/lit/ - Literature

>>18440126
If animefag makes a /sffg/ general, it's spam.

>>18440166
>NOOOOOOO IT'S STYLIZED IN A WAY I DON'T LIKE AHHHHH I'M GOING INSANE SAVE ME FRAZETTA

>>18440126
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/KWPCM7m
Book Club Read: Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89185.Chasm_City

> The once-utopian Chasm City -a doomed human settlement on an otherwise inhospitable planet- has been overrun by a virus known as the Melding Plague, capable of infecting any body, organic or computerized. Now, with the entire city corrupted -from the people to the very buildings they inhabit- only the most wretched sort of existence remains. For security operative Tanner Mirabel, it is the landscape of nightmares through which he searches for a low-life postmortal killer. But the stakes are raised when his search brings him face to face with a centuries-old atrocity that history would rather forget

>>18440126
Sanderson is good author. To deny this is to deny reality itself.

>>18440166
this
>>18440193
eat shit autistic tranny

*slaps your species's ass*
What do??

>>18440429
just keep moving forward

>>18440429
Since I forgot to include it in the filename, it's the Qu from All Tomorrows
https://youtu.be/imNtSPM3-r4

>>18440435
Pretty much the theme of the book.
What a kino creation.

>tfw you took the vaccine because you heard it was killing people and you're still fine
Any depressing fantasy books released in the last 2 decades that just leaves you unsatisfied?

>>18440455
Alt Shift is one of the most based booktubers I've ever watched

Asking again, any books like this?

The song of the demon is like poisonous honey, soothing the souls of the night and seducing the bodies of eternal sleep. Just as the living dance with delight, so too do the undead sway with grace. For those who live within the exquisiteness of the netherworld, none can grasp the language of humans, only that of the moonlight.

I wanna read some fantasy novel that just drips with malice and misanthropy, while also feeling like something an actual intelligent adult could enjoy. I want something that's really vile and cruel, something to make one feel disgusted with life after putting the thing down. I wanna read about someone beheading the gods out of spite then kys-ing god of war style. Will I have to write the thing myself, or has someone done this already?

>>18440297
I mean, he admittedly writes dry shits. He knows how to structure a story though, no denying that.

>>18440825
4edgy7me

>>18440825

>>18440825
>drips with malice and misanthropy, while also feeling like something an actual intelligent adult could enjoy

>>18440825
Read Bakker and immerse yourself in his mastery of cuckoldry and multigenerational homosexual rape.

>>18440825
God of War games do this. As an intelligent adult, I enjoy them.

>>18440878
>>18440850
People joke about this, but they never put an argument as to why edgy=bad. The fact of the matter is the world kind of sucks, and it's ok for fiction to reflect or accentuate that.

Was it really necessary to start the book talking about a random pedo going after a boy?

>>18440587
Honestly, he's great. I love the depth he goes into and how he packages it all.

>>18441010
I just finished it and really liked the setting. I would like to continue. Can someone tell me what is the next book in the series or what order I should read them?

Also if anyone has that huge meme showing the different characters in the table with their respective alignment, that would be cool.

Asking again on this thread
>>18441236

>>18441212
Ok Bakker

>>18441212
Darkness > WP > TTT> AE> WLW > TGO > TUC

You won’t get most of these till AE or WLW.

>>18441010
>not going for prime boi cunny

What location would you choose to have painted for you from Middle Earth? My wife is an artist and is going to paint me a LOTR painting for my birthday.
I think I would choose pic related for pure comfiness, but I want to see what you autists would choose. Weathertop is my second choice I think because it's majestic af.

I'm about to dive down the molehole lads

Cordeliah Logsdon – Gondor in Transition: A Brief Introduction to Transgender Realities in The Lord of the Rings
Clare Moore – The Problem of Pain: Portraying Physical Disability in the Fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien
V. Elizabeth King – “The Burnt Hand Teaches Most About Fire”: Applying Traumatic Stress and Ecological Frameworks to Narratives of Displacement and Resettlement Across Cultures in Tolkien’s Middle-earth
Christopher Vaccaro – Pardoning Saruman?: The Queer in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
Sultana Raza – Projecting Indian Myths, Culture and History onto Tolkien’s Worlds
Nicholas Birns – The Lossoth: Indigeneity, Identity, and Antiracism
Kristine Larsen – The Problematic Perimeters of Elrond Half-elven and Ronald English-Catholic
Cami Agan – Hearkening to the Other: Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
Sara Brown – The Invisible Other: Tolkien’s Dwarf-Women and the ‘Feminine Lack’
Sonali Chunodkar – Desire of the Ring: An Indian Academic’s Adventures in her Quest for the Perilous Realm
Robin Reid – Queer Atheists, Agnostics, and Animists, Oh, My!
Joel Merriner – Hidden Visions: Iconographies of Alterity in Soviet Bloc Illustrations for The Lord of the Rings
Eric Reinders – Questions of Caste in The Lord of the Rings and its Multiple Chinese Translations
Dawn Walls-Thumma – Stars Less Strange: An Analysis of Fanfiction and Representation within the Tolkien Fan Community
Danna Petersen-Deeprose – “Something Mighty Queer”: Destabilizing Cishetero Amatonormativity in the Works of Tolkien
Martha Celis-Mendoza – Translation as a means of representation and diversity in Tolkien’s scholarship and fandom

>>18441408
I like Minas Tirinth with the food production DLC installed but the Shire is peak comfy

>>18440709
"The Colour Out of Space" is pretty much about horrible radiation poisoning.

