/lit/ - Literature

King of /sffg/.

Simple as.

Was Reaper that bad?
>compared to sandersnore
oh no no!

>>19775159
I suck the cock for he

>>19775126
Not every country has free speech, most nation-states today get their authority from their history. The concept that history is apart of the humanities, that it is subjective, is actually something the average person doesn't understand.

You have to be careful professionally about alt-history and it sucks when you have to be politically correct about a cool story.

/sffg/ Group Reading
4 years of /sffg/ group reading have now passed. This image shows almost all the books read during that time. There are a couple that were chosen twice, because those involved didn't care. Participation overall has been minimal for all 4 years. So much so that it's mostly inaccurate to call it "group reading". There have been various problems over the years, but it's continued on in one way or another.

Let's look back on a few events:
Monthly Reading Anon makes their first post
>>/lit/thread/S10497283#p10497817

Monthly Reading Anon's Retirement Post
>>/lit/thread/S14461336#p14465125

Monthly Reading Anon's Tenure: Jan 2018-Jan 2020

In the next thread, which I made, because I was still mostly making them at the time I asked whether it was wanted to continue the monthly reading. In that thread the discord server was created.
>>/lit/thread/S14468853#p14469651

A book was chosen and has been to now. The discussion, what little there ever was, moved out of the thread and into the discord. The monthly reading wasn't included in the OP for long though and neither was the discord. It could be argued since the discussion wasn't in the thread, that's when it ended. There were a few times I posted my discussion of the monthly book in the thread, but it never amounted to much, as was to be expected. There was a brief attempt to do so in the GR group by me, but as the founder of said group, I can can safely say that's irrelevant. It's to be seen how much longer that lasts. I left the discord some months ago. As of this month though aeos's tenure is just as long as Monthly Reading Anon's. It's a mystery if it'll continue on afterwards once this eventually ends, assuming there would be anyone who even really wants it to. Regardless, the second phase has much more active in every way than the first, but that's not saying much at all.

aeos's Tenure: Jan 2020 - ?


The Origin of /sffg/
This was the first thread to have /sffg/ in the subject, but it wasn't the first thread.
Jul 1st 2015
>>/lit/thread/S6764382

The first of this line seems to be:
May 25th 2015
>>/lit/thread/S6591682

This seems to have been the first combined general:
Feb 18th 2012
>>/lit/thread/S2415964

and this is the first general in the archive, though certainly not the first:
Hyperion/Dan Simmons General Mar 25 2010
>>/lit/thread/S476127

>>19775174
>>/lit/thread/S14461336#p14467309
lol that does sound like some autistic shit I would expect from here.

>>19775257
All litrpg should be burned and or deleted.

>>19775269
Reverend insanity is not litrpg

>>19775111
>>19775117
>>19775126
coincidentally i'm currently reading Neuromancer as well and I have to say the prose is very laborious to read, and there's too much describing and not enough plot moving forward happening

>>19775297
Xianxia is Chinese litrpg

>>19775159
Is it true that he died? He hasn't been active anywhere for a while now.....

Well Worth the Candle Fag, you book is now on audible.

>>19775368
Should I read this or a Practical Guide to Evil?

>>19775174
Thanks for the history lesson grandpa

>>19775326
Ok

>>19775159
I'm confused, is this guy a meme that's been shilled here or are there people who genuinely love his writing?
I don't want to read him if it's just one autist who's obsessed with him here

>>19775155
Pressure Suite - Digital Science Fiction Anthology #3 (2011)

Coil Gun - Matthew W. Quinn
In an alternate Earth of 2001, the Afrikaner Confederation led by the Boers nukes several countries, including the United States, because the ruling Theonomic (God's Law) Party demands it. Orbital strikes also occur. The cover image is probably about this story.
Blah

50-Foot Woman over Redgunk, Mississippi - William R. Eakin
A borderline fetish material story with a metaphysical ending.
Blah

Beyond Valhalla - Laura J. Campbell
A child's family dies. He now has PTSD. The self-pitying is immense. Everything goes terribly until the end. It's been a long time since I've been so irritated by a story.
Blah

Brae na Ùrd - R.J. Bell
Two guys go camping and when they come back they realize something's gone very wrong. The End. This is a tease at best, but aside from that, not terrible.
Meh

The Blanket Box - David Murphy
I haven't mentioned this previously, but some of these stories in these anthologies remind me a lot of specific Black Mirror episodes. These anthologies preceded its first season though. This story in particular reminded me of the "Playtest" episode because it's also about playtesting a VR horror game.
Meh

Pressure and the Argument Tree - Kyle Aisteach
A rescue mission on the Venus colony goes wrong and he argues with an argument tree sent by his wife.
Meh

Skirmish at Heklara - James C. Glass
It's time to retake the colony from the Snakemen invaders!
Meh

The Crossing - Fox McGeever
A guy crosses dimensions and gets stuck, but has one last hope with a guy asked to come to his residence.
Meh

The Sun Dodgers - Kate O'Connor
Candidates have a 1/300 chance of being compatible with a ship to become an elite pilot. Those who fail have their memory wiped of recent events. Reads like the opening to a longer story.
Ok

Son of Man - Jason Palmer
A space virus has infected him and it wants to LIVE!
Meh

>>19775396
I don't know, I just remember the worth the candle fag shilling his book for months.

>>19775155
Heir Apparent - Digital Science Fiction Anthology #4 (2011)

Floaters - Robert Lowell Russell
A prisoner transfer goes awry. Time for a brute force investigation.
Meh

Persistence of Memory - Brandon Nolta
In this army of clones, each new generation remembers everything from the previous, but some of them prefer that they didn't.
Ok

To Titan on the Daily - George Walker
An investigator is on the trail of The Smartest Man. This story is like someone imitating PKD as if he had written Flowers for Algernon as a short story. The scene changes are very abrupt, but not for stylistic effect.
Meh

Ghostbook - Paul Cook
His deceased mother has sent him a friend request. He accepts. Then the messages begin...
Meh

A Lincoln in Time - Eric James Stone
In my timeline Lincoln was assassinated! In mine he wasn't!
Ok

Hooked - Cassandra Rose Clarke
Fortune magazine interviews a sentient automaton who in 1925 illegally hooked itself into Wall Street trading by telegraph and became wealthy and well-known.
Meh

My Silent Slayer - Ed Greenwood
A continuation of "Biting a Dead Man’s Hand" from #1.
Meh

Philosophy - Ronald D. Ferguson
Two soldiers fighting disturbingly human Bug-Eyed Monsters begin wondering whether they're the baddies and what war is good for.
Enjoyable

In the Arms of Lachiga - Alex J. Kane
A hacker is given a choice. Implant false memories into his best friend or die.
Ok

Father-Daughter Outing - Martin L. Shoemaker
A fourteen year girl old does a sitcom routine while trying to keep her barely conscious father alive outside a lunar colony. The cover image is probably about this story.
Blah

>>19775457
>>19775469
And so ends my reading of these anthologies for however long rather than continuing on. It's too bad that I only particularly liked the first one.

