/lit/ - Literature

first for sanderfag a hack

Second for Sanderson is a fucking hack
.

Is new Black Company worth it?

Hi /lit/. Didn't know what thread to post this in but this seems good enough.
I've never written anything but I've finally started, it's gonna be a couple post apocalyptic short stories after nuclear war. I'm thinking of calling it "Stories from a M.A.D World".
Meh? Yeh? Neh?

>>14064314
Tacky name, decent idea

>>14064320
Ahh, well, it was just an idea I had in the car so...
I wanted to include M.A.D at the least. Any advice / improvements?

which one should i fucking start

Can anyone give a recommendation for someone who liked the twilight zone/ scifi thriller elements in pic related. The only thing thats come close to scratching that itch is the SCP stuff and all of that is written like shit.

>>14064339
gods of blood and power 100%, that sounds sick, reminds me of dwarf fortress

>>14064345
Roadside picnic. I fugd up.

>>14064345
>>14064356
annihilation did it for me. i'd only read the first book if i were you. you might be tempted to read the other two books at the end of the first one, but trust me, there's nothing to be gained from it.

Reading Blindsight now. Less than a tenth of the way through. Is this vampire shit metaphorical or actual vampires? I don't get it. Not sure how this all fits in with the sci-fi elements because so far their existence has been handwaved in with the most bullshit explanations so far.

>>14064372
it's really vampires. i think vampires were explained in the book but i'm not sure how far in you are so i won't tell you more

>>14064330
If you want that term in the title so much try incorporating into the abbreviation itself.
>>14064339
They're all good choices, why Shakespeare though?
>>14064345
And The Darkness Gazed Back

First time visiting /sffg/. I've been needing books to read recently due to a new schedule, but I'm not sure where I should begin.

I've recently read and thoroughly enjoyed Bakker's The Second Apocalypse. I've also more recently read on recommendation the First Law trilogy which I thought was pretty good, but not mind-blowing or anything. Is there anything of a similar nature anyone could recommend me? I guess I'm into grimdark stuff.

I was considering Abercrombie's other works, but I heard mixed things about them, and don't know. Also thinking of checking out Book of the New Sun since I've heard it get such high praise.

>>14064503
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2017/08/grimdark-were-nailing-it-down.html

>>14064513
This list is horseshit. Bakker is clearly grimdarker than Fletcher. I bet a Dunyain did this.

>>14064503
Blindsight, Lord of Mysteries, Dune, Cradle, Echopraxia.

Is the lightbringer series any good?

>>14064671
idk i've never read it

So I assume this is not news to anyone here, but I just finished the first book in the Malazan series, and this shit is pretty good.

>>14064676
I liked the first book, but most people agree it gets much better from here

>>14064707
Maybe I'll end up changing my tune down the road, but it is nice reading someone where you get the impression the author knows what he is doing and what he wants to create. The foreword where Erikson all but shits on most mainstream fantasy was also quite funny.

>>14064503
>>14064513
>>14064543
grimdark =/= grim

>>14064676
I have it on my shelf but I want to read Dune Messiah first before I jump into a new series.
What do you like about it so far? How soon did the plot hook you?

Is it just me or are Raft and Flux the same story, just in a different environment? The overarching plots are extremely similar.

>>14064712
I thought it was interesting almost right from the word go, but that is because Erikson has no qualms about dropping you down in the story medias res. The one thing Erikson makes clear in the intro is that he absolutely LOATHES fantasy that talks down to the reader. He won't hold your hand while you figure it out. Judging from this first book in the series, Malazan seems like a pretty uncompromising high fantasy epic. Writing and characters so far are competent, and the world initially seems to be delightfully void of any generic good vs. evil conflicts.

What's the closest thing to Lodoss-tou Senki? Just very simple high fantasy adventuring.

>mfw seeing all this feminist trash on the shelves now

Now I know how the old guard felt in the 2000's, I'm sorry for doubting you old-timers.

>>14064503
read the first law standalones

>>14064836
Wandered into a bookstore the other day and there was a whole ass shelf of nothing but Maas

>>14064339
Sins, definitely. It's great.

Half a week and then it's finally time to talk about weaponized memes.

>>14064339
>gods of blood and powder: sins of empire
this is why /lit/ mocks us

>>14064345
>>14064356
Have you read the Strugatskys other works? The Doomed City is by many considered their opus, although I personally think Roadside Picnic is better.

>>14064503
>First time visiting /sffg/
>already read Bakker
Based. BotNS is amazing, but it's not at all similar to the other works you've mentioned.

>>14064671
The only good thing to come from it was the burger meme.

>>14064207
That's a big komodo dragon.

>>14064207
I would like to fuck the big komodo dragon.

>>14064503
Sounds like you need GRI APPROVED books.

>>14064836
That's why you read self published.

>>14065096
This Brendan fella sure seems prolific, I'll check out some of his works!

>reading tigana and enjoying it a lot
>get a third into the book
>suddenly incest

I remember some time ago, about a space fantasy scifi book, about a planet where they have superbeings that are akin to mythological gods from earth. I reckon that different books represented different pantheons. Can you help me out to figure this out?

>>14065208
Lord of Light?

>>14065208
lord of light or the god engines are what come to mind.
both are pretty good and if you liked them you have good taste

>>14065208
are you saying there was more than one pantheon? is it a single book or a book series?

