/lit/ - Literature

Read Cradle!

read reverend insanity

Third for Esmenet, the whore of Sumna, mother of retards, adultress of Three Seas

Serwë is cute!!!!!

>>19279455
Time for must read xinxia/wuxia chart

I'm working through book of the new sun, absolutely loving it. How does Dying Earth compare to it? How about the rest of the solar cycle? From what little I've read Long Sun is good but not nearly on the same level(been trying hard to avoid spoilers) and it's necessary to get to Short Sun

also topkek at the amount of people who dismiss it/stop reading because "muh wahmens!"

>>19279862
Was going to reply to your in earnest but then read the last part of your post. Kill yourself

I'm reading Dune, after putting it off for a long time. Honestly, I'm about two thirds the way through and I can safely label this as tremendously overrated. Herbert is, to his credit, a good writer, but the flaws in this book are blatant.
>The pacing is glacial, due to the sheer amount of exposition
>Harkonen is a shit villain, the entire plot only happens because of author fiat (speaking of how Harkonen consistently dismisses the Fremen as a threat in the face of all logic and advice, purely because if he didn't the plot wouldn't happen)
>The characters are paper thin, Paul is only just starting to turn into an actual character several hundred pages in. You could honestly replace Paul with a literal Quran that Jessica is lugging about and almost nothing changes
>Why the fuck was Pauls family given Arrakis in the first place if the emperor was just going to have him killed? It makes no sense.
>The entire interplay between shields and lasguns is utterly pointless, and has so far served not purpose except to pad out the story with characters talking about "oh boy I sure wish we could use shields/lasguns here but we can't oh well time to fight with swords"

The prose can be good, but this honestly feels like reading something written by Brandon Sanderson if Brandon Sanderson wasn't a complete retard. Endless exposition and repetitive dialogue, huge focus on worldbuilding at the expense of characterization. I kind of liked the idea of Paul struggling to prevent a destiny that would carry on even if he died, but it's constantly bogged down in very masturbatory prose that uses a lot of words to say very little.

>>19279925
That's what you get for only reading something because it has a tv or movie rather than being interested in it.

>>19279925
>Why the fuck was Pauls family given Arrakis in the first place if the emperor was just going to have him killed? It makes no sense.
This is explained. Pay attention.

>>19279932
I haven't and I'm not going to see the movie, I read it because it's a classic and people I know have been talking about the book lately (yes, because it got a movie). Like most classics it honestly doesn't live up to its reputation.

>>19279936
I got the part about causing an artificial shortage in the spice market, but that being the motivation is contrived to the point of absurdity, there's far easier ways they could do the same.

>>19279946
>I got the part about causing an artificial shortage in the spice market, but that being the motivation is contrived to the point of absurdity, there's far easier ways they could do the same.
Not without pissing off CHOAM. It also maneuvered Leto away from his previous loyal subjects and reduced the number of witnesses.

>>19279953
>and reduced the number of witnesses.
Open warfare with Imperial troops on the ground on the single most valuable planet in the Empire, the fate of which EVERYONE is concerned with and is therefore watching, is less witnesses than a bullet from a grassy knoll or an electrical "fault" in his 'thopter?
It's "just turn ur brain off bro" levels of retarded. In fact, it goes directly against what Harkonen tells his heir about halfway through the book, "always keep your hands clean".
As for CHOAM, it's been given absolutely zero focus from what I've read so far beyond the fact that it's a large corporation with (presumably) and imperially mandated monopoly over something. I assume spice, but that hasn't actually been stated yet.

>>>/tv/158135070
>>>/tv/158135070
>>>/tv/158135070

>>19279455
At least is not animeshit

>>19279964
The Emperor is trying to end the threat posed by House Atreides. Merely assassinating Leto is not enough.

>>19279980
What threat? No threat was established. The closest thing to a threat that has been expounded upon at all is that some of the Atreides personal guards were a match for Saudukar or whatever their name is. A small number of them. Yet the Fremen are demonstrated to be hands down better *on average* so clearly that bar isn't some insurmountable hurdle, just a matter of conditioning.

>>19277561
Ssyba is an animal and I've gone to great lengths to make sure that everything about her mannerisms, speech, personality and drive reflects that. Her name is irrelevant, just like it is for your dog. Your dog's name is only relevant to you as you need him to have identity, and when you call him he responds only to the sound of it. But to him, the name you gave him is inconsequential.

>>19278164
Yeah, I'd argue everything needs work all the time, forever. Also English is not my native language. If you want, here is the link, there's 20k words and it's quite enough to get the gist of the whole story. The main reason why I'm linking this is because I want to get some criticism for this first 1/3 of my story. The prose and writing will be consistent throughout it so whatever quality is here, it will be maintained throughout. I want to know what am I to expect in terms of pure technical frame.

Here it is
https://www.royalroad.com/author-dashboard/dashboard/34169

>>19279987
Yes. That's one of the big dangers posed b the Atreides. The Emperor is worried that they have found a way to train soldiers to match his Saudukar. And no one knows how powerful an skilled the Fremen truly are... That's sorta a big aspect of the book.

>>19279997
It's also dumb as fuck. It's established almost immediately that spice builds a dependency that is lethal if spice is withheld, the quality of troops is utterly irrelevant if you hold the keys to spice production. Atreides is a FAR smaller threat to the Emperor than Harkonen. You can have hands down the best troops in the universe, it simply doesn't matter if you can kill them simply by preventing them from having spice.
Which also makes it EVEN MORE retarded that they put the Atreides family on Arrakis in the first place. If they wanted to isolate the Atreides they could have just assigned them to some backwater rather than the literal most important planet in the empire.

>>19279925
>>19279946
What you maybe don't understand is that was a very common imperialist way of doing things in the past. Being "jealous" and feeling threatened that one of your vassals was gaining power in wealth, political influence, or public opinion it was something a calculating king had to deal with, as his status is being threatened by someone else eventually.
Will you stop posting this on 4chan now?

