/lit/ - Literature

Fuck, E William Brown
Fuck him!

>>18026894
Do any of you guys have any good fantasy or science fiction from the 90’s or early 2000’s?

>>18026894
Does anyone know any website for Science fiction short stories? I remember one site, but it seems to be taken down now, It was about the Big crunch. Does anyone else know any other?

FUCK ANIME
ANIME IS NOT SFFG
STOP COLONIZING OUR THREAD WITH YOUR FAGGOT WEEBSHIT
KYS TRANNY OP

>>18026904
Why?

>>18026952
Seething tumblroid

Have you read a single book from the current year, /sffg/? If so, what book?

>>18027023
Depends on what you mean by current year, but I did buy a bunch of LitRPG from Amazon to read. So, far, it’s been pretty okay. Do you have any recommendations?

>>18027023
Other than some light novels that had their translation released this year, no.

>>18026894
What books are like death stranding? obviously roadside picnic but what else

>>18027078
Greg Bear's "The Way" series. I have only read Eon, but it should be right up your alley. This maybe not exactly what you're looking for but I would recommend House of Leaves for the complexity of narrative and mysterious story.

Also you might check out Blood Music (the short story) by Greg Bear as well, pretty similar themes to Kojima's stuff, nanobots and whatnot.

>>18027078
>What books are like death stranding
The Other Side of The Mountain by Michel Bernanos.
The Metro series by Dmitry Glukhovsky

HP Lovecraft in general (though specifically The Shadow out of Time, From Beyond, Shadow over Innsmouth)

New Weird books (China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, Neil Gaiman etc.)

>>18027121
>New Weird books (China Mieville, Jeff Vandermeer, Neil Gaiman etc.)
You’re such a faggot. All these shitters and no Ligotti. Obviously you post in the fantasy faggot general

>>18026952

>>18027139
Would you rather have me say, The Time Wanderers by the Strugatsky Brothers?

>>18027078
Have you read the book adaption of the game is written by Death Stranding co-writer Kenji Yano?

>>18027148
Ignore him, anon. Don't let him ruin the thread.

>>18027188
no, I find the story in the game to be actually retarded. I just want more zona

>>18027205
>I just want more zona
Watched Stalker movie yesterday and I know that feel

>>18027205
Well, this is my final recommendation, but I doubt you will like it, but The Rope and The Stick by Kobo Abe

>>18027072
Which light novels did you buy?

>>18026953
They have a love hate relationship. Anon likes his smut but hates that he is too greedy (only publishes one chapter a month on patreon for 5 bucks).
May have change some details but that's the first of it.

PROMPT OF THE THREAD
Write a short something with this premise and get some feedback.
>Humanity enters into a total war with a species of humanoids from Mars that looks exactly like just, except they have bright green skin.

Could be a comedic commentary on race or something, like a lot of good sci-fi.

>>18027278
Do we have any rules? Is this flash fiction?

>>18027317
Just the prompt. Go nuts with it however you'd like.

>women have to learn to open their minds or we are fucked
Uhhh, based Ness. But seriously any other authors like him.

>>18027368
Kelly Barnhill
Siobhan Dowd

>>18027278
I'm going to use new scientific studies that evidence that life on Earth was kick-started by a meteorite from Mars

which thread are we using?

>>18027485
Sounds like an interesting idea.
Good luck with your story.

>>18027532
This one

Any books similar to Dark Souls?
By that I don't just mean solely the dark fantasy setting, but also the feeling of isolation and loneliness that permeates throughout the game; wandering a hostile world by yourself, and the few other people you do meet eventually falling to either death or despair.

>>18027591
If you look for the rather vague style of storytelling, where you have to deduce many things for yourself, because they are not directly told to you, you may want to look into the Authors Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun, etc.), R Scott Bakker (The Second Apocalypse) and Steven Erikson (Malazan).

I think Túrin Turambar sucks!

>>18027653
Why?

>>18027661
He is a, rude and arrogant hothead that can't stop fucking up.

>>18027682
That's the appeal.

>>18027693
I don't see it

>>18027591
Shadow of the Torturer and The Gunslinger

>>18027693
>That's the appeal.
If you're a masochist, sure.

>>18027719
Turin is straight up a tragic Greek hero. Hell, his tragic flaw is even hubris. He may not be the most likable guy, but he's a great character and it's a damn good story.

>>18027719
Are you not masochistic?

>reading interview with the female author of a book I liked
>"yes I did write a short story about a 13 year old girl who gets groomed and then raped by her mentor, and I think its a good thing that people write whatever they want"

>>18027757
What's the author's name?

>>18027757
I mean when Nabokov does it people call it one of the greatest works of of the 20th century

>>18027779
Tamsyn.
Seems like a cool lesbo desu. I liked the interview with her, plenty of gay angst too.

Just finished book 1 of Cradle
>Lindon isnt some sort of prodigy or super gifted, he was just trained wrong, as a joke
>uses his wit and traps (NOT THE BEES) to win fights
>actually killed all the people who wronged him but in self defense
>Yerin best girl
>Paths are cool since they're just HxH ripoffs so they cant suck
>adventuring time outside the starter zone, grinding to Iron
now tell me how this all goes down hill from here

>>18027807
I never read it. But from your summary it sounds like every LN every written. Which is to say, a contrived mess of nonsense to make the MC seem weak but constantly jerks him off anyways and somehow he becomes super strong with a harem.

>>18027783
This

>>18027822
The hell? No.

>>18027830
Sure anon. That's what every haremfag says.

>>18027836
Well the MC does not seem weak nor is there a harem.

>>18027790
I’ll check her out.

>>18027878
Only has 2 books published and a bunch of short stories. I recommend her though, good writer overall.
I just thought it was a funny snippet.

>>18027895
It is and I will, thanks, anon.