>>18441408
Would have to be Aglarond, the Glittering Caves.

>>18440825
The Black Company was the only thing that came to my mind. It's definitely vile and cruel with its share of malice.
I had a dream a few weeks back that I saw the ten who were taken, they were just sort of having a meeting in a room together.

>>18441597
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HORNY HORNY HORNY

>>18441624
Cool pic. The 'bitches' being disloyal (or loyal, depending on how you look at it) was a pretty cool twist. Didn't much care for the child rape, but it was a good book.

>>18441461
>>18441530
Nice choices fellas, thanks.

>>18441176
He will never love you

>>18440126
Any good viking fantasy, bros?

>>18442002
The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson

Brandon Sanderson

>>18442197

>>18442197
Is pretty good

Scored these while at a Half Price Books today

Writers should be banned from writing protagonists of the opposite gender of themselves.

>>18442347
you're weird

>>18442347
you're correct

>>18442347
I second this notion

Sex Books

>>18442347
and old men should be banned from writing sex scenes

>>18442002
Not fantasy but The Last Kingdom is great Viking historical fiction. There's a tv series too.

>>18441425
Is there a mole shaman and a great mole warrior?

>>18440126
So I read somewhere that you "guys" were tranny cuckolds; care to address that?

>>18442347
t.incel brainlet. Read Patricia highsmith

>>18441256
Honestly read some modern short stories that aren't in the sff genre. So much sff is action/plot driven. Also: The Art of Creative Writing by Lajos Egri
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

>>18442658
>Read female author
no

>>18442648
No I'm an aromantic dual-gender with an incest fetish

>>18442648
Negative on the tranny front, but I am indeed a Bakker reader and a proud cuckold, not that you would have the IQ to understand either of those things.

>>18440989
Grimderp doesn't accentuate the negative, it wallows happily in it and pushes more shock value for titillation. I feel the same about Wuthering Heights, oh more suffering, how fascinating.

>>18442421
>mfw her cunt became the world

>>18442825
I'm not convinced

>>18440825
Read His Dark Materials and the Witcher at the same time.

>>18440871
>it's a picture for ants, please, fix that
Thanks. Fixed.

>>18441319
Thank you <3.

Have some random image.

>>18441973
At least my dog loves me, anon.

>>18442421
People shit on his sex scenes but alwats in a vacuum.
In the context, it always makes sense.
It's totally in character for autist Sam to call his penis a fat pink mast.
It's expected that hot mess, xenophobic drunk wine bitch Cersei would call a lady's stinky pussy a Myrish swamp.

>>18440989
"Edgy" is a negative description for most people because it implies that there's nothing about it worth thinking about. Nobody calls fucking Blood Meridian edgy. The kind of work you're defending is the kind that takes "show don't tell" too far, to the point where the author doesn't even explain to themselves why anything happens in their work. If something's dark, people call it dark. If something's dark and shitty, they call it edgy.

>>18444004
Who the fuck cares. This is genre fiction. It doesn't have to give you "deep" themes to ponder. Go back to outer /lit/.

I'm trying to find an audio book for the first dune that is unabridged but I heard the audible version on Amazon is abridged, is that true?

>>18444004
Blood Meridian is edgy and vastly overrated

>>18444044
I liked the Barron's cartoonist evil voice.

>>18444066
This is unabridged right?

>>18444044
The one on audible is unabridged and has different voices for everyone. The Barron's over the top cartoonishly evil voice is great.

>>18444024
It doesn't have to, but I do get to think you're a subhuman if you accept the stuff that doesn't.

>>18444048
Overrated, probably. It's too historically accurate to be just edgy though. The deviation from history into fantasy is all through the judge and calling the judge "edgy" means you're probably using the word wrong.

>>18444076
>It doesn't have to, but I do get to think you're a subhuman if you accept the stuff that doesn't.
Feel free. I read whatever I think I will enjoy. Whether it fits some snobby bullshit is irrelevant to me.

>>18444075
How long is the abridged one? I only saw people complain it exists

>>18443839
Get back to Winds George

>>18440825
try Name of the Wind

>>18444084
I was mistaken. Even though it's advertised as unabridged they have edited it. I can't recall any huge differences between it and the actual book but you might want to read it to be safe.

>>18442197

I dunno, I know he's obnoxiously popular right now but I read literally all of his books. I still prefer Gene Wolf but Sanderson isn't half bad. Yeah, storm light is alright. I don't really have much to say. Read wheel of time?

>>18442197
I tried bros. I was warned about the lack of style but was not prepared for how devoid his writing is of substance. Reads like something written just to hit a few checkboxes and out to the masses to consoom.

>at my gfs parents house
>her father keeps rambling about how great Malazan is
>Malazan is everything I dislike in fantasy
>make noncommittal noises throughout the discussion
>with the help of my gf (traitor) the conversation slowly move toward me lending and reading the entirety of Malazan
>I start to panic
>manage to convince everyone that my gf should read Malazan before me, as I'm currently in the middle of reading BotNS (I'm not)
She's a fan of Bakker, GRRM, Tolkien and faggy YA books with "feminist" themes, please tell me she will hate it.