>>19280005
No, I understand that fine. My point is simply the way they went about it is ridiculous, and the only possible justification for it is "If it doesn't happen this way there's no plot".

>>19279973
But it is, you idiot.

>>19280010
Ok if you are the weed dude too, at that point I will tell you to commit a suicide

>>19279973
But it is anime, you idiot.

>>19280015
h-he killed himself...

>this father
>supressed
>peerless beauty
>solid foundation
>even this could/could be considered ....
>spat blood
>withstand my x moves
>lets see if you can force my sword/spear
>The mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind
>Birds die for food, men die for money
>A toad wishing to eat swan meat
>hmph, you are not even giving me any face

>>19280148
>Going to eat? Fight to the death over their table in the restaurant.

>buying something? Fight to the death with someone who just happens to desperately want what the prot just bought.


>Walking down the street? Fight to the death with someone who insists that everyone get out of their way

>>19280003
The Harkonnen's aren't a threat at all, they're working directly with and for the Emperor. The Atreides are part of a group that work together to be able to stand up to the Emperor. The Emperor wants rid of the Atreides in a show of force to the other Houses that he then can't be brought to account for due to the murky nature of the whole thing.
Also the universe of Dune isn't like the universe of Star Wars, people aren't just casually keeping an eye on other planets. Travel and even communication is tightly regulated and extremely difficult.

>>19279925
No one cares about your shitty “I’m just watching this because it’s a Major Motion Picture now” opinion.

>>19279925
>(speaking of how Harkonen consistently dismisses the Fremen as a threat in the face of all logic and advice, purely because if he didn't the plot wouldn't happen)
Yes, remind you of any real-world events? I dont see a problem...
>Why the fuck was Pauls family given Arrakis in the first place if the emperor was just going to have him killed? It makes no sense.
you may not have been paying attention but there was a trap waiting to kill him in his new room that was prepared for him. He survived because of his training, instinct, pure luck.
>shields and lasguns is utterly pointless, and has so far served not purpose
Are you baiting?

>>19279455
why is she dressed like a fantasy whore?

Is Throne of Glass better than Bakker?

I'm looking for a low fantasy samurai story with a protagonist that doesn't have magical powers, special abilities, or superhuman feats. Just a skilled and determined warrior traveling, encountering yokai, and maybe fighting an evil wizard or two. Essentially, I want weeb Conan. Any recommendations for this?

>>19280743
I'd recommend you to get the fuck out of here with that autistic shit.

>>19280743
Not /lit/ but Usagi Yojimbo is pretty much that to a T, if you can get past the anthro characters.

>>19279862
dying earth is fine, but it reads much more like a pulpy science fantasy than BotNS does. which is fine, but just know that's what you're getting when you start it

have not read BotLS or BotSS, but both series are on my list sometime in the next 6 months

>>19280732
is pancreatic cancer better than cholera? no, but you're really just talking about relative shittiness

>>19280884
Usagi's actually what got me on this kick. I don't like reading comics digitally, so I need something else to scratch the itch while I'm waiting for more of the volumes to be reprinted.

If I already read the first three books is rhythm of war worth a read? I feel like I’m not too interested to see where the story goes after waiting for it to come out and become somewhat affordable, so if I can escape Sanderson now is the time to do it. If it’s somewhat good tho I’ll buy it

>>19278063
Your right. Egwene was pretty mean, but not as bad as the haters claim.

It should be noted, that Book 5 is a Nynaeve heavy book. It's as much her book as it is Rand's. And for most of that book, Nynaeve was raising acting like a real bitch. But also, he was being thoroughly humbled at the same time. It wasn't only the encounter with Egwene. Nynaeve was losing the battle for control in most things. She was so used to being the wisdom of her village where she could bully people into everything, but out in the real world, her bully tactics didn't work.

Elayne keeps underminding her Nynaeve's authority. Then in Tel'aran'rhiod, Egwene catches Nynaeve in a lie, and makes her taste the foul drink that Nynaeve use to give her whenever she lied. From this point on, whenever Nynaeve tries to delude herself with dishonest thoughts, she remembers the taste of the drink. And it of forces her to correct her own thinking. It actually ended up being healthy for her in the long run, because she was able to stop deluding herself. But in the short run, she was getting more upset by the hour, since she didn't have an outlet for her frustrations.

She gets so angry, that she goes and picks a fight with the innocent elephant trainer. Ewgene haters always leave this part of the story out. That Nynaeve was literally starting physical fights. That's how beligerent she was. Nynaeve got her ass kicked though. The elephant trainer knew karate as it turns out. So Nynaeve tries to take her frustrations out on the Wise Ones during their meeting. But gets owned by Melaine. And then, being so jealous of Melaine, she goes and wears her face as a disguise to wander Tel'aran'rhiod

So I mean, sure Egwene was trying to exercise her power. But it wasn't like she got the idea out of nowhere. Nynaeve was being a total bitch at the time and wandering Tel'aran'rhiod alone after she was just warned against it by the Wise Ones in the previous chapter. She could have been easily killed by anyone wandering the tower at the same time. She needed to be humbled.

>>19281567
i found its pacing glacial and painful. was disappointed and not sure i care to pick up book 5 when it comes out

>>19281587
And as for the actual nightmare she was subjected to, it was literally nothing. Her shirt got torn off while a man looked at her hungrily. But Egwene stops the nightmare before anything actually bad happens.

>>19279486
Based

>>19279989
For what reason did you make it female instead of male?

>>19282051
making things female is based

>>19282051
The short answer, it's simply easier for me to write from a female character's point of view. There really isn't any other [American gender politics] reasons here.
The long answer is related to the concepts I'm using within the story, which is disillusionment and loss/abandon of identity in order to ascend to higher levels of existence and purify one's essence/soul. Basically as long as you are firmly attached to the particularities of your mortal existence, you won't be capable of ascending towards a higher, above mortal existence. As spoilery as it is towards the story overall, Ssyba won't always be stuck in the body of a lowly female nanza-cat. As she ascends to higher and higher levels of existence, her identity will be shed like an old cloth and replaced to further reflect her advancement.