>>18027023
Fuck no. I challenge you to name a single book from the last two years that isn't either derivative garbage or full fucking r*ddit.

I'd read it if I could find it... Thankfully the genres had a solid few decades before the collapse of western culture that I can still enjoy, at least until all the authors are cancelled and their books banned.

>>18027980
Why has fantasy and science fiction been increasingly polarize?

>>18027895
>>18027878
>>18027790
Just read the synopsis of her book, seems like she took Dune and then shoved in "memes and jokes for her readers". And it's praised by NYT, Vox, Wired, NPR, and a bunch of non-English and female writers.

That's gonna be a no for me, brah.

>>18028008
Because everything is.

>>18028015
The synopsis is just publisher marketing bullshit.
Also it's literally nothing like dune, unless everything that has swords in space is dune for you.

>>18028028
>immortal God emperor
>noble houses
>magical bullshit
>young protagonist is part of one of the noble houses and has to survive political jockeying while navigating danger and coming into own powers
Hm....

>>18028038
Wow if I reduce everything to 1 word greentexts it sounds just like Eragon!

But whatever you do you faggot. You're the one missing out though.

Why are women dominating SF/F?

>>18028055
What is this, the hugos?

>>18028062
Yes

>>18028055
Because women buy more of it.

>>18028055
They're honestly better writers. Women know to focus on character driven stories and tend to write interesting character dynamics with characters who actually change as the story goes on.
Men focus too much on pointless things like being autistic about trees or magic systems nobody cares about.

>>18028055
Women read and write more. YA is also lumped in to those, which is an overwhelmingly female field.
And to top it all off, women are notoriously nepotistic.

>>18028103
>>18028093
The correct answer is it was a backlash to that Sad Puppies shit im still struggling to understand. Just realized Scalzi is a raging male feminist

>18028093
This pasta is getting very stale, get new content to bait for fucks sake.

>>18028055
Equality has been achieved biggot.

>>18028125
Bait is only bait because it rings of truth. A bait that isn't made of flesh is no bait at all, it is merely a hook.
By admittance of recognizing it as bait you have in essence recognized it as the truth. A truth you are not ready to swallow.

>>18028079
Even if that were the case it doesn't explain the 100%.

>>18028093
>Women know to focus on character driven stories and tend to write interesting character dynamics with characters who actually change as the story goes on.
I, for one, love generic 30s white woman protagonist working in advertisement, who gets borderline raped (but she's okay with it since he's hot) by new manager, Chad Chaddison, whose personality is defined by his obsession with white woman protagonist.
I also enjoy when the antagonist is some hyper aggressive caricature of sexism.
Truly women are masters of the craft.

>>18028136
The bait is nothing but mockery of what the truth is, a sham made as to entice those that hold batter understanding of the full truth.
By mimicking said truth, but at the same time twisting it into an unrecognizable shape, one can be sure to arouse feelings of injustice and anguish on those who high in moral high horses.
Still even fishes learn to recognize bait once they see it enough. One must be ever careful to not overuse the same phrases and arguments, even if the essence of the bait remains the same.

Why is it so much better than anything else in the fantasy genre? What comes close in terms of pure comfiness?

>>18028138
It's a branding statement. We want women to buy more scifi and fantasy. It doesn't really have the same punch with 51% female winners.

>>18028181
Belgariad
Malloreon

>>18028181
You would need to look at the classics, and do mean the classics, hamlet for example but they are not as appealing to a modern audience.
This is just one of those creations that are one of a kind and surpasses it's historical and cultural context.

>>18028138
Hugos have been woke garbage for awhile now.

>>18028093
>Wanting character driven science fiction
Please save us.

>>18028093
>Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

>Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.
powerful.

>>18028209

>>18028164
So first part
>The bait is nothing but mockery of what the truth is, a sham made as to entice those that hold batter understanding of the full truth.
Entice implies the subject itself is attractive to you. While in a normal sense of baiting a fish this is correct. Bait in the posting sense is more enticing you based on your own desires to correct someone or prove them wrong, the bait isn't enticing, the vulnerability behind the bait is what's enticing. You also state bait is a mockery of the truth which implies that by nature bait has full knowledge of the truth and has purposefully twisted it to its own ends, however you then claim that it's enticing people with a better understanding of the full truth to bite. These 2 claims are at odds with each other, as the former was a mockery of the truth, not an incomplete form of the truth. A fuller understanding of the truth isn't a more comprehensive view of the bait, so the claim is meaningless.

>By mimicking said truth, but at the same time twisting it into an unrecognizable shape, one can be sure to arouse feelings of injustice and anguish on those who high in moral high horses.
The first half is overly verbose considering you're basically just repeating the first part of your post and saying it's making a mockery. Overly redundant and wordy, the post loses its flow and becomes obnoxious to read. The second half, terrible English aside, is instructional. You're stating how bait can cause these things to happen, however the bait already occurred. It should be describing and action that we can see, not claiming that the action could hypothetically happen. You've mixed up your time senses.
>Still even fishes learn to recognize bait once they see it enough. One must be ever careful to not overuse the same phrases and arguments, even if the essence of the bait remains the same.
Similar to the last part. You've mixed your tenses. You're instructional in nature when you should be analytical.

You come off as pretentious as a result and sound like you're trying too hard.

>>18028232
That otter creature on the far right is kind of cool but everything else in this picture is awful

>>18028055
Why does the graph begins at 2010? The Hugos have been awarded since 1955, and they were probably 100% male winners for 60 years straight.

>>18028250
Skewing in the other direction isn't good either.

>>18028250
men have the most geniuses and retards so it makes sense

>>18028055
have men really not won at all since 2016? why do we suck at writing?

>>18028250
Bro you can't say that! What about the narrative!