The era of having heart in writing - as in the craft itself - feels dead as fuck for fantasy.
Bitches claim purple prose for anything that isn't the literal interpretation, or say the ideas are to overly complex when you describe anything beyond a magic system. Heaven forbid you attempt to ingratiate some form of accurate feudal kerfuffle about bloodlines, or thinking about something that requires more than just what is presented to you.

I may be alone on this, but having another 'Dear John' for my manuscript makes me feel like there isn't a place for writing well for fantasy anymore. I studied writing at university and found how to get the most out of my own writing. And then I sit and read something by the fat mormon, and it just feels like there's some grand irony. Like I believed the quality of ones writing actually meant something, and that there's this crowd of people that want something more than just capeshit in word form.

I want to write fantasy with a bit more prose than "The awesome sword shone in a lilac glow." I'm getting sick of reading how great modern fantasy is, when most it read like they're written by 14 year olds who got a B for an overnight scramble assignment hand-in. I'm not saying classic/golden-age fantasy is stellar just to be clear, but some of the older authors at least knew that writing as a medium itself could go beyond literal descriptors.

What do friends?
I am so tired.

>>18444634
I don't follow modern releases so I can't give a counterexample, but I can tell you're full of shit. Saying nothing good is coming out because Sanderson is writing low-brow mass-market trash is like saying no one makes good movies because Marvel make low-brow mass-market trash. It suggests you're not reading any more modern books than I am.

>>18444634
Create something for its own sake. Many great writers only found fame posthumously. Many poor writers found fame in their lifetimes and have been justly forgotten. Don't let that be the measure of your success.

>>18444142
To me it feels kinda as if I was reading a movie, if it makes any sense. Obviously they aren't written as screenplays, but still.

>>18444700
And what, have a list of literal who? outside of maybe Maas, Evan Winter and Daniel Greene?

Just admit to being a Sanderfag, don't be limp dick about it cunt.

>>18442755
I always wonder if done of these posts are unironic.

>>18444634
Honestly, medieval setting itself might be growing tired. Also, if there are no modern Simak, Niven, Zelazny, Bradbury or C.S.Lewis, or other last century greats, they take what is offered, or turn to LNs or explore what other languages, like Russian, have to offer.

Just finished Codex Alera
eh

>>18443839
sam is gurm's self insert and it's embarrassingly obvious

I love how there's never any talk of sex in Sanderson's worlds. You know it's cause he's a mormon idiot, but it really just brings the whole fantasy world down where some of the most popular stuff (even if it's shit) doesn't touch on such a basic function of humanity.

>>18441408
The shire but specifically after Sam plants the malorn tree from Galadriel's garden. Or a scene from Lothlorien

>>18445144
Not even my sexuality coming through here; but Way of Kings has a prison camp of literal hundreds of people and somehow no ones butt is getting fucked.

i recently read shadowmarch by tad williams and i was left wondering why readers do not consider him as an influence or a placeholder for sanderson. I would go further and state that sanderson's works, hell even paolini's are better written than shadowmarch, but they have some similarities:
1) bossy female character - not in a hateful way, but one of the mc's is stupid, entitled and miserable. At one point during the start of the second book, where she has spent the first one moping about good old days with her family in every detail, she suddenly remembers a family stronghold not far from the castle, which has never been mentioned before and is never mentioned again. William's mst too had miriam, but she was tempered by paedar, and at the very least had consistency in the story.
2) Reveal of characters' attributes by inserting a prologue; so in the third book, the enemy who has been introduced since book1 has a prologue to enhance his evilness; the character who serves as a plot point for this exposition dump on the reader is neither mentioned before or after, and we have pov's from authorities close to the enemy.
3) Plot point characters - i have never hated a trope so much than these after reading shadowmarch; you know the ones, they who serve to showcase the boldness, intrepidity or some such of few chosen by the author, be they mother, sister or friend.
4) Travelling in a troupe / running & hiding combo - i do not know why this is repeated so often, but it can be replaced to any scene from countless books without much modification.

Positives - the cities in the shadowline are great, particularly that of sleep, northmarch; but other than that this is one of the most plodding and on-the-fly series in existence.

>>18444293
Malazan has a load of stronk military women who inexplicably are respected even without magic. She'll probably like it so long as she doesn't mind non-protagonist centric stories.

>>18444293
Imagine being such a pussy you can't even stand up for yourself and be honest about what you like and dislike.

>>18444293
>She's a fan of Bakker
hmm

>>18445332
Fugg

>>18445437
Outside of 4chan strongly dislikeing something based purely on memes and prejudices is not widely accepted.

Are the first law books good?

>>18444634
Post a sample and I'll tell you whether or not you're as good as you think you are. Do it as an image or whatever if you don't want it to be searchable.

just finished a night in the lonesome october. what a wonderful little story. so cute and charming, and written in such simple language. a perfect palate cleanser after the house on the borderland

>>18445630
yes they're very enjoyable semi-edgelord books. good action, good characters, decent writing, good world, decent story.
the best part about them is that the story is actually finished.

Reading fantasy makes you wish for a scifi winter

>>18445815

>>18445827

>>18445723
Love that book. Zelazny just having fun in his last novel.

>>18444795
>>18444634
Not him but Circe and Night Circus have lush prose and have sold a lot of books.
How many places have you submitted to? Are you querying the right agents or sending to publishers directly? Sorry but I am questioning if you're approaching the publishing side of writing correctly.
I have a Writing emphasis from Uni too but this doesn't mean my first novel is publishable yet, I'm well aware of its faults.

