/lit/ - Literature

>>16296582
Trekkies welcome!

>>16296582
Wow, is Gene Wolf really that good of a writer?

>>16296597
I wish there were more Old Man's War type plots about geriatric rebirth as well as transforming yourself beyond human identity

>>16296612
he'd make a great Hallmark santa

Will there ever be the rise of an online romantic movement that would resemble Germany's romanticism and give birth to a new series of claseic stories for the online space?

Tl;DR Will "fantasypastas" ever be a thing like creepypastas? If they already exist, where are they?

I wish there was judaism-inspired epic fantasy like there is for almost every other culture, but I don't even know where to begin. How would you make it distinct from biblical or arabian fantasy?

>>16296582
Shit chart.
Also fuck e william brown

>>16296692
feel free to name your favorites

>>16296625
I think he dressed up as Darwin for reddit's Spaghetti Pie Day

>Earthsea

Thoughts on the movie, /sffg/?

>>16296582
>1984
>fiction

>>16296692

>fuck e william brown
>hey have you guys heard of e william brown?
>no? never heard of him? never?
>fuck e william brown
>never?
>what do you mean am I e william brown?
>h-h-h-eh why would e william brown say to fuck himself?
>fuck this guy I'm just saying to fuck e william brown in every thread
>I'm not him don't subscribe to his patreon
>if you do you'll have to read all his books fuck that guy
>who you haven't heard of but now you have
>fuck e william brown I'm not shilling me, I mean him
>I'm saying fuck me, I mean him
>I'm telling you NOT to read me how can I be constantly shilling myself just because I'm saying my name all the time
>fuck me william brown

Is this cool or cringe?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracosm

>>16296732
too deep, I think anon just paid for william e brown's patreon or something, got burned and is big mad about it so he spams every thread.

>>16296743
Shoulda subbed breadface

>>16296743

I think e william brown has discovered the ultimate marketing technique which is to constantly shit all over himself over and over and over until he is the new Gene Wolfe. And now he's locked in an eternal loop of posting about how much he hates himself, but he doesn't even know who he is anymore, so he just continuously posts his name in a form of performance art. And every few posts he creates a new thread with a picture of either a pepe or a woman with large breasts or a female booktuber with some random question that says "What book explains this phenomenon?" And then he goes into his thread and posts, "Fuck E William Brown he's the kind of guy who'd write about why you shouldn't read books about trains on a train." And then E William Brown posts about starting a chart and doesn't vote for himself, instead he says to fuck himself and votes for some book about chairs 50 times. But he won't even put it into his own chart, because he's E William Brown, the most brilliant marketer of all time, who has learned to post about fucking himself to bring the most attention to himself and make the biggest non-pornographic Patreon in history without even having to stick his tongue out in some weird anime photo.

>>16296582
So close.
If only you didn't include underwear man's faggy adventures it would have been a great chart.

>>16296783
You'll come out of that closet some day, anon.

>>16296815
>it's only one person shitting on conan

>>16296893

Fuck E Robert Howard don't sign up for his Patreon

>t. E. Robert Howard

some of you people are toxic as fuck

>>16296582
Why put 1984 instead of BNW? The latter is much more relevant for our society

I think I understand now /sffg/, the secret to writing judaic fantasy comes not from ancient history, but from the recent past. turn of the centrury fantasy, mostly urban, lower class. A jewish fantasy setting would look more like call of cthulhu than dungeons and dragons, but with the tentacles and mucus replaced by eyes, wings and fire.

This is an aesthetic I can work with

>>16296683
>fantasypastas
That's called fanfiction, there's tons.

>>16296975
Some Spanish jew came up with the Kabbalah from reading the Tora eight centuries ago and you can't make up your own shit?
Also, aren't you the guy who complained all the jews could come up with was the Golem?
>mostly urban, lower class
That's the exact sort of setting Gustav Meyrink used.

>>16296988
yeah, same guy though I've found a bunch of other content since through extensive wikipedia research.

The key here isn't just making things up, it's drawing on existing elements to create a cohesive image of what that fantasy looks like. The imagery of early 20th century ghettos and yiddish farming villages combined with golems, dybbuks, eldritch angels and so on has a more unique and iconic image to it than middle eastern or biblical settings. It's not sword and sorcery, and I'm not going to be playing a character like this in dnd, but it will do

>>16296893
I never said there was only one fag triggered by Conan, anon. He's been triggering you queers for decades lol

>>16297057
You're the one that has a boner for a half naked muscled man. I'm sure you're the closet fag that posts conan artwork.

>>16297065
Only someone deeply in the closest would get this upset over Conan's looks lol
I mean of all the things to get triggered over when it comes to Conan... you're angry that he has muscles???

Why do people get so autistic over Conan?

It's just a dude waving a sword around and killing things. Chill out.

>>16297073
>completely ignores I mentioned half naked
Look fag, I don't care what you read, but stop trying to force your faggotry onto others.

>>16296597
I read some Trek fiction when I was a teenager, it was awful and edgy. Why take the Trek setting and make it edgy?

>>16296732
I had never heard of him until this anon came along. Hopefully he'll recommend some of his works, he's piqued my interest.

>>16297139
anon, I'm being serious now; seek help. This isn't healthy.

>>16297162

I'm buying all of E William Brown's books, I have no idea who he is but if someone can hate him this much then he must be able to spark passion in his readers.

>>16297215
>E William Brown's

What so bad about him, anyways?

>>16297227

I don't know but fuck E William Brown, whoever he is, but now everyone on /lit/ knows who he is because the guy who hates him decided to stab a dagger through his heart by promoting him nonstop 24/7 to new readers who've never heard of him.

Could you please stop using this general as if it was Discord?
They'll shut up once nobody pays them any mind.

