/lit/ - Literature

first for zyzz

>>16746236
Strangest book I've ever read, even outside of genreshit. The way the narration folds over in the second and third book into a weird Mobius strip that would make Nabokov blush, and all the surreal events tied up in a very touching and heartbreaking personal journey really makes it a remarkable piece of literature.
"Silk nodded" was the most impactful sentence in any book I've read.

>>16755068
I am thinking about writing a story the basic progression of which is this:
Nuclear war -> Genetically engineered successor race -> humans survive somehow -> magick but it's just a simulation, maybe (spooky epistemic uncertainty) -> race war between successor race and humans

So which other works have already done most/all of these elements?

Anyone else like John Crowley?

>>16755120
I'm reading Ka. It's great.

>>16755147
I'm reading Ka too. Really enjoying it. I'm putting off finishing it because I don't want t to end.
Have you read any of his other books?

>>16755120
Yeah, just Little, Big and Otherwise, but he's fantastic.

>making Urithiru great again, one way or the other
>Venli's great escape
>radiant envoys to Shadesmar
>Dalinar and Jasnah en route to curb stomp Ishar in Emul with Taravangian shenanigans almost guaranteed
Are your bodies ready Sanderfriends? Are your booties already blasted haters? What are we looking forward to most? Theories or predictions?
If you've read the preview chapters, I think the weird person messaging Navani might somehow be the Sibling if it turns out to be the Bondsmith spren of ancient fabrials.

>>16755190
I read Little Big a long time ago which I honestly probably didn't fully understand then. I've been meaning to reread it. His early work like Engine Summer seems pretty wild so I want to find a copy.

LOOOOOOOK AT ME, EVERYOOONE!!
I'M WOOOOOOOOOOOOORLDBUILDINGGGGGGGG

>>16755399
We get it, autist-kun.

Looking to talk to people about indie fantasy novels. Read Chateau Cascade recently and loved it. Anyone else?

.

>>16755078
>race war between successor race and humans
Everyone and their mom has done it, fampai, from the Matrix to Crest of the Stars animu (which is based on a long series of sf novels) where some non-modified humans for some reason still don't want to be enslaved by a race of 10/10 virtually immortal gentically engineered space elf waifus.

>>16755078
you jest need some litrpg elements, haremshit and a bit of chink wuxia stuff to round it off and you'll have a true smorgasbord of shit

>>16755421
Sure, my fav ones are Dhalgren, Hogg and Boku no Pico :3

>>16755421
Tried it, wasn't even worth the effort to pirate it.
Stop shilling this.

>>16755428
Greg Egan on the right

>>16755468
>Dhalgren
Have you read Naked Lunch?

>>16755484
Yes. Liked Cities of Red Night much better though. But the Naked Lunch film is pretty rad, one of Cronenbergh's best.

>>16755460
The successor race are dragons

>>16755522
Is their interspecies sex? You need to add some, to attract otherkin and furfags, cause they're, like, the only people who still buy shit. All others just pirate.

>>16755538
Yes but only two instances depicted in 5 games and one of them is rape

>>16755544
I hope it's a male on male rape, otherwise you gonna get cancelled, nigga

>>16755580
It is, but it's an asian dragon raping an asian man so still PrObLeMaTiC

>>16755421
Fuck off

Xianxia lads I've been reading Divine Throne of Primordial Blood and it's fucking incredible.

One of the few times in all of genre fiction that the protagonist is smart in a way that doesn't rely on either unknowable bullshit or everyone else being idiots.
And the fights are great too, instead of the genre standard of winning by being more powerful/having a power up mid battle they're won by outwitting or outmaneuvering the opponent.
Might straight up be the best fantasy book I've read in 2020

Based, redpilled, but also comfy

Reply to this post with your favourite SFF book series and gush about why you love it

>>16755190
Little Big and Engine Summer are great.

Are there any fantasy books where the romance actually benefits the plot and characters and isn't written too autistically?

>>16755957
Chalion, Chalion sequel kinda
Expand it to loads if you include heartbreaks and betrayals

>>16755917
>book series
>love
Everything turns to shit after book 2 maximum
LoTR included. Change my mind.

>>16755957

>>16755974
I also do not read book series.

>>16755974
Return of The King is great.

>>16755974
That's not fair, lotr was shit from the start that nigger tolkien should have left off with the hobbit

bros is Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy good? What's the peak of modern fantasy? I haven't read anything made after the 90s except Barthimeus Trilogy.

>>16755917
The Culture series is good because its worldview is similar to mine. I don't care, fuck you.

What's the fantasy literature equivalent of Kanye and Jay-Z working on an album together?

>>16756238
Bakker

>>16755479
Why would you pirate it when it's available for free? I will talk about whatever books I want btw thank u

Any good fantasy anthologies?

I've heard, from a Lord Dunsany video, that fantasy tends to work better as short stories than novels.

What's some proper mind-bender SFF you guys can recommend?

>>16756399
Wheel of Time

I'd like to talk to people about indie fantasy novels. Read Chateau Cascade recently and loved it. Anyone else? Not sure why my other post disappeared must be a glitch

>>16756596
Wasn't this written by a sffg regular? If you're gonna advertise just be open and upfront about it.

>>16756596
Fuck off spammer.

>>16755068
charts
https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ

>>16756632
Why has the link died twice now?

>>16755068
Vote for Wintersteel
https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-fantasy-books-2020

>>16756638
I assume you mean the first time about a year ago and the second time about two weeks ago. It was only down for a like a day, people just don't pay attention to posts. First time was because I moved it to a different account and the second time was because someone had it removed, I assume by reporting it and that's just how it was for whatever reason.