>>18445332
inexplicably, he says.

>>18444634
Problem with modern fantasy is everyone's a secondary regurgitating what was already regurgitated.

>>18446031

scifi romance with male MCs
please....

>>18446057

>>18446060
C. J. Cherryh has wrote some books with a similar theme

>>18446098
damn... she's quite prolific, isn't she
can you spare me a pointer on which books to start with?

lol why is this unpublished its better than most of his released stuff

>>18446173
not sci-fi but fantasy
Gate of Ivrel.
An exiled man has been forced to the service of a lady and eventually they love each other
The foreigner series has a human population arrive on a foreign planet and build a colony there
the plot is about a translator for the humans and aliens and he eventually has one of the alien women as his lover

these books are not strictly romance books but the relationships are very important to the novels.

>>18446243
Alright, I'll check it out
thank you very much :)

>>18446173
>>18446243
*the foreigner series is entirely sci-fi though

>>18446262
That one seems interesting too
Have you read it before, would you recommend it? Seems like a very long series

>>18446288
if you like the first novel then you will like all the others

>>18446294
I suppose that's an easy enough way to find out
Thanks

I
A line of white plot thin eyes,
the lion shall feast with its broken teeth.
Ally, friend, loyalty, death.
That man will void his word.
Sadness, lost, ambiguous.
Shush the quite and hush thy sword.

Fuck E WIlliam Brown
Fuck Pay Walls
Fuck Pay Pigs
Fuck Delays
Fuck excuses

In which book does the Witcher series get good

>>18446976
haha

>>18446976
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/the-witcher/

Post the last scifi/fantasy book you've read.

>>18447202
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, I read A Scanner Darkly just before that.

>>18447202
This series is turning me into a coomer degenerate.
Please send bonks.

>>18447519
Explain how it is coomer material
I never read it

>>18441408
Withing LotR alone, I'd say Rivendell to be my pic.

>>18441408
mordor because no one actually goes into detail about it

>>18440825
The Second Apocalypse by R. Scott Bakker.

>>18441461
>Gandalf, clearly an experienced DayZ player, knows to stay off the road unless he wants to get one tapped.

>>18440825
What you are looking for is Elric, and particularly the original cycle of short stories and novellas Moorcock wrote when he was an angry young man. Start with The Dreaming City and read through Stormbringer.

>>18441408
The Barrow Downs.

>>18441408
>Barad Eithel
>Dol Amroth
>Umbar
>Annuminas
>Belegost/Nogrod
>Nargothrond
>Himring (pic related)
>Mouths of Sirion
>Eregion/Ost-in-Edhel
These are all severely underrepresented in fan art.

>>18447759
Forgot pic.
Maedhros’ home base until the Nirnaeth.

>>18447767
Pic related is Annúminas. Seat of the Numenorean Kings of Arnor (later Arthedain) upon Lake Nenuial in the North. Arnor is such an underappreciated part of Middle-Earth history.

>>18447646
Dude gets isekaid by a love goddess to save fuck some elves

>>18447202

I’m about 10 chapters into A Fire Upon the Deep and it’s really slow. I like the world and the aliens are really interesting but I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Does it get better?

>>18448166
as someone who was completely hooked on a fire upon the deep and its world and premise, no, it does not get better. it gets worse and is incredibly unsatisfying. might be my biggest letdown in recent memory. last time i was this disappointed was books 2 and 3 of the southern reach trilogy.

>>18444105
Nigger you fucking what? Name of the wind is peak noblebright crywank ahahahaha. It's great for what it is but don't kid yourself.

>>18445212
Seconding
>>18441408

>>18448251
Oh okay, thanks anon. I really liked the concept but if there’s no payoff I’ll leave it. Think I’ll give Hyperion a go instead.

>>18447799
how vanilla is it

>>18447519
I can't stop fucking laughing
If I allowed myself to read this I feel like I'd just die

i will never understand the appeal of litRPG

>>18448303
What is it? I keep seeing it pop up, always looks like trash.

there has to be ONE other S Craig Zahler fan on here. y'know, the dude that directed Bone Tomahawk, and a couple other movies? well he writes books as well, and they're actually pretty good. his only /sffg/ one is Corpus Chrome which I'm gonna start soon. anyway.. heads up to the fans of his movies - his books are good too.

>>18447754
>Fornost? Norbury of Kings? Now that's a name I haven't heard in years.

>>18447476
based Dick fan

>>18441212

>>18448257
no engrish

>>18447519
>>18447799
Post the elf fucker excerpt, where he is proud that he fucks cats, dogs, rabbits and elves.

>>18441010
>catholic church
>autobiographical
>assault is thematic to eârwa
>bakker's "fuck you" to the fantasy canon and the hypocritical cathcuck morality of tolkien and lewis
>reflects the gnostic themes in the work, the fallen nature of humanity, the existentially fucked nature of the soul's incarnation in a world of pain and violence
pick any and all of the above

>>18448421
based

>>18448330
I fucking loved bone tomahawk. Had no clue he wrote books too. Thanks anon.

>>18448441
I am halfway thru his first book, A Congregation of Jackals, and it's great. it's a western. he has written another western as well that is being developed as a movie. his books read a lot like his movies - they're very violent, very pulpy. he does pretty good with characters too. enjoy.