>>16297227

>>16297234
>>16297227
>>16297215
>>16297162
Fuck all of you. The author has found a way to sell a $10 book for 5 bux a month, with you only getting one chapter a month. The book is 30 chapters plus, do the math.

>>16297269
No one's forcing you to read the chapters as they come out, anon. Does he have any fully published books? Which is the best?

>>16297269

THIS IS NOW AN E WILLIAM BROWN APPRECIATION THREAD ALL BROWNIES UNITE

>>16297313

E William Brown, the greatest author of any generation, whoever he may be - buy his books at once!

>>16297335

E William Brown, you thought you had seen shilling on /lit/ before but this is shills within shills within shills, like the Inception of books sales. Does the E William Brown shill hate him? Is it him? Is it love? Only buying all of his books will tell you if E William Brown is the greatest science fiction author to ever live.

>Eventually Derek, sighing, flung his comic on the floor and said, “Hey.” Martin, because of the older boy’s tone, tore his attention from the comic and peered at his grinning friend. The next thing Derek said was as casual as if he were asking Martin’s favorite food. “You like skin mags?”

I do not like where this story is going...

I think he's some sort of fan fiction author.

>>16297262
That nose explains everything

>>16296582
i asked this in the last thread
any space operas that are 3-4 books long?

>>16297581
Thrawn Trilogy?
Haven't read it though

>>16283859
Looks like a nice gift to someone. I recently got Roarings from Further Out by Blackwood from the same publisher and am looking forward to reading it

>>16296739
Cool, could be interesting

>>16297581
Dune is 4 books long and Messiah is just a tad longer than a novella.

>>16297581
Hyperion (stop after book 1 or 2 if you dare).
Red Rising (YA trash)

Some stuff I haven't really checked but got me curious:
Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space
Some John Scalzi
That Forever War people could be memeing.

>>16297581
Revelation Space, main series is 3 + 1; with two additional books set in the world a bit earlier, and a bunch of shorter works as well.
Poseidon's children
Revenger

>"Let me get this straight. Dragons and elves are perfectly acceptable to you but black people and female warriors are just SOOO unrealistic?"

How do you respond?

>>16297789
I don't because I'm not an incel and no one asked me that.

>>16296582
>distorting the covers so they're all the same aspect ratio
You're different, but you're not useful

>>16297789
Call me an incel if you want, even though I'm not, but women are fundamentally much much weaker than men. If it weren't for magic or something to even things out, then female warriors make no kind of sense. Testosterone is a hell of a steroid.
Anyone who has been to a gym even once in their life knows that.

>>16297865
> I'm not an incel
post face

>>16297269
Welcome to capitalism. Enjoy your stay.

>>16297240
Nice joke.

I don't think 2020 chart bro is coming back, Throne of Glass anon broke him.

>>16297670
isn't dune just a trilogy? and the other books aren't that important
>>16297687
and yeah i'm either going for dune or hyperion

>>16298233
Hyperion>>>>>>>Dune

>>16297530
He isn't named Brownstein

>>16296582
You made a good effort with the chart, but included too many of your personal biases.

>>16297581
>not asking for stand alone books

>>16297789
Why is rape so hot? I'm diamonds thinking of all the female author books I read where the girl gets raped.

>>16298267
Because power dynamics.

>>16298267
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hQi6C2RQvjGzjSoXU0D063fCFcz1wCHXFUe7PfEsGrk/edit#gid=0

Don't forget to thank reddit.

>>16298244
Not OP but there's no one chart that's going to ever satisfy everyone and every chart is bound to be inherently biased unless it's made using a voting system which is probably the worst way to make a chart.
All said, it's a good chart even though I don't agree with everything on it.

>>16298342
The only problem I have with it is that it says /sffg/ rather than any mention it's a personal chart.

>it's not that good on its own
>only read it because you want to read God Emperor
fuck every retard who said this or a variation of it. smooth brained jabornies trying to bury a fantastic book for god knows why.

>>16298492
whoopsies : )

https://www.strawpoll.me/20895612
help me deside /sffg/
i'll happy read both but i can't decide on which one first

I just finished the Halo series can anyone recommend me something close to it like Sci-fi military fighting aliens.

>>16298305
BASED reddit. Sometimes the way I look for books is to search for books deemed to be too "sexist, misogynistic, outdated" and so on. It is a sad state of the human race that it works more often than not.

>>16298702
Starship Troopers

>>16298305
This has to be the gayest chart i have ever seen, all ledditors should neck themselves.

Here be my personal recommendation list (of almost entirely military sci-fi)

Legacy of the Aldenata/Posleen War, series by John Ringo (+Tom Kratman, Julie Cochrane, Michael Z. Williamson)
Voyage of the Space Bubble/Looking Glass, series by John Ringo (+Travis S. Taylor)
Troy Rising, series by John Ringo
The Council Wars, series by John Ringo
Paladin of Shadows, series by John Ringo
The Last Centurion, novel by John Ringo
Empire of Man, series by David Weber and John Ringo
Von Neumann's War, novel by by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor
Honorverse, series by David Weber
Safehold, series by David Weber
Footfall, novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Mote in God's Eye, novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Gripping Hand, novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Lucifer's Hammer, novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Ringworld, series by Larry Niven
Foundation, series by Isaac Asimov
Worldwar, series by Harry Turtledove
After the Downfall, novel by Harry Turtledove
Axis of Time, series by John Birmingham
The Disappearance, series by John Birmingham
The Forever War, novel by Joe Haldeman
Realtime/Bobble, series by Vernor Vinge
Zones of Thought, series by Vernor Vinge

Is the Malazan series any good or is it just reddit hype?