>>14065235
>>14065228
>>14065226
Thanks! That's it!
Also, I didn't read it. I read about it and I got curious.

recommend me some humorous fantasy. need a good laugh

>>14064671
It's pretty good. But the series literally ends with a character from another universe (Night Angel) closing a book called The Tales of the Lightbringer, a bible of sorts in his world, which will absolutely piss everyone off with a whole "it was a dream all along!" style ending.

>>14065367
well there's gormenghast. personally i found it insufferable but if you're the type of person who could find books funny, gormenghast is always there.

>>14065476
holy shit you're such a nigger

>>14065478
are you telling me you cant find any book funny?

>>14065478
Gormenghast is funny at the sensible chuckle level, and only if you appreciate a quite specific form of whimsical humor.

>>14065495
yeah.
i can find jokes within a book funny.
but i can't think of a whole book as funny and the idea of a comedy book is incomprehensible to me.
pratchett, gormenghast, hitchhiker, etc. look like tryhard shit to me.
but a mildly funny joke in a grimdark setting will get a chuckle out of me, because it's unexpected.

>>14065527
well i guess i don't appreciate it.
i thought the 100 pages from the book i read were a complete waste of time

>>14065476
The mods should delete you for that spoiler, or you should do it yourself faggot.

>>14064356
reading this right now

>>14065489
>>14065674
that's not actually what happens. i made it up last thread because someone decided to not read the last book based on OTHER fake spoilers I posted a few threads ago involving a 4 war battle between Koios, Dazen, Kip, and Andross, a 'nuke' going off, and Zymun killing all the Mighty + Tisis during a night raid. literally all of it is bullshit, but I am about halfway through the book and a whole lot of JACK AND / OR SHIT has happened so far.

>series of standalone/new characters every time books
>but the sequel which sounds way more interesting is set after the events of the first so I still have to read that first
boo

>>14065853
>nobody actually reads
>everything they know comes from the posts in this thread
>They 100% believe that 100% of everything posted is 100% thus it is super effective
>this is how memes are born
>years later people will be posting the fake spoilers as real in the thread as well not realizing that it's fake

>>14066112
It's glorious, isn't it? You can spout the most inane and illogical shit without any proof and people will take it as 100% fact and will actually read/not read based on said fake spoilers.

Absolutely glorious.

>still reading wheel of time
It's funny that of all the women are this much of a bitch - that it stood out how fucking lovely the Aiel Women are - especially Sulin. God, they are such fierce and sweet that its understandable why Rand would want to protect them.

>>14066218
>It's funny that of all the women are this much of a bitch
Tends to be what happens when you give women absolute power in practically every sense of the word. They run the govenment, they run the religions, theyre the only ones that can use this awesome force of magic. Of course theyre all going to be a bunch of stuck up cunts.

>>14066218
Of course they'd be sweet to their little bro Rand.

>>14066218
They let Rand get away with patronizing them because they see him as their precious son / little brother. They do eventually get tired of his shit.

Also I think you'll find Nynaeve is the best woman of the lot. She overcompensates for being short / young looking by putting up a really tough front but she's actually a blushing maiden. Just wait til she marries Lan and gets the D, you'll see her real colors.

Finished Undying Mercenaries. Could you recommend me something similar?

>>14066429
you finished all 11 books? how did you acquire them? you bought them?

Pls vote
https://strawpoll.com/8ak92xks

>>14064671
No it’s written by a bartender

>>14064671
Depends, do you like tight pussy?

Anybody has some good fantasy about noble houses competing for power? Is Darien any good?

>>14066521
how is that important?

>>14066576
Dune you twit.

>>14066406
This is such braid tugging post.

after going over a shitton of books on goodreads I came to the conclusion that 95% of all fantasy books is cringe written by women

>>14066620
It's your own fault for reading fantasy and for searching for it on goodreads.

>>14066629
but it's a lot of fun

>reading writer's works in order of publication
>not reading writer's latest work and immediately reading his earliest to see the parallels and development of his writing and tropes

>>14066653
Vavasour of Thorns?

>>14066604
Based Denis Villeneuve is working on a film adaptation, I'll read it if it sucks. Also I want medieval warfare.

>>14066218
Rand made them his big sisters unknowingly. They are sweet most of the time since they all think that Rand is their first/Near-brother. Funny thing is, that they are probably the only ones who actually demands for Rand for the toh - them beating his injured ass for being a stupid little brother was sweet and cruel, oddly.

>>14066679
>Villeneuve making a bad film

Un-fucking-likely

so where do I find good recommendations?

>>14066692
r/books

>>14066657
>not seeing the slow evolution of thought and nuance from one work to the next
>not rereading from the beginning to see things in a fresh light after having finished the latest work

>>14066711
>>14066657
>not reading everything in random order while in a drunken stupor(includinf sequels) and trying to piece out if you like it or not

>>14066732
>remembering what you've read while drunk
lol?

>>14066747
Some authors I only read drunk.

>>14066747
>he hasn't constructed a drunk alter-ego that voraciously devours genre fiction but doesn't remember it sober so as to keep up appearances before the rest of /lit/

I'm addicted to schlocky YA fantasy. I've read very little mature fantasy. I've never read anything from the popular authors like sanderson/weeks/ryan/lawrence. I want to read something more adult oriented to know if I'm an unredeemable pleb or if I can still enjoy the more sophisticated books. I was wondering if I should read something from the previous mentioned authors or jump straight into something by bakker/wolfe/erikson?