>>16756504
Don't bother, I've asked this in the last 3 threads and nobody replied

>>16756504
What kind of fantasy are you looking for?

>>16755068
SOME NOVEMBER RELEASES
NEAL ASHER - Lockdown Tales
R.J. BARKER - Call of the Bone Ships
HOLLY BLACK - How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
D.J. BUTLER - Serpent Daughter
P.D. CACEK - Second Chances
ANDREW CALDECOTT - Lost Acre
ORSON SCOTT CARD - Zanna’s Gift: A Life in Christmases
ERNEST CLINE - Ready Player Two
GENEVIEVE COGMAN - The Dark Archive
IAN DOUGLAS - Stargods
IAN C. ESSLEMONT - The Jhistal
JOHN FLESKES - Spectrum 27: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
ALAN DEAN FOSTER - Madrenga
DIANA GABALDON & JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS - The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020
W. MICHAEL GEAR - The Alpha Enigma
CHARLIE N. HOLMBERG - Spellbreaker
BENEDICT JACKA - Forged
CAITLÍN R. KIERNAN - Comes a Pale Rider
R.F. KUANG - The Burning God
MERCEDES LACKEY, ED. - Passages
JOE R. LANSDALE - Fishing for Dinosaurs and Other Stories
JONATHAN LETHEM - The Arrest
JONATHAN MABERRY - Ink
JONATHAN MABERRY - Lost Roads
TAMSYN MUIR - Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower
J.K. ROWLING - The Ickabog
BRANDON SANDERSON - Rhythm of War
LAVIE TIDHAR - The Big Blind
HARRY TURTLEDOVE - Salamis
KIMBERLY UNGER - Nucleation
JAMES VAN PELT - The Best of James Van Pelt
JANEEN WEBB - A Dynasty of Dragons
CONNIE WILLIS - Take a Look at the Five and Ten

reviews not being posted here: various non-sff, Ken Liu collections, Glass Hotel
If you liked pre-event parts of Station Eleven by the same author, then you may like Glass Hotel because that's basically all it is.

>>16756504
Roger Zelazny was great at short stories. Unicorn Variations is probably my favorite. It has sf and fantasy.

>>16756694
Second book from the Rage of Dragon series is out today

>>16756504
SWORDS AGAINST __________

>>16756504
That's wrong. Fantasy works better as novels and sci-fi as short stories.

>>16755068
The Bone Shard Daughter, The Drowning Empire #1 - Andrea Stewart (2020)
This is shelved considerably more as "Adult", but it's clearly much more on the "Young Adult" side. I saw it on the Goodreads Choice Awards and it seemed moderately interesting, so I read it.
The magic system is similar to block-based coding, where each block is powered by the life force of a human, channeled through a bone shard of their skull that everyone must tithe to the Emperor. It's to be seen if it can be used for anything other than the creation of constructs. It's interesting, but it's not explored much in this book as the relevant character is just learning about it. Maybe it'll explored more in later books. Other magic systems seem to exist, but for now are simply "just something that happens" rather than any understanding of what is going on with them.
There are 5 POVs, some in 1st person and others in 3rd person. They are The Smuggler, The Princess, The Lover, The Exile, and The Rebel. Of those, only The Smuggler isn't female, though he journeys to find his wife. Although the characters are in their early to mid 20s, they don't seem like it, but maybe I've already forgotten what that's like as I've felt similarly with other recent modern SFF titles with characters of a similar age.
The setting is an archipelago that was seized from the natives some centuries ago, but apparently the islands are free floating and anchored so I don't quite know what's going on with that. Early on one of the islands sinks and that's a cause for much alarm, though not without precedent in their historical records.
I found a lot of it to be nonsensical and the ending was kind of a mess, but it was otherwise fine. I can certainly understand why it would be enjoyed by a lot of people, but it's not really something for me. I won't be reading the next book in the series, simply for lack of interest. Yes, it does a lot of stuff that I like and enjoy, but I found it to be a watered down experience at best.
I'm conflicted about the title because it's a major and blatant spoiler. I don't know whether that's appropriate so that the reader can later say "Oh, I understand now! I GET IT!" or if it's expected of the reader to to realize the twist immediately, because it seems to be played as something the reader shouldn't have figured out until late in the story.
Lastly, maybe it was just me, but I felt it was surprisingly influenced by Westworld than by necromancy, which is what I thought it would be about considering the title.
Rating: 3/5

Yes, I see the endorsement on the cover. No, I don't care.

>>16756691
A kind of fantasy that resembles the stuff written by Lord Dunsany and George MacDonald.

>>16756739
Could try Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy
Or you know, read those authors short story collections if you haven't.

>>16755399
Bout to do me some world building fellas

>>16756784
Please keep your fantasy to yourself

>>16756614
>>16756631
Im not the author and I'm not advertising or spamming I just like the book. I don't understand, is it not okay to talk about Chateau Cascade here? I liked the book, it's a good fantasy novel and this is the fantasy novel thread.

>>16756759
Thank you for the recommendation, anon.

>trying to force a meme

>>/lit/image/Lsm23KoVeHJte0SoqHrPXg
lel
>creating your own general to promote your book
wew

So has anyone read Chateau Cascade or no? Is it against the rules to discuss this book for some reason?

>>16756944
Being honest about your shilling and asking for opinions will net you better results than whatever it is that you're currently doing. You've just made sure anyone reading your posts now will never touch your book just because you're an insufferable cunt.

Oh and the cover looks cheap as shit btw, I would never touch a book that looked like that.

>>16757003
>I would never touch a book that looked like that.

Not the author but I am curious, /sffg/.

That are some things in fantasy covers that immediately put you off from buying a book? What covers appeal to you?