>>16298784
Do you like playing tabletop rpgs; Dnd, GURPS etc?

Do you like autistic worldbuilding? (I mean this in a good way, not like Sanderson's vapid shit)

Do you like it when books explain very little and just take you along for the ride?

Do you like it when a series has a stupid number of characters, povs and books?

The answers to the above questions will determine how much you enjoy Malazan. It's not a series that's for everyone.

>>16298233
Dune is six books but most people don’t like the last two.

>>16296582
So having the chartfag autist clogging up thread after thread wasn't enough, you had to go put your own shit chart up, huh? Now we'll get another thread up with the OPFaggot's result in yet another useless post.

>>16298782
Enough already. We don't need your fucking chart in every thread either.

>>16298922
irrational and angry much? try eating something and have a nap

The /sffg/ Goodreads group has collectively written 2,185 reviews. I may or may not eventually do an index of the SFF reviews.

Also, it turns out that Goodreads automatically deletes posted topics based on some criteria.

>>16298782
Which ones should I read if I want something that's focused on a single character going from trainee to elite soldier?

Thought on Robin Hobb? Reading pages of effete redditors salivating over the ceaseless misery of a browbeaten youth has once again reignited my hatred for her works. I'm curious if it's similarly received here or if I'm not the only person who finds her books distasteful.

>>16299063
>>/lit/?task=search&ghost=yes&search_text=hobb

>>16299082
or
>>/lit/?task=search&ghost=yes&search_text=hobb+misery
Of course, could all be a single poster.

>>16299063
If writing was an rpg skill tree, she maxed out all her points on characters and their development. She's really bad at everything else.

She's a useful read, even a must read for aspiring writers but mediocre for everyone else.

That said, I've only read her Farseer books but I've been told that her Liveship Traders books are different and worth trying by people I trust. Might give them a shot someday when I'm desperate.

>>16299062
The Forever War fits the bill precisely

>>16299111
Thanks, anything else in a similar mould?

>>16299062
Empire of Man is also close to whats asked but the training is on the job

thoughts on Gene Wolfie's Free Live Free and Pirate Freedom? they are the only ones I own that I haven't read

>>16299184
There is single written review available for both written by the same person in the /sffg/ goodreads group. I could paste them here, but I won't for various reasons.

>>16299197
then why don't you just shut the fuck up about the goodreads group?

>>16299121
Starship Troopers also features some level of progression for the main character. Even if it isn't exactly what you're after I'd strongly recommend it.

>>16299207
There's always the archive as well.
If it's relevant, it's relevant.

For fucks sake Dune gets worse and worse with each chapter. Who the fuck keeps shilling this shit constantly? You fuckers have absolutely no taste in literature. I will finish it just so I can say with absolute certainty how shit it is. This plus the joke that is the "best of /sffg/" list this year made me wonder why I'm even here.

>>16299217
No one is forcing you to stay.

>>16299217
What don't you like about it? I wasn't a fan of Paul's lengthy exile but the story was very interesting overall.

>>16299222
I'm staying of my own volition. Because some recommendations here are good, but they are not the majority by far. The amount of people here who seem to enjoy shit is growing exponentially this year.

>>16299239
And yet you could join the Goodreads group, find someone with similar taste, and use them for recs rather then having to hope a good one appears here.

>>16299235
I'm about to end it soon and the writing is just getting bad, Paul was already a Mary sue but Alia is 10 times worse, she is just insufferable, and the absolutely uselessness of his power, seeing how it is just staggering.. But what gets me is the shitty dialogue and the stiff, It just really tiresome to read, and it makes one cringe at some, if not all, of the interactions they don't seem human most of the time.
I don't mind the plot points to much, the issue lies with the execution.

>>16297687
Don't really get the hate for Fall of Hyperion some people have, its structure is less original than the first's narrative, but I was still dying to read it once I finished Hyperion

>With his publisher, he began a series called: "Recommended by Stanislaw Lem"
>It was initially very successful, with a book called "Ubik" by Philip K Dick, one of America's most unique and unusual science fiction writers
>I'm very pleased with myself for making this choice
>The publishing house was unable to pay Dick any royalties in dollars
>The problem was usually resolved by inviting the author to Poland, where they would be paid in zloty to spend locally
>Lem and Dick have agreed to this arrangement, but Dick cancelled the trip in the last minute
>He was suffering from mental illness, he believed he communist government was trying to trap him and wrote to the FBI, claiming that Lem did not exist, but was just the name of a secret organization persecuting American science fiction writers
>P.S. I am enclosing a picture of myself, showing my serious attitude.
https://youtu.be/21L-Y-xBzeQ?t=2318
This is the best bit of trivia from the documentary, but the whole thing is worth watching if you're into Lem (even though the English subs suck ass).

>>16299274
You've got to remember it's a feudalistic space kingdom written in the 60s, it's naturally going to be a bit of a departure from the norm. At the end of the day if it's not your thing there's no need to finish the book.

>>16296617
geriatric rebirth? explain

>>16299274
Agree with Alia being insufferable and Paul being a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, but how is his power useless?he basically gets to metagame and be omniscient. That's not very useless, is it?

>>16299320
Nah I get I'm making myself, suffer, but this is one of those books you kind of have to finish if you want to get a good grasp on the sci-fi genre because of how influential it was, like LOTR to fantasy.
I just wanted to vent.

>>16299353
No, you don't have to. That idea of "must read because it's important" is idiotic at best.

>>16299334
Old people get new bodies.

>>16299350
Gets to metagame and be omniscient. Which is why all his failures seem like contrivances, if he truly lived millions of live again and again letting his son died, for example, would be inconceivable, you cannot give someone near omniscience and make him surprised. Considering the constantly praised great scope of his power, the limitations seem like the writer writing and not something natural

Are the fights in Mistborn all gonna be coin throwing shit?

