/lit/ - Literature

first for zyzz

>>20275374
I agree, Zelazny is based

Walder Frey did nothing wrong

Fack. I missed the L in General. I just broke hundreds of threads of tradition. Don't mind me. Just going to go kill myself.

>>20275384
Here's a cat. Cats are cute.

>>20275378
Tpbp

Book of the Long Sun is sick af on gang

Bros…
I miss Beric Dondarrion

>>20275509
Are you my mother, Thoros?

>>20275366
Since that other anon hasn’t been asking what are you currently reading and/or what are you planning to read?

>>20275538
Currently reading curse of the mistwraith. Well written but boring so far. I plan to read Mask of the corcerer next

What are some other houses and coat of arms that came from a story like house Clegane and house Dondarrion?

>>20275572
Like a commoner lifted to noble status? I can't think of any off the top of my head. I know the manderly's were exiled from the reach, and the starks gave them land.

Bran ate jojen.

>>20275366
Is Brian Herbert aware people hate him and his books for ruining the Dune series?

>>20275366
Give me some recs on Sci-Fi and fantasy books with sandy settings.

>>20275538
Infinite Realm book 2. I'll write an effortpost sometime when I have internet on my computer

>>20275538
Just trying to find and read random shit on RR that seems interesting. I've gotten burnt out so many times trying to read multimillion word count series and web serials that reading in general is exhaustive now. Thinking of just exclusively sticking to novelas and short stories in the near future.

>>20275588
I want Winds of Winter to come out just to see how many theories get de-confirmed. It's going to be a fan theory apocalypse.

>>20275837
Anon its never coming out. Even if gurm was actually writing anything (he isn't), he will be dead imminently due to heart attack because of being a morbid fat fuck.

>>20275377
i'm reading dilvish now, it's amazing how versatile zelazny is. hard to believe the same guy wrote this, lord of light, amber chronicles and night in lonesome october

>>20275853
Too busy editing and watching Dark Winds

>>20275853
I bet we will get Winds eventually. It's Dream of Spring I'm worried about.
And besides, I didn't say Winds was *definitely* coming out. I only said I *want* it to come out.

>>20275935
Stop coping anon, we all know it's not happening. Enjoy game of thrones season 8 because that's your ending.

>>20275938
What cope? All I said was that it's likely coming. With the implication that there's the chance that it might not come.
You're the one desperately attempting to make me despair.

>>20275926
>"A Wild Cards Novel" by Deuces Down

Does the last chapter of the wisdom of crowds imply Bayaz has opened the house of the maker and broken the demonic seals that stopped magic from working? Rikke's long eye got tattooed shut for good after her vision of a monarch passing away, which was Jezal that she mistook for her own father dying, so it's safe to say her visions foretold of events just as they happened, and for her long eye to work again after being sealed shut would only mean that Bayaz has successfully managed to allow magic to come thundering back to the world otherwise she wouldn't have had that vision from her long eye. I didn't notice this until my second reading of the age of madness books. Not to mention that the phrase 'voice of Euz' is used directly after she hears "I am returned" in her vision.

>>20275950
These authors have some really weird names

>>20275947
>likely

KEK

cope

>>20275956
Is that supposed to be Rikke? She looks like a man with long hair there.
I always imagined Rikke more akin a trailer trash looking girl. First, she's kind of trashy-hot with big boobs. And then she becomes emaciated akin to a meth head.

Sorry, I have no clue what the fuck Bayaz is doing. As far as I can tell, he's trying to put something new together. Concocting a new way to gain power.

>>20276003

>>20275995
I don't care what that bald fuck is planning, I just wanna see Hildi go apeshit

>ten thousand years pass in which fucking nothing happens
Why do so many sci-fi settings do this?

>>20276173
If you're writing a story which relies on evolutionary scales then this is perfectly valid. See Children of Time.

>>20276194
It really damages credibility for literally NOTHING to happen for ten thousand years in interstellar societies.

