/lit/ - Literature

Here's your threadly reminder that Sanderhack is a shit.

do you guys buy physical copies of books you like?

>>16914651
I'd probably pick one up if i saw it second hand, but no.

All Sanderfagging should be done here: >>16913548
>>16913548
>>16913548
>>16913548
>>16913548
>>16913548

I just want every cyberpunk lover to know

>>16914663
#fakenews
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>16914651
I only really buy physical books. Easier for me to focus on compared to reading on a regular screen and I'm not the biggest fan of E-readers (though I used to use a Kindle).

>>16914663
its fake

>>16914662
Nah, I'm not gonna go to antoher thread just because you don't wanna be reminded of an author you don't like

I need more books like Daniel Black.

Fuck E William Brown (it's 1st December, back to regular programming.

>>16914663
How do you prove you're nonbinary? Send a timestamped pic of you crosdressing? Pass a Queer Theory 101 test?

>>16914966
see
>>16914707

I just watched Tenet so I was wondering - what sci-fi books explore some of the concepts found in theoretical physics, the more complex the better? Quantum mechanics, whatever, some sort of paradoxes, preferably with weapons, dire implications to everyday life etc.

>>16914422
>>Discord
Reminder that OP is a pedophile who won't stop putting his own Discord in the thread despite it being against the rules. For as long as this is allowed, I will be posting the superior alternative SFFG Discord:

FXDaKEy

Supernatural mysteries... Maybe like a sci fi House of Leaves? Or Strange Journey Redux? I've really enjoyed books where a protagonist is investigating a mysterious force or place

>>16915051
"The Thing Itself" was a fun book with some quantum physics and Kant

>>16915114
BDO (big dumb object) is a thing SF. For a spooky bdo there's ship of fools and blindsight, kind of.

So I just finished Children of Dune and I'm about to start God Emperor. Honestly, I'd say Children is the only Dune book so far that's legitimately just bad. There are so many dropped plot points that just go nowhere.

>Alia is possessed by the Baron
>The book makes you think that this will cause some major civil unrest, possibly even a civil war in Sietch Tabr
>Nope, she kills herself before anything interesting can actually happen

Hell, I was genuinely interested in Stilgar trying to adapt to a world he didn't understand, but even that didn't really go anywhere. It looked like the Preacher was going to play a much bigger role in the story, but nothing really happened with him either. The only part I really liked was Leto jr. talking with Paul about the Golden Path.

You can sum up the plot of this book in one sentence: "Leto overthrows Alia and becomes the new emperor". There, I saved you a weeks worth of reading.

>>16915369
Just wait. God emperor is the GOAT

>>16915381
The first book and Messiah were fucking great, so it's not like this ruined my interest in the series or anything. I just feel like it's the weakest so far.

>>16915395
Some people like children of dune best, what's cool about the dune series is each book zeroes in on a unique plotline or concept. Children is more like your action packed sci fi adventure

>>16915405
So far my personal favorite is Messiah, especially the ending. It was so beautiful and almost poetic.

>>16915421
The only one I didn't like was heretics, but might have got filtered. Read them all young

RIP Ben Bova

B

Just finished Rhythm of War

RIP Ben Dova

>>16914422
>>Discord
Reminder that OP is a pedophile who won't stop putting his own Discord in the thread despite it being against the rules. For as long as this is allowed, I will be posting the superior alternative SFFG Discord:

FXDaKEy

Good god, I hope all Lem books aren't jam packed with triviality.

>>16914651
Yep.

Rip BenD ova

Lads, is there anything worse than when your Fantasy /lit/Fu makes a video with her goober husband?

I HATE HIM!!!

Any sff books where autistic girls are fucked? Why aren't potatoes fucked in books?

>>16914422
FORTHCOMING BOOKS - DEC 2020
NEAL ASHER - Lockdown Tales
EUGEN BACON - Black Moon
EUGEN BACON - The Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories
KACEN CALLENDER - King of the Rising
GENEVIEVE COGMAN - The Dark Archive
NEIL GAIMAN & CHRIS RIDDELL - Pirate Stew
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN - Red Hands
RICH HORTON - The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2020 Edition
CHRISTOPHER HUSBERG - Dawnrise
SIMON INGS - We, Robots
JAMES D. JENKINS & RYAN CAGLE - The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume 1
MERCEDES LACKEY - Jolene
SHARON LEE & STEVE MILLER - Trader’s Leap
SAM J. MILLER - The Blade Between
S.J. MORDEN - Gallowglass
JUSTINA ROBSON - The Tales of Catt & Fisher
ANTHONY RYAN - The Songs of the Dark
MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH - The Best of Michael Marshall Smith
LAVIE TIDHAR - The Big Blind
WALTER JON WILLIAMS - Fleet Elements

http://locusmag.com/forthcomingbooks/

What I Read In November
4,455 pages from 16 books

>>16915051
Gateway, kind of

>>16914422
>>Discord
Reminder that OP is a pedophile who won't stop putting his own Discord in the thread despite it being against the rules. For as long as this is allowed, I will be posting the superior alternative SFFG Discord:

FXDaKEy

>>16916327
>caring about ethots and other ecelebs
>being a literal cuck

>>16915369
>weeks worth of reading.
Bruh... Messiah is the shortest book in the series, you need 3 days tops

>>16914651
i got tired of my kindle and ipad so i bought a bunch of books

>>16917136
>discord posting
Fuck off tranny.