>>19775431

>>19775596
Cope.
>>19775431
Not my problem, newfag.

>>19775596
Why do you and others keep posting these rigged polls? Why do you think your propaganda will work?

>>19775155
When sorrow sang softly and sweet...

>>19775431
Newfags have turned /sffg/ into Bakker/Sanderson flame wars for going on 3+ years now.

>>19775269
What if it's porn?

>>19775634
>3 years
Sanderson who, btw?

Unironically take your meds.

>>19774715
It's a book that gets better the more 19th century vampire stories you read. Dracula is really the tail end of a 70 year collaboration with a lot of great writers checking in, but some of them aren't public domain in English yet, and I suspect the gyno-educational complex is content keeping a lot of them out of pop canon.

I've decided that I'll try reading a new book that's published each month this year. The book I was going to read for January was pushed back to February so I'm looking for something else right now. Why would I do this? Why not? One whim is good as another. I'm not committed to it though. If I don't anything suitable, I don't.

My name is Bakker and I'm here to say
That I'm going to rap in an eliminativist way
Word on the street
Your soul is just meat
Attempts to disprove
Are met with defeat
See it doesn't really matter what you feel
Because your inner experience isn't real
See here's the thing
You're a puppet on a string
Completely enslaved by your conditioning
Its a truth that you can't escape
Man is an ape that's designed to rape
So get this through your head
God is long dead
And neuroscience rises in its stead

>>19775759
>Dracula is really the tail end of a 70 year collaboration with a lot of great writers checking in
You can't just leave us with that, this isn't enough to even google on!

"There is no one in the game like Bakker, I am obsessed with him. Every day I write and write and write, hoping to achieve a fraction of his glory, but alas I always fall short. From the intense battles, the pitch black lore, or the poignant character psychology, he puts the rest of us to shame " ~ Brandon Sanderson, Interviewed for Men's Health Magazine.

>>19775871
2/10 at best. Sanderson has said that he doesn't like Game of Thrones because of how repugnant its world and characters are, so Bakker can't even begin to be considered.

>>19775892
Cope sandersoy

>>19775892
how are GoT characters or world repugnant though? what did Sanderson mean by that?

>>19775978
Here's one example:
https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/4uwjq9/spoilers_everything_twow_isnt_coming_this_year_is/d6lotl1/?context=3

>>19775990
>sanderson fan
>reddit
Pottery

"My whole life...What a waste. To spend years on countless years arranging and editing my father's works, only to one day sit down and read a book by R. Scott Bakker. It made my father's lifework look like crumpled toilet paper, such was its perfection. The intense battles, the real world philosophy that is so expertly woven throughout the narrative, the lore as black as midnight, it was unbearable in its supremacy. I hereby resign as director of the Tolkien Estate. Let Amazon do what they want with it, it doesn't matter anymore."

~ Christopher Tolkien, Private Correspondence.

>>19775155
>Niiiiiiii-ai-ai-ai-aight fall!!!! Immortal lands are now in back of me!

It's just one (one) autist, and he does this because he hates Bakker and hasn't read him.

This "general" is a blasted ashen wasteland, suppurating filth and autist tear.

>>19775345
I heard a rumour he converted to Christianity. Probably difficult to finish the series with such a strong pivot in personal belief.

I heard a rumor that Bakker dropped a k from his name and became a Baker in more than name.

>>19776069
>Bakker has finally accepted the Christ pill he inadvertently gave to so many
That both makes sense, and makes zero sense.
>le... paradox
Guess I have a soul at least.

Kino?

>>19776096
I enjoyed it anyway and so have others.

Yerin a cute

>>19773578
I am, you cunt.

>>19775155
Man I love this bit of the Poem
> Into the vast and echoing gloom,
more dread than many-tunnelled tomb
in labyrinthine pyramid
where everlasting death is hid
down awful corridors that wind
down to a menace dark enshrined;
down to the mountain’s roots profound, devoured, tormented, bored and ground
by seething vermin spawned of stone;
down to the depths they went alone.
The arch behind of twilit shade
they saw recede and dwindling fade;
the thunderous forges’ rumour grew,
a burning wind there roaring blew
foul vapours up from gaping holes.
Huge shapes there stood like carven trolls
enormous hewn of blasted rock
to forms that mortal likeness mock;
monstrous and menacing, entombed,
at every turn they silent loomed
in fitful glares that leaped and died.
There hammers clanged, and tongues there cried
with sound like smitten stone; there wailed
faint from far under, called and failed
amid the iron clink of chain
voices of captives put to pain.
Loud rose a din of laughter hoarse,
self-loathing yet without remorse;
loud came a singing harsh and fierce
like swords of terror souls to pierce.
Red was the glare through open doors
of firelight mirrored on brazen floors,
and up the arches towering clomb
to glooms unguessed, to vaulted dome
swathed in wavering smokes and steams
stabbed with flickering lightning-gleams.
To Morgoth’s hall, where dreadful feast
he held, and drank the blood of beast
and lives of Men, they stumbling came:
their eyes were dazed with smoke and flame.
The pillars, reared like monstrous shores
to bear earth’s overwhelming floors,
were devil-carven, shaped with skill
such as unholy dreams doth fill:
they towered like trees into the air,
whose trunks are rooted in despair,
whose shade is death, whose fruit is bane,
whose boughs like serpents writhe in pain.
Beneath them ranged with spear and sword
stood Morgoth’s sable-armoured horde:
the fire on blade and boss of shield
was red as blood on stricken field.
Beneath a monstrous column loomed
the throne of Morgoth, and the doomed
and dying gasped upon the floor:
his hideous footstool, rape of war.
About him sat his awful thanes,
the Balrog-lords with fiery manes,
redhanded, mouthed with fangs of steel;
devouring wolves were crouched at heel.
And o’er the host of hell there shone
with a cold radiance, clear and wan,
the Silmarils, the gems of fate,
emprisoned in the crown of hate.

