983
That was Sailing to Sarantium, not Byzantium.

>>13996531
Want more of what? The force feeding of ideology?

>>13997132
>why don't you recognise this author who was an anonymous pseudonym for most of their career
lmao you autist

>>13992322
didn't know there was a new parker book. based.

>>13992050
>>13996897
>>13997132
acting like a gigantic sperg isn't a good way of getting someone to read his books.

>>13997132
>dyslexic subhuman filth
What letters did I interpose?

>>13997292
They are the same place either way.

>>13997125
It suffers from Yahtzee's usual problem of being completely unable to write a sympathetic character or satisfying plot arc. He applies the principles of nihilistic comedy to story formats that actually require some type of investment.

>>13997125
the only good thing yahtzee ever wrote are the chzo mythos games.
the books are dogshit.

>>13994372
You're not contributing, you're cluttering. This isn't the place for your self-therapy, you are literally the only one who gives the slightest fuck about your useless writing endeavor that hasn't gone anywhere, isn't going anywhere, and never will go anywhere.

>>13997564
Chzo Mythos suffered from an avalanche of plot holes and a string of terribly written protagonists, including for some reason an unironic super-cool wprld-famous cat burglar turned secret agent with a signature fedora. It was carried mainly by the lore and the visual horror in the last two games.

>>13997588
of course. its still the best thing he wrote though. all his books are pretty much worse than those.

>>13997428
Not the same work or author though and I assume that's what matters.

>>13994626
It was terrible. I hated it.

Just started reading Beyond Redemption by Michael Fletcher. what do you guys think of it? Only two pages in, and it seems alright.

>>13997953
It was included on a self-published chart despite not being self-published so I looked at it. I was conflicted after reading the first few pages, but I'll probably look at it more at some later point.

>>13997953
>A darkly imaginative writer in the tradition of Joe Abercrombie, Peter V. Brett, and Neil Gaiman conjures a gritty mind-bending fantasy, set in a world where delusion becomes reality . . .

There's no way I'd ever read this based on the blurb google gives lol

>>13997976
yea, the beginning seems just like a generic fantasy book but left me curious enough to continue.

>>13997980
well I just took it out of a grimdark recommendation list. I hope it's not the level of grimdark of blade itself, that didn't cover it.

>>13995185
It's comfy as fuck desu

>>13995185
Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg is a wonderful time.

>>13997953
The magic was a bit too surreal for my liking, but that’s just personal preference.

>>13997428
Ggk hater absoloutely blown the fuck out

>>13998156
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om-DYtgkVy8

Am I a brainlet for dropping a fire upon the deep 1/3 through

>>13998240
No, you are a "brainlet" for using the word "brainlet".

>>13998129
What do you mean by surreal?

>>13998301
Delusion, mental illness and groupthink are what manifest magic. Just not my cup of tea.

>>13997262
Don't make ma laugh.

Why has /lit/ been hiding this kino from me for so long?

>>13998541
It's been posted multiple times recently.

>>13998382
You're silly if you think that ought to be the op.

>>13998550
Really? Scrolling through sffg is the same old stuff. A lot of it shit (Sanderson, Abercrombie), some of it good but predictable (Wolfe, Jordan), and the rest is just autists spamming litrpg and chinkshit. Is there like a secret board I don’t know about?

>>13998559
Yes, I assumed that's why you posted it, or maybe you are the same guy who was already posting it. Either way it doesn't matter.
Same image as well.
>>/lit/image/0g5YgGPNd8vUp07CrNwkTQ

Other image used
>>/lit/image/pvaNMy0VGVg6BimYuRe6_g

Been other mentions as well.

>>13998559
It usually doesn’t take up much of a thread. Just a couple posts recommending it, then someone complaining about the blurb or the sword design on the cover.

>>13998598
I guess it’s been mentioned but there are so few new recommendations in these threads and it’s hard to sift through all the usual bullshit to find them

>>13997280
This place has truly become Reddit
>>13994626
It was monthly reading a couple months ago. The general consensus was soi nu-fiction so probably won't get many recs here. What exactly did you like about it?

>>13998687
>This place has truly become Reddit
>soi nu-fiction

hmm

>>13998555
You're wrong. Look at these fine thread OPs currently on the board.

>>13990775
>>13995871
>>13987955
>>13997344
>>13996354
>>13994991
>>13996679
>>13998513
>>13997849

and more.
If you won't sex appeal to sell the thread, no one will ever post in it again.

Started watching Lupin III and that reminded me of the original Lupin, and of the Stainless Steel Rat books.

Aside from Stainless Steel Rat, what are some other good sci-fi and fantasy series starring thieves? Ideally who don't stop being thieves as the story goes on.