>>16914422
>>Discord
Reminder that OP is a pedophile who won't stop putting his own Discord in the thread despite it being against the rules. For as long as this is allowed, I will be posting the superior alternative SFFG Discord:

FXDaKEy

>>16917259
I agree that aeos should fuck off and stop posting his discord.

>>16915051
Stephen Baxter. Maybe try Time, or Space

>>16915369
>>16915395
>>16915405
>>16915421
I've read the series multiple times, and I agree that Children is the weakest of the bunch. God Emperor is my favorite, followed by Messiah for mostly the same reason as anon
>especially the ending. It was so beautiful and almost poetic.

First chapter of Rhythm of War and Kaladin is already back to brooding and being misunderstood.

>>16917141
Not a cuck if I plan to depose him and win her heart

>>16917259
Is that someone who uses too many transistors? Or something about transmission?

>>16914662
>being so asspained you made a thread for an author you hate in the vain hope people will just stop talking about him
You're such a fucking lolcow holy shit.

>>16917911
I'm ok with it, I want to read SA eventually and don't want to be spoiled.

>>16915051
Quarantine by Greg Egan is great for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dscfeQOMuGw&ab_channel=MonsterMagnetVEVO

offical theme of the inchoroi

>>16918021
What an awful song.

>>16914651
Yes.

>>16918130
>tfw poorfag and can't afford these beauties

>>16918136
Work harder and you will be able to consume more.

>>16918136
>funko pops
>league of legends shirt
the jokes write themselves

What are the best sci fi books about hive minds or collective consciousnesses?

what are some non-Dune books about sandshit?

>>16914422
NPR's best SFF of 2020
https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#tags=sci+fi%2C+fantasy+%26+speculative+fiction&view=covers&year=2020

>>16918541
How much of it is written by women and mudpeople?

>>16918521
Hyperion (Arab chapter)

>>16915421
Kino

>>16918548
More than zero, which is your allowable limit.

Is there any books with Sinospherical elements Anon would recommend?

Okay this is some wild shit. Are all of his books like that? Haven't read any up until now. Should I immediately get into Revelation Space after I've finished House of Suns?

>>16918466
It's not me, moron. It's a youtuber.

>>16918592
I looked and it's the majority, which is completely unsurprising.

>>16914651
only for manga, very rare for me to bother buying physical novels

>>16918801
he wasn't even directly insulting you, you paranoid schizo fuck

>>16918803
>paying for anything that can be easily gotten for free
lol

>>16918833
Why don't YOU show YOUr face if YOU're going to talk to ME like that!

Black company has been kinda meh so far but the sniper mission with Croaker and Raven was pretty cool

>>16918796
RS is great, but the first one is a bit of a drag, the boring parts of House of Suns, local politics.

>>16917154
I was talking about Children, not Messiah.

>>16917154
I hate people who tell others it should only take a specified amount of time to read a text.
I COULD read 1000 pages in a day but I do NOT WANT TO got damn it
Let me read my 20 pages a day and leave me the fuck alone

I wonder who the dragon on Roshar is.

>Hoid was a Dawnshard at some point in the deep past, and the reason he (even still) cannot physically harm people, or even eat meat, is related to the changes this made to his spirit. (Consider this the same fundamental principle as savanthood.) The few of you who have read Dragonsteel know that him being a Dawnshard was also the source of his immortality in that book, though the terms were different back then. (The word Dawnshard was never mentioned, for example--though the primary story of Dragonsteel (which is no longer cannon) was about several people who unwittingly become Dawnshards.)

What Fantasy books should I put on my Christmas list this year lads?

>>16918677
The obvious one is the Remembrance of Earth's Past series. I've heard The Poppy War is also good, but I've never checked it out.

>>16918796
I couldn't get into House of Suns, nothing bad I just wanted harder sci fi. Maybe I check it out again.

>>16914422
>>Discord
Reminder that OP is a pedophile who won't stop putting his own Discord in the thread despite it being against the rules. For as long as this is allowed, I will be posting the superior alternative SFFG Discord:

FXDaKEy

>>16917259
I agree that aeos should fuck off and stop posting his discord. It is very interesting that he became a janitor here so he could promote his Discord contrary to the rules.

>>16917746
He's depressed and he can't fuck Syl, the man has suffered too long.

>>16919212
It's confirmed by Sanderson and a bit hinted in RoW that it's Cultivation

>>16918836
>not supporting your favorite authors so they have less incentive to keep writing
ok

>>16920375
If a writer's only impetus to write comes from making money out of the venture everything they write will be soulless and not worth reading.

>>16920413
if they can't make a living from writing then output will slow or stop

I wasn't crazy about the previous two entries in the Thief of Eddis series but this new one was great. A very satisfying conclusion to the series.