>tfw you realize he created LOTR to process his war PTSD from the somme

>Look who gets to join in with the a massive VIP crowd rubbing elbows with the X-Men. Featured this month in Marvels X-Men #21 myself and my beautiful wife Parris get to be drawn into the the amazing Hellfire Gala event. What fun, pick up your issue today. And a big thanks for including me, what an honor being drawn into a Marvel comic book. I can’t wait to see what we look like and read the issue!

>>18448285
It’s got oyakodon in it

>>18448686
I feel like Gondolindrim and Doriathrim
should be switched. Turgon was a truly noble Elvenking, Gondolin was based, and Elu Thingol was kind of a dickhead especially re: muh jewels. Otherwise perfect.

>>18445144
>>18445221
I dropped Stormlight Archive but this is a retarded take. Many books don't mention excretion, do you also think that people don't shit in those books?

>>18448798
ironically enough stormlight does make it a point to mention shardbearers shitting in their armor

>>18448776
I understand, moreover since Gondolin was based on Tune from Valinor. Yet I disagree with you. Thingol was a mighty and noble king towards his own people people. And Melian, the Maia, protected and influenced them through several ages.

>>18448303
There’s been a couple stories that I liked

>>18448883
Melian indeed was a special power in Doriath. But Elwë’s pride was very great.

Menegroth would have been very comfy before the Fall. (But only for Sinda; N*ldorin dogs need not apply. And dwarves can enter at their own risk.)

Ok /sffg/, I've read a good majority of Asimov's books, a handful of Clarke's biggest books, all six Dune books, and the Hyperion Cantos.

Give me the next classic sci fi book(s) to read

>>18448977
checked

>>18449088
I swear Dick can never write a good ending. Still worth reading, that said.

>>18440825
Don't listen to the plebs.

You just described Joe Abercrombie's trilogy perfectly

>>18449088
High quality. Thank you helpful anon

>>18444878
are there any worthwhile bits or it just eh the whole way through?

>>18448686
Who was the coolest/most based Elf of the First Age? For me, it’s Ecthelion of the Fountain. Second, Maedhros, the “repentant” son of Fëanor and leader of the Sons-in-Exile. Third, Beleg Cúthalion.

>>18449185
Pic related. Ecthelion taking out Balaraukars (fallen Maia aka Wizard tier) with a 3-1 high score.

I really wish I could get into Tolkien like you bros are. I tried reading it in high-school and it was just so damn dry and long

>>18449199
The Silmarillion can be a little dry at first. It’s much better on the second read.

‘The Tale of the Children of Húrin’ is a good standalone piece for those interested in Tolkien’s other writings on Arda. ‘Nárn i-Hîn Húrin’ is Tolkien at his best and most tragic storytelling. And it’s the part of the legendarium most related to the Kalevala; (hello, kalevala autist). But it stands on its own as a great dark fantasy story and you don’t need to know all the autistic lore to grasp its message.

Tolkien is really good as a writer of tragic characters desu.

>>18442648
No i just wish i was a girl

Who is the most autistic fantasy writer? My vote goes to Paolini

>>18449185
My bro Círdan just chilling on the shore for three ages.

>>18449268
Based Falatrim beach-bum.

>>18449260
Nathan Lowell

>>18445630
Loved them
I liked the world alot

sex books

NO-GOD FUCKING WHEN

>>18448421
hypocritical?

>>18449227
‘Nárn i-Hîn Húrin’ really is a tale to read.
Though I wish Christopher Tolkien had included an Epilogue in the book, where Húrin would go to Nargothrond and Doriath.

>>18450176
When Bakker’s need for cash flow outstrips his stubborn pride, and he takes the self-publishing pill.

If he started a Patreon he could make bank.

>>18449185
Finrod Felagund. The dude was a total bro.

>>18444634
>Like I believed the quality of ones writing actually meant something, and that there's this crowd of people that want something more than just capeshit in word form.
When was the last time general audiences cared about quality?

OUT by the roots

>>18449188
>Balaraukars
The fuck did you get that name from?

>the author of the Gor series is a philosophy professor with a PhD from Princeton
wtf lol

>>18451232
==with an mdom thing==

>>18451232
TRANSMAN OF GOR

>>18451246

>>18449088
You as well my friend have been checked

>>18447202

>>18451232
Zoomers can learn a lot from these books regarding women.

>have my story planned out mostly (plotwise ad main character development wise)
>Get bored writing the introductory chapter because I just want to get to the exciting stuff
>end up just adding on to my worldbuilding and have more fun doing that
help

>>18451543
Big brain take here: start writing the exciting stuff first and return to the introductions later.

>>18451543
so write the exciting stuff first moron

>>18451543
>>18451551
You should always write the ending first anyway.

>>18451543
>>18451551
>>18451552
>>18451577
I like to write from the very start in a linear fashion. I feel like it progresses the story really naturally that way

>>18451551
Why write the introduction at all if it's so boring even the creator doesn't give a fuck about it?

>>18451603
that's stupid

>>18451609
This is probably the most valid response to >>18451543

>>18451069
>Valaraukar
It’s Quenya for “Balrog.”
Don’t be a Quendilet, Anon.

>>18447202
Reading it again atm.

Post Favourite covers.
They don't even have to be good, just ones you like.

