/lit/ - Literature

Sanderfag is not so bad

>>15420911
What a shit job OP

I'm trying to find more highbrow fantasy along the lines of Gene Wolfe. I'm thinking of checking out H.P. Lovecraft, do you think he'd fit the bill?

>>15420930
Did someone say it?

>>15420919
E William Brown still a fuck, but not bad.

>>15420911
BOTNS bros how are we doing?
What book are you reading? Is it your first read-through?

I'm a couple chapters into Claw on my first reading and really enjoying it. This is my first foray into Dying Earth and I'm wondering what it's like to go "backwards" to Vance after this. Has anyone done that?

>>15420930
Did he really name his cat "nigger" and what is the order of reading for his works?

>>15421043
I'll do it soon. Already read BotNS but not Vance. Looking forward to it.

>>15421056
No, he also called it "man" to show that he was joking and you should of course start with Cthulhu.

turns out it wasn't the harley quinn theme. my sense of cinematics and poetic flow is completely fucked up. I've been staring at this page for half an hour and not a single word has come to mind that felt right

what do I do?

>>15421043
I read Shadow of the Torturer a while back and immediately started Claw but was very confused that it didn't seem to follow directly from the previous book, which itself ended pretty abruptly and in a weird place. I ended up putting down Claw and haven't gotten back to it yet. Does he ever explain what happened in that time skip or is that just one of those things that forever remains a mystery?

>>15421077
I think all that happens is that he does some jobs in between books. Confused the hell out of me too. He did say earlier in the book that he would leave out unimportant details.

Which Foundation books should I read? Should I just read the original trilogy?

>>15421172
No, only read Foundation and Buttplug by Brandon Sanderson

>>15421165
That kind of makes it stranger since Shadow had a bunch of meandering occurrences that Severian apparently felt it was important to share and yet a seemingly huge chunk is skipped over without fanfare. But I suppose I should read on before I say more.

>>15421178
Faggot

>>15405852
>>15405852
>>15405852
>>15405852
>>15405852
>>15405852

Previous /sffg/ that poster conveniently forgot to include in the OP.

>>15421364
I DON'T FUCKING CARE.

>>15421172
The original trilogy is where you want to start anyway (fuck in-universe chronological order, it's dumb, date of publishing all the way), so go ahead. After that you'll know if you want to read more.

>>15421364
Thanks.
>>15421386
Hey man I don't like missing out.

>>15420911
What a fucking fetard you are. Somone report ghis dumb shit and make a propper thread.

OP is just trying to remove the usual stuff so he can make it all about him and his attention seeking retardation.

>>15421043
im on my second read through and im following along with alzabo soup's podcast. just finished claw of the conciliator. that ending was wild
>backwards to vance
yeah i did that, theyre totally different. vance's tone is way more comedic and baroque. great fun and its good to see the influence

Are there any decent books about an immortal?

>>15421442
Calling OP out for attention seeking is attention seeking.

Reading BotNS, come across this line in chapter 31 of Sword of the Lictor
>How could I refuse to the Increate what I had willingly given the Autarch when I struck off Katharine's head?
Who is Katharine? I can't remember Severian performing any executions for the Autarch so I assume that this is maybe Thecla speaking? Or is this a hint that the narrator is not Severian

The only SF novels I've enjoyed reading have been Star Maker, Odd John, and Dying Inside by Silverman. Is there a term for this theme of speculation on consciousness that could make finding related material simpler?

>>15421550
he's referring to his indoctrination. saint katherine is their patron and they strike her head off to officially become a torturer. i forgot what he meant by that line though

Dropping Black Sun Rising 1/3 into it. The writing was so bad and clichéd it was just too much for me. Someone on sffg said it had the best villain ever and I just didn't see it (it was a shittier Dracula).
Shame because the setting was pretty interesting and original, I guess, but for all that thought poured into it, you have magic skills like Knowing, Divination, Seeing and unimaginative shit like that and a terrible execution.

Guess it's time to face The Aspect Emperor which I know will be good or pick an unknown (Senlin Ascends) just to gauge how poor your taste continues to be.

How does one go about creating a wizard character and make him interesting?

>>15421550
He's talking about the highly symbolic ceremony of his guild (Katherine's Feast).
Every execution is for the Autarch, btw. That's what the Torturer's guild does, een as a travelling executioner.

>>15421598
Make him a tranny

>>15421619
Was thinking more along the lines of making him a learned scholar who has devoted the last 250 years of his life to studying both the arcane and the mundane but that might be plan B.

>>15421657
You make him gay and quirky and as Reddit as possible (looking at you, Kings of the Wyld).

>>15421657
That is boring and done to death.
What's the difference between your character and Dumbledore or Gandalf?

>>15421043
I'm on chapter 15 in Citadel, first read. It has slowed down a bit. I'm also new to dying earth and sff in general. I'm enjoying it, however.

>>15420927
No, I think it's the best job anyone has done in a long time.

>>15421442
OP left out the discord channels and only asked that we reply to sffg. I'm being a faggot by replying to you right now, but it's worth it because I get to spoil you with the following:
More recent statistics show that the likelihood you'll neck yourself is now at 50% instead of 40. :^) seethe harder. You'll never be able to stop, in any case.

>>15421669
That was why I asked to begin with.

>>15421703
Make him a delusional patient in a mental institution, sprinkling hints here and there with things that only make sense once you realize what's actually going on.

>>15421699
Not even a tranny would bang you

>>15421043
this is amazing cover

>>15421598
By making a person with little ability learn as he goes along, or in other words forcing him to learn because people are out to kill him. A type of skills and experience not gained in magic academy. Again dont go big with massive power ups but go smart, maybe the worlds gone lazy with magic, people forgot how to use real magic, its all standardized learning, read the scroll, use crystal, and one can cast high level spells, that kind of thing, but there is also an old crazy man who no one takes seriously but who has spent years doing mental and physical training which gave him the understanding and inate ability to use magic, a man from the old tales who no one believes in anymore.
Now there is a young boy who is running away for his life and old man may have to make him an apprentice to save him.