>>16920442
Anyone who's not a weekend warrior is eternally doomed to be cringe.

>>16918836
reading manga electronically feels wrong

>>16920457
I have no idea of what you're trying to say

>>16915051
Enders game quadology

>>16920893
is this YA shit?
the movie certainly felt like it

>>16920911
first book is a masterpiece and the only one i've read

basically if you want to see how a writer can anticipate meta tactics in games such as dota feel free to read it

Any dystopian books about the end of mankind's dreams?

>>16921074
Isn't that the dish that was in the movie with the kangaroo leg kid alien?

Did a earthquake hit?

>>16921266
>kangaroo leg kid alien?
Contact 1997?

>>16921347
the arrival (96)

>Huio is based, partially, on someone I met while touring
I wonder how many characters Brandon writes who are NOT based.

>>16920308
I forgot about dragons possibly being Vessels.

Also threadly reminder that we've seen the ending to Stormlight Archives in the first book.

>>16921419
>>16921074
>>16921266

>>16920446
>female writer
really nice to see when they dont use gender neutral names so i know not to read them

>>16920308
He did say that not all the shards used to be human, but isn't it Chiri-chiri?

>>16921266
No, part of the structure collapsed and they determined that attempting to fix it would be too expensive and dangerous

>>16922140
Nah, she's just a guardian of the dawnshard, and I think her species is almost as old or older than the shattering since the dawnshards predate that as well.

>>16922164
Then how was it hinted it was Cultivation?

>>16922174
dragons!=whatever Chiri is
She seems more like a subsect of natural Rosharan greatshells anyway.

>Brandon Sanderson and Isaac Stewart sometimes refer to them as "dragon bugs".[18]

>>16919418
bakker

Okay guys, should I read Ringworld or The Neverending Story next?

I have been reading the nine princes of amber and I find Zelazny style is such a slog. Does it get better as the series go on or am I in for a shitshow?

>>16920446
>YA
Yikes.

>>16922624
Much of YA is shit but this isn't. Try the first one -- it's the the strongest with great plotting, characters and setting.

>>16922219
Chiri-Chiri is a shrimp-dragon hybrid

is this shit worth reading?

>>16923104
No. It's bad and unfinished and you wouldn't like it and you'll uncritically accept what I have to say.

>>16915369
congratulations on finishing children, i thought it was a lot better than messiah but still nowhere near as good as dune.
and now you can read god-emperor, the best in the entire series by fucking miles, and the summary you gave is required because it leads into god-emperor, which is a must-read, for everyone, but you gotta read messiah and children first. that's the tax.

>>16915114
Never read house of leaves but Felix Castors series by Mike Carey is pretty good, think supernatural tv show but better and only follows one person

>>16917980
i suggest you read it after the fifth book comes out (which should be 2023-24) which is a 10-15 yr break in the story which is projected to be completed by 2044, aka after most of us are fuckin dead of old age.
also skip everything that involves shallan or eshonai.

>>16920308
I learned about brandon sanderson through the first stormlight book, should i go and read all the other cosmere books? apparently there's a huge interconnecting plot through all his books but dunno if i should go and read the rest

>>16922692
>Try the first one -- it's the the strongest with great plotting
I thought you said you weren't crazy about it.

>>16922560
ringworld is fucking awesome. almost everything else niven writes is shit, but ringworld is great, well worth reading.

>>16923192
i had no idea any of this shit was remotely connected, and i read mistborn and a few of his novellas. so no.
mistborn is good though if you're into anime-style fighting YA books, has some good scenes and an interesting magic system. this is pretty much a summary of everything by sanderson

>>16915511
>RIP Ben Bova
just looked it up and covid took him, F indeed

>>16923192
At this stage none of the narratives intersect in major ways, it's more like little cameos and extremely vague hints. I'd recommend Mistborn on its own merits as a fun series, though.

>>16923294
>>16923223
aight cool thanks

DOES ANYONE HAVE A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD TO DROWNTIDE sydney j van scyoc PLEASE

>>16914651
>paying to read
No, and I usually forget what the name of the book even is once I'm a few chapters in. Have to specifically check once I'm at the end if I want to read the next in a series.

>>16915369

I enjoyed Alia and Jessica's power struggle but it's not my favourite so far out of the original Dune trilogy that goes to Messiah. COD had some really cool parts and other parts that put me to sleep

>>16923104
Slow beginning and I didnt care for the end.
The middle was really good, but its basically a sports anime disguised as a fantasy series, idk if thats what you are looking for.

>>16923104
It's fun but too anime and YAish for my taste. I might read the second part which released a couple of weeks ago.

I'm 75% through The Lies of Locke Lamorra and I don't understand how so many people rate it so highly. Don't get me wrong, the setting is cool and detailed and whatever, but the plot itself is kind of retarded. I can forgive that, but then all the characters sound the same. I don't really care about most of them. 3 out of 5 stars at best. Have I been filtered?