>>16299424
That's the primary ranged attack, yes.

>>16299062
Its not on his chart but Halo might be ur thing..
>inb4 muhh game lore
Its pretty enertaining.

>>16299424
Yes and it doesn't get much more imaginative from there.

Just finished God Emperor of Dune and didn't understand a shit, wat du?

>>16299217
>This plus the joke that is the "best of /sffg/" list this year made me wonder why I'm even here.
tell us what you're looking for in a book

>>16300165

LETO'S GIANT WORM PENIS
LETO'S GIANT WORM PENIS
LETO'S GIANT WORM PENIS

>>16300165
Move on, gather life experience and wisdom until you can understand it.

>>16298782
you have OCD anon? fuck outta here with this

What was the fucking point of this story?

I enjoyed the dialogue and some of the characters, and I even enjoyed some of the "subversion" Abercrombie does.

But at the end I'm just left feeling...what a waste of time.

Is there anyone more based than John Norman in the world of sffg?

>>16300284

>>16296683
no

>>16299304
Based Lem poster. The Futurological Congress is the most mind-warping book I've ever read.

>>16296582
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKJGX4xmF2o
I want this general to seethe as much as I do at this garbage.

>>16300271
isn't that kind of the theme of the books? I enjoyed them more than I enjoyed the sequel book (and specially the second one which I put on hold a while ago because it's boring as shit)

>>16300255
You have an attitude problem

>>16300271
>reads grimdark
>becomes depressed
You shouldn't have then.

>>16300271
You just got GRIMDERP'D!

>>16300412
Protip: Don't intentionally watch stuff to make yourself seethe.

>>16300818
My Curiosity got the best of me

>>16300412
>He watched pic related.
>It's leddit & jewtube (((fantasy))) poster boy.
>"Guys, I'm seething!!1!"
You asked for it anon.

>>16296582
I’m only on here because I just finished Ubik and I’m looking for another book to read. I realize this is probably extremely basic for this board but I really liked it. Any recs?

>>16299373
I started one for NaNoWriMo a couple years back, I should try to finish it.

Why do I feel this author is setting up a rape?
I'm sure the Mc's fiancee will be raped before he could have sex with her.

Nothing makes me madder than someone being cheated out of a girl's virginity.

>>16301203
:>You asked for it anon.
I never said I didn't. My reasoning is in>>16300928
Don't need to be rude.

>>16301318
Be more specific, what are you looking for?
If you don't know but liked PKD you can stick to his work, A Scanner Darkly and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep are both great.
If you liked PKD but would like to explore other writers of a similar vein, check out Stanislaw Lem. Start with Solaris.
If you want something more contemporary, check out China Mieville's work (Keep in mind that people on this general hate his work due to his politics). Start with City & the City.

>>16301381
Nice, I like a good rape, which book?

Hello, all. Didn't have internet access for a bit but I have all the nominations and votes counted.

I have decided to add the nominations to a Strawpoll in order from the highest amount of votes to least amount of votes. Unfortunately there wasn't enough room for the books that received only one vote. I will be running this for another week (until next Saturday night at midnight) and then I will be making the chart.

If you are interested, please vote at the link below:

https://www.strawpoll.me/20897686

>>16296720
I love it. Its different compared to other Ghibli films, its not an adventure film, but is competently made for what it is, with some great music and thematic choices, and the way it goes about exploring them, both in terms of meaning and form is great.

Its no masterpiece, but there is very little out there like it. It reminds me a bit of Mamoru Oshi's films.

Also cool video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FcxccVUN94

>>16301416
>The Conan series

Where are Throne of Glass and a A Court of Thorns and Roses?

>>16296720
All I know about is my roommate watched half of it and then ranted about how fiction always portrays people seeking immortality as ugly and depraved, like why can’t it just be a normal thing for people to want why does it always have to be pro-death propaganda like “ooh accept your fate and mortality bro”.
He complained a lot about it on those lines alone, so I look forward to seeing it for myself someday.

>>16301416
>posted 8 minutes ago
>34 votes already
I'm curious as to where you shared this

>>16297789
Why would anyone ask me that? I have all of those things in my fantasy books. Except dragons and elves, of course. I’m not writing for children.

>>16301464
>34 votes already
Its because you can vote for several, retard.

>>16301464
One person can vote for all the books if they want to. If you couldn't tell by now chart bro isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

>>16299063
I recently read first Fitz book, it wasn't good, The setting is very generic and lacking in fantasy setting, and the plot is Latin American soap opera levels of bad, contrived and emotionally manipulative.

I mean in one book Fitz's dog gets two death fakeouts before actually ending up dead, and Burrick had 2, while also getting mad at Fitz for dumb reasons, just to make the reader feel bad.

Bobbin Bob is no a good author, repressed female fanfic tier.

>>16301401
Aether's Blessing. It's just a feeling. Don't know if the author has the balls to do it. It's usually women who like their females to be raped.

>>16298840
First question possibly feels like a red flag, but the rest are a resounding “YES” from me.

psst, if you're looking for meme potential vote for Fifth Season and Black Jewels Trilogy

>>16301416
>Bester in the lead
I like you guys

>>16301493
My mistake. I figured "vote" meant voters (a person gave 1 vote to one or multiple books).
>>16301490
Fuck off, rude person.