>>14066752
>>14066762
who are some drunk kino authors? i like watching trash tv while drunk but occasionally i've read some books. under the influence. most recently the night's dawn trilogy. typically the features i look for are
>crazy action
>expressive dialogue
my favorite drunk watching series are spartacus and banshee.

>>14066838
fantasy in general isn't particularly mature imo. you're looking for an "adult" book rec? do you know if you want fantasy or sci-fi? also what are some of your previous favorites?

>>14066657
that gun focus is so exploitable for memes....

>>14066838
Weeks is the opposite of mature.

>>14065367
Guards! Guards!

>>14066576
Luna: New Moon

>>14066838
Malazan book of the fallen. They're good but very long. I'm on book 8 and can't stop, i'm in too deep, I'll never make my yearly goodreads quota reading these behemoths.

>>14066957
>a 14 000 page series rec for a newbie
simply epic

>>14066838
sanderson is a midpoint imo, if you're apprehensive about "muh sanderfag" or "muh reddit writer" i'd give elantris or warbreaker a go since they're short and standalone
if you don't like him, read malazan or black company

>>14065202
yeah but it’s hot incest so it’s okay

>>14066961
Well the post did express the want to "play with the big boys"
Let's see how you like finding out that the next book in the series has almost no characters or locations in common with the previous one. And then repeating that epiphany.
Or realizing that what you thought to be a prologue chapter centering on only one character, narratively out of place and time to what you've read before, just keeps going on and on for a quarter of this elephantine volume - and when that part ends you find that you want more, that your very soul has been chained to follow this laconic, yet unexpectedly likable, Toblakai warrior, eager to see where your newfound warleader leads you.

what are the kaiju films of sff?

>>14064715
Isn't Raft the one that takes place in the alternate universe humans went to through the Great Attractor portal, and Flux is the one that occurs in the neutron star being hurled toward said dimensional portal?

How the fuck do I write a compelling female antagonist without going the rape/abuse route? How do I present her motivations as interesting and captivating to the reader, and making her at least somewhat sympathetic? I'm not buying redpill bullshit but men really are easier to write an unflinching mountains of determination and desire. I really can't find myself writing a guy and making him a girl and call it a female antagonist or protagonist or anything else.
Also any books I could read with female characters and female antagonists? I really liked Dune, especially the later parts, due to the whole Bene Geserit vs the Honored Matres battle.

>>14067022
And then that Toblakai warrior only shows up during a very brief segment in the fucking clusterfuck finale of the series

>>14067022
thank you for reminding me how gay and juvenile this series is.

>>14067050
Well he was also in book 7, and 6 too I think. And there's already been a passing mention of him in book 8, not by name of course.

>>14067048
write her as a man but you know substitute the parts that identify her as a man.

I'm writing a fantasy/cosmic horror novel right now but I fear many of my scenes are repetitive, as they involve the main character travelling to different locations, meeting with different people, and slowly unraveling the mystery that is the main plot of the book. There doesn't seem to be another way to write the story without these introductions, yet at the same time I can imagine they would get tedious for a reader. Tolkien was able to handle this problem by reintroducing main characters at various locations and points along Frodo's journey, and I've opted for this route so far, but it still feels a little repetitive. Any suggestions?

>>14067048
What is her motivation?

>>14066865
Spartacus is fucking garbage but Banshee is exploitation kino. I read a lot of Howard drunk, Poledouris score blasting.

>>14066865
Terry Pratchett.

>>14067029
Book of the New Sun.

>>14067122
every scene needs two opposing forces leading to some kind of climax
these forces should represent the protagonist(s) and the opponent/mystery
this is how you build suspense, every scene is a micro version of the macro conflict

>>14064207
Disappointing but not really unexpected.

>>14067133
honestly, i'm curious to hear what you think the fundamental difference between spartacus and banshee is. the only thing i can think of is the crazy visuals but then i remember that fight between nola and burton and even that difference seems to disappear.
howard seems like a good idea, any particular titles
>>14067137
nah, pass

>>14066838
>I want to read something more adult oriented
Try Acacia series by David Anthony Durham. I'm more than halfway through book 2 so far and I am liking it a lot. Not too much magic shit, lots of intrigue and political maneuvering and some pretty epic Game of Thrones style shockers in the plot.

>>14067179
Spartacus is very gay and Anthony Starr is a very charismatic lead while the dudes in Spartacus were bad.

>>14067121
I already said I won't be doing that because at that point, why wouldn't I simply write a man antagonist instead? But I want a woman antagonist due to the nature of the setting I'm writing, and to showcase that thing that makes her "evil" and how powerful it is. She isn't the main antagonist though, but is part of a trio of main antagonists who are all equally as important. The other 2, men, were easy to write and easy to have them be engaging to the reader. One is a state representative turned evil, the other is a big fat glutton shunned all his life due to it. Not fat shaming of course, it's part of his own arc and how he deals with his afflictions. All in all the men were easy to write, but I can't write this woman without going the easy path which is rape / abuse.