I thought I could write western xianxia after reading the likes of A Thousand Li, but then I read Virtuous Sons and now I'm not sure.

>>19282186
in other words you do not know how to write interesting and engaging male characters. Inability to write interesting male character means inability to write hero story, power fantasy, even good action is not possible for you. I suspect (because I have seen it countless of times) your story is secondary and it all just revolves around female-male drama, feelings and character relatioships.

>>19282228
Don't. Don't waste time and energy on inherently flawed concept. Write xanxia but don't make it western.

>>19282239
I suggest you read what I've written. I provided the link and 20k words should go relatively fast, while there's enough meat to get the gist of the story and the direction it goes.
Give me your opinion after the fact, please. I'd say there are more male characters than female characters overall, not that the female/male ratio in a story even matters to anybody (beyond the overly concerned Americans/westerners).
Also the concepts that I'm tackling in my story go beyond such concerns as gender or physical appearance. In the end, the mortal reality is subject to higher dimensions and powers. Everything is an illusion and insignificant when dealing with infinity.

>>19279989
>https://www.royalroad.com/author-dashboard/dashboard/34169
Am I just fucking retarded or does this require a sign up to read?

>>19282484
the author is retarded https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/34169/ssybas-path-to-heaven

how do I join the goodreads group

>>19282492
Cheers

>>19282532
1. Create a Goodreads account
2. Apply to join
3. Meet the requirement of having a single /sffg/ related book shelved as read, as it says
4. Wait for me to approve you, which will be in 24 hours or less
Anyone who meets the above will be accepted, regardless of how whiny, idiotic, or otherwise ridiculous your join message is. Those messages are not required.

If you're the person who keeps applying with fake, blank, and meme accounts that has messaging disabled, which I instantly reject, now you know what you're doing wrong.

>>19279862
Long Sun is on the same level as New Sun but its offputting because of the narration difference. Instead of a narrator who actively lies to you most of the time, you've got a protagonist who is trying to tell the truth as often as he can, and only lie by omission. As a result he suffers for trying to be moral in a world of corrupted fools. The whorl is just a detailed as Urth / Ushas but is just a very different conception. Highly recommend if you enjoyed New Sun.
Praise Pas.

>>19279989
Only read the first chapter, but it is an effort to keep track of wtf is going on. I like the whimsical tone you're trying to go for, but the prose is very tangled.

I'd read the Corum series by Moorcock, sicne that seems the apex of the sort of story you're going for.

>>19282681
How many faggots in the club now?
Didn't hear about you fags for a couple years (still won't join).

>>19282980
460

>>19283004
I bet you guys went crazy when you got 420 users.

>>19283016
Nothing occurred.

Can we discuss the new Dune movie? Most people on /tv/ haven't read it and are retards in general.

Thought it was pretty good, condensed the story down well and it was fun to see the universe on the big screen. 9/10.

>>19283076
How is that any different from /sffg/?

>>19283076
dunc

>>19283108
HAHA THAT GUY JUST CALLED IT DUNC

>>19279925
>speaking of how Harkonen consistently dismisses the Fremen as a threat in the face of all logic and advice, purely because if he didn't the plot wouldn't happen
Unlike real maniacal dictators who known for being rational agents

>>19283076
having just reread the book like 3 weeks back, i was very surprised at how they kept a lot of the details from the book where i could have seen some distant hollywood producer telling them to junk it because it's not mainstream enough. the 'thopters having bladed wings, the bulls head/portrait of leto's father, the OC bible halleck reads from, etc.

I really liked the mentat calculation and the use of the voice (barest whisper and then blaring distorted command, really felt like the sound was coming from a different direction between each). i also really liked how they decided not to reveal the traitor until the action occurs, unlike chapter 2 of the book.

i'll be very sad if pt 2 never gets made as this is the kind of movie i would mainline all the time if i could. seriously considering taking an afternoon off this week to go see it again.

>>19283219
I agree completely. It was satisfying to see some of the more abstract concepts conceptualized which is all I really expect from a mvoie

>>>/v/575639223

>>19283353
you mean the board game that came out in '79, became out of print and a holy grail of board game collections, then got republished in 2019 to wide acclaim and is considered one of the best board games ever made?
jee i dunno

>>19283365
I think he means the seminal RTS game 'Dune'

>>19283365
bitter

>>19279455
>Never going to be created.
I thought there was one

>>19283414
only for bakkerchads

>bunch of poul anderson at local book fair
>none of it is his fantasy stuff

>>19282681
I requested to join but didn't put a message.

>>19268026
I'm a little over a third into the book now, and it's very uneventful. The author is taking his sweet time spewing historical terms every time a character makes one small move. All the significance of their actions are explained in verbose narration. While the actions themselves are very few. So it has this feeling like the narrative is skipping ahead in time. Sometimes the skip is only a few seconds, sometimes the skip is a day. Sometimes the skip is a week. But every time it skips, the author makes sure to describe the importance of events before moving on.

I guess another way to describe the pacing is that of a powerpoint presentation. You get very little visual aid, while the speaker explains the points in detail. So the book is rather dry so far.

If I was a history buff, then I would probably be creaming my pants in joy. Because it's just throwing out all of these terms I vaguely recall learning about in my high school history class. But I didn't retain that shit. So I'm just taking it in like any other fantasy novel.

Just finished the Darkness that Comes Before. 4/5.
About to start Warrior Prophet. What am I in for, bakkerchads?

>>19279632
My prize! Damn that Anasûrimbor!

