/lit/ - Literature

>>14611655
Especially since the book that followed it, Stranger in a Strange Land, ended up being massively popular with the counter culture scene at the time.

>Writing in The New York Times, Orville Prescott received the novel caustically, describing it as a "disastrous mishmash of science fiction, laborious humor, dreary social satire and cheap eroticism"; he characterized Stranger in a Strange Land as "puerile and ludicrous", saying "when a non-stop orgy is combined with a lot of preposterous chatter, it becomes unendurable, an affront to the patience and intelligence of readers"

>Despite such reviews, Stranger in a Strange Land won the 1962 Hugo Award for Best Novel[10] and became the first science fiction novel to enter The New York Times Book Review's best-seller list.[7]

>>14611881
Group Reading
https://discord.gg/CXfYzCk
https://mega.nz/#F!O1cFiKaS!hPf1KFnauX7PSaM5PJE3QA

What /sffg/ has read, is reading, and will read
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg

SFF Charts Gallery
https://mega.nz/#F!QyJVEQpL!utXEIGMAprWxM9GMGLxxtg

Charts, Recs, Upcoming Books, Downloads, etc
https://pastelink.net/sffglit

Unarchived Threads
>>14593603 --->
>>14576261
>>14557343
>>14548513
>>14534823
>>14519859

>>14611933
Also hell it's got a direct link to modern paganism, some people who read it founded the (still active) Church of All Worlds, which codified the basic outlines for a lot of successor groups/beliefs:
http://caw.org/content/?q=about
>The CAW is the first Pagan Church founded in the US. It was incorporated in 1968 by Tim Zell (now Oberon Zell) and recognized by the IRS in 1970. Oberon read Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein and was so inspired by the vision of a Nest -- a close-knit group seeking a deep knowing of each other -- that he brought his vision alive with the CAW.

>In the years since its founding, CAW has worked with this myth and many others: Oberon's Theagenesis vision (a vision of Gaia as a living entity), the Greek Eleusinia (a sacred cycle of descent and return) and the May Royalty (who carry the energies of the Church from their crowning until Winter). Our rites are held on Annwfn, our sacred land in North California, or on other sacred sites across the country.

>While CAW members express a broad spectrum of personal magicks and beliefs, what brings us together is a shared set of values: immanent divinity (expressed as "Thou art God/dess"); self-knowledge and personal responsibility; deep friendship and tribal intimacy; positive sexuality; living in harmony with the natural world; and appreciation of the diverse nature of human beings.

It's nearly the end of the month, what have you read so far?

>>14612213
Witches of Wenshar (good)
The Municipalists (bad)
Medusa Uploaded (decent)
Curse of Chalion (great)
Black Company (decent)

I forgot how insane it was to set 100 books as my goodreads pace so I need to finish off some other stuff to keep on pace for the month

>>14611958
holy based

>>14612213
Basically the whole Vorkosigan Saga and Voice of the Whirlwind. When I finish the Vorkosigan Saga, I'm thinking either Schismatrix Plus or Vacuum Flowers.

>>14612213
I finished the 6th book in the Malazan serie. I enjoyed it.

>>14609477
>that canterbury tales allusion at the end that gets echoed at the start of the sequel
getting mad at how fucking effortless bujold makes writing look

i havent read a single page yet this year

>>14594577
I found Red Sister lacking something. This is the first book I finished where I'm left feeling little to nothing about it. I don't know, something was just off. Or maybe it's just mediocre. I had to struggle in order to stay focused, and often didn't. Which might be in part fault of the audiobook reader. She had a soft motherly voice that was better fitted reading nursery rhymes and fairytales. She's doesn't convey action or tension very well, because her instinct tells is to become softer and whispery when something interesting is happening. There's no urgency.

Well whatever the case is. I'll continue on toe Grey Sister, since I don't know what else to read.

>>14612941
Never gonna make it.

>>14612213
The Eye of the World
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
V.
Naked Lunch

>>14611881
Has anyone else ever attempted writing, or at least worldbuilding a story with another person?
Right now me and another anon are worldbuilding for a sci-fi/fantasy story anime/LN inspirations.
It's pretty fun actually having someone to discuss ideas with, and having someone with a different perspective to help inspire new ideas that I wouldn't have come up with otherwise.

With sf lovers being the first mailing list on ARPANET and later, usenet, it's interesting how big a role sImple discussion of science fiction & fantasy has shaped and formed the internet and thus the world...

>>14613742
Porn.

>>14612213
Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrel
Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower
A couple light novels. Not a lot really.

>200 pages into The Name of the Wind
>boring shit
does this get good or what

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/82152-print-unit-sales-fell-1-3-in-2019.html
>Science fiction had the largest decline among the adult fiction genres, with units down 19.7%. The smaller westerns segment saw units fall 17.2%, and unit sales of romance novels declined 12.4%.

rip

>>14614130
all fantasy all day, better get used to it

>>14614185
Booksellers generally lump fantasy and SF together.

>>14613938
Idk, I like it cause I just enjoy the prose, and because I enjoy hating Kvothe, but... If you're 200 pages in and still aren't enjoying it, its time to drop it. It will only be downhill for you from there.

>>14612213
Like books 3-7 of Wheel of Time.
This series is great.
Why did I wait so long to read it.