>>14067122
She is an enemy of the bureaucratic state of her country while doing the bidding of someone in order to get the cure to her illness (an illness that is pivotal in the setting and plays a big part in the story). Her public motivation is a change in how the authorities run the country, but her main goal is really to get a cure to her ugly disease.
I'm writing her to be a jesus-like character, but one who can cure everyone else except herself.

>>14067179
>any particular titles
any particular titles you'd recommend?

>>14067191
gay how? as in it had homos and shirtless dudes? banshee had job who was more flamboyant than anyone on spartacus. and there were plenty of shirtless dudes on banshee too. obviously not as many, but still.

>>14067201
I guess Spartacus pissed me off because it reminded me Rome ended too soon. And I think Starr is a great lead.

>>14067070
no more juvenile than 99% of stuff posted here

>>14067227
understandable. i can't get into straightforward period dramas so rome being cancelled wasn't much of a loss for me.
starr was wonderful, his death was a great loss for the show. i still can't watch the first season with the new lead. but i think he grew into the role in his second season.

>spend hours looking up and researching what books and series' sound good to me
>never actually read anything

>>14065853
>>14066112
>>14066169
>>14065476
I'm going to read it, it's just that the hype is not there anymore. I have other shit I'm sure I will enjoy more that some trad published book.

In regards to the spoilers, you expect it to be true because 4channers being 4chinners, they like to ruin people's fun. What better way than to spoil an ending? Like what people used to do with drive by spoilers and harry potter.

>>14067022
The dino really ties the picture together.
They should make a TV show out of it.

>>14067192
Write her then with a sense of desperation. Her every action should be tinged with the insatiable need to restore herself, the hollowness of her commitment to other ideals and goals occasionally evident as her true motivation, her disease, works in the background and shines through her veneer. Perhaps vanity, or at the very least acceptance and a return to normalcy, to be looked at as equal, to be desired, to be treated with the human emotions of lust and included as sharing in the universal sexual experience.

>>14067486
Huh, that really is an interesting way to put it. I haven't thought about it that way because sadly I'm too stuck trying to write sense into everything my characters do, so they almost always end up contemplative and philosophical in nature. But a desperate character is really nice for a change. I haven't written too much about her yet so I can make the necessary changes. Make her something like a cornered animal, really rushed and without a care for her own life since without that cure, her life is over anyway, or turns out even worse than death.
Yes, that really makes sense why she's going so radical about achieving her goals, it's a wonder why haven't I thought about it. I blade myself trying to make sense of everything and ignoring that humans sometimes don't make sense and rely purely on emotions.

It also brought me to light that I write way too many "rational" characters. Everyone acts like they have a plan all along and everything goes according to keikaku. I should really change that.

For this I blame Dune and BotNS being my 2 favorite series of all time, where everything must make sense and everything must be explained to a rational end.

>>14064339
hamlet, then the tempest, then lear.

>>14067701
are you info dumping all these explanations? a little mystery helps draw the reader in

>>14067406
Literally just start reading something, anything, until you feel the need to read it further. If you start something and don't wanna read it further after a break, skip it and start reading something else until it happens.

I finally got around to reading The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy from cover to cover. What did I think, and did I decide to read the other books?

>>14067954
You didn't like the wacky "humor" of it and gave up on other books. You will keep reading grimshit and you WILL enjoy it, or else...

>>14067954
You liked it very much and are about two paragraphs into writing your arrbooks review/appreciation thread

>>14067954
you thought it was enjoyable enough but highly overrated
you'll give the other books a chance but drop them if they become tedious

>>14067954
You were about to write a followup to this post when a masked man with a magic sword burst into your room, whisking you away from your computer and to a fantastical land of adventure.

>>14067983
bane?

>>14067993
Aye.

>>14067983
Terminus Est is not magic, just advanced tech and a rivulet of mercury inside it.

>>14067983
I'm not going until I hear that sword speak

>>14068108
You ask the sword to speak. It does, welcoming you to your new adventure and giving its true name, a tone of ringing steel unpronounceable to the human tongue. For now, you simply call it "Swordy".

You are standing past the portal to a fantastical new realm. The portal is behind you. There are exits to your south, east, and northwest. What do you do, traveler?

>>14068139
what gender is the sword

WHOLESOME STORIES

>>14068192
lost fleet
codex alera

>>14068183
The sword is a sword, traveler. It is a length of forged steel bestowed with sentience through the contrivance of magical forces poorly understood by a mere traveler.

>>14068231
marry sword

>>14068192

>>14068234
That is impossible, traveler. The legal forces of this realm do not recognize the sword as a person, and thus would not recognize any marriage between you and the sword.

Would you like to continue with your adventure, traveler?

>>14068262
our new adventure is to change the laws so i can marry the sword

>>14068231
I've bestowed a length of forged steel upon thighs of a wench through the contrivances of thine mother. It only took a mere traveler, without much sentience or any magical forces mind you, the sword is a sword afterall.

>>14068307
her cunt became the world

>>14068273
I'm cutting this off here because I don't want to derail the thread.

>>14068320
I PAID FOR THIS CALL I'M GONNA FINISH THE ADVENTURE AND MARRY THAT FUCKEN SWORD EVEN IF I HAVE TO KILL THIS GENERAL FOR GOOD

>>14064207
Im looking for books that have any of the following

>a charismatic cast of characters that go on some sort of long journey. Something that gives a road trip feeling maybe.
>Anything horror for Halloween
>A story about a family working together, think of something like Dune

Any suggestions are appreciated.