>>19280007
>someone doesn't play crusader kings, AKA murder-incest simulator

>>19279465

Self-insert fantasy is cringe

>>19279455
Do you think this ancient civilization built its statues with scary zombie faces from the start or do you think they changed the faces when they realized that they were gonna collapse?

>>19283836
Why would a collapsing civilization waste massive amounts of resources on making their statues look kind of morbid? That never happens in real life, collapse forces people to put all their effort into survival.

>>19283414
Do you never read the threads? It's been constantly posted for years.

>>19283845
Clearly you don't know history.

>>19283684
The best book Bakker wrote.

>>19283901
name one example of this happening

>>19280743
Just look for normal literature with samurais or yokai in it. Why do you need to read about a samurai fighting a ghost? You can't cut a ghost with a sword buddy.
Lafcadio Hearn's ghost story collection is cool.
I haven't read The Tale of the Heike but it's about war so there's probably some samurai in that.
>>19280707
>remind you of any real-world events
I read Dune when I was a little kid so I have no opinion on the story but now that you mention it I cannot off the top of my head recall any real world events that match this, thought I really feel like I ought to be able to. Please give me an example.
>>19280709
This is a bizarre question she is very clearly a fantasy whore.
>>19280732
>is pee pee better than poo poo

>>19282287
Kek, Amerimutts destroyed. I always have a smirk whenever Burgertards spout gender and racial issues and presumptions to every single thing.

>>19283910
lol

Another very obvious explanation is they originally had decorative coverings which since turned to dust, so parts of the statues were left unfinished.

>>19281567
I personally liked Rhythm of War - but its really more of the same Sanderson. There are quite a few scenes which explore and have significant exposition of how the magic system works, so if you dislike that then maybe better to not continue. Its weaker than Way of Kings and Words of Radiance imo, and about on par/slightly below Oathbreaker. The highs are great but there are a few sections which tend to meander too much.

>>19284038
your whole family female members wants to get BLACKED.

>>19284093
This man is clearly ESL but what his nationality might be I cannot say.

>>19280148
30 years East, 30 years West, don’t bully me when I’m weak!

>>19284071
>>19281615
As this anon said - the pacing is quite slow, mainly because the main plot threads are internal/legal/philosophical and there is a lot of internal dialogue and debate:
>Adolin trial
>Shallan splintering
>Navani experiments and debates with Raboniel
>Taravangian keikakuing
>Venli is plain boring

This is even more so than the usual Sanderson which already has a lot of the above. Coupled with this being the longest book, and Sanderson's prose being his biggest weakness - you can see why it could be a slog to go through.

That said I thought the conflicts were resolved really well (esp the Navani pov) and the characters developed really well in this book - notably Shallan and Kaladin.

I've read 67 SFF novels this year. That's less than I thought it was of everything I've read this year. There's 68 days left in the yea. That would be almost a book every other day for rest of the year. That's doable, but I don't think I want to. If all include all SFF works though, it rises to 92. Now that's extremely easy to accomplish by the end of the year.

>>19284107
Same zipperhead who comes in here bitching about cultivation novels every day probably.

>>19284143
I’ve read like 5 web novels, can’t imagine going back to those 500 pages short stories western authors write

I would very much enjoy having sex with Esmenet.

>>19283983
>Why do you need to read about a samurai fighting a ghost?
Because that's what I feel like reading.

>>19284159
Page or book count isn't a relevant comparison. It would be word count.

>>19284159
Wheel of Time is ~11,308 pages. That's a bit more than 500 pages.

>>19284159
>reading stuff that is almost entirely filler, randomly typed nonsense, and repeated scenes.

>>19284160
go to bed acha

>>19284162
Change what you feel like reading then.

>>19283667
Messages are entirely optional and have literally zero relevance.

>>19283983
>example of someone not taking their opponent seriously in the face of logic
Taliban, Vietnamese

>>19284197
It’s not filler, it’s characterization and setting

>>19284228
To each their own delusions.

>>19279989
you have some present tense verbs when most of it is past tense

>>19281587
Egwene is a bit of a bitch. I like that about her character. What I don't like is there are no interpersonal consequences from her friends for being a bitch to them. I dislike that Nynaeve, a person who is older than Egwene, extremely willful in her own right, and stronger in the power than Egwene, submits to her without even backbiting. Basically I feel that when Jordan died and Sanderson took over all nuance with the characters was totally lost. I like Egwene as a character. She's still a bitch.

Recommend a Sci-Fi novel where family members gets BLACKED.

>>19284372
Cradle. Lindon and his sister both get blackflamed by a big fat turtle pal

>>19284667
interesting

>>19280148

This father it was time to consolidate his gains.
Beginning to circulate his energy in his abdomen
He took pause to savor the sensation of his solid foundation as he inserted the 10 billion year old ginseng root.
Setting his stance to that of the crouching tiger. Even this could be considered so he slowly worked his way into the flying mantis.
Sensing passers by snickering he ignored their ridicule, because who was he to them?
Facing the high heavens as his internal energy reached its peak,he spat blood as he felt the heat enter every fiber of his being.
Adding a fang of the cloud serpent he grit his teeth at the cold sensation, tensing up as his inner energy threatened to explode he tried to withstand his move.
As he ascended to the next realm he thought of his grandfathers advice "The mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind" and luxuriated in the peerless beauty of it all.
Cultivating without giving himself any face, he ended up being a toad trying to eat swan meat.

With everyone meming about Dune now that there's a new movie out it got me wondering again.
Did I miss something in the book? Why is it popular? I read it ~12 years ago and thought the setting was quite interesting but the story itself went nowhere. It felt like I'd read the intro chapters to a great novel and then it just ended.
Also why is Hyperion so overlooked when it's significantly better?

>>19281587
Nynaeve has an excuse in that she is terrified, and she can't channel at all unless she's angry, so she spends the entire time trying to keep herself angry so she can defend herself. Also, unlike Egwene, Nynaeve actually learns from her experiences and when she finally Gets the dick she mellows out a lot.