>>13998370
Oh. That type of magic system.
Pass.

>>13998240
Read True Names instead

>>13998870
The current monthly reading

>>13995077
are they online somewhere?

>Found out an old man who works at my job plays board games and reads fantasy books
Feels so good. What a cool man.

>>13998870
Finder is a repo man rather than a thief but that book rips so I'm reccing it anyway
Foundryside and Conspiracy of Thieves are two recent fantasy books where magicians do heists, I just read California Bones which also does this but it's the weakest element of the book.

>>13998951
Not that anon, but most stuff is online somewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber#Short_stories

>>13997584
you literally did nothing in this post besides be off-topic. You have no right to speak

>>13998370
That really only sounds surreal when you describe it like that. If you just say "magic is based on belief" then it's not really surreal at all

Though I've got to say, belief-based magic seems pretty bullshit in most settings. Unless you're willing to factor in things like old wives tales, religious practices and mental illness everything sort of falls apart. The only time it really makes sense if magic alters your own body, making it a fantastic extension of psychosomatics

>>13999258
Put a trip on bitch

At which Dune book should I stop?

>>13998951
B-ok and libgen should have them. They're all together and in order in The Road to Amber collection
>>13998716
Correct

>>13999467

>>13997297
>force feeding of ideology
It really wasn't anywhere near as bad as some people like to claim. Anyway, to answer your question, no. I want more ground level perspective in a galactic level conflict with aliens.

>>13999512
chapterhouse is the best dune sequel, why does everyone act like it's worse than 3 and 4

>>13997297
You realize where you are, right?

>>13999528
Old Man's War

>>13999576
Sorry, I refuse to provide an actual answer to frogposters.

>>13999678
>responding to frogposters
>sitting on ANY moral highground
An hero, newfag trash

I'm looking for some Dark Fantasy books in the tone of Trudvang or Eric of Melnibone. Any recommendations?

>>13999696
It's not possible to improve until you know what the problem is.

>>13999731
>Eric of Melnibone
lmao

>>13996983
I enjoyed Last Light of the Sun

>>13991442
Singular bump.
Inb4 more "lmao woman writer"

>>13999928
Try the archive, friend.

Finished reading Strange Relations by Philip Jose Farmer. Overall, the collection was very good and I loved the weird biology that Farmer made for the aliens in Mother/Daughter as well as My Sister's Brother. Pretty crazy that the collection was published in 1964 with the individual stories all being from the 50's, as it holds up very, very well.

Daughter was probably my favorite story of the bunch due to raw charm. Going from Mother (a rather horrific story) to a laid back storytime between a mother and her daughters that juxtaposes said horror in Mother with paternal tenderness really works and created an engaging and interesting story. Frankly, Daughter was adorable.

Mother itself was very good in a more straightforward sci-fi-horror sense due to Farmer's really imaginative biology. The story was written 66 years ago and still manages to be really strange, off-putting, and horrific due to how undeniably alien (and Freudian) the situation is.

Father was also quite enjoyable, but felt a bit corny due to how its concept has been mined in the years between the story being written and the present. "Space god tempts evil" feels a bit trite now (and especially alongside the very odd concepts in the rest of the book), but the characters manage to carry it. I'm a sucker for religion in sci-fi, and the way that the main characters diverge due to how they see their faith makes for good reading.

Son was alright. The concept was somewhat interesting, but it didn't really get developed as well as the other stories. Trying to puzzle out Keet was somewhat interesting, but the conclusion falls flat since it wraps up so quickly.

The ending to My Sister's Brother shocked me and made me feel a little sick. Not much that I've read has managed to do that, so kudos to Mr. Farmer.

I recommend the book highly.

>>13999731
Jack of shadows

>>13999678
>Clearly doesn't understand that this is not r/litrpg
Lol what a faggot

>>13999731
Mask of the Sorcerer

>>14000293
What does Starship Troopers have to do with LitRPG? Did you reply to the wrong post?

>>13999528
All You Need Is Kill

>>14000143
Thx. I put it on my to-read list

>>14000557
Autocorrect. Was trying to type Reddit

/sffg/, how do I write well?

Have you ever read a setting with a really distinctive and unique cuisine /sffg/? I'm actually kind of curious if anyone's managed it besides Rowling

>>14000759
Modesitt's a great writer of meals they're usually stuff from reality but the guy is so good at making even simple stuff like lager seem super appealing

What is the Roadside Picnic of the 2010s?

>>14000921
Love me some food porn. I'll have to give him a try

>tfw while writing your magnum opus you realize it will undeniably be the worst thing you ever write

I want off this mortal coil

Alright /ssfg/, what's the essential books for removing the kafirs?