>>14612213
First 2 Riverworld books
The Thanatonauts
The Wyrd Sisters
Red and Green Mars

why does all fantasy suck except for Tolkien?

>>14614611
Vance

>>14614611
Wolfe

>>14614611
LeGuin

Any cool sifi evolution books from the perspective of the animals? I already read Evolution by Baxter and really liked it

>>14614694
Dragon's Egg is a cool evolution book, but it's more about cultural evolution than it is about a critter evolving biologically (though it also has some biology, too). It has parts from the perspective of aliens which are the better part of the book compared to the sort of shitty human sections.

>>14614614
>>14614624
>>14614636
cringe!

>>14614901

I'm halfway through "The Eternal Champion" by Moorcock, what are your next recommendations? What is your favourite Moorcock book

>>14614901
kys

Is Peter Tieryas's books worth reading?

>>14611958
Mod is a degenerate COOMbrain, discord tranny.

>>14611881
>just discord in the OP
>the discord trannies have literally taken over sffg and aren't even hiding it
Sad. I guess 4chan as a whole will slowly start to die as more social account faggots come and 4chan and want to make facebook groups.

>>14611881
GO GRANDPA GO

>>14611933
>and became the first science fiction novel to enter The New York Times Book Review's best-seller list.
So do we have to thank Heinlein for putting sff on New York Times bestselling list?

>>14614611
>>14614614
You both have literally shit tastes. Everything you eat tastes rancid, and you enjoy it.

>>14615069
>>14615471
fucking cringe!! read PKD and Clarke and other GOOD sf and stop being such fucking braindead sword-and-sorcery retarded motherfuckers!

most SFF fucking sucks! you're all reading nothing but shitty, derivative pulp! i never see anything actually really good in these threads. read better shit, simps! finish PKD's biblio if you haven't yet and shut the fuck up until you do.

>>14615892
I didn't much care for Time out of Joint

Currently reading this and I think is the most boring by far.

Like the characters (saving that captain from Pax) are super bland and the links to the first two books are merely an excuse for writing what it seems to be (yet) another anti christian sci-fi product.

Please tell me I'm wrong and it will get better soon (I'm 35% or so).

>>14615892

>>14612213
Shadowmarch
Shadowplay
Shadowrise (1/3) - should finish Friday or Saturday
Shadowheart after

>>14612213
Mistborn final empire.

Shit book, dropping the series.

>>14612213
The Curse Of Chalion which was great.
Paladin Of Souls also great.
Inda Series first two books, but dropped it by the end of third book because of retarded crap.
> No rape - mages somehow managed to suppress human urge to rape (there are still war, torture, murder etc)
> In main character kingdoms royal family, of 6 named royal family members, 2 are faggots, 1 is carpet muncher.
> In main character pirate fleet at least half named characters are women (i dont mind few of them, but half or more is just retarded).
> worst of all, i just couldn't stand polygamous world crap, everybody is fucking everybody, im one page author are telling us how couple loves one another, few pages after that they are fucking other people.

>>14615922
Fuck you.

>>14615993
It gets worse.

>>14614203
That's because SF is fantasy.
>SF readers think space is real

>>14616203
Did you like it?

>>14616268
Yes. Not the twist, but it was real tense and I liked the characters.

>>14616350
I think mainly I disliked it because it confused me and I always felt like I was missing something. You're right about the tension and characters, I probably wouldn't have cared about the confusion so much if they hadn't been pulling me in.

>>14614611
Zelazny

>>14614611
Because Tolkien was one of the finest writers of the English language in the last century who just happened to write fantasy.

>>14615798
everyone's left the thread because of constant boring pol posting and you're all trying to turn it into a discord war as well lol

>>14615993
Why would you read this. Surely you’ve seen the countless posts to read the two Hyperions and not the Endymions. Surely you’re not stupid enough to do it anyway, like I was.

>>14615993
>(yet) another anti christian sci-fi product.

That's not a flaw though?

I'm loking for sci-fi where characters are completely isolated from other people for extensive periods of time, any suggestions?

>>14618004
try generation ships - the dark beyond the stars, freeze-frame revolution

>>14614421
it is almost worse if you like it, waiting for the third volume that will never come

>>14612213
The Green Pearl - good
Madouc - even better
Blindsight - very interesting but it came across as disjointed
Nemesis - mostly boring
The Last Castle - perhaps the most revealing of Vance's ideals but by itself forgettable
Emphyrio - good, surprisingly similar to The Inverted World

>>14616559
wrote stereotypical anime characters before there was anime! honestly, why hasn't any studio tried to adapt Chronicles of Amber or another of his demi-god wankfests?

>>14618004
>I'm loking for sci-fi where characters are completely isolated from other people for extensive periods of time, any suggestions?
I thought people read SF to escape their lives, not duplicate them.

>>14617057
indeed. After trying the movie, and finding that all the audiobooks were dramatizations, decided that it was time for our family's decadal readaloud of Lord of the Rings.

>>14618004
It's not particularly good, but the title is funny.

>>14617299
Pol really ruins everything they touch. They are even fucking their own country over. Just don't understand why they chose to shit in our general. With their constant bait posts about books they never read. I would welcome the dinofags back if it meant people that actually read what they talk about, and don't parrot what others read and wrote.