>>20275995
From her vision it's pretty clear she sees the seed in Bayaz's hands and the circle of eleven wards on the black doors of the house of the maker before the doors swing open revealing a figure of light coming forth. It's just something I noticed because her long eye got tattooed shut for good throughout the trilogy until the very last chapter. The only way it's working despite having the same wards on it as the door of the house of the maker is if the latter has been opened again and somehow magic is working full steam in the First Law universe now. Otherwise, it cannot be possible for her long eye to show her visions like that.

>>20276194
If you're writing a story that happens on evolutionary scales, you should stop.

>>20275926
It will always be funny to me how putting GRRM's name up there is a big selling point when he was the editor on these.

>>20276199
>>20276227
bitchmade

Progression fantasy fag here, continuing my read of 20 books in the genre. Note for all you autists: my definition of this term is broad and includes xianxia, progression fantasy, gamer lit, etc. I tend to join the thread once a week and post my review before arguing with the Reverend Insanity guy until the thread 404s. I've just wrapped up my read of Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar, which is released weekly on Royal Road.

One of the anons in this thread mentioned that it was written by committee and it shows after the first 3/4 of the book. I dug into this further and saw that the author will post a regular weekly vote for what the main character will do and then executes the chapter along those lines. Everything produced on Royal Road and Audible have had an editing pass done to make a coherent story out of it. Unfortunately this leaves this rather directionless and the pace falls into a rut quickly. Ling Qi is a simple xianxia school girl who goes to class, trains, cultivates and socializes with her friends.

This is all she does. When you think the story is about to catch and finally begin escalating, the chapter ends with Ling Qi receiving a new manual or tool and moving along. There's also a few females in this story that aren't written with a unique voice and tend to run together, especially since they've all got similar Chinese names. The author tries to surprise you with older characters returning but there is such an extensive cast that I lost track of several of the faces by the end. Aside from those gripes, the story's cultivation system is its strongest feature.

Each character forms their own techniques by binding an element to internal qi meridians. These meridians intersect major organs which, depending on the organ, allows a different technique to be used. Heart meridians allow for support techniques, meridians in the brain allow for perception of time to be impacted, etc. Each character has their own discipline that they explore to the fullest and this is definitely the first time since Cradle that I've enjoyed the wide array of techniques and styles available in the world. In addition to techniques, several characters are bonded with spirit animals or have spirit animal ancestors and animal features.

These companions cultivate their own path and support their partner, requiring them to advance to higher levels of cultivation. All in all, interesting features and system in a very limited environment.

Final Score: 7/10 but I don't see this score holding up into future volumes. I'm tentative on picking up future volumes, given it doesn't have a clear direction.

Next up: The Last Ship in Suzhou by 'Lungs'

Previous Scores:
Cradle by Will Wight - 9/10
Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar - 7/10
A Thousand Li by Tao Wong - 7/10
Virtuous Sons by Ya Boy - 6/10
Bastion by Phil Tucker - 6/10
Reverend Insanity by Gu Zhen Ren - 4/10
Reincarnation: Threads by Michael Head - 3/10

>>20276359
>Those scores
based

So I'm reading Bakker's Prince of Nothing series and I'm on the first book chapter 7 and [spoiler warning I guess] Xerius just casually mentioned how he had a sexual relationship with his mother and she was the first one to make him orgasm. Did I miss something earlier in the book or does this just come out of nowhere?
Enjoying the book so far anyway

>>20276359
>20 books
What are the other 8 progression fantasy books/serials left?

>>20276359
I am that anon. I love this story but also hate it. I ultimately stopped reading when she gained her they/them Moonfolk Headmate.

>>20276420
Sorry, was tired and couldn't do math, meant 12

>>20276420
>>20276425
Pic related is one that I've drawn from and had several anons recommend from. I'm open to suggestion but have got this list...

Definite Reads (5+ Recs):
>Mother of Learning by 'Nobody103'
>Worm by 'Wildbow'
>The Wandering Inn by 'Pirateaba'
>Soulhome - Weirkey Chronicles 1 by Sarah Lin
>Ave Xia Rem Y by Mat Haz
>Lord of Mysteries by 'Cuttlefish'

Tentative Recommendations (2+ Recs):
>Ascendance of a Bookworm by Miya Kazuki
>Soulship by Nathan Thompson
>Heaven's Laws by Apollos Thorne
>Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
>The World After the Fall by Sing-Shong
>The Second Coming of Gluttony by Ro Yu-jin

Chopping Block (2+ Discouraged):
>Coiling Dragon by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
>The Menocht Loop by Lorne Ryburn

>>20276423
That's a shame to hear, I figured she'd get some interesting moon-aligned spirit... like a moth, I don't know.