Not an original idea but there is nothing using them as long as its done right.

>>15421747
They couldn't anyway. It makes me wonder; what is it about trannies that makes them rope themselves after all? Is it the mental illness, or the realization of what they've done to themselves when they see the ribbons that used to be their genitals? Ah well. We'll probably never know. Have a nice read, anon.

>>15421598
By writing him as an interesting person first and foremost. Everything else is just window dressing.

>>15421595
>>15421612
Thank you both, I had forgotten about the name of the saint in the indoctrination, this all makes sense now.

>>15421598
by giving him an innate power which by definition over powers almost every other piece of magic in your universe. have him assume the role of a magical messiah that saves the world based on pure inherent talent alone

>>15421873
Why does he need innate power if he has talent?

>>15421682
I concur.

Just about to start Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, what's the opinions on it around here?

>>15421828
Trannies would still reject you. Don't hit on me silly boy.

>>15421985
I enjoyed it. Norrel a shit, though.

>>15421941
why not both?

>>15422044
>innate power which by definition over powers almost every other piece of magic in your universe
It would be boring to have such an overpowered main character. Its ok to have some powers (unconventional but weak) but the fun comes from him using his wits and being smart with his limited powers.

>>15420911
Fucking hell OP, at least have the decency to put the charts in there. You almost blinded me with the pic as well.

>>15422146
I think the point of the original post was to give a shitty suggestion, so you're right, but kinda missed the point

>>15422181
Oh, ok.

>>15422193
I have the best idea for you. Make him like all might. A grand wizard who was super powerful but is slowly getting older and less strong. His power is failing but he's still the strongest. Portray how he deals with his declining power and how everyone around him who hold him in high regard have to deal with a declining symbol of peace and justice.

>>15422201
Could be done but all might as personality is not that great, he is just too good, has literally no flaws, extremly boring, not funny etc. Master roshi or netero would be better choices.

>>15422201
I think that's an interesting idea. Maybe give him a time limit which he has to work against or some chronic illness that ails him: he has so much to do in so little time, even though he is the best

>>15421985
Good book, but don’t go into it expecting a fantasy novel.

>>15420911
>here is your cyberpunk clique bro
>expanding your posthumanists minds since the 1980s

What's everyone reading?

>>15420930
You say H.P. Lovecraft, I say Clark Ashton Smith.
You say R Scott Bakker, I say Guy Gavriel Kay.
You say Steven Erikson, I say Frank Herbert
Read all six.

>>15421598
A downside.
You are brilliant in a way, anon. I am sure of it. What is a trait that you have observed obscures your brilliance?
Think about this trait. Maybe it applies to wizard, maybe it does not.

>>15422533
Not cyberpunk enough for me.

>>15422882
I just read your post, and if you make another one I'll read that too :)

>>15421043
I read BotNS and then Vance and then back to Long and Short suns.

With Vance it is much more about the experience while you're reading, rather than thinking about it afterwards as with Wolfe. The plots are mostly just what they seem to be, there isn't the same level of allegory etc. I would put Vance in a similar spot to say, Howard or Moorcock, whereas Wolfe is with more intricate authours.

Vance is still incredibly fun though. The Cugel Dying Earth stuff is great, though I lost steam with the magician ones. The Lyonesse books are really fuckin comfy.

>>15421077
>>15421165

Some things happen, and you become aware of what they are, but they aren't necessarily explicitly stated. It is of interest to worldbuilding and figuring out other things to do with the grander plot, rather than the immediate plot.

>>15421550
>>15421595

With Katharine being his mum this sentence also takes on a new meaning. By ritually executing his mother he prepares his own accession to Autarch.

I saw someone shilling the Malazan Cycle series on /tg/. What does /sffg/ think of it? Apparently it's amazing but fuck me is it long

>we've gone from speed reading scum to people who read the first chapter and pretend they read the entire book to people who don't read at all
Sffg is dead. This is just a shell that has been hollowed out by the invading vultures

>>15423000
>Apparently it's amazing
Apparently not.

>>15423069
Its dead because people read lord of the rings, hyperior and then refuse to read anything else, and also shit on people who refuse to talk about hyperion for the 954235th time on /sffg.

>>15422882
Sins of the empire - I’m pissed vlora is one of the mc’s she was the worst character in the powdermage trilogy
Revelation space - seems interesting so far.
The brightest shadow - trying to find something as good as cradle. I don’t think this is it

>>15423323
Maybe that "anything else" should be of higher quality?
Sanderson a hack

>>15423355
You read 3 books at a time?

>inchoate
>roynish
>chiaroscuro
jesus christ donaldson we get it, you know these words

>>15423355
how far into revalation space are you? the first book?

>>15423482
I’ll likely drop one of them. Two at a time is the norm.
>>15423489
Yes about 25 % through the first

>>15423707
if you're dropping one of those, i say stick with revelation space, you won't know if it(it being the series)'s your thing until further along into the book.

>>15420911
>>15421077
>>15421699
>>15421766
>>15422044
>>15422533
>>15422922
>>15423000
>>15423355
Checked.

>>15423724
I’m leaning towards dropping brightest shadow. It’s western chinkshit

Please recommend novels with the most terrifying dystopia you can think of.

>>15423895
You don't need a book for that.

>>15423880
haven't read any chinkshit so far. i think i'm very close to finally giving the three body problem a chance though, after i finish my current series
can't comment on brightest shadow beyond saying i got cancer when i read the plot synopsis and the goodreads reviews

>>15423914
>we live in a dystopia
>jews
>facebook
>it couldn't get any worse

>>15424057
>>jews
>>facebook
don't forget wojakposters
and americans such as (you) turning this site into their own cultural war battleground

>>15424133
sorry to disappoint you anon, I'm not American and you also misunderstand the post :/

>>15424183
maybe. post something in your native language and then we can continue on from there if you really aren't american. i'll start
нe ти вяpвaм, чe нe cи oлигoфpeн aмepикaнcки кyлтypeн вoин

>>15424207
Uncultured.