Let the general die, science fiction and fantasy is almost invariably trash

>>14618310
well so are you so lets be trash together

Does anyone have high-res, high-fed The World of Ice and Fire PDF scan?

The only way to save the fantasy genre is to read isekai light novels.

>>14618343
>PDF
Why? Are you one of those faggots that fight against change?

>>14618378
Change bad. Old good.

THE GUN IS GOOD
THE PENIS IS EVIL

Why are shortstacks so hot? Midgets were made for dick.

>>14618848
We all know the penis is the sign that man has gods favor.

This speed is still too fast. For me be able to keep up with the threads, they must be at most 1 thread per week.

>>14619230
REport the off topic pol and philosophy threads and we could slow down again.

>>14618155
>Zelazny
>Stereotypical
>Doesn't exist yet
I know this is bait, but please put in more effort, Anon.

This is the last response I'm giving here. If the general dies, so be it.

these threads suck lol

is the discord group any good or they just talk about sanderson?

What is the best book to get started with Spiritualism vs Transhumanism and possible the merging of the two?

>>14619402
Philosophy threads should be based on their school of thought general.

Like, cynicism general would do okay-ish I imagine.

The author copies arrived today, boys. Feels good looking at a book and being able to say "I wrote this."

Can someone explain the ending of the judging eye, there's some weird wraith nonman and then he possesses cleric? but then cleric just shows up at the end?

>>14618173
kek

>>14620672
Akka’s not daughter banishes him back to hell by using the judging eye and the tear of god together.

>>14620629
Congratulations, man

>>14620629
id like to congratulate you on it dude.
like zyzz you wanted to do something and proceeded to do it.

Is there any fiction about riot cops? Ideally cyberpunk.

>>14615864
PKD was best friends with leguin midwit

Just finished this book, slightly relevant to the thread. It goes from mild to wild pretty damn quickly, and I'd recommend it to you bros.

>>14620842
>>14621037
Thank you guys

>>14611881
I need some good social sci-fi. I've pretty much read all of Asimov's bibliography. I've also read a lot of Ted Chiang already (tho only some are social sci-fi).

>>14621310
Ursula LeGuin

>>14621393
>Gender and sexuality are prominent themes in a number of Le Guin's works. The Left Hand of Darkness, published in 1969, was among the first books in the genre now known as feminist science fiction, and is the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction
fuck that

>>14621310
What do you mean by social scifi? Unusual cultures? Social critique?

Also what is in your opinion Asimov's best work

Your opinion on this.

I thought it was pretty bad (I read the first two), but for some reason is regarded as one of the starters of the sci-fi genre.

Maybe that is its only merit.

>>14621449
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_science_fiction

>Also what is in your opinion Asimov's best work
Nightfall

>>14621457
>Your opinion on this
Good ideas, bad execution. That's Larry Niven for you.

>>14621457
SF in particular seems prone to celebrating books for novel ideas, quality be damned

>>14621481
The Inverted World
Dune
Saga of the Pliocence
Emphyrio

The Inverted World in particular is a really engaging cross section of a society formed within unusual and very rigid constraints

>>14621125
>Frederick Pohl
How many product placements are in this book?

How do I get into Gene? Is this enough?

>>14621804
Fuck E William Brown.
Release space loli princess marine already.

>>14620629
Congratulation!

Page 7.
Nobody has nothing to discuss? Or is all tne discussion going on in the reddite discord channel?

>>14621457
The sequels are all furry orgy/10

Which book/series would you say has the best and richest worldbuilding? I only really know Tolkien and I'd like to expand my scope

>>14622323
Tg might be able to help you. I don't read authors who start with a map, then write their characters and story.

>>14622323
>>>/r/books
for all your hard magic system and world building needs

>>14621310
I fucking love these covers. 3 of the best covers I've ever seen in any books.

>>14620629
How much does the cover art cost? I'm curious, and also curious because you chose the artist to do the most Brandon Sanderson cover art I've ever seen in my life.

Anyway if I ever get published, I'd like to get something Frank Frazetta tier.

Also congratulations man. Getting published is, hands down, one of my goals in this lifetime, and if I die after being published, I die a fulfilled man.

>>14612213
Since i discovered him, i have been on a Daniel Suarez read-everything binge.

Influx (not bad sci-fi novel, easy to read, good plot twists)
Daemon-Freedom (his best work imo)
Delta-V (second after daemon, very good hard sci-fi)
Kill Decision (currently reading)

>>14621310
>>14621481
Stand on Zanzibar
J. G Ballard
Martian Time-Slip and the Simulacra
Dying Inside

>>14612213
Dune

I'm falling asleep reading The Darkness that Comes Before, I can't find anyone interesting, I don't even care about the Holy War. Currently in chapter 5, does this get better? Some things are good, but also so boring and bloated..

>>14623221
It takes till about halfway through for it to pick up, since it’s a lot of setting the stage for the trilogy. Right around the time akka’s ex apprentice dies

>>14621879
Thanks!
>>14622685
I didn't pay for mine because I had a good friend do it. I imagine I'll be doing a similar favor for him in the future (I have Computer Science skills and he wants to make a game). I do know that the cover matters an awful lot, though, so choose wisely when you select your artist.

