/lit/ - Literature

>>17974301
First for based anime op

I keep on hearing Bakker recommendations in these threads, is his series any good? Or is it just a meme?

test

>>17974470
It is truly good and mind opening. This time There is truth behind the shilling.

>>17974470
I read half of the first volume and gave it up. I really didn't want to be filtered and I wanted to like it but just couldn't.
But no one here will say exactly what they like the series for except muh prose.

>>17974719
filtered

reverend insanity is the best chinkshit and is probably better than wolfe (never read it in chinese even in translation its close).

>>17974470
read the first one to see if you like it
i didn't

>>17974792
Unironically true, fight me.

>>17974378
Naruto fanfiction is BETTER!
I don't understand how anyone read past the second book. I only made it that far because everyone said it was good and I was willing to suspend my belief for a day and pretend it would improve. The second I woke up the next day I realized what a steaming pile of shit it was.

>>17974792
Wolfe's books is the best burgershit and is probably better than reverend insanity.

>>17974792
>Reverend Insanity
Sounds metal.
What's it about?

>>17974844
It's about insane reverend

Is the a Lost Fleet that stays true to the idea of cheap fleet admiral power fantasy?
I enjoyed it at first, but as it dragged on, the author started to cram in weird political and moral messaging, and in general didn't seem to know what to do with the story. I feel it should have ended much earlier

>>17974844
A supreme edgelord sends his consciousness back to his younger self and acts as edgy as possible. It's moderately entertaining for a couple hundred chapters, I dropped it after that.

Fuck E William Brown.
Now he is turning into a webnovel author.
Anything to not write Daniel fucking Black.

>>17974470
Try it first, you have to have very specific tastes to like him. He doesn't have a board appeal like LoTR despite what other people tell you. read the first book with no commitment besides that.

>>17974792
You are mentally ill.

These threads have died after Bakker shilling stopped.

>>17974301
Just finished Forever War and Forever Free? Time dilation and the mc coming back to Earth in different stages was fun, but the ending of the sequel was kind of weird.
Any other sci-fi recs? Already read the Old Man's War series and the Lost Fleet series

>>17974835
You talking about Cradle? People are shitting all over the new book but the nosedive in writing quality was already happening two books ago. I tired to tell people that Will Wight is a trash author. He only knows how to copy anime/manga fight scenes, when it comes to actually writing a story or characters he has no clue what the fuck he'd doing.

>>17976174
I'd rather slow threads than some schizos spamming the same memes over and over again.

I made a Cradle dedicated thread, guys. >>17976841
>>17976841
>>17976841
Just thought it would be a nice place to talk all things cradle, freely. Without worrying about spoilers.

Been thinking about how nice it would be if we could have a monthly reading again without using Discord–what would we read? What if we all read some of the more literary fantasy books? We could start with the Gormenghast trilogy, then move onto Book of the New Sun, then The Wizard of Earthsea perhaps, but where would we go from there?

Read Malazan

>>17976926
Can I get away with just reading Deadhouse Gates? I remember reading one of Steven Erikson's short stories (I forget the name, it was kind of like a western, with these four monster hunters going into a town and fighting of some demons that were holed up in a nearby castle) and liking it, been meaning to check out Malazan but I don't want to read ten books' worth of it

>>17976926
It's too long.

Book 6 of the wheel of time has the introduction undoing almost all that the final arc of book 5 did, why the fuck even kill characters and make a big deal out of it just to bring them back again for fucks sake.
This really turned off from continuing reading this series but will power trough regardless since I already invested so much time into this.

>>17976877
To be honest, I suspect all Cradle posters(and /sffg/ posters at large) of being reddit users. Because the book conversation here is so sparse, that I can only imagine everyone going to reddit to act like the fanboys they truly are. And then they come to /sffg/ in order to shitpost, criticize, spam bad memes, and generally act in a way that would get them downvoted on reddit.

>>17977280
Take the meds anon

Gonna read ASOIAF this summer and with any luck WoW will be released in the autumn

>>17976926
I've read the wikipedia summary of it.

>>17977280
Schizo poster

>>17976486
cant think of any other good mil sci fi other than maybe starship troopers (less about mil sci fi and more about some nationalist monologue for 50 pages). Armor also comes to mind although its not that good.

>>17977280
youre probably correct. its such a reddit series i shudder to think at the hugbox on reddit regarding the latest book and how terrible it is. Reddit did the same thing with the Worm sequel.

>>17977157

>>17977505
I'll give Starship Troopers a go and compare it with the movie, am also checking out /lit/ recs, will probably try out Steel World after

How about recs for any books like the first Hyperion or Forever Free where there's a mystery people are trying to figure out (Time Tombs / Disappearance of everyone) and there's a sci-fi background?

>>17976953
>Deadhouse Gates
Yes.

>>17977599
theres a big mystery element surrounding the aliens in Blindsight and if you like sci fi and browse this thread youre obligated to read it if you havent.

>>17974592
Who’re the people depicted on this image?

>>17977722
Thanks man, I'll report back in when I finish
better be a baller mystery

>>17974844
It's actually great. Don't mind the meme spammers.

>>17977280
>reddit reddit reddit my reddit reddit
>OTHER people MUST come here and shitpost!

>>17976877
Kek, it died.

>>17978547
Only about 5 people even read the series ITT. Wintersteel discussion dried up after a handful of threads, same for Uncrowned.

>>17978547
Yeah, shame. /lit/ really is just a sour place.

anyone reading any good sci fi?

>>17977280
>Because the book conversation here is so sparse
I think this is a universal problem in general threads - they always end up with more meta discussion and shitposting than meaningful, substantial posts. The reason for this is quite simple: it's easier to shitpost and react to shitposts than it is to make meaningful posts. If everyone only made substantial posts after finishing a book or something, and everyone only replied to these substantial posts with substantial replies of their own, the thread would be glacial in pace, and in the first place, nobody comes to 4chan with that kind of serious mindset - people are going to shitpost and kneejerk reply to shitposts with trashy posts of their own. This is a universal phenomenon across the entire site, strongly encouraged by the system of threads dying if they don't keep up pace with the rest of a board by getting a steady stream of posts.