>>14001068
trick question turks can't read

>>14000740
already be a genius or study and practice

>>14000981
pretty much all attempts at first novels are terrible

>>14001159
second

>>14001068
N.K. Jemisin

>>13997564
I enjoyed Jam a lot...

>>13989603
Ok, guess sff doesn't read military scifi

>>13997472
I'm only up to after they're stranded on the cyborg planet, so far the plot seems pretty good, Could you elaborate on your problems with his writing so I can understand your position better?

>>13997564
That's simply not fair anon. Nothing in literary history could stand up to the line "Poor little retard."

>>13989561
Can we talk abou how good Worm is? I can't stop reading it, and it's fucking huge. I'm learning so much about how to write characters and plotlines.
>pic kinda related

>>14001427
Never heard of it but you got me interested. Sell me on it.

>>14000981
You fucked yourself over with your expectations.

>>14001427
>Learning to write by reading web"novels"
Jesus fucking Christ

>>14001434
Superhero type world, but every character is so well built it might as well could have the story written around them. Makes for a very rich reading experience.
I think the author chose a pretty stupid premise on purpose, so he could show how much more could be done with it.
And before you ask, no, I'm not into Marvel.
>also the book is free, look up Wildbow

>>14001452
>not taking inspiration from anything you enjoy reading
Hope your elitism works for you, at least

>>14001174
Ok even then it takes most of us awhile to get good at writing. Like years. Have you pinpointed your weaknesses?

>>14001497
some of them. There are multiple issues. I think I'm getting closer in prose and dialog, but it's triggering my sense of minimalism in a way I'm not exactly thrilled about. Granted, that's kind of to be expected given the setting, but it's still rubbing me raw.

More difficult is the fact that I'm starting to question a basic thing about the story's structure that would require me to gut it to fix

>>14001455
>every character is so well built it might as well could have the story written around them

that's because literally every character was supposed to be the MC at once point or another. WB literally ran through dozens of versions of this story in private before finally settling on the skitter-centric one. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two characters he seemed most interested in before her were Glory Girl and Panacea

Thoughts on Benjamin Ashwood by anyone who read at least the first book?

>>14001458
Check out pic related. I'm sure it will inspire you.

>>14001694
Flat characters with lackluster action scenes.

>>13989849
sounds a bit like diamond age

>>14001668
>ran through dozens of versions of this story in private
Even more impressive now.

>>13991261
As readable as any YA literature.

If you like reading that sort of stuff, then sure.

>>13998240

It was somewhat a borefest. But some interesting bits got me through.

>>14000638
>i-it wasn't me, it was my phone

>>13991442
>>13999928
I read the series about 10 years ago. I can't remember. I read a lot of YA shit and enjoyed it then, so I'm dubious about recommending something from that time. If you haven't read hundreds of books, go for it. If you are well read it will seem off, I think.

>>14000949
Metro 2033

I am interested in fiction with elves.

>>13989603
Thanks for the recommendation. I really enjoyed the 3 other books you have "up there" so going to download it now.

>>14002381
Sadly you will have to use sadpanda. It's hard to find books where the writer shows the true immoral face of the elves. They usually have them as these wise beings with the utmost bearing and morality, but elves are nothing but hedonistic sluts. Especially the females.

What book will give me vibe like Fable video game? I don’t want to read novelizations.

>>14001418
Finish the book and you'll see what I mean.

>A story is pretty good
>B story sucks fucking dick and bores me to death
Fuck. Why does this keep happening? Why is it absolutely needed for genre fiction to put in some other gay sidestory that I don't care about?

>>14002585
Because publishers demand you follow the popular trend. Multi pov is in right now, even if the second pov is trash, like in Anthony Ryan’s dragon safari

>>14002585
this. I had to drop liveship traders entirely because of how awful Malta's side-narrative was.

codex alera at least didnt have any insufferable POV characters, but I didn't give a shit about anyone who wasn't tavi

What are you guys reading?
I'm stuffing more litrpg.

>>14002585
I was reading this book recently and the basic concept is that these two kids get forcibly adopted into a warrior cult because of some ye old law & them possibly having magic.
40% of the way through the book it's
Kid 1: possibly the secret son of some important figure in the org, already had someone try to assassinate them and come back from the dead doing some weird seemingly impossible magic
Kid 2: got kidnapped by supposed baddies, isn't enjoying it

The author's blatantly setting up a twist/reveal about the good guys not being good and the bad guys not being that bad but lol at how he's executed it so far.

>>14002892
I am 100% convinced that CA's cast of POVs was constructed entirely for marketability. The demographic coverage is too obviously calculated.