>>18452232

>>18447202
Currently some 400 pages into The Mad Ship after two days of reading it, Liveship Traders is really good

>>18448686
Redpill me on orc-shaped maiar

>>18452498
The Times is full of junkies

>>18452509
The Ainur could shape-shift at will, in the early ages. Some under Morgoth decided to take shapes of Orcs to better command them. These 'Boldogs' were slightly less powerful than the Balrogs but were still fearful enemies and commanders.

>>18452705
Thoughts on the origin of Orcs?

>they were once elves
>pic related
And yet, in his later notes, Tolkien had this altered, and seemed to be moving towards a mannish or animal origin. See “Morgoth’s Ring”

The way I see it, Orcs are a mixed breed, representing the commingled corruption of ALL forms of life: elf, human, Maia, and animal, into a degraded form dominated by the rule of its Master.

Fat old pervert

>>18452921
>Thoughts on the origin of Orcs?
I haven't read Morgoth's Ring yet, so I don't known it says. But, regarding the origin of orcs, I like the idea of them being twisted and corrupted elves, as in the Silmarillion. It is known that the orcs could and some had mingled with men (and perhaps other races as well), with the LotR.

>>18451465
You actually reached book 10?
Does the protagonists still want to be buggered by that space elf? Does he still let people walk over him? Does he still just let people take his shit because they are on a council?

>>18448285
>>18447646
>>18447519
Does frost fuck the gilf elf, the prophet in later books? I think I heard he bred her daughter, the high priestess.

>dual wielding

>>18453104
Gee Dayne, two swords?

>>18451971
Gothmog is a Valaraukar with a 3-1 high score on Elf Lords and one of those 3 is the 1 that he got merked on, so the whole sentence is a jumble of fuck with the typo.

>>18452167
i too am re-reading this
i am also reading under heaven by guy gavriel kay

>>18452443
if you enjoy this i recommend creatures of light and darkness, also by zelazny. this one takes on the egyptian gods.

>>18452921
Silmarillion is canon, so they're made from tortured and raped elves.

>>18453030
>You actually reached book 10?
Fuck yeah!
>Does the protagonists still want to be buggered by that space elf?
Yes but there are more pressing issues atm than fucking an elf.
>Does he still let people walk over him?
He never did. Sometimes he couldn't avoid it but only because he was A level and the enemy was S level. Right now he's SS level.
>Does he still just let people take his shit because they are on a council?
No.

>>18452990
>the more he cast the more he fapped

>>18452990
Imagine if it was Bakker, he would probably cast bulls to fuck his wife.

>>18453255
>noo.. nowtends
What got me into the show was a friend of mine showing me the fight between Bronn and Ser Vardes. The show used to have good fight scenes, it's shocking how shit the later fight scenes became.

>>18453727
I'm talking when he built up that human safezone and just let a bunch of fucks who didn't fight shit take it from him. Then he went to a forest and burnt it down. Then that girl came up and said he should be a buttboy and let the council take his shit.

I tried reading Gideon the Ninth but it's so fucking cringy: and the author uses colons to introduce every single thought, which I've found ungainly. You can tell the author is an ESL because she's trying to write a story from the perspective of a blunt character but she ends up using colloquialisms alongside a collection of thesaurus words.

>>18447202
This is the first book in the trilogy but I recently finished them all.
I've never read a weird western (or a western for that matter) but I was pretty enthralled just from the worldbuilding and atmosphere. Not all of the character's in the POVs are interesting but there's always interesting things to be had, if that makes sense.
Stuff like the sherrif and his deputy mentioning a giant vampire bat that swooped down & snatched the town barber off the street in broad daylight. Things like that.

>>18453559
If I remember right, Morogth couldn't create things for himself, only corrupt them. He also made trolls, in mockery of ents.

>>18454088
Not ESL, just a mid 30s kiwi aussie woman deeply involved in fanfic culture mixed with trying to be highbrow at the same time.

>>18454293
I often feel as though I have too much information on the character's surroundings and also not enough. As though she found some particular word she liked from the dictionary and decided to center her sentence around it. I have a sense of place, I have the vague idea I'm in a post-apocalyptic manor, but it seems to skirt around the details that would let me visualize what the fuck their surroundings look like.

>>18444293
>>18445332
I'm forcing myself to read Malazan, at Daruhjistan ATM and this shit is putting me to sleep. The characters with a few exceptions are horribly defined and it just seems like a bunch of plot being forcibly rammed with no lube. Why am I supposed to care about any of this shit when I don't care about the characters?

>>18445630
Better than Malazan, arguably, and not as pants on head blasting Linkin Park and cutting words into your thighs with a razor-edgy as Bakker.

>>18445630
They’re ok. Abercrombie makes interesting characters to start, but they can be a little one note. His grimdark is more comical than anything, with a lot of grunting and grimacing so you know nobody is having any fun. Then his commitment to every character being some sort of trope subversion is so bad it almost retroactively ruins the whole series. Not to mention the second book being almost entirely trite filler. 6/10

>>18448339
Always thought it was funny how the natural assumption would be that Barrow Wights lived in some out of the way tomb or crypt, but the actual maps have it stretching halfway around Bree. Like, they must be losing curious little kids constantly out there.