If you want substantial discussion, general threads is the last place to look. Even lurking in them is counter productive because lurking in threads is behavior which leads to consuming less content in the first place (i.e. time spent on this thread is time spent not reading, so by nature those who spend the most time on general threads are spending less of their time actually engaging with the subject matter). The best place to get substantial discussion is, as shocking as this may be, is with a private group of intellectual friends. The second best place is blogs dedicated to providing lengthy analysis and insight into various works. The third best place is actual forums instead of image boards. The fourth best place is "new posts" on 4chan rather than general threads. But in all these cases, it's a gamble whether people will care enough. We humans like to follow the path of least resistance, and intense meaningful discussion is a lot more work than simply shitposting, or not replying at all.

Anyway, go into threads like /sffg/ expecting not discussion, but just casual shooting the shit and memes with just lightning flashes of meaningful discussion whenever someone foolishly comes here to be serious instead of going almost anywhere else.

>>17978641
3 books into Dune Saga rn, entry series af but also very gud if u aint read

>>17978678
Good post, and unfortunately it's true. Reddit is too much of a hugbox for any serious discussion to go on, and 4chan's design, like you mentioned, actively works against serious discussion

>>17978702
I loved book 1, found book 2 to be OK and stopped there. The writing / prose in book 2 felt a bit different and I guess it threw me off? I do own all of the Frank books, maybe I should press on. How did you like book 3 anon?

>>17978678
>>17978705
I would be happy for even *flippant* discussion surrounding books I enjoy. But even that much is sparse around here. I don't expect everyone to write a serious review. But where is the fun? Where are the memes? This place is so dry. No OC or anything. There's nothing here but the ocassional tumble weed bit of banter.

I admit I checked out the Cradle reddit a few times. Because I yearn for more content. You guys call it a hugbox, but people are at least discussing the book and posting art and making memes.

>>17978805
>You guys call it a hugbox but [...]
You can discuss the book as long as you engage in the proper groupthink where no flaws are evident!

>>17977280
Personally I think anybody who isn't discussing Bakkerlore or isn't enquiring about getting into the Bakkerverse, is a potential shill and should be purged from this thread.

>>17979065
???

>>17979280
>80% of the '''criticism' is blowing the book so that he doesn't get sperg-mobbed by retards.

The implication of 'I didn't like this part of the book' is that the rest of it is ok, so ofc that would be kept up. If you went on there calling the book a steaming pile of shit from the ground up you'd see a much different response I bet.

>>17974719
The prose is fucking terrible though, you drooling simpleton

>>17979653
>If you went on there calling the book a steaming pile of shit from the ground up you'd see a much different response I bet.
You'd probably just get downvoted into oblivion. Look, I'm not going to argue that their is more positive-politicking over there. But they do criticize in their own manner. It's not "group think" or even "no flaws" over there.

>>17978641
I just finished "The Player of Games" from the culture series. I think the author is a massive nerd, and it has helped his world building immensely.

>>17979953
lmao I remember seeing this picture but it said
>Believe it or not, God is gay.
>Elaborate on that.
>No.

>>17976877
>Cradle
I read the first book recently on a recommendation from /sffg/. I didn't much care for it and probably won't bother with the series.

>>17977157
Rahvin was killed by balefire, so if you think Aran'gar or Osan'gar is Rahvin you're mistaken.

>>17980065
I'm talking about the sacrifice moraine did in order to kill kill lanfear, I'm paying attention to the story not just speed reading it. "hurdur lets sacrifice a main character to stop one of the many many forsaken" "oh wait lets revive her and the other one who died invalidating twor huge happenings at once." "also now you need to kill the forsaken with balefire exclusively even tho there was no such indication before because ahaha".
For fucks sake if they can just respawn like that endlessly why the fuck is mordegain and all the others so afraid of dying? why the fuck do they act like dying affects them in any major way?
I need to stop thinking about this to move on with the boo it still pisses me off.

>>17979953
Yea Banks was pretty based (RIP) but holy shit i did not enjoy Consider Phlebas. I'm glad I read on

>>17978641
It's more creative than I expected

>>17980321
In what ways?

>>17979981
That's fair. It's not for everybody. I think most people here read it as a guilty pleasure. We know it's not the best book series out there. But it scratches an itch.

>>17980626
To be fair, I asked /sffg/ for a feel good, escapist adventure. But the driving motivation of the main character was to save his village and I hated everything about his village and everyone who lived there. Plus, the regimented martial arts grades felt like an anime trope, rather than a believable fantasy world.

It wasn't bad, just not to my taste.

>>17979921
When Uncrowned came out, the guy who reads the audiobook, of all people, was telling people the book was fine with no issues and people shouldn't be complaining.
Yes, their cult is very much "this series has no flaws".

>>17980621
Like the alien world really feels alien; the names are unpronounceable and it doesn't explain anything about how they operate at first, it just throws you in. Also there's a whole chapter where enslaved sentient grass talks amongst itself. Not at all what I expected from the cover or title.

>>17980709
Give up and read the lyonesse son. It's exactly what you are searching for.

>>17980719
>The man with the financial and creative interest, doesn't want you point out flaws.
Well huh, I guess he should have just said that the book was subpar? That wouldn't make his publisher angry or anything.

And I guess all the people he told not to complain were completely soothed? They heard his words and like hypnosis, they all converted into believers.

any recommendations for sci fi space colonization stories? can also include the journey to wherever, the only one ive read so far is Children of Time by adrian something, and a bunch of neal asher

>>17980842
Yeah, you're right. Someone financially involved with the production of the series telling people who consume said series that they are NOT allowed to view the series negatively or type negative comments about the series, is completely normal.
Now that you post this absurd idiocy, I wonder if he's contractually obligated to defend Cradle.