>>16923192

>>16923104
>>16923405
>>16923444
Damn, I thought I was the first person to make a What I read/What I expected/What I got for Rage of Dragons

>playing genshin impact

>>16922573
I'm curious about this too. I got halfway through the first book trying to impress a girl who said he was her favorite author and holy shit was I bored.

>>16914651
I bought all of Gene Wolfe's stuff. I think I actually bought them either the day on or around the day he died, I didn't find out until a few weeks later when I went to check if he's writing anything new. Felt miserable knowing that I'd blown through all of his stuff so quickly.
Buying books sucks because I hate having to wait a month or so for them to ship.

>>16923959
Did you see the amazing cultivation simulator

Give me a book where nothing is happening and it's still addicting book. I feel empty after surviving covid but also lost my dad.

>>16924414
Yes but I'm not autistic enough for that and I have too much shit to play anyhow.

I'm reading novelization of the movie Wargames

>>16924499
Wheel of Time

>>16923205
This is book six. First three were all good. Four was a bit too dark, five was sort of a side plot but everything came together here.

>>16922174
When Odium looks at Cultivation appearing as an human he mentions she has another shape.

Brandon straight up confirmed it in a Q&A

rec me some sci-fi containing gratuitous sex and such

>>16923104
i enjoyed it but as others said it was a bit YAish and the dual wielding meme is annoying. I'll probably read the next book but im not that hopeful.

Just finished Engine Summer. Probably one of the best books I've read all year and quite original for a post apocalyptic setting. It reminded me of everything memorable about Gene Wolfe, though it might be too hippie for some and lacked so many references or most echoes of a reference you'd find in a Wolfe short story. It's also a puzzle but with so much more.
The third part was truly heart breaking, confusing as some bad salvia trip, and all the little clues coming together with that insane reveal by the end.

Has anyone read Ka? I'm going to check other John Crowley books. Little Big was great, but this one felt less ethereal, which is the kind of books I can read without tiring.

>>16924630
This.
I just read about 5 chapters about 2 twinks walking down a road to get to Caemlyn, and meeting naughty people on the way before moving on to the same thing
Could've been condensed down to one chapter really.

Still enjoyed it though.

he dune messiah is a perfect ending for dune
the two books should've been one book, especially with that hurried bad ending of dune

Yesterday was release day, what books did you guys grab?

>>16922624
YA is an 80% arbitrary designation.

>>16925456
I heard that publisher made him split the book.

do i do disservice for myself by starting series that's meant to go for years & multiple future books by starting it now?

Anyone here read new spellmonger book? Thoughts on it? Few recent books have been quite letdown, to a point where I'm no longer paying for them but since it's 10+ books in I'm probably going to finish what's been started

>>16926023
That depends. Will you be upset if you don't remember enough when you read the second book? Will you feel like you'd need to reread? Is rereading acceptable to you? Do you get impatient? Will you become bitter and ruin your enjoyment? etc etc

TL;DR: Because you are asking, you think you would.

>>16926041
Cheers, I've been hearing good things about The Kingkiller Chronicles but seems like last book is never going to deliver

I hate YA on the sole basis that I never had a teenage romance because I was too autistic.

>>16926108
>implying you've ever had a romance
> was, not am

>listening to steven erikson interview
>someone complains about the colonialism and female genital mutilation in house of chains
>he says opposing traditional cultural practices such as female genital mutilation comes from a colonial mindset
what a legend

>>16925951
>I heard that publisher made him split the book.
It makes a lot of sense.

>>16923225
Yea COVID + pneumonia + stroke. I told my wife I think covid a hoax and she said no it can cause the stroke an pneumonia, but so can being old like Ben B was.

He was my first sci fi author

>>16926044
Threadly reminder to read better fantasy.

>>16926284
>WHEN WILL THEY LEARN

>>16914651
I don't read books before buying them physically, so yes technically.

for me, it's GUNDAM

So a few days back I saw someone in the thread mention the Spook's Apprentice series, so I read some of it. I read the first three books and it was surprisingly alright. A little bit on the Y side of YA for me, but it was well generally well paced and the Spook himself is a nice take on the Mentor archetype, being that he's heavily flawed and a little bit hypocritical but still sympathetic. I couldn't really say I liked Tom that much though, he flip flops between being competent and extremely lacking in initiative too much and it makes his character seem inconsistent.

>>16926284

>>16926762
When I read this over a decade ago when I was in high school it didn't bother me, but I know that if I reread it now it would make me mad.

>>16926834
Why? Perrin and Egwene aren't even remotely involved, and it's apparent right from the beginning the Egwene is a a Borderline harpy.

A good sci-fi book for trannies

>>16914422
Some threads ago I asked if anyone knew if there were scans for all issues of Weird Tales (pulp magazine that published Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, etc.) available online. Yes they are all available, it's just somewhat tricky to find them all because archive.org search is atrocious.

Some guy put together a helpful spreadsheet with links to all issues: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GNCfBzO4NcbvjE8XsNlpAjYPpA5rf25PulI7RpVBkhU/edit#gid=0

Definitely check it out it!

