/lit/ - Literature

I'm reading through Michael Sullivan's series. His writing skill was parabolic? It's tanking fast here

>>19173288
>not!Book Club
now:
the scar https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68497.The_Scar
songs of a dead dreamer and grimscribe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611567-songs-of-a-dead-dreamer-and-grimscribe
the dark eidolon and other fantasies https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18143067-the-dark-eidolon-and-other-fantasies

nov 1: assassin's apprentice https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77197.Assassin_s_Apprentice

>tfw grew out of fantasy

>>19173460
yeah it happens m8
i have a lot of books on my shelf that i bought when i was really into fantasy that i will probably never touch because i know they're WOT/rothfuss/sanderson-tier.
i still read quality fantasy from time to time, but you can tell within the first 20 pages or so whether it's worth continuing or not, and i will only start a new multi-book series if it's by an author i know and like.

I need to stop getting sidetracked, was about to read The Remembrance of Earths Past series but started another book so after that I definitely gotta start it before I get anymore books, I have enough books I gotta read I don't need more yet.

>>19173460
I unironically regret being a pseud and think I should've had consoomed more fantasy and YA when I was a kid since I feel less enjoyment from reading now

got bamboozled again by goodreads, what the hell was i thinking?

>>19173848
>Reading anything by Mark Lawrence
Clearly you weren't thinking at all. Every single one of his books is "Here's my hot teenage waifu and she's a BADASS and also an assassin with SUPER SEKRIT TRAINING and also there's lesbians and shit".

I tried treading the Legend of Drizzt because it was a matriarchy but then after reading a bit the matriarchy ceases to actually have any meaning before even 1/4 through the first book.
Very disappointing in that manner.

>>19173862
>I tried treading the Legend of Drizzt
Why would you do that? It's a series of fucking Dungeons and Dragons adaptations, and even ignoring that Drizzt himself is basically every single form of 80's+90's cringe combined.

>>19173868
I thought it would be overcame with the matriarchal setting but then the setting disappeared.

So I just read this book after watching season 1 of the show and was wondering if the prose will get any better? I really hate how some of the dialogue was written and I think anyone can clearly notice how only the good bits of dialogue were used in the show. Should I continue reading the books or just watch the rest of the show because desu I did think the show was pretty good (hence I started reading the books)? Will the books get any better?

>>19173947
The first book is the best in the series BY FAR.

>>19173959
The story was great but the writing felt really bland and

>>19173288
Anyone got any good MTG books? I remember I had a Izzet Ravnica book that wasn’t half bad.

>1930s: the pulps, Conan the Barbarian, The Hobbit
>1950s: The Lord of the Rings, Gormenghast
>1970s: Lord Foul's Bane, The Sword of Shannara
>1990s: Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones
>2020s: —?
Remember the 20 year cycle boys; we're due for the next big genre revival any month now

>>19174176
The Ixalan stories were amazing. They were the only ones I cared enough about to read as they came out

>>19173959
I couldn't get through the second book. First one was alright.

>>19174203
2020s: YA

>>19174203
This is Sanderson's decade and we're just living in it

>>19174203
2020: strong women of colour and Arabic/Asian fantasy settings

>>19173848
what you need to do is read the negative reviews and look for words like "pretentious", complaints about lack of story and not enough likeable character to detect good books.

>>19174203
>2020: Women and non-whites and hard magic systems.

>>19174290
Is sanderson actually good? I started reading the way of Kings but nothing in the story grabbed me but I didn't get far and stopped when that women whit the long sleeve started describing the currency. Nothing was bad in it but I was also reading Starmaker at the same time and I lost my drive for the sanderson book.
(I hate Stapletons socialism but he is pretty imaginative.)

>>19173288
All /sffg/fags must hang

>>19174537
his books are basically a dnd setting guide

>>19174553
That doesn't help me much, I don't play dnd.

>>19174559
meaning that the main appeal to people is describing desert bugs and magic systems and currency with YA character interactions interspersed. if way of kings didn't grab you nothing he's done will

>>19174566
Oh well, back to reading the king of elflands daughter for the 12th time.

>>19174579
>the king of elflands daughter
based
have you read any of George MacDonald's stuff?

Finished Urth of the New Sun. Great enjoyment from the transition from Urth to Ushas in the great flood . All the revelations with the Hierogrammates and how they influence humanity and seek to elevate both races.
Severian's character arc is incredibly moving and to those who are holding back from Urth I highly encourage you to read it with a keen eye.

Onto Long Sun now. Here's hoping that what I've heard about Silk and Oreb holds true.

>>19174439
>>2020: Women and non-whites and hard magic systems.
Hard Magic Systems are SJW, we want Hard Gay Systems that are based

>>19174777
Meds, though? No thanks. I'm not schizophrenic, you are.

>>19172878
Does having a book be empty and full of relationship drama make it literary?

>>19175043
You can also drop punctuation and write your books like the Micro Machines guy. Literary genius.

>>19175043
No, but people who read only fantasy or sci-fi and have never read any literary fiction outside of school will tell you that

Has it been pointed out that this dude should make a Book of the New Sun movie cause seriously bros

>>19174203
The world will kneel to Bakker in this decade.

>>19174586
No I didn't, but I will now.

>>19175003
Meds are sjw and women

>>19174579
>>19175179
Don't sleep on Lilith

>>19175147
If you'd read the source material of the green Knight you'd know that the faggot who made it could never adapt the book of the new sun. The only man who could do it would be Terrence Malick but even he would have problems with the more fantastical settpices and action. But we all know that current Holywood would only churn out the most horrid abomination. Fuck movie adaptations in general.

>>19175251
>Fuck movie adaptations in general.
this is the only correct opinion on the subject

>>19175243
Do you mean his book Lilith: A Romance form 1895? If so I'm downloading it right now.

>>19174203
I think all the epic fantasy TV adaptations has killed the chance for any great new series coming out soon. At least it will be lost in the flood of absolute shit getting pumped out in hopes of getting their own shows like what happened with YA in the 00s/early 10s.

