/lit/ - Literature

>>15901753
I never got my recommendations :(

>>15901757
Sorry friend, I don't have any for you. I'm still a pleb and making my way through the Solar Cycle. Hopefully someone else helps you out this time.

>>15901757
Xothique
Conan, obviously
Jack Vance's Dying Earth
Lovecraft's Dream Cycle
Gormenghast

If you don't know for sure which edition to get, track down the Ballantine one for each of these, they were probably edited and strung together by Lin Carter.

>>15901753
Why did a lot of /sffg/ come out during the 20s and 30s?

>>15901787
That's a pretty stupid question anon.

>>15901757
Check Lord Dunsany, Arthur Machen, Horacio Quiroga, Clark Asthon Smith. Not sure if Eddison wrote any good short stories, but Worm Ouroboros is good and fits the time period.

>>15901753
Any comfy fantasy, bros?

>>15901793
>Quiroga

Never expected to see him mentioned here. At that pace Borges and Akutagawa fit here too.

>>15901792
I meant /sff/ oops.

good morning /sffg/

>>15901803
>Any buzzword-that-means-absolutely-nothing-concrete fantasy guys?
Read Paulo Coehlo

>>15901819
Still stupid

How much can you make writing web novel shit? Where should I do it to maximize my potential earnings?

>>15901887
not enough to make a living for sure. It's better to flip burgers than this.

Is it true Lightbringer went to shit in the later books? Finished the first one a couple of years ago and enjoyed it but forgot about it
Also is pic related any good?

>>15901813
on a whim I looked him up on Wikipedia, what the fuck was this dude's life?

>>15901753
OP I genuinely have to commend you, that is a fucking amazing and excellent piece of art you've got there.

It took me a minute to figure out what that was, but once it clicked for me I literally felt my spine curdle and my skin crawl, remembering that dialogue from SOTL. I'm not used to depictions of the Alzabo looking that terrifying. Usually they have a very catlike quality to them. The ratlike quality of this one lends a disturbing quality to it that most depictions of the beast do not have.

And considering how fucking horrifying the entire Alzabo scene is in BOTNS, I'd say that's a job well done. Nice work. Good shit.

>>15901825
Where to start with Xeelee?

>>15901803
Yes.

50 pages into the Iron Dragon's Daughter and I'm not enjoying the writing too much. It's extremely redundant and purposeless. "Silky soft", "smelling of nicotine", "face large and awful as the moon". One in three descriptions or similes read like amateur crap.
And it's not particularly subtle either (guy even spells out moral outlooks for several characters, alludes to proletarians in a factory where faes build magic weapons). I've even read a reference to the "Pepsi generation". There's also a couple scenes of a teenage/pubescent girl having her first period and "sprouting hairs" between her legs which felt kinda out of place, but alright. Let's see if the plot saves this (doubtful).

>>15902387
is the evangelion meme true?

Hmmmm, pulpy writing. Depends what you mean, I think. Some pop fiction (I'm thinking of Tanith Lee's 'The Birthgrave' has wildly rich colours - I'm guessing like Howard. Those I really enjoy. Some other 'pop' fiction suffers from being what I would call overly programmatic - the characters are automatons, slightly in a rut, going along an overly prescribed route - they're a bit 'functional'. (Like they've got blinkers on, and are not quite fully alive, I guess). So, as usual, I guess it depends on the writer - are they original, or are they formulaic? Maybe? That's a first take on it, anyway.

>>15901757
Tales of the dying earth
Gormanghast

Please add your favorite sci-fi mystery books to this goodreads list:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/150493.Sci_fi_Mystery_Books

>>15901825
>>15902209
Is Xeelee intentionally similarly named to Heechee?

>>15902409
Honestly, it's too early to tell, but I still hope it gets more subtle that way. The characters are 2 or 3 years younger and they're getting exploited by the evil rich elves, so it reeks more of anticapitalism than anything. Maybe there's some Seele-like 4D chess layer hidden in there, but idk.
There's connection between the dragon and the MC but it's a lot more straightforward than the pilots and their Evas. However, it seems like the MC experiences a lot of bad luck and stress (some of her friends are tortured or get hurt) which might be due to some higher power pulling the strings.

>>15902475
dammit, I wanna read this now but the way you describe his poor writing puts me off

I want to ____ Jolenta

>>15902457
I used to like Peter F Hamilton but as I got older I realized he was just a leftist puppet of publishers waiting for the right time to go full sjw. In that regard I guess Salvation is his finest work.

>>15902475
>mc
>her
trash

>>15901825
>tfw rereading parts of Ring

>>15902209
Vacuum Diagrams is actually a great start.

>>15902409
No__________
>swanwick
>amateur
lawl go read the same diamond dozen sci-fi then as he purposely wrote IDD to be bizarre.

>>15902607
schizophrenic ramblings

>>15897002
>>15897311
>>15897821
Thanks for the info.
What I liked about Small Gods is that, apart from the social commentary, the dialogues were often over-the-top and interesting, just like the interaction between Brutha and Om (it felt like watching a manzai show)
The other books so far are lacking on that aspect (in Pyramids, for example, one scene I really liked would be the one with the sphinx and the riddle because it gave me the same vibes)
With that in mind, would you say >>15897311's list would work for me, or are there better titles (or perhaps fantasy authors) I should check?

>>15902655
As if you were expecting something else.

Anything for a small, close knit cast of characters with a smaller scale of threat than all out galactic war? Preferably sf, I've been reading too much fantasy lately.

>>15902209
Start with Vacuum Diagrams. After that if you like Baxter's style of writing and want answers, go read Timelike Infinity, Flux, Ring, then Endurance. Then read Coalescent, Exultant, Transcendent, and Resplendent. If you're one of those dweebs who makes who would win threads, just read these.
Finally, read Vengeance and Redemption.
One of the short stories in Endurance and a few pages in Ring won't make sense if you haven't read Raft, which can be read as a standalone, and is probably Baxter's best work.