>>20276373
Esme bout find out white dick hits different.

>>20276486
No Cradle? I feel that Cradle does Xianxia better than actual Chinese Xianxia
>Lord of Mysteries
Heard high praise about this, but tried to read it a while backand the translation seemed janky/scuffed.
>Worm
Good but suffered from padding/pacing problems as a result of being a web serial
>Mother of Learning
Probably the best thing on there that I've read. There were probably some huge plot hole issues due to the time loop but the story seemed pretty tight and well planned out.
>Wandering Inn
Almost 10 million words, heard some people had issues with it kinda just devolving into SoL and the plot not really going anywhere meaningful
Thoughts on APGTE or TGAB?

>>20276486
>Definite Reads (5+ Recs)
Those seem right, I would maybe consider adding APGTE, unless that list is strictly progression fantasy (which APGTE could be argued to fall under anyway).
Out of those I've read my ranking would be Mother of Learning > APGTE > Worm

>i'm now 50% done with the book im writing

Any good alien apocalypse books sort of similar to zombie apocalypses? Aka Earth has been conquered and humanity is forced into survival mode.

>>20276486
Unironically add Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System.

>>20276694
It's a bit later in the timeline than an Apocalypse, but maybe Undying Mercenaries will fit the bill.
TLDR is
>Earth is absorbed into an intergalactic bureaucracy at gunpoint, the only export of any value Earth can offer to justify not just sterilizing and strip mining the planet is warm bodies, so humanity becomes an intergalactic PMC, aided by alien machines that poop out clone bodies and zap their mental engrams into them when they die

It's not exactly serious however. It's more of a Big Dumb Fun series. In fact the protagonist is referred to as an overgrown hillbilly retard almost as often as he's referred to by name.

>>20276694
The Strain Trilogy and Skyward maybe

>>20276694
Haven't finished it but Nightwings seems to fit that, and Robert Silverberg is a good writer

>>20275389
no

>>20276003
>>20276011
thanks for posting, now I know to skip this

I've decided to give Worm a shot. I'm up to chapter 3.1 but I've hit a bit of a stumbling block: The protagonist is just an awful, awful person. Does she get some decent development or is she just going to stay a slimy sack of shit the entire way through?

>>20276896
She gets better far far later but she's definitely a product of her shitty environment.

>>20276910
>but she's definitely a product of her shitty environment.
No, she's basically a perfect example of a Cluster B personality, she intentionally puts herself in shitty situations. Her actual environment is pretty good, she's from a well off family with a supportive father. However, she goes out of her way to enable herself to be victimized in order to generate a sense of moral superiority when she lashes out. At best, she's an awful person. At worst, she's a violent narcissist, and I'm not certain the author even intended for her to come across that way.

>>20276553
Do Worm and Wandering Inn really fit progression fantasy either? They're just web novels. TWI is at least gamelit, I suppose.

Does TWI pick up? They're talking about some ruins right now, chapter 20 something, but I feel like it's movong kinda slow and I'm not digging all the bugs

>>20276923
>I'm not certain the author even intended for her to come across that way.
Cluster B(itches) have been bread & butter fantasy characters for like 50 years at this point. She's probably based on his mother or ex.

>>20277054
It's got some of the best world building. I'm waiting for it to end so I can binge it

>>20275634
Yes but they hate Kevin Anderson more

reading APGTE right now, is it weird that i want catherine to fuck every single female character in the novel, enemy or not?

>>20277160

>>20275366
Has anyone here read Viriconium? How did you like it? Does it come close to Wolfe‘s stuff?

>>20275426
I really liked it but it drags on way too much in Litany of the Long Sun. At some point I had absolutely no idea anymore as to who is who and who does what and why they do it.

>>20275640
Dragonprince series, by Melanie Rawn. It's not entirely set in the desert, but the main characters live in the desert so a lot of story is written from there.