>>19174203
We got too cocky, cradlebros...

>>19174296
retarded trash

>>19173460
I've been reading fantasy my entire life, I'm 32 years old and still not "grown out of it". I don't think people "grow out of" anything. I don't know anything about your situation so can't begin to guess at the actual reason, but I'm pretty sure your age has nothing to do with it.

So I heard they shut down fakebook because an author was going to make an announcement.

>>19174203
Why'd you skip over the '10s?

>>19173857
>Every single one of his books is "Here's my hot teenage waifu and she's a BADASS and also an assassin with SUPER SEKRIT TRAINING
So you've only literally read the one series by him then?

>>19176288
Bakker must've escaped his cell

>>19176290
Erikson was so obviously the winner that it didn't need mentioning

>>19176290
Skipped all the shit decades, since they had mediocre shit that tricks pseuds like this >>19176613

>>19173288
need a good audiobook recommendation, have to clean the house.

OH GOD I'M ROOODING

Can anyone reccomend a scifi story featuring aliens and human societies (but not at war if possible)

I will be downloading them as audiobooks for my planned winter pike fishing sessions

>>19176847
>He is using a bubble.
Based bubblechad.

>>19177017
>bubble
bobber?

>>19177058
No. You actually say "I'm using a bobber" out loud, and without a shred of irony? Grim.

>>19173288
Dare to Know - James Kennedy (2021)
I had many false starts writing this, so many that it became relevant enough to mention how confused I remained as to what to write. The quote below summarized my thoughts.

“What I find is that it’s a very bizarre mixture of ideas that are solid and good with ideas that are crazy. It’s as if you took a lot of very good food and some dog excrement and blended it all up so that you can’t possibly figure out what’s good or bad.” - Douglas Hofstadter on Ray Kurzweil

This is a high concept book that I felt was a bait and switch, though for most of the book, I didn't really mind. The concept being that the date and how someone will die can be mathematically determined with utter precision and guaranteed results. Those who try to do otherwise cannot do so, thus dispelling the illusion of free will. I would've greatly preferred that it explored its concept rather than being so self-referential, though doing so would've made it an entirely different book.
It's very indulgent in various philosophical and metaphysical ways that I could accept, for the most part anyway. I understand why others wouldn't. There were some passages where I imagined some other readers crying out in pain because of how "cringe" it was. I could've done without all the repeated conspiratorial rambling, but they were essential to the character of the book.
If the author hasn't experienced severe mental illness, especially psychosis, then he does an excellent job mimicking it throughout the book, particularly with the ending. As for the ending, it was too much regardless of how it was meant.
This was a frame story and I admit that I don't understand the framing. Depending on the how framing is interpreted entirely changes the story completely. This ambiguity is probably intentional.
I don't know what to rate this. It ran the gamut of emotional responses for me. At times while reading I thought about giving it a high as score as possible, and at other times I felt it was deserving of the lowest possible. Most of was somewhere along the middle, so I guess that's where I'll put it, with some benefit of the doubt. I already have an unrated book for similar reasons and that's enough. This could've been a definitively good book if it hadn't imploded, but sadly, that's not what was written.
This is the second book in a row I've read where the central theme seems to be explicitly about delusional self-destruction. Three times is a pattern, so I'll have to be careful about what I read next.
If you grimaced, winced, or were otherwise pained from reading any of this, then you shouldn't read this book. Otherwise, you'll do as you will.
Rating: 3/5

just finished illium/olympos from simmons
i liked it, specially the settings: history/mythology/scifi blended together in a really cool way
is there any other book that mix scifi this way?

>>19173288
Have any of you guys completely given up on reading anything written by female authors?
I can say with 100% certainty that women can't write well. At least not for a male audience.

>>19177691
I'm reading Street Cultivation right now. It seems okay for now.

>>19177536
dude, 3/5 is a shit review. You're basically saying it is a waste of time. Next time save the review, just say it fucking sucked ass

>>19177754
You can skip straight to the rating if you prefer of course.

>>19177691
The last female authored thing I read was Six of Crows and I liked it so I haven't completely given up on them yet.

>>19177691
My sister picked out one of Becky Chambers’ (Sci-fi novelist?) novels. I gave it a shot, I really did, but it looks like there’s no hope. Maybe their thinking patterns are too different from mine? Idk bro— idk how to write this without sounding like a pseud or incel. I don’t hate women btw, but permanently filtered by them.

>>19177926
What a terrible choice in general. That's basically a strawman.

any sf or fantasy about conquering alien species and enslaving them

>>19177991
Then recommend me something

>>19178023
Which have you tried?

>>19177691
i agree in general, their characterizations feel really gay and stupid to me
that said, i'm reading earhsea now and i'm enjoying it so far. but it's the only one i've liked so far

>>19178066
A question with a question.

Susanna Clarke
Chambers
Tasmyn Muir
Robin Hobb
CS Friedman

I have pretty debilitating ADHD and wanna read a sf/f short book or story so I can finish relatively fast and encourage my brain to read more stuff.
Any recs?

>>19178237
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42267952-into-the-labyrinth
here you go

>>19178249
Let's goooo

>>19174290
>>19174537
Sanderson writes tv show bait, the first 2 books in the Stormlight Archive are great though

>>19174203
>Lord Foul's Bane
Now there's a series I haven't thought of in a while. Why doesn't anyone else have characters as great as Thomas Covenant.

>>19178299
>no mistborn video game
>he wants it to be a movie instead
why

I just finished Three Body Problem and I have to say, I enjoyed it thoroughly, the hype did not feel unjustified at all. Cixin Liu's imagination and creativity are really impressive. The concepts he deals with and introduces truly have a grand scope. And the journey and gradual progression in scope between the three novels felt very smooth and natural, which is weird, considering there are time skips, but it did. I will say that the third book dragged on in parts but inertia kept me going so it's fine I guess.