Newfag here, is this where I post my original sci-fi/fantasy story or is there another thread?

>>15902970
Redemption was and always will be a letdown.

>>15902978
Post it here

>>15902923
Consider Phlebas has a main little group it follows, although the backdrop of the story is they're caught up in the midst of a galactic war.

Is discussing stuff like Unicorn Jelly and the other Jennifer Diane Reitz stuff cringe or nah?
One of you boys posted that timeline image and I fell down the rabbit hole.

The worldbuilding is so well done to the point where I feel she might actually be able to write an incredible piece minus the uguu shit if she tried.
Why the fuck is she not talked about while Sanderson is 'le epic worldbuilding god'?

>>15903006
>Is discussing stuff like Unicorn Jelly and the other Jennifer Diane Reitz stuff cringe or nah?
Discussing SCIENCE-FICTION and FANTASY--and associated tangential relations--is <positive buzzword>.
Discussing things other than SCIENCE-FICTION and FANTASY--and associated tangential relations--is <negative buzzword>.

>>15903006
>unicorn jelly
>(((reitz)))
>female author
What do you think?

>>15903040
I think it's shit and I think you're a schizo

>>15903018
I think she's only done web comics, and I didn't know if /lit/ accepted that - seemed more like a /co/ thing.
Fair cop though, just thought it was neat.

>>15903040
Anon...
and, oh boy if only you knew Anon...

>>15903051
You are right, if I were to meet you irl I would strangle you with my bare hands, just hope we never meet.

>>15903058
A one-off discussion can't hurt. I'd leave it alone and wait to see if anyone replies but good luck. Most of the thread discussion is either circlejerking over the same pool of ~15 authors or outright shitposting but very rarely are other topics--like manga--typed about and the few anons who actually read regularly are typically ignored.

The choice of magic sequel has a decision by the protagonist that's so dumb that the only way you can possibly justify it is by undoing it entirely in the payoff lol.

>>15903081
>read manga
How many words in an average manga?

>>15903088
Will makes nothing but stupid decisions in that series. I know he's a teenager and stupid but it isn't the norm for books to portray ttns as stupid, for whatever reason.

>>15903090
Largely depends on what you're reading. I don't think "average manga" is an easily-accessible variable to theorize on.

>>15903088
Are you talking about saving the king? He explains that the country will be invaded and many more people will die. While the king is mad he is actually a pretty good king.

>>15903096
Until now everything has been believable as a ignorant country learning from his mistakes but giving an unbound favour to the fae who just asked to abduct his girlfriend isn't even in character. It's just a way to generate a plot point

>>15903096
just pick a manga that you like? How many words in it? Don't need exact number, just give rough estimate.

>>15903079
Shaking right now.

>>15903102
>It's just a way to generate a plot point
You figured it out so soon! If you're not reading for the mentor and the goddamn cat then I don't know what to tell you, bro.

>>15903111
I'm biased as my favorite two are One Piece and Sengoku Youko which are both heavy on the story. Meanwhile, another anon's favorite manga could be BLAME! which has barely any words across ten volumes.

This is literally what you people sound like to me
>The female half-orc barbarian knight uses their double edged katana to slay the red beholder while buffing themselves with a spell of strength and healing potion

>>15903118
Don't. You are safe as long as we don't meet. And if we do, just hide and hope for the best.

>>15903140
ok

>>15903131
ok, how many words in one piece, how many words in the other one?

>>15903141
You're scaring me m9-1, now I'm afraid to go outside.

>>15903140
owning /sffg/ for being nerds by showing them that I know katanas are single edged

>>15903149
Don't go then. Stay inside.

>>15903150
Knowing military history isn't for nerds, creating shitty autistic settings where you "reinvent" what's been is.

>>15903164
>Knowing military history isn't for nerds
yes it is, it's literally a hobby for 50 year old autists

Any good sci-fi books with political philosophy themes? I am reading The Dispossed by le Guin right now and it's great.

>>15903166
>He doesn't memorize every mark of single gun, or every single alteration to a tank chassis ever made
ngmi

>>15901757
It's more a 60's and 70's thing, but are you familiar with Michael Moorcock, in particular his Elric of Melnibone stories?

>>15903177
Almost all of them. Try Mars Trilogy next

Currently on page 700 of the Way of Kings. I have the day off so I'm gonna make a mad dash to finish this fucking thing and then not read sanderson for another year.

>>15903286
I made the horrible mistake of reading the sequel. Turns out that both books could easily be condensation in a single book with about 600 pages or less. I could've read so many other things that I wanted that week, but now I just feel burned out.

>>15903320
>>15903286
I'm still pissed of that I bought the book, couldn't even get past page 300. Sanderson is forever on my shit list now.

>>15903330
Why didn't you just dowload first and then buy if it was good?

>>15903320
>condensation
condensated*. Fuck, my brain has left its cage.
>>15903330
>I bought the book, couldn't even get past page 300
That's rough, anon. Since I got a kindle, I always pirate the ebook. If I like it, I buy a physical copy, because I still like to occasionaly peruse through one, and if I don't, I just delete and forget.

>>15903320
At this point, it's all spite reading for me. It's easy reading, but there's just so fucking much.
>>15903330
I bought the book like four years ago and dropped it at the same place you did, but like the monster from IT, I had to come back and finish what I started.

>>15903259
Pretty much any book by Kim Stanley Robinson is *chef's kiss*.

Although Aurora kind of fucked me up for a while, because as a child I was a huge SF nerd and fantasized about humanity colonizing the stars, and Aurora has absolutely killed that idea for me.

>>15903355
Doing anything out of spite is a bad idea.

>>15903320
>>15903330
I actually thought that Words of Radiance was way better than Way of Kings, because Way of Kings basically sets up a situation and then NOTHING HAPPENS for 700 pages.

There are two main viewpoint characters, and Kaladin just suffers while Shallan does NOTHING IN THE ENTIRE BOOK.