Goddamn it, I just want a commercial ebook version of Frederik Pohl's Gateway!

>>15420911
Reading Dune again for the first time in maybe seven years? For some reason I appreciate it more this time around.

What are some really good sci fi books about sci fi archeology? I mean like, discovering the ruins of long dead alien civilization etc.?

>>15424309
the series or the first book? i loved the first book but the sequels completely deflated my enthusiasm and i dropped it after book 2. then i saw people on 4chan were shilling god emperor of dune as the best book in the series and i've been planning on picking up the series again for a couple of years now.

>>15424330
depends. are you looking for books where the main focus is studying a long dead civilization or are you looking for any books where study of long dead civilizations is a significant plot point.

>>15424002
Cradle by will wight is the only good chinkshit that exists

>>15424330
you might unironically like Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft

>>15424358
I'm going to try to read the whole original series. Last time I crapped out after Messiah. I actually liked Messiah.

Also, either or, either one works for me.

>>15424404
No. No Loveshit.

>>15424549
good luck my man. hopefully i'll be in your position a year from now. i finished messiah but i dropped children 50 pages in because i was already frustrated by messiah and i wasn't willing to put up with children's shit., but i'm pretty determined to get to god emperor now. i want to see this payoff everyone is talking about. even if it's underwhelming, at least i won't feel bad about myself for being a quitter.

>>15423895
The World as Run by Jemisin, by Niggerwoman N. Kike

>>15424628
God Emperor for me was not nearly as good as people say. It was simply ok. It's also the silliest book so far (haven't read books 5 and 6) so I think people really enjoy it for the memes. I enjoyed it but it's definitely not on par with the first book.

What are good dino sci-fi books? Other than Jurassic Park that is.

>read blindsight
>become utterly redpilled on relationships
fuck bros, i think i have to break up with my gf

>>15425019
>blindsight
>become utterly redpilled on relationships

I never finished it, what does it say?

>>15424814
i think this is a real possibility and i've prepared myself for it.

I'm about to finish Codex Alera, what else has a barbarian waifu of the Kitai/Aviendha type

>>15425030
relationships are a series of unconscious adversarial attempts to control each other

>>15425140
You have missed the point by distance best measured in astronomical units.

>>15425019
>>15425140
didn't you ever consider the fact that the book might have presented a compelling argument but that that doesn't make it true?

>>15423895
Darkness & the Light by Olaf Stapledon

>>15423895
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
That shit was scary.

>>15425433
How so? Doesn't sound so scary judging by the synopsis.

>>15425433
>The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
please tell me the planet isn't earth

>>15425459
It is the bright future as imagined by a deranged American liberal making it Hell for anyone else. It is a brown melting pot (everyone in the book is some shade of it) of exiles from Earth making this star faring culture whose staple food seem to be giant fucking insects, where the heroine is a white privileged (as in was able to eat actual animal protein privileged) women on the run from her evil patriarchal society, where the ship's resident dickhead is white (described in great detail), the list just goes on. I dropped it at the dwarf, one of the crew members, getting it on with the ship's AI, with the author just shitting out all the worst tropes associated with AI's.
And yes that is the author.
It was actually pretty disturbing.

>>15425505
I don't think so.

>>15423000
I like it a lot, but I'd say here the opinion is quite mixed. Some people find the first book difficult to read, but I actually quite enjoyed it.

>>15425152
>>15425214
denial won't save you

>>15425609
Ahh, you're an incel. Gotcha.

>>15425609
what is that thing?

>>15425754
dilate

>>15425792
Even trannies get laid more than incels.

>>15425754
You might be trolling, or you might be the dreaded Hugo tranny but I have to point out that there is this whole wide world out there that finds the current year politically correct craziness in the US deeply disturbing.
Doubly so if a Hugo winner (an award that used to carry a lot of weight) is a 3rd rate novel by an author more interested in ticking off all of the diversity boxes and beating the reader over the head with the post millennial talking points more suited to some liberal rag than actual quality of her writing.

>>15425788
That is Becky Chambers, the author of a Hugo Award Winner for the Best Series - The Trip to a Small Angry Planet.
10 yeas ago that novel wouldn't have even be nominated. 20 years ago I don't think it would have been printed. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Does the times trannies get brought up in this thread correspond to the amount of trannies in sci fi and fantasy literature?

>>15425983
it just corresponds to american hours. ignore them and they go away. for a while at least.
just don't talk to them because it becomes a huge shitshow

So, 50 pages of fantasy section on amazon, excluding Sapowski, Tolkien and GRR Martin, there is hardly a single book that is written by a male author: that has a strong male protagonist and doesnt use current social justice issues as a plot theme. I knew the fantasy situation wasnt great (and scifi is no better) but it really is starting to look dire.

>>15422882
Malazan Book of the Fallen number nine.
>gets our hopes up that characters X and Y will save character Z from a grim fate
>they all perish

>>15423000
I've been slowly enjoying them for years now.

>>15426079
amazon and goodreads are really bad at portraying whats really popular. because if you look at something it assumes you like that and will recommend you similar things in the search results. also authors use kindle bots to boost their ranking more often than not.

>tfw need to be writing but every word sounds so discordant in my mind's ears that I can't even choose one
>tfw could be cooking but every dish I think of sounds gross

>>15422882
Finishing Tales of the Dying Earth this weekend, then starting Book of the Long Sun

>>15426079
>At least 2 different Fantasy lists (printed and ebooks)
>several ways to sort the list
Why are you so retarded and full of shit? I just checked and on page 2 there was Banderson-a-hack.

>>15425849
Just by the look of her I can accurately predict where she stands on every social and political issue. I can also accurately predict that her writing is shit

>>15423895
I think it's Aldus's Haxley's 'Brave new world'.