Oh, and I heard a lot of people saying they didn't care for the characters at all before I started. I guess I was lucky in this regard because I really liked Ye Wenjie, I liked Luo Ji, I liked Shi Qiang, I liked Zhang Beihai, I liked Thomas Wade and while those were definitely cheesy in tropey (but in a good way), I thought the story of Yun Tianming was surprisingly human, touching and well written. And I only had to google like two of these Chinese names to make this post.

All in all, I'd say this series was like it was written by a better Alistair Reynolds. Of course I haven't read any of Cixin Liu's other work so maybe this series was all he had in him, but whatever. I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

As an aside, and massive spoilers for Three body problem and Forge of God/Anvil of Stars incoming:

Are there any other books that deal with this "universe is a dark forest" concept, that has advanced civilizations hiding from each other and sniping themselves? I really like it, seems like it's a common enough mainstay of discussions on extreterrestial life but I can't think of many books that deal with it. Also, if you know books like this but revealing that that's what they're about is also a massive spoiler, don't respond to me, I don't want to know under those circumstances.

Has anyone here read any Lance Conrad books?
They were shilled on CodysLab and wouldn't mind supporting him.

>>19178237
these books are all less than 200 pages
Nine Princes in Amber
Roadside Picnic
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
The Dying Earth

>>19178311
The videogames he said were coming out turned out to be vaporware.

>>19178311
all his works are set in the same universe

"The Sanderson Cinematic Universe" could happen, all it takes is some company to throw some money his way for their own GOT

>>19178335
>Nine Princes in Amber
I found this book quite confusing. I never read the sequels, would it make more sense if I did?
For a Breath I Tarry is great though.
http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/ZELQZNY/forbreat.txt

>>19174203
Lit RPG, 200 pages cranked out per month for that sweet sweet kindle unlimited money, 1/4th of it is reading notifications and the MC explaining why his choices on where he spends his points are correct.

>>19178326
Do you think he get's intimate with Robo-Cody?

I was sad when his selfish GF dumped him because she doesn't want to live in the dirt in the middle of Nowherevill Nevada. It's like, she didn't consider our feelings as the viewers at all.

>>19178358
i haven't read the sequels yet either sorry, i'd say if you're interested in trying to understand more it would be worth moving forward but if the first book didn't really grab you it's fine to just look elsewhere, maybe come back to it later

>>19178347
No, they aren't all set in the same universe. All the cosmere books are. The ones outside of that aren't.

I have a bad habit of prioritizing books that seem like they could have a lot of potential over books that I'm almost certain I'll enjoy. There's just something about the mystery of what could be that leads me astray.

>>19177691
There's a couple of exceptions (like Bujold) but for the most part yes. I don't even know what it is specifically, but most female authors just write pure cringe.

>>19178378
>I was sad when his selfish GF dumped him because she doesn't want to live in the dirt in the middle of Nowherevill Nevada. It's like, she didn't consider our feelings as the viewers at all.
Typical woman

>>19178326
I hope this is self published and the author designed these covers

>>19178679
I'm fairly sure it's a yes to both of those. He's selling them off his own site

>>19178211
If you like sci-fi and haven't read Cherryh she's very good. Elizabeth Moon's work is great too if you like space opera

>>19177691
I tried reading some of the new stuff, A Memory Called Empire and Gideon the Ninth. Amazing worldbuilding, absolutely top-tier, but man oh man do they get off to a slow start. Also shoehorning in lesbian romance but that's normal nowadays

>>19178807
Lel @ ready player two hate from the left for the bad shoehorning of trannie moralizing. Some normie tier author tries to bow to the left and they kick him in the head for not bowing properly.

>>19178311
>be an idiot that writes overly long formulaic plots with obvious twists, simple characters, and autistically focused on setting at the expense of everything else
>thinks his shit needs to be adapted into something as concise as a movie
Not really surprising. Then again, someone competent could trim off like half of the "story" and it wouldn't be such slow, poorly paced slog after trimming all the unnecessary fat.

How important is a title for you? I've been working on a sci-fi novel which I've titled "The Shit-Nigger" and I worry that I won't be able to get it published. But I feel like my title has integrity and I don't want to abandon it.

>"Look, a red-tailed hawk!" she cried. "Isn't he beautiful!" Her head and body turned to follow the pale clean-cut shape, ruddy translucent tail feathers almost glowing against the washed blue of the sky, and her hot small hand came down to support herself. Directly on Dag's aching erection.

Bujold: truly the horniest granny.

>>19173288
Any novels with pic-related aesthetics?

>>19177844
I don't understand the hype for the Grishaverse. I read all the books currently out and they were just ok. On the other hand Ninth House by the same author was amazing. I wish she would just focus on that .

>>19173288
> >Discord
> Never going to be created.
What about an IRC on maybe rizon?

>>19180055
It's a joke. There's been one for years and is regularly linked in the thread but those who make the op are against it.

>>19173399
How is the Scar for you people reading along?

>>19180179
bro nobody does this except you

>black and/or female writer
I do not read that book.

>>19179953
Sci-fi Christian holy war?

>>19180104
That's some 80s American tier awful book covers.

>>19180104
Love the audio books.
https://youtu.be/uMEU2Jpj0Y4?t=5

>>19180016
I don't really see a lot of hype for it at all to be honest. It's just another YA series that got a tv adaption so it has had it's time in the spotlight. I haven't read Ninth House yet though so it's nice to hear something good about it.