>>17980883
Well first, I doubt he told them that they're "not allowed" to view the series negatively. You'd have to show me his exact words before I swallow that horseshit.

And second, it is actually normal for the people involved in a production to only say good things about the production. Happens in all entertainment, everywhere. Actors will always tell you that the movies they're involved in is great. They'll tell you everyone they worked with is great too. These people are industry professionals, and they're not going to criticize their partners. What does he POSSIBLY have to gain by agreeing to anything negative? The respect of dickbutt anons on 4chan? There's literally no upside to criticizing the book from his position.

>start Elemental Gatherers/Azyl Academy
>Exceptional in 4 schools!
groan
>start Aether's Blessing
>fucks the girl even when asked not to before bouncing
groan
>reading Stellar Transformations
>Qin Yu leaves his home continent
>zip zops around underwater fighting octopi and other aquatic creatures with his black eagle bro for 3 books so far
About what I expect from another IET xianxia. It's engaging enough so far but I feel like it's been some time since I read something fun. Bloodline was a quick read but not exactly filling.

>Scrutiny. Calculation.

>>17980996
>No. I am more.

I haven’t read fantasy since I was young. I picked up The Blade Itself, and have been enjoying it. Any recommendations for a guy coming back to the genre?

>>17981124
Malazan if you are a man of good breeding, Prince of Nothing if you are one of the gays.

>>17981135
Woah shit. Big series. Thanks though

>>17974301
Hey op may you make this the next threads image.

>>17980879
This might be the greatest mars colonization story ever written

>>17981169
I heard mixed things on this. What’s your opinion?

>>17981091
>Randomly rapes men
Wow so deep

>>17981169
thanks, also read foundation already btw

>>17981195

>>17981195
>randomly

>>17981195
>randomly

>>17980996
>The study is so deep, Father...

>>17980996
What's this?

>>17981388
bakkaro

>>17981188
It’s really good, you can tell the author really knows the topography of Mars really well, and is actually knowledgeable in a good number of different scientific fields. Your enjoyment of the series will come down to how much you like character drama and tolkeinesque descriptions of the Martian landscape as it changes over time

>>17981388
Bakker

>>17980996
>>17981388


*naruto lite

>>17981399
>>17981403
>>17981438
Fine, I guess I'll have to read it

Books for the Heavy Metal Magazine crowd? I like anthologies, coombait, and stories that don't take themselves too seriously.

>>17981510

Why tho?

>>17981517
Curious.

>>17981517
>>Why tho?
it's a fucking masterpiece anon
it filters a lot of people
it's intentionally overstylized, some readers find this offputting
but bakker is a gem of a writer unlike any other in fantasy or scifi. in fact his series is a masterful blend of both.

>>17975094
I enjoyed the first set of books.
It had the perfect Battlestar galactica feel. Deep inside enemy territory having to scavenge for resources.
Both the strategic and tactical stuff was well done.
I felt the story had a good ending. Didn't even bother to pick up the sequels.

>>17981402
I’ll pick the first one up, thanks guy

has anybody here read Gormenghast?

>>17980967
>groan
Hello, Reddit!

>>17974844
The only good chinkshit.

>>17978805
The only anons with high energy are the anti/bakkerfags, who have created a mountain of OC and indepth literary analysis.
This leads me to believe that the ONLY METHOD to get people to talk about a book series is literally to spam it constantly and promote controversy and arguments at attract attention.

Which one of you guys wrote Call of the Arcade? This shit is bonkers.

>>17981763
You. Please stop.

>>17981763
You must be making large paper money from us to shill so hard.

>>17981752
>The only anons with high energy are the anti/bakkerfags, who have created a mountain of OC and indepth literary analysis.
the in-depth literary analysis sounds interesting, any links?

>This leads me to believe that the ONLY METHOD to get people to talk about a book series is literally to spam it constantly and promote controversy and arguments at attract attention.
So be it.

>>17981866
>>17981866
just read any /sffg/ thread in the archives from december through february, it was the golden age of bakkerposting. culminated in the aspect-author himself paying us a visit

I got filtered by Rothfuss last week. Picked up name of the wind, and got 70 pages in. Am I not being fair? I know it’s pretty popular, but there isn’t anything about it that strikes me as remarkable. I was bored and that’s pretty much it.

>>17981985
Move on. It's not that great of a book and the second is significantly worse.

>>17981985
Rothfuss didn't filter you... you filtered him. No one needs this literal cuck's overhyped garbage.

>>17981546

Full astroturf then. Got it. Thank you for making it obvious.

>>17981985
Rothfuss only gets praise because–compared to other fantasy authors currently working–his prose isn't absolute dogshit. Other than that, he doesn't have a lot going for him; I personally find him insufferable as a person as well.

>>17974470
Its just a meme. Dont bother reading it.

>>17976174
Then leave bakkertranny.

>>17982178
>>17982177
>t. troubled

>>17981887
So is the verdict out on whether or not this was actually Bakker? Or was it just some anon mimicking his style?

>>17982177
>>17982178
> “W-what does it say?”
> “That not everyone can be saved.”
> “And what do you say?”
> “I say that is a good thing.”

>>17978641
I liked Three body problem series a lot

>>17982280
if imitating they got pretty damn spot on. it reads exactly like his blog down to the quirks of punctuation and phrasing. but pretty good skin-spy if fake.

>>17978721
Not OP. But all of Frank's books are absolutely worth reading, especially if you liked Book1.

That being said- avoid books with the name "brian" on it like the plague

>>17981985
Don't start series by authors that have zero intention to ever finish their work

I need to get back into writing. Instead I'm getting further away from it

>>17978641
Starting Ringworld now. I'm excited.