>>15426902
Yeah they do all look alike.

>>15427146
Aldous HACKsley more like.

>>15422223
Change the personality but keep the idea. Use this guys idea too >>15422297

>>15425983
Trannies are severely underrepresented in all media except social.
No books for example.

>>15420930
why do nerds obsess over the cat's name or LOL plushy cthulu for president!!! Are they too stupid to actually discuss Lovecraft?

>>15427603
His books are famously too highbrow for most people to comprehend so people only like his works when they're adapted into giant monster movies or something because then it's just like "Dude! Monsters destroying stuff! COOL!"

>>15427603
>they
We, anon. We are too stupid to actually discuss Lovecraft. We'd rather bash on trannies all day.

>>15427777
checked

>>15421572
You might enjoy Lathe of Heaven

>>15427354
Trannys didn’t exist until about six years ago

What's your favourite book about AI attacking people and rebelling?

>>15425140
Uh pretty sure it was about the vampire revolt

>>15427777
Nice digits.
I'm planning on reading Dunwich Horror after I get done with The War of the Worlds. What am I in for?

>>15424207
>implying Australia and the UK don't exist

The Builders by Daniel Polansky

Need a new book to read while wagecucking but nothing seems worth starting

>>15428609
What about it

Rec me some books that have outrageous future tech like Neal Asher books. No hard scifi authors plz.

>>15422882
The empty box and zeroth Maria yes yes it's weebshit I know but like candy hard to put down. I try to read Wolfe etc in between. Like the series but Lord the plot got weird at the end

>>15428609
>furry and reptile shit
Is that a sly cooper?

>>15428653
Library of heavens path was just finished, I liked it

>>15429010
id kill for a proper sly cooper novel. however the plot of the 4th game was totally scuffed. no reason for bentleys gf to suddenly turn supervillain.

/sffg/, considering I'm already writing comedic YA fantasy with a lot of talking animals, would it be egregious to have one of my characters use her turtle like a koopa shell?

The setting is intentionally supposed to be kind of digi/pokemon-esque but because I wanted four main characters I had to bump three of their familiars down to animal intelligence to avoid cast bloat. Now I'm playing for it because I forget they exist two thirds of the time

>>15428101
I'll check it out

>>15428488
those are pretty much the same thing to us foreigners. also canadians. i really honestly can't imagine what differences i'm supposed to be seeing in the behaviors of different anglos. one's as cancer as the other.

>>15428903
luna new moon series
it's 50% plausible slight tech advances 50% "oh the computers are now gods"

>>15424549
You might try Altered Carbon and it's sequels. There's some archaeological stuff in it, especially the second book, and the whole series has a "dealing with the past in the future" theme. That being said, I haven't seen a lot of praise for he series and even though I personally enjoyed it, I thought it was pretty meh.

>>15429156
That all sounds awful!
Anyhow, it depends on your desired level of relative "realism", because if you actually threw a throwable turtle at someone that turtle is gonna die.

>>15429156
Man that sounds really corny.

>>15421043
Tried book of the new sun. Felt retarded at the end of it. Think I'm too dumb for it lads

>>15430176
It is better to read BotNS and feel dumb then read let's say Sanderson and feel smart.

just started reading Lord of Light.
if I had known it has future high-tech disguised as hinduistic divine magic stuff, I'd have read it ages ago. I'm a sucker for settings like that.
thanks for mentioning the book in this thread again and again.

>>15430482
Its quite horrible mixing scifi and fantasy.

>the invaders have driven the regulars away
>with no one to troll the invaders also left
>sffg is now a dead broken wasteland with barely any discussion

>>15430700

Anthony Ryan, new conte*porary fantasy. Is Blood Song worth reading? What about Waking Fire? Reviews say its not very good...

>>15430726
Blood Song good, sequels kinda not (blood song is single pov martial fantasy the sequels tried to become a multi-pov epic fantasy)
Waking Fire decent

>>15430700
>superior master race wuxia/ xanxia has finally slain western literature
>virgin farm boy with a heart of gold on a journey to the big city and wizard tutelage who sits in taverns appreciating bread and blushing at watiresses gets shit on by master race young dual cultivating silk pants lord who flys on swords and emotionally neglects harems

>>15429156
That sounds exhausting to write.

Is Horus Heresy worth reading if you're not a 40kfag i.e. is it a good sci-fi series on its own?
I obviously have a cursory understanding of 40K universe from all the vidya

>>15430726
Blood song is a standalone book. The others don't exist.
Waking fire is a dragon safari with blood junkies. They are always shooting up.

>>15430783
So he is literally limped wristed?

>>15430185
What if you read BotNS and felt bored? What about if you read Sanderson and feel dumb/aroused?

>>15430783
Is there are any chinese novel(?) thats not shit? I mean the prose is shit and the story and plot is shit, maybe there is some hidden buddhist philosophical theme or backround that might become apparent in chapter 500 and teach the reader some buddhist truth, maybe not.

Now I sound quite ignorant and biased, so why dont you recommend me some good chinese story for a beginner, something that will change my mind. Please post proper epub because from what I have seen the formatting on their websites is all over the place.

>>15430791
If you thump bibles, or plan to thump bibles in the future then 40k is for you.

>>15430877
Three body problem.

if you mean wuxia/ xanxia then no, it's retelling of kung fu fantasy and has the same heroes journey problem that all western fantasy has.

although my favorites of all time are reverend insanity and warlock of the magus world.

>>15430870
Pretty much.

>>15424133
>>15425433
>>15425788
>>15425799
>>15426011
>>15427777
>>15428488
>>15429899
>>15429933
>>15429977
>>15430622
>>15430700
>>15430877
Checked.

>>15430877
Anon, anybody who praises and recommends chinkshit is a chink themselves. They are a hivemind people and support Chinese because they are Chinese. They will shill shit books even though they know it's shit because a chink wrote it. See all the three meme problem shills? It's the chinks shilling that shit. If you post the winnie the pooh Taiwan copy pasta they leave right quick because they don't want the social police to visit them.