>>16301416
>>16301538
>No Blindsight at all
based as fuck

>>16301512
Steven Erikson and Ian Esslemont, the writers of Malazan literally developed the Malazan world as a setting for GURPS which is a role playing game and later branched into writing a story around it, initially as a screenplay which was rejected and then as a book series.

fanfic tier shit like this is all too common unfortunately.
>Mane of Chaos. Anomander Rake. Lord of the black-skinned Tiste Andii, who has looked down on a hundred thousand winters, who has tasted the blood of dragons, who leads the last of his kind, seated in the Throne of Sorrow and a kingdom tragic and fey — a kingdom with no land to call its own.

>>16301416
>no hyperion

>>16301621
Rake was the most boring character.

>>16296720
>the review that le guin wrote that BTFO the movie so hard she got a handwritten apology from the director

>>16301621
It tries to bee too epic sometimes, but that's just one of the parts I like about it.

>aliens invade
>they get BTFO because the most sophisticated weapons ever developed by them are unguided bombs, single shot breechloaders and knives, which was enough against anything in their solar system
>everyone in the galaxy thinks cruise missiles and Gatling guns are the hottest shit
>the Earth becomes an interplanetary industrial powerhouse and the biggest weapon supplier for several galactic empires
any books with themes similar to this

>>16299091
Her prose is very organic and pleasurable to read. Definitely her pacing is her biggest flaw, which is why her first book and Liveship Traders are her best works.

>>16301496
The Liveship Traders setting is a bit more interesting. Suit yourself with what you consider drama, to me it was really heart-wrenching to see Fitz fuck everything up out of inexperience and recklessness and lack of trust. It was a nice departure from typical fantasy MCs destroying everything easily and getting the girl.

>>16301493
>one person votes for all the books
>the books' relative positions stay exactly the same

>>16296720
It is correctly usually considered the worst Ghibli film. It has little to do with the books, but worse than that it is poorly made. It is poorly directed, the world feels empty, and the budget is clearly lower than the preceding and contemporaneous Ghibli films. I have nothing against Goro (I quite like Poppy Hill) but he was clearly still learning here.

>>16297581
I like Dread Empire's Fall by Walter Jon Williams.

>>16296683
it's called fanfiction, but it always ends with Harry Potter sucking off Dracko Malfoy and shit like this. It's basically all, horny teenager, K-pop addicted girls trying their best in writing.

>>16299062
Not him but the Sten series is like that.
Dorsai too

>>16299063
do you like old dudes cucking you? because that's what happens in these books

Here is the tally of votes so far for the 2020 /sffg/ waifu chart:

Sarah J. Maas
Ursula Le Guin
Lois McMaster Bujold
Robin Hobb

I will keep the tally running until Saturday night at midnight.

The rules/how to vote:

1. To vote for any Waifu currently on the list simply reply to this post with the following format:

">>[post number]
+1 Sarah J. Maas"

and it will be counted.

2. To vote for a Waifu not on the list, nominate it by replying to this post with the name of the waifu. This will count as a single vote and will enable others to vote for it as well. Only one nomination per post please. However, one can vote for as many nominated waifus as they want at once. This is to prevent a single post from adding dozens of obscure waifus to the tally.

3. If you want to vote for a waifu that has been nominated in the thread, but is not yet on the list, please respond directly to that post with the format outlined above.

4. Any repeated nominations will count as a single vote

>>16301842
Turtledove's Worldwar series, follows multiple points of views on all sides of the conflict
>alien colonization fleet set out on its journey centuries ago expecting to find medieval civilization on earth
>aliens arrive to find industrial civilization in middle of WWII
>still decide to proceed with invasion plans, starting with nuke induced EMP
>aliens have significant tech advantage in the beginning but no way to get reinforcements
>the aliens haven't been militarily challenged in millennia

I'm here to announce that I just finished The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard. It was ok, as was High Rise. That is all.

>In the weeks following his mortifying eavesdropping experience, Clay had done his best to avoid the girl, as he was beyond certain she’d designated him a four-star creep. Now he used his peephole before leaving his apartment, to make sure she wasn’t out there. If he happened to pass her in the hall, he’d avert the possibility of eye contact by keeping his gaze trained on yellowed, peeling wallpaper and the antiquated stains in the burgundy carpet. If, coming home from work or returning from school, he’d see her through the foyer windows getting her mail in the lobby, he’d take a short walk around the block. And she was usually gone on his second pass.

ONE OF US

>>16302045
Thanks. Too bad /pol/ spoiled me and I can't read anything about ww2 without cringing every 5 minutes

>>16301416
>https://www.strawpoll.me/20897686
where are the sarah j maas books? fuck you.

>>16302055
It was not ok. Ballard is a bad author in general.

>>16301842
How would they have space travel without more advanced weapons? Also, that sounds like a sexual fetish.

>>16302285
filtered, go back to your elves kiddo

>>16302150
What do you mean by spoiled?

>>16302306
Ballard isn't fantasy, so that's a bad example.

>>16302285
He had an impressive vocabulary and solid prose imo. His storytelling wasn't the greatest.

>>16302317
Disagree.

>>16302327
Ok.

>>16302339
>giving up this easily
Jesus Christ, anon. Call him a 'fag' or a 'jew' at least.

>>16302044
Kat aka paperbackdreams

>>16299278
This, Hyperion and sequel are fantastic, second one only feels worse because the first one is so good.

Honestly Hyperion should be on any "sci-fi essentials" list.

What's the longest series that are worth reading? Besides Discworld.

>>16302519
Discworld isn't worth reading.

>>16302519
None. Standalones only. Having more than one book is always a case grab.

>>16302519
for me, its the Posleen War series

books about alien gang going out and doin bad shit, nigga?

>>16302558
Ringo is a ding dong bingo.

any good steppe fantasy, erikson delaying his karsa trilogy is holding my balls.

>>16299129
I’m rather enjoying it, I just got to the bit where they finally get to the first city on the inland sea

Why didn't he just cut his fingernails and hair himself?