>>18447202
Just finished this. The book isn't quite as unique in its storytelling as Ender's Game, but it's still excellent. Not often you get a compelling alien species that's also decidedly non-human.
Card has a fuckton of books, hopefully a decent number are also good

Just finished Ender's Game. Quote from conversation between Ender and Valentine:
>"How old is Peter, fourteen? Already planning to take over the world?”
>“He thinks he’s Alexander the Great. And why shouldn’t he be? Why shouldn’t you be, too?”
>“We can’t both be Alexander.”
>“Two faces of the same coin. And I am the metal in between.” Even as she said it, she wondered if it was true. She had shared so much with Peter these last few years that even when she thought she despised him, she understood him.
If Peter represents hate/violence/cruelty and Valentine love/empathy/softness, doesn't it make sense if they're the sides of the coin and Ender is the metal in the middle? Since he uses both violence and empathy to end conflict.

cradle series is only supposed to be 12 or 13 books. Honestly wish he would just milk it with more random side stuff like the tournament. fun little series

>>18454623
The empathy part of Ender is meant to be the most important, with him becoming the Speaker for the Dead and changing humanity's opinion of the Buggers. The first page of the sequel mentions the events of the first book as "the Xenocide of the Buggers by the Monstrous Ender." That's his true accomplishment, after being lied to about the actual war.
Valentine, on the flip side, starts out as the softest of the three but spends so long helping Peter and espousing his ideas as Demosthenes that it changes her. She understands Peter a little too well, even if she knows why that's happening, and she's also understands Ender better than anyone else. Ender himself still has that barrier where Peter represents what he hates and doesn't want to be. At the beginning of Ender's Game you'd be right, but Valentine's and Ender's roles kinda swap by the end.

>>18454514
>His grimdark is more comical than anything, with a lot of grunting and grimacing so you know nobody is having any fun.
Why are people who read books so good with the insults and jabs.

books need sex to sell

>>18454772
No, it isn't. I don't know where you got that idea of its length.

books need cuckold sex to sell

>>18440126
I love Fritz Leiber. I've read a bunch of fantasy and it's some of the best. It's so comfy and light-hearted, but also mysterious and cool. Fuck yeah.
>pic related, mfw reading

Recommend me fantasy set not in a period of turmoil, war, heroism and revolution but a period of boredom, ennui and futile quixotism

>>18454994
After that, depending on how much time Cradle 10 took me, I'll either immediately dive into Cradle 11 or start something shiny and new.

It's been five years since I've written a new series, and I'm looking forward to it!

Either way, it's looking like Cradle 12 will be the endpoint, after which we abandon Lindon and company to their own devices. I'd like to have a new series begun before then, but if that doesn't work, oh well.

his blog

>>18452232
Personally I prefer this one

Are there any good Mass Effect novels?

Failing that, are there any fanfics worth reading?

>>18447202
This was a super quick read but better than I expected. Aliens invade 13th century England, fail, and shenanigans ensue. And it's played entirely straight, which I found to be hilarious.

>>18440126
Instead of a book where the world is totally fantastical, would you ever consider reading a book where fantasy elements somehow merge with our world?

Greg Egan, yay or nay? Best works and short stories?

>>18455295
...The Dresden Files?

>>18455002
If enjoying something as basic as a book makes you feel like you're some kind of onions meme, you really need to spend less time on this website

>>18455295
This is one of my favorite kinds of fantasy
Vurt
Last Call
Nine Princes in Amber
The Night Circus
Zod Wallop
The Last Unicorn
Lord of Light
The Night Watch (Stewart)

>>18455295
That's a super common concept, fucking Harry Potter fits the definition.

>>18455295

Harry Potter?

Has anyone read "We Are All Legends" by Darrell Schweitzer? Pretty sweet stuff, short story collection about a cursed knight wandering trippy nightmare lands. Kind of Conan the Barbarian but less rock-and-roll and more melancholic nightmare.

>>18455304
see >>18449088

Egan is a strong Yay, but yeah, he's about as "hard sci-fi" as you can get, so unless you've got a bunch of advanced degrees or are some crazy self taught mathematician, his ideas will be a little tough (but very worthwhile) to digest

>>18454144
>interdast: piqued
how much Tarot is in it?

>>18455404
>>18455426
True, true, but I was thinking more of a sudden crash rather than a society that's always been there in the shadows.

>>18455467
That depends on which work it is. People tend to really exaggerate about him.

The recommendation charts in the mega just confused me further. What's a really good fantasy series that is NOT written by Tolkien or R. Martin?

>>18455110
This hardcover edition is so nice. I'm still waiting for them to do the other books in the series.

>>18455543
Zelazny's Amber series

>>18455543
That's because it's just everything included and most are by random single person and their personal taste. If you want that you'd have to look at an overview of what people here think.

>>18455089
That would mean he does almost nothing with anything outside of Cradle. Also, he may intend that, but he'll do what is required to do keep financially afloat.

Gibson writes so fucking well, even this kinda lame duck forgettable plot feels really good to read.

>>18455680
>Gibson writes so fucking well

>>18455680
jesus christ

>>18455688
Sandersoy filtered by real prose. Many such cases. Sad!

>>18455724
Cmon Gibson writes like shit. Sorry you have bad taste little guy

>>18455724
two retards hitting each other

>>18455469
>how much Tarot is in it?
Not a whole lot, the title as I interpreted it refers more to the characters themselves (Sheriff is Hanged Man, main kid is a Fool, etc.).
It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Deadwood with really, really good characterization. Give it a go

I am new to writing and free wrote this piece just now. It is the beginning of a story about a peddler going into a new land.