>>19285082
the first hyperion book is just a bunch of short stories and nobody likes the other 3 books. doesn't make for good material to adapt for tv or film.

>>19285286
>bunch of short stories
>doesn't make for good material to adapt for tv or film.
Seems pretty ideal for a TV series to me.

When is something literary fiction with speculative elements and when is it genre fiction?

>>19285324
when it's good / when it's bad

>>19285324
It's genre when it mimics Tolkien or feels like a DnD campaign.

>>19285365
The shit that inspired Gygax is a million times better than Tolkien, spastic.

>>19285410
A lot of the DnD reading list is fuckawful 60s nerd schlock when you get away from Vance.

>>19285324
It's genre fiction when you don't like it.

>>19285082
Dune speaks well to teenagers, and a lot of people grow up with nostalgia goggles for it. Hyperion is probably a better book for most adults, but the beginning is a slog and would have to change a lot to sell people on a big budget series, and the kosher industrial complex probably isn't keen to explore a lot of its themes.

>>19285968
Dunc is great because it has a lot of hidden lore that a lot of similarities with real human history. but the "on-screen" stuff ends up being a bit underwhelming and the retarded sequels where they try to explain too much better not to talk about them

Hyperion lore is more retarded but there's more actual interesting things "on-screen" happening to be milked

>"I liked Rhythm of War"

>>19285124
Nynaeve and Moraine are GOAT girls of the series. Pity they're making Nynaeve ugly as sin for the tv series.

>>19286110
>Moraine
Lmao'ing @ my lyfe

>>19285324
genre fiction sublimates into literary fiction when it accomplishes more than just entertaining genre fans
that makes it "better" in a sense but anyone who tells you genre fiction is automatically bad is a teenager and/or a dullard

>>19286128
Is Cormac McCarthy genre fiction or literary?
Mervyn Peake?

They should be right on the border I think.

what the fuck is wrong with these people

>>19286309
They're American.

>>19286309
taste in the earlier stage of development is typically directed by mass media
most redditors get stuck there

>>19284942
lol

>>19286309
Genre fiction rots the brain.

>>19279862
>book of the new sun
Is that one where the protagonist falls in love with every women he meets?

>>19286110
>>19286117
*Moiraine

I finished book 1 of the New Sun Series [Shadow of the Torturer], would some Wolfe fans be willing to discuss what I just read with me?

1. I know the 'towers' are actually rockets, but what then is the Citadel? Is it a massive rocket control center? I couldn't visualize what it looks like at all.
2. The torture device that is used on Thecla is supposed to be some advanced technology that has been lost to time, right? It was very out of left field compared to the other torture devices and techniques
3. Why do the people in the Citadel talk about fantastical creatures like Krakens being used for leather, do mythological creatures like that actually exist?
4. What is the wall around Nessus and why is it so tall?
5. What exactly are the prostitutes that Severian meets before he is cast out of the Matachin Tower?
6. Why didn't Severian get poisoned by the duel plant?
7. How unreliable is Severian as a narrator? He acts like every person who sees him is smitten by his looks or immediately afraid of his threatening aura... which seems a bit over the top.

>>19286416
just like in real life

>>19286309
They're fucking retarded. Plain and simple.

Why does the No-God keep asking
>WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Is he brain damaged?

Starting the Warrior Prophet, how crazy does it get?

>>19286886
WP was my favorite from the trilogy, expect SUFFERING all the way from start to finish.

>>19286886
>how crazy does it get?
Pure unfiltered KINO. The best in the trilogy.

S-sisters?

>>19286703
Just American. You will quite literally never find those phenotypes outside of the Anglosphere.

>Found the Dune series to be meh
>Couldn't into Book of the New Sun because of the length and lack of payoff (I know the twist concerning the setting)
>Thought Roadside Picnic was shit
>Dropped A Canticle for Liebowitz
>Thought I am Legend was poorly written
Is Sci-fi just not my genre? I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner, Terminator, Avatar, Robocop, etc. but I can't get into Sci-fi lit.

It's not /sffg/ but i just want to say that The Abominable is so fucking good
How can Simmons write about 1920's ice picks for pages on end and still make it interesting?

>>19287247
try Hyperion (only the first book)
if you don't like it you can just be done with it and kys

>>19287247
are you sure you don't just hate reading?

>>19287323
I've heard it's just a bunch of people sitting around a table sharing stories. Is there a fucking plot with consequences?
>>19287477
Sci-fi? Idk that's what I was wondering. If you mean reading in general, I enjoy Melville, Hemingway, most of Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Cormac McCarthy and many others. I don't mind a slow pace or stories where "nothing happens" in literature, but I can't deal with it in a genre where anything is supposed to be possible.

>>19287247
Pick one of Eyes of the Overworld, Stardust, or Carmilla, because each of those are excellent and waste almost no words, and if you don't like it you can just kys or stop reading or whatever.

>>19287323
The first half of Hyperion is kind of a slog honestly. It pays off, but Dan Simmons writes like he's the only high school Enlgish teacher who read Bede.

>>19287553
I actually watched Stardust and although I don't remember everything about the movie, I remember loving it. Thanks anon.
> It pays off, but Dan Simmons writes like he's the only high school Enlgish teacher who read Bede.
So it's not like Dune where the books get worse? It doesn't end on a fucking cliffhanger? I might invest in the series too

>>19279455
This image is everything I hate about modern fantasy rolled into one.
> woman with a sword
lol
> visible butt cheeks for no reason
Nobody did this irl

> the guy us wearing leather armor
lol
> his upper spine is unprotected
why
> his leather "armor" has random metal shoulder pads for no reason
why

> giant statutes have retarded grotesque monster faces
even if the undead built them, they would at least attempt to make themselves look dignified

This kind of shit is the reason normal people think fantasy is for faggots.