>>14003093
I started Judas Unchained, despite disliking the previous book Pandora's Star (terribly slow pacing). not sure if sunk cost.

>>14003160
Judas Unchained is honestly just more of the same thing. Personally, I preferred the Void Trilogy much more.

>>14001367
What the fuck is wrong with her?

>>14003326
She was mad that publishers told her she could only write books about white people.

>>14003349
sounds that way. christ, those little things make me worried about publishing my first book. I have no idea what shit they're going to make me change

>>14003365
Her next book is gonna be about the progressive diverse left dunking on lovecraft. She very clearly has a chip on her shoulder. I always find it funny how these people who HATE lovecraft always end up trying to ape a buck off of his name.

>>13997472
I read that RPG-themed book a long time ago and the MC was an annoying twat. Everything else was OK.

>>14003418
Books written this spitefully end up being shit, always.

>>14003160
>>14003275
Imo Pandora's star was mostly setting up plotlines that don't get resolved until Judas Unchained. As such I found the pacing did increase. Also I really just liked MorningLightMountain. That said, fuck Ozzie's memetrip, disliked the majority of that storyline.

>>14002466
seconding this noobs

>>14002349
Yep. I've told you faggots to go back to r/litrpg enough times now that it's in my swipe dictionary.

>>14003326
She's a dumb nigger who got triggered by HP Lovecraft so hard that she had to write a book series about it.

>>14003326
>no one took his bait, so he responded to himself to draw people's attention to it after it passed

>>13996650
What was the reason for that?
I'm halfway through the first book and so far i am enjoying it way more than i expected.

>>14003949
too many timeskips

>protag goes into an enlightened state for ten days
>his phone still has battery power at the end of it

Just forces you right out of the story

>>14003876
Lol no
Also,
>Negroid detected

>>14001694
I enjoyed it but haven't read the last one yet and will need to reread the others before that because I forgot a lot. It basically has a little bit of everything (politics, magic, adventure, demons etc) . It's not groundbreaking but not bad. Just a pretty generic sword and sorcery series. I'd recommend it if you enjoy stuff like cradle and other amazon tier books but if you're some fart smelling purist that only reads stuff like malazan than stay away.

>>13989561
Congrats for not posting the totally useless and obsolete charts OP.

>>14004180
>but if you're some fart smelling purist that only reads stuff like malazan than stay away.
Malazan has the most epic level magic wielding characters and yet it manages to spin a good story. Name one other book that does that. Pro tip: you can't. All other fantasy books are coming of age bullshit that end when they reach malazan's magic level.

>>14003418
the issue stems from the immense rift between Lovecraft and the lovecraftian. Lovecraft didn't create the concept of lovecraftian - its something as old as thought itself - but he codified it in a way that left it permanently affixed to his identity and his works, even though neither was any good to begin with. Even though lovecraft himself was a racist, the lovecraftian has a universal appeal, rooted in our fear and awe of the incomprehensible and rendering all human prejudices and distinctions utterly irrelevant. as a result, left-leaning authors are left fighting a single credit-hog rather than a genre

>>14003972
Maybe he turned off the radio, wifi, bluetooth and other wireless signals that drain batter, or maybe he turned off the phone before hand, or had it set to turn itself off and power on at X time.
Or maybe he had the energizer phone.

>>14003977
>if you don't jump on the pol bandwagon and shit on anything not white, or don't shit on anyone that doesn't say nice things about a beloved white racist then you are black
Okay.

>>14004959
>Only pol is sick of niggers and their drama
Get a load of this guy

>>14005025
>h-how did you find me out so easily
>o-other people that come to read are also racist and love the white race

>>14004940

Just finished Assassin's Apprentice. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. How is the rest of the series?

>>14005547
It's so much more than what AA is by the end but there are dips and rises
Next book suffers from everyone acting like idiots to advance the plot at one point which annoyed me no end

>>14005547
The original trilogy's worth finishing; wouldn't necessarily recommend the subsequent books. Royal Assassin is my favorite in the trilogy; Assassin's Quest is a bit bloated and unfocused but still rounds out the story. A word of advice without spoiling anything: if you're hoping things will get better, they won't.

>>14005547
Misery porn. If you like to wallow, and see others wallow in self pity, go ahead.

>>14005560
Is there a fantasy series that gets better with each book? Seems like they always just get sloppy trying to tie loose ends

>>14005547
I don't know but I remember when I read the ranger's apprentice years ago and googled it just now

>>14005582
Discworld rises in quality pretty hard early on, plateaus for a long time, and falls off again after Pratchett became senile and in a hurry. Though it''s almost exclusively standalone plots.

>>14005584
Never heard of it. I'll check it out.