>>20275640
A decent chunk of Sweet Silver Blues takes place in a desert.

>>20275640
Dune.

Is there any modern Japanese sffg that isn't just light novel / web novel shit?

>>20277263
Litany is the first two books together, right? I had finished the second book before I posted that, and yes, the plot does get more complicated. In the second half shit has gotten completely crazy, compared to the first book that was more simple and straightforward. So I can see why you'd say it drags at first, and having no idea what's going on later on.
I'm really liking it. I can't believe the way some things have developed.

Hey guys I recently read Hobbit and LOTR and then watched both film series to compare. I have not read the appendices or expanded Canon in books like the silmarilian. I know Hackson was trying to connect the hobbit films to LOTR which doesn't work considering the Hobbit was written 17 years prior, but how much did Gandalf know about Sauron returning in the Hobbit and prior to Bilbo's birthday in LOTR? I think the book mentions he is investigating the dark forces/necromancer in his absence from Bilbo and the dwarf party and that he is suspicious of what Bilbo found, but does he actually draw any connection to Sauron returning in book Canon prior to investigating the history of the Ring in Gondor after Frodo receives Bilbo's estate? I always got the idea that he had to do a lot of research before he understood the threat prior to his capture by Saruman.

>>20277259
The Pastel City is a highly competent adventure yarn. A Storm of Wings is weird metafuckery which I enjoyed thoroughly but which I can see people hating. I'm pretty sure I finished reading In Viriconium, but I only remember being bored. Never got around reading the short stories.

>>20277344
Is Vampire Hunter D still a thing?

>>20277198
I just really like Heiress, and i'm wondering if she will survive book 3 or end up like the Lone Swordsman. But it seems like a hard redemption to sell so i figure she'll be gone soon.

jolenta wanted to fuck on the boat

>>20277440
It's most def a light novel series

>>20277398
I agree. The way how some things have snowballed is crazy. While it drags on here and there it’s still an amazing read.

>>20277632
Correct. She very clearly offered herself up to Severian.

>>20277398
>>20277263
>>20277727
Whoops, I mistyped. I meant EPIPHANY of the Long Sun. Not Litany. Litany of the Long Sun is very well paced and I greatly enjoyed the whole thing. Epiphany is where it gets absolutely crazy.

Wildbow's Pale looks to be really in its endgame now. Is it really all that much better then Worm?

>>20277727
>>20277754
Based, I can't wait. I really want Auk and Chenille to get out of the tunnels and back to Silk. Fuck Incus.

>>20275538
I found a badass second-hand bookstore that was completely stocked with old sci-fi novels for a £1 a piece.
picked up pic related because I liked the cover and after reading thirty pages have instantly regretted it.
will probably sell it since there seems to be a burgeoning market for old late 70's and early 80's paperbacks here recently.

>>20275538
i am about three quarters of the way through too like the lightning
will probably start urth after

>>20277603
I don't know what to say without spoiling, but if you like her character and want her to stick around you're in for a treat, provided you make it far enough in the story

>>20277111
That shit is probably gonna be like 10 million words if not more before it finishes. I'd be lucky to not get burnt out after 1-2 million. Godspeed anon.

>>20276373
It's talked about a bit.

>>20277294
>>20277288
>>20277269

Thank you frens!

>>20276359
>Each character has their own discipline that they explore to the fullest and this is definitely the first time since Cradle that I've enjoyed the wide array of techniques and styles available in the world
You know what webnovel has the highest breadth and depth of cultivation techniques? Reverend Insanity. Though I admit you'd never guess it based on the first arc, which takes place entirely within a clan who all specialize in one technique.

>>20276896
She gets worse over time, and it's the primary draw of the story for most people.

Post your personal cultivation technique and gains, /sffg/

>>20277981
I've never read anything of his other than Worm and part of Ward. The problem is that all the reviews in other places are glowing, and at best Worm was a 7/10 and Ward was a 3/10, so I can't actually trust anything anyone says about the quality.
If anyone here's read the other stuff(Pact, Pale, etc...) can you give a compare/contrast with Worm? It it worth reading, did he rebound from the dumpster fire of Ward and get better at writing? At the very least is half the story not just literal psychiatric meetings with a cast of unlikeable schizos?