>>16757003
I didn't write the book what are you talking about

>>16756694
>ERNEST CLINE - Ready Player Two
Fucking whhhhhhyyyyyyyyy.

>>16757013
The worst covers are shit like pic related, or anything that looks like promotional artwork for a zero budget TV series

A good cover should be mysterious, but highly evocative of the book's overall mood

>>16757013
This particular cover is just cheap, it's not a problem of style. It looks like something a highschooler with 2 months of drawing lessons put together. That's sad because it's actually easy and cheap to buy quality covers these days. If anon paid more than 5 bucks for that cover he got ripped off.

>That are some things in fantasy covers that immediately put you off from buying a book?

Photographic covers in general are red flags in the fantasy genre, especially so if it's a photograph of a person, a face shot or a full body shot in tacky medieval armor for example, never touch that book.

Judging a book by the cover is a sound strategy. Modern publishers for all their faults are actually really good at telling you what kind of a book it is through the cover. Whether it's YA, high fantasy or grim derp etc. They need to in order to reach the right audience to sell the most copies.

>>16757292
>Photographic covers in general are red flags in the fantasy genre,
Yen Press really goofed at first with using photographic covers. They actually thought they would improve sales.

>>16757233
These look like shit and yet theyre associated with books that have sold millions

now THIS is a cover

>>16757358
Just goes to show that if the book is great the cover doesn't matter

I don't plan on reading the wheel of time but how can spanking play such a significant role in a story that it's a meme at this point

>>16757503

duty first :3

>>16757390
i am beyond surprised there are japanese translations for book of the new sun. its not a big seller at all

>>16757510
I don't know what this means but it made me laugh

>>16757503
>how can spanking play such a significant role in a story

It doesn't.

>>16757358
Trash sells. The average cover in an airport bookstore is downright repulsive

>>16757563
Then where do the memes come from

>>16757575
It happens but it's mostly off screen and not mentioned all that much. It's just one of those weird Jordanisms people picked up on and started memeing about.

>>16757594
>off screen
off page

>>16757602
>off page

No, sounds stupid af.

>>16757602
off page sounds like it never happened and people made it up

What's the best way to read all of Elric of Melnibone? I've read one book that contained the first three stories chronologically but I want to read all of them. Any collected editions you'd recommend or is it better to just read through everything online?

Also is reading everything Elric worth it? Or are there a few key stories that are better to focus on? Anything worth completely ignoring?

>>16757575
Spanking is a thing in WoT (mostly thinking someone *should* be spanked), and it gets noticed and memed. This is meme 101, srs.

>>16757727
Follow this chronological order. It pays dividends.

Book 1: Elric of Melnibone (1972)
Book 2: The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)
Book 3: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
Book 4: The Weird of the White Wolf (1961)
Book 5: The Sleeping Sorceress (1970)
Book 6: The Revenge of the Rose (1991)
Book 7: The Bane of the Black Sword (1962)
Book 8: Stormbringer (1963)

https://rossonl.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/how-to-read-the-elric-saga-publication-order-vs-chronology-ii/

>>16755917
Don't know if it's my favorite but I love The Edge Chronicles. I read it first when I was in 6th grade and I loved it ever since. I can't wait to have kids and read it to them.

The world is unique and has tons of cool creatures and illustrations, the stories are great and interesting and so are the characters. I want to buy them all so I can reread them but from just thinking about it for a second I think the first book might be the best. The protagonist is forced to leave his home and wander the world, a great device for exploring the world and introducing the audience to it because we learn along with the character.

The central antagonist of the 3rd book is literally the devil and it's great how he gets introduced and his long term story impact.

One of the best things about the series are the beautiful illustrations. I just love every part of it

>>16757796
Thank you!

>>16755895
Should I read this, or Pandora's Star?

I liked Great North Road, and liked Salvation but tapped out 50 pages before the end of Salvation 2.

What is your favorite format to read, and why is it Trade Paperback followed closely by Kindle Paperwhite?

>>16757889
Generally I don't like reading ebooks but I've never used a kindle

Just started reading Shadow of the Torturer, and I'm really digging the style. Reading this at the same time as catcher in the rye, and there are some surprising similarities. That said, how much of the style is superfluous filler stuff? Or does it all come together later? I've been trying to keep it all in my head at the moment, but a lot of the details seem like they're more for the writing style than for the story.

>>16757233
> A Game of Thrones
>not artwork of a throne
>A Storm of Swords
>A Fucking Helmet
brilliant

Whose the Dean Koontz of fantasy/scifi?

>>16757889
my paperwhite is my favorite
i want to get a kobo libra, but they're expensive and I heard they have uneven lighting by design and qc issues

>>16757889
Hardcover books feel better than softcover as long as they don't have the dust jacket on.

>>16758036
Yeah the dust jacket gets in the way for me. But i move my books around a lot e.g. to read on the bus, so no dust jacket hardcovers would get rekt

I have tons of ideas that I’ve written down and kept in a 3-ring binder but it’s mostly lore and backstory and world building. I don’t have a narrative, a story I can tell about this world I’m creating. It’s the worst kind of writer’s block.

>>16757889
>trade paperback
this. hardcovers are such a pain to carry around and keep open to read. and mass market paperbacks are made for ants. trade is the way to read and my shelf is almost entirely made up of them.
thinkin about getting a kindle paperwhite but i dont really want to give amazon money

>>16758322
maybe get a kobo nia
I think they're cheaper than a paperwhite and just as good

>>16758169
Work backwards then. You have a world, how is it shaped? What conflicts are going to spring up due to factors like geography and resources? How does technological progress differ between areas?