>>19287527
>Is there a fucking plot with consequences?
Yes
The first book is almost exclusively the characters sharing their stories, revealing more and more of the absolutely great world Simmons created
Fall of Hyperion is when the story actually moves though

>>19287627
Alright I'll check it out

>open a book I downloaded, not sure where I heard of it from but I read something that made me good
>starts with a foreword explaining it's adapted from a videogame mod
lol

>>19280743
>I'm looking for a low fantasy samurai story with a protagonist that doesn't have magical powers, special abilities, or superhuman feats. Just a skilled and determined warrior traveling, encountering yokai, and maybe fighting an evil wizard or two. Essentially, I want weeb Conan. Any recommendations for this?
Just read Musashi if this is what you want

>>19287610
Touch grass.

>>19279455
If magic came back into our world in the wake of WWII, how could the governments of the world keep it secret from the population at large?

>>19287642
sounds kino what book

Winds of Winter release date November 13 2023

>>19287742
A Dream of Spring will never come out.

>>19287754
Would be surprised if he could even finish it with two more books

>>19287684
dreams of the dying, tbf the mod series did have incredible writing

>>19287676
They might make deals with all the large scale Newspapers to explain away magical events. Are you that anon from the writing general who wants to make a WW2 fantasy story?

>>19279455
Which edition of "Dune Messiah" should I get?

>>19285944
>A lot of the DnD reading list is fuckawful 60s nerd schlock when you get away from Vance.
Which books on Appendix N are schlock?

>>19287664
You got it backwards. Detachment from reality is necessary to enjoy this tripe.

>>19279455
What's your opinion on Tieflings or similar races existing in a fantasy setting?

>>19287971
they've overstayed their welcome

>>19287575
It was an OK movie but I lost all respect for de Niro.

>>19285410
Faggot DnD losers actually believe this

Will LOTR ever be dethroned as the GOAT? I'm reading through it again and it's still so much better than any fantasy I've ever read.

>>19284136
>author that doesn't understand issues of law or philosophy even on a basic level
>writes extensively about them
Why is this type of retardation so common among fantasy writers?

>>19288137
>Why is this type of retardation so common among fantasy writers?
Cause fantasy writers generally don't read philosophy or the classics, they read fantasy

>>19287937
Everything by Zelazney, Leiber, and Burroughs. Not to say I don't like Leiber and Burroughs. I haven't read a lot of the rest, but schlock forecast is high for many.

>>19288137
Since when did Sanderson ever write about law or philosophy?

>>19288262
He never did.

>>19287937
LOTR

>>19288124
Tidus Groan already did.

>>19279455
I've just read the first 100 pages of Dune after watching and really enjoying the movie.
The prose and dialogue in the book seems very poorly written and I don't know whether to continue reading. It feels like I'm reading somethng written by a high-schooler at times. Is it worth it to finish reading this book + series? Or should I just watch the TV adaptation?

>>19288322
The first Dune book was basically unedited (Herbert got rejected by everywhere and finally got it published by a company that did car repair manuals)
It gets a bit better in the sequels but it's always a problem.

Worth reading at least the first 3 books though just because adaptations never seem to go far enough and because of just how much has been influenced by it.

>>19288149
>Cause fantasy writers generally don't read philosophy or the classics, they read fantasy
I'm going to change all this anon, don't worry; look to my coming, at the first light of the 29th month; at dawn, look to r/Fantasy.

>>19288322
Welcome to genre fiction

>>19288137
Because fantasy writers don't know anything about anything other than fantasy fiction anymore. It used to be linguistic professors or stem PhDs who wrote genre fiction. Now its people who've grown up reading YA and can put together a coherent enough story with all the right marketable features.
>Hard magic!
>Medieval setting! (from people knowing nothing of the period they're aping)
>Modern sensibilities and speaking tendencies
>Snark, quips, and sass
>Did I mention the hecking magic system?
>Worldbuilding (from people who know nothing about the world bar TV and modern life)
The more you think about it, the more dire it gets. Its a real copy of a copy, race to the bottom scenario.

>>19288338
>Stopping right before GE
What the fuck is wrong with you

>>19288411
I forgot which book GE was lol

>>19288396
Fantasy chooses the author not the other way around. You have to go out into the world and come back with conclusions that can only be expressed in fantastical terms.

>>19287971
Those massive horns are probably 3 pounds each. That would totally destabilize a person's balance. Why is she wearing leather chaps that don't even cover her knees, rendering them useless for horseback riding? She has 4 thick metal plates tied to the base of her tail - is that supposed to be armor? That would just weigh her down while offering no protection whatsoever. Do you people have any critical thinking skills at all?

>>19288459
>You have to go out into the world
Like to your local DnD group?

>>19288547
>Do you people have any critical thinking skills at all?
It’s fantasy, not everything has to be realistic

>>19288396
There is simulation, which is a model of something that exists. There is simulacrum, a model of something that never existed at all. I designate a third category: simutardation, a model of something that never existed and that doesn't even follow the logic established by its own parameters.

>>19288547
>that would totally destabilize a person's balance
they're not people tho retard

>>19288124
Popular opinion: Tolkien and JK Rowling are a lot closer than most Tolkein fans will admit.

>>19288547
>What are the Tiefling’s tax policy?
>Did they maintain a standing army?
>What did they do in times of flood and famine?

>>19288560
It needs to follow its own logic to be good fantasy. Gravity still exists, doesn't it? Then her balance would be destabilized by her horns. Too many inconsistencies = shitty fiction. Get some higher standards.

>>19279455
All /sffg/fags must hang

>>19288612
Things you might wonder while reading this shlock, if you have an iq above room temperature

>>19288547
Your lack of imagination isn't a critical thinking skill.

>>19288612
Tolkien considered things like this, which is why he remains the only fantasy author worth reading

>>19288627
I have a vivid imagination, which is why I am able to notice things like body dynamics in character design. Non-visualizing NPCs like you can't figure it out.