In Words of Radiance, Shallan actually becomes proactive, and I actually had something to look forward to in her chapters.

A few years ago I bought Hunters of Dune and couldn’t make it past chapter 2. Feeling tempted to try reading through it again. I bought it so I should at least read it.
How do I fix this?

>>15903369
I'm not spiting sanderson. I'm spiting myself because I've got a long collection of unfinished books I need to get through. After this I'm gonna have fun and read Conan.

>>15903378
You don't and shouldn't and need to cut your losses.

>>15903378
I wouldn't torture myself reading Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, not when there's so much good stuff out there.

>>15903389
Yes, spiting yourself is a bad idea. You're going to be self-destructive enough as it is.

>>15903400
I'll survive, no matter how shit sanderson's prose is.

>>15903428
The lady doth protest too much, methinks

>>15903320
>>15903355
>>15903389
Are you me, because I literally stopped reading WoK at about 500 pages so I could read anything else.
I've read 150 deep into Heretics of Dune and enjoyed Herbert's Chun-Li nun fight scene more than Sanderson's tutorials and boss battle.
From what I have read so far of WoK, I have no intention of reading the sequel either.

>>15901753
Planet of Exile - Ursula K. Le Guin, Hainish Cycle #2 (1966)

There was a single survivor of an advanced civilization stranded on a primitive planet in the first book. For the second, there's an entire lost colony that has been stranded for ~600 years. The book switches viewpoints between Rolery, a female of the Tevaran, one of the native humanoids, and Jakob, one of the Terrans. The Terrans have become very insular over the centuries, as shown by the statement that a certain woman was "his cousin ten times over, his sister-playmate-lover-companion." I felt that this book had a strong influence on some aspects of Game of Thrones. A quick search showed others thought similarly. The phrase "Winter was coming" is used, and is meant in the same way as in GOT because their winters are very long, nearly 15 years, and harsh. There were various other similarities. There are snowghouls, which play a rather minor role. I thought they were going to be snow zombies, but they were not-yeti. There's also a part where a character almost says "Life finds a way". Probably half the book is a (moderate spoiler) siege on the last remaining Terran city, Landin, by the not-Mongol hordes led by Kubben (not-Kublai) . This book was very different from the first in many ways though it had a similar set-up. The book began with a lot of imagery that I enjoyed. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this. It could have been better in various ways, and after going to sleep and then awaking I saw this more clearly. A lot of the names seemed to slightly off from their real-world counterparts, but that's fine, and in some ways to be expected. There's a character named Jonkendy which immediately made me think of JFK and he's killed later on, so yeah, I don't know if that was meant to be a reference or not.


Rating: 4/5
This was originally rated 4.5 and rounded up to 5 on GR immediately after reading, but then changed to 4 now. As usual, these write-ups will be whatever I feel at the moment rather than anything serious of even pretend merit.

Guys, what's your favorite novel/series about first contact?

>>15903461
>Heretics of Dune
>tfw no futar to play with
>tfw no chairdog to sit on

>>15903486
Blindsight. I also really liked The Mote in God's Eye but it got retarded at the end.

>>15903486
5th Head of Cerberus

>>15902170
Anyone?

>>15903644
Larry Correia is garbage and you should feel ashamed for having read him

>>15903510
>Blindsight
I'm reading this one now, I probably should've mentioned the ones I've read. I'm enjoying it, so far.
>The Mote in God's Eye
I read that one a long time ago, don't actually remember if I finished it.
>>15903513
Added to the list. Thanks, anon.

So far I have read:
>The Three-Body Problem,
>Rendezvous With Rama,
>Roadside Picnic,
>Gateway,
>Childhood's End,
>War of The Worlds
>The Gods Themselves
>Children of Time (atrocious, the mere remembrance of the book makes me angry)
I guess that's it, can't remember any other book

>>15903472
I swear GR would improve tremendously if they added half ratings and allowed for 0 stars. So your options are up to 5 stars, but must award at least 1, so it's actually out of 4.
Literally operating on an Egbert scale and they don't want to admit it.

>>15903680
>so it's actually out of 4.
no it's out of 5 with 1 being the bottom
Out of five star ratings with a possible zero systems are stupid because it's now a six point system.

>>15902170
Yeah it has a terrible book 4. The ending was okish, nothing special, but man was book 4 bad.
Also pic related is decent. I still haven’t read the sequel though.

>>15903680
I don't use stars or similar for any of my offline ratings.
My preference is to use words that connote a fuzzy relationship with each other. It's functionally basically a 7 point scale, but I feel better having that way. A half-star scale is the same as a 10 point scale that goes from 1-10.

>>15903680
>allowed for 0 stars
or simply allowed the "not interested" state that can be used in their recommendations system to be publicly displayed.

Anyone got a rec for something where a (preferably human) character has met another (preferably alien) race that they slow ingratiate or become part of their community with some added exploration into the relationship?
Whether it's a means of survival, diplomatic relationships or autistic horndog goes to outer space doesn't matter really.

>>15903667
>The three body problem
What did you think of it? I've read the first few chapters and there's something about the writing I can't stand so I'm curious to see if I'll get something out of pushing through to the end

What's a fanatsy book that's comparable to this?

>>15903956
I really liked it. I know that the beginning can be a little difficult to get through, with all that background about the Tiananman Square, but it is worth it. The sequels are insane, I honestly can't say which one I enjoyed the most.
I've seen some people complaining about the english translation on the second book (it's done by a different guy), but i didn't notice any glaring changes.

>>15903680
Anon, I...
>one star
>two stars
>three stars
>four stars
>five stars
That's five ratings.

>>15903140
I bet you're a regular poster in the Marxshit threads aren't you?

>>15903389
>After this I'm gonna have fun and read Conan.
Based.

>>15904163
>Waaahhh the evil socialists wanna take my star wars funko pops away
ftfy

>>15903926
Left hand of Darkness

>>15903359
>Pretty much any book by Kim Stanley Robinson
Literally 40% of Red Mars is fucking descriptions of fucking geological features. Fuck KSR.

blergh

any indian-influenced sci-fi/fantasy?