Ok so, I browsed the japanese internet for a while in the hopes of finding exactly which general western /sffg/ material it's popular there. This is pretty much a mix of facts and assumption, but from what I've understood
>LOTR, ASOIAF, Earthsea (Which got an actual anime), Narnia, Harry Potter, Howl's Moving Castle (got an anime too), and maybe something else I am forgetting are the most popular and easy to find ones.
>Book of The New Sun, and the works of Micheal Moorcock are really popular with fantasy lit otakus as well.
>The Belgariad, the Old Kingdom series and His Dark Materials are also popular with young people.
>Wheel Of Time was popular there for a while too in light novel format with bonus illustrations, but probably lost popularity. the translation is only up to the first Sanderson book and it's getting a reprint from scratch soon. (back in the early 2000s, a japanese studio unironically offered Jordan the proposal of a legit anime adaptation up to book 3).
>D&D boomers might be somewhat familiar with Riftwar due to the setting and that's it.
>Jack Vance stuff is cult classic material there.
>Conan inspired Guin Saga.
>Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Lord Dunsany stuff are also well know with people really into general fantasy literature.
>The only Sanderson thing that ever sold decently there is Mistborn.
>The Witcher novels are kinda popular thanks mainly to the games too

Aaaand that's it
Things like The Black Company, The First Law and works by Bakker have never been translated and so are pretty much unknown, and Malazan probably sold like utter dogshit considering they stopped translation after book 2.

Thoughts on Japan's taste?

>Case plonked the blarg into the dreklifier.

>His primflark twitched.

>The astrohark exploded in a trimgraff rainbow of kertron rizbit colours.

>The modified yajmork he bought from that kid down in Asspull was top notch.

>>19180397
that's pretty interesting thanks for doing the research. japs have decent taste

Is that anon ok?

>>19180677
He's dead.

>>19180677
basilisk got him

>>19180397
Seems to align pretty much with an older and more refined readership in the west in terms of taste. Clearly more of an appreciation for tales hearkening back to classic fairy/folk tales and mythology as well.

Unsurprising that generic YA crap like Sanderson doesn't sell well in a country that is utterly inundated by shounen manga and light novels of roughly equal quality. Most of that type of stuff is better done over there as well, with authors self-aware enough to know what type of content they're producing and making it faster paced and with fun characters.

>struggling to write one novel
>see authors self-publishing a new 300-400ish page book every 2-3 weeks
how do they do it?

Is Children of Time really worth it? I started reading it and it seems alright but I really hate spiders. I think I might just drop it and read Blindsight instead.

>>19180947
they just type away with no regards to quality

>>19180992
It's a book dude just imagine them as naked anime girls

>>19181016
Different anon
Head canon is dumb.

>>19176847
Embassytown

I finished The Eye of the World and watched the WoT trailer and it looks like it will cover more than the first book. I'm starting book two either way but does anyone know what exactly the show covers?

I thought Kraken was fun.

>>19181365
I don't know that we know exactly. When asked about, the showrunner said they aren't adapting EotW precisely to a season of tv and instead they are making "the first season of Wheel of Time" so they'll probably include a bunch. But primarily I think the new material will be made up. Rosamund Pike is a big name and she's listed as the star, so the first season will probably have a lot more Moiraine and Aes Sedai backstory and plotting. As far as book material though I can't imagine they'll go past the second book in the first season, and only then because it introduces more Aes Sedai and Tar Valon and the like. Anything else new will probably be OC.

>>19181365
I'm halfway done with book 3, but to me it seems that the first season will cover a blend of book 1 and 2. Though, what they showed in the trailer that were book 2 material, was early book 2 material as far as I cought gather. So, it just might be that certain things will be thrown in from book 2 but they mostly will cover book 1? Hard to say.

Any good fantasy from east Asia, particularly China, that's been written or translated well in to English?

>>19177691
Guinn is good

>>19181458
hallmark's the monkey king

>logan jacobs finally releases a book I'm interested in
>it isn't on any of the ebook piracy sites
fuck you too

>>19173780

>>19181919
You may just be bad at searching, or impatient, likely both.

can anyone please recommend
>self-contained
>preferably not written by an American
>no tired tropes
>less than 300 pages
books?
I really dig "different" stuff, anything that has a foreign, novel and magic feeling

>>19182023
Wine of Satan by Laverne Gay
Dream of Confucius by Jean Levi
Rumble Fish by SE Hinton

How is it that every time I pick up a fantasy short story collection Glen Cook is in it?

>>19182310
He greases the right poles.

>>19180179
We're all kind of mystified at the lack of plot, but otherwise it's cool.

>>19180206
Some people read, anon. You should try it.

>>19180179
How do you pronounce his name?

>>19179953
Lords of Dyscrasia

Anyone know where you can download the new foundation audiobooks? Audiobookbay doesn't have them and I really don't like the old tape recordings. Buying isn't an option right now.

>>19180947
They make writing a habit until they have a daily output of tens of thousands of words, then simply sift the output for usable material.

Alright which one of you fags wrote this?

The Team:
- a trans boy ready for his glow-up into a leading man
- an undead sweetheart with a bellyful of acid
- a furious firebreathing girl
- a hive mind of very polite spiders
- an over-it aroace woman who knows how scared you are of her
- a group of increasingly unhinged clones

The Misson:
To cross into a parallel universe and kill a mutant as powerful as a god, then clean up any mess

The Complications:
Okay so yikes this has spiralled out of control and now there may be some other terrifying new threats to deal with! We're on it though, I promise. Weapon UwU!

>>19180947
They treat it like a job and write 5 days a week for 4+hours

>>19182907
it was me uwu

>>19182924
dont forget to publish first manuscript without editing

Are there any good marketing tactics for self-publishing? Getting published by a real agency is a pipe dream, but I'd consider a dozen Amazon reviews a miracle. I got some positive feedback on A03

>>19174203
>anon can't into math
you skipped over the 2010s, that decade was ruled by Hunger Games and other YA dystopian fiction novels

>>19183173
Hunger Games/YA was the end of written fiction being taken seriously as a medium

>>19183184
Was YA ever taken seriously?

>>19183187

Can some kind anon point me towards audiobook version of The darkness that comes before
I have a buddy who has no time for normal reading but he can listen at work so I am trying to help him our

>>19183167
a blog, twitter account, amazon themselves do promotions, maybe post the first few chapters on royalroad or something.
far more important for a beginning author isnt actually marketing especially if you are indie.
its the frequency of works.
the more you publish the more amazon will suggest your work to readers of similar works.