>>16926845
I don't even remember who any of those characters are. I'm just sensitive to that kind of drama now and I don't like reading it.

>>16926858
First printing of Call of Cthulu.

>>16926845
It's more i'd be mad at Aram and Jordon than Egwene.
Who in their right mine thinks a pacifist pikey is threat to anyone? It's just completely unbelievable, and unnecessary cuckoldry projection.

>>16926861
There's no drama. The entire thing is just Aram jumping to a conclusion that Egwene and Perrin are involved when Perrin literally doesn't care at all.

>>16926858
>>16926866
Robert E. Howard.

>>16926858
... and some historical ads too.

>>16926871
Maybe that's why I didn't care when I read it before.

Anyone read joe abercombie's new series? Is it as good as first law?

>>16914663
>looking for places to talk about sf online
>hmm let’s try /sffg/ haven’t been there much
>first post i see is a news article about a video game
peace out retards

>>16927121
Don't be like that. It's not that bad

>>16927121
This is a thread for SF anime and video games. If you don't like it then get the fuck out.

>>16927121
realize you're dealing with a bunch of manchildren who actually believe the bullshit that video games have some positive benefits. fucking losers

>>16926881
is that a hat pyramid scheme? everyone will see your hat and want one of their own!

>>16927196
i skipped the middle part of the thread but the recent posts were ya dogshit lol fuck off
>>16927288
it’s like this everywhere man why are sf readers always just the marvel movie fans of books

>>16927288
>>16927372
Who gives a fuck about whether something has "positive benefits." I care about whether something is enjoyable. Go cry to outer /lit/ about "literary merit" faggots. And no I don't like video games.

>>16926858
I have a lot that isn't listed there.

>>16927428
Stop enjoying stuff.

>>16926029
>Anyone here read new spellmonger book
I stopped when the author stopped focusing on Mill and started focusing on his apprentices and their college tryouts.

I heard the series was supposed to be crafting fun, but after the big battle, and him making his white power stone, the series just fell and fell. I'm not continuing. I learned years ago how to cut my losses.

>>16927372
I think you will like the discussion in this thread >>>/v/534458254

>>16926216
kek, link?

>>16924499
Quarter Share and subsequent novels, extremely comfy sci fi coming-of-age story about a guy that gets a job working on a merchant ship and is like 1/3rd about how to make a good cup of coffee. It's real good, later it gets a little plot-heavy and less comfy but still enjoyable to read, first three books are what you're after.

>>16915051
>>16918002
Also Diaspora

>consumes million year old sentient treasures of heaven and earth
>saves a year of cultivation

Ahhhhhh

>>16928449
>gains multiple levels of cultivation from sacred treasure
>tests out new strength by destroying a forest of centuries old trees

Any books where simps get btfo?
I'm fed up of white knights in media.

>>16927004
no, abercrombie can only write a few characters
>grizzled, tired veteran with ptsd and beserk mode
>pompous union boy
>snarky woman
>magic woman
>glokta

How do you guys feel about books with illustrations? Do you guys tend to avoid books with illustrations, even if the books are geared towards an older audience?

Starting to go through the Lyonesse books. Got a used copy with that beautiful cover art.
Man I love the prose. Anything else like it?

>>16924147

Right? I cant tolerate the way Zelazny describe the shit that's happening. Truly a shame cause I really dig the concept of gods fighting in multiverses but holy shit the writing is a shitshow.

>>16929096
I think part of Zelazny's style is being purposely complicated sounding in order to hide jokes inside the prose. A lot of his prose is (I think) tongue in cheek.
I recommend Creatures of Light and Darkness. It's the most overt of his works that I've read where you can get a sense of his style and voice. Also one of his shortest stories, and actually pretty funny.

>>16926585
have you read the one with ALICE?
I can't remember the name of it but its Zeta-era about a mobile suit with a female AI companion
I also seem to remember the mobile suit's design being somewhat cubist and complex

>>16928973
I'm pretty sure I've read books with them where the illustrations were removed in the rip because lolOCR
I'd prefer if such illustrations didn't feature the characters as I enjoy my own headcanon designs

>>16929141

In my case I really cant conect with the narrator always being in first person while also describing zero emotion when Random/Eric or another prince of amber talks or do anything.

I will give him a chance with Creatures of Light & Darkness tho, but the chronicles of amber its gonna get on the bookshelf for a while I think

what's a [well-written] work with a protagonist that is overpowered?
Hero's Journey books tend to stay away from MCs being too OP until maybe the end whereas most fiction with older protagonists (Logan's Run, The First Law, etc) have competent skills but still get their asses kicked and scrape by
The closest work I can think of is Dune since, at least the initial book, since Paul never seems to lose a duel due to his training but also never gets his ass handed to him from what I remember.
I guess the best example of what I might be looking for is something with a Dr. Manhattan-tier protagonist that literally can't lose but is a sadboy as a result; mind you I'm not looking for that specific scenario

any author's whose elves are the crusading type?