>>15904317
lord of light, mazes of power from this year
there's other stuff but I can't remember without looking it up

I feel like as my tastes developed that the straw man developed here by Sanderson is just unironically right

>>15904317
feather kind or dot kind?

>>15904172
lol that's a yes. Please return to those threads. We've got enough morons here what with all the Sandersonfags.

>>15901753
>LitRPG is bad but comfy af

>>15903378
It's time to let go...

>>15904349
your image 404'd on me what is it?

>>15903389
If you're wanting more "fun" fantasy to read might I suggest pic related. It's a collection of short stories about two bros just bro-ing it up in a Sword & Sorcery world. EXTREMELY influenced by Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser obviously.

>>15904598
>Robert Zoltan
I fucking love that name, thanks for the rec!

>>15904457
I try to read your stupid genreshit but it's all poorly written. Only Gene Wolfe has my respect. Please seppuku.

>>15904642
>>>/lgbt/

>>15903926
A Fire Upon the Deep

>>15904317
Seconding Lord of Light

>>15904583
Learn to use the archive.

>>15904634
Based and redpilled.

More of the goddamn cat when?

>>15901753
Does /sffg/ care about literary authors who dabble in the speculative. E.g. George Saunders in Civilwarland in Bad Decline has a sci fi story about replacing memories, one about ghosts in a dystopian American theme park, etc. Would Kafka's Metamorphosis also count as having "horror aspects?

>>15905157
>Civilwarland in Bad Decline
Hah, I remember reading that in Uni.

>>15905172
Jealous. It's one of my favourite short story collections I've read. It's laugh out loud funny but also very disturbing at times. How'd you like it?

>>15905186
We didn't read the whole collection, just the Civilwarland story. Been a minute, but I remember it was a good/weird introduction to the stuff the professor was trying to do. Vietnam vet security guard just killing a dozen people and stuff. We spent a lot of time reading stranger short stories to really show different writing styles compared to the standard stuff most of us had been reading in other classes. Was a nice breath of fresh air for a kid that didn't really like English classes. The class is really what started me to get my ENG minor, very happy to not get the major. That shit looked terrible.

>>15903286
>>15903320
Anyone who writes good plots like Sanderson but in better, shorter writing? Most supposedly "good writers" have really shit plots.

>>15905285
>good plots like Sanderson

>>15904634
>thinkpad
based and gnupilled

>>15905527
thats a chinkpad.
only the ibm thinkpads are based.

If anyone is thinking about reading Elric some advice: The first Elric stories Moorcock wrote in the early 60s are the best Elric stories so don't read them in chronological order. Read them in publication/written order. It's the same situation with Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser too. In general you should almost always read stories or novels in the order they were written or published.

You know, having rewatched AtLA, I think I understand why I was having so much trouble making my Toph-like character not pedo bait. There wasn't. a single moment where Toph wasn't the loli foot-fetish fanservice character

Is the Stormlight Archive a bad choice for readers with ADHD?

>>15905604
You're just a pedo weirdo, dude

I'm fucking doing it lads.
I'm going to read a feminist lovecraftian novel that depicts a strong woman studying at the Ulthar college for women and embarking on her on quest throughout the dreamlands.
I'm hoping it will be as much of a meme as I suspect.

>>15905712
What if it's a masterpiece? Will you let sffg know? Or will you keep it for yourself?

>>15905707
do you have any idea how much of her screen time the show spends fixating on her feet? It's really goddamn uncomfortable

>>15905745
No it's not. Toph is perfect.

>>15905725
I'll let /sffg/ know how it turns out.
Maybe the stars actually align.

>>15903350
>condensated
*condensed

>enter /sffg/
>see literally zero people discussing Sanderson
>except those calling Sanerson shit and talking about "Sanderfags all around /sffg/"


get sex, Sanderhaters. the only sanderfags here are you.

>>15905296
I like how you can't name anyone better.

Aside from Kushiel's Dart, what's a good story I can occasionally jerk off to?

>>15905712
I've read that one. It's absolutely a meme. Tbh, the only Dreamlands story i've read that wasn't a meme was the Johannes Cabal one

>>15905930
Pornhub

>>15905921
Gene Wolfe

>Be me
>35 years old
>Forced into going to family get together
>Get told 15 year old cousin also wants to be a writer
>Her goal is to go to Oxford and study literature
>She is potentially getting a selection of short stories published
>"Aren't you also a writer?"
>I go red, say not really.
>She is 20 years my junior and I still have not written my fantasy novel.

Fucking hell, I honestly wanted to gouge her eyes out with a blunt instrument in front of the entire family, screaming Aunts and Uncles be damned.

Why do others insist on stealing your dream in front of you?

>>15906059
Not everyone can be talented brah. It's the same how 70 year old men who studied chess their entire lives get beaten by 7 year old prodigies who still pee their pants sometimes.

>>15903320
At least you didn't read Robert Jordan. I literally finished the WoT and was like, "I was told this would be worth it." It was not.

>>15906059
Stop being lazy then dude. It’s not like you’re too old to start your writing career.

>>15906059
I shouldn't be, but I'm amazed at your lack of self-awareness.

>>15906059
Thank you for sharing your barely restrained autistic tantrum.

>>15906059
what have you been doing while not writing your novel?

>>15906059
Is she hot?

>>15906059
Who are you quoting?

>>15906059
Post nudes

>>15902607
>I disagree with the author's politics therefore his work is bad
Brainlet take.

>>15906059
Can I have her number?
15 is legal where I live

>>15902467
Yes
>>15905285
Moorcock is shorter his writing quality is a bit better than Sanderlad but not by much

>>15906333
I thought Moorcock was light pulp, not super elaborate plots with huge carthasis at the end.

>>15906345
You thought wrong

>>15906312
Clearly you don't understand how laws work.