>>16302397
Fag

>>16302807
Who gives a shit? Series is never gonna be finished, and the show was garbage.

>>16299063
I grew attached to Fitz, but those books are not very good.
Liveships is very decent for the most part.

>>16302897
Calling something very decent is faint praise indeed.

>>16302303
I forget who it was by now, but there was a short story where the concept was that hyperspace travel is a pretty straightforward piece of technology and humans, entirely by coincidence never stumbled onto it. So you had aliens, who had never even figured out internal plumbing on ships, invading Earth, being stunned at the size of our cities because they were still at 1500's ish technology level, and then becoming terrified when they realized what humans would do after getting ahold of warp technology.

>>16302519
Rift War

>>16302940
The Road Not Taken
https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/Turtledove_RoadNotTaken.pdf

>>16302918
I wanted to praise it a bit more but then I remembered one thing that really annoyed me for some reason, others might not mind though.

Has anyone read james lovegrove's pantheon series? i picked up the first two books at value village today along with 17 other scifi books and im expecting word vomit. Am i correct or am will i be suprised?

>>16303138
Seems unlikely based on how many have read them on GR.

>>16303006
Put it in spoilers lad, what was it?

>>16296582
Finally began reading Book of the New Sun.
Man, Gene Wolf predicted the love for thicc all the way back then huh?

>>16303154
Stop talking about your GR group you stupid jew, nobody cares.

>>16303226
I'm glad you care enough to say no one cares. It gives me motivation to do it more.

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

>>16303181
Fertility idols exist, anon.

Everything is cyclical

>>16298782
>Paladin of Shadows
This stuff is nuts

Just finished pic related. Thought it was interesting enough and kinda funny, though nothing spectacular.

Got recommended either the City Watch Series or the Death Series moving onwards, though should I go on at all if i didn't find my first Discworld book that amazing? And if I should, which one should I move on with?

>>16303461
Well all the books use similar Humor but different sub series do parody different things, the Guards series is all detective books, the Aching series is a dark YA fantasy, the Postal series is my personal favourite and it’s pretty much a Heist/Thriller series
There’s enough around that you’ll probably find something you like, what’s the broadest genre that’s generally your go to?

>>16303461
Also, while I really like that one, it’s probably not your best bet for your Discworld start

More like Dicksworld.

>>16303160
The younger characters sometimes were annoying in general, especially Malta. Everyone says that she had a great character arc though and it was all worth it, but in the end she changed more because of the influence of the dragon than from introspection. Really cheapened her arc for me.

>>16303515
> what’s the broadest genre that’s generally your go to?
That's the thing, I'm not really sure. I'm still a new-ish reader, and am still reading around to find out what I like and what I don't.
But the concept of the Death series piqued my interest the most, so that might be what I go for next. I do note your interest in the Postal seires, and will add it as something for me to check out.

Also, since you seem to be a pretty well read in discworld, care to give me the general gist of the other series as well? (Witches, Rincewind, Death and any other I might have missed)

>>16303524
> it’s probably not your best bet for your Discworld start
Huh, really? I went for this one specifically because it was recommended as a good starting point.

>>16303561
>still trusting people
I entirely believe you when you say you're new.

>>16303570
Well, you gotta start somewhere.
And I'm used to the autism here, so it's easier for me to separate what's actual praise for a book and what's just people fucking around/pushing an agenda though it's still not an exact science and I'm pretty sure I've fallen for a couple of memes before

Over halfway through this and it's definitely not as good as this guy's previous collection (Ghouljaw and Other Stories). There's more variety and he upped his prose game, but the variety isn't very good and at times his prose gets a bit in the way. And the stories overall just feel weaker. I'm 8 stories in and so far nothing really wowed me. Don't even feel like finishing the book at this point.

>>16303617
One person's favorite work is another person's most regretful meme.

>>16303666
Fair enough. Just ignore all negativity then, and focus on the positive things people have to say about books.

>>16303711
It doesn't make a difference.

Does there exist any fantasy that isn't super bloated?

>>16303779
Yes

>tfw you need to find a new book to read and also get back to writing
>tfw both feel super unappealing

>>16303821
Do something else then.

>>16303560
I agree with your earlier comment, that I would disagree with your opinion. Malta was by far my favourite character. I absolutely adore the trope of sheltered rich girl going through trials and developing her own strengths. I don't believe that she was at all absent development through introspection.

>>16303821
you're allowed to have more than one hobby

Gimme your best fantasy short story collections and anthologies.

The larger the better.

>>16303951
The larger the better huh?
The Stories: Five Years of Original Fiction on Tor.com
3817 pages

Rereading this masterpiece series. In my top 3 along with ASOIAF and The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

So i'm starting to write a short fantasy novel and all I got so far is a little bit of the beginning, could y'all critique it, tell me its shit, do whatever, also the title i have in mind is called: Dark bounty, dont know if thats too edgy but thats the working name now. Also main characters name might change, im not really sure.

The fog rolled over the cascading hills, like shadows cast in the sunlight. Elaria was less than a day’s travel away from the village when she noticed a plume of smoke rising in the distance, knowing it was close to celebration she rushed to see if the festivities were happening. When she arrived, she realized she was too late, the town was nothing but ash. “It’s the fourth village this year” she noted, she was hoping to get a bounty or another contract due to the lack of work in the previous town. Walking through the village she glimpsed something in the debris of what used to be a house. It was a lockbox with multiple gems none of which she had seen before, she always had a keen eye for seeing the unseen. After making sure the gems were in a secure location in her satchel, she made a check of all her supplies, and headed out for the next town over hoping what happened to this village wouldn’t happen there.