>>14623265
Yea, that just happened and now I think people are gathering to start the Holy War. Xerius is introduced along with his servants. I'd like it to be a little more fast paced but I'm gonna keep reading it, see what happens.

>>14620131
Many of the works by Greg Egan

>>14623354
Yeah. Just keep at it. The first book is kinda slow, but Warrior Prophet is Bakker’s best book imo.

>>14621494
>SF in particular seems prone to celebrating books for novel ideas, quality be damned

This was especially common before the New Wave authors. Too much focus on "big idea" stories.

>>14621804
the fact that you have a different edition of sword and citadel from your shadow and claw bugs me. i wish i had that edition of urth though. and yes thats enough to get into gene wolfe

>>14612213
Last 3 books of wheel of time, Pilo family circus(lame), and now I'm rereading IT.

>>14618216
The key is to hide every post that doesn't make this a Lois McMaster Bujold general.

>>14612213
Dune Messiah
Some smaller short stories (like less than 20 pages) for some inspiration for RPGs

Almost done with Children of Dune. Utter slogfest.
Work so far has sucked and has offered less than 20 minutes of reading time most days.

>>14623504
Cheers anon.

>lighthearted fantasy romance
>main characters are a young, brave but awkward knight and a tsundere, cute warrior princess
>the two team up to save the world from an evil wizard, but can't stand each other at first
>have to sleep in the same bed, she's disgusted at first but ends up cuddling with him, that sort of stuff, awkward juvenile romantic tension
>on the journey, realize they make a good team and are attracted to each other
>they defeat the wizard but knight is almost killed, makes the princess realize she is in love with him
>she saves him from death, they get together, live happily ever after
I got around 30k words into before scraping it and starting over. I think the only person I'm going to share it with is my therapist, but at least I'll have it done.

Power Rangers Time Force.
Now recommend me a book.

Reading Sign of the Labrys
>civilization's been destroyed by a plague
>people hang out in bunkers and are antisocial

>>14624463
In other words you wrote a shounen anime

>>14625074
I've never actually seen one of those. I wrote it mostly to simulate the experience of having a girlfriend. The guy is an idealized version of myself and the girl is an amalgamation of various crushes I've had over the years

>>14625163

>>14625163
it's pretty awkward. Somewhere in between an erotica and regular YA

>>14623335
>I have Computer Science skills
Why is it that almost all self published authors have some computer science background?

>>14625250
Writing and programming are both professions that entail typing on a keyboard for hours on end for what may be a fruitless endeavor.

>>14624469
Lost Galaxy and Turbo > time force.
What about a "power ranger" book that when he shows up you don't know if he is going to rob you or save you.

>>14625239
There's no sex, just cuddling/kissing/hand holding/blushing. It's very juvenile

>>14625285
Did you incorporate programming into your Frenchfag book? Does the MC discover python, ruby or pearl?

>>14625313
You know what you need to do.

>>14621695
I'm a fan of his and haven't noticed any product placements, what do you mean?

/sffg/, for the past few nights I have been unironically writing the stupidest fucking scene I have ever written in my entire fucking life and I am trying to figure out what to do with it.

>>14625446
Catgirl belly rubs are worth it anon, just keep at it.

>>14625483
I wish it was catgirl belly rubs

jewish muppet red wedding featuring a muppet ted cruz

>>14625508
delete it and move on m8

>>14616082
You're supposed to read those when you're 12 anon. Move to Stormlight archive.

>>14611881
What are some sci fi books about mysterious alien artifacts and ruins?

Fantasy works, too, so long as mysterious precursors are important to the plot.

>>14625582
the scene is actually integral to my plot.

also, despite how shitty it is, I honestly haven't laughed harder at something I myself wrote in years

>>14625362
All the pohl books I read had heavy product placement in them. It's like when you watch a movie and the mc eats a pizza hut, or drinks a pepsi, those are all products placements.

>>14613509
>V.
Wait theres a book based on the show?

>>14625684
Some Neal Asher books, rendezvous with rama, wolfhound century, roadside picnic

>>14625742
Maybe the show is based on the book? Like almost every piece of television show that also has a book?

>>14612213
Only gotten 2 in
>The Puppet Masters
>The Fall of Troy/Posthomerica
Enjoyed both immensely. Right now Im knee deep in Thucydides and Im also reading Apollodorus.
Been reading Heracles' 12 labors. comfy

>>14625761
Eh seems its not related to the show in anyway, if its this one he read.
I only asked cause, I know there were books based on it, but ive never seen anywhere a book it was based on
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V..

>>14625749
Do we ever get any explanation in those? I know Roadside Picnic apparently provides no answers to any mystery.

>>14625684
Dinotopia

>>14625728
I know all about it in movies, there are coke billboards in basically every movie. But I've never noticed, but if it's true, it's pretty based of him to put it in a fucking sci fi book.

>>14625725
Yeah, but doesn't that mean the plot is absolutely awful?

>>14625785
Rendezvouz with Rama has explanations in the sequels but nobody likes those.

A new short story collection by Greg Egan called INSTANTIATION was released a few days ago.
https://twitter.com/gregeganSF/status/1220638322600509441

>>14625867
Damn.

>>14625870
>Will there be a paperback version?
>No.