>>15903006
>The comic usually deals with issues related to homosexuality, feminism, transgenderism, existentialism and the acceptance of minorities.
Sounds amazing.

>>15903006
>web-comic

>>15903006
>Jennifer Diane Reitz, 61 years old
>41 when started the thing you're talking about
>One of the greatest concentrations of autism in a person I've ever seen....and she's a woman!
No wonder you related so much.

>>15906059
>stealing your dream
topkekistani.epub
She's following her own dream and I'm sure without a second thought to you in this matter. Writing a third rate fantasy novel is probably the last thing on her mind.

>>15906388
Fuck that bullshit.

Would anyone read a stone age stone and sorcery if I wrote it? I'm worldbuilding and drawing maps as we speak. I ordered Conan the Barbarian omnibus to understand the genre better. I'm honestly just taken with the idea of using Inuit myths to fuel my own lore, probably in a foresty and arctic semi continent. The first image I have is of a village made entirely of ancient obsidian shields from a time before the setting (they protect against accidental fires and the biting winds)

Any fantasy not based on European or East Asian settings?

>>15906534
I would, sounds cool.

>>15906539
I'm writing one. Have to wait a while though.

>>15906534
>I'm worldbuilding and drawing maps as we speak.
Literally the least important aspects of storytelling.

>>15906534
Absolutely, gib.

>>15906552
Really? I spose it's only flavour for the eyes but if I'm gonna do fantasy or its subgenres, I thought I needed it.

>>15906569
Worldbuilding is a trap that authors fall into. It's far less important by being able to tell your story proficiently.

>>15906569
https://bearlib.com/robert-e-howard/text/ValleyWorm.html

Read that. It's technically not stone age, but it might as well. One of Howard's best fantasy stories that wasn't Conan, Kull, Morn, or Kane. It will give you an idea of how a stone age S&S tale should be written.

>>15906569
Characters and style are more important than worldbuilding. That's not to say you can't have an interesting world, but this anon >>15906587 is correct. Too many writers think worldbuilding is all you need to work on because, frankly, those writers aren't good enough to write interesting characters with lots of style.

>>15906534
>The first image I have is of a village made entirely of ancient obsidian shields from a time before the setting
Obsidian shields are a dumb concept ngl Kinda brittle, sharp edges, heavier than wood, no way to pierce them to make a grip. How the hell do you stack them and make a wall or a roof out of them is beyond me.
An entire village made of them is also kinda dumb. Like if the village grew a lot after 2 generations, what if they run out of materials? Maybe make it the centerpiece of some hearth or the chieftain's house.
At any rate, even if it's sword and sworcery, this bit of autism I'm posting shows what other people will think of when you write about implausible building materials and I think you'd want to suspend the reader's disbelief for a lot longer before you start introducing wackier stuff.

>>15906539
Earthsea is the incredibly obvious one but after that...
Just off the top of my head Black Leopard Red Wolf, Imaro and David Mogo Godhunter for Africa plus there's obviously loads of Egyptian stuff.
There's native stuff in NA fiction i.e. Trail of Lightning
Range of Ghosts is steppes
Middle East has all the arabian nights inspired stuff i.e. Tales of the Flat Earth, Twelve Kings of Sharakhai
Finally there's loads of fantastical stuff for the caribbean and south america but I don't know of any explicit genre fic.


Again that's just off the top of my head without even googling, there's loads out there even with the incredibly limited amount of translation genre fic gets

>>15906597
I was actually going to base lots of the storytelling on Inuit songs and stories, as well as Howard's verse poetry and stories that he wrote in the Conan universe. I'd like to play with form a lot, so this short you sent should be fun because it's already using intertextuality, e.g. calling on other stories and framing this story at the get go.

>>15906587
>>15906606
Thanks anons. I'll put off the worldbuilding and work on characterisation and style. Those are my weak points at the moment, since I focused years being a formalist, missing out on the nitty gritty and delightful aspects of prose.

>>15906640
Another modern writer you could learn a thing or two from is Schuyler Hernstrom. I've been pimping him here for a while now. He has fantastic worldbuilding without making it the number one priority while also having plenty of Vancian and Howardian style in his characters and prose.

>>15906629
I think I realised it was too much like GRRM, e.g. dragonglass, so I decided to go with hematite instead. Basically, it was a fantastical warrior race that were devout to the old gods, and their army used volcanic materials because they worshipped fire. I'm introducing giants and stuff to make more sense of what they were dealing with, but there's definitely no dragons so maybe the motivation behind hematite is a bit iffy.

The Inuit didn't really thrive in huge numbers after two generations. But they had lots of customs around birth, so maybe my tribes have a population quota instilled in their religion, or their leader is a tyrant that culls them or uses them for various sacrifices, wars, etc. Who knows?

>>15906662
honestly, looking at his amazon page, his books seem very refreshing, will check him out anon

>>15906688
I've read everything he's written and I've enjoyed every single story. They're the perfect antidote if you're sick and tired of all the bloated epic fantasy and woke bullshit.

City of Illusions - Ursula K. Le Guin, Hainish Cycle #3 (1967)

And so in the third book we return to a single man stranded once more. This time he doesn't know anything about anything and has to relearn everything as if he were nearly newborn. Anyone who read Planet of Exile, the preceding book, ought to know almost immediately what he is and where he's from. The nameless stranger is given the name Falk and eventually sets out on a journey of literal self-discovery across the continent by foot. I didn't expect that the half the novel would be him meandering ever westward. I think it was too much. The other half is Shocking Revelations, Plot Twists, and Muddled Narratives. The latter half was much more enjoyable.

Rating: 3.5/5
This is mostly carried by the latter half. Maybe others will enjoy the wanderings more than I did. I felt like I was reading a playthrough of an open world game and the player decided to do all the sidequests possible along the way before arriving at the main quest.

>>15906749
stop reading le guin

>>15906382
You think I care about laws when I'm licking her hairless, quivering little snatch?

>>15906776
Don't listen to this anon. Even shit fiction teaches you stuff occasionally

>>15906776
I'll be done after two more books for now.