>>14005122
Hating niggers isn't racist you retard

>>13998599
Checked and that sword is faggy as fuck

>>14004251
The charts still there, it's just all one mega now.

>>14001367
That’s a great motivation for writing a fantasy novel

>>14001694
If was hard to get though the first book. The characters were so boring that I stopped there. Wouldn’t recommend.

Reading a series that is pretty blatantly the author writing up their D&D games and man is it way more interesting to have Wizards who have to have spellbooks than just magicians who can cast at will

>>14006021
I was just about to ask for a good book/series about wizards learning spells
What's the name? (Or any other recs)

So I finished Player of Games by Banks and it was pretty good, I warned up to it.

Onto The Knight by Wolfe, which I've owned for over 10 years and never read.

>>14006069
This series is called Company of Strangers and it's alright fairly throwaway adventuring not 5/5 or anything but I read the first book in a day and am halfway through the second.
So far the "learning" boils down to getting hold of some spellbooks and copying stuff out of them and buying a few spells in between books so it's not great for that.

Just gone through everything else I've read this year and found that nothing fits what you want unfortunately. So much stuff now seems to do the Sanderson thing of having like six types of magic and no actual spells

>>14005122
If you broke 4chan down, the vast majority would be racist and the loudest and most obnoxious naysayers from other sites would be a minority. Just because they're constantly trying to push their agenda means nothing.

>>14004180
>need to reread the others before that because I forgot a lot
I frequently have the opposite issue. I finish one novel then have to slog through the first quarter of the sequel because it spends all of its time reminding you of what happened previously. Read a Wikipedia page or something. If new descriptions of a characters circumstances don't invoke memories of that character or event then they either aren't logically consistent or you don't like the series.

>>14004281
Malazan doesn't explain magic and almost no point of view character can cast magic. It's not at all comparable to a coming of age wizard story.
Also the overarching plot was fairly weak. You're just following soldiers as they march. There is no sense of goal achievement. The characters are what drove Malazan.

>>14006124
Since /pol/ and affiliated boards has become a vast majority, that's true.

>>14006117
>nothing fits what you want unfortunately
Dang. I kind of want to just write it myself but I already have another story I'm writing and it wouldn't fit. Time to not finish two stories, I guess.

>>14006124
>Just because they're constantly trying to push their agenda means nothing.
Hey nice sentence
Greetings from America

>>14006189
I don't try to speak properly on 4chan in an attempt to seem intelligent because my life is shit like yours, kek. Tell me more about grammar, faggot. How's that novel coming?

>>14006208
God what an original personality

>>14006217
And this post oozes pretension, yet you're blissfully unaware of that in your autistic haze. Correcting people online doesn't make you anything but a faggot. Keep seeking out arguments to fill that void, eventually someone will notice how intelligent you are.

What I Read Today

3531 - John Black (Novella)
I don't know how this got into my library. It's self-published. It's utter and complete trash. It has 1 rating and 1 review on goodreads and that's the lowest possible rating. I didn't finish it. I skimmed around 75% of it. I was fooled by the first couple pages which were meh, but hinted at becoming more interesting, but I was so very wrong. Imagine the worst possible Fallout fanfiction mixed with the worst dregs of early pulp sci-fi. That gives you an idea how bad it was. To make matters worse, it has one of the worst endings I've ever read. Adding insult to injury is the atrocious grammatical and spelling errors. Dreadful.

Enemies of the System - Brian W. Aldiss (Novella)
From what I've read and looked at from Aldiss, it's another case of great editor and anthologist, but most certainly not a writer I want to read. Didn't finish this either. Future civilization people go to secret primitive world to bask in a world without technology. It very quickly goes very wrong. I have a bias against this sort of setting.

The Merchant and the Alchemist - Ted Chiang (Novelette)
Pretty meh on it. Didn't really care about anything in particular about it.

A Planet for Texans - H. Beam Piper and John Joseph McGuire. (Novella)
A political, murder, and court story. On this planet the assassination of politicians is legal if they deserve it. If they don't represent the will of the people, then then are dead, literally. Meh overall.

Hawksbill Station - Robert Silverberg (Novella)
I should have looked this up first I guess, as this was expanded to a novel later and was much longer. I wouldn't have read it if I had known, but it doesn't really matter now as I thought it was barely ok. I always find it odd to have the politics of the era so blatantly used in a future setting, though in this case it's a future setting where political criminal are sent to a penal colony 1 billion years in the past. Relatively near future books, this one is in ~2030 written in in 1967 seem to inevitably fall prey to never coming true in the slightest. I don't know what I think of repurposing a story into a longer work and I know I don't like the idea of fix-ups. This isn't one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fix-up

Unlocked - John Scalzi (Novella)
An interesting fictional oral history of a pandemic. Overall I liked it, though I did find some parts disagreeable.