>>16758447
>>16758169
Another thing to consider is your setting's important events. Did a civilization collapse? Could there be an interesting story drawn from it? What about the founding of some institution? Are there figures embedded in your setting that you find yourself drawn to? What did they do that makes them interesting? Could you tell a story about that? How would people in your setting react to a large-scale event? Think "how" and then extrapolate. Note that an action-reaction type of view can also be a good worldbuilding tool.

>>16756646
>https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-fantasy-books-2020
Thanks, voted for Piranesi (even though I didn't read it) just to piss you weebs off!

>>16758322
But sometimes it can be real difficult to find trade paperbacks of any book that's more than a year or two old.

>>16757825
Is that the series where some guy in the desert collects toe nails or fingers or something like that? I remember enjoying those but I think I dropped them early because the MC got changed

>>16757853
Don't pick up RD if you're not in the mood for a long book and quite a bit of exposition. The descriptions may seem drawn out and it takes a while to get used to. But I was in the mood for some worldbuilding porn so I didn't mind. Plus the way he describes things is super comfy. You just want to visit these places, you go 'Heck, I hate my boring apartment, wish I lived on that colony planet, even in that shitty town where they're all semi-hobos'. And when the plot finally gets going, it's a wild and spooky ride.

>>16758540
Welp, I just ordered the trade paperback editions of the Commonwealth Duology and the Night's Dawn trilogy. Wish me luck.

>>16758497
explain to me the difference between trade and mass market PB

>>16757889
Audiobook. I really like the extra dimension that the narrator brings to it.

>>16758631
I like a good audiobook, the format can turn an average book into something really good with the right narrator. But I only choose the audio option if I've already read the book and in the mood for a reread. Listening to a new book for the first time just doesn't feel right to me.

>>16758169
typical worldbuildingcel

merc captain with a demon eye, there you go

>>16758621
mass market are smaller and shittier quality and come out later, look at the horus heresy ones for example, very small

>>16755989
Looks like a book written solely for women. Sell it to me, sweaty.

>>16757889
It's actually Moon Reader+ on my phone (if you have any type of ad protection, even just DNS set to dns.adguard you won't get any ads).

>>16757563
Based liar

>>16758169
Write a scene like you just stumbled into it. What happens next? If nothing, write a different scene.

>>16758322
Buy used Kindle in good shape then. If it works then it works just as well as when it was bought. Yeah maybe you will have to charge a bit more often (little chance of that since it gets charged so rarely it's hard for the battery to degrade due to the number of cycles), but does it really matter if you have to do it every sixth or every fifth day?

>>16755241
I feel a lot of the book will be setup for Book 5 since that's the big midway break book.
>>16755852
Post a link.
>>16756574
Time Out of Joint by PKD.

>>16755852
If you are trolling then know that nobody will read more than a chapter based solely on a random anon's post if it's bad.
Anyway I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and check it out.

>>16759065
some people will and you just proved that

Finished my goal of 52 books 1.5 months early, anons. Is it lame to celebrate by posting my last review on social media?

>>16759069
I hope they aren't crap, but even if they are congrats, now read the bible

>Is it lame to celebrate by posting my last review on social media?

you should link to all of them

>>16759089
>Bible
I have the KJV because Bloom memed it but I'm happy to hear your suggestion.

>>16759067
lrn2read

>>16759113
KJV is best for muh literary value but unless you are a super genius it isn't the best for clarity and you will misinterpret stuff because meaning of words and stuff has changed

NKJV is KJV but with all the super archaic stuff changed, still has the same aesthetic

>>16755852
>>16759065
Decided not to read it, he apparently gets drugged once and rapes someone, then emboldened by that he rapes everyone even without getting drugged.

I'm not afraid or disgusted by rape (in fact I tap to it from time to time) but books with rapist MCs are never worth my time so it's just one too many red flag for me.

>>16759191
>in fact I tap to [rape] from time to time
You tap or fap to rape?

>>16757384
looks beautiful

>>16759191
there isn't any rape in it

>>16759303
He even rapes the main love interest.

>>16759222
t is close to on the keyboard
from context it seems to be fap

>>16759375
you're definitely looking up a different book

>>16759419
https://www.wuxiaworld.com/novel/divine-throne-of-primordial-blood

>>16759191
>books with rapist MCs are never worth my time

challenge accepted

>>16759484
or you know, book of the incel sun

>>16759191
>books with rapist MCs are never worth my time
book with MCs that aren't rapists aren't worth my time

>>16758523
Yeah I think that happens in the second book. There's 10 books in the original series and 3 trilogies within that focus on a different character from the same family. I'd still recommend you read them cuz they're all really good

Is there anyone with a more impressive work rate than Adrian Tchaikovsky in the sci fi and fantasy genres? He has another 4 releases coming in the first quarter of 2021.

>>16759736

>churning out ai-tier doggerel
>impressive

>>16759736
L. Ron Hubbard published a lot of work too, doesn't mean it's worth reading

>>16759736
>impressive
This is as convincing of a dissuasion to never ever read a book written by the author that I've ever come across.

Nobody who writes that much has any semblance of meaningful quality control.

>>16759863
The majority of his non-Shadows of the Apt work ranges from above average to great despite the excessive release rate. That's what's impressive.

>>16755481
Permutation City was solid. Some stories aren't necessarily about the main character. I can't remember the name of any of the characters from I, Robot or Brave New World.

>>16758169
A man escapes his hanging and kidnaps a knight's eleven year old daughter before fleeing.

>>16758169
You're a shit writer, I hope all you "world builders" lose all capacity to communicate so you don't soil literature with your garbage. Fuck you.

>>16760180
That sounds like a Lolita riff on Flesh and Blood. Would read.