>>19776361
>fucked up the green text
GODDAMMIT

>>19776171
not anime enough

>>19775650
Three years of newfags like you who spam newfagisms when others notice their newfag behavior, yes. It's tiresome. It's akin to a child running into a room of people talking and proceeding to shriek as loud as they can. Maybe if you had a proper father figure, your taste in literature would have branched out.

>>19776096
It's a good book but Clarke certainly has his flaws. The sequels are fucking terrible.

where to start with her

>>19776573
Short stories

>>19775596
3 bakkerchads, reign supreme

Official WoT ranking coming through
>GOD TIER
Book 4
Book 12
>GREAT TIER
Book 5
Book 6
River of Souls
>GOOD TIER
Book 1, 2, 3, 11, 13
>OKAY TIER
Book 7, Book 8, Book 14, New Spring
>SHIT TIER
Book 10

>>19776931
isnt this YA

https://scdl.overdrive.com/scdl-aksmiley/content/search?sortBy=mostpopular&format=ebook-kindle&showOnlyAvailable=true&subject=24&maturityLevel=generalcontent
anybody want to look through this and find me recs?

>>19776931
I agree with this list except 12 needs to be in great tier. 4 was kino throughout while 12 is propped up but a few great moments.

>>19776931
>>GOD TIER
>Book 12

Reading Book of the New Sun and Wolfe's vocabulary is so big brain that I have to use the dictionary every few pages. I don't know what a portreeve is, motherfucker.

>>19777039
sounds like an official for a port

>>19777050
This is why only read ebooks.

>>19777039

>>19777020
>>19777037
>what is veins of gold

What is the last (or current) not-sff book that you've read?

Was it good?

>>19777067
>posting definitions after the fact
Yeah, that's why you open a dictionary.

>>19777141
aside from bible
the story of philosophy by will durant. its pretty good

>>19777141
I'm currently reading a book on the history of my state's road network. It's pretty interesting

>>19775857
It's all on Wikipedia. Start with
The Vampyre by Polidori
leads to
The Pale Lady by Dumas
The Family of the Vourdalak by AK Tolstoy
Carmilla by JS le Fanu
feeds into
Dracula
More or less in order of reverse importance, and there's a bunch of other stuff. Bare minimum Dracula should always be published with Carmilla preceding.

>>19777039
ngl i was using wikipedia on the kindle and had my phone in the other hand the first time i read it

>>19777246
Thank you very much, Dumas is one of my favourite authors so I'll have to read the pale lady first.

>>19775155
>Luthien in the court of Morgoth
"Dance" was a euphemism for sex wasn't it

got any sci fi recommendations with romance in them?
preferably also a male protagonist.

>>19777341
I want to promote my own sci fi romance, but I know that will never fly.

>>19777308
delet this

>>19777308
Its Tolkien, so of course it is not you degenerate.

What are the best Litrpg stories out there.

>>19775789
Good on ye anon. I don’t give new stuff as much of a chance as I should.
>>19777039
I just kinda guessed at the vocab and found I had a much more enjoyable experience. Did the same thing with Suttree.
>>19777141
Currently reading Child of God and it’s great.

>>19777496
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Afanfiction.net+gamer+naruto&ei=XQDpYfvmFePIkPIP0oySqAM&ved=0ahUKEwi7icKO2b_1AhVjJEQIHVKGBDUQ4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=site%3Afanfiction.net+gamer+naruto&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgAEEcQsANKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQpQJY1Ahg_QloAXACeACAAT6IAfACkgEBN5gBAKABAcgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz

here you go

>>19777141
It was pic related and I liked it for something different I wouldn't normally read (though I watch movies like it all the time).

>>19775620
Actually....it is your problem.

>>19777835
Bakker is the king of sffg

>>19777915
I didn't vote for him

>>19777926
Kings like Bakker need no votes, they reign supreme

>>19777953
Exactly. This isn't a democracy.

>>19777926
No my, or anyone's, problem.

>>19777835
I wasn't asking.

>>19776544
Bakker/Sanderson spam has only been going on for one and a half year, at most. And no one even brings Sanderson to the conversation anymore.

>>19777980
>And no one even brings Sanderson to the conversation anymore.

I feel like Peak Sanderson was a couple of years ago. I know he has a million projects in the pipeline, adaptations too, but Stormlight isn't getting the kind of reception it initially garnered and no one really cares about his YA side projects.

>>19777997
His last 2 Stormlight books were atrocious. I will never read the series again. He's an objectively bad writer for multiple reasons.

>>19778002
I think he needs another Mistborn type trilogy. Something beginning-middle-end that doesn't ask people to be on board for a 20 year publishing schedule. The kind of thing that got him popular in the first place.

>>19777141
Desmond Bagley's Flyaway, a classic thriller. Yes it was good

>>19776931
>Official WoT ranking coming through
>>SHIT TIER
>Book 4
>Book 12
>Book 5
>Book 6
>River of Souls
>Book 1, 2, 3, 11, 13
>Book 7, Book 8, Book 14, New Spring
>Book 10
FTFY

>>19777980
The Bakker spam isn't done by Bakker fans. It's one butthurt autist posting all the king shit.

>>19778096
Take your meds.

>>19777976
I did.

Recommend non-sad books with non-bad endings

>>19778179
Not my problem.

>>19777156
based philosophy poster. The Story of Philosophy was my first phil book and I loved it.

I just finished pic rel, it was great, I like these little books. the author basically said that philsophers of science REALLY hate the problem of induction, as its induction which supposedly grounds all of science. but we can't prove induction.. we can't SEE induction.. so.. will the sun actually rise tomorrow? Once we hit this territory of philosophy (the same territory of: "is that chair you are sitting on REALLY a chair?") I start to laugh a little.. because I live in a world where I still have to go get groceries to feed myself and my family. anyway, it's fun stuff to think about.

>>19775303
Style over substance newfag.