>>18028302
That changes nothing in regards to the "narrative", if the past of the hugos has been tainted by a patriarchal society that undeservedly rewarded males and suppressed female talents, now we just did a 180.
This is no way justice.

>>18028302
What narrative? Obviously the Hugos were male dominated awhile back. Now we've swung in the complete opposite way. Both are bad.

>>18028233
I mean... thank you for the correction, but do keep in mind I was just shitposting and wrote that with the intention of it being scrutinized as such.

>>18028330
just being female isn't enough you need to be some kind of trans or poc female to win now . the 2025 graph will be funny

>>18028330
>>18028344
I mean... its literally just a giant dildo. What do you expect...?

>>18028330
>>18028344
I know fuck all about the Hugos in general, but I was under the impression that the public voted for their favorite works. Since the public is considerably more different and normie than it was before, the shift wouldn't be really surprising. I don't know if that's good or bad, I imagine plenty of bad shit has won the Hugos before.

>>18028372
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Puppies
>Sad Puppies was an unsuccessful[1] right-wing[2] anti-diversity[3] voting campaign intended to influence the outcome of the annual Hugo Awards, the longest-running prize (since 1953) for science fiction or fantasy works. It was initiated in 2013 by author Larry Correia by means of a voting bloc to get his own novel nominated, and then through suggested slates in subsequent years (led by Correia in 2014, and then Brad R. Torgersen in 2015).

Id make the argument anyways.
1. Who the fuck cares? It's a meme award, theyre always 99% political bullshit.
2. Seriously who the fuck cares?
3. It's not like only female/sjw authors got nominated. There's plenty of white men nominated too, they just didn't win.

And honestly I don't keep up with this shit, I don't even know who the authors are most of the time but I read a few of the books nominated and they're all relatively high quality compared to half the garbage I read. So for the best book of the year? Yeah sure I believe it.

>>18028397
How is this not more well-known?

>>18028451
Because most people don't give a shit.

>>18028451
Yeah i just reminded myself of it today. Vox Day was involved, still don't know the whole story. This and Trump getting elected triggered the shitlib establishment writers pretty hard so everything has taken a hard leftward turn. Now all the protagonists have to be female , gay and progressive

>>18028475
What is it with you and this "who cares" attitude? The authors care and they're the ones that write the books

>>18028496
You say this. But whenever I go to the bookstore I have to go out of my way to find protagonists that aren't generic orphan white dudes in Europe.

>>18028451
I'm not sure it didn't much, I barely notice any change in "diversity" in the years it went on compared to before, maybe cause i just read the books instead of caring for the actually ceremonies. But the backlash for sure fucked up the hugos from then on, that shift was noticeable.

>>18028506
You asked why the sad puppies were not more well-known and I replied it's because most people don't care. Sure, the authors and some fans may certainly care. But the majority of people don't hence why it's not well known.

>>18028514
That is entirely on your bookstore and on you. Read more contemporary books instead of the classics.
Also I think you are lying because with the little I have read of sci-fy there aren't an overwhelming majority of "white dudes from Europe" even in the classics.
I mean for fucks sake, the culture series (which is the standard to follow) is full of empowered women protagonist and POCs.
Nah I think you are full of shit.

>>18028553
The people from the Culture are barely human anymore, they can just genetically engineer themselves at will for shit and giggles

>>18028553
>but 1 example
Yeah and I can name 50 others on the other side.
That's the point. I "can" find the books I want, but its harder. If I wanted a strong white male protagonist I have shelves and shelves of things I can pick of generic not!Europe fantasy with them as the mc.
If I want a cool lesbian protagonist I have... maybe 3 books written by white dudes who have no idea how women, much less lesbian women, act. And maybe 2 actually decent books.

And yes is it petty to want a book about lesbian girls in a magical fantasy world? Sure. But I still want it and for all everyone's claims that everything is pozzed and filled with sjw shit. I sure as hell don't see my wishes being fulfilled.

>>18028597
that's because you are lying

>>18028569
the people in the culture are white or white presenting

>>18028597
Back to r/printSF make a thread asking for lesbian black protagonists they'll help you out

>>18028597

>>18028611
>>18028600
I still have standards.
You act like because there's 20 books you can find that it means bookstores are covered in them. But that's far from the case. Especially since half of them are as you say, pandering schlock put out to make a quick buck. And they read like absolute garbage.

>>18028622
who is claiming that "bookstores are covered in them"?

>>18028569
That could be argued, they could also be described as the final evolution of the human race. But that still doesn't change the fact there are a ton of strong female character who take the forefront of the books.
>>18028597
That was one example of what could be considered THE classic scif-fy series, which is also quite old, I couldn't list all the sci-fy that has lesbian and/or female protagonists specially in the more recent stuff. If your library doesn't have those book it's on them and if they do but you don't enjoy them it's on you.
I personally could do with more quirky muscled men myself, but I don't demand it to be done because I'm not a narcissist who needs to have his wishes fulfilled at every turn.

>>18028643
>I want thing
>but thats different than you wanting thing
Yeah cause you're a dumb faggot, I got that.

>>18028634
No one, if there isn't a straw man that person can't make arguments.
I believe "it" is traying to extrapolate the undeniable fact only women have own recent hugo awards to mean "you are all evil right wingers who believe libraries are full of lesbian and POC shit".
>>18028622
So you have quite a few books that panders to your exact fetish and yet you complain because they are not "up to the standard of quality"... you people will neve be happy will you?

>>18028665
It is because I'm not crying about it. You however are since your out burst about "Muh white male orphans".

>>18028676
I stated I want thing because I want a thing.
But as you stated
>>18028496
>ALL protagonists have to be female , gay and progressive

Yet that's not the case.
>inb4 b-but I'm allowed to move goalposts just not you
Just like you're allowed to express a desire for something but I'm not.