>>19288624
Wonder? Maybe. But certainly not care about unless it was relevant to the story being told.

>>19288611
Well that pic was a fucking trip

>>19288660
How can she fight if her body is completely maladaptive? That's relevant to the story.

Any reccs for someone who liked His Dark Materials, but for adults?

>>19289066
what about xir materials? bigoted book

>>19288598
underrated post

>enter thread
>see an ongoing WoT discussion
>*cracks knuckles*
>"Waste of Time"
>leave

>>19289108
basedai

>enters thread
>see an ongoing Second Apocalypse discussion
>*cracks knucles*
>"Where my Bakkerbros at"
>participate in discussion of greatest fantasy work of the 21st century

>>19288262
He didnt exactly write about law or philosophy - but his latest SA book delved into conflicts concerning those topics. He didnt say or allude to anything about law or philosophy as a field, its not meta commentary. Just a frame/setting, theme of the conflict.

>>19289143
Based indeed, fellow Ordealbro

>>19289145
>Just a frame/setting, theme of the conflict.
So just the run of the mill fantasy trope.

>watch the adaptation they said
>it won't include the infamous rape scene they said

how did her father allow her to film this scene? I know the french are different but this is too much

westaboos...

There's nothing wrong with "hard magic".
If magic actually existed, it would be investigated by natural philosophers. People who think magic can be separate from physics are idiots who don't understand what physics is.
Magic can be mysterious, but if your story is supposed to be good, it shouldn't be nonsensical.

>>19289179
lol this is like me checking if the Gagner la guerre translation has a release date yet every month

>>19287610
>> visible butt cheeks for no reason
>Nobody did this irl
Someone hasn't seen Japanese period movies. Watch Seven Samurai, the men reveal far more of their ass than the whore in the OP. Not everyone is as ashamed of their buttocks as you, but then again the asses of pre-industrial warriors are steel, not dough.

>>19289168

reading this

>>19281567
>>19284136
I dropped the audiobook 4/5 of the way through because I just stopped caring

>>19289168
In they old days when they had class her father would just let them drug & rape her offscreen.

I want to sniff Serwë's but after a long day of Holy War marching!!!!!!

>>19289289
>when you're expecting the smell after a long day of marching but instead it's a long day of the circumfix

>>19287676
1. Magic
2. Only a very small number of people have access to it.
3. They disguise it as technology. See Mage: the Ascension's Technocracy.
4. Actually Mage the Ascension's paradox system works as well.

>>19289168
source

>>19283828
You're cringe.

>>19282228
>>19282267
Not trying to continue the "le self-published fantasy author" cliche here, but I actually find it more interesting to TRY and write Eastern style Xianxia as a Westerner. You have to immerse your mind in a different values system which is more the fun part about Xianxia.

>>19280743
Samurai Jack

>>19289198
I've seen seven samurai. Male nudity is gross and completely different from female nudity. Not even the nips let their females run around naked like we do today. It's a modern phenomena, anachronistic in a pseudo medieval setting.

Flintlock Xianxia

Hello /sfff/. I am writing a science fiction space opera with a PoC female narrator AND PoC female lead. The story will feature takedowns of patriarchal white religions like Cath*licism and the genocide of whites off the face of the Earth by the heroine! The mass killing of white children will be described in detail!
I hope you will all enjoy reading it when it comes out!

ebin post xD

>>19289437
One of my dumb ideas was to write a scifi story with a female lead character who is a trump expy to see how the usual suspects would react to it, if they could even figure it out.

>>19289289
go to bed, most violent of men

Thoughts on ‘he who fights with monsters’?

>>19289437
praise kek

For me? It's Fighting Fantasy: The City of Thieves

Any decent/21st century modern Sword and Sorcery/weird fantasy/Appendix N style fiction?

>>19289502
>I want old stuff! But it also has to be new

>>19287321
Abominable sucks horse cock and Dan Simmons is a hack. I will say I really enjoyed the setting/characters of The Terror and Abominable, but Simmons' historical self-insertion is so jarring that it often ruins the setting. His dialogue is good outside is his historical self-fantasizing
>WOAAAAHHH WHAT IF I MET WINSTON CHURCHILL WOOOOAAAAAHHHH
but in those contexts it becomes like a high schooler given a writing prompt in 4th period social studies.

I hate villain POV chapters.

>>19289630
they work better in film

>>19289630
I find them to be the best though.

>>19289639
I bet you also like dream chapters you sick fuck
>>19289635
True

>>19289520
Are you fucking retarded? Not him, but maybe he's read all of Appendix N? What is wrong with wanting recommendations for new books?

>>19285124
If a woman who couldn't channel had to defend herself, then she still couldn't go around being a bitch to everyone trying to help her. And no, Nynaeve isn't purposely keeping herself angry for self defense. She's not so stupid to think she can maintain a baseline anger for WEEKS on the road. And we get her point of view, so we know everything she's thinking. And she was just thinking petty thoughts about everyone. Concerned with their tone of voice, or their money spending, or how much cleavage they revealed, how much leg they showed, how much redder their hair was than her own.

She was terrified though. It was the underlying terror that made her feel like she had no control. And it was the lack of control that made her snappish with everyone around her.

And we're not having a fanboy contest between Egwene and Nynaeve. By defending Egwene and criticizing Nynaeve, I'm not saying she's better than Nynaeve. I'm just trying to be realistic about things.

>>19289630
>The villain is reborn without his memories, so he appears just like a normal character in the story.
>He slowly regains his memories in fragments, which make him question everything he's done from a new perspective.
It was pretty kino in retrospect. I should have appreciated it more.


>>19289654
Dreams are ok if they directly relate to the plot. Like the things people do in dreams effect the real world. Or, if a dream brings about a revelation for the character. Something they couldn't understand until they saw it within the abstract of a dream.
But when dreams are just symbolism without purpose, then yeah, it's shit.