Is Life the Universe and Everything just really bad or what's wrong with me? I really liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but for a good... probably 10 years now I've been trying to read the third book and just hated it each time.

>>19778800
Is that the one where is in caveman times?

>>19778904
Yeah. It's all 'lol random XD' humor and it hurts to read.

>>19778550
DITY that you'll never get the adulation of the original "not my problem" poster?

>>19778907
I think So Long and Thanks For All The Fish was better, a return to form somewhat. Mostly Harmless, the last book, wasn't funny either, but not cause the jokes fell flat, more the absence of humour, the conceit was exhausted but stuff kept happening.

I don't think you are missing out on much if you drop the series where you are.

I love robots. Any good stories with a robot main character? Robot specifically meaning AI or a mind transported into a robotic body etc, not mechs. Doesn't necessarily have to be high tech; I'd be perfectly happy with something like a fantasy story with dnd warforged too.

>>19778933
Seeing as you posted a Necron pic, have you read The Infinite and the Divine? Its a 40k Necron novel, pretty good and actually kinda funny.

>>19778942
I've read it as well as Severed, thank you though.

>>19778914
I accept your defeat.

>>19777141
I'm finally making the effort to Pynch myself.

>>19778759
>preferring style to substance
now that's what i call pleb

>>19778907
That's literally all Hitchhiker's Guide is though, and the reason why Dirk Gently is the superior work.

>>19777926
You don't vote for kings!

>>19778931
Agreed. For me the series prerrtt much got worse by the book, escept for So Long, which I liked almost as much as the first one.

>>19779757
Based and Bakker-pilled.

>>19778583
sounds like you might like The Rationality of Induction by David Stove

What did you think about the ending, /sffg/? I really enjoyed the book and think Simmons is an amazingly talented writer, but the romantic and relationship aspects dragged on too long for me. I also feel like many interesting elements to do with those things, and the Colonel's weird sexual story, etc.. were touched on but never properly explored or resolved later in the story. Is there more to it that I haven't put together after my first read?
Is Fall of Hyperion worth reading if I liked this? The depth of Simmons' Hyperion universe is pretty amazing and I would enjoy reading more of his prose, I just wish he would get more to the point instead of waxing poetic for half his book.

>>19779933
Fall of Hyperion is worth reading to finish the story, it's not as good but it's not bad either. Don't bother with either of the Endymion books, they suck.

>>19779933
I laughed when it ended. The ending was so much fun. Don't listen to anti-Fall of Hyperion bullshitters. The first book is incomplete. It's a collection of short sci-fi stories, while the second book is a sci-fi thriller. FoH is much more digestible and it gives closure to every major and minor character from the first book.

>>19777141
On Duties by Cicero

>>19779999
>>19779965
Thanks I was wondering if I was just a brainlet and the avant-garde non-ending of the first book just went over my head, but I didn't think so lol. It almost felt like hardcore sequel bait so I'll probably just read Fall and get on with it.

>>19777141
christ's samurai, after a recommendation from someone in this thread. that was a long time ago, i should get back to reading something outside of this general soon

>>19779999
Does the Keats robot shit get less insufferable after a while

>>19780171
From just reading the synopsis of Fall of Hyperion, the main narrator is a cyborg (cybrid) character from the first book that's basically an AI reincarnation of Keats, so no lol.

>>19780171
Keats is the weakest point in the book which exists so that Simmons may brag about his knowledge of literature. He is utterly useless and just chats with people on Tau Ceti. At least people he meets are interesting. Too much of the novel's first halftime is spent on him, but then Simmons returns to the seven pilgrims. He gets a bit better when he goes to New Vatican. By the end, he just gets more pointless and you wish his screen time was spent on more interesting characters.

My boipucci is overflowing with black seed. Books for this feel?

>>19780220
The Fifth Season, it has some gay sex

>>19775159
>/sffg/
>Bakker
Name a more iconic duo.

Best character driven sci-fi? Does such a thing even exist?

>>19780423
Dune.

Half-way through White-Luck Warrior and it's shaping up to be the best one so far. How is Chad Bakker continuosly exceeding the hype, bros?

>>19780507
Good on you, buddy. White-Luck Warrior was one of the worst ones. Glad you're enjoying it, because it's only uphill from there.

>>19780423
PKD

I really really really want a new Peter Watts novel. I've been settling for reading his autistic blog posts, the last one was pretty good.

https://www.rifters.com/crawl/?p=10078

>>19780400
Prolapsed anus and gonorrhea.

>>19780400
What ethnicity is Proyas supposed to be?

>>19780672
Conriyan? Just maybe?

>>19780687
I mean in the real World. obviously

>>19777469
Furries deserve the rope.

>>19780732
Northerners are European looking, 3 seas peoples are middle eastern/Mediterranean so I imagine vaguely Egyptian, Turkish, or Palestinian looking with some variation by country.

>>19780944
He said on a Ledit AMA that Achamian was supposed to be Iranian.

Thoughts on The Grace of Kings
Book by Ken Liu?

I'm currently going through the Ender Quartet right now and just finished Xenocide. All have been 9 or 8/10 so far.

Are the other books in the Enderverse worth it? I remember reading Ender's Shadow in middle school and I thought Bean was a Gary Stu.

>>19781028
The battle school kids are literally some of the smartest on the planet. How could you call a character like that a Gary Stu lol? They're supposed to be fucking brilliant.

>And then the SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD was right about everything and those stupis army jocks were wrong
Asimov was such a seething beta. No wonder he died of AIDS.

>>19781025
I greatly enjoyed it. Others, not so much.
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=dandelion&search_tripcode=sffg

Still getting back into /sffg/ after a few years of reading nonfiction for school.

Just finished Red Rising by Brown. Wasn't nearly as bad as /lit/ suggested, but I don't think I'm going to immediately move on to the sequels.

Anyone have recs to add to my Spring to-read list? My friend back home says I really need to pick up Margaret Atwood. I'm reading my list left to right, top to bottom. Starting Recursion tonight.

>>19781224
If you want a series I'd rec the Witcher. If you want a "standalone" (Technically a series, but the first book works well on it's own and is by far the best) I'd recommend The Lies of Locke Lamorra.
Both are (imo) really good, not too hard/complex so they'd be pretty good for someone getting into the genre. Though those are mostly general recs, not sure what you're looking for right now, so i can't give suggestions more specific to you personally.