>>>/qst/

>>14068223
>lost fleet
Imma trust you right anon.
Don't disappoint me.

>>14068361
I feel like it ruins the point of the joke if you make it an actual /qst/ thread.

>>14068336
i read american gods once every couple of years in the fall. it has the journey feel and the slightly horror feel too

>>14068362
>not using Foobar2000 dark theme
senpai...

>>14068362
>audiobook

>>14068394
Bright colors don't really hurt my eyes plus i basically always have pic related enabled.

>>14068362
audio book format? i'd take codex alera over lost fleet in that case. lost fleet has a lot of descriptions of space battles and tactics and at least for me it'd be hard to visualize them properly in audiobook form
hope you enjoy otherwise

>>14068385
Someone explain to me the hate for that book and gaiman? I never read his stuff but I see it made fun of

>>14068413
I enjoyed Codex Alera that's why im willing to give lost fleet a try. I had the audiobook of the first lying around for whatever reason and might as well give it a try.

>>14068426
I never actually read anything Gaimen apart from american gods but people generally think hes a copaycat author. He latches on to popular fads and then takes credit for it.

>>14068426
Gaiman is a popular author and one of several authors that people like to hate on as a meme.

Who is an unpopular author who is popular hated?

>>14068463
*popularly

>>14068426
i'm the anon who recommended american gods.
gaiman is kind of an insufferable cunt and a lot of his books, characters and dialogues are very annoying and "quirky". i'd say he's like the joss whedon of fantasy books.
that said american gods is one work of his i thoroughly, unironically enjoy. i also like sandman and mr. punch. but i found neverwhere and coraline just awful. stardust the movie was better than the book by far

>>14068426
He indulges in cliches, injects Adams-esque humor and whimsy into his stories to make them more palatable, blends childlit wonder and adventure with adult themes and sex, and is himself a bit of a wet blanket and in an open marriage. His tone is also a little smarmy, and there are attempts at cleverness in his work that more or less amount to excessively convoluted prose for humorous effect.

So why is Terry Pratchett generally better liked here than Neil Gaiman?

>>14068541
cause he dead

>>14068463
Bakker

>>14068541
Gaiman has like 3 good works Pratchett has like 30 if you're a very harsh judge of the weaker half of discworld

>>14066590
You might ask that now, but that’s of utmost importance to book four of lightbringer.

>>14068541
Idk but I fucking hate Pratchett

>>14068336
Waldo Rabbit

I remember reading Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in my teens and loving it. I tried again yesterday and could not get past the first few chapters. Unbelievable. I know tastes change over time but to such a degree? I'm in disbelief I could ever have found this book readable.

Repeating my request from last thread for works centered around consensual dragon-riding during the day for the purposes of warfare and transportation.

>>14069700
just read Temeraire dude

>>14069737
I did when I was younger. Ditto some of Pern and, regretfully, Eragon.

we need more dinosaur settings
I love dinosaurs

I like fantasy but have never been able to get into scifi, how bad of an idea is it to try and read Dune?

>>14069700
Self publishing. Archemi online by James Baldwin. If you are desperate enough you will read it.

>>14069791
It's honestly not a bad bridge since Dune bridges the sci-fi-fantasy gap in some places. Go for it.

>>14064671
I got bored about 1/3 of the way through the first book and haven't picked it back up.

>>14069622
First time I ever read it was as an adult and I didn't love it. The pacing sucked and the humor was literally better in the movie.

>>14069791
Very bad. Dune is dated and will put off new readers from scifi.
What do you like about science? Artificial intelligences? Nanotech, androids, biology, astronomy? Technology as a whole?
If you point out what you like, something might be able to be recommended.

Daily reminder to read Hyperion.

>>14069810
It's hard to say. One of the reasons I've never been into scifi is that lots of those things don't capture my imagination in the way that fantasy books do. I've always felt like scifi is better on the screen than on the page. For instance, I love both Blade Runner movies and yet I had to force myself to finish Electric Sheep.

I kind of don't want to dismiss an entire genre that I've barely read anything in but I never pick up a scifi book and think "oh that sounds interesting."

>>14064828
Other light novels of very simple high fantasy adventuring.

>>14069837
That's entirely fine. If you aren't interested, then you aren't interested. There's more than enough of fantasy alone to last many lifetimes.

>>14069837
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson was pretty good

Any cute and funny books?

>>14069971
great rec and i don't see it mentioned a lot. seconded, although i'm not sure how someone new to sci-fi would feel about it.

>>14064261
Not really, it's not bad but it doesn't feel with rest of the books.

So what's the current trend in fantasy plots?

For a while there every other book was doing that thing where it follows three main characters, one of which was almost always investigating a murder mystery of some sort which lead them to cross paths with the characters/the plots of the other characters.

Haven't read much new stuff in the last couple of years though and I've fallen out of the loop.

>>14070013
the primer is like a fantasy storybook but it's just a good story overall so that's why i think he might like it

>>14070119
>So what's the current trend in fantasy plots?
muh grim realism

>>14070137
God damnit, I want fantasy to be fun.

>>14070119
Lesbian female protag

>>14070137
fuck this shit, if I wanted grim realism I could just leave my house

>>14070182
Or is it just female protags who can throw the men across the room.