>>18027822
>I never read it.
Stop being retarded about books you haven't read.
>>18027807
It's good until Underlord, then it becomes awful real fast. If you really like Yerin though, you might be interested in the later books.

Is Chronicles of Thomas Covenant worth reading?

>>18028514
Those classic fantasy books are put front and center and have so many copoes because that's what sells. How much audience do you think there is for modern Hugo award 'winners'.Theres probably some in America but theres 0 in my country if we go by experience.

>>18028694
>like Yerin though,
shes a fun character. Strong but humble and disciplined. She doesnt just become Lindon's cocksleeve like Asuna does in SAO does she?

>>18028690
>ALL protagonists have to be female , gay and progressive
You might actually be retarded, that is not only clearly an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis, it is specifically referring to the hugo awards and hugo nominees.

>>18028796
Even dumb military scifi pulp has the captain/hero as a wamenz now give me a break and literally only guys read that shit

I"m looking for good fantasy books in the past decade any stand outs in this chart?

You people are arguing over the contents of books but that has nothing to do with the winning of awards which, as far as I can tell, comes down to the identity of the author and their publisher more than anything else. Writing and reading has booms and busts and right now we're in a bust, not a boom. Groups that view themselves as marginalized tend to infiltrate and overtake weak communities, and the SFF writing community at the moment is very weak. There will be a breakout, reading will become trendy again, and it will all pass and tend towards actual equality in the long run. Just read the classics and wait for a new era. Write if you like, because there's nothing else you can do to change things yourself.

>>18028752
No. But she becomes an unbearable mary sue.

>>18028752
The opposite in fact, the author sucks her dick real hard in the later books so if you like her you probably won't have problem with it.

>>18028899
Most of the good books on their aren't even from the last decade.

>>18028899
Most of the good books on that list aren't even from the last decade.
I did like Library at Mount Char though and that came out in 2015.

>>18028745
Picked it up due to the butthurt about the rape, but MC was too gay and mopey and the story too boring.

>>18027023
The Devil and the Dark Water, but it turned out not to be a fantasy book after all

>>18028928
>>18028930
sounds good to me

>>18028899
The Lies of Locke Lamora is pretty good, but do not be fooled into thinking literally any of its sequels are worth picking up. I enjoy Brent Weeks' work, but it's not high art by any means. I quite liked The Magicians, by Grossman, but never got around to reading its sequels. Didn't really feel like it needed them. None of the other books I've read on that list are worth picking up

>>18028987
What do you mean?

>>18028983
So, it's not worth reading?

>>18028417
This. Who cares about awards at this point?

>>18028527
Anon, I'm the one who ask why it wasn't more well-known.

>>18028093
based post

what a shit thread, from start to finish.

i miss those golden days when 95% of the thread was in-depth discussion of bakker's lore and crazy OC memes anons would make.

>>18028079
>>18028093
>>18028250
>>18028302
>>18028417
Go back to plebbit kids

>>18029077
The other book the guy published was a sff murder mystery. This one is set up that way, suggesting that the murders are being committed with the help of a demon, but part of the reveal is that that's a ruse, and there was no magic after all

>>18029533
Unironically fuck you.

>>18029533
This general is seriously desperate for another series of comparable quality.

These books are very fun. It's not great writing but it's very serviceable. They're just a lot of cool shit in these books. Sexy, funny, good adventure story.

>>18029685
They're = there is*
jfc

>>18029685
Yep. It's firstclass entertainment literature. Still thinking about it from time to time.

Are there any good books about people being stranded on the moon?

I'm looking for stuff like The Terror but actually good. I loved the atmosphere, the emptyness and death, the cold, so on.

>>18029715
The only moon story I have read is pic related. It's great. It's not like the terror at all, though they are technically stranded there.

>>18028093
I'm more interested in concepts and explanations rather than characters, though. Probably explains why I can't stand modern fantasy in particular.

>mfw someone says they dropped the book 50 pages in because they couldn't "relate to the characters"

>>18028417
Real problem is where do you go to get the beat on actually GOOD new books, though? awards are demonstratively useless because you need to be a black woman to get noticed and communities like Good Reads and Reddit essentially just hype the latest releases or authors they perceive as famous. I'm not reading all the newly published drivel to maybe find one or two decent books.

>>18029742
I read an authors entire bibliography. Just keep knocking them out. I learn about new authors so frequently I can't keep up.

>>18027121
>>18027139
I don't know. I like Mieville's writing. The less you know about him as a person the better, but he's a good writer if nothing else.

>>18029754
I really like this dude. I remember reading PSS as a kid. My library didn't have The Scar or Iron Council (fucking rad book) so I had to get them on loan from another library, took forever.

I still have my hardcover copy of Un Lun Dun.

>>18029735
you on the spectrum?

>>18028055
Jews are giving out these awards, if black men could read you'd see them winning too.

>>18029754
You can tell from his face he is a liberal and a BLM supporter.

>>18028008
>>18028026
I don't want to be "that guy", but I think shits always been kind of "polarizing". The actually good stories will get filtered out over time. It's just hard to find the diamonds when your in the trough.

>>18029754
Y-you mean you DON'T dismiss authors' works beside on their personal opinions?

I've read this years ago and it really made a big impression on me. It won prizes too.

Disgusting animefag thread. OP should be shot dead for his constant animefag spamming.

>>18027278
No one cares disgusting animetranny.

>>18029910
Kys animetranny. You have ruined this general.

anyone got a recommendation for something with steins;gate feel? Something with scientific research and breakthrough. The Façade had a similar feel but I stopped after the mc started giving religious speeches.

>>18029965
No one cares animetranny.