>>19781209
Sweet thanks. I'm probably going to start with >>19781025 soon.

>>19781237
Thank you, I'll write those both down.

I like hard-scifi, Weir's nerdiness appeals to me greatly. My favorite author growing up was Wells for his partial horror component while still making every book feel primarily Sci-Fi. My favorite book of all time is 1984.

I have read fantasy novels that I enjoy, but usually it's because of the plots and characters and not strictly because of the magic or strictly fantasy elements (but I do love world building, which fantasy does best), whereas in SciFi I do often get sold purely on the science of it.

I have no problem reading series, but when they start being 7+ books I usually don't start them. Like Wheel of Time. I know I should though, eventually.

Red Rising felt a little "Hunger Games" ish, and it detracted slightly from the story because any time the protagonist was virtually dead I could physically feel how many pages were left and just thought to myself, "Okay, here comes a duex ex machina", or anytime a female character wasn't immediately written to be an absolute evil I was like, "love interest foreshadowing...". But there were some very intense moments.

I guess the thing that draws me most into my favorite Sci-Fi books are actually Thriller and Mystery elements, even though I haven't read very many Thrillers at all.

>>19781294
>not strictly because of the magic or strictly fantasy elements (but I do love world building, which fantasy does best)
The Lies of Locke Lamorra in this case has very minimal Fantasy elements (Magic and such), so it might be up your alley somewhat.

> I like hard-scifi
Can't really give you many sci-fi recs, but I recently read Idoru by William Gibson and it was pretty interesting. Not set too much in the future, so it's really believable and the way most things are explained seem really compatible with what modern society is headed towards.

> I guess the thing that draws me most into my favorite Sci-Fi books are actually Thriller and Mystery elements, even though I haven't read very many Thrillers at all.
Have you read Roadside Picnic? I'd say it has both of these elements to interesting degrees (though the mystery/Thriller elements are mostly regarding the world and not specific characters), and is really interesting in general.

>>19781237
>the witcher
Fuck that, just read Elric. It's the same shit, but not written by a retard and not in translation.

>>19778550
It is your problem now, because you asked for it.

>Doesn't know what a question is.
I accept your surrender.

>>19777141
Shogun by James Clavell.

I've heard good things about pic related. What does /sffg/ have to say about it?

>>19780157
christ's samurai

>>19781670
5 stars: 2
4 stars: 2
3 stars: 1
2 stars: 1
Mixed it seems

>>19781670
looks kino

>>19775978
hes not wrong

>>19777141
The Count of Monte Cristo for me. It was really good. I thought It'd be nigh unreadable, but the good translation is really recent and as such the book is smooth like butter.

>>19781998
I wish they had never made the movie adaptation.

Any Laird Barron fags here? If so have you read his crime novels? Any good or woke shit?

>>19779778
>His curved phallus ached against his blue jeans as he caught the scent of their slickening peaches

>>19781998
check out pic related if you haven't. it's a sci-fi retelling of Monte Cristo and it's extremely good

>>19782094
>a sci-fi retelling of Monte Cristo
Never in my life have I needed something so badly and not known until I recieved it!

>>19782094
I've heard of it, but never actually thought of reading it. Since you're recommending I assume you liked it, but care to explain what interest you in it? Is it just a retelling of the story in a different setting, or does it stand on its own merits?
I know the general premise of the story because I planned on watching the anime adaptation of it, but not enough to actually know much

>>19782105
>>19782094
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gankutsuou:_The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo
There's even an anime scifi retelling of Monte Cristo

>>19782026
Please respond.

>>19782127
based, thanks for sharing

>>19782112
it stands on its own merits. I'm confident in saying that if I were to survey one thousand sci-fi fans it would make many people's lists. it's older but it doesn't feel terribly dated. the writing is fast and pulpy. It's the same as Monte Cristo in that it's a revenge plot, but it really differs because well it's sci-fi, and some of the elements in the book, namely "jaunting" (which is the ability for someone to teleport instantaneously to another location), are explored in social/psychological/political ways. it checks all my boxes for a sci-fi novel: interesting characters, quick read, at least decent prose, interesting themes. You just can't beat it. shit you could read it this Sunday evening and tell us how good it is on Monday

>>19782112
Oh the anime I was talking about was >>19782127, I always get confused if this anime is a Monte Cristo adaptation that was meant to be a Stars my Destination adaptation or the other way around.
>>19782197
I see. I'll add it to my list then!

>>19782197
>you could read it this Sunday evening and tell us how good it is on Monday
I just found a pdf so maybe I'll tell you tonight.

>>19782253

How come continentals get way better cover art than the """civilised""" world?

>>19781150
T. Stupid army jock.

>>19782133
Now.

>>19782266
Damn, gully foyle got introduced in style.

Whenever I check out book reviews for scifi and fantasy half of the reviews are from women saying it's too sexist/creepy/rapey. And then they go and read books about men who emotionally abuse them or straight up rape them but it's PASSIONATE and takes up the entire book rather than just a page.

>>19782494
yes

>>19777116
Shit when you realise Jordan could have written it rather than Sanderson, had he not died.

>>19782494
I feel disgusted and disturbed by rape/rapists. Meanwhile all of my bi female friends I've ever had seemed to find it hot as fuck. Then again a lot of them were also into bestiality (in theory).

>>19778968
There are a couple new ones out

>>19782494
yeah it's funny when they hate on fun entry-level books like ender's game or name of the wind for somehow being sexist or too male-focused and then fill their reading list with a bunch of pic related

>>19782494
It is mostly about branding and POV.

Women read fantasy primarily for the power fantasy. This is something that is levelled at men traditionally, but in reality you find men are far more accommodating to different kinds of novels attempting to say and depict different things. Women, when reading Fantasy, are there for the Girlboss moments and little else.

However, if you stick the the lable "Romance" or "Erotica" on a book their expectations change. Suddenly they want exactly what you described, with the exception they still want it from a POV.

If Bakker had written The Darkness That Comes Before exclusively from Serwë's POV and named it The Scylvendi's Prize under a female penname it would likely be one of the top reviewed books on Good Reads.