>>15430185

In a autistic kind of way, that's actually made me feel better. Thanks anon

>>15430791
There are 56 books in the Horus Heresy series anon.

I AM SHILLING HERE.

Read this book, it is beautiful. It's one of the better fantasy works released in the last year, if you like magic battles, wizards, trolls, fairies, sword fighting then this is the book to read.

>>15430700
Maybe those "regulars" shouldn't have been such little bitches?

>>15431197
The audio book is coming out next month. I will pick it up then.

>>15430876
What if you are just weird like that?

>>15431197
Is that the goddamned cat eyes in the background?
If you read painting the mist there is a powerful beast that is disguised as a cat.

>>15431203
>Why won't people let me perpetually abuse them in silence forever? Why do they have to leave to where it's troublesome for me?

>>15431009
No problem fellow traveler.

>>15425019
You don't have a girlfriend, liar.

>>15431227
Akshually I'll let you know that I am an equal opportunity abuser. And if you think that anything said here akshually constitutes abuse maybe it's time to go back.
Or take this advice from my homie Tyler.

>>15431224
>Is that the goddamned cat eyes in the background
Yes most likely, at one point I thought it may be fae but they look just like humans.

>painting the mist
Can you give me a link? Google is giving me all kinds of results

>>15431197
>Book One

>>15431263
>I am an abuser who isn't abusing people
Just a bit more and you'll reach self-awareness.

>>15431292
Book 4 is coming out in August.

>>15431294
Go cry more to the jannies bitch ass nigga.

>>15431197
No.

>>15431343
why not?

Why did /sffg/ turn in to reddit?

>>15431381
You had the wrong expectations from the beginning. It didn't turn. It always was.

>>15431381
I think it's part of a broader tranny invasion of reddit. You should see the Discord screens they post in /v. It's hilarious.

>>15431381
reddit's fantasy and scifi boards are actually way more ontopic lol

>>15431413
Heaven forbid you say something going against the groupthink there.
Like Sanderson a nigger.

>>15431397
>/v/
You're part of the problem and you don't even realize it.

>>15431426
How come?

>>15431424
>tfw when people won't even let you wallow in your own filth in front of them
Sad.

>>15431435
Yeah those basedboys are awfully creepy.

>>15431292
>>15431319
Be honest, is it better if a series flags up it's Book 1 / N , so you know what kind of time investment the story is, or if the book 1 is virtually a standalone with room for sequels later?

Because I think the biggest draw of Harry Potter initially was how it exploded in popularity with Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, both of which could be taken as standalones with most plot threads tied up in their own stories.
The complexity only started creeping in around Book 4, really.

I'm not endorsing the series as quality literature, but from a marketing standpoint it was a slam dunk

Jesus Christ Blindsight is great, but Jesus Christ is it depressing.
Are there any recent optimistic sci-fi books that are good? I want to get rid of the taste of existential dread.

Official ranking:
>Android's
>Scanner Darkly
>UBIK
>Man High Castle
>
>Flow my Tears

>>15431321
>Go cry more to the jannies
You sound upset that you have to keep ban evading after you get banned for your thot posts.

>>15431413
>reddit's fantasy board thinks that adding homosexual oppression to a medieval RPG campaign is evil because it could be insulting to some of the players
>reddit's fantasy board thinks that Jemisin and Sanderson are the foremost writers of our age
>reddit's fantasy board thinks that the only thing fantasy is capable of is to comfort and to provide characters to self-insert to for escapism
I could track down the specific threads, but the entire subreddit should be gassed, so I can't be bothered to.
Point is, "on topic" doesn't mean much if everyone is subhuman filth.

>>15431610
>>15431610
Its not standalone, next book picks up the previous book left, dont know about harry potter, never read it

>>15431280
>Can you give me a link? Google is giving me all kinds of results
https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Sky-Book-Painting-Mists-ebook/dp/B07BJFFXL5

>>15431775
You sound awfully passive-aggressive after all that reporting without no bans.

>>15431945
Who said I reported? You just sound like a faggot who was banned and is vexed 4chan isn't his personal play ground. Kys. I hope corona wipes out your entire household.

>>15431784
Jemisin has won a bunch of awards so it seems like reddit is right on that one.

>>15431784
>why do these people like things I don't
>it makes me so angry they don't think like I do
>why don't they accommodate me by liking what I like.

>>15431964
I guess it's time to drop the convo once you start foaming at the mouth. I would continue with the Chinese flu hoax but you might have an aneurysm.

>>15431988
Yeah but Americans dole out awards like candy to angry, fat, black women.

>>15431988
>>15432035
jfc, literally kill yourself. Retarded, AND dyslexic, AND conformist.

>>15431800
The characters carry on of course, but the books always reiterated who everybody was and how they related to one another in a sentence or two. It was JK's style but sort of bizarre towards the end. Who's jumping into the series with Book 5?

The story itself was standalone. There's 7 books and only the final three expect you to pay attention to plot threads established prior. Yeah, Malfoy hates Harry in all the books but it doesn't amount to anything substantive except pranks for the first half of the series.

Until the Goblet of Fire, the main hooks of the books are wrapped up in the book that they're introduced. On a subconscious level, I think this gives casual readers satisfaction. If you quit LoTR or Hunger Games mid-way through, you feel like a quitter. Whereas if you stop reading Harry Potter after Prisoner of Azkaban you still get a sense of reaching a milestone, because anything not-character-driven has been resolved.

Hence, I don't think>>15431197
>Book 1
-is good marketing at all. It's accurate, but to the audience it signals that you could finish every page but still only be a fraction of the way done.

>>15431374
Cookie-cutter magic elves orcs etc. Rehashing Tolkien fantasy trope bullshit #998768996644423556885532225

>thinking of having the ayy lmao in a story I probably won't get around to writing pretty much just be space kook
Based or cringe?