>>16301416
I wish you would fuck off and die. This chart shit bloats up every single /SFFG thread

>>16304111
Seems kind of generic and radiates that "opening chapter of a monotonous fantasy story' energy". Not trying to shitpost, maybe try putting some more unique energy into it.

>>16304100
Based and Weispilled

>>16304111
>The fog rolled over the cascading hills, like shadows cast in the sunlight.
What?
>a plume of smoke rising in the distance, knowing it was close to celebration
Using "close" (in time) when you just mentioned "distance" is bad prose.
>multiple gems none of which she had seen before
How are they unique or why is it important she hasn't seen such gems before?
>After making sure the gems were in a secure location in her satchel
What?

This reads like a very first attempt at writing. It's written in a style that hardly interests me, but the bad part it's pretty poorly written (actions that make little sense, descriptions with no intent). And it seems generic, sorry.

If I want something akin to Ghost in the Shell in both the political thriller aspects and the police/military angle what should I read?

Any sci fi like red rising?

>new S&S anthology coming out today
Based.

>>16301416
Thank you monkey man.

>>16303982
I legit thought you were pulling my leg, especially since I tend to associate Tor with le onion router than a fantasy-related website.

I wonder of there's more huge anthologies out there. I'll be on the lookout with Google.

>>16304100
One of the worst fucking endings. Just combine light and dark bro.

The Prince of Nothing was mostly entertaining but im not exactly eager for more of the same. Too much faggy relationship drama between annoying characters. Too much repetition of his philosophical points. And most of all too much fucking obsession with sex.

Should I read The Aspect Emperor or just stop now.

>>16301392
No. Don't start with Solaris. Start with The Star Diaries.

>>16296582
42

>>16304948
It's probably one of the most overrated series spammed in the thread.

>>16301842
Not a full novel but a series of short stories by Harry Turtledove. Road not Taken is the first.

>>16304950

Start with Cyberiad.

>>16305194
>he can’t grasp the Absolute

>>16304100
Sell it to me

>>16303779
Of course.

>>16304948
Yes

>>16302667
The Prince of nothing

>>16304111
>tell me its shit
It's shit.

What its shit is, especially?
It's bland, generic, and most of all, extremly rushed, having no place to breath any kind of atmosphere.
And its prose is shit. Not just badly written, but in parts even in broken english. Anon before gave a few pointers.

Anon before also spoke about how it feels "like a very first attempt at writing", and I gotta agree. However, if I remember some of my first attempts at writing, especially genre fiction, I can't blame you. I won't dissuade you. It was shit. Now go and write something else, which will probably also be shit. And on and on. At some point you'll get better.

>>16302519
Harry Potter for the sick /tv/ memes

>>16305645
>>16304340
it is the first thing i've ever written so congrats you two guessed that correctly, I'll scrap it and start anew

>>16304111
metaphor in the first sentence isn't working for me. the rest is just web novel prose and pointless to critique. read more.

>>16298305
Exactly how much pedophile content is in those books that contain pedophilia? Asking for a friend, he said that the list is potentially 'extremely interesting'.

>>16302981
Thank you

>>16305381
the absolute = COOMING

>>16300271
The point of the story was to make money.

>>16297789
Dragons and elves are interesting. Niggers and women are not

>>16301381
>>16301499
You are being misled by your fetishes. Also I'm not sure if we are getting a sequel since he has published 4 other books since then. Seems like he wants to focus on his gay litrpg stories.

>>16301842
Makes no sense, if you have space travel you already have devastating weapons (just strap an engine to an asteroid). Same if aliens come here using portal tech, just open a portal to the centre of a black hole/sun/whatever.

>>16305991
To you gay incels, no they're not.

>>16301842
The High Crusade

>>16305870
Anyone on this board who has not read Harry Potter is way too old for it. And 99% of the millennials and zoomers have read it.

Is Codex Alera worth reading?

>>16302519
Vorkosigan, Discworld, Hainish Cycle, Solar Cycle

>>16305991
This, I just can't force myself to care about female MCs.

>>16306221
Same. How do I fix this?

>>16306231
Suicide

>>16302667
>karsa trilogy
How does it feel knowing that Karsa won't even show up in the first book, maybe even the second?
I'll still read it, but I'll admit I'm a bit disappointed.
Also seconding The Prince of Nothing.

>>16306231
you can't, its genre fiction. male authors cant write female characters and the female authors cant write.

>>16306166
Sell me on the other 3 than Discworld (which I've read)?

I saw some video of a hapa whore seething about this so that put it on my radar, but is it actually good?

>>16306768
Unless you're a complete brainlet, this alone should tell you what kind of a book it is. Cmon anon, this is basic stuff.

Is science fiction even THAT scientific, bros?

Recommend some poetic fantasy novel with melancholic descriptions of landscapes, castles, etc.

>>16306818
What seperate young adult fantasy with regular fantasy?

>>16306818
It's missing the lesbian tag.

>>16305997
Didn't he start as a litrpgay writer? I mean the prison game with Shakespeare plays was his first books.

>>16297288
Daniel Black series and Alice Long are fully published. He only started the money grubbing tactics after he became a "full time" author. He had better work ethics when he had a 9-5 job.

>>16306868
>Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age.

>>16300271
>a story has to have a point
you'll grow up some day

>>16304111
Bland and generic, and also rushed, in one short paragraph character approached the village, entered the village, did some things there and left the village.

What are some best self inserting Fantasy series?
I read Book of the New Sun and Black Company
liked both
Anymore?
im new, i come from reading visual novels so I can only read self inserting books

>>16307415
>self inserting books
What

>>16303461
Read Mort next.

>>16307415
Wrong place. Visual Novels and Video Games are peak self insert.