>>20278780
Dual cultivation with your mom.

>>20275581
Not necessarily commoners given lordships, more along the lines of coat of arms coming directly from a story and not just a symbol chosen because it relates to the house. House Dayne is a good example, their sigil comes from the sword that was forged from a fallen meteorite that they give to their best knight

>>20278781
Never read Ward, have read Pact. I'd say Pact isn't as good as Worm but I personally enjoyed it a bit more just because I enjoyed the occult/urban fantasy aspects more than superheroes. It's still edgy and every character has their own personal laundry list of baggage and issues just like in Worm and there's the whole "mc does increasingly morally questionable things as the stakes increase" wildbow likes to do. I'd say give it a read and if you're not interested by the time the Fae show up you can safely drop it.

>>20278758
Shame that Reverend Insanity isn't more interesting, better written or aptly translated. I say it every thread at this point, but when I finish this 20 book run I think I'll go back and push through just for the cultivation aspects of RI. Most of these series are garbage or fall apart quickly. The Last Ship in Suzhou is an absolute piece of shit, for instance. Makes RI look like spun gold.

>>20278968
In fact, fuck this book. I'm breaking my rule of dropping profoundly bad titles.

Review of The Last Ship in Suzhou: Pure fucking garbage. The writer dwells so much on describing the nape of a 14 year old girl's neck that he forgets to add a story or anything of interest. The MC was trying to save someone's life and then had a random thought about his mother's drinking that extended for 5 pages??? The Cultivation system is an internal biological rhythm that sweeps people up in the feeling. Both characters (two asian americans) fall into Romance of the 3 Kingdoms and immediately find a mural depicting a lost sect art.

Luckily they're both asian american so they naturally know kung fu, how to play ancient instruments, and how to read ancient mandarin???

2/10.

>>20276359
>Previous Scores:
>Cradle by Will Wight - 9/10
>Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar - 7/10
>A Thousand Li by Tao Wong - 7/10
>Virtuous Sons by Ya Boy - 6/10
>Bastion by Phil Tucker - 6/10
>Reverend Insanity by Gu Zhen Ren - 4/10
>Reincarnation: Threads by Michael Head - 3/10

Friend, you should try Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends. It's one of the best progression tantasy stories I've read on the internet. Don't be scared by the fact it's LitRPG, it has solid cultivation system. It's a bit edgy at first, but it gets better.

If you liked Cradle, allow me to introduce you to a weird clone of it, Web of Secrets. Very similar to Cradle, although the author fucked up the execution a bit. The first book is still better than Cradle's, so if it continue Cradle's pattern the series will be good.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/39108/web-of-secrets-modern-cultivation

>>20279024
Have you read Street Cultivation?

>>20275538
I'm reading Suldrun's garden. I like it.

anyone read cherryh? on the 4th morgaine novel and wow another feudal society on the other side of the gate. jokes aside im enjoying them well enough, but c'mon

>>20277259
I think it is better than most of Wolfe's stuff but mileage may vary. My advice: pastel city is very vanilla, don't stop reading there

>>20276486
I also recommend you to check out Defiance of the Fall, one of the most popular webnovels (4 books already on Amazon, though). It's a blend of Cultivation and LitRPG, lighthearted and funny, but it gets real deep into Dao and its descriptions, with other aspects of Cultivation, probably the most out of any Cultivations stories I've read. The author even incorporated buddhism, sanghas and other weird stuff, no other story gave me such an info-dump on eastern spiritualism.

>>20279064
No, but I literally checked it out while writing that comment. Probably will read it tomorrow.

>>20279014
Amending this again. Dropped books don't get a score - 0/10.

Subbing In: Mother of Learning by nobody103

>>20279024
>>20279122
I'll add Infinite Realm to the list along with Web of Secrets. Anything with fully explored cultivation systems would be great. I'm starting to learn that I can't expect much out of character writing in these. Thanks for the recommendations.

>>20279122
I've been thinking about how buddhism is supposed to intersect with xianxia

Just finished Dark Tower series

>that ending

>>20279279
Shit series desu, not worth reading

>>20275271
Okay but what if it was written competently and didnt have all the cliche cop-outs like Z-space?