>>15431761
I know. I read it in one day, then read a bunch of watts’ short stories on his website. I ordered diaspora by Greg Egan the other day and I’m hoping it will stand up well to watts’ work.

>>15431767
>no VALIS

>>15432123
You can read book 1 and be done with it, or continue and read books 2 and 3. They arent standalone stories so there isnt really any need to promote the remaining books, the person reading the story will decide for themselves.

>>15432288
Its your loss

>>15432110
Anon. I don't think you know what dyslexic means. Yet you keep using it every opportunity you get because you feel smart using big words. Faggot. Neck yourself.

>>15432107
Can't wait till you are gasping for air and watching me piledrive your mom and mating press her pregnant.

any fantasy books involving a wizard that is less of "FIREBALL" "lighting" etc and more of an illusionist?

>>15432342
Greg Egan is a great "ideas-guy" IMO
But, he get a bit lost in his ideas, Disaspora suffers for being a novel, every time it's sidetracks into small self contained stories
You can tell: This guy probably writes great short stories
Which he does, Axiomatic is a very fun read
Maybe some of the things I didn't like is intentional, like the characters not being.. your proper literally characters. But then again, the main character is far from human.

My favourite chapter is Yang's Carpets
And the thing that made Egan stand out, was the effort he goes through later in the book, to really -truly explain something inconceivable, math and physics stuff

But, by all means. The book is a very interesting read.
Still, I'm convinced Egan is far better at maths, concepts and ideas, than putting them to paper in a book
Like his books are low on.. Poetry? Not a lot of art to the words themselves.

> Can't wait till you are gasping for air and watching me piledrive your mom and mating press her pregnant.

>>15432629
Yes

>>15432597
I tried telling you to take a course in formal logic first, but it didn't work.
Now I can only recommend that you murder yourself. For the good of the human race.

>>15432597
>>15432670
Anyway, from now on I won't be engaging you sub 50 IQ aggressive faggots anymore, because you never bother to actually understand what someone is saying and just keep using these reddit-tier memes instead of engaging in a proper conversation.
So, for the last time, I will say this. There's nothing more reddit than implying it is impossible to seek objectivity in book discussions.
Filtered on sight. Enjoy.

Are there any singular books or series with a similar setting to the first Lost Planet game? More specifically, people inhabiting frozen wastes while fighting not only other people, but alien creatures as well?

Are there any books like the game terraria? Where you gather resources build a home and defend it against terrors? You might also pick up survivors who you will have to protect.

Are there any books like the game fortnite?
Are there any books like the game pubg?
Are there any books like the game apex legends?
Are there any books like the game call of duty?
Are there any books like the game gta?
Are there any books like the game minecraft?
Are there any books like the game fallout?
Are there any books like the game half life?
Are there any books like the game starcraft?
Are there any books like the game skyrim?

>>15432784
Daniel Black desu

>>15431761
Blue Remembered Earth

>>15432629
Black Company
Stormlight Archive
Malazan book of the fallen.
All of them has wizards of such flavor, but only Stormlight Archive focuses on such magic for more than a few paragraphs at a time. And you'll have to read for a while until that wizards Hagrid says "ur a wizard 'arry" and even then you'll have to wait for the training and practicing sections with the illusion magic can begin. Malazan doesn't even explain what magic is in that world until seven books in.

>>15432784
Nation - Terry Pratchett

>>15432991
>Blue Remembered Earth
Isnt that where niggers rule the world? How is it in any way optimistic?

>>15432838
Why you didn't post league of legends? They have a book out.

>>15427603
It’s because the dichotomy hurts the leftist brain. How could muh Cthulhu man be ebil racist? Just ask a Poe fanatic about the orangutan and watch them lose their shit

>>15431767
I'll fix it for you.

Valis > Do Android's > POWER GAP >>>>>>>>> Ubik > the rest of the shit

>>15433074
I was going to but I then remembered seeing the book in amazon.

>>15433074
I was going to but I then remembered seeing the book on amazon.

>>15432991
>Nation - Terry Pratchett
That's low magic. Terraria you get demon armor and flying boots and magic items. I don't want a retelling of Robinson Crusoe (even though that is the best survivor book ever written).

>imagine actually reading books when you can be shit posting all day

>>15433051
It's a book where an African entrepreneur used the cheap abundant labor, lax regulations and the beneficial equatorial position of the continent to get ahead in the 21. century space race, though there were other players, and we follow the grandchildren of that family business as they move about the Earth and the colonized solar system. It is optimistic as Reynolds' other sci-fi series was a more or less grimdark future where space was not nice and the fate of humanity was ultimately fucked. This isn't some space kangz meme.

>>15432342
Are any of Watts' works uplifting or end on a positive note? He writes so well, but I can't get through it all without feeling down.

>>15433223
>African entrepreneur used the cheap abundant labor, lax regulations and the beneficial equatorial position of the continent to get ahead in the 21. century space race, though there were other players, and we follow the grandchildren of that family business as they move about the Earth and the colonized solar system.
I didnt know Reynolds wrote fantasy.

>>15433277
not that i've read

>>15433277
>Are any of Watts' works uplifting or end on a positive note?
You can't see me but I am throwing my head back in laughter. That Canadian criminal is hardcore and everything he writes is hardcore too.

>>15433277
No that would require him not being a disgusting Canadian hack with only one gimmick

>>15432838
Read this faggot
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15766248-how-to-kill-yourself?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BnSvK9P4bW&rank=4

>>15432322
based if you do it right. but don't put that information anywhere. let people guess it, and then come out later and tell just one fan at a convention. the end.

>>15421572
"Soft Sci Fi" is probably the closest term you'll find. If you haven't read More than Human by Sturgeon, check it out.

Is e william brown still a fuck?
Did the anon who subscribed to his subscribestar rip the paywall yet?