>>19782533
>If Bakker had written The Darkness That Comes Before exclusively from Serwë's POV and named it The Scylvendi's Prize under a female penname
lmfao

>>19777496
Try the Shaman series by Mahanenko.After that try Atamanof the dark herbalist. If after that you need more West try Shermer Deeznutz or the bad guys series or the good guys series or whatever because the genre is about capturing this moment and not some other. Just grab a book and read it and you'll be talking to someone who lives how it is and fuck your time and fuck your people.

Stuff that's as easy and comfortable to listen to like bobiverse for when I'm doing cardio? Fantasy or sci-fi that doesn't need much attention that is.

>>19782603
anything pulpy that is short. Conan would be good. try this short story of Conan to get a feel if you've never read em before

https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600831h.html

>you pronounce Bakker as Baker but not as Backer
wtf lol

>>19782494
kinda funny how anons here will instantly gut react against a book and refuse to read it because it was written by a woman
then again critical examination of one's own biases and double standards is not exactly what /sffg/ is known for, now is it?

>>19782843
anon.. this is 4chan.. just quit while you are ahead with that kinda talk. I commend it.. I do.. but it's wasted here

>>19782843
And yet that has nothing to do with what that anon you're replying to said.

>>19782843
Excuse me? I have both Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Weis on my shelves.

>>19782771
what is the gear?

>>19782843
sperging about something completely unrelated because you were offended lol. i'm guessing he described you well.

>>19782963
>The Way of Tarot

based. I am unironically just getting into tarot.

>>19782984
Isn't this just astrology but with cards?

>>19777039
BOTNS made me buy an ereader just for the dictionary feature

>>19782533
Outlander is a really interesting case example. Unlike (most) of the romance genre, the books themselves are tomes in comparison to its competitors, and it is researched fairly well as you would expect a series written by a PHD (in an unrelated topic) in their "free time" to be. However, when you boil it down it's just a fantasy series about romance, rape, cuckoldry, and more rape.

>>19782984
Then you're going to hate me.
I know the thing to better hate it, At best I pervert it's intent to aid in seducing women, bitches love tea leaves, astrology, palm reading and tarot.
It's all a bunch of sycophantic newage bullshit to amuse wannabe-hippie housewives and the small-minded liberal masses.
My only guenuine interest ended when I was a child and my mind sufficiently developed and I was capable of figuring this out objectively for myself.

>>19783000
>bitches love tea leaves, astrology, palm reading and tarot.
Trips of truth

>>19782987
Did you buy it or pirate it? Usually my pirated books don't support the Dictionary properly (Or I'm to dumb to use it)

>>19783000
well. first of all, checked. second of all, the fact that you can seduce women and own a bunch of L Ron Hubbard is quite a feat. third.. what I like about tarot is that it taps into my unconscious/emotive/right-brain. I'm an engineer.. I'm very right brain and rational and logical. I don't view tarot as metaphysical or spiritual or otherwordly or anything like that, I view it as another way to contemplate an issue at hand.

>>19783036
**sorry I should say I am LEFT brain

>>19783036
>own a bunch of L Ron Hubbard
I haven't read them yet, I saw them in the bookstore during it's closing sale and sometime I want to get inside the head of the man behind scientology, just for giggles.
>being into it for the organizational structuring of thought processes
Okay, I can see this, I'll admit I still have interest in tarots supposed origins as a card game to exchange secret messages without the wrong authorities knowing whats up, but IIRC the historians don't really have any detail more specific than that.

>>19783028
I borrowed a copy from a library using libby. The dictionary mostly worked for me, just not on the made-up words Wolfe uses

>science fiction
>thousands of books
>spanning millions of fictional years in the future and other dimensions
>at no point does man go back to fucking children
cringe
did feminism win pedobros? will it always be wrongfully demonized?

>>19783053
yea, so so far, I do a single draw a day and contemplate on the meaning of the card itself as I go about my day to day. down the road I'll pose actual questions and do specific spreads, etc etc and have cute blondes fall into my lap along the way

>>19783065
I've heard of not being able to read a room, but never before have I seen not being able to read a planet.

>>19783028
Yeah, you’re retarded. Your e-reader is reading the “language” metadata field to determine which dictionary to use for lookups. A lot of books are set to the native language of the uploader I guess, I noticed a lot of libgen books are set to Portuguese.

Just open the book in Calibre or whatever you use and edit the metadata language before sending to device.

>>19783065
Kill yourself.

>>19783076
>have cute blondes fall into my lap along the way
It's more the hair dye and piercings kind of girl these days.

>>19783080
99.999% of human history. Cope, roastie. You’ll ALWAYS be second fiddle to delicious cunny.

Is Twilight or The Witcher Hour better??

>>19783108
>Cope, roastie.
But... I have a penis? o-0;;

>>19783114
It’s inert. You’re a woman at heart, and you base your sexuality off of the law like a good slave. Notice how literally every mans preferred age (when being honest) is the absolute minimum allowed legally. Lmao

>>19783124
Kill yourself.

>>19783102
yikes, OK that is not my type anymore.. my last ex had 2 (TWO) Elliot Smith tattoos. I guess I need to get a dog and learn to sail (??) to find a cute blonde

to keep /sffg/ on track I would just like to say I am currently reading pic related. I picked up all three novels, and three short story collections of Kane for $43 on eBay.

>>19783124
You are promoting pedophilia, you are a freak.
I am perfectly fine with the idea of some 15 year old who bleeds shagging a 30 year old dude if she so chooses, that's natural, but literal children is disgusting.

>>19783134
Ah yes, the pedophobic feminist reverts to his niggerlike repetitive sperging when confused with logic. You’re pathetic.

>>19783140
You of all people should be prepared for the notion that more than one person despises you on principle alone.

>>19783137
No logic included. Just this retarded notion that ‘thing is bad because… just because!’ You’re already a “le pedo” by most feminist retard standards, may as well be honest with yourself and go down to glorious 8

>>19783142
>caring what normies think
lmao

I care what my ancestors thought. And they fucked cunny and didn’t give women rights. They’re a lot more respectable than the garbage feminist indoctrinated normies of today.

>>19783152
>And they fucked cunny
Not if you're alive, reproduction requires puberty, but I wouldn't expect that kind of follow through on the part of your thinking.

Are all of Asimov's books short stories?