>>17982334
It sucks because I LOVE Runelords but I can never recommend it to anyone because it's unfinished and abandoned, just one book from the end.

>>17978641
I meant to read something weird, but it turned into A Sci-fi set-up in the opening foreward with exposition. The Turner Diaries. Second time I got history exposition in a weird book. But I'll give this weird book a try.

>>17982409
Update: Weird ass book. As confirmed.

>>17980879
emphyrio-jack vance
dying of the light and windhaven - grrm

Is there a book about a guy from a fantasy novel being abducted by aliens? I'd be shocked if there wasn't.

What are the best fantasy races that aren't generic elves dwarves ghouls orcs, ghost vampires werewolves ect. Gimme your most unique ones

>>17982638
I'm writing a book about humanity being forced into a Pan universal war by an advanced alien civilization if that counts as abduction.

>>17982817
I'm specifically talking about a fantasy setting being established and then a character being taken from it by aliens

Has anyone read any good Sword and Sorcery books lately? I quite like Schuyler Hernstrom.

>>17975706
What the fuck is a webnovel?

>>17982892
I would hope if you're on /lit/ you could use context clues to figure that out, loser.

>>17982897
Fuck I wish I had gone with being retarded on purpose for sarcasm's sake. Now I'm just a loser.

Recently I finished Children of time and children of ruin and although I admit it's a bit reddit I liked most of the stuff in there. Tchaikovsky writes a book in 4 months or something and I'm not sure if his other stuff are up to par. Any recommendations for similar books (not the bug part in particular) ?

>>17974470
Just read the first book, it starts incredibly slow and wordy. Building up to a story, though honestly there's a lot he can do different/remove to improve the book.

I think people are mostly looking for anything mediocre to read and calling it good, such as Bakker.

>>17974826
Spends too much time talking about "woe is me" bs with whatever characters. Picks some stupid ass characters to build up, instead of anything cool actually happening. It's a lot of words, politics. No cool magick shit.

>>17977734
Characters in The Second Apocalypse series by R Scott Bakker. The series starts with The Darkness That Comes Before.

>>17983193
>>17983198
Filtered for literally having words in a book.

>>17983198
Go watch a marvel movie, might be a bit more your speed bud. They get straight to the heckin actionarinos and epic lightshow magic!1!

>>17974470
i hate scifi/fantasy and think it's worthless trash. but i enjoyed bakker. people who don't like bakker do so for the reasons that make him worth reading and like things that make scifi/fantasy in general not worth reading. also, scifi/fantasy could be good if each retained their original hearts. genre writers simply don't get it and so always write unreadable dogshit.

Finished "Guards! Guards!" and was thoroughly disappointed with my first Discworld experience. Way more wacky and way less political commentary than I expected. I kind of liked where it was going towards the end with Vimes and the Patrician and some of the jokes were pretty clever but overall I think I'm done with this world.

>>17974301
Sage

>>17983486
read small gods and if that doesn't grab you then i don't know what will

Finished this last night.
Pretty good overall, I enjoyed it. Nothing completely out there mind you, and as it devolved into a death match I did sort of groan for I expected more and many of the twists and turns were obvious. But it was still a fun time.
Necromancy books are still one of my favorites and exceedingly rare to be done right. As are strong female protagonists, especially pairings, who arent just general mary sues or single dimensional plot devices you often see.

Biggest issues I had with the book though
>necromancy power
A little too undefined. Harrow, the main necromancer. While a genius still feels like the power of necromancy isn't quite an asspull, but it feels very undefined. She can create entire skeletons from a single bone, and things of that nature. Puppeting skeletons is a hallmark of necromancy but constant bone regeneration and where all this extra matter comes from, and the reasoning why you couldn't do it infinitely is never really understood. Just the fact she basically has unlimited bones. Which is somewhat held off from OP status because it's never really used for overwhelming advantage.
>swordsman pairing
Not fully fleshed out here. Supposedly it's a necessity for war. But considering how stupid powerful the necromancer are feels rather redundant to have a swordsman "provide" them bodies. But whatever theres a post note and their situation was abnormal and the entire plot was hinged on relationship between the pairs so I give it a pass.

>main relationship
Biggest problem imo. I saw what it was doing from the start but their relationship felt rushed toward the end and not really fleshed out.
It's supposed to be the generic love hate relationship type deal. But Giddeon gets nothing but hate and she has no reason to care for Harrow outside their deal. Harrow has a single moment of tenderness toward her and she does a complete 180. Stabs her in the back. Makes a comeback and they're basically completely in love. Their initial closeness and friendship I can chalk up to desperation for familiarity. But the fact they got so close so fast when by all rights Harrow should have been killed in her sleep feels a bit disappointing. I still somewhat give it a pass because Giddeon is a giant baby and it's not like the obsession about one another wasn't stated from the start. It just feels like there should have been a more underlying seething hatred that needed to be overcome and it was just sort of handwoven off.

Overall totally recommend it though. I have the sequel and I'm hyped to get started this weekend, something I haven't been for many of the books on my "shelf".
Fun characters, interesting world, interesting mechanics, a good balance of strength without strength being the all out solution to all their problems.
8/10 book overall. If they addressed the pairings closeness a little better and fleshed the world and systems out a tiny bit more itd be a 10/10 imo.

>>17983255
>>17983410
Imagine idolizing a cuckhold/tragedy porn writer so much that you can't understand that what you subjectively like about the book is not objectively good. And different people like different stiles of writing and pacing

>>17981985
I don't like prose that overtly sucks the MC's dick. I know that's kinda the point but I found the first book awful because of this. If I was a teenager again, and I haven't yet read anything better, I would probably have liked it better.

>>17981716
>generic newfagism
groan
>>>/v/

>>17983486
>Way more wacky and way less political commentary than I expected.
Pratchett's commentary is sparse and rarely memorable, Discworld's draw is its gags, characters and plot.