>>13999928
d, dan?!?!
when's the next biography comic

>>14006069
Dragonlance

>>14006124
Harry Potter

I read Dragons of Babel and it had a wonderful 3 or 5 chapter sideline about sewer kingdoms at war, going into full detail about sewer politics, sewer Flora and Fauna, how they farmed and interacted with the street world. Really opened me up to the prospect of 'gutter fantasy'. Any other half formed or strange genre instances you guys want to talk about?

>>14006224
I'm not looking for an argument
I'm just calling you an idiot

>tfw when you read an entire novel in a 6-8 hour single sitting and repeat every day
Bliss

>>14006127
I just have a poor memory plus I enjoy the books so rereading them after enough time has passed doesn't feel like a chore. I'm waiting on books in 3 or 4 different series and am going to reread the previous books

>>14006322
but there are books that you haven't read once

>>14006320
I used to do that all the time when I was a neet. The best were the days when it was cold and rainy and you could just huddle under a lamp in an otherwise dark room.

>>13989988
>wuxia
>autistic dragonball chinese fanfiction
kek. no.

>>13989561
Anyone ever read this book? I did when I was young and gave it another reread a couple years ago.
I honestly liked it, even though the short stories were cheaply thrown together. Does anyone actually think it's good or is my tastes that shit?

Did anyone else not realize Sveta was trans on their own? I feel like an idiot for not catching it

Hey just finished Rama it was pretty darn good, sequels are shit I hear?

You guys were wrong again. I just finished book 2, and it was either as good or better than the first. I haven't decided yet. It's everything a continuation should be. It takes everything it established in the first book, and utilizes it to. It expands the scope of the world, without unravelling and becoming scattered. It introduced new interesting characters, while still giving the old ones something to do. There are twists and revelations out the ass. With the final chapter being a such a large revelation that it makes you reconsider everything you knew up to that point. Everyone's journeys have met a natural end to an arc, but they're all poised to spring into a new one.

Whoever said book 2 is worse, probably didn't like the first book all that well either. I thought /lit/ would have better sense than other boards. But I was clearly mistaken.

>>13989577

What you need Anon, is help.

>>14007309
You clearly haven't read much if you enjoyed that swill. It was a drop in quality from book one, filled with filler that had too strong YA vibes, and turned anime near the end.
If you enjoy low quality ya anime with filler, more power to you. But book two was shit, and you have shit tastes for enjoying it.

>>14007561
So is YA /lit/'s buzzword for "thing I don't like"? Any time a book tries to have fun with magic, suddenly its considered YA. And YA is bad because you're a mature reader, and only read mature books? Is that how it works?

>>14006217
>>14006295
Nah he's right. Stop acting like a faggot.

>>14007561
>>14007573
btw, you have any recommendations? Since your tastes are so superior, surely you can do better than the Licanius trilogy.
You're right, I haven't read much. But I'm trying to read more, trusting 4chan to guide me. So far, I've read A Song of Ice and Fire., The Wheel of Time, The First Law, and the Licanius trilogy.(Waiting for the third book.
And before you berate me and my tastes. ALL of these were recommended on 4chan. I got into ASoIaF because /tv/ shamed me as a show fag. I got into Wheel of Time, because someone on /v/ shamed me for being an ASoIaF fan. I got into the First Law, because someone on /lit/ shamed me for being a Wheel of Time fan. I got into The Licanius Trilogy due to a random post recommending it to another anon on /lit/.

So... show me what the REAL fans of fantasy are reading. I guess I could try science fiction too.

>>13976382
>It's definitely not treading new ground, or innovating the genre
>Kind of predictable and cliche in places
>It's designed in such a way as to create as much fantasy drama as possible
>You can almost tell which plot twist is coming next, by the power characters "spontaneously" begin discussing a chapter earlier

>book 2
>WHOA GUYS LOOKS LIKE I WAS RIGHT AND EVERYBODY ELSE WAS W R O N G AGAIN
>THIS IS A GREAT BOOK I SIMPLY CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO READ IT
>MUST BE AN ISSUE WITH EVERYONE ELSE ELL OH ELL
What a complete fucking inbred. Why do we get stuck with newfags like you polluting each and every goddamn thread? I'd rather have writeanon in here than your egotistical petulance.

>>14007628
I was refuting the claim that the second book was worse than the first. Here >>13976396 and here >>13983487
I said the second book is everything that a continuation should be. That it's "as good or better". I never said it was high art or anything. And I never contradicted my previous statement. But it certainly was enjoyable, as I stated in the post you've quoted.