>>14070119
Name one fantasy book with that plot.

>>14070274
Garret P.I?

>>14070274
Hyperion

>>14069622
homestuck completely rebuilt my world from the ground up when I read it in college. Having read Meat and Homestuck^2 today i'm feeling some boundless cognitive dissonance

>>14070371
homestuck was amazing.
then the trolls happened and it all went to shit faster than anyone could have believed.

>>14064999
Checked

>>14070274
Words of radiance
Promise of Blood
Anthony Ryan’s dragon safari

>>14070198
How big is the room?

>>14070456
whats the murder mystery in wor cus i dont remember it

>>14070489
Shallan investigating Adolin's crime - which then got one line in the latter parts of the book which Adolin just admit it

>>14069519
Read the first two books of this because I kept seeing mentioned in this general and it's fucking awful. Why do people like it?

>>14070523
That happens at the end of WoR and only gets resolved in OB but Shallan tracking down the Unmade in Urithiru is much more of a murder mystery.

Tell me about Vance

>>14069837
Try Heroes Dies by Matthew Stover.

>>14070738
He's the only author I've ever read that have managed to pull of worldbuilding through name dropping.

>>14070180
>>14070183
Well I'm fed up of the hundreds of happy go lucky protagonists skipping around. Fed up seeing stupid moralizing and debating if you should kill the guy who has tried to kill you multiple times and swears he won't stop.
Read YA shit if you want clueless hand holding characters.
I will continue to read books where the protagonists aren't stupid moral mouth breathers that open themselves to be killed multiple times because because they keep letting the guy go.
If you want your stupid retarded batman comics where the joker isn't killed after killing hundreds of thousands, and where the protagonist (batman) actively protects him, then go to /co/ with your retarded logic.

>>14070537
It's funny? I hope by "read" you mean the edited commercial ebook version, and not the free unedited mess on royal road.... I think I'm mixing up everybody loves large chests and waldo rabbit.

>gets his men killed
>saves their fucking live
>Nynaeve and Elayne starts bitching at him - not even caring at the fucking dead that he is staring
Holy fucking shit, I get that Aes Sedai are like cold-hearted, but damn, please tell me Mat fucks off away from these bitches.

>>14070838
Stop reading wheel of shit. The only reason it got as big as it did was because of low supply. Same with Sanderson and Rothfuss in the early 2000s. Now there are countless varieties and almost universal availability (if you know where to look), no need to read the shits.

>>14070838
Just read the mat and Perrin chapters til the end. Only reason the series was worth a damn, which was a shame because it could have been amazing.

>>14070825
>Waldo could sense him in the back of his mind, the ogre was now his second familiar. “Now you truly belong to me Gronk. You will be my most obedient servant and I will be your master.”
>
>“Oooh, okay master, make me your bitch.” The eight foot tall ogre put his hands together and let out a girlish giggle.
>
>“Huh?”
>
>Then without warning Gronk grabbed Waldo about the shoulders and planted a real kiss.

Uh-huh

>>14070915
>a faggot orge isn't funny
What are you? A real faggot? Hitting too close to home?

>>14070923
It's not funny. Something like Catch-22 or A Confederacy of Dunces is funny. Tolkien has moments of humour in The Lord of the Rings that are infinitely better than this. Shit writing, shit plot, shit humour.

>>14066691
>David Lynch making a bad film

>>14070119

grimdark but with class warfare

>>14070903
It's sad that Rand chapters only got so interesting after Veins of Gold. Jesus Rand was cathartic with all of the shit that had been going.

>>14070997
I see you’ve read A Little Hatred too. No but for real I’ve read a handful of fantasy about working class rebels fighting the empire and it’s spy network. It’s seemingly as big a part of the genre as Tolkien derived high fantasy.

Was i the only one who noticed the prices on fiction gone up ten times in last ten years?

>>14069837
>I've always felt like scifi is better on the screen than on the page
Oh, hi me.

>>14069996
>Any cute and funny books
The Flying Sorcerers by David Gerrold and Larrry Niven. Little known but honestly one of the funniest scifi stories there are.

>>14071265
Anon... he doesn't actually mean "cute" and "funny"...

>>14071274
>he comes on /lit/ expecting people to know obscure /v/ memes
Get the fuck out.

>>14064207
Anyone have any reccs for fantasy based in a middle eastern type setting?

>>14071380
Do you count egypt as middle east?

>>14071444
Yeah. I´m also wanting some african based high fantasy as well. Just anything but eurocentric medieval fantasy

>>14071485
faggot. but try evan winter, the rage of dragons.

Is Black Company a worthy read?

I've ruined myself. I love classic sci-fi

I've read most classic sci-fi books, from Frank Herberts Dune to Isaac Asimov even to CS Lewis's Malakandra series.

Whenever I read a modern Sci-fi I think to myself that this isn't as smart or as epic as X.
There are very few modern Sci-fi books I have enjoyed in recent memory.

Please help me find faith in modern Sci-fi!

>>14071485
Here you go. Might as well get you into warhammer.

I think The Bridge series is severly underrated

>>14070933
>Catch-22
>A Confederacy of Dunces
>Tolkien
Ahh. You're one of those...