>>16928973
Maps are nice

>>16929331
Age of Wonder had elves who decided to go ahead and start gearing up to genocide all the humans because a single human killed a single elf

Book's not great and the followup is even worse. I hope you like literal (literal) autism

>>16927812
https://youtu.be/WcUpz7n7G-8?t=588

whole section starts here https://youtu.be/WcUpz7n7G-8?t=254 about why someone didnt like the book.

>Formless
what a dumb name

Is there better way to measure up books than goodreads?
I feel the rating in there is not good measure how good the book is, other than noting books with rating below 3.5 to be utter garbage

>>16929244
Unironically wuxia novels. They pretty much all have ridiculously OP main characters. A lot of Japanese light novels do too. Of course these probably don't satisfy the "well written" part but that's vague and loaded phrase that you didn't bother to define, so whatever.

Closest I can think of in regular fantasy is maybe Wheel of Time? It kinda follows the hero's journey thing where the protagonist starts weak and gets stronger, winding up as a nigh-invincible god by the end, but he hits a major power spike about 1/3 of the way through the series that catapults him so far ahead of most other characters that only the most powerful enemies post any kind of threat to him, and even then they resort to indirect methods of fighting him if they can because he's just too strong to fight head on.

>>16929679
all ratings systems on all sites are garbage due to human nature.
the only good way to determine if a book is good or not is to read the first ~50ish pages. nothing else is as useful.
you can try reading reviews on goodreads, specifically 2-3 star reviews, to see what they didn't like about the book. if any of those are particular problems for you, you can avoid the book. there's usually at least one competent review in there you have to wade through all the fucking reviewblog tards with thousands of pictures and self inflated egos as to their incredibly valuable review that they're deigning to drop on you.

>>16929679
Ignore the stars and read reviews by people who don't sound like complete retards

>>16929801
problem with chinese novels is that they're mostly copy of one something that made that genre popular
There are barely good novels from china despite qidian being massive and the problem is further exacerbated by the fact that subpar translators make up things as they go

>>16929801
I'm not a prose-snob but you can tell when a book doesn't meet basic standards pretty quickly

>>16926858
Read this. Now.

>>16929679
most books i drop after the first 20 or so pages, it doesn't take a lot of reading to figure out if an author is capable of writing decent prose and using proper literary devices.

>>16929827
They're just localizing the book to make it easier to understand. Please understand

>>16929829
Well that rules out a lot of Wuxia/LNs then cause the TLs can be really rough sometimes, and even the ones that aren't are very literal and dry. Still probably worth sifting through them since they have a huge selection of titles that fit your main content criteria.

>>16929633
It's utilitarian. Like Veil and Radiant.

>>16929829
That's why the cradle series is received pretty well here. It follows the basic wuxia tropes but is competently written.

>>16930217
>eight book series
>
how long does it take to get "good"?

Looking for something relating to dreams. Like entering people's dreams or things from dreams entering into the real world. Does anyone know something like that?

>>16929679
Find someone with similar taste to you and try reading books they've liked that you haven't read. It's probably better than going solely by ratings anyway.

>>16930505
The Lathe of Heaven

>>16930421
Book one.

recs for fantasy anthologies?

>>16930421
the first book does a good job at holding back on the power creep. Allowing the reader to get to know the "core" of the character so to speak. And then from book 2 and on, you get to watch his growth.

So if you came looking specifically for OP characters, then just know you won't be getting that in book 1. But it does come eventually. The process of growth is the whole point of the series. And so grow he does.

>>16930902
>So if you came looking specifically for OP characters, then just know you won't be getting that in book 1. But it does come eventually. The process of growth is the whole point of the series. And so grow he does.
sounds like your standard Hero's Journey stuff, if I'm not wrong.
is this a cultivation novel?

>>16930973
What's a "cultivation novel"? I'm ignorant of this.

Any dark fairytale fantasy in the vein of American McGee's Alice, Persona/SMT or Magical Girl genres? Something close to it? Or even more eclectic mix, with sci-fi?

>>16930995
>Magical Girl genres
based, glad I'm not the only one who has asked this

>>16931098
I've started watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica movie (first one) and it's pretty great.

>>16931114
I don't fuck with loli but I do like Cutie Honey, Sailor Moon, and Utena

>>16930973
Yes, it's xianxia.
>>16930987
Wuxia/xianxia/'xuanhuan'
>>16931114
Rebellion was the best anime movie of the past decade.

>>16931262
>Wuxia/xianxia/'xuanhuan'
I barely know what those are either. Why can't people figure out what book it is by the description given. Rather than a label

>>16931317
>>16930987

From what I gather "cultivation" is harems you actually bang.

>>16931454
That could not be further from.

if hard scifi is grounded in physics, what is hard fantasy grounded in?

i read the first page & decided to read thrawn instead

>>16931744
Autism

>>16931744
Fantasy physics, unironically, i.e., Investiture is 'matter'.

>>16931781
This. You have to go whole hog if you want a "grounded" fantasy setting with magic.

There is fantasy with sci-fi aesthetics, like Star Wars
But is there sci-fi with fantasy aethetics?