>>16759736
How many are about bug fucking? Or Spiders?

Is Brandon Sanderson that bad, even compared to Terry Goodkind?

>>16760751
Compared to Goodkind, no. He is not bad-bad, just mediocre.

>>16760180
>>16760242
I hope you realize that's a Game of Thrones.

Id just like to say fuck Stranger in a Strange Land. Shit was great for the first half, then it hits this fucking bullshit IM GOD LETS MAKE A SEX CULT part and goes down hill.

>>16755068
Too Like The Lightning read starting the 15th
https://mega.nz/folder/291U3IiB#Q7jo55buuEEi9CTYXUVvvA

Is wizard knight childish
I know wolfe has written about rape and shit but the whole synopsis just sounds like a self insertion larp for kids

>>16760304
Less than you think, though giant insects are present in most of his fantasy worlds. Wildlife is basically his speciality.

Spiderlight does have actual human on spider fucking. And cucking.

>>16761409
>Too like the Lightning
Is this standalone? If not, is the series finished already?
>>16761423
Yeah, on the surface level the narrator sounds like a kid. It's obviously more complicated than that.

I'm just getting into sci-fi, read the first Dune and enjoyed it.
Any suggestions as to what to read next? The /lit/ charts on faq seem pretty bare bones when it comes to sci-fi suggestions

>>16761511
Read Hogg by Samuel R. Delany.

>>16761322
>Game of thrones invented the older man/younger girl trope
Try reading sometime

>>16761489
>TLTL
No, it isn't to either.

>>16761713
Literally The Hound and Arya. Doesn't mean it can't be other than that though.

>>16761489
It's a 4 book series, with the 4th book expected in 2021.

My favorite fantasy novel is Chateau Cascade. Would anyone like to discuss it?

>>16761905
I've purchased many copies.

>>16761409
>
Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)
Rate this book
1 of 5 stars
2 of 5 stars
3 of 5 stars
4 of 5 stars
5 of 5 stars
Too Like the Lightning
(Terra Ignota #1)
by Ada Palmer (Goodreads Author)
3.84 ·
Rating details · 9,157 ratings · 1,750 reviews
Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer--a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away.

The world into which Mycroft and Carlyle have been born is as strange to our 21st-century eyes as ours would be to a native of the 1500s. It is a hard-won utopia built on technologically-generated abundance, and also on complex and mandatory systems of labeling all public writing and speech. What seem to us normal gender distinctions are now distinctly taboo in most social situations. And most of the world's population is affiliated with globe-girdling clans of the like-minded, whose endless economic and cultural competition is carefully managed by central planners of inestimable subtlety.
Sounds like tumblr garbage, I'll pass

>threadly reminded to read Bakker, but only after you've read everything else on your fantasy list, because he will ruin everything that comes before, and salt the genre to you forever.


‘And they forged counterfeits from our frame, creatures vile and obscene, who hungered only for violent congress. These beasts they loosed upon the land, where they multiplied, no matter how fierce the Ishroi who hunted them. And soon Men clamoured at our gates, begging sanctuary, for they could not contend with the creatures. “They wear your face,” the penitents cried. “This calamity is your issue.” But we were wroth, and turned them away, saying, “These are not our Sons. And you are not our Brothers.”’

>threadly reminded to read Bakker, but only after you've read everything else on your fantasy list, because he will ruin everything that comes before, and salt the genre to you forever.


‘And they forged counterfeits from our frame, creatures vile and obscene, who hungered only for violent congress. These beasts they loosed upon the land, where they multiplied, no matter how fierce the Ishroi who hunted them. And soon Men clamoured at our gates, begging sanctuary, for they could not contend with the creatures. “They wear your face,” the penitents cried. “This calamity is your issue.” But we were wroth, and turned them away, saying, “These are not our Sons. And you are not our Brothers.”’

>>16761489
Is it for kids or not

>>16761322
Never read it, stopped watching the show at S2.

>>16761423
No it is not.

sff about clerics or religious fighting orders such as knights templar?

>>16762256
Soul of the Paladin kind of

It's mostly about a curse and a thirsty middle aged woman

>>16761998
He's basically writing full fledged fantasy Dune, right? Does this style keep up?

>>16762267
>Soul of the Paladin
bujold?

>>16762296
Yes

>>16762267
>>16762296
>>16762312
Fuck me this is like the third time I've got the title mixed up

>>16762272
It's like an ultra-grimdark Dune crossed with the Silmarillion, the Old Testament, Plato, Lovecraft and Nietzsche. It's almost a rebuke or inversion of the fantasy genre, while at the same time a masterful example of baroque world-building, filled with historical, literary and genre references.

I recommend this series if you want to coom to spiders rubbing their tits while they get a cummy

>>16762322
no prob smart anon here

Any /sffg/ books that match the comfy Thanksgiving to Christmas season?

>>16762338
Grimdark and worldbuilding immediately put me off.

>>16761511
read Dune Messiah

>>16762393
to each their own, anon.

>>16755068
that hair....

>>16762398
not him, im currently reading it and im enjoying it, I heard that frank herbert gets more scifi the more you get into the other books and im seeing some of that in the second book.

Are there any "boy and his dog" type of stories where a protagonist and their special pet explore a desolate/ unknown world together?

>>16762398
>>16762460
read god emps then stop, wiki rest if you dare

I started The Torturer’s Apprentice. Seemed shitty and stopped. Does it get better

>>16762502
Wizard/Knight.

My favorite fantasy novel is Chateau Cascade. Would anyone like to discuss it??

>>16762637
It was much better than Cats. I'm going to read it again and again.

>>16762648
Awesome! I loved it too

>>16762502

The Crossing

>>16756504
Orson Scott Card's short work is very good, he doesn't segregate his fantasy and it's not terribly Dunsanian though.