>>15906787
that's certified pedophilia dog

>>15906790
Teaches you how not to write.

>>15906787
No, but not caring about consequences often has bad results.

>>15906804
4chan has taught me how not to live, but it doesn't seem to have helped much.

>>15906787
based

>>15906813
>Yes, I do reply to all my own posts with "based" to convince others that I have peer support.

>>15906826
Learn to use meme triangles properly before you start talking shit.

What does /sffg/ think of The Expanse book series? Also, Laconia did nothing wrong.

Pedos make me feel better about my milf fetish.....

>>15906849
>Why yes, I do want you to believe that I didn't edit this image. Do accept it blindly, thank you kindly!

>>15906861
The show was shit, and people said it was better than the books. Character had contradictory motivation and acted too irrationally for my taste, and the amount of deus ex machina was just too much, even for a sci-fi where such things can be usually overlooked if they aren't too obvious.

>>15906787
>15
>hairless
Based retardbro

Give me some Wizarding books please!

Is there at least one modern fantasy book that has soul in it?

>>15906909
First Law trilogy

>>15906909
What do you define by "modern"?

>>15906909
What does "soul" feel like to you?

>208 posts in 16 hours

>>15906909
Why would even you attempt to read anything modern? If it isn't nearly a century old, it isn't worth reading.

>>15906952
Did science even exist 100 years ago?

>>15906941
Did you not see the previous thread?

>>15906909
>>>/v/

>>15906956
Science has never existed.

>>15906941
Lurk /po/ if you want a slow board.

>>15906967
Science will have always have existed before it never did.

>>15906973
You fuckers don't understand my autism. Now I have to read 220 posts before I catch up.

>>15906059
This should encourage you to start on your shit

>>15907036
What about the previous thread? What about all the threads starting from the first one all those years ago? They can all be read in the archive.

>>15907050
I am up to date on all previous threads, except this one. It's just all so tiresome reading 200 posts in one stretch. I had to do that for the previous thread, and most of it wasn't even on topic.

How's the Empire Trilogy?

>>15906534
Would there be catgirls in it?

>>15901753
What's up with fantasy's obsession with trilogies?

Is it worthwhile to take that 3-book journey?

>>15907124
It's called a three act structure.

>>15906871
>S-samefag
>Posts proof
>E-edit
You obsessed nigga

>>15907124
Its a literary thing. Some do it because of the 3 act structure. But most do it as an analouge for Beginning, Middle and End. Its easy to write out a story if you plan for the ending in advance. Most trilogies are already planned out completely before they are even done.

>>15907163
Excuse me, most beginnings and ends are planned before completion. The middle bits just get made up as necessary.

>>15906866
same, at least i won't go to jail for flirting with an old hag

>>15907124
single books don't make enough to justify the risk and longer series drop in sales as they go on so an author either needs an impressive first book or a lot of publisher faith.

It's different in other genres like mystery where they can sell a series without readers having to read every prior book to know what's going on

>>15907199
What if the old hag doesn't like you showing her attention?

>>15907199
FUCK! Those chunkers are some perfect wifey slampiggie material

>>15907067
Maybe you should do something about that so that you stop.

>>15907227
you can't slam Leigh she has brittle bone disease :(

Gimme some books like Majora's Mask

>>15907299

>>15907253
It's the same with books. I finished a lot of shit series, malazan, Wot, Lotr because I started book one. I push myself to complete the entire series because I read the first book. Same shit with /sffg/. I've read every. single. sffg thread since the beginning. It was nice when shit is slow and I just have to read 10 posts every now and again till page 11. But these last two threads have been moving sanic fast.

>>15903088
>The choice of magic sequel has a decision by the protagonist that's so dumb that the only way you can possibly justify it is by undoing it entirely in the payoff lol.
And yeah I was pretty much right, the author takes all of the weight out of the decision by book's end.


This series is very weird tonally, the author loves rape and the threat of rape, there's a gigantic body count the protagonist accidentally killing innocents and murdering people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time but it also wants to be light and jovial.

>>15907309
OCPD is terrible.

>>15907258
>you can't slam Leigh

>>15907309
>Why won't sffg run to my OWN PERSONAL taste?

Stop whining, you crybaby.

Either get on board or get off.

How many pages do you read a day? do you set yourself a goal or do you just read what feels right?

>>15907314
Any recs for similar novels? just finished this yesterday.

>>15907407
I aim to make it to the next chapter and keep going if I don't feel tired.

>>15907407
>implying I read any of the books I talk about

>>15907407
If it doesn't take more then a few hours, I probably read it all once.

>>15907407
I try to do 50 pages a day. more if the reading is engaging.

>>15907443
>implying I read any of the posts I reply to

>>15905285
>Sanderson
>good plots

>>15906121
I read Eye of the World. I just wasn't involved enough with the characters or the world to read other 4 million words about it.

>>15906861
I liked the first book quite a bit. The second one, not so much. Didn't feel like finishing the third, dropped it after 200 pages or something.

>>15907407
Normally, around 200 or 300. But there are those days when I don't really feel like reading anything other than useless discussion on this website.
>>15907429
This too, sometimes.

>>15907407
>bothering with arbitrary nonsense
just read, bro

>>15907407
75 according to goodreads stats but that's not accounting for books stopped unfinished or unlogged (and some of the unlogged are giant xianxias)
So probably over 100 with the caveat that it's obviously not a reading every single day thing but an average.

>>15903375
Shallan is an annoying unfunny cunt though

How is this.

>>15907898
All women are like that though.

>>15901757
you have to search for youself. it's your quest.

>>15907898
That's because Sanderson can't write women (in love) for shit.

After how the ruined Vin in the last two books of Mistborn I'm not surprised of anything

>>15907736
>tfw only 33 books completed

>>15907978
>>15907946
All of Sanderson's character are like Shallan. They're like weird automatons

>>15907988
Hey if it's 33 this year that is a whole fucking lot. I'm struggling finishing 5.