>>19783163
Girls as young as 4 have given birth to healthy babies. And regardless, girls married young make better mothers and better wives and leave more time for man/girl pair bonding before she expires at 16 or so. Kill yourself propagandist feminist pedophobe cuck.

>>19783135
Based and Kanepilled.

>>19783168
The Gods Themselves is a novel

>>19782494
because context
I still don't understand why incels can't grasp this concept, the difference between choosing to do something and choosing to do another but getting surprised by something else.

>>19783498
>choosing to get raped
Holy shit kys nazi

>>19783502
I know you're just acting like an american to get a rise out of me, so I'm gonna leave you be.

>>19783504
nice try chud

>>19775431
>>19775159
I just came on this board for the first time ever, specifically to see if there's any interest in this series, only to discover that he's a meme.

Any good french language fantasy?

>>19783168
>>19783462
He also has a bunch of medium length novels. Some of his early fiction was stretched into novellas (the original Foundation trilogy tends to confuse people for this reason).
Quite a few of his non-fiction stuff are of the door-stopping tome types.

>>19783109
The Witching Hour because Anne Rice is capable of having vaguely original thoughts.

I liked this series enough to excuse the fact that the main character is a faggot. Didn't think I would, but I was pleasantly surprised.

>>19783647
Bad enough it's typical grimderp, but GAY grimderp? No thanks.

>>19782984
Pic related, only book about tarot you ever need.

non-twink fantasy:

Bakker

>>19783567
Not my problem.

>>19780400
Just got done with this bit in the great ordeal and I feel so bad for Proyas. I guess that's what you get for being a zealot.

>>19783999
I was only 49 years old. I loved Kellhus so much, I had all the circumfix and texts. I'd pray to Kellhus every night thanking him for the salvation of my soul. Truth Shines! I would say. All hail Anasurimbor! the scylvendi hears and calls me a faggot weeper. I knew he was just jealous for my devotion to Kellhus. I called him an infidel, he slaps me and sends me to go fight the holy war. I'm crying in my saddle and my face hurts. I go into Kellhus tent and its really cold. A warmth is moving towards me. I feel something touch me. It's Kellhus! I'm so happy. He whispers in my ear "The thoughts of all men arise from the darkness. If you are the movement of your soul, and the cause of that movement precedes you, then how could you ever call your thoughts your own?". He grabs me with his powerful halo'd hands and puts me on my hands and knees. I spread my ass cheeks for Kellhus. His gnostic cant penetrates my wards. It hurts so much but I do it for the God. I can feel my onta being stretched as my eyes start to water. I push against his inverse prophecy. I want to please Kellhus. His head catches fire as he fills my butt with his love. Saubon walks in. Kellhus looks him straight in the eye and says "not everyone can be saved". Kellhus teleports to the horizon. Truth shines, The God Wills it.

>>19782843
>seething about something not related to what you're replying to
? Also I've barely seen what you're mentioning

>>19783999
Proyas was unironically the best male character he ever wrote. And it's up there with the best characters I've ever read in a book.

>>19775159
Good job triggering people with this post in every single thread. Never stop.

>>19784227
he triggers the sjw, lmao

I remember when 4chan was about trolling.
Now it's about only about triggering.
I dislike the change.

>>19784711
whats the difference

can anyone help me find the title of a book? i can barely remember it and i've tried searching up keywords but can't find what I think it is. It was either a diary or journal from the pov of a demon? Something of that sort?
Also can anyone recommend another book series similar to Mike Carey Felix's castor series? Dark, graphic and with mystery.

>>19784711
Not my problem.

>>19784724
Trolling is a art

>>19784724
Not him. But trolling requires, fundamentally, a sort of power imbalance. You are an unknown factor for the other person, a random interlocuter with some form of leverage whether that be a piece of information, or just a rhetorical thrust they are totally unprepared for, something else.

The Website now is just call and response. A broken recorded of pre-canned rhetoric, like well rehearsed lines in a play.
We all know our lines. There is no asymmetry, no suprise.

I say "Trans" You say "Dilate"
Trans
"Dilate"
Trans
"Dilate"
SNEED

4chan
then: anarchic freethinkers
now: authoritarian conformists
Not a change I saw coming all those years ago at all

>>19784806
seethe libtard, Bakkerchad death squads will tread on you!

>>19784772
I miss the days when I was using 4chan and no one said "dilate" or "sneed" or "cope" or "cringe" or "based" and we would all just talk.

>>19784955
Yikes.

>>19785014
Cringe.

>>19782843
recently i read a book written by a black woman and it was pretty bad. not bad in that it shows that she can't write, it depends on the audience, but you know bad how i kinda expected it to be

>>19784955
4chan is reactionary. It is the way it is because of the shift in outside culture. Blame that, if you want to blame anything. Also, you will never be a real woman.

Based.

>>19782266
Well I'm two thirds of the way through and even though I know how it's going to end roughly I'm still very intrigued by this burning apparition of foyle, I think bester put that in there just for the sake of tripping up readers familiar with cristo.

>>19785032
I tried reading the literary tour de force, Hugo award nominee, and proud Black womyn NK Jemisin's debut novel that took the fantasy world by storm, and I couldn't make it past 3 pages. It was fucking awful.

And pic related was the most fag-pandering I've ever seen. Two of the main characters were bisexual (one of whose parents are both trannies, and engages in a polyamorous relationship with a girl whose parents are gay men), and the third is a lesbian. It was Tumblr fanfic-tier.

>>19785055
Bakkerchad death squad

>>19785047
That isn't true. It's because of how moderation works here.

>>19785121
>Jemisin
sffgrandma does not approve

>>19775174
I don't go to 3rd party sites or join discord trannies sorry.

>>19785055
bakker tall af

>>19785243
even his genetics rules supreme

>>19775485
What’s the best sci-fi or Fantasy anthology you’ve ever read? Gimme some recs.

B A K K E R
A-W-I-I-M-A
S-E-N-N-P-P
E-S-O-G-E-E
D-O-------O
---M--------R
---E

>"I will never tire of underlining a concise little fact which these superstitious people are loathe to admit - namely, that a thought comes when "it" wants, not when "I" want." - R. Scott Bakker (the ordeal to beyond good and evil)

>>19776037
The Bakker retardation of this board is immense enough to sink Beleriand twice over.