>>19183240
Write 20 books if you wanna make it

>>19178361
Every other page is copy pasted status updates with small number changes

Ahhhhhhh

>>19183322
its more about consistence than volume. ever
notice how new indies publish a book at least once every 2 months or so and then slow down a bit after they are established.
its to get the foot in the door with amazons algorithms.

>>19182924
>>19183148
Hey if it works it works. Wish I could turn a hobby into paycheck like that.

>>19173288
Ursula Le Guin - A Wizard of Earthsea

Get past the first 50 pages which seem a bit disengaged. This story is a jewel for all ages.

Almost finished with A Dance with Dragons. What the fuck was the fatman thinking when writing Quentyn's chapters? It seemed like a strong source for conflict at first but it ended up being a completely unrelated short story about a guy failing at adventure tropes.
At least Ned and Robb made room for further conflicts and plots, but this guy just got burned for le epic subversion of expectations alone.
I'm more hyped for a new Dunk and Egg story than for TWOW at this point.

I FUCK SRANC

>>19183583
I feel like an editor should've stepped in and told George "no" with the Quentyn side plot. Even if he'd already set it up in book 4 with the Dorne stuff, he could've just cut out Quentyn's PoV and lost nothing.

>>19183746
grrm's editorial powers are too strong for mere mortals to overcome

What's your favorite science fiction spaceship weapon system? I'm trying to write up some good ones for my /qst/ and I'm not sure if they're retarded or not.

>>>/qst/5018783

>>19183800
that's nuts lol

>>19180074
Link desu?

>>19184061
https://discord.com/invite/KWPCM7m

reading schedule is here: >>19173399

>>19184081
> discord << irc
Thanks!

>>19184034
Pretty sure nothing is as straightforward and effective as gamma lasers with very short wavelength, assuming we are trying to stay in hard sci fi territory.

What book is centered around steppe nomads?

>>19184132
I also want to know this

>>19184132
Otoyome no Monogatari is the only thing that comes to mind
Maybe something here you'd like
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/mongols

>>19184180
does it have tits?

>>19184196
it /ss/ and /u/

>>19184203
hummina hummina

really bad at making characters unlike myself

like making them do fucked up shit like cannabalism or getting tortured analy or something

>>19184180
I already read otoyomegatari. That's why I'm asking

Do you guys write your own SFF? If so, what’s your ideas about?

>>19184319
How about you go to /wg/ with that shit.

>>19184328
/wg/ is newfag shit. We used to have /Crit/

>>19184329
Nobody gives a shit. Go to /wg/ if you want to share ideas.

>>19184328
/wg/ makes fun of sff

>>19184334
Why? What discussion am I ruining? The 1435927th post about Bakkerfags and anime and chinkshit? Or the guy who talks about hard gay? So boring.

>>19184132
Checkov’s? Haven’t read it

>>19173780
>pseud
What is it called when I'm a pseud at everything I'm interested in? It's like, I really enjoy the concepts of things and stuff but at the end of the day I've usually not retained anything of value on the topic that I'd be able to introduce into any conversation whatsoever.

>>19183334
every 6 months for Cradle which is arguably the best-selling self-pub fantasy series

If anyone is interdasted a sequel was recently released to Jack Vance's Demon Princes series that's apparently pretty good.

>>19174203
This is the decade books die

>>19180992
It's pretty fun, but falls abit apart towards the end because the authors fails to understand scale. Worth a read anyway if you like sci-fi, there isn't much okay one out there.

The second book by the author is arguably even more fun than the first, and more interesting. But stay away from Shard of Earth, it's horrendous garbage.

Is the sleeping bag Dune worth reading? I’m trying to plan my reading list ahead of time.

>>19184914
If you didn't mind messiah and children then god emperor of dune is a must, especially if have read children. But personally I recommend only dune and then just stopping because the series ended in a cliffhanger.

>>19184629
We all know who is responsible for this, don't we?

>>19185147
People who willingly live in cities deserve to suffer.

>>19185156
I'd like to live in a town composed only of white people of course that isn't crowded like a city but is designed to facilitate public transport and pedestrians so that every store isn't 10 miles apart from each other.

>>19185175
What you described isn't a town, it's a small city. I live in the second biggest population center in my state and driving from one end to the complete opposite side of town takes less than 15 minutes.

>>19185191
That sounds nice but how many blacks are there?

>>19185227
Basically zero. A fair few Maoris, but the shit Maoris all want to live in the cities so the ones here aren't a problem.

>>19182712
Anyone?

>>19181458
Full Metal Daemon Muramasa

The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.

>>19182712
I don't use the site but I've heard that myanonymouse is good for audiobooks

Just finished reading this.

I didn't know that Fantasy could actually be good until now.

>>19180947
thats why they're self published

>>19185263
betcha can't say that 5 times fast

>>19185534
it gets even better

>>19173288
I finished re-experiencing (I say experiencing because I listened to an audiobook of a series I've read a few times) and its made me shed a few tears, and continue with the authors other works.
It's good to experience works in other formats.

>>19185263
I want to get into the series but damn is it a time commitment.
I already randomly read a book in the serpent war saga, and enjoyed it.

>>19182363
me ville

>>19182363
me and the vil like villager

>>19185690
I can't even say it once.

I just finished this, I think it was really good but at the same time am not sure what it was supposed to about, and that's OK. Any recommendations for other good stream of consciousness novels?

>>19184132
The Great Game if you fancy nonfiction

Is there any contemporary mecha fiction? That isn't Battletech or Warhammer or w/e. I mean original properties.

>>19186278
see >>19185252

>>19186129
>stream of consciousness
Woah there buddy, you can't go using those kinds of highfalutin concepts here. We're a humble folk who have nary a care for prose or style. A "simple" people, you might say, unlike those boys in outer /lit/ with their lit-ree-chur. Now get on back to talking 'bout magic systems and lore, hear?