>>17983486
>>17984058
It's mostly liberal boomer commentary: "achtually we're all fairly similar and can get along, racism is wrong". Kind of cringe, but boomers are cringe so it's to be expected.

>FINALLY finish Disciple of War
>took 40%+ to become interesting
>goddamn cat shows up a whopping two times
>gets killed off
>killing off one of your two best characters
NOT HAPPY AT ALL
roast pork though, mm mmm

>>17981728
Firstly, I liked The Three-Body Problem, though that is the only 'chinkshit' I've read other than 'Journey to the West'.
Secondly, where can I obtain an epub version of Reverend Insanity? I hate reading at a desk.

>>17984164
>I hate reading at a desk.
I hear actual paper books travel surprisingly well.

>>17984285
Is there a paper version?
The only versions I can find are online website uploads that scroll on forever.
I suppose I could read it off my phone, but it seems more uncomfortable that just pulling out my paperwhite.

>>17984366
You have options. Save it to TXT or configure your Add to Kindle feature. Amazon has a reading list thing with your own email address that you can basically just shoot to the Kindle. There are also numerous epub authoring tools if you're so inclined.

>>17981195
>Randomly

>>17982852
Wojak in top-right of pic?

>>17980139
I still don't get who you mean has been revived. Neither Moiraine nor Lanfear get revived in book 6. Osan'gar and Aran'gar are Aginor and Balthamel revived. I agree with you about the balefire thing tho. At the same time it's kinda interesting that there are forsaken around that the main characters don't know about.

>>17984164
>Secondly, where can I obtain an epub version of Reverend Insanity?
novel-ebook.com

>>17982389
In Jan 2021, David Farland claimed he is 80% finished with the final book of Runelords.

>>17982147
Authors like Tad Williams have fantastic prose yet they get no recognition from the reddit-tier fantasy reader.

>>17984748
Is Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn worth checking out? I've heard good things about it

>>17984753
Its very good, brilliant prose but a slow burner (like most of William's books). Definitely worth reading if youre a fan of high fantasy.

>>17983767
The second book is entirely different

>>17980879

>>17981169
really liking red mars so far
>>17985156
downloaded this too for future reading after reading a chapter of red mars

After reading chapter 4 of The Great Ordeal I’m left with more questions than answers.

>>17985880
That's the point fren

>>17985880
That's the point fren

>>17984742
Just five years left then I guess

>>17986157
the medallions of sranc meat with the leeks and blueberries exactly as described in the book are a nice touch

>>17986183
He didnt bugger you did he?

>>17983438
>i hate scifi/fantasy
>Today i'll go to /sffg/

>>17983767
So she's OP but too stupid to use her OP power.

>>17986364
What do you see?

I just started Dune with the intention to read it all
I know Brian's books are dogshit, but do Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune at least offer some decent conclusion to the whole thing or should i just swallow the cliffhanger that awaits me at the end of Chapterhouse?

>>17986464
I'm curious too

I'm writing a science fiction story. What are some pitfalls I should I avoid? Like, what typically makes a scifi or fantasy story cringe?

Has anyone here read Babylon 5 books?

>>17986700
Dude, if you're writing a story and don't already know that, you're fucked.

>>17986737
I do already know, but I'm curious what /sffg/ would answer.

>>17986763
>I do already know
No, you clearly don't.

>but I'm curious what /sffg/ would answer
First of all, asking what you should avoid when all you've said is "I'm writing a science fiction story" is vague to the point of tedium, GIVE DETAILS.

>>17986700
>What are some pitfalls I should I avoid?
The most important is to avoid writing a sci-fi or fantasy story.

>Protagonist, clad all in black including his trademark mask, rises above the minions of Tartarus with his one wing of death, and, after invoking the 666 Authorities of all the gods and demons of death, kills them without a sound
Why haven't you taken the gookpill, anon?

>>17985143
Quite. Just started it and it is something else. But I don't mind the clusterfuck it is so far and I'm intrigued though I expect I know where it's going.
>>17986447
To an extent. Shes was OP in terms of power and ability, and she gets the normal hand waved intelligence justifications for ass pulls. But she doesn't just casually solve everything instantly and other people are just as skilled and intelligent as she is. And the she here is the main characters partner rather than herself, who is just a sword monkey.

It's more that despite her OP abilities she never has any use for them because the challenge is intellectual and based upon mindset rather than pure ability

>>17986805
this read like very edgy teen fanfic.

>>17986860
Yes, that's what makes it funny. The power scaling really went off the wall once he equipped the Monkey King's staff to Gae Bolg so he could kill gods to consume their divine essence

Well that was fucking terrible. Which one of you practical jokers put it on the recommended chart?

>>17986700
>Like, what typically makes a scifi or fantasy story cringe?
Innumerable different things. The only way to learn to avoid them is write it down, get feedback, learn and repeat until you git gud.

Kellhus = Mohammad a.s.

>>17987075
Which recommended chart? 90% of the ones in the folder are terrible. I still can't believe six of crows is unironically suggested as a primary rec for flintlock fantasy

>>17987108
The older scifi charts, both of them.

The author of Conan has been dead for like a century now.

Whats stopping me from writing a new Conan book? Does anyone holds the rights?

>>17987301
Conan isn't public domain until 2028

LOTR is filtering me.

>>17987533
Why?
It's a pretty easy read, all things considered.
Most challenging thing is all the similar names.

>>17987545
Not him, but I don't really enjoy how much of it is worldbuilding. I get that that's the appeal for a lot of people, but I really don't care. The Hobbit was better because it was a purer adventure story

>>17987545
Basically this >>17987580
I'm a quarter of the way through and 20% of that has been spent on describing the flora and history of a world that I haven't spent any time in yet. It feels less like an adventure and more like a field guide for Middle Earth.