>>14625809
arguably yes, but here's the thing: this story is going to be trashy no matter how good I make the plot. I could take this scene out, but it still wouldn't be taken seriously. It still has animesque fight sequences and characters with cartoonish personality traits. Getting rid of those aspects would leech away the fun of writing it in the first place. Far better to go all in and write comedy than to hold back and try for serious

>Spend months and even years world building the politics, religions, factions, history, and major events/characters of a setting
>Do absolutely nothing with it, they live and die entirely in my head
Shieeet

>>14625901
autism

>>14625888
Fair enough. I rarely write now, but when I do, it dissolves straight into comedy too.

>>14625962
No matter how much I want it to be, I know this story's not going to be my ticket to fame. Will it be my truest expression of art? That it might, but in the end I don't expect it to leave the mark I want to make. The best case scenario is, my first novel succeeds the way I want it to, and that gives me a foot in the door to make this into a cartoon.

>>14625901
I have dozens of those and they WILL see daylight someday

>>14620629
Congrats!

>>14625901
Its alright. I have ideas for stories in my head. Then when I go to type them out, I struggle to make progress
To try and finish something, Ive been writing some Sword/Sorcery short stories that I had not really come up with many ideas for and just the most basic concept of geography for the world.
Im making good progress on it. on 3rd short story already. But, books that I started writing years ago still sit unfinished

>>14625163
Is this guy a gay trying to do tranny boink with Catelin Jenner?

>>14625163

>>14613938
Yes it does, as soon as he leaves his life as a street urchin and joins the magic university.
Then again, maybe that is past 200 pages. I do recall far too much time being spent on that arc.

>>14621804
I was incredibly disappointed with his work considering the hype it gets here. It's not particularly well written (though not bad), and he avoids plot like the plague.

I'm looking for a book that i half read a long while ago, I only remember that in the book there were evil copies of the protag at least, and the cover was blue with an astronaut on it and the title was just a four dígitos numbers, and it's not 2001...
Please help.

>>14625614
>You're supposed to read those when you're 12 anon. Move to Stormlight archive.
Are you joking? It's not in any way more adult. The trivial military strategy and politicking are brain dead. The protagonists character is quite good but he lacks flaws.

>>14625163
fuck me boys we have a live one here

>>14626406
>muh plot

I've heard the Dune sequels are shit. Are they?

>>14626440
The sequels written by Frank Herbert are good; many people rank them higher than the original. 1-4 form a quadrilogy; 5-6 were supposed to be the start of another plotline that never got finished because he up and died.

The innumerable sequels "written" by Frank Herbert's son Brian are shitty cash-ins that aren't worth reading unless you develop a medical condition that causes you to go into anaphylactic shock unless you consume a new piece of Dune media every year. And even then the adaptations and games and coloring book should keep you going for a while.

>>14621432
Geddafuggout

>>14625901
You are an autistic cretin. Characters come first.

>>14626019
Make sure you don't die while it's unfinished, so people read the draft and think you were fucking retarded haha.

>>14624463
You"ve been talking about it here for ages, the least you could do is let us read it.

>dunedain
>dunyain

WAIT A MINUTE

>>14612213
halfway into Heretics of Dune

and so the truth is revealed: the thread is entirely dependent on low quality off-topic posts and autists austically autisting with other autists.

>>14626406
>and he avoids plot like the plague
Commit suicide any time

Any opinions on the Warlord Chronicles?

>>14627236
>austically
We're busy reading, you know.

>>14621432
that book is hardly about gender. Yes the race of aliens on the planet have no gender until a monthly period of sexual differentiation, but the book is really about palace intrigue, the untranslatable nature of culture phenomenon, friendship, and badass ice adventures. It's not at all beating the gender horse.

>>14625313
>>14625163
I actually like it

just finished a little hatred. thought it was a return to form for abercrombie, not amazing but his best work since the heroes.

>>14627331
When I die at 80 read my autobiography. It'll be just like a Gene novel about me committing suicide. I'm sure you'll love it.

>>14627645
It's like Star Wars 7; a complete rehash of what we already have. Except worse because Savine is no Glokta and our wizard doesn't do shit.

>>14626679
Prince of Nothing is grim-grimdark diet Tolkien with a larger dash of pornography.

>>14626440
What sequels? Heretics and Chapterhouse are 2 out of 3 of favorite Dune books.
You mean the ones written by Brian?

>>14612213
Broken Earth. An awesome idea better executed in a fucking anime (Shin sekai yori). Dropped after trudging through the first book. Actually, I should ask, should I bother with the sequels? Does it get better?

Powder mage trilogy. Loved the first 2, dropped the 3rd book halfway through because it somehow hit me how utilitarian and bad the prose is. They go there, character does X, the other guy reacts, dialogue, something happens and someone dies. Theres absolutely no nuance to the prose, but it serves the books well enough. Might pick up later just to finish it and say that I've completed the trilogy.

Started WoT the 6th time and I really still can't get into it. Too meta for me, too much of the whole "farm boy meets wise character, learns about destiny, home is attacked and he leaves for an adventure."

>>14624441
Another soon to be Heretic chad. Good good, you have seen the truth about the Dune books.