>>19186435
>Now get on back to talking 'bout magic systems and lore, hear?
books that focus on these are always made fun of here, do you even read the threads

>>19186442
Did I need to make the dumb redneck impression even more blatant for you to recognize a joke?

>>19186455
Uh oh, you lost. That was the wrong sort of reply.

How does early 1900s fantasy novels/series like John Carter Of Mars and The Worm Ouroboros compare to much more modern titles in terms of world-building, setting and content?

>>19186521
Do you think this is a game?

I'm currently reading the third book of The Wheel of Time and it's honestly refreshing to read a story with multiple main characters that doesn't switch to another point of view right after a cliffhanger.

>>19186750
I'm only on the second book but I've had that thought as well. The chapter cliffhanger is completely overdone and I feel like WOT switches POV at comfortable times, even if I don't like all the POV characters.

>Now I'm going to KILL YOU
>POV switches
>Stuff happens
>POV switches back again to the doomed characters after they get out of their dire situation
really?

>>19180397
I don't know if it was really popular, but nips were pushing Deltora Quest pretty hard in the mid-2000s. It had a 50+ episode anime, a 10 volume manga, and a Nintendo DS game.

OH GOD I'M ROOODING ARGHGGHHHHH

>>19186920
me on the left

>the dying earth
>wheel of time
>prince of nothing
>book of the new sun
>black company
>hyperion
>dune
>conan the barbarian

>>19186949
söis are allowed to love wot for some reason

>>19186929
>ROOODING
It just doesn't work anon. Stop trying to force it.

>Phantastes
>The Princess and the Goblin
>Lilith
>The Gods of Pegana
>The Book of Wonder
>The Sword of Welleran
>The Well at World's End
>The Wood Beyond the World

>>19179631
Book?

>>19173288
The Providence of Fire, Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #2 - Brian Staveley (2015)
This was one of a few remaining series where for whatever reason it's been several years since I read the first. As usual I was unsure whether my memories and rating of the first were mistaken since I rated it several years after I had read it. Fortunately, I greatly enjoyed myself. For the most part that was because of the execution rather than plot, characters, setting, or any ideas it has. There's not much that's novel here, but that doesn't bother me as long as I'm having fun with it.
It fits well within earlier published series such as A Song of Ice and Fire, The Dagger and Coin, The First Law, and similar. This a grimdark epic fantasy series filled with intrigue of all sorts. It's certainly not a heroic series, which may pose a problem. Aside from the many problems that others present them through opposition and disinformation, the characters create a lot of problems for themselves through misunderstandings and bad decisions. They are surely not particularly competent in achieving their goals with their preferred methods. Compromises are abundant. Normally this would bother me, as using these sort of tricks is usually a sign of an inability to write compelling drama without a crutch, but as I said, I liked how it was executed.
The exception to this is the lead up to the ending and the ending itself. I can't ever excuse turning characters into set pieces to achieve a narrative goal. That breaks everything and leads to characters taking actions for a desired plot direction rather than what they ought to be doing. This fosters ill-will towards the author and especially the characters. For that alone, I can't rate this higher than four stars.
Transportation method spoiler I love portal hubs and networks. I liked it even more when there was an aside about how they could affect the economy, even though nothing will come of it.
Rating: 4/5

>>19186982
I didn't get Phantastes the first time around. Apparently you need to be familiar with Romantic era poetry. Where do I even start with that?

>>19187149
>spoiler
Try the Stars books by Robert Hoskins reviewbro.

>>19186963
Probably because the adaption has been thoroughly diversified to the point where they feel safe to claim it.

>>19186949
Wait are these forbidden properties?

>>19174296
I would love more arabic settings desu but maybe that's because I was really into Vathek.

>>19181458
Unironically Reverend Insanity.
It's up there as one of my favorite books of all time

>>19184132
The Northern Plains arc in Reverend Insanity.

Is this /reverend insanity general/ now?

>>19187211
I looked at Master of the Stars, Stars #1 - Robert Hoskins (1976).
Everything about it seemed dreadful.
I would've looked at the others as they each seem to be standalone
I wasn't able to find them after looking at a few sources.
It isn't like my love for it is a fetish that overrides all other concerns.
In terms of SF it's not quite as fun either.
A moderately relevant example would be H. Beam Piper's Paratime series.

>>19187544
Yeah, they're not good books. lol.

>>19187526
It is now buddy

>>19178384
>>19178358
If you at all enjoyed Nine Princes in Amber you should at least read the Guns of Avalon, all of the first 5 books are good, but I would argue that 2 is definitely the best of them.

Don't read the latter 5 Merlin stories though, they're dune-sequels-tier.

>>19187547
I've considered doing a monthly "bad meme book" suggested by /sffg/, so that I can write something scathing about it, but every time I think about doing it I come back the same conclusion. Do I really want to do that to myself? The answer so far has always been "no", but maybe eventually I'll be in a silly enough mood to do so.

>The point of prizes, presumably, is to establish literary standards, honor worthy work and the writers of it, and enlarge the audience for fine fiction by bringing it to wider public notice than its publishers can bear to.
I think we can all agree that the current SFF prizes that exist, most notably the Hugos, have failed in doing this. I think /sffg/ should come up with its own prize, put together a group, and award "exemplary works of speculative fiction" ourselves.

>>19187631
/sffg/ short story contest when?