>>16307702
Book of the New Sun was a great self insert book tho

>>16306848

The Tartar Steppe
:)

Where do you learn the sort of descriptive terminology for things like architecture?
>atriums
>palisades
>awning
>copse
Like, yeah, you can pick up a dictionary, but surely there's a resource for things like geography and architecture. It's frustrating when I'm trying to relay a specific kind of location on or in a structure and the word doesn't immediately come to mind.

>>16307955
you keep reading books until you learn as much as you can and no new works come up

September 15 is next week!
So many fresh releases.

>>16307955
>what the hell is a poop deck?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poop_deck

>>16307955
Francis D.K. Ching has a stellar set of books that are all accessible to newcomers.
He has hand-drawn illustrations alongside his very detailed explanations of what certain element of a structure/building are.
"Form, Space, and Order" is a more conceptual book that concerns the things in the title of the book.

>>16307955
Read a book on architecture about the buildings or style you want to describe.

If you don't know the word off hand, you don't know enough. Research and learn.

Book, mate. Find one. Read it. Find another. Read it. Open your mind.

>>16302981
>>16302940
here's part two if anyone's interested
http://indbooks.in/mirror1/?page_id=439476
>>16302303
>Also, that sounds like a sexual fetish.
not gonna lie, the image of musket-armed teddy bears getting turned into Swiss cheese with ar-15s made me rock hard.

>>16307955
Do Americans really?

>>16307981
The Piranesi audiobook is going to be extreemely comfy, based on the short preview clip. And C Paolinis new book might be interesting too.

>>16307981
>reading new stuff

>>16307967
>>16308152
>dude just READ
Fuck you, if I knew where to look I would.
>>16308139
Very based, thank you for a real answer anon.

The way Hobb got trashed in this thread, and how it compares to the cocksucking Sanderson gets in this thread, really shows what a bunch of tasteless faggots you guys are

>>16308598
>defending hobb while shitting on sanderson
irony

>>16308598
>cocksucking Sanderson gets in this thread
are you sure we're in the same thread?

>>16308552
google word you don't understand and fucking read the fucking book you moron.

>>16308658
I'm not asking for a word I don't understand. I'm asking for a part of a building that I know visually but have no word for.

>>16306012
>>16302303
Imagine an alien race that's not an apex predator on it's planet and can reproduce only once in their life. Each female can have either one child or twins. Population grows but really slowly, so each colony member is extremely valuable. Killing another member of your own species is a taboo far worse than among humans. Our aliens can fly, so air is their natural expansion direction. They develop sophisticated technology to evade working the fields and run from dinosaur-like predators hunting them on the ground. At one point aliens realize they can use their planes to drop giant rocks (that later become bombs) on the predators and shoot them with large bore cannons. Anything smaller than 88cal is pointless, because of size of their opponents. Dinosaurs go extinct, civilization flourishes. The aliens start conventional space travel with rockets and visit nearby planets. It just so happens that primitive civilization of dinosaur cousins lives on planet next to theirs.
Aviants freak out and go into genocide mode. Their guns and bombs were enough to kill pyramid building, sword-welding dinos with ease. At this point aliens feel like gods, bringing death and destruction from the skies. They develop Jihad-centered religion with Bible telling them to imminently kill any life threatening the pan-planetary colony. Poking around the system in search for mineable asteroids they discover a wormhole leading to solar system. Watching the Earth from distance they discover that we are capable of flying things into space, which terrifies them. A 100-spaceship fleet armed similarly to pre-WW1 dreadnoughts is send to bomb us from above just to discover that any malnourished Syrian rebel with heat-seeking Igla launcher can take down their fragile anti-gravity engines causing the ship to drop off the sky.

>>16308598
It wasn't that bad was it? Certainly her works are infinitely more literary and heart-tugging than anything Sanderson has shat out.

>>16308623
Everyone is only able to see what they want to see.

Why is Wheel of Time so long? What could he possibly write about ?

Im finishing book 1 and cant see why anyone would read so much of this crap

>>16309120
SUNK COST COMFINESS!

>>16309120
It’s fun

>>16309120
>Why is Wheel of Time so long?
More money for the publishers.

>>16306840
Greg Egan is.

>>16309120
for the same reason Big Bang Theory had 12 Seasons

>>16298782
Im buying A Fire Upon the Deep this week. What can I expect?

>>16309480
>buying

What is the consensus on the Kane stories by Karl Edward Wagner?

here's my personal recommendations list

>>16309746
Consensus: BASED. The short stories are better than the full length novels though.

>>16304665
Let me get a link

>>16309751
nice thanks. Started looking around for print versions and they seem to be fairly rare and expensive. My local library has a hardcover of the following

>>16309765
No. I'll tell you what anthology it is after I read it.

>>16309782
Well whatever you do do NOT purchase/read the Gateway Essentials versions of these stories. Those SJW faggots actually edited out some things that triggered them, those fucking queers.

>>16309782
Also Gods in Darkness collects the 3 full length Kane novels and not the short stories, but you you should probably steal that book from your library because it's OOP and expensive. Darkness Weaves is the best Kane novel. Bloodstone is the second best; the middle section of the story is not very good, but the beginning and end are pure S&S kino. And Dark Crusade is in last place. I can't even really explain DC; it's like Wagner was going for something more grounded and it just didn't really work for me.

>>16309480
the author has crafted a very interesting universe using quite a few rather original concepts and made something with them I'd like to describe as a modern cosmic horror story

We page 10 now with no new thread.

It's finally over... I never have to hear about Boring of the Nonsense Shitfest again... I'm crying guys...

>>16309996
Did Rothfuss die?

Sffg ends.
I'm finally free from this prison that held me captive for 6 Long years.

>>16310263
BotNS, anon, keep up