>>18029742
places like /sffg/

>>18029929
>>18029933
>>18030046
If you retards had put in half as much effort into on topic posts as you do with your autistic chimpouts, your thread might not have died.
Live and learn :^)

Can I get a list of modern fantasy books/series without gross lgbt shit ?

>>18028694
>It's good until Underlord
There's legitimately no difference in quality between the earlier books in the series and Underlord and the books after it. The worst book in the series in book 2 by a country mile and the quality beyond that is pretty consistent.
The reason people shit on the later ones is simply that they read the earlier books back to back but then had to wait on releases for the later ones, and convinced themselves the series is better than it is while they were waiting, thus they were disappointed that the later books didn't measure up to their inflated expectations.
I enjoy the series but the simple reality is that the quality of the series was never high enough to warrant complaining about a drop in quality to begin with, it was silly shit from the very beginning.

>>18029735
In that case just read shitty isekai LNs. Plenty of super detailed autistic systems described in depth.

>>18028745
I really liked it, despite the premise (someone from our world is sent to the Territory, aka not-Middle Earth). Rather than dwelling on their tax policies, it goes the opposite road to tie the Territory with moral and customs, what if fate wasn't on the shoulders of good ol' Bilbo but someone who could give Gollum a run for his money. A leper, whose physical corruption matches the moral corruption of the Territory. Just don't expect it to be as complex as Lotr, the author was clearly interested in but a few themes of the original.

What are the best fantasy books with original settings ? I'm sick and tired of hero's journey, elves, dragons and knights

>>18027078
The Road

>>18030535
Curse of Chalion and its related novels and novellas.

>>18030549
Thanks Anon, will check out. I've been playing Majora's Mask for the first time a few weeks ago and got blasted by the tone and setting, it's wonderful how they managed to make something so original with the asset of OoT which is kind of bland in terms of world building (yet an amazing game)

When does this get good?

Can't decide what to read next, which should I choose:
>Elfenheim
>Old Man's War
>A Canticle for Leibowitz
>Pride of Chanur
>Shard of Honour
>Shadow of the Torturer
>The Forever War

>>18030844
The answer is always wolfe

>>18030403
The systems themselves are just shitty rpg copies and lack any dept. Just because you like an emphasis on characters does not mean he or anyone else who likes world building has shit taste.
I could tell you to read internet fanfics "If character focus so much, since they spent 99% of the time just focusing on characters and literally nothing else."

>>18030844
Forever war was nice.
Shadow of the Torturer is boring at the beginning, but once in motion, it's perfect. It's one of my favourite books now.

>>18030403
He's talking more about classic SF which was more about ideas and concepts. You usually had some dorky scientist protagonist or highly competent action man.

>>18030260
rf

>>18030874
>>18030895
I was leaning towards Wolfe, I've not read any of his stuff before but see it shilled here constantly. I've mostly been put off by how long the books are honestly.

I also have Grunts! By Mary Gentle on the list, but think I'll probably try Shadow of the Torturer next.

>>18030122

>>18030649
>chinkshit
never lol

>>18030218

Why have there been no literary-level analysis of fantasy books? Except for the Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature (which is more about the history of fantasy lit instead of any analysis of it, and the analysis that is there is focused on structuralism and postmodernism primarily), and Ursula K LeGuin's essays about speculative fiction.

>>18030218
Kys animetranny.

>>18031275
I've reading Nabokov's Lectures on Literature, and it's interesting to see how he takes books apart and analyzes them. Most academic readings of literature (in my opinion) are too extreme, so finding the middle ground between 'not analyzing it deeply at all', and 'analyzing it to the point of absurdity' is very difficult. It's enlightening to see how an accomplished author (and somebody with a clear love and passion for literature) deconstructs literature, his definitions for the things that make up a book (plot, structure, form), etc.

One thing to keep in mind is that Nabokov very much sees literature as art, not as an emotional thing. The first essay in the book is about distinguishing 'good readers' from 'bad readers' in Nabokov's view; Good readers, in a nutshell, are able to appreciate a book without needing an emotional hook to get them invested in it; they can step back and let the writer take over. Bad readers are emotional readers, readers who need a character to relate to, or something to invoke memories or nostalgia, in order to be invested in a book. He also says that to fully understand a book, you have to read it multiple times (first time is to get the big picture/"get acquainted" and the second time is to look at the themes and the structure).

My goal in all this is to find a method of examining literature while still appreciating it, and then to apply these methods to fantasy books to see if I can separate what makes the good ones very good, and the bad ones very bad; Whether or not I succeed is a different matter entirely (this might be a completely autistic waste of time but I have nothing better to do), but it will be an interesting experiment and maybe we can have some serious discussion about fantasy here. In a few days I'll be getting BotNS in the mail, and I can't wait to get into it

Thoughts, /sffg/?

>>18031441
4chan has destroyed me. The first thing I think about when I see a black woman is "made for BWC" and I'm not even white.

>>18031441
I may have tried one of her books if she didn't hate white people.

A family friend recommended to me some sci-fi books that he read as a teen. (he is 62)

The books were The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance and A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller. Was wondering if anyone could tell me if they are good on here

>>18031463
Both of those are pretty solid as far as SFF goes. Dying Earth is more high fantasy-ish, and ACfL is post-apoc

>>18031441
Lmao what exactly is she going to teach? How to bitch about white people 24/7 because you're so insecure about your own writing skills? How to insult authors like Lovecraft and Tolkien while desperately trying to profit off their names? How to become a Hugo winning author by throwing a bunch of gay black characters in your books?

>>18028206
Brainlet. One of the core concepts of sci-fi is to examine the effects a radical concept or technology would have one the individual or society.

>>18030349
Soulsmith was rushed after Unsouled sold 10-20x more than any other book he wrote.
Everything after Underlord has been average to negative, and we sure as shit ain't getting another Ghostwater.