I feel like my prose is awful,

>he did this,
>this happened to him
>He felt this

Rustling in the brush drew Ovo’s attention. The wooden box strapped to his back slowed his gait. The box was filled with a weeks worth of dried meats and sleeping gear, in a separate compartment was his most important possession, Tomark. Tomark was a herb native to his homeland It’s effects were awe inspiring, it would give you energy if you needed it. It would numb your pain, whether you had any or not. He had filled his pack with it and traveled a years time to trade it with the indigenous people here. Reports of them noted that they were uncivilized, war-loving, and xenophobic. Ovo almost did not make his journey, not being a good fighter and of weak constitution. He had little choice in the matter, however. His mother died of unknown causes and the farm was taken by the state. His whole family had been sickly, dropping one after another. The Tomark helped them, they grew it on the farm and sold it in the village. Tomark grew wild in the plains outside the village. While his crop had a stronger potency, only the rich would or could pay for it, and there was very few rich.
He ignored the rustling as he laid out the tools to prepare his last dose of the day of Tomark. He smoothed the plaid blanket with his hands. He prepared a fire and set an empty kettle on it. Ovo walked to the river to retrieve water. The bushes burst and toward him charged a ball of fur with two tusks aimed at his shins. He felt a sharp pain in his right right leg. The ground opened up underneath his feet and the water around him turned red. He heard snorting and felt hooves in his side. Choking on the water he heaved a river stone and chucked it at the beast. The stone was heavier when fully out of the water and laying on his back he could not use all his strength. The wild pig would not let him up, circling him and swinging his tusks at his head. While searching the water for another stone he could lift he felt wood. A splintered piece from his box pack that he carried on his back. The beast charged and he jabbed the makeshift weapon into his eye. The beast shrieked and stumbled back, and escaped into the woods.

Can you critique this for me? I didn't see a critique thread in the catalog. No need to be gentle.

>>18455781
it's shit.

>>18455680
I prefer the Sprawl series and I don't like where he's gone now but classic Gibson is great

>>18455790
Yeah I know its shit, I am trying to make it not shit. What would you recommend?

>>18455781
>Posts a rough draft
>Why's it bad??
Learn to self edit or you're ngmi

>>18455824
Trying to crowd source your voice is going to lead nowhere

>>18455824
>What would you recommend?
Read books.

>>18455781
i dont like the text pacing, a lot of sentences are broken up by full stops when they could flow into one another with a comma or an em-dash

>>18455781
This isn't prose, it's a shopping list.

>>18455853
that's helpful thank you.

>>18455832
Also helpful.

>>18455825
I've never edited anything before. How do you edit things?

>>18455937
>How do you edit things?
Just stop writing.

>>18455941
Maybe you could post something you've written and then explain to me why it is better than what I've written. Were you just born great at writing? I wasn't. How did you learn?

>>18455937
>How do you edit things?
It’s something called google use it to answer your question.

>>18455971
I can tell you how to NOT become a better writer, and that's asking 4chan dwellers to spoonfeed you.
Read some actual fuckin' literature. Take some courses. You have the entire wealth of humanity's information resource right in front of you.

>>18441010
The entire point of the prologue is to string together as much trite bullshit and edge as possible so you know the world is REALLY BAD and for GROWNUPS ONLY!

>>18456033
It continually astounds me retards here ask how to write better and not use the internet or writer’s forum for that.

>>18440126
I need a way for a character in 1800s esque Ireland to get powers involving fire. Any suggestions?

>>18456063
Read up irish mythology? Or use google?

>>18455575
I will read this. Thank you

>>18456043
That would explain the cuckoldry.

>>18455724
>Gibson
>real prose
You are delusional. Seek professional help.

>>18456107
Ignore the pseud, anon.

>>18456043
Did this retard really throw a bitchfit because one woman mistakenly praised him for writing a child book?

>>18456043
>After swearing under my breath, I explained to her that I wrote epic
fantasy, and that if anything, it was as adult as adult could be.
my god someone penned these words on paper and there were people left who took him seriously after this

>>18456132
Pretty much, yeah. Kinda hilarious when you think about it.

>>18456138
Nobody takes him seriously. Excepts a few cuckolds but we ignore them.

>>18456141
Just shows you how insecure he is.

>>18455773
>It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Deadwood
Alright, you sold me

>>18456159
But Buffy is a shit? How can that sell you?

New thread

>>18456165

>>18456062
Is it really retarded to ask others opinions on how I could better my prose? Isn't this literature board? Wouldn't this be part of the of the "wealth of information" right in front of me?

This board is connected to the internet, and writers do gather here. I know its shit, I am trying to make it not shit. I've cut superfluous words and adverbs, made simpler sentences etc.

Forget it, I am not going to find what I am looking for here.

what ursula le guin book should i read? every resource online suggests she is a feminist icon. is she even worth reading? i regularly see her name mentioned in threads here. what do? i just wanna read scifi

>>18456179
It's 4ch. It's not a good place for constructive feedback. But honestly you shouldn't post rough drafts. That's just lazy.

>>18456198
> what do
Stop complaining is what you do.

>name drops the name of the book in chapter 2

>>18440126
Anyone else really dig Smeagol?
https://vocaroo.com/16g0BO7iZ04j

>>18456198
>every resource online suggests she is a feminist icon. is she even worth reading?