>>15434359
That anon was just joking if he did join that paywall he would have upped what he found.

>>15433077
>>>/pol/
Keep that absolute nonsense you just spewed out of /lit/.

>>15434923
d i l a t e
i
l
a
t
e

>>15434996
>haha check out my funny mad men image I just posted i'm totally laughing at being called out instead of crying
Discuss literature or go away.

>>15430877
A will eternal is a masterpiece. I'll never shill it enough.

There are others that are decent, but it's a matter of taste (some even dislike AWE because they can't appreciate the realm of shamelessness of the MC

>>15430923
The three body problem's first tome is bad. And since I didn't like the subtexts, I didn't bother more.
The MC in warlock of the magus world is a bit too arrogant. I get that he's meant to be impulsive, but I don't like the way plot armor saves his screw ups.
Reverend insanity is good.

Is Rendezvous with Rama 2 worth reading? I feel like I remember being told it sucked.

>>15435431
You were told correctly. Treat the first book as a standalone

Are there any good sci-fi / fantasy books with body horror / biopunk themes?

Think I'm gonna get back to Discworld for something FUN and not the pretentious serious crap you guys go on and on about. Fuck all of you.

What is books are fun? (can't be Discworld or Vance)

>>15435576
See>>15431197

>>15435106
Are you going to have another meltdown?

>>15435438
That's a shame. The ending to the first one was such an epic cliff hanger.

Which one do I read?

>>15436046
The second one. It should just be the first one plus the 3 sequels.

May is nearly finished.
List what self pubbed books you read for 2020 so far, and say something about them if they were entertaining.

>>15436054
But are the 3 sequels as good as the original?

>>15435106
No, i think I'll continue telling you to dilate. I hope that's fine.

Ok I finished the Black Company series and I thought it was great, first time I've actually enjoyed reading in a few years.
What do I read now?
the romances were my favorite part

>>15430726
He retweet’s Brianna wu. That should tell you everything you need to know

>>15431988
She only won them because she’s a jogger

>>15436193
The 3 sequels are required. They're not really sequels, they're mandatory parts in the 4 part story. Shadow of the Torturer isn't a stand alone story.

>>15436309
For the longest time I couldn't get the picture of croaker being a decrepit old man out of my head instead of some handsome grizzled older guy so the romance felt weird. The age gap between raven and darling felt too big also

/sffg/, I have not had a sense of purpose in my life in a very, very long time. I just want to feel that purpose again.

please master, give me a purpose...

>>15436507
Start writing genre fiction(fantasy and scifi), build up a fanbase, keep doing it until you have millions of fanatical supporters who will follow you blindly, then take over the world.

>>15436446
It's ok Lady is hundreds of years old in a 20 year old body

>>15436536
I've been writing for years. I broke the 100k word mark on my current story a few days ago

and despite all that, I feel nothing. I haven't felt anything in a long, long time

>>15420911
My artist friend just finished the ebook cover I commissioned him to draw, and I'm crazy about it. Check it out! I just published my book last month, and haven't sold many copies, so I'm gonna be a bit of a shill...

Check out the hilarious tale of an insane wizard who can't get enough cocaine, a reluctant apprentice who can't get a break, and the life-changing quest they never saw coming. Will they be able to save their world, or will they doom it? Drunken heists, accidental time travel, epic fantasy battles, and twisted humor: this book has all that and more! It's only $0.99 for the ebook on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08745D6BP/

>>15436575
Feelings is optional.

>>15436745
>imagine paying someone to do that cover

>>15436419
Oh. Thank you anon

>>15436745
Please introduce your artist friend to the concept of "color theory"

>>15436193
Yeah, you gotta read them all. I would also recommend reading them back to back if you can. I kept finding myself forgetting things because I read them over the course of 3 years so that I could read different books in between the individual books.

>>15436745
Cover looks cool. Congrats on getting your work out there. Keep going anon. I cast a spell of "fuck off" on the other faggots ruining your nice post with their negativity.

>>15436985
Thanks, I appreciate it! I’m glad you like it as well. I’m in too good of a mood to let their shit affect me anyway, but that spell can’t hurt. Props, by the way, my friend; that’s high level magic!

>>15436745
Oh, I should also note that Wizardrous rates pretty high on the GRI index.

>>15437020
But how well does it treat issues such as struggles of women, PoC, and/or LGBTQIA+? What's the representation like?

I want to know if this is just another white guy power fantasy.

>>15437106
Not well

I am only 2 chapters in though...

>>15437106
I’ll be honest, it doesn’t really deal with anyone’s serious issues or struggles, regardless of demographic. It’s a comedy novel. I’d liken it to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where the whole book is just a series of absurd situations, some of which are metaphors for stuff we all experience, but most of which are just ridiculous. If you’re looking for a book that makes a statement towards society’s problems, you should look elsewhere.

>>15437125
>>15437137
I'm just fucking around. None of that shit actually matters to me.

Alright, /lit/ - apparently because I'm a retarded bird or something, the new covers on Amazon of the "Dune" novels have caught my attention. With the new film coming soon, I was wondering if I should give them a read. I admit, I read the first few pages of chapter one and was kind of shocked by how little I liked it, but that was only a few pages.

Any Dune fans here?

>>15437185
You had me going for a minute! kek

I've been trying to get back into reading but haven't had much luck. I picked up The Fellowship of the Ring and got about 90 pages in before I hated it. Is LOTR a meme or am I incapable of enjoying fantasy again?

>>15437925
LOTR is written in a very boring style and has no value beyond historic, just get something more interesting.

>>15437255
I'm reading the first book. I don't like benejewsuits

>>15437925
It's entirely possible to simply not how someone writes
.
My go to list of modern Fantasy that covers a broad range of styles and concepts is as follows
The Curse of Chalion by Lois Mcmaster Bujold
High quality series with excellent dialogue and characters that doesn't get bogged down in pretentious prose, classical fantasy. The plot is in the title. One of the things I really like about this book and it's setting is how it actually treats religion, most stories either ignore, avoid, or abuse cliches when it comes to religion, this series treats it very seriously, without soapboxing.