Theres some cool ideas, and a lot of details in there plus I think the artists did a massive disservice to andalites from how they were described (pretty sure they didnt have a torso and that IS drawable ij such a way that they can look nice. Its rare to see, but I have seen it done. The official art on the book covers looks kinda shit for some reason). I wanna see someone wigh an eye for consistant, intelligently made worlds and actually memorable characters write it.

That version proabably wouldnt include andalites, but theres still a lot of options.

Someone linked some fanfix of it. Maybe I'll look into that some day.

>>20279296
Also I really thought Applegate was saying they had a plethora of ghost writers and stuff. Eh. I'd have to look it up.

>>20279024
mfw over midway through book 2 of Infinite Realm
I don't care for Zach.

>>20279231
>he doesn’t know about Journey to The West

>>20279302
Almost half the series was ghostwritten. However "KA Applegate" is a pseudonym that refers to Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, who himself has written a few YA series.

>>20277603
The only reason I finished the series was to see how that relationship developed.

anyone here read expeditionary forces? something similarly shitty but entertaining? i dunno i found it to be an unique mixture, its hard sci fi, but its not sreious, but its not like "deep" or anything, its just shitty escapist stuff but with care taken to keep it relatively hard and also a satisfying plot, anyone know hwatimtalkinga bout?

>>20279121
That’s sounds promising. I might give it a try.

>>20277344
Haikasoru has published most of them that are in English. There's also a person trying to list out every sff work, with some exceptions, that has ever been tradtionally published.

>>20276218
Huh. I never thought about all of those details.

>>20279516
*every sff work translated into English from any language

>>20279326
Goku says namu in a cave for 10 years and learns kamehameha?

>>20276373
>Enjoying the book so far anyway
This is the Supremacy of Bakkerchads, keep reading.

>>20279132
>Subbing In: Mother of Learning by nobody103
Thank god

>>20279294
Well I already finished it, and listened to it on audiobook. Does that make you happy?

>dumb bitch wrecks country for daddy kink

Jesus Christ. This clearly wants to be an anti-racist book, but the brown people, including the MC, are all violent drug addicts incapable of independent thought.

Are any of these good or just which is best?

>The Legends of the First Empire - Michael J. Sullivan
>Kingkiller Chronicle - Patrick Rothfuss
>Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
>The Reckoners - Brandon Sanderson
>The Spellmonger Series - Terry Mancour
>King's Dark Tidings - Kel Kade
>Lightbringer Saga - Brent Weeks
>The Cycle of Galand - Edward W. Robertson
>The Licanius Trilogy - James Islington
> The Faithful and the Fallen - John Gwynne

>>20278168
>badass second-hand bookstore
Sounds awesome anon. Hope that market isn’t too burgeoning, those are my comfy weekend reading.
>>20275831
I’ve been on my way through pic related and some of that amateur sci-fi/fantasy stuff can be really rough at times. Want to support them, though, since I’m trying to get some of my own stuff printed.
>>20275640
A lot of great Conan stories take place in the desert including Xuthal of the Dusk which has the best Conan girl.

>>20277344
Pretty much everything this thread talks about would be published as a light novel in Japan, it's just how they sell genre fic. Outside of that, you're really just talking about Murakami types.

>>20277344
How modern are we talking about? There's a number of anime I've watched that are based on "legitimate" novels (not light novels). Shin Sekai Yori, for example.

>>20279809
It's just not a good book desu.

>>20279968
>The Licanius Trilogy - James Islington
decent
>Kingkiller Chronicle - Patrick Rothfuss
the third book is 11 years overdue
>Lightbringer Saga - Brent Weeks
the MC is an annoying wimp
>The Faithful and the Fallen - John Gwynne
i've heard good things about this one

>>20279324
A genuine question, why do so many LitRPG/western cultivation protagonists seem to have same-y names? There's far too many Ja- names (Jake, Jason, etc.), and at least two Zacharies.