>>16926846
Left hand of darkness maybe? Never read it tho

>>16931877
Uhhhh the Amarr in EVE Online have a religiousnessness about them when it comes to engineering and aesthetics

That's about all I can think of

>>16931877
>>16931941
Hmm, well Ive had a few ideas for one to write.

>>16931877
Lord of Light. Book of the New Sun.

>>16932092
There are more than a few stories where the "magic" turns out to be old forgotten technology

I think Dragonrides of Pern was like this but I never read it.

Is Veil a gay?

>>16932383
Doesn't matter now

>>16931877
BOTNS my man

>>16929084
I only managed to read this book but damn its was awesome.

>>16931744
rules heavy magic systems

>>16932383
Nah, she just thinks Adolin is a dork and doesn't want to hurt Shallan by chasing Kaladin.

Imagine getting upstaged by your husbands eyeless sword. What a sad wife you must be.

Remember when you still got pleasure out of fantasy

those days were so long ago

>>16932891
Joke's on you, I'm enjoying myself in 2 threads right now :^)

>>16932929
that's okay. I'm used to the joke being on me. A pit of my own failure is my natural habitat and here I am my own apex predator

does anyone have a digital download link to drowntide by sydney j van scyoc

Daily reminder to read and enjoy Chateau Cascade.

>>16929244
prince of nothing

how come he isn't more popular? feels bad man

>>16914422
Yo, contemporary literature is so pozzed.

Currently reading The Healers' Road and I think I made two, or maybe three mistakes.
One, I wanted to read some Slice of Life fantasy. Two, it's self published. And three, only a woman could've written it the way it's written, made manifest after only 5 pages.

130 pages so far of reading about 2 immature tsundere retards. It was mostly jusr fine if only a bit tiring to learn all their dumb misaprehensions, until I read the chapter were the female MC thinks some naive farmer is playing a trick on her and she says "Why do you do this to the HOMELY girl?". Oh, and did I mention the other main character is an amber skinned dude very skilled with a knife and bisexual? And that they love-hate each other as professional doctors?
I checked and double checked it wasn't YA but it almost reads like one. I should've resumed Don Quixote's second part.

What am I in for?
I'm just about done with House of Suns and really liking it so far. How does it compare?
Or should I get into Revelation Space instead?
I chose the former right now because it seems more like HoS with it being set millions of years in the future and whatnot.

You unironically need to got to /tg/ or some other board to have a proper discussion on Bakker or any other author.

>>16933627
Meant to reply to >>16933591

>>16933614
I don't usually advocate for dropping books, even if they are really shit, but I think its justified there anon. No shame in it.

>>16933555
I will read your book, but I pirated it.

>>16933555
Reminder that if you read CC you support this discord tranny
>>16920005

>>16933613
This is our only hope: >>16926858

>>16934001
Nah, I think I will limit myself to classic literature, which is already pretty large.

Reading JJ Egosi's Demonheart book. Raging Elementals I think. Surprisingly good for something self published. The cover is terrible but the book hits all the right marks.

>>16934035
If all you read are classics then you won't be able to truly appreciate them kek

>>16929084
tales of the dying earth by the same author, also works by ca smith

>>16930894
songs of the dying earth, written to honour vance's work and is in the same tone

Constipation Spren

Just gave this a shot. Holy shit, why do authors keep thinking we care about the made up rules and the fake science of the magic system used only in a book series I’m not even sure I’m going to continue yet. Almost dropped Honor Harrington over that shit too.

So 105-110 is the 'big scene'? I'm coming up to it. I'm at ch.99 and I know I'm due an end-of-novel clusterfuck at any time but it feels like so much more needs to be wrapped up, eh. I've accidentally some spoilers and think I figured out some things but I'm hoping I'm wrong (or even right due to implications, who knows.)
Parts 3 and 4 stretched far too long. Navani is humble but lacking in any common sense (like any richfag, amirite?). Eshonai flashbacks get skipped and Venli is fucking boring.
Kaladin inventing psychology was cool.
And, as always, for four books running so far, FUCK SHALLAN

>>16934490
Because it's more fun to understand what the fuck the magic does instead of having a wizard appear out of nowhere and say "bim bam you're now dead" and everyone claps.

>>16934495
>eshonai flashbacks get skipped
Faggot, they're far better than Venli's. Congratulations, you played yourself.

>>16934507
Both characters were shit. Eshonai was, at one point, almost bearable.

looking for something like [pic related] in novel form.
Any recommendations?

About to start the Farseer Trilogy, what am I in for?

>>16934521
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

>>16934499
You're wrong.

>>16934609
No I'm not.

>>16934499
I don’t need ten chapters of scientific study for the author to explain what it does. All I need to know is if your magic can conjure fire balls or if it’s more subtle, and whether it draws from life force or powerful emotions. I don’t need a bunch of chapters of watching the protagonist literally conducting science experiments to see at what distance computer chips fry around him.

>>16934623
Yes you are.

I find it more fun to create my own magic systems than I do to read about some other autist's system.