>>19187642
I'm so fucking ready

>>19187631
Well, it depends on what you mean by that.
If we go by the Hugo model, then it's possible to do so just by people have most liked of what they've read for the year. I did something like that for 2020 using what the GR group read and liked. The problem as always with it being entirely anonymous is that it would be as easily rigged as these thing are.
The Nebula model, which uses "qualified judges" would probably require a group of people to read a lot of read recommendations by the other judges and others and then have them award what is best. Honestly, I don't think that's achievable in any way that would be considered legitimate. I really doubt the people could be found and even those that would be would be likely to pursue their agendas rather than having it be a good faith effort.
It may be cynical, but I don't think any effort here would be considered as something that's worthwhile. The top 100 lit books is always a disaster and does anyone that that does what your greentext says?
Naturally, I also don't think you personally have any sort of noble intention either and probably want to do so to further your own goals above all else. That's just how it is with where we are.

>>19187642
>>19187689
Back to /wg/ with you both.

>>19187631
What do you think about this?
https://hughhowey.com/the-spsfc-begins/

or for that matter, all the failed litzines, or really failed /lit/ related projects in general. So much is proposed and there's so very little follow through.

>>19174285
I'd rather suck start a shotgun than subject myself to that.

Lastly, these require far more community participation than would be available. It's only "reasonable" that a person wouldn't involve themselves in something very unlikely to succeed or have much benefit. It's only "rational" to join after success has been proven or is at least very likely.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” - George Bernard Shaw

>>19187518
me in the blue

>>19187692
>Naturally, I also don't think you personally have any sort of noble intention either
To be completely transparent, the idea of starting our own literary prize comes out of an argument that has been happening (sporadically) on /sffg/ for the past year or two; There are a few anons here (myself included), who are looking for something more substantial in the fiction that we read; we are looking for "literary excellence" as that one anon awhile back put it: books that are good even by genre standards and books that can hold they're own against what the world of "literary fiction" has to offer. There are two problems with this: the first one is that the large majority of people aren't looking for "excellence" in genre fiction, they are looking to be entertained and thrilled. They're not paying attention to a book's style or technique, they're not trying to "read deeper" into anything, they just want a good story that will keep them entertained and that they can walk away from with a good taste in their mouth. There is nothing wrong with this; people read for different reasons and reading for entertainment is a perfectly good reason. The problem is that the books these people like aren't going to be "exemplary works of speculative fiction" or anything like that, so trying to judge them by that standard doesn't work. The second problem comes from this question: is it possible to achieve anything deeper in a genre that was fundamentally made for entertainment purposes only? The people who are looking for something deeper in genre fiction have often been told to go read literary fiction if they want something deeper, and to leave the genre-reading crowd alone. Perhaps they are right? Let me stress this one point, because it is very hard to convey tone in a written medium: we are not conceding your genre as "lesser" or anything of that sort; perhaps trying to create some kind higher standard is pretentious and ultimately a doomed enterprise.
Ok, rant over, you can tell me to go fuck myself now

>>19187762
>that can hold they're own against
*their

And perhaps I'm projecting too much; perhaps my need to find a "higher standard" in fantasy comes from the fact that I am trying to reconcile my love for the genre with the fact that the writers and institutions I admire tell me that it is a lesser genre. Perhaps all of this comes from an inferiority complex because I like reading stories with dragons and wizards and books that "impose upon implausible premises a rigorous gamelike reasoning," as they say.

>>19187762
Oh well, ok. If that's what you want this is the entirely the wrong place to do so. Your best bet would be to find a literary group that is concerned with those concepts, they aren't of much concern to me personally, and also happens to read genre fiction. Though, I think you'd get better results simply by consulting the existing literature or what others have done already. What sense is there trying to do yourself if it can't be done well? There's no reason to have any sort of inferiority complex or envy about it either. To me, the main point of you doing so would because you'd be the ones doing it. An ego trip as it were and for theoretical self-aggrandizement, as it common with the tripcode users, discord owners, litzine founders, self-published authors and anything else here.

>>19187796
Well, yes, and there's also that anything that rises to that level is no longer labeled as "genre fiction" by institutions. Even though who write it deny that what they write is anything other than literary fiction regardless of what form it may take. It's all rather arbitrary and based on the consensus of the relevant elites.

>>19187796
I looked whether your quoted passage was posted before and came across this thread, which may be of interest to you.
>>/lit/thread/16536664

>>19187476
I've never read web novels or whatever and this sounds interesting so I'll check it out.

>>19187850
Be sure to report back your findings.
There are far too many who don't.
That makes it look like it's intentional creating attention.

>>19187631
>>19187762
>>19187796
What are some works that you love and want to be accepted by those you admire?

>>19173297 That's true.
>>19173460 That's probably because your peer group and priorities changed. You never liked what it was in of itself.
>>19173730 There are reasons for why that happens.
>>19173780 You'd have a different sort of regrets if you did with that attitude.
>>19173848 You weren't.
>>19173862 Reading for something like that outside of self-published fetish material is always going to fail.
>>19173947 Watch the show.
>>19174176 The Brother's War
>>19174411 Contrarianism doesn't serve well.
>>19174579 What a bad use of time.
>>19175043 No.
>>19175147 Congrats on having an opinion.
>>19175170 Never.
>>19175265 It isn't.
>>19176287 No, age isn't what matters, but there is stuff that matters.
>>19176743 You only wish you were.
>>19177219 Enjoy not enjoying life.
>>19177555 Yes, many, but as to how well is a different matter.
>>19177691 Nice bait
>>19177699 It isn't.
>>19178310 Failed bait
>>19178859 That's only to be expected.
>>19179615 You're amazing at being an idiot.
>>19181014 Basically like posting here.
>>19185156 -"in cities"
>>19186638 It always is.

>>19186611
They suck ass

>>19188195
and what a pleasurable activity that is!

>>19181458
>>19187476
>>19187850
I don't know if the originals are poorly written but I wouldn't bother because the translations will invariably be unreadable dogshit. Not bad translations but not adapted properly to English. This is a big problem in videogame translations especially.

>>19188252
More like it's a problem with anything where the translators are paid extremely little and asked to do an absurd amount constantly.