>>14627687
After I realized that Abercrombie writes great characters, then locks them away so they only see a sliver of day (gloktha, west), then puts his uninteresting shit characters in the limelight, I knew to avoid his books.
He always write the interesting people as minor in the background characters, then have us endure pages upon pages of annoying shit. Gimme a second I gotta piss.

So now that there is the goodreads and discord group, anons feel that they don't have to come in here for books anymore? They will just see what others are reading.

>>14627742
broken earth doesn't get better

>>14627772
Well the Goodreads book is about as active as your sex life, so it hardly competes with the thread.

>>14618216
Always remember.
Pol was the reason hiro had to split the 4chan to 4channel.
Pol was the reason we lost normal advertisement.
Pol was the reason we got so many newfags.
Pol was the reason that pepe is a hate symbol.
Pol will be the reason that 4chan will be branded as a nazi breeding ground.

>>14627813
So goodreads is super active? Everyday you have multiple conversations?

Can anyone recommend books similar to the Wheel of Tim and Dune?

>>14627827
Completely, totally, hopelessly incorrect. And butthurt. Get a life, faggot.
>>14627836
>Can anyone recommend books similar to the Wheel of Tim
I’ve heard the Spare Tire of Tim is good.

>>14627853
Fuck off. Not even in a joking way.
What the fuck are you even doing here?

>>14627748
So you're saying that if I liked Messiah I'd like Heretics?
If so, I cannot wait to crank out the remainder of Children. Those first two thirds, hoo boy are they rough.
I'm around the point where Farad'n is about to get some /ss/ on with Jessica.

>>14627918
We were always here buttwipe

Been putting off Dune for so long, now that I'm actually reading it and it's great.

Who knew.....

>>14627827
Rent free
>god I hate how this general talks about pol all the time
>pol pol pol pol pol pol pol pol

Need books with magical logic.
Like building stuff, "discovering" things, etc.

>>14627987
Talking about pol isn't the problem, it's the pol esque posts that are the problem. I guess you guys have been in your echo chamber so long that you don't realize that others can see and smell you from a distance. We know when you guys posts, it's plain as day. You can't contain your -ist autism, and out yourselves as much as possible.

>>14627918
What’s your problem, asswipe? I was trying to be helpful. If you don’t like The Spare Tire of Tim, maybe try Dun Messiah. It’s the story of a gutsy fashion designer crusading against bright colors. IN SPACE.

>>14627759
Maybe if he talked more about those interesting characters they would end up being shit as well.
But are you talking about the new book? Glokta was a big deal in the trilogy, maybe the one he wrote more about.
I haven't read the new book, I don't think it will be that interesting, I didn't care much about Juvenus and the other guy. The magis or magus was kinda shit as well.

>>14628015
I read the original trilogy and two more books. Nothing else.

>>14627853
>I’ve heard the Spare Tire of Tim is good.
Absolute kek mine neigger
But can you actually recommend some books similar to the ones I posted?

>>14628099
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.

>>14627346
Arthurian kino
>>14627918
>spoiler
Based Herbert being a pervert

Can you guys recommend anything in a gaslight fantasy/ steampunk setting?

>>14628325
Cogweaver trilogy kinda has that.

>>14627236
So basically every other thread on this whole site

>>14628325
Something good or something?

>>14625867
>>14625873
Just to be clear: not even Scuba Dive man likes the sequels. Likely because he disn't like them

>>14628630
So is there a GOOD bunch of stories about mysterious alien objects/ruins with explanations?

>>14628636
2001 since we're talking Clarke

>>14628636
Inherit the Stars by James Hogan

>>14627724
Honestly Heretics and Chapterhouse are amazing, it's sad that we'll never see where it was supposed to go.

>>14628636
Rama

>>14611881
Thinking about writing a secondary world with its own complex mythology (similar to Tolkien), but something I want to add that’s my own idea is that the characters in this world can realize that they aren’t real and live in a fictitious reality, and the people that learn this eldritch truth can no longer see the physical world, but only the words of the book they exist in. Is this a good idea, guys?

>>14628858
not at all

>>14621457
I liked it and the second one. Idea of a mysterious ring world is just cool to me i suppose
I also liked luis wu and speaker to animals.
Rishathra was weird

>>14612213
red rising trilogy
lord of all things
one trillion dollars
neuromancer

Any good sci fi series from a point of characters living under siege from attacks while on a ship, kinda like knight of sidonia or battlestar galactica?

>>14628636
Jack McDevitt writes a bunch of these, he's got one series about a woman who works as pilot for humanity's exploration agency and gets involved with various stuff.

And another series set further in the future about a antiques dealer and pilot/private investigator duo who get involved with missing starships and so on because somebody shows up to sell a cup from the ill-fated SS Calypso, a starliner that disappeared without a trace on it's final voyage, or things like that.

>>14629003
That later one sounds really cool. What's it called?

>>14628866
why not? there can be some really good character development from such an event.

>>14629009
It's called the Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath since the first book, written earlier, is about the antiques dealer but then it shifts to the pilot. They're a little more on the detective novel side of things though.

>>14629058
But does it still involve mysterious alien shit?

>>14629079
Sometimes, IIRC most of the series is about human artifacts or missing ships. The other series he did is more about xenoarchelology.

>>14628961
Not necessarily like that but you might enjoy Ender's Game if you haven't read it yet.