>>16934633
When you know what said distance is, the author can proceed to craft a story in which you know the limits of said magic and so there's no last minute stupid drama such as "oh no my spell fell just short of the needed range" when previosuly the range had been left ambiguous simply because the author changes said range as he sees fit for a narrative.

>>16934637
No u

>>16933555
Damn I miss Nice

>>16934727
He doesn’t do that though. It would be one thing if it came into play or if there was a payoff, but at least in the first book, none of it really does.

Is Sanderson doing okay? He seems to be focusing on mental health way too much in this book.

>>16934859
It's always been a theme of the Stormlight Archive, and here was the point where Kaladin and Shallan just had to get past some of their fucking issues.

>>16934850
Well, then it's a flaw of the author, not of the style. Hard magic is better fit to play a big part in the narrative without feeling convenient.

Everyone talking Sanderson here should really just be reading some sword and sorcery, especially the best.

>>16934930
I've only read Wagner's Conan books, are these on par?

>>16934544
Suffering porn written by a woman who despises the male protagonist she (poorly) wrote

>>16935000
sounds hot

>>16934952
it's better. Kane is just a much more interesting character.

>>16934908
Can you name me an author or book that does that well then? Because I can’t imagine caring about three chapters detailing scientific experiments on magic. I understand giving a brief explanation of its limits or the characters powers, but I find it hard to believe anyone gives a fuck about the intricacies of the magic. It’s like if I wrote a book about cowboys and gave my main character a gun. And then I went on to explain how a gun works for fifty pages. I might need to know if it’s fully automatic or how many rounds it can hold, but I do not need to watch the mc discovering that a gun works by the hammer striking the firing pin which strikes the primer and causes an explosion, whose gasses propel the bullet.

>>16935080
Genuinely curious, how is he better?

>>16935095
Some people forget that worldbuilding should be in service to the narrative and not the other way around.

Is it true that Blaise Corvin put in and got backlash for his forced tranny pandering mouthpiece in Delver's LLC? I see he is coming out with another book soon and thinking of giving the series a try. If the tranny pandering is real Imma just drop it.

orc-on-elf rape

>>16935226
elf-on-orc rape

>>16934874
Is Shallan as obnoxious in this? I wouldn't mind the series as much if she wasn't one of the most irritating characters in all of literature.

>>16935122
Beyond anything else he's just smarter. Conan is pretty sharp, he's not just dumb muscle, but Kane is dark, cold, ruthless, calculating, immortal, and just drippin' with style.

>>16929244
OP characters?
Condemning the heavens
The beginning after the end
Daniel Black
The Alchemist by Vasily Manhaneko (w/e some Russian)
The mask of the Template

>>16935095
Daniel Black by E William Brown

>>16934521
>picture for ants

>>16934859
>in which Moshe [Feder, Sanderson's editor] talks about how his bipolar disorder partly inspired Brandon to create characters with mental health issues in The Stormlight Archive. I also interviewed a Sanderfan who struggles with depression and found that reading the books really helps her cope.

>tfw didn't fuck a rabbit for the whole year

>writing a classic pulp fantasy story
>coming to the slow and painful realization that I'll probably have to poz the shit out of it if I ever want published.

Is there a worse feeling?

>>16935597
You are spending way too much time on this site if you think anyone will actually care.
Majority of people couldn't care less about gender/sex/race politics, and there are tons of shit that sells just fine without it. Just because the occasional pozzed shit gets through doesn't mean they /only/ get through.

Realistically though, you will never get published, regardless of what you write.
Your only chance is self publishing, and then you will have to face the facts that you will most likely never sell more that 100 copies.

Either give up, or have fun.
Stressing about redundant shit will give you a hernia.

>>16929615
Thanks, the other guy sounds like a retard.

>>16935186
Yes it is. He put ru Paul into his isekai story and gave the tranny more pov chapters than one of the male leads.

Reading Ministry of the Future right now. Some gritty cli-fi, but I heard it claws toward optimism overall.

>>16936204
everyone seems to really enjoy this one, I want to read it soon. let us know how you like it when you finish it. Only thing holding me back from it is how it's written (it's old letters or some shit? cmon KSR..)

>>16936339
Eugh, it's an epistolary novel?

>>16935771
>ru Paul
So blqise corvin is a tranny lover? Did he get cancelled? I know a lot of people read self publishing to get away from the pandering shit of publishing houses.

>>16936747
I'm so sick of psychos who can't relate to people with real problems and need to see fictional characters with mental illnesses

Whenever anyone praises something for being "relatable" I know to ignore it.

yikes

>awards from before [current year] politics was a big deal
>praise
>only cost me 50p
>written in present tense
Back to not reading anything published this century.

>>16933613
Most old lit was pozzed as fuck in the day. You just don't realize because everything new and controversial back then is just normal to you now.

>>16935525
>overly sensitive loser who has no real experience with actual mental conditions needs mediocre one-dimensional, schlocky depictions of it to cope with feeling a little blue sometimes

>>16934930
So you're saying I haven't missed out on anything remotely worth my time by skipping s&s because it's bad just like sandershit? Ok, thanks for the heads up.