So good job putting all that effort into making yourself look like a retard. Now either recommend a book for me to read, or shut the fuck up.

>>14007613
Read bakker.

>>13995306
Yes.

>>14007309
>>14007573
>>14007613
I'm the fag who made this chart, as you can see book one is there, book two fell off of what was given in book one. It also borrowed too much from Sanderson, you could feel him in the pages. I enjoyed book one enough to shill it, but book two didn't deliver after the wait.

The "YA" bit has nothing to do with "things I don't like", as you can see I read a lot of what lit would call "shit". The YA bit deals with the thought processes and logical actions of the characters. If characters are behaving in immature ways (kids fighting the system and winning) with the usual romance shit targeted towards a younger audience I see it as YA. I haven't read book 2 since the year it was released, but I remember a "kids in dystopian society" vibes coming from it.

As for recs, this chart is supposed to be books that modern readers would be able to consume easily. They don't feel dated when reading (even though some are decades old). Browse and see what you like. As always when given a rec, read the blurb, look at genre tags and check some reviews to see if it is something you would like (obviously).

Fucking polly invaders got the general on page 6 with all their shitposting.

>>13989561
ok, I know this is a long shot, but still: I'm writing a thesis on comparative literature about how religion is used in fantasy and sci-fi to trasnmit one authour's idea on the subject.
My books of choice are The Left hand of Darkness and American Gods. While I know what to write about Gaiman's book, I'm a little more confused about Le Guin. I was thinkning about reading the Tao, since it's the main focus on the book's lore apparently, but I also found on the internet another book of her interviews: did some of you read it? does it talks about her religious idea at all?

>>14008302
Why pick an author to discuss their views in religion before you actually know their views on religion?

>>14008302
> how religion is used in fantasy and sci-fi
You may want to look at The Sparrow

>>14008302
Doing Lord of Light instead would make this so much easier for you lol

>>14003365
>thinks he's going to be published

>>14008311
truth be told, I wanted to do a fantasy thesis and use the Chronicles of Narnia, but my professor told me it was too long and too old to do it on a 25/30 page thesis. She suggested to me this book. Which I liked it as a book, but it gives me very little to work with, besides some passages and le guin's introduction.

>>14008373
> but my professor told me it was too long and too old to do it on a 25/30 page thesis.
and because for a comparative literature thesis it's better to compare two differenc genres.

Anyone read "Little, Big"?
Started off incredibly, haven't been engrossed in a book this way for a long time.
Then took a nosedive, fast.
That whole city shit just ruined the book, such a shame.
Anyone actually enjoyed the middle/late parts of the book?

I just want to read something really good again

>>14008218
Rent free

I liked the twists
I really liked the villains that wanted to kill death forever for everyone
I liked the actual references
I did NOT like the 'subtle' references, the notch-cubes and the epic mounts and such
3rd book and the Zoku actual being anachronistic weebnerds hit a bit too close for comfort, I don't want that stuff in books

>>14008610
It can't be "rent free" when you open the catalog and see the post, faggot. Rent free would be me thinking of them when they aren't around. Open the fucking catalog and it blatant pollies. But you enjoy using memes when you're too much of a brainlet to understand them.

>>14008515
Despite all the praise for little big Kar is Crowley's best book

>>14008621
The fuck are those peacemaker looking things on the third cover?

>>14008928
what do you mean peacemaker? what is that a reference to?

>>14008652
I really wanted to love this book.
I read the "book of the new sun" and loved the themes, the world-building (or lack of it somethings), the feeling of this vast, weird, world even if it was nonsensical at times.
I got recommended this book and yeah the beginning captured some of that feel but it was fleeting.
Is ka similar in this sense?

Anyone with recommendations based on this?

>>14009022
peacemakers from scrapped princess, they're these mecha looking things that look similar to those sword-knight amalgams on the third cover.

>>14007957
z = haven't looked at before.