>>19187631
I have absolutely no doubt that if /sffg/ tried to hand out awards that its nominees would be every bit as out of touch and unrepresentative as the last few Hugo slates have been, because these threads are filled with contrarians who have as little in common with the wider SFF readership as the people who run the Hugos. The only possible value for creating an irrelevant, un-prestigious award would be as an ironic gesture to demonstrate the current low value of the Hugo.

>>19187796
>the writers and institutions I admire tell me that it is a lesser genre
The reason for this is entirely Tolkien's fault; when LOTR came out and started making bucketloads of money, publishers were quick to make the "fantasy" label and start publishing books with tropes, archetypes, and conventions similar to LOTR in order to make money; the reason "fantasy" is deemed nonliterary is because publishers have forced it into a corner and beat it over the head: "If your book doesn't have so-and-so then it doesn't fit under the fantasy label!" Look at early fantasy works, look at works George MacDonald and Clark Ashton Smith, where they mix what we would call "science fiction" and "fantasy" to create entirely new stuff that is completely alien. For a more "literary" example, look at Borges work. If we want fantasy to become the genre it was originally meant to be, we need to throw of the conventions and the tropes

>>19188310
>borges
refer to:
>>19187846

>>19186920
deltora quest? Does that female character show her anime tits in it?

>>19188685
It's literally a children's book, so no.

>>19179631
book?

>>19188055
>look ma I replied to everyone

so did the bakker autists go back to discord or nah

>>19187080
>>19188715
Dear piteous anon demanding being spoonfed:
All it takes is a couple seconds of copypasting into a search engine for the answer, which is Beguilement

>>19188722 Here's your (you).

Why is there no horror general, specially at this month? Does /sffg/ include horror?

>>19188736
Because the spin-off threads always fail. If you want it to nothing is stopping you. It's /sffg/ after all, Speculative Fiction Fans General.

>>19188736
no, but they do all fall under speculative fiction

>>19188736
>Does /sffg/ include horror?
Yes
on another note, Frater is /lit/'s go-to horror and weird-lit guy but he never comes here for some reason, he should stop in some time

>>19188760
Do you mean?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhiannon_Frater
Seems to be a woman to me.

>>19188811
Yes, and?

>>19188811
No, I mean Frater Asemlen !XS8vrClKs2

Behold one of the greatest tripgods to ever post on this site.
>>/lit/?task=search2&ghost=yes&search_text=horror&search_subject=&search_username=&search_tripcode=XS8vrClKs2&search_email=&search_filename=&search_datefrom=&search_dateto=&search_op=all&search_del=dontcare&search_int=dontcare&search_ord=new&search_capcode=all&search_res=post

>Ice World

Personally I thought Graves was a little harsh on McGill

>>19188985
Nice randomly generated post.

rec me something to read in three weeks for a college assignment

>>19188736
No, it doesn't. You're free to make your own horror threads, but please don't clutter this general with it.

archived /hfg/ - horror fiction general threads
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=horror+fiction+general

>>19189124
Make your own thread, but don't clutter this general with it.

>>19189070
College you say? So it needs to be something by a minority. Perhaps something by a black communist Muslim transwoman would do the trick.

>>19189140
You can't do it anything about anything anyway regardless.

>>19189070
Go with the classic, Dragon Ball, it should do the trick.

>>19189159
>Goku is a ubermensch.
Never realized it until now. Guy does whatever he fucking wants. And isn’t hindered by the slave morality like others.

>>19189168
That's because he's literally brain damaged.

>>19189170
You know, people keep saying that, but I just don’t see it. Goku is a genius at fighting, he learned to drive despite only having a rudimentary education, give him enough time and he’ll learn new things. Really, if anything, the brain damage just stopped him from exterminating Humanity due to his saiyan nature.

>>19182058
Thanks, mte

>>19189168
>>19189159
Ahem, let's look at the Life of Goku
Kills his adopted father
Never cares for his entire life about his biological family.
Is forced into a teenage marriage and probably basically raped
Doesn't care about Gohan aside from training and fighting
Dies and doesn't mind
Kills his brother doesn't care at all or accept that he was or maybe doesn't even understand
Regularly abandons his family for years at a time and thinks nothing of it
Impregnates wife then dies. Stays dead for 7 years and when he comes back goes, "lol a new kid XD"
Doesn't care about the universe being destroyed if he means he gets to fight


>>19189186
>learned to drive
lol, that filler episode wasn't "learned to drive" at all. Then there was that quiz exam that he barely passed to be a tournament to test if the fighter was sentient or not.

>>19189230
>lol, that filler episode wasn't "learned to drive" at all.
Nah, he learned to drive as an adult. Chichi was the one who never learned.

>>19189233
It's been too long.

>>19189230
Does manga technically count as /sffg/?

>>19189230
>lol, that filler episode wasn't "learned to drive" at all.
But it was? The episode was the most /o/ dragon ball ever got.
https://youtu.be/CL_rsqDaAz4

>>19189259
It doesn't matter either way.

New thread
>>19189266

new thread niggers
>>19189263

>>19189267
This one.

>>19189267
mine was here first, I beat you animetranny

>>19189274
Oh, it’s the schizo.

>>19189267
>>19189268
>two seconds apart
I choose neither.
This thread will be fine.

>>19189278
or 22 seconds for the thread itself.
How very silly.

>>19189267
I like the art on this one.

Solution: don't post in either thread and let them die.

>>19189267
>Air canal
What I would give to read a science fiction about that.

>>19189275
At this point you are probably posting both anime and schizo shit just to induce strife

>>19189419
How new are you? There's a schizo here who calls anything he doesn't like anime and anyone he disagrees with him an animetranny.

>>19189464
It doesn't matter.

>>19174537
It has a pretty fulfilling ending, if you can get that far. It takes a decent amount of investment, but I think it's worth it (for the first book atleast)

>>19176724
Red rising series. Really enjoyed the audible version, went through the series multiple times when I'm cleaning/about to go to bed

>>19183167
54k words ? how short is this furry, trans friendly gamelit gem of yours'plot?