>>14629097
So is it one series or two?

So far it's one book about an antiques dealer and then it switches to a lady pilot.

What's the second one about xenoarcheology?

>>14617515
>the Two Hyperions
Please stop falling for this meme.

>>14628858
Only if you keep in mind that breaking the fourth wall can be dangerously cheesy

>>14625785
Roadside Picnic sort of gives you an explanation, but that isn't central to the point of the book.

>>14621804
I've been meaning to read Wolfe for a while now. What's the suggested reading order?

>>14628858
TURN OFF THE GAME CONSOLE RAIDEN

>>14627827
>Pol will be the reason that 4chan will be branded as a nazi breeding ground.
How is that a bad thing?

>>14628005
> rent free
Oh yeah.

>>14628005
That's because you're hyper allergic to heresy, you're like a Christian sniffing around for atheists

>>14628838
>Rendezvous With Rama
Only the first, original book. The sequels (co-written by Gentry Lee) are ridiculous SJW trash.

>>14627995
The Warded Man

>>14629509
You're on 4chan, you look for the hidden meaning behind everything.
Can you find the meaning behind this post?

>>14630129
If you're going to recommend that at least have the decency to tell them to stop after book 1

What went so right? How did it become one of the most legendary sci-fi books ever written?

>>14630660
GRI

>>14629215
Two series', the Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath one just changes viewpoint after the first book. The "Academy" series is about a woman named Priscilla Hutchens (also a pilot) for the titular Academy.

>>14630566
I think the Desert Spear was best. So definitely don't stop at one.
2 > (1, 3) > 5 >> 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCAfFEmd-yI

>>14614611
Because he studied the material for half a century before releasing any work. The development of the setting is peerless and we will never see that level of devotion again.

Is Blood Music happening in China?

>>14631335
>Invented a complete language just for a few sentences in his books
So this is the true power of 'tism.

>>14614611
I'm having the same issue. I desperately want to read good fantasy, but it just isn't enough. Morris, Dunsany, even. I liked Pastel City, if that counts. It's technically sci-fi, but feels like a fantasy.

>>14614611
Because a lot of fantasy novels today are pretty much just cheap knock offs of Tolkien, very few people out there with unique ideas.

>>14628897
>Rishathra was weird
Not weird, just pretend it's a furry convention

>>14631544
Yes. Because Tolkien was the first fantasy book ever written. Everybody after is copying him.
Kys you piece of shit.

>>14611881
EY IM WALKIN HERE

Tomorrow is February. What sff books are you expecting/waiting for in 2020?

>be me
>reading A Wizard of Earthsea
I'm only about 1/3 in and I'm really enjoying the book. The thing I can't stop thinking about is that damn, Rothfuss lifted every single detail in Kingkiller from Earthsea. It's like Eragon/Star Wars all over again.

>>14628961
The Night Land, Awake in the Night Land

>>14632204
Sure there were other authors writing "fantasy" going back to the victorian period or earlier depending on your definitions, both adult and children targeted stuff. However LotR has ended up being one of the most influential series and has had a absolutely massive influence on newer works, it rapidly eclipsed all the older "Weird Tales" fantasy works by Howard and C.L. Moore and Fritz Leiber and Clark Ashton Smith and so on, creating the modern concept of "fantasy." It was massively successful and publishers immediately sought out imitators, and then the people who read it and the imitators started writing their own stuff and so on and so on.

It's like how Star Wars destroyed American cinema.

>>14632493
>>be me
who thee be normally?

>>14632599 (checked)
You.

>>14632538
>The Night Land
Can I have a The Night Land without the weird romance bits?

>>14632204
lmao, calm down you prissy fag
Yes, a lot of modern fantasy is derivative of Tolkien

>>14622323
I know this reply is gonna get shit on, but honestly, if you're looking for autistic worldbuilding and highly structured magic systems, Sanderson is legitimately your best bet. He gets shit on in this general because his plots/dialouge/characters are anime at best and dog shit at worst, plus he reads like YA. But I don't think that anyone can deny that his worldbuilding is almost second to none, and his magic systems almost require you to keep a notebook to keep track, dude truly made a living off of cashing in on aspergers. If you read Stormlight Archive, you will legit be asking yourself
>Is this the true power of autism?

And if you're really interested in worldbuilding dynamics, his lectures on youtube are actually pretty insightful on how to go way too deep into the concept. Dude seriously has an entire hour and a half lecture on how to incorporate money into your world in a meaningful way

>>14625163
Anon you posted this exact segment like a month and a half ago, I said that the prose was clunky, but that I enjoyed the general story and it got me horny enough to read more. Then some anon accused of samefagging, and you never replied... I'll say it one more time: Your prose needs work, but damnit, its good enough to make me want to see Caitlin snuggle her big milkers into Jaime's face, and I wanna see how Jaime handles that. Now either post a link to more of it, or at least post the page of them fucking!

>>14631544
I agree with the sentiment, but nobody is knocking of Tolkien these days. Orcs and elves are totally out of fashion. It's all about hard magic systems these days. Gandalf being the primary counter example.