>>17986464
>>17986649
Haven't read, but I've heard unless you're a Frank purist, if you get to Chapterhouse, might as well read the final two. They are enjoyable and a serviceable ending.

>>17985156
>>17985535

Aurora is KSRs best book after Red Mars. Its a helluva ride.

>>17987794
Thanks, I'll see if I can get some decent copies

>>17984753
First book is dull. Glacial pacing especially in the first half, lots of setup, pretty inane politicking and climaxes. Maybe it gets better from there and there were some points of interest in there for the future but I'd prepare for a rough start.

>>17987075
Me.

Not actually me

>>17982409
What sort of weird subliminal message is this post meant to be sending?

>>17982955
Seveneves

>>17985156
one of the only books i loved and respected but also pissed me off (the twist and how it ends) i didnt like that they turned around and went back to earth, also one planet having toxic atmosphere isnt the fucking end of all hope for off-earth human colonization. the message of 'humans can only live on earth' was kind of infuriating to me.

Why did Lindon turn into such a pussy? What happened to repaying kindness with kindness and a fist with a fist?
He goes back home and turns into a pussy, letting a bunch of worms talk shit to him.

The only time he manned up was when he told his parents he is doing what he wants and they don't have a say in it.

Why nobody talks about Sandergod, youtube and reddit told me was the fantasy author of the century

>>17988734
Here you go (you)
What more is to talk about a Shallan enabler?

I finished David Eddings' Sparhawk novels after being suggested them by someone here a few weeks ago after I finished his Belgariad and Malloreon.
Elenium was pretty fucking slick but Tamuli sort of petered out during the last book despite having a lot more promise at the start.
Overall I'd rate them a solid 8, maybe a 9. Some people say they're Eddings' magnum opus, but I found Garion's story far more compelling, a thorough 10/10.

>>17974592
Are there any more of these meme charts for other franchises?

>Madness!

>>17984748
>>17984753
>>17985136
>>17987877
I just got the 4-pack of these from Amazon, it came in the mail today. What am I in for?

>>17987545
>>17987580
>>17987614
>>17987533
Not that guy but I fucking HATE the endless "songs" that interrupt the story, they utterly defeat my inner voice's ability to read consistently. I loved reading LOTR and Hobbit and Silmarillion but every time a song came up my enjoyment stopped. I don't think I'll ever reread those books.

>>17988682
>bro we gotta save everyone we gotta move fast we gotta ADVANCE
>but let me spend 1/4th of the book kowtowing toward anybody
>and listening to my parents tell me how useless I am 9 books later

>>17988871
The other guy might just enjoy things differently than I, it's not fair to judge him just based on that, but you are jut an absolute pleb in every regard.

>>17988848
Classic high fantasy from a talented writer, its a shame he is a liberal snowflake now and his political views are noticeable in his more recent works.

any anatomy book recs

>>17989012
I hate when that happens but those are still good enough for a read right?
I mean Abercrombie's earlier works are still very good even if his recent stuff is mediocre at best unapologetic garbage at worst thanks to his injection of muh politics into his writing.

Is this a good book idea?

>>17989059
It will be good because people of the future will learn how to recycle when they realise that's where you story belongs.

Which modern fantasy novels are reminiscent of classical high fantasy?

>>17989293
Can you elaborate?

Is there a reason why Jack Vance's republished novels have such awful covers?
They look like the covers for a self published YA novel for Christ sakes.

>>17987545
Motherfucking Gildor and Glorfindel always gets me

>>17989316
Yeah.
It's shit.

>>17987545
Not him, but I'm reading it too. I'm enjoying to a lot, although there are some parts where it gets sort of dragged out and not very interesting (like the little court intrigue plot when they meet Theoden)

Is this based or cringe?

>>17989337
That is really bad, I hate books with shit character art on the front, makes the whole thing unappealing. The number of books I've picked up, then put back down because I would cringe to own that.

>>17989059

If you want to alt-history choose something more known and popular. No one outside of a few mormon incels will read that. I say this for your own good.

>>17987332
Disney is a menace.

>>17989790
female writer = cringe (havent read it and never will)

>>17990040
There's nothing wrong with female authors. However, when the critic review blurb on the cover is attributed to a woman, then you know to stay the fuck away.

What are some sci fi fantasy stories from the last couple years that are not part of a long-running series and have compelling characters?
Examples of compelling characters (to me): Semiosis, Lord of the Rings
Examples of not compelling characters: Foundryside, The Bone Ships

>>17990085
Agreed

>>17977280
based schizoposter

>>17990085
I ignore cover blurbs, they're just marketing PR bullshit irrelevant to the author.

Personally I've learned to like female authors of scifi/fantasy novels. They tend to have better written characters and focus on actually have characters interact and progress themselves.
Male authors are just so dull, they focus on the setting and only the setting. They just info dumb and find excuses to exposite how super special their unique snowflake world is without giving us any hint of humanity or character.

For female authors, they have a beautiful world we explore alongside characters we learn to love.
With male authors its just a world filled with the author's jerk off fetish with characters designed only to railroad us to sequences the author can show off his fantasies of.

>>17990297
What's that series by the woman about colonizing mars or something? Have you read that?

>>17990311
don't recall it.
i can think of a few books about colonize mars or about colonies already established on mars, but I can't think of the names or details about any of the.

biggest one i can think about was one i read in elementary, maybe middle school. where a girl was born on earth and transports to mars. and she talks about the sun and running about outside. but then gets bullied and locked away for the one that that sun shows up on mars while all the other kids are playing around outside. and they just forget about her locked up inside during the once in a decade experience.
can't remember it for the life of me though and i doubt that's what you're referring to.

>>17990297

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz87cTaBZUU

i can't believe this.
memes converging. what have you done?