The Powder Mage series by Brian Mclellan
Action focused series that hits all the action movie buttons without requiring you to unplug your brain. Sets up an interesting world populated by interesting characters, some of whom have interesting powers, in a roughly 1850's setting.

Codex Alera, by Jim Butcher
Fun series, that gets significantly better with the knowledge that it was written because someone bet Butcher than he couldn't write a book about Roman Legionaries with Pokemon (he wrote 6 instead). Doesn't really try to colour outside the lines, it simply retreads a lot of YA Fantasy tropes and executes them well, without trying to be anything more than a good ride.

The Barrow, by Mark Smylie.
Edgy and full of degeneracy, it's probably one of the better (well to be honest, one of the only) Fantasy stories I've read that put any effort at all into also being a Horror story.

>>15437969
That's actually a bit relieving to hear from someone else
>>15437985
The Curse of Chalion sounds pretty interesting I think I'll give it a try, thank you

>>15430791
I discovered that I really like Warhammer 40k novels. I didn't expect to, but this is actually enjoyable sci-fi stuff. Pick up Horus Rising and you'll gobble it up. However as>>15431163
said, it's a fuckton of reading. There are easier ways to get into 40k, like pic related or the Eisenhorn series.

>>15437925
You were filtered.
>>15437969
You're an idiot.

>>15438178
Well someone is mad about someone not liking Tolkien.
I mean what's next - not liking Tolstoyevsky?

>>15421043
finished the first book just now, over like a week. I can't believe how long I put this book off which was for like 2 years but I'm not sure if I'd appreciate it as much if I hadn't read all the stuff I did during that time. I don't think I've ever seen the universe of a book so vividly as this one in my mind. The scenes playing over in my mind before I go to sleep. Next I'm reading two NF books but claw will definitely be the first fiction book I'll read after that.

>>15422882
>based greek horror novel
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36336561-john-smith

>>15438471
Well? Are you going to give some more information?

Currently readind The Lies of Locke Lamorra. It's pretty good for now.

>>15438758
>Lies is great, one of my favorite fantasy novels
>Red Seas Under Red Skies is part good, part crap
>Republic of Thieves is just crap
Why

>>15436985
>>15437013
>can't take criticism and replies to himself how great the work is
Whatever floats your boat.

>>15439127
Don't be a Negative Nancy anon.

>>15439137
I'm not shitting on him for publishing his book, I'm shitting on him for paying for that cover. If I saw that cover I would ignore it.
I know he is trying to go for an old leather bound book, but that shit is uninteresting. If you (he) can't take criticism about a cover, how can you improve when someone tells you the book is shit, and explains why. As an artist you have to learn to take praise along with criticism, or you will be a shit author who gets high off of only listening to brainlet readlets.

>>15439211
If he can't take criticism? Like you can take criticism Debbie Downer?
You are not giving a critique, Debbie, you are spewing your own jealous bile to feel better.
He has done far more than you have, which really does not take all that much effort since you have done absolutely nothing. And you might never do anything, which is a far, far scarier thought.
Pointing out this simple truth, obvious to everyone besides yourself, which pains your posterior so much, is one of those little perks of posting here.

>>15436846
and tell them to stay off the emboss layer effect

what are some books with some interesting and vivid depictions of demons? I don't mean goat men, but maybe planets something like that?

>>15439396
Some of Vance's work, like the Lyonesse trilogy and Cugel's Saga feature very bizarre demons and demonic creatures. But they usually have very minor roles

>>15423895

also one of my favourite books

>>15439275
>let me attack this guy on a personal level
>I can't refute what he says so I will attack him emotional too (like a thot)
>I will bring up his, as I perceive, inadequacies that I know nothing about so I can win this argument
>the guy was talking about observable things everyone could see but I will respond by pulling shit out my ass and winning this argument
>he probably an effeminate poof like pic if he can't say only nice things about the cover, he doesn't know I'm from rebbit and I will not have people being a debbie downer or a negative Nancy
>heh

Any good fantasy / sci-fi written by female authors in the 2010s? I want to know if there's some non-pozzed stuff out there written by that gender.

>>15439548
Murderbot diaries

>>15438135
>the Eisenhorn series
this is what i chose as first contact with 40k and it was fucking terrible, i've already complained in past threads a couple times

>>15439659
>I don't like thing!
Okay.

>>15439688
the plotholes are laughable and the story isn't very engaging, the action scenes are mostly boring masturbatory uninteresting fights. there are tons of boring useless descriptions that are just filler, or trying to make us engaged in secondary character #34 who i can't care about because they are just another boring NPC who i know will die eventually while the mary sue MC saves the day again. he at least turns evil in the latter part of the trilogy but even then he is plotshielded as fuck so there is absolutely no weight to it and no repercussion in the end.

some parts were ok and at times i liked the gritty atmosphere and scale, but the story is just garbage. other militaristic books do the same but better because they keep it short. the one time where i was surprised to find me invested in the story was in the epilogues, specially the one for the first book, which is a small interesting story completely disconnected from the main plot

i guess i went in expecting too much because people hyped it quite a bit but still i think it's pretty mediocre

>>15439866
>I don't like thing!
Okay.

>>15439866
>who i know will die eventually
congrats on grasping the basic fucking conceit of the 40k universe you chose to read lol

NEW SFFG

>>15439978
>>15439978
>>15439978
>>15439978
>>15439978

>>15439127
Author here. First off, that’s not me, but whatever. Secondly, you’re entitled to your opinion. I don’t give half a shit. If you think my cover sucks, I’m not gonna waste time trying to convince you otherwise.

>>15439275
Thanks for sticking up for me, anon. I wouldn’t engage anymore though, it’s not worth it. Some people just get off on sucking people into arguments. Best let them get their fix elsewhere, lol.