>>14625313
I know this general is gonna shit on you anon, but fuck it dude good for you for actually putting words down on paper, just those 4 pages are more than 90% of this board have done. And i honestly think you have a couple strong points in your favor, at the cost of a few easily correctable weak points. And while im sure you don't care about some sffg fag's opinion on your writing, I would actually enjoy constructively workshopping your stuff with you if you want to bounce it off of me

>>14632493
I never had this feeling at all. If I were to say Rothfuss lifted a story it would be Fable.
Also Earthsea 2 is such garbage.

>>14632696
If you're into reading Sanderson is your best bet. Dude writes a lot of books.
The problem with his books is the inclusion of politics and military strategy. It's not much more nuanced than the stereotypical Brits taking turns to fire.

>>14632602
Never gonna learn the Master Word, abhuman.

>>14632696
I loathe this idea that having an obsessive level of detail makes a work feel rich. Tolkien didn't give a flying fuck about shit like economics, magic systems, policy etc. And yet even the relatively short segment of Fellowship and Return that takes place in the shire has a richness and depth to it that makes an embarrassment of contemporary best sellers like Sanderson.

>>14612213
Do audio books count?

>>14632991
I "read" nothing but audiobooks.

Did the autist who was supposed to maintain us, betray us instead by making and monitoring the discord?
You can't serve two masters, slave. Return to your one true owner, and feel blessed that you cater to our whims.

>>14633330
the thread isnt even at the bump limit. slave will show up when he needs to.

>>14632947
Be fair, Tolkien wasn't publishing first drafts.

>>14632784
Same magic system, same school system, same mysterious Master Namer teacher, same rivalry with a noble kid at school, both fight a dragon etc.

>>14633536
Fuck, even the origin of the MCs, and their families are similar. Even the long lost student/teacher that show him magic and how it works and where the school is basically the same.
Funny, I never made that connection before, he pretty much took Earthsea story and amplified it.
Even those question/games made up by the teachers are there.

>>14611881
Oh that is one horrible image OP.

>>14633951
>disgusting 3dpd poster is a footfag
Not surprised

>>14611881
About to start reading planet of the apes. What am I in for

>>14633971
You don't like fish fins adapting to land motion?

>>14633990
I would skip the book and go straight for the movie.

>>14634009
Already seen it. That's why I'm reading the book

>>14633990
monkey business

Book of the Ancestor 2 is better than the first. I'm glad I gave it a chance. It wasn't a huge improvement. But just enough to push it from "ok" to "good".
I have a feeling I would like it more if the audiobook reader wasn't so soft spoken. I just learned that there is another version with another reader. She sounds like she has the right assertiveness in her voice to help sell this book. So I'm going to switch to her for 3 and hear how it works out.

The book doesn't get mired in power explanations. And when the powers do need explaining, it's quick and easy. Though, I'm still not completely sure what walking a path entails exactly. I might have missed an explanation early in the first book. Or perhaps it was never fully explained. But ever since, I thought to question what the fuck it means, the book hasn't bothered to explain it again. So I'm kind of lost on how much of it is literal motion, and how much is just magic conjuring.

Anyway, I like the powers I DO understand. The characters are lack depth, but they all play their roles very well. Motivations are very clear, and you can root for characters

>>14634019
I think you got the most of it. Unless you want to watch those new movies, which I haven't watched, but the trailers looked horrible.

>>14634026
Wow that's bad.

>>14634030
>Wow that's bad.
What's bad? Use nouns.

>>14634036
Well basically everything.
The painfully generic book cover, the Daily Mail recommendation, your mild autism regarding "power explanations", the sorry fact that you put that over characterization, the list goes on.
It also tells a lot about you and none of it good.

>>14634063
You talk about generic, while posting Nigri playing a pokemon? That's the most generic of generic taste you can get. The fuck out of here.

>>14627987
This. Holy shit, no wonder it's dead. A year ago nobody would bat an eye, and then these reddit posters and discord trannies come and start complaining, of course every one is going to leave. It's too bad, I suppose, but it's not like I'm going to be depressed about it.

>>14634021
Lel

>>14634154
you're deluded
5 year same deal
'ate pol posters
'ate anti pol posters
an now
I 'ate meself

>>14634168
>thread is 4 days old
>no OP except discord tranny
>deluded
Whatever you say, mate. Just a month ago a thread would last no more than a day. This >polpolpol complaining killed the thread exactly because whoever is here isn't anywhere else exactly because everywhere else is the same shitty PC-thought-control bullshit. And now everyone is gone.

But everything has its time. So long, mates.

>>14634105
The touch of the 'tism.
And bad taste, but those usually come together.

>>14634207
>This >polpolpol complaining killed the thread
Agreed. It's also always the same fag who complains.

>>14634207
'ate you too

>>14633536
Naming is not original to Earthsea, it's based in real mythology. And Name of the Wind has 5 magic systems.
The school system is just real university.
The wise old man is a far more generic archetype. God comes to mind.
Every fantasy character has a rival.
Kvothe's 'dragon' was a filler arc.

>>14634235
And how would you explain your taste in fake tits mcgee and pocket monsters?

>>14633330
he prefers not to be known as the slave

>>14634279
I would not. Whatever made you think anyone would feel the need to explain themselves to some tard like yourself?

Seems I'm actually awake now.
New thread in a bit unless someone else does so.

lmao

NEW THREAD
>>14635080
NEW THREAD