>>18028250
Because Asimov, Heinlein, Van Vogt etc etc etc were gods and extra affirmative action points weren't given to shitty writers for having pussies and a dark skin.

>>18031584
>Asimov, Heinlein, Van Vogt etc etc etc were gods
lmao I don't agree with the hugos being exclusively awarded to a writer because of their gender or the color of their skin, but Asimov and Heinlein are pretty bland

Early Cradle was just dumb fun. But it absolute got progressively worse and the latest book was a complete shitshow. Lindon went from that underdog you root for to an insufferable retard who constantly regresses in character. It happened so much in the latest book with the whole return to Sacred Valley plot that it's the primary reason why a lot of people are shitting on it. Then there's his girlfriend Yerin who goes from a cute autist to a Mary Sue who has some new asspull power up in every book.

>>18031604
Then stop reading it.

>>18031596
If you take in consideration the time they were writing and the technology level of the time they really weren't.
Sci-fi has a tendency to not stand the test of time as new technology emerges, the fact some of their stories are still enjoyable in this day and age just goes to show how good they were for the time.

>>18031607
Are you some Will Wight shill from reddit? I don't despise the series,I just think that the writing is getting worse and worse simply because he's rushing to get these books out to make money.

>>18031649
>because he's rushing to get these books out to make money
That is why Uncrowned was half a book. He talked about putting out a book every 6 months was the most profitable in addition to keeping him relevant in terms of advertisement. He's been writing around two books a year and Bloodline was his first of two this year, despite him making a big deal about needing and going on a break but of course look what just released.

>>18031441

>>18031441
Any published author is probably worth listening to if you want to be traditionally published. Jemisin's ability to be published and win awards is rooted in fashion and if your goal is to get published and win a Hugo, the insight into her fashion is probably worth it.

>>18031596
>lmao I don't agree with the hugos being exclusively awarded to a writer because of their gender or the color of their skin
I don't think Asimov and Heinlein got hugos because they had dicks or white skin. They got them for writing the Foundation trilogy and Stranger In A Strange Land and dozens of other classics. Name a black female SF writer with a list remotely as strong. Jemisin? ROFL. If she published her exact same shit under a male name and put a picture of some old dude wearing a MAGA hat on the back cover, she wouldn't even fucking get reviewed, and you know it.
>> A and H are pretty bland
So find a writer who serves more jalapeno. Just don't kiss up to them because they're black and have a pussy. Alexander Dumas was black, and Jane Austen had a pussy, not that she got much use out of it. But they've been celebrated for centuries because of their WORK, not because they scored SJW pity points.

finished red rising 3. are the rest worth it? the sequels were weaker than book 1.

What's wrong with P. Rothfuss?

>>18030844
>A Canticle for Leibowitz
Currently re-reading right now. Its fantastic.
Any beta on the sequals?

>>18032184
Besides him effectively retiring from writing to stream on twitch? Lots.

>>18032184
>literal cuck
>effeminate
>condescending/smug

>>18032184
Liberalism

>>18032211
Pat is such a good guy bros.

>>18028899
Why does it look like this faggot followed some of my rec charts? It's super strange he read a lot of the books I recommended, AFTER my chart was made.

It makes me think he shitsposts in these generals.

>>18032221
>>literal cuck
[citation needed]

>>18032756
What an intriguing display of paranoia, narcissism, and distaste.

>>18029706
>>18029685
I reread them recently and holy shit do I HATE the author's obsession with writing absolute whore characters who loooove to fuck everyone and are super sexual all the time. Just fuck off. There's a teenaged girl who gets groomed out of a sports career by an old man sociopath who trains her to be his sex slave and that's portrayed as a good thing. She loves it. When he goes to prison she goes on to become a prostitute and porn star. It's insufferable.

>>18030987
>I'll probably try Shadow of the Torturer
Keep in mind that shadow of the torturer is only the first book in a series, while many of the others are complete stories, so if you don't want to commit to something longer right now, don't pick Wolfe.

>>18032829
Sounds good

>>18028745
The hero is way too fucking whiney

>>18032211
God, I hate this faggot.

>>18031988
Maybe if you are a POC woman or a tranny.

>>18032184
Fat effeminate prissy man child with a cuck fetish

>>18032184
I like his books a lot, but I think he didn't know how to wrap up the story, so he stopped working on them completely in around 2013. He got really hostile and unpleasant towards fans who asked about a new book afterwards but never outright said it will never come out.
He's still riding the fame these books brought him and became a huge redditor good guy retard, always involved in some kind of dumb charity bullshit or cause, but in a way that reeks of virtue signalling, especially seeing how passive aggressive and obnoxious he is all the time (see this tweet >>18032211).

>>18032829

>>18032896
>>18032838
Edgy children. It's god awful writing that takes you out of the story. Unbelievable cardboard characters aren't acceptable just because you're a braindead coomer.

>>18032829
Seems like a realistic portrayal of women triggers you. If you keep being a misogynistic swine you will never get any, sweaty.

>>18032907
unbelievable != something I don't like

>>18032865
Stay mad europoor. Pat is great, you just hate American fantasy.

>>18031463
>A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller
It is one of the all time greatest classic in scifi. Dying Earth is fantasy though, not scifi.

>>18032836
I don't mind series, just prefer them in more bite sized chunks because I bounce around, and also with an infant I can't really put in multiple hours at a time. For example, I've read most of the books in the Discworld, 1632, and Horus Heresy (I know they're almost all licensed formulaic garbage, it's a guilty pleasure) series, and really enjoyed the first two Thomas Covenant trilogies, but outside of some of 1632, most of those books can be finished in less than 8 hours of reading.

>>18033146
Ye, I was just telling you in case you wanted to take a break from series or something.

>>18028745
If you can get past the angst of the MC, the first six are very enjoyable. They go a bit off rails in the final "trilogy" that was written like 30 years later, because of money.