>>19785269
Amazon will make a pozzed LOTR while Bakkerchads rule /sffg/ supreme

>>19785269
Bakker "chads" don't even know what Beleriand is. Although their author certainly did.

>>19781150
I'm enjoying the sequels more than the original trilogy.

I started reading Sanderson 3 weeks ago. I'm on the 5th mistborne book.
>Mistborn 4.5
>Well of Ascension 4.5
>Hero of the Ages 4
>Alloy of the Law 4.5
Currently on Shadow of Self. These era 2 books are very small and lean compared to the rest of Sanderson books. I have not gotten to Storm light books and that seems to be the only series people care about so will be nice to see how Sanderson has improved. I really don't see the hate for him nor do I see people actually giving reasons for it. YA is not an argument since the classification is not only inconsistent but also not a reason why a book has no literary merit. Sanderson is a very skilled story teller. He's very wholesome and captivates the essence of fantasy I think. I don't write like Sanderson nor is his style my favorite, but the way he structures stories is masterful. He can take this magic schlock I don't care about and make it a very compelling story. I prefer soft magic like Tolkien or GERM or Herbert but I can't discount how entertaining he makes it. You can see a really big religious influence that screams bat shit Mormon crazy sometimes but he's also probably one of the least degenerate writers out there because of it. Also name one author out there with a YouTube channel giving as much free industry tips and education as him. That's respect. He's literally helping people become authors to write whatever style successfully they want.

>>19785057
The ending is anticlimactic as all fuck, the bad guys get all the girls and foyle never gets his revenge, some bullshit about giving all of mankind their own choice of future? Fuck that this was supposed to be a revenge story, instead it turns out to be a netorare?! Goddamn, and right up until the reveal that his woman was fucking the hot man the book was good, could've even saved it if she had made her way on to his revenge list for it, but bester really fucked up this book, a damn shame it had so much potential.

>>19785403
Nice bait.

>>19785484
Threadly reminder that Tolkien has no more literary merit than Sanderson.

Is this good?
Should I read it?

>>19785183
It's because of moderation that tranny shit has invaded the board? Why wasn't this a problem in the 2000s?

Lads what the fuck is a No-God? All I see online are explanations full of philosophical gibberish that people have pulled out their asses.

>>19785260
That's very dependent on the person because it's so many different authors.
Here's some that I liked the most stories from, though eventually I'm going to have to go back through some of these:

SCIENCE FICTION
Brave New Worlds
Reach for Infinity
Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology
The Living Dead Vol 2

FANTASY
Rogues
The Way of the Wizard

There's the Best of the Years sorts which are usually good.
Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction
I haven't got around to reading the 35 year edition and probably should read more Year's Best, but eh

>>19785692
I enjoyed it, but I can't speak to whether you would. I read it in English as, rather than the language you're presented. It has two official translations in English and the newer is far better. I've read both translations.

>>19785708
RAFO

>>19785696
No, it's because of moderation elsewhere that those who have nowhere else to go came here.

>>19785808
and for those whom 4chan was still too restrictive, there was 8ch, which became kun, and for those whom that was too restrictive there was...and so on. 4chan is more the moderate compromise now in that regard. The desire for having sufficient post speed over other matters.

>>19785799
I did, and found out nothing.
>what do you seeee
I don't see a damn thing. How does a technological construct become invisible to demons from another dimension? What does it even do? Why does it need someone in a coffin for it to work? What the fuck is going on?

>>19785846
Belief is all that is required of you. Do not think.

>>19785696
The didn't have Occupy Wallstreet until 2008.

>>19785696
The problem is you

>>19785878
Coincidentally, that's also the year you were born.

>>19785628
At least Sanderson doesn't do something as unoriginal as putting elves in his books.

>>19785946
Well he has Orcs and facedancers in Mistborn

>>19785946
Tolkien Elves were 100% original to him.

>>19785940
As someone who was drinking age in 2008 I can confirm they were doing protests off and on for at least 5 years before Wikipedia says OWS started.

Hello. I'm looking for a youth fantasy book that I have a vague memory of reading in my early teens. I have no idea about the author or title of the book, but it made a huge impression on me as a child, and is one of the primary reasons for my current interest in ancient Celtic history. I'd appreciate it if anyone could help identify the book.
The synopsis is as follows:
>In the early 40's, a young boy from London is sent to live with his relatives(?) in the country because of the blitz. He arrives there to find a little village and a huge mansion occupied by an older couple with whom he is supposed to stay. He spends a long time exploring the surroundings and particularly an abandoned castle ruin on top of a hill. He also befriends the son of a butcher(?), whose father might have been abusive.
>The two friends decide to spend a night at the ruins in order to investigate some old legend about the castle. During the night(?) they discover that the body of Merlin is buried beneath the castle ruins. Somehow they manage to either resurrect him or visit him in the realm of the dead. My memory is kind of hazy from here, because I read these last chapters early in the early morning after a sleepless night. I think the gist of it is that Merlin (and possibly Arthur himself?) is awoken from his grave to once again repel the Germanic invasion of Britain.
I have been looking for the title of this book for quite a while. Any clues?

>>19786034
I read this as
>A boy in his 40s is sent to live with his relatives

>>19786038
literally me

>>19786028
How little you know, the protests have been going on for millennia...

>>19785968
No, that's just you being unable to truly understand and resorting to what you know.

>>19785628
Literary merit means the consensus of the academic establishment and nothing else.

>tfw when no one wants to post and is saving their posts for the next thread because the OP is impatient and can't wait for the thread to naturally die

>>19785696
define:
>tranny shit

>>19785262
BAKKER BINO AINO!

>>19786110
anything I don't like.

>>19785692
> Portuguese TL
Hue

>>19786118
Doesn’t answer the question.

New thread
>>19786129

>>19785972
That's like saying Dracula is 100% original to Bram Stoker because he's not exactly like Carmilla or Ruthven.

>>19786034
Use a search engine.

>>19786356
I have, but they mostly return results pertaining to Merlin (TV Series 2008-2012).
I've also looked at several lists of alternate history books and fantasy books that mention the character of Merlin. No luck.

I am looking for a dark fantasy series with intense battles, pitch black lore, highly intellectual themes that dovetail into real world philosophy, poignant character psychology, and just a hint of Lovecraftian horror. Is there anything out there like this?