Hey guys, I just started my Skyrim style novel on the game's 9th anniversary.

Wish me luck!

How much of new fantasy/science fiction is just a large quantity of easily understandable words with a coherent story? Like Sanderson, it's what action thrillers have been for a while, just look at Patterson/Koontz/Brown, but- it seems like that's normal. I imagine mainstream fantasy is the same way?

>>16762256
The Cleric Quintet kind of scratches that itch, but only from the cleric perspective. Pretty solid series though.

>>16762393
>I hate worldbuilding!
Why? Do you just dislike long books or lack interest for settings outside easily quantifiable real world analogs?

>>16762637
I just have to say, that scene where they have to make a steampunk portal from the princess's butthole to reach the center of time? Exquisite. Probably the best relationship arc I've ever seen in genre fiction. The author should be proud.

I just finished a fantasy book and this popped up on my phone.

What did I read, /sffg/?

>>16763058
There is kind of an intuitive conservation law for the amount of interest an author can put into a story and that it is split. Egan has intense worldbuilding, characters are ciphers, Sandersand has big worldbuilding and little characters, KJ Parker has excellent characters and also invented an empire in book 3 of a series that was right next to everything everyone else had been doing but they'd just never been talked about.

>>16763101
Orphans of Chaos

>>16763101
Lord Foul's Bane

>>16757511
>>16757390
I don't see how it's possible for a Jap translation of Wolfe's writing except it being bad. Can somebody who's read them tell me how much they're able to capture the original?

>>16763039
Cleric Quintet was a surprising win for an IP story written to patch over the failings of the class. I'd recommend to anyone who knows what they're in for.

>>16763132
I can see your point. For me, I get so wrapped up in really good worldbuilding I can let a lot of other minor to moderate weaknesses go. That being said, the world building in Bakker's stuff is fairly opaque and incomplete, so I wouldn't say it distracts too much from what amounts to interesting characters and a really compelling story.

Is youtube down for anyone else? I can't get to listen to a few audiobooks I have bookmarked.

>>16763101
Mask of the Sorcerer

WTF is a "brane"

>>16763319
apparently

>>16763347
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brane
One of those things impossible to understand without a degree in theoretical physics

>>16763347
p-brane detected

>>16763369
I maintain that physicists are the absolute worst people in the world when it comes to naming things.

>>16763319
>>16763362
banic

>>16763319
it was down for a hot minute but came back up for me at least

>>16763366
>>16763369
who made this shit up?

>>16756737
Your sacrifice is appreciated. It sounds like only the worldbuilding really stood out to you? Are any of the characters well-developed at all?

>>16763403
String theory is on its way out, don't worry about it

>>16763319
WHAT THE FUCK DID WW3 START DID TRUMP START A COUP AGAINST BIDON?

SHOULD I GO TO THE BUNKER

>>16763474
the ron paul it's happening video won't play so obviously nothing happening

>>16763491
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKnX5wci404

>>16763506
well this didn't play either
a state of neither happening nor not happening
causality is collapsing around me

>>16763568
You've been eganpilled.

>>16763459
care to elaborate?

>>16763448
I don't consider it a sacrifice. That would be if I read something I didn't want to read for the sake of others who wanted to know if it was worth reading.
The characters are mostly defined by a single trait, which is why I listed them by archetypal roles.
Here are the development each receive at the end, by which I mean they explicitly state their character development.
The Smuggler after spending the entire book pining for his wife he decides that actually she doesn't matter and is probably dead anyway, so he ought to devote himself to toppling the empire.
The Princess...saying she will be a better ruler than her father, seems to change her mind and will be a far crueler ruler now that she's tasted power.
The Exile after not knowing anything about anything, suddenly knows a lot and decides the empire should be theirs.
The Lover....that she'll do anything for love, but she won't do that, does that.
The Rebel...that she'll do anything for love, but she won't do that, does that.
Yes, both the same.

>>16763652
Well it isn't dead but it's definitely fallen in popularity. If it was testable in any way that would be something to go on but it's all just messy theory.

>ahremehnee
>nahkhahrah
>dehrehbeh
>vahrohneeskos
>kooreeoee
>thoheeks
FUCKING STOP IT.
You don't need to cram your made up words into every paragraph. Some of them are the names of tribes, and I get that, but you don't need to give characters titles that are just syllable vomit. Just say horseman, or captain, or anything else, you fuck.
Anywhere there's a fair bit of gore and rape in here, all of the rape by the heroes. There's also a race of man-hating Amazons that keep seducing the women of a tribe they're teamed up with into lesbian sex, although none of that is detailed.

Well, this book was a colossal waste of time. I knew I should've just read Dune again for the nth time.

>>16763930
>Well, this book was a colossal waste of time
That's Stephenson for you

>>16762339
>A monster girl harem fantasy
I'll just read hentai if I want shit like that

>>16763998
>That's Stephenson for you
I honestly didn't know anything about his writing. I picked it up because the concept was fantastic. How did he manage to fuck up so badly? Doesn't he have any editors?

>>16764080
Not since he got famous no

Bakker is based, plain and simple. Yes his books needed a stronger editor and yes some of the books were a slog, but I may just reread them soon. I am on Dune Messiah now, and talk about a slog

>Everyone against Paul: We should form a conspiracy against Paul! He is too powerful!
>Paul: What have I done?! Do my visions create reality?
>Irulan: I want a baby Atredies!!!

>>16764080
I hear the first half of Seveneves was good and the last half was trash - is this your opinion? I REALLY enjoyed Anathem, and I normal-amount enjoyed Snow Crash. The only other book I own of his is Diamond Age, haven't read yet.