>>17990311
kim actually used to be a man's name

>>17988580
>the message of 'humans can only live on earth' was kind of infuriating to me
[SPOILER]sorry about the reality-pill bro, but it had to be said[/SPOILER]

>>17990297
>Male authors are just so dull, they focus on the setting and only the setting. They just info dumb and find excuses to exposite how super special their unique snowflake world is without giving us any hint of humanity or character.
>its just a world filled with the author's jerk off fetish with characters designed only to railroad us to sequences the author can show off his fantasies of.
That's an interesting take anon, can you give us some examples of this, and maybe some better-written female works?

>>17990464
how do these fucking things work

>>17990472
it's b8

Any science fiction story that foretold the rise of vtubers?

>>17990922
Idoru - William Gibson

Your genre shit sucks! Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace made better world building and even better science fiction than all of your precious “writers”. /Lit/ for actual literature.

>>17989822
Did the idea strike you as pro-mormon or pro-incel??

>>17989337
The new cover is fine. But old is just insane. Who made that cover? That s next gen PS3 level.

>>17989050
> I hate when that happens but those are still good enough for a read right?
I mean the Shadowmarch series is good, but I would avoid the Otherland series unless youre a liberal.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn doesnt have any of that, but maybe he was a different person back then. Also, in terms of prose he is easily a top 5 authors in fantasy.

>>17989337
"old good new bad" actually has real merit when it comes to fantasy book covers

>>17991814
>pic related

>>17991865
Gregory B Sadler should be on the cover

>>17988871
>Not that guy but I fucking HATE the endless "songs" that interrupt the story
Have you tried skipping them?

>>17987614
Kys addled brainlet who's so addicted to instant gratification that can't read a description of a tree.

Just randomly looking up books and came across this author. Is Perdido Street Station any good?

>>17992057
>Mieville
What do you think, anon?

>>17987533
keep going, it gets better when they get out of the shire and again when they get to moria. the beginning is boring as shit

>>17992057
The only good part about any Mieville novel is the first half of the plot synopsis

>>17992057
>Is Perdido Street Station any good?
Yes.

>>17990472
Well less baity, its more a common trend than an absolute.
Any female authored hook tends to be more about how a character reacts to things and goes through a scenario. They're smaller in scale, even when they're doing something world changing its about the characters and their direct relationships. It's less about the result and more about how the final result was gotten to.

Most male books have a set piece in mind. They need to be in front of the queen. There needs to be a character making witty jokes. There needs to be that scene where the underdog fights and kills the dragon. But the characters are always just that. The comedian is the fool, the underdog is the useless underdog, the dragon is just a dragon. The path to get to the set pieces are a necessity rather than being the time to learn about characters.

For a shitty example, because examples are always anecdotes anyways.
I read the locked tomb books. First book is about a girl whos been alone and abused her whole life opening up to her friend/abuser who did it out of obsession and because her own life is a mess. There's a who done it plot, and the end goal of becoming immortals. But there's next to no discussion about being immortal or dying. Its about how the different characters react to people dying, partnerships, and most importantly how friendship was the solution all along.
And that's a female author. If you replaced the MC the entire story changes, not a single beat within it would be the same. (And as evidence in the second book the girl goes crazy and we see flash backs of the first book with a different character which changed everything)

Meanwhile I read the novice dragoneer by a male author. Also had a female protagonist. But we never get her real emotions or motivations, theyre just haphazardly slapped on her with no real background or logic other than "she's she's orphan". Then we get justification after justification about why she's allowed to do certain things.
>and then she gets into a duel because supervisor is a dick for reasons
>and then she gets moved into being a dancer cause that's hot or something
>oh and now she's assigned to a dying old super important dragon who dies in front of her
>and now accidentally she's on a mission that coincidentally let's me tell you all the details about this other country
>and now this grouchy old dragon is going to help her save a bunch of people despite being a ground dick 24/7 and hating her
>oh now grouchy old dragon betrays her so we can see dragons fighting each other
If you completely ripped out the MC and replaced her with literally anything else. While story beats need to be changed a tiny bit (if it was male change dancer with cleaner bitch) and justifications slightly shifted. 99% of the set pieces would be the same. The result would be the same. The story doesn't rely on the shitty character it relies on the author finding justifications to give you set pieces.

>>17992057
It's really fucking big, so I'm using it to keep a shelf upright.
Even if Mieville wasn't what the kids would call a libtard I'll never read it, it's more than 300 pages.

>read Tower of fucking Power
>MC dicks down the pure elf girl by chapter ~12
>and it was her first time too!
groan
I like the overall premise of the story and I hope the Tower is neat when they finally get to it. I'm a slut for tower climbing stories. It's easy to read through.

>>17990297
ah, a fellow hobb chad

>>17992322
>Mieville
>libtard

I thought they hated him.

>>17992322
>I'll never read it, it's more than 300 pages.
Fascinating. So far I've known about people like you only from jokes about dumb 'Murikans. Would you tell us more about yourself? Have you performed vasectomy?

>>17992057
it’s borderline unreadable, hyper cringe diarrhea. gen xers should be zyklon’d.

>>17992605
They don't hate him, but he probably hates them, because he is actually a full-blown commie.

Is anyone reading science fiction and fantasy magazine these days? Wondering if Asimovs and the other big ones are free from SJW shit

>>17992705
>free from SJW shit
They aren't, and that's a good thing!

>>17992626
Seethe.

>>17992723
Sure, if you want sff magazines to die. Their readership is plummeting. Maybe it has to do with publishing 20 volumes of Afro-Futurism Poetry written by gay immigrants and I'm A Black Victim sob stories.

>>17992765
If you hate it so much, curate your own SJW-free e-zine then, anon.

>>17992783
I don't care about short fiction. I'm curious if the infection has reached Asimov's, Analog, and Fantasy & Science Fiction: the big three. All their stories are paywalled and I'm curious how far they've fallen. They can die. That's fine.