>>15907904
Pretty good, didn't like the rest of the series too much.

>>15903166
Do you know you're going to be a 50 years old at some point, don't you?

I have an idea for a basic premise, the characters, locations, the underlying themes and a couple of specific events. How do I turn this into a full plot?

>>15907904
Fun but it's just another grimdark fantasy with an antihero protagonist, band of mercenaries hunting monsters. It's fairly forgettable I guess, unless you love Excalibur (the movie) a little too much and don't mind a pretty modern take on the whole Chivalric mythos. I heard the rest of the series goes to shit with all the Christian/Catholic magic so I stopped after book 1, but nobody has confirmed that.
An issue I found is the writer has this silly zoomer-like fixation to put his unusual hobby into his writing. The guy is into historical combat and jousting so he seems more eager to talk about the names of the clasps holding his cuirass and some shitty medieval custom than anything else. It's kinda common in nerds in their 30s and 40s who apparently need to pester anyone with their interests, as if they took the whole "put something of yourself into your writing" to a new pathetic level.
A 2.5-3 out of 5.

>>15901753
Wtf is that pic?

That creature reminds me of SCP-939.

>>15908220
just write

>>15908241
No, I need a very clear outline. You cant make a house without a blueprint.

>>15908247
It's not a house. You can, you have enough of a blueprint. you'll have to go back and change things sometimes. but you have to start writing.

>>15908220
tie everything together with conflict, work back from the final events if you know them

>>15908004
>Goal is 20 this year
> Have read 10

Am I going to make it bros?

>>15908334
Yes friend

>>15908220
>determine the characters physical wants/goals
>figure out the ending that delivers your message based on the book's theme
then you just fill the gaps by creating situations that facilitate how the character's specific goals would logically lead up that ending

>>15908237
It's an Alzabo.

Okay, I don't know if I can keep up with the Iron Dragon's Daughter anymore. Did I fall for a YA book?
I don't mind that it's urban fantasy, but there are goblins playing ska music ffs. Posters of some "Bryan Faust" playing a Stratocaster guitar. Ouija boards. "Descartier" luxury wristwatches. A parfume called Merde du Temps. Orcs and dwarves talking in Top Gun aviation lingo. "Cyborg hounds".
It's so poorly written I don't know where to start. Fuck the retard who said I shouldn't call Swanswick amateur. Look at this terrible prose and judge for yourself
>Her throat cottony and dry ... the night air seemed velvety warm, soft and inviting
>Jane felt a panicky inability to catch her breath.
>She felt for them a sentiment so delicate and strong that it could only be called love.
>The smell of chalk dust was harsh in Jane's nostrils, a statistical effluvium of dead molecules suspended in the still air.
>Jane asked wonderingly.
>He was waging this fight entirely by electronic countermeasure technology.

The plotting can be pretty cringe, but he's not altogether bad when describing pure action. It's when he tries any tricks to make his shitty prose a little more melodious, a little more poetic. He fails almost every single time. The words are just there for the use of a thesaurus and to fill a space. There was a description of a fart more precise than any other previous attempt.
It's like a crappy mix between Mathilda and pic related.

>>15908247
Fuck no.
I wouldn't have written 4 books if that was the case.
Fuck off with your laziness or pursue another dream.

You (and probably some other anons) always complain about this shit.
Do something about it or stick to reading other people's work.

>May the blessings of the Lady of Spring fall upon your head, young sir, in the same spirit as your bounty to a roadside vagabond, and as little begrudged
Fucking christ I already hate this book

> Steals your idea and your girl.

>>15909384
His hair looks painted on

This website looks painted on

>>15908247
No you don't, stupid. You just fucking WRITE. Even if it's shit you keep writing.

>>15909209
Reads better than most supposedly "good" authors that people here jack off honestly. It's evocative while not being too purple and hard to follow.

>>15905921
Vance

>>15901753
Anyone got a link to dl Michael Andre-Driussi's Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun: A Chapter Guide?

>>15909572
Funny you should mention that, since tonedeaf posts like yours are the sort of comments that make me second guess any rec on sffg.
When you read something like "statistical effluvium" you're supposed to raise an eyebrow instead of calling it "not bad".

A 44 year old man wrote this. Here's another gem:
>She lazily stared down between her breasts, past the swelling plain of her belly. Luxuriant hair grew thickly upon the round hill of her pubic mound. Sometimes she liked to imagine it was a forest and she the most diminutive of explorers, wandering through it. Her fingers slipped down to the opening of her labyrinth, felt moistness, and lingered. It was an enchanted forest, and silent. Not even birds sang in the branches. She wandered it, gazing about in wonder. Her fingers moved a little more quickly. Everything was hushed, expectant, waiting. Her fingers slowed. They began to tease out her clitoris. Far ahead there was a rise. In no hurry at all, by roundabout forest paths, she approached it.
I've read reviews on Goodreads calling this hacky prose the work of a "wordsmith", when it's reminiscent of "sunset found her squatting" and almost as bad.

>>15910171
>When you read something like "statistical effluvium" you're supposed to raise an eyebrow instead of calling it "not bad".
I do agree with that one, but the rest is fine. Writers being cringey in sexual parts isn't rare, but it's usually a very small part of a book and overlookable. I'll take all of this over hacks who can't package their story in understandable syntax and try too hard to look intelligent by referencing obscure shit left and right (looking at you, Pynchon).

>>15910171
>That, all of that
Fuck sake, I thought me referring to a woman's pubic hair as 'unkempt shrub' was too much.
That man might have never been laid.

>>15910212
>Writers being cringey in sexual parts isn't rare, but it's usually a very small part of a book and overlookable.
If they can't write sex in a mature enough fashion, I can't imagine many writing serious enough dialogue to lead to the smut. And normally a book has a massive investment (unless it's pure smut) to lead to that particular outcome.
Giving props to Sanderson for avoiding this. Him writing sex would be being told to imagine a fleshlight inserted with a vibe and not a whole lot else.