>>16764140
>I hear the first half of Seveneves was good and the last half was trash - is this your opinion?
I wouldn't say that the first two parts (there are three parts) are good. They have very interesting concepts, but most character have no development whatsoever. Also, Stephenson insists in explaining the same concepts about gravity, acceleration in space ("there's no up or down in space lol"), rocket fuel, splitting atoms, robotics etc over and over again. It's infuriating.
The last part is not even worth of being discussed, that's all I'll say about it.
Basically, 70% of the book consists in exposition and repetition.

I was dropped out of school after 6th grade
Only books read as an adult were for college or the ASOIaF series
What should my first REAL /sffg/ book be?

>>16761409
Should I read this on my Kindle or get a hardcover copy of the book?

>>16764270
Pick one, it probably won't be terrible

>>16764339
Let's gooo

I got bad constipation so lots of reading time.

>>16764416
Good choice

>>16764416
I got Cat's Cradle, Wicked, and the Princess Bride
which should I pick

>>16764500
meant for
>>16764339

>>16755068
How would Quantum effects scaled up the a macro scale work?

>>16764527
Quantum effects at a macro scale is just your every day physics

>>16764508
Princess bride

>>16757931

I would argue that Book of the New Sun is one of the few examples where almost nothing is “filler”. That said, you don’t need to comprehend and remember everything. One of the draws for Wolfe’s books is the reread value.

>>16764305
>paying

>>16764619
Do you like having money?

People do things, and then continue to do them because they can afford to. Not just to entertain you free of charge.

>>16764631
>Do you like having money?
No, money shouldn't exist.

>Not just to entertain you free of charge.
That's what you're doing.

>>16764548
>Princess bride
why

>>16763403
>monstrous moonshine
Whoever it is hails from Appalachia.

>>16763930
Every book I have read by Neal I wish I hadn't. There is something about his story structure and prose that turn what should be a story into a tedium of memorization of non-existent facts, in-world fluff, and uninteresting trivia.
One day I'm hoping a critic can enlighten me on what I'm missing.

the elements of style is meant to be really good for improving your writing

>>16756399
Any book. Jay-Z is Kanye, he just dons some clay lips.

>>16764619
If it's available on Kindle, I'm paying with the one click option every single time. Literature mostly replaced gaming for me, though, and I just pirate games and use a fraction of what that hobby used to cost on books instead.

>>16764549
I'm just trying to get back into reading regularly. I read the Wheel of Time over like three years and it nearly killed my will to read. I kind of forgot that things have value on a second read. Thanks Anon.

Is true that Rhym of War is just as bad as Oathbringer?

>>16761998
Based

>>16762637
Idk what the author was thinking when she put the baby rape scene off-screen. It made the Kings whole arc less surreal

>>16766723
I've read the preview chapters and I'm hype as fuck. Then again, I don't understand why people bitch about Oathbringer either.

This is your queen for tonight

Has anybody else read Supreme Magus? It's basically jobless reincarnation without the bad pacing issues.I fell in love when he was 3 years old and his older brother stole the soup from him. Then his older brother sets a gang of ruffians to beat the shit out of him as a 3 year old. So he gets his brother exiled. [/Spoiler]
I would recommend reading it off novelfull since webnovel is a scam.

>>16755481
True, but Egan's worlds are more interesting than many main characters.

>>16760751
His only offense is that his popularity sells his books. He is the epitome of being incredibly average but super successful.
He writes reddit and teenage audience level stories, he lacks any sort of prose which makes most of his stuff read like it came from AI Dungeon, and he's a half decent idea guy.

As always, I blame the Mormons.
If you ever wondered how Stephanie Meyer and Brandon Mull ever their shit out; look to their church.
It's way too convenient.

>>16764080

he hasn't let an editor near his work since Anathem. Everything after that is doggerel.

>>16764140

nah sveves is garbage from start to finish. the second half of the book could have gotten interesting but didn't. it's less like a second half and more like a vaguely related short story coda.

The Diamond Age is pretty solid but I'm not sure how well it has aged.

https://4chanlit.fandom.com/wiki/Charts#Fantasy
Why does trying to open an image just redirect me to the top of the page?

>>16767189
Because you're probably blocking something that is used to open the images.

>>16767194
I tried different browsers with no addons, no use

ffs, why aren't there at least paperback editions of Book of the new sun where all 4 books are printed separately anymore.

I am once again asking for a science fiction book with a hero's journey in an inter galactic setting

>Start reading the third Dune book
>Herbert mentions "Spice Orgies"

Are they what I'm thinking of or do people just consume massive amounts of spice in the sietch together rather than it being a purely sexual thing

>>16767611

Dune

>>16767636
Im finishing Dune Messiah

>>16767649

Like it so far? Messiah was always one of my favourites due to the different tone it had from the first book and how it felt more like a work of tragedy rather than a hero's journey like the first book

>>16767683
Ya glad I gave it a chance after hearing the sequel's were bad. Interesting twist on prophets

>>16756399
i guess something like Good Omens, havent read it yet tho

I read 16 chapters of latro and I'm considering dropping it. I really don't give a fuck about latros memory, I just wanted to see ancient greeks and greek gods doing cool shit

>>16755068
Pet owners are trash and disgusting.

>>16756504
Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books might be exactly what you’re looking for. They were a big influence on Tolkien and other fantasy writers from the late 19th and early 20th century. There are tons of them, and I haven’t read any of them, so I can’t recommend a specific volume.