>>20279122
I'm reading Defiance of the Fall and while I don't dislike it, I'm comparing it to He Who Fights With Monsters a lot and it sort of falls short just on the fact that almost every one of DotF's characters is boring apart from Billy. Billy isn't exactly a character to get invested in, but he's a dumb fun one. Meanwhile in HWFWM I really quite enjoy a solid chunk of the core cast (who've admittedly dropped off in the last couple of books because of not being around) and the protagonist is at least interesting compared to Zac who's just... Protagonist man.

Is it worth it to read the whole trilogy?

I heard that the first part is great but the next 2 are pretty boring/lackluster. Whaddaya think?

>>20280535
>I'm reading Defiance of the Fall and while I don't dislike it, I'm comparing it to He Who Fights With Monsters a lot and it sort of falls short just on the fact that almost every one of DotF's characters is boring apart from Billy. Billy isn't exactly a character to get invested in, but he's a dumb fun one. Meanwhile in HWFWM I really quite enjoy a solid chunk of the core cast (who've admittedly dropped off in the last couple of books because of not being around) and the protagonist is at least interesting compared to Zac who's just... Protagonist man.
I have no comparison because I dropped HWFWM after the first book, insufferable MC, MC's nonsensical interactions with other character, edginess. I've also heard that MC slowly turns every side character into himself later one, don't know much of it is true, but while DotF doesn't go so deep into characters, it's better in overall quality in my opinion,

DotF is fun, lighthearted, focused on progression and deeply engrossing Dao/Heavenly Laws descriptions. I'd take it over HWFWM any day.

>>20277632
>>20277735
yes, BUT
only because Talos had hypnotized her to do that

>>20276896
the biggest laugh-out-loud moment of the book for me is when she shoots a baby and it is given one line of narrative. no time is spent on the consequences or guilt. the author just wanted to write a baby out of the story.

worm is the kind of book that you can tell was written by someone who's kind of dumb, but it's mostly enjoyable in spite of that. you just can't take it too seriously or look for beauty in the author's insight or any of that kind of thing. if the protagonist seems like a bad person, maybe it's intentional and maybe it's not, take it for what it is and start skimming any chapters you get bored with.

>>20280631
The changes to her body made her need to sleep all the time. The witches say as much, and Baldanders is the same way. People need to pay more attention.

>>20280528
Jazak the Sonarch

The Wanderin Inn mogs every other fantasy series, and the graph isn't even accurate as within a week Volume 8 is going to be finished, bringing up the overall wordcount to 9.5 millions

>>20280803
Is it good though

>>20280806
Is it good though
One of the best stories I've ever read, epic fantasy with strong focus on character, myth and wonder.

>>20280806
It's a litrpg in a generic jrpg fantasy world.

>>20280803
Gotta love how aside from a few exceptions here and there, there's a strong inverse correlation between quality and length.

>shift through dozens and dozens of asian novels
>finally find one that has decent translation
>interesting premise
>suddenly the MC gets a system
why are they like this?

>>20280803
Problem with this is it doesn't really convey how much of those books is filler. Wheel of Time, for example, could've been half the length and it would've conveyed the exact same story.

>>20280631
It was funny to me rereading the chapter when he meets Dr. Talos and Baldanders, and Talos says straightforwardly to the barmaid, "I'm going to put a glamour on you, and make you the most beautiful woman in the world," and it's so perfectly written that by what we think we know of Talos at that point it seems exactly as if he is a mountebank trying to sell her snake oil (so to speak). But that's literally what he does, and next time we see them Severian notes "the most sensuously beautiful woman I'd ever seen" but so much had happened in the interim and by then we know so little of the truth about Baldanders that even in my head I was like 'hmm, I guess it didn't work out with that barmaid, and they found this beautiful woman to work with instead.'
Not only that but in the same chapter of their first meeting Severian notes that Talos looks like a stuffed fox. The truth is right in front of the reader's face, and Wolfe/Severian don't even lie, it's only the simplest misdirection.

>>20280953
Just reread those parts, and it's peculiar how Sev constantly hints that he initially misjudged the relationship between Baldie and the doctor, yet I didn't catch it at all on my first read.

I found Jolenta's origin to be obvious from the start, though, out of sheer narrative convenience.

>>20280803
TWI needs an editor desperately. Publishers do impose limitations for strictly business