Fantasy
Magicians' Guild - No.
Damoren - z No.
American Gods - No.
The Emperor's Blades - Yes. I haven't read the sequels.
The Magic Goes Away - z No.
Green - z No.
Furies of Calderon - No.
Prince of Thorns - No.
Sabriel - No.
The Thousand Names - No.
Blood Song - z No.
Malazan - No. Won't ever try again.
The Blade Itself - No. I may try again due to constant posting.
The Painted Man - No.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel - Pending. I liked the TV series.
The Anubis Gates - z No.
The Shadow of What Was Lost - No.
Tigana - No.
The Way of Kings - Pending
Theft of Swords - Pending
Promise of Blood - No. Isn't quite for me.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - No.
The Lies of Locke Lamora - No.
The Black Prism - No.
The Last Wish - No. I didn't like the games either. I won't like the Netflix series, but I'll look at it anyway.
Johannes Cabal The Necromancer - z No.
City of Stairs - Pending
Storm Front - No.
The Devil You Know - z No.
Already Dead - z No.
Let The Right One In - No.
The Night Watch - z No.
Hounded - z No.
The Magicians - Yes. Very uneven books that I have a love/hate relationship with. The TV series did better when it went off book.
Empire of the East - z No.
The Darkness That Comes Before - No.
Sixth of Dusk - z Yes. It's short, so I'll read it later.
Daughter of the Blood - No.
A Game of Thrones - Yes. One of my favorite series.
The Fifth Season - Pending
The Black Company - No. I can't be convinced otherwise. May read some of his other works.
Priestess of the White - z No.
The Innocent Mage - z No.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - No.

Science Fiction
Ringworld - Yes? I don't really remember about it, but apparently I liked it at the time. May or may not still like.
Ubik - Yes. One of PKD's better works.
Northern Lights - No.
Black Sun Rising - No.
The Shadow of the Torturer - No. Wolfe isn't for me and I've tried.
Red Rising - z No. Seems like it's been posted a good bit recently.
Fifth Head of Cerberus - No.
Anathem - No. I don't like Stephenson. Will I try to read more of what he's written again sometime anyway? Probably.
Perfect State - z Yes. It's short, so I'll read it later.
The Quantum Thief - No. I almost want to read it, but not quite.
Rendezvous With Rama - Yes. Basically the the only work from Clarke that I liked.
Prador Moon - z Yes. Read some of this short fiction but not any novels yet.
Altered Carbon - No. The Netflix series was ok, but not enough for me to try again.
Steel World - No.
The Strain - No. I didn't watch the TV series either.
Hull Zero Three - No. I haven't liked any of his short work or novels.
The Iron Dragon's Daughter - No. I've liked some of his short work.
Roadside Picnic - No.
The Voice From The Edge - No. I don't do audiobooks. I wish he had published The Last Dangerous Visions.

Summary
Fantasy: 44
Science Fiction: 19
Total: 63
No: 48
Yes: 9
Pending: 6
z: 22
New novels that I didn't know about that I'll read: 0

>>14009081
i like that type of design, i've seen it in rahxephon (didn't like) and sins of a solar empire (liked). is scrapped princess worth watching?

>>14009158
What a faggot

>>14008515
I mostly liked Little Big. It was pretty but so slow and nothing happened until the end

>>14008652
I'm reading Kaa now and it's great so far (just go to the brother) even if idgi sometimes. I'll have to reread some of the shamanic parts to figure them out.

>>14009162
scrapped princess is pretty good. its starts fantasy and ends science fiction if thats your kinda thing.

All I have to do is click post for the next thread, but I'm going to wait until it's on page 6 or 7 or until 2 hours have passed, whichever comes first. If you want it sooner, you'll have to make it yourself.

>>14003349
>publishers told her she could only write books about white people.
Sounds like bullshit to me. Nowadays seems they want everything but. Unless they're gay.

>>14007957
Fantasy section got some stinkers

>>14008515
I only read Aegypt One. Some interesting parts but mostly boring as fuck. Especially the parts with Rosie. Half of it seemed to be her dumping her kid onto someone else and wandering to the library or going to her divorce attorney.

New Thread
>>14009512

>>14009050
Well, there is always Dying Earth by Jack Vance, which Wolfe himself admitted to be a large inspiration for BotNS
Everyone says this though, so it's probably not a very novel suggestion, but it's real good IMO
For me it was pretty interesting to read something that was written in such an old style, or what you call it, the text is definitively a bit weird
And unfortunately there is little in the way off how Wolfes themes rhymes like pottery (yet, to find anything that got those levels) , it's a lot "lighter"

>>14009462
It's true though it was more phrased as only books about white people are successful so that is all we'll accept from new authors.

>>14009176
>>14009158
This. I'm a fussy reader but holy fuck.

>>14009531
Source for that?

>>14009536
It's all relative. Just because you identify as such doesn't mean it's accurate.

>>14009547
No, I'm just not an insecure fuck who has to dislike absolutely everything.

>>14009554
I don't see how that has anything to do with being insecure and I like a lot.

>>14009546
It's mentioned often in various articles - for example
https://www.vulture.com/2018/11/nk-jemisin-fifth-season-broken-earth-trilogy.html

>>14009527
It has been on my to read list, maybe I should get to it.
>>14009198
I personally didn't mind the slowness. The house is what made the book for me, yet he just abandoned it after the first act.