>>15906059
>>15908247
>>15908220
To echo >>15909457 >>15909314, You need a wake up call.
Either start taking your writing seriously, or stop bothering at all and stop telling us that you're useless.
Genuinely embarrassing to see you admit to being stagnant and not wanting to do anything about it.

>>15910171
>>15910239
the only acceptable forms and descriptions for pubic hair are landing strip and peach fuzz.

>>15910313
Nether jungle

>>15903177
Richard Morgan's stuff, particularly Woken Furies.

>>15906059
>15 year old does something
>you dont
what did you expect
write your fucking book idiot

>>15901753
Redpill me on the Foundation series.

How do people make fantasy setting maps? I spent an hour on this (mainly trying to add names) and it didn't turn out that great. Should I just get someone to do it from Fiverr?

>>15910791
>Ancestree

anon

>>15910812
Pun ;)

Sanderson good
Abercrombie good
Erikson good
Rothfuss shit

>>15910791
>Nymphmine

Is it a hub for horny miners at least?

>>15910763
Clever idea stretched out across a narrative that can't support it. Boring.

>>15910791
You make the map last. Think about the town/city/whatever. Decide what type of climate it has, how it sustains itself, which naturally leads to its geography, and you work outwards from there. It also helps if you have at least a basic understanding of how mountains form and how they affect people.

Thoughts?

>>15910944
I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's tectonics plates that rub against each other or 'hit' each other that creates mountains. Is that right? I feel like mountains alter humans greatly, from behaviour to genetics. E.g. East Asian people will get shorter but thicker thighs when they're in mountainous areas like North Korea. But it also affects how people will grow food, e.g. a stone age society might use mountains to force prey into a valley or in a tight spot on the mountain, attacking from above. It might also create river systems and create a flourishing farm land below, but my universe doesn't really have farms, it's more just foraging and hunting, as well as primitive small farms of, say, grain. pigs and sheep. But the setting doesn't really allow for big farms like that, probably most of it will be using mountainous areas to pick berries and hunt neolithic beasts.

>>15910990
Pigs, grain and sheep don't exist in a pre-agricultural society, they're a product of thousands of years of human influenced genetic selection.
Your problem is you're trying to create a society in a stage of development you know literally nothing about.
Pic related, both of the plants in this image are Corn cobs.

>>15910791
Maps are a meme

>>15910982
A Little Shit

>>15911004
>The history of the domestic sheep goes back to between 11000 and 9000 BCE, and the domestication of the wild mouflon in ancient Mesopotamia. Sheep are among the first animals to have been domesticated by humans, and there is evidence of sheep farming in Iranian statuary dating to that time period.

>Corn
People living in what is now Mexico had found corn 7000 years ago, I'm not sure they even domesticated it that much beyond making small gardens and using them with beans and melons which protected or aided each plant grow. Not sure what your definition of agriculture is, but that's definitely primitive type of farming.

>>15911019
>People living in what is now Mexico had found corn 7000 years ago
Yes, and the fossil in my image is the type of Corn that existed there. My point was that whatever they're growing or breeding isn't going to be remotely recognizable compared to the modern animal even if it is related, not that animal husbandry or agriculture didn't exist.
Pigs for example weren't even considered *edible* until a relatively modern era because they carry so many diseases that are communicable to humans (hence the prohibitions against Pork in so many religions), and it wasn't until recently that stopped mattering.

Likewise many types of farmed plants are the product of thousands of years of genetic selection, modern Sugar Cane looks absolutely nothing like natural Sugar Cane, and pic related is what wild Eggplants look like.

>>15911004
don't even get me started on bananas We have a few wild examples still available to us in my country, these fuckers are some of the worst fruits i have ever tastes not sweets and chock full of shitty rock hard seeds.
If you are looking at a pre agricultural world, you cannot take the current wild tribes as and example they have benefited from agriculture and also contributed to the genetic selection of plants.
A pre agricultural world is a place much much harsher than the one we live in right now, even if you compare only the wilds. Just as an example we simply genocided, or contributed to the genocide, of most mega fauna that would wreck a lone village of hunter gathers.

A prehistorical setting has a lot of potential, but you need to do it right.

>>15911004
>>15911045

>Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 years ago in Cyprus. Those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then.[18] There was also a separate domestication in China which took place about 8,000 years ago.[19][20]

>Wheat is a grain crop with some 25,000 different cultivars in the world today. It was domesticated at least 12,000 years ago, created from a still-living ancestor plant known as emmer.

If we take the earliest ending date of the stone age to be roughly 8700 BCE, then all the things I said could be farmed were already being eaten somewhere on the planet as a domesticated food. You're trying to move me into this caveat where you think I want to eat those foods or something, because they "look small" or "have diseases." I'm merely showing that there were dedicated farmers in the stone age who probably did eat it because food elsewhere was scarce, or took more energy..

>>15911056
Are you being intentionally obtuse here? You're completely failing to grasp my point.

>>15910791
>>>/tg/73723470

>>15911064
Thanks anon. I might just port this to Paleomythic RPG rather than write it as a full-fledged novel anyway.

>>15910939
Is the original trilogy or at least first book worth checking out?

>>15911147
Not him but I only read the first three and realy enjoyed them. If you read any Asimov before you know what you`ll get.

>>15911147
The first book is probably the worst of the trilogy so if you can push through it then it's not exactly a waste of time since the underlying ideas are still interesting. You may as well give it a go.

Would I like this if I like writers like PKD?

>>15911147
I found it very entertaining, I finished the trilogy but I felt I didn't want to read the sequels as the story had run it's course.
I would recommend you read the empire and baylee series instead but skip the robots and empire book as is easily his worst work and a blatant attempt at creating a single universe of two different story lines.

I want to turn a fairy into an onahole

>>15911474
[Emons] Fairy Days (Towako Nana) {CapableScoutMan & bigk40k}

New

>>15911644
>>15911644
>>15911644