You can do a lot worse.

>>18028062
Sadly yes.

Worth a read?

>>18033473
Yes.

>Look up the Hugo Award finalists
>The City We Became by NK Jemison
Did people generally like this book? I am actually from New York City, and even I thought it was way too much fellation of this place, not to mention really hamfisted in its moral of "diversity good and Lovecraft was racist".
Also actually kind of racist itself as shit despite it trying to be woke. Having the Asian character's one distinct trait be "good at math" was hilarious.

>>18032936
>unbelievable = something I don't like
ftfy

Started the Undying Mercenaries series a week ago, on the 10th book now. Pretty good rec from /sffg/
anybody got an epub of Glass World and Edge world? at the rate I'm going now I'll be at those books in a few days

>Concerning hobbits

Anybody tried the Galaxy’s Edge books by Anspach and Cole? I’ve heard they get significantly better after the first

The new Mage Errant has been fun so far. It's longer than I expected, around 8+ hours from what my Kindle says. It's less slice of life with teenage angst than book 4 was but that may be due to the scope and pacing of this one.

I haven't read a book less than 30 years old all year. I remember Wizardrous being posted about here a while ago, but I can't remember if it was supposed to be based or cringe?

>>18034506
Well the author posted it here and I read a couple pages and it was dogshit, and nobody's talked about it since, so I'm just going to assume that you're the author back again trying to get more people to check it out and tell you to fuck off and try screenwriting.

Is there anything like this that's actually finished? Just at a glance I have hopes that Fred Saberhagen's Swords series could have a similar level and style of violence, but it could also just be influenced by Tolkien, with swords instead of rings.

is First law trilogy good or is it reddit tier? Is the graphic novel a good alternative to ir or is it just an adaption for people who have already read the books?

These stories are written beautifully and have great ideas, but the majority of them seem to be real downers. Is BotNS any brighter?

guys... I just finished The Eternal Champion...

>>18034897
I only read the beginning but it's not cheerful at all. It's some of the most bleak fantasy I've ever experienced

>>18034849
R*ddit tier

>>18034849
I'm currently reading it and it's quite good, I'm in the second book.
I expected "grim dark" but it's nothing like that at all, at worst there's some torture scenes that are mentioned but you don't read anything specific in the first book, it's just a setup that introduces characters and feels like traditional medieval fantasy.
The characterisation is quite good if anything. I can't think of anything that would be reddit except one black girl that is really strong and keeps calling everyone else a whitey.

>>18034988
That last detail could absolutely ruin it for me. That's one reason I stay back in the 60's-90's. That and ugly covers.

Happy endings are the best. Dark and depressing books are for plebs.

I'm reading Book of the Ancestor. I've finished the first two, and I'm enjoying it, but a lot about it seems to lack weight. The Tacsis family are the main antagonists, but every member feels like just some guy. Keot is extremely fun, but then he leaves Nona behind (although I assume he'll come back in some form), which was disappointing too.

>>18034804
The author stated on a Facebook post that the last book in the series is 80% complete.

>>18034897

It's about a torturer on a dying Earth, isn't exactly all sunshine and rainbows.

>>18034970
>I only read the beginning but it's not cheerful at all.
Shut up you fucking toad. Don't talk about books you didn't finish like you know anything about them.

>>18034897
BOTNS is Gene Wolfe trying to show that there's hope for redemption/salvation (the Christian, Catholic sort) in even the darkest parts of humanity. Urth (book 5) especially makes it clear that it's an optimistic story.

>>18035527
I'm only talking about the beginning. Don't be a sperg.

>>18033064
I'm from south dakota

>>18034849
>Grimy butt-rash hawked cold spit onto the fire and smiled as the guttering flame sizzled. He had thought he was the best Named man in the north. After watching Bitchy sour-puss go to work, he had realized he may have been the best Man, but he wasn't half as good as the best Woman.
There, you've read the entirety of the first law and all it's sequels.

>Arya overhears stuff about Hardholme in one of her chapters in Dance
>Nothing about Wights or Others attacking the town, just more and more people being picked up by the pirate ships
>Doesn't report anything unusual other than it is an old and cursed place, no mention of "dead things in the water" like in the letter Jon gets

Reminder the Pink Letter is 100% false

>>18035632
Bro, ASOIAF is so 2008

Looking for some good long fantasy novels that are available as audio books.
Just listened to the first Spellmonger book as I got it on a special deal a while ago but never started.
Wasn't the biggest fan of it, but didn't really hate it either.
The dude repeats information too much and Minoan or whatever feels like kind of a self-insert, but it kept my attention.
I'd rather start a better-written novel then go onto the next book though.

>time looper goes back one day whenever he dies
>meets a girl stuck in her own ten day time loop
>they fall in love, but whenever either loops the other forgets
>eventually convince the gods to sync their time looping so they won't forget each other
cute

>>18035752
Guns of the Dawn is 21 hours
The Great and Secret Show is 22
Tigana is 24 hours
The Thousand Names is 22 hours
Johannes Cabal is only 10, but its narrator is so perfect at his job I feel the need to mention it
Those are probably the best I'd rec from my audible library

>>18035780
Genuinely thanks bro, will check all of these out.

>>18035632
Who gives a shit? The last book came out over a decade ago, and there's no sign any additional books will ever come. The show began, turned to shit, and ended since Dance was released. If you haven't moved on at this point, it's sad.

>>18028181
because Tolkien spent 50 years writing and rewriting it, and for his kids. everything else in fiction is written for money

Please recommend me something with an underdog protagonist that a no point becomes overpowered or even stops being an underdog.

Many are the stories where the underdog either finds a master or finds the determination to train and all that, like Rocky and Karate Kid. But I want something where the underdog tries to do the best with the little he has combined with his own wits.