>>14071380
the twelve kings of Sharakhai and The City Of Brass are at the top of the list. there's a bunch of others but those two series are the best ones that are exclusively middle easter though be warned, the latter kind of has some anti-Semitic undertones that I wouldn't put up with if the setting and plot weren't so engaging

>>14071646
Undying Mercenaries.

>>14070537
>I kept seeing mentioned in this general and it's fucking awful.
Because /sffg/ is relatively slow with relatively few posters with some dedicated regulars and a few very dedicated posters that if an anon doesn't pay attention and notice the posting patterns that it's entirely possible that anon will think that a single anon is many anon. For this particular case, it's basically only the self-published advocate who posts it. He has other names as well. He is very dedicated in advancing his taste as evidence by only his charts are ever posted and makes regulars posts such as that as well regardless of their relevance. Pretty much every else has said they have disliked it, including myself, which is why I provided text excerpts from the self-published books, as you have done, to prevent occurrences such as yours. I guess you didn't see it.


>>14071232
>What is inflation?

>>14071646
>Please help me find faith in modern Sci-fi!
There's no need to do so. You can just slowly work your way through the decades if you want and maybe you won't notice the transition over time.

>>14071838
>it's basically only the self-published advocate who posts it. He has other names as well. He is very dedicated in advancing his taste as evidence by only his charts are ever posted and makes regulars posts such as that as well regardless of their relevance.
Ah. It's the autism anon.
I was recommended waldo rabbit from this general, and other people talk about it when I'm not here. Stop trying to make me out to be some all powerful boogie man that is behind the scenes covertly trying to subvert people's tastes.

It's simple. I'm recced something (usually from here), I like it, I put it on my chart. It's that simple. Take your fucking autism meds and stop saying that every self published post is mine, or every book being recommended you don't like from scanning a few pages is from me.
Just fucking stop.

>>14071902 Thanks for confirming that I was correct.

>>14071838
>>14071902
>>14071933

You're both autistic as fuck and this general would be better off without you in it.

/sffg/, how long is right for a novel?

Im about 37k words in and im writing 500 a day 6 days a week. my first book was YA and only clocked in at 90k. at my current rate im estimating about 4 months to get to the same point, but as Im not at the end of the first quarter yet it will probably be a lot longer

>>14070274
At least three Discworld books.

>>14070984
>Lynch's Dune was bad

>>14071618
How high are your standards? Let me put it this way, do you prefer Verhoeven's Flesh and Blood or Berserk?

>>14072006
Don't. This particular general is half dead and some people wish /lit/ was less philosophy, more fiction.

Can someone summarize to me what happened in Gardens of the Moon before I go onto the next book? I read it like 5 years ago.

>>14072522
Wiskeyjack and friends rebel against the empire. Rake does Rake things. Several other cities take the opportunity to declare independence as well, because nobody likes the empress.

Fiddler and friends de-possess sorry from Rope and offer to gently walk her home.

>>14072575
I think I know mostly what happened, but I just don't remember their names. Literally only remembered Whiskeyjack and Laseen (?). All that shit that happened in that sand city or whatever I remember I just don't know any of their names (or the city's). Actually now I remembered Kruppe (?). Maybe I should've just read a character list in the first book.

Actually, what happened to that mage that got shrunk?

Actually never mind it turns out the wiki separates spoilers by book so I can take it there.

>>14071618
Starts well but peters out. To my mind worth it.

>>14072177
Just tell the story you fruit

>>14072348
i dont know what either of those are

Night Angel is based
Gentlemen Bastards is based
Dark Tower is based
Broken Empire is based

Stormlight is cucked
Mistborn is cucked
Kingkiller is cucked
Wheel of Time is cucked

Anyone else jack off to female fantasy booktubers? I can't be the only one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goecIIFpVrY

>>14073482
>Night Angel is based
Absolutely, certainly not. It's worse than the 4 cucked series combined.
>Gentlemen Bastards is based
First book is good.
>Dark Tower is based
It's okay.
>Broken Empire is based
It is.

>>14073502
Can't say I do

can someone remind me how the monthly reading works, i've literally never seen any discussion of the books. is there like one thread that disappears in a day and that's it?

>>14073502
she has such a fat face, all her features disappear in it

>>14073527
>is there like one thread that disappears in a day and that's it?
Yeah, basically.

>>14073527
Only like 3 people make a single post. There isn't really any discussion. Yes, it's usually only for a single thread. It's more the idea of it than anything else. Honestly, probably should be continous discussion for the entire month. The guy doing provides a prompt for people to reply to.

>>14073502
Do you feel like you have more of an emotional connection to them because it's about books? I don't why else you would unless it's the opposite and you'll literally fap to any female you see in any context more or less.

>>14073502
Katie is cute but hasn't put out a video in nearly 3 months.

I love Dresden Files :)

>>14073613
I'm extremely lonely and fantasize about having a cute girlfriend that also reads fantasy books so I'll binge watch girl booktuber videos and kind of fall in love with them then jack off to the thought of being married to them.

>>14073656

>>14073680
Oh, ok. So the former then. Maybe you ought to look into the girls on Twitch that read books or in general. Could have them streaming all day.

Or could get one of those holographic AI waifus that Japan makes.

>tff I spent years trying to achieve my purpose in life and now that I'm doing it it feels hollow and pointless

>>14064261
If you're talking about Port of Shadows it was alright i mostly just liked seeing and hearing about all the old characters. So if you are invested into the books i would say its worth the money.