>>16767611
consider phlebas

>>16767611
Hyperion cantos series

Done with Guns of the Dawn. Pretty decent. The premise is what if a Jane Austen heroine was drafted into war for the English army, except it's Vietnam and there are fire warlocks, and they're fighting the Soviets, or the German. Idk.
The extremely slow start was taxing, with just okay prose and a bunch of aristocratic drama. The last act could've had more polish. How many times do I need to read the enemy is efficient ffs. The war chapters picked up, brought back memories of war memoirs and Band of Brothers, even though the mist, the everchanging swamps and fog of war, all aesthetics motifs elsewhere, here felt more like a gimmick to mask some inadecuate pure action narrative. There's no East or North, no auxiliary positions or anything, so it's easy to make a whole mess of it. And it was nice.
The romance was... weird. It got me thinking that maybe whenever men and ladies are involved there's always bound to be some sexual tension or whatever, as if it was some law. Felt a little out of place, what with all the war drama, physical discomforts, constant dangers, people dying all around you, etc. you wouldn't be quite in the mood to ask yourself if you're in love with John or with Steve. That's the other part of Jane Austen or the Brontes, the full package. Still, the MC was pretty likable although another one of Tchaikovsky's underdog antiheroes, overly complex, that's a tad lucky at simply existing and pulling through. I think I've had my fill of them. He does some things pretty well; in his best, he's a page turner, but he can get kinda dense and repetitive in writing, not to mention his many pacing issues and pace gimmicks. His worst fault, I think, is that most of his side characters are very shallow and after a couple lines, every one of their actions is predictable and they become mere clichés to move the plot around.

>>16767627

it's more complicated than that. or at least Herbert eventually makes it more complicated. the idea is that since all the fremen are exposed to spice in high doses all the time, they end up with a similar problem to the twins: they can be exposed to possession by their ancestors. the sietch orgies, among other things, are employed as a kind of blowoff valve to prevent abominations.

>>16768631
>whenever men and ladies are involved there's always bound to be some sexual tension
You mean it's possible for this not to be the case? Surely you jest, good sir!

>>16767189
Because it's a bad site. Better options exist.

>>16767048
Not that with that art work of melting wax figures it isn't!

>>16757233
>Egyptian_wall_background.jpg
>Medieval_item.jpg
>Light_source.jpg

>>16757390
Those are cool covers

>>16769073
the light source needs to be a .png

Hey, may I get some recs?

Taste:
Disco Elysium
Planescape Torment
Bas Lag Trilogy

Thanks in advance

>>16769089
They are by famous artists.

>>16767135
Only if you're literally made of autism.

>>16765286
It isn't. It's meant to make you conform to a preferred style.

>>16763391
>>16763380
>>16763362
>>16763319
Some anons panic far too easily and quickly.

>>16763101
The Story of How I, A Frog Became A Dapper Gentlefrog Calling You And How I Recovered From The REEEEEEEEE

>>16764027
How Crude. Outright porn lacks sophistication.

>>16763074
>>16766870
Hmm none of this happened in that book, you must not have read it

>>16763811
> Rape, murder, gore, lesbian seduction, and much more are that which I'll readily endorse, but nonsensical polysyllabic words? That's something that which no one should have to accept, let alone endure!

>>16763741
Theoretical physics is called that for that exact reason. None of it is testable or is much else.

>>16763319
>listening to audiobooks on youtube
why would you do this to yourself

>>16763220
The characters are in other books by him as well aside from those.

>>16764416
Just how long are you sitting there marinating in your own fumes? That isn't the way to do it all either.

>>16762637
Seems this one didn't get deleted yet.

>>16757384
A really bad one.

>>16769254
No, you may not.

Good bye in advance.

>>16767636
>>16768285
>>16768364
lol I've read all the responses

>>16769843
I'm proud of you!

>>16762603
Nice troll & bait.

>>16762399
To each their own, as long as their own is the same as mine.

>>16759069
You should have posted them in the thread.

>>16769742
Why would it be? It's a good book

>>16755068
Is this the right thread for LN suggestions? I'm about to finish my current book and I want a good fantasy LN lined up.
Preferably something completed or near completion.

Any1 here have the BotNS chapter by chapter analysis made by one of his students? iirc it was posted here a month or two ago

>>16769843
Oh, so he's read 3 very well known books with hundreds of thousands of Goodreads reviews.
How about next time you list what you've already read, you lazy faggot.

>>16769186
Not necessarily. That's what blend modes are for.

>>16770186
https://book4you.org/book/4123401/625487

>>16770177
Konosuba is pretty good. Not as good as people claim it to be, but one of the few books that made me audibly laugh. It was finished this year I think

Overlord is good if your autistic enough, and I think there are 3 more volumes until it's finished

>>16770234
He's talking about the new chapter by chapter guide. The author is the same. I don't have a computer at hand.

>>16770482
This?
https://www.amazon.com/Gene-Wolfes-Book-New-Sun-ebook/dp/B07YMM1NQD
>remember this being discussed even though I don't read BotNS
>was still in my history
lol

>>16769254
The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny. The were a large influence on Planescape.

Anyone else feel like a bunch of crazy shit was going on in this book but none of it see connected

>>16770210
Im sorry lol dont get your panties in a knot

>>16770496
Yes

>>16770449
>Overlord
I saw the anime and I really don't like Momonga/Ainz.
>Konosuba
I'm glad to hear it's finished. I haven't seen the anime yet, so I'll check out the novels first.

SLAVEEEEEEEEEEEEE

New thread

>>16770714

>>16770714

>>16770714

>>16770714

>>16770589
>I saw the anime and I really don't like Momonga/Ainz.
Fair enough. You do get more insight into his character in the novels, but he remains largely the same. The main reason I enjoyed it is due to my crippling D&D abstinence

>>16769672
Not when it's hand drawn