>>19283674
>>19268026
Yeah, I'm skipping this one. I'm nearly 50% into it. And some cool fantasy stuff has finally happened. And I thought the pace was finally picking up. But then it reverted back to endless narration. It's not fun to get multi pages of narration from every character's perspective for every event that happens. The author should just settle on the POV that is most interesting per event, and tell it once.

>>19289728
>50%
It's probably for the best.

I want to sniff Serwë's braps!!!!!

Gamedev here, should I make a Great Ordeal game or would that just be too disgusting and unsellable?

>>19289215
Is it any good?

>>19289894
Harry turtledove alien invasion makes no sense.

>>19289921
Is that the one with the alien's not having any advance technology at all? Other than space travel?

>>19289827
I should say that it's not a bad book. Just much slower than I can tolerate. I bet that one anon who is always going on about good prose would love it. Here he gets all the prose he could ever want.

>>19289936
Not him, but I understand the sentiment.

>>19289422
>Flintlock Xianxia
Already a thing, anon.

>>19289999
How is that a thing? Aren’t guns the opposite of Xianxia fiction?

>>19290033
How is Flintlock Fantasy a thing? People just want to read about Napoleonic warfare.

>>19290125
>How is Flintlock Fantasy
Flintlock Fantasy is still in its infancy and it’s not widespread. The only famous work is gunpowder mage and not many people know about it.

>>19290129
It's called the powder mage and its getting a tv adaptation.
https://deadline.com/2021/01/utopia-falls-joseph-mallozzi-adapt-fantasy-novel-powder-mage-as-tv-series-with-no-equal-entertainment-frantic-films-1234673264/

>>19290132
>Since January
Never going to happen. A first season should have already been produce.

>>19290132
Powder Mage is shit.
A Thousand Names was good but its sequel was mega shit.
Just read Sharpe or Horatio Hornblower and pretend there's dragons.

>>19290129
Shadow & Bone on netflix was pretty popular as well. Carnival Row less so but it can still get attention with its second season. I think the genre has a decent chance of taking off soon.
>>19290142
Are you kidding? Shows outside of sitcoms don't get announced, casted, crewed, written, and produced all within a year. Anything announced this year probably won't be cast and filmed until next year and since it's a fantasy series it won't air until the year after due to all the extreme post-production fantasy series need.

>>19290159
Why not Temeraire?

>>19290177
I don't read books written by wom*n

>>19290185
Ah, I forgot, /sffg/ rarely reads at all.

>>19290177
Not related to that book. But I never understood the brits obsession with Napoleon. They make him out to be the hitler of his time.

>>19290201
he cute

>>19290212
Name of the game

>>19290216
Banner of the Maid

>>19290226
>Banner of the Maid
>Banner of the Maid is a mix of turn-based strategy and JRPG. Set in an alternate French Revolution with fantasy elements, as the young officer Pauline Bonaparte you will have to lead your troops to battle and play a role in the political vortex of Paris
Well, shit. Know I know what to buy next.

>>19290226
Are the Japanese enamored by the French Revolution?

>>19290292
it's chinese

>>19290295
>chinese
Was really not expecting Chinese as the developers. Any reason why they did it?

>>19290301
They wanted to draw cute/sexy french girls, I have no idea

>>19289855
Bakker-based games only work as those 2d indie stuff that YouTube cream themselves over. Make sure to make it obscure and "soulslike" and you're sure to make a hit.

>>19290129
>Flintlock Fantasy
Why is it always Napoleonic? Why not American Revolution or better yet, the Seven Year wars?

>>19290348
>Why is it always Napoleonic?
Because it represents change or some shit. The old order giving way to the new.

>>19290348
>>19290356
How about Sengoku Japan

>>19290367
Pretty sure the Sengoku period has its own thing.

>>19290367
Because while firearms were used, the combat was still predominantly medieval.

Sci-fi noob reporting, I liked Androids and Scanner by PKD, any more of his works worth a read? Do I pivot to a similar author?

>>19290376
>Because while firearms were used,
Only Nobunaga used firearms in battle. Much to the seething of other rival daimyos.

>>19290399
That's just not true

>>19290439
There's a reason why he almost unified japan. And it ain't because he stuck to tradition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikeda_Sen
The Daniel Greene types would absolutely eat up a story based on her

>>19290482
Yes, anon, other cultures had female warriors, learn about the world a little.

What are some good sci Fi books on Kindle unlimited?

>>19290496
What are you looking for? You can ask such a broad question.

>>19290499
Space travel/exploration type of shit

>>19290507
The First Exoplanet by T.J. Sedgwick

>>19290507
The genesis fleet by Jack Campbell.

>>19289168
What film is this?

>>19290239
A round to off yourself with?

>>19290567
No, he’s obviously going for buy the game. How retarded can you be?

Started reading Conan with Phoenix on the Sword. It's certainly not where I imagined the character / series would begin.

>>19290587
Are the conan books any good?

>>19290592
If you are hard gayian, you will enjoy the barbarian

>>19290613
Didn't REH influence the manga Berserk a lot?

>>19290628
No, it was the Guin Saga

>>19290638
>Guin Saga
>100 novels
Jesus, what makes a man write that much.

>>19290652
Kaoru Kurimoto just wanted to tell a story, and he happened to write a story that's like Tolkien and Conan.

>>19290666
>Tolkien and Conan.
Is that what critics actually believe? Or just Japanese fans? Because if the books are translated I’ll buy them to check it out.

>>19290671
only the first five novels are translated.

>>19279925
>why have reasons and conflict in a story!! this makes no sense!!!

What books does he read

new thread
>>19290679

>>19290652
>>19290666
She's a woman, and it's more like 130+. Also there is various other material. She died before finishing.

>>19290684
I know the author is a woman, but /sffg/ wouldn't read the novels otherwise.

>>19289437
>