>>14064671
I enjoyed the series but then again i also read the Night Angel Trilogy. It has some YA tropes or i guess feelings toward it, i would reccommend it but i obviously have a bias,

>>14074307
Maybe it isn't actually your purpose in life.

>>14064671
It starts off as a strong redemption of the author's interesting but compromised first series, then decays to nothing. Not even sure if I'll read the last book.

Did you know that the /sffg/ anons who listen to audiobooks in this thread do so because they are blind? It was more likely than you thought!

>>14074612
Mostly they listen to audiobooks because they are gay

>>14074612
i'm blind and lost my hands in a fap accident

How can you learn to tell if your story is good or not? I don't mean just mechanical things, it's easy to see that a passage sounds bad or that a scene doesn't make sense, I mean more broadly: is the story interesting and enjoyable?

>>14074760
you mean the premise? or the actual plot?

>>14074760
If you’re posting about it here it’s not good now fuck off you’ll never be an accomplished author

>>14074769
the actual story, can you even judge a premise alone? After all you can always manage to do something interesting with a shit premise or completely fuck up a great one.

>>14074772
rude desu

>>14074781
a professional premise is the essence of a story, everything eminates from it

you could just give a quick rundown of your plot/key story-points and your interwoven theme(s) so we can judge

>>14074760
That's why people have alpha and beta readers. It's not possible to know. Do you think investors would put millions into a movie they think will lose them money? No. Do you think publishers print book that they know won't sell? No. You can't know on your own.

>>14074612
I never listened to audio books until I got a job that requires 2-3 hours of commuting a day. Prefer to read an actual book, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

>>14074612
I listen to graphic audio books
take that!

>>14074858
Maybe you ought to live closer then.

>>14074863
Yes, we know. You posted what you have.

>>14074866
Indeed. Would you be willing to help me cover the $2,500.00 rent required to live near the city in Commiefornia?

>>14073482
>list four series that has cuckoldry and honorless cretins
>proceeds to list all the cucked ones that has honor, chilvary and basedness in it
Yikes

>>14074874
Live elsewhere then.

I'm gonna do it sffg, I'm gonna write a novel about a cute fox girl with her cute fox companion traveling a post-apocalyptic fantasy world and have her fall in love with an injured human survivor which she takes care of like a mommy!

>>14074919
based

Been trying to get through Wandering Inn. This shit is making me cringe. The 2 POV characters are so unlikable and the writing is very Tumblrish. The anti-male, anti-white shit is getting more and more noticeable.

>>14074919
Then he later has sex with her. How very interesting. Tell me about your mother.

>>14074921
Your masochism is your own fault.

>>14074919
So basically spice and wolf.

>>14074938
I want to at least get through vol. 1, but it is hurting. It is extra painful when they bring up 2016 memes and pop culture stuff.

>>14074948
yes, but without the boring economy stuff but with more comfy exploration and trying to solve the mystery about why the world got overrun by nature and it's fantastical creatures

Any non-Tolkien novels that have a lot of pipe smoking?

>>14070807
>I prefer MATURE fantasy for a MATURE reader such as myself

>>14074980
I'd read it

>>14073656
I liked them as a teenager. Would still call them a guilty pleasure nowadays.

Why are so many fantasy books autistically long? You don't need three million words and a fictional history more complicated than IRL europe to tell a compelling story.

>>14075088
Agreed. Any story can be told in 20-22 scenes for each pov-character.

>>14074919
>not sci-fi

>>14075088
They can't understand the concept of 'Less is more'. and are too autistic about following Show Don't Tell.

>>14075004
"Guilty pleasure" as commonly understood is an entirely ridiculous concept.

>>14074873
>they think everyone is me
Kek

>>14075151
I agree. The short story is the ideal form. Novels are far too much bloat.

>>14075088
1. More content for the buyer which feels like better value.
2. Don't have to edit anything out and can just leave everything in.
3. The greater the commitment the more likely they will buy the next book due to a feeling of sunk costs.
4. Because they are designed as a series and length over time is irrelevant.
5. Length and elaboration aren't necessarily the same.

>>14075151
>Less is more
this. Because everything is so well-described that there are no room for speculation with autists making forums on what a single line meant

>>14075213
That already happens regardless.

>>14074919
neck yourself

>>14075126
domesticated catgirl androids affordable by consumers when?

>>14071380
The Gandalara Cycle

What should the next OP image be?
First reply decides.
Fantasy Landscape
Science Fiction Landscape
Fantasy Girl
Science Fiction Girl
Something Else

>>14075621
My cock down your throat.

>>14075626 Sorry, that is not a valid response. Please try again.

>>14075635
Absolutely based, man, I love your posts, ignore the haters. Put on your trip so I know when someone absolutely based like you is posting. Seriously though put on your trip and never take it off please, you're so based I love you put on your fucking trip.

>>14075621
Sci-Fi character art

>>14075656
This seems like something that someone would slur out out during a mental breakdown.

>>14075663
Well, the something else was meant to be the catch all where I picked something that wasn't the above, but since I didn't explain that I'll just go with what you posted.

>>14075734
New Thread
>>14075734

i'm reading stormlight by branderson and enjoying it
shallan is qt
leaving before i get spoiled
thanks for reading