>>17991664
Tom Canty. From 1989 to 1997 he swept the awards for best cover artist at the Hugo awards. It's easy to tell why. His art is beautiful.

Something I've noticed in some fantasies I've been reading lately are making women stronger than their real life counterparts (example all the people of this race are 6 feet tall minimum). Or having multiple demihuman races where the female of the race is just as strong as the man (race of cow people, cow women are stronger than normal humans). How do you feel about this as a way to shoehorn in female warriors without having to suspend disbelief?

>>17993044
The former is cringe, the latter is based.

>>17993060
these memes are maximum cringe

>>17993072
A very subhuman opinion to have.

Why can't Bakker use normal words?

>>17992765
>I only like critiques of contemporary issues when they're issues I agree with!

>>17993138
who are you quoting?

>>17989337
>>17992994
This is a disgrace. Why do these tard publishers bother changing a book cover when it looks this good? What is wrong with these people?

>>17993044
It depends entirely on how big their udders are.

>>17992705
>>17992765
I haven't read Abyss & Apex for a long while but I remember it being devoid of SJW garbage. That may have changed with the times though. Check it out.

>>17993206
Publishers are run by people with Marketing Degrees, and if you work in Marketing you rise to the top by your ability to bullshit, because there's not actually an objective measure of success or influence for marketing.
Thus you end up with an entire industry populated by idiots who failed upwards because they happened to be in the right place at the right time and the success of something that would have succeeded without them is in part attributed to their marketing campaign.

>>17989337
If you told me this was done by the same person, I would have told you that he's spiraling deep into dementia.

>>17993044
Female warriors isn't really a big deal.
To start with, protagonists are always special human beings, they're not your everyman, they're not the average. A woman who works hard everyday, is especially talented with the sword, and has a bit of luck with god's graces would be a fantastic warrior. It doesn't matter if the 'average' woman is weaker than a man or sucks at fighting, we're not talking about averages we're talking about the amazingly super special women of a magical universe who really wants to stick metal objects inside people.

And more importantly, its really not that big of a stretch to have warrior women. While uncommon its not like it wasn't a thing that happened or is particularly unknown. Women have been duelists in the past, quite famously so. They've been utilized as assassins for longer still. For the most part, shoving a pointy stick into someone isn't really that hard.

>>17982638
bakker

>>17982638
Book of the New Sun if you consider that fantasy.

I think I've made a mistake. I bought the book because I got baited with a nice-looking cover and description on the back.
>What links the events on the flip side of the Moon with the attack by a Chinese strike group on a Russian research station? Could the unusual meeting of a Polish Nobel Prize winner in physics, the evacuation of a Russian spy and work on a mysterious artefact found at the site of the Tunguska disaster have an impact on world security?

>These are just some of the questions surrounding the most important issue: are we unique in the universe, and if so, what makes us different?

>The answer may determine the alteration of existing geopolitical arrangements in the name of higher goals. One thing is certain - the Controller will ensure that both our world and other worlds will never be the same again...

I've never felt so reluctant to open a book because I don't want to be disappointed.

>>17993829
Who gets baited in buying a book?

is there a recent sci fi/fantasy novel (like from the last year or two) that is actually really good and doesn't feel like you're mainlining pure soyy lent?

>>17993842
No

>>17993849
well that sucks

>>17993842
>doesn't feel like you're mainlining pure soyy lent
Please elaborate.

>>17993829
It is a pretty cool cover, not gonna lie.

>>17993865
You had you head stuck on sand or something?

>>17993869
So this is what men look like in the future.

>>17993880
yeah
>>17993869
basically something that doesn't feel like it's trying to teach the reader a moral lesson about liberalism, and doesn't feel like being a character being lgbt immediately means the character is interesting

NEW THREAD
>>17993896
>>17993896
>>17993896

>>17993898
Why did you make a new thread before the bump limit?

>>17993904
Because they are having an OP image battle. One wants a certain kind of OP image and the other wants a different one.

>>17993895
>>17993842
Have you tried, idk, not just being a gigantic flying faggot?
Go to a fucking bookstore and read some covers, the fuck is wrong with you.
>boohoo the liberal scum are invading everything

There's fucking shelves full of all the generic garbage you want to read. Actually bother to fucking go to the store and look.

>>17993895
You'd prefer that it's trying to teach the reader a moral lesson about conservatism, and does feel like being a character being a traditionalist immediately means the character is interesting.

>>17993914
The last time we had a non-anime OP it was archived before the bump limit.

>>17993916
I don't want to read generic garbage. Stop putting words into my mouth. You sound like a twitter blue checkmark soyy brain.

>>17993916
>>17993924
same poster

>>17993932
>b-but you're twitter!
yeah you're the same generic faggot as 1000s of other /pol/ fags whining about the identical shit.

doubt you've read a single book for fun in your life.

>>17993932
>twitter blue checkmark soyy
Stop using buzzwords, faggot.

>>17993942
They're the same poster just because they disagree with you?

>>17993949
>>17993950
>

>>17993952
disagreeing =/= getting triggered and pretending like you can read someone's mind

>>17993955
>NPC maymay
You are the one who should go back to twitter.

>>17993961
He says as he posts the same identical meme image as every other /pol/ crossboarder.

>>17993898
God, making early threads should be a bannable offense.

>>17994020
Less than 20 min early to stop the animefags, keep seething.

>>17994058
I ain't seething. Making early threads is just shit in general. Would have said the same thing if an animefag did it.

>>17994068
Yes, less than 20 min early, keep seething animefag.

>>17994074
>He disagrees with me
>He has to be a animefag
Every time. Not him by the way. Just find your line of thinking retarded.

>>17994068
Enjoy your thread dying before bump limit, western yuro-tranny

>>17993962
> I told him to go back to /pol/ but it didn't work
> Guess I will tell him to go to twitter, the only other place I know, this will surely work.