>>18032184
SKILLED LOVER OF WOMEN

>>18035874
Bartimaeus

>>18036069
read it already

>>18036085
Well I only rec one book at a time, so you should have mentioned that

>>18029754
His books aren't even preachy, (I think?)
the things he were advocating obviously came with flaws, balanced
or weren't even represented as good things

>>18031988
Okay, but I can't really change my skin colour og gender to get Hugo brownie-points
they are so blatant

>>18036232
You could pretend and never do public appearances or meet with your agent in person

Sandersonfags, is release date reading the appropriate way to read Cosmere or is there some Chronicles of Narnia shit going on?

>>18036232
>I can't really change my skin colour og gender
Dude, it's 2021
honk! honk!
Sure you can

>>18036232
you could totally change your gender though, you can even make up a new one

>>18036232
You can't change your race, but you can change your gender. Just say that you're trans, and no one will question it because they'll be afraid to get cancelled for mistreating a transperson.

>>18031451
are you a black cuck? if not, what are the chad terms for hung Asians and latinos?

>>18036275
the key is to come out as non-binary because then all you have to do is use they pronouns
coming out as trans when you aren't is not a great idea because then you'd have to take hormones and shit

>>18036283
>hung Asians and latinos?
Non-existent lmao

>>18036291
Ummm no?! You can be trans without taking 'hormones and shit"..... educate yourself chud!

>>18036253
They're separate series with just some interconnectivity between them. I'd recommend reading Warbreaker and the original Mistborn trilogy before Stormlight. But even that's not really necessary.

hahaha baste my fellow white kids hahaha how much do you charge these thoughts to live in your head?

>>18036341
It's hard to quantify the social capital you gain by cynically engaging with the fads of the day, but if I had to guess I'd say about five

>>18036341
>>18028055
Do think women suddenly got real good at writing
or is there something else going on?

>>18036341
Have you read Jemisin's Stone Sky series?

>>18036374
I have actually, it has interesting ideas but the story line is far from gripping and too disjointed. I appreciate the need for ‘world building’ but for me it never got built and I can understand why the author nearly binned it. A struggle to write and to read.

I kept reading waiting for something to happen. A pretty uneventful road trip, a one minute sea battle, a sojourn in a weird cave then it ends. All a bit unsatisfying with too many unanswered questions so I won’t be buying the following two books.

>>18036414
how is her prose

>>18033146
Read a canticle for Leibowitz first since it's shorter than the book of the new sun, and is easier to understand. It's a really nice post apocalyptic tale commentating on human nature, cyclical nature of history, etc

>>18036445
I keep asking myself if this was just an exercise for writing in the second-person or if it is just poor writing? --- doesn't matter to me.

Please convince me to get back to work on editing my manuscript. I need to make fantasy good again but making the draft took so much out of me that I've been on a break for two weeks.

>>18036520
Do it if dubs, otherwise don't.

>>18036520
Don't waste your time in other, more useful endeavors.

>>18036520
sometimes taking a break for a while after you complete the draft is actually a good thing

>>18036520
go for a walk, smoke a cig or some weed, cook yourself a nice meal, have a good night's sleep, wake up early and grind.

we need your goddamn book anon... look how shitty this thread has gotten without any infusion of quality fantasy in the last 3-5 years or so.

>>18036414
>>18036466
How did it become a best seller?

>>18036608
Books are at the forefront of the luxury belief economy and always have been, really

>>18036615
Still doesn't explain it properly.

>>18036618
Literature has been in a decline for a while now.

>>18036618
I don't see why not? People buy books all the time that they'll never read because they feel a moral impulse to do so. Buying it is an act of self improvement. Once the publishers market the author appropriately, they sell well. Isn't Ibram Kendi a best seller? I strongly doubt it's because people love reading his work

>>18036626
Still doesn't explain how it became a best-seller.

>>18036633
Yeah, but the reviews of that book is heavily mixed, going negative.

>>18036644
Sure, because the buyers are not buying it as an enjoyable read. It doesn't matter if the book is actually good or not

>>18035874
Literally, any fantasy book or YA written by a colored author.

>>18036647
Why the fuck would anyone buy a book they don’t like? It just doesn’t make sense to me, maybe because I grew up poor or something.

>>18036655
Let it go, anon.

>>18036661
If you say so.

New thread.
>>18036669

>>18036633
>buying a book you'll never read is an act of self-improvement
good fucking god lol the absolute state of consoomerist imbeciles

>>18028055
The puppies controversy pretty clearly revealed that hugo nominations were a marketing ploy now. People voting for an authors idpol, not the material of their work.

Lindsay Ellis best new author indeed lmao

>>18036655
virtue signaling, I guess

>>18036655
Beliefs as a luxury good. It's a way of displaying social status

>>18029533
Babys first philosophy class, was boring as fuck.

>>18036730
Perhaps Sanderson is more you speed.

>>18033574
>Also actually kind of racist itself as shit despite it trying to be woke. Having the Asian character's one distinct trait be "good at math" was hilarious.
Is this a joke.

>>18035762
are you baiting me?
if not then give me the title

>>18035874
my diary desu
your shit life probably too

>>18037057
SSS-Class Suicide Hunter, I'm only describing the latest arc, most of the rest of it isn't like that. Also it's gookshit, so it's not high art

>>18037088
the webnovel translation is so fucking bad
but I'll check out the manga

>>18037130
Get prepared to wait a long time for romance, it's like three major arcs away still

>>18037137
then the translators will get bored and we won't ever get there (maybe with MTL, but you'd have to be insane to read MTL)

>>18037198
Maybe, but I get the impression that a lot of manhwa translation groups are actually making decent money at it.

>>18037204
They aren't. No translators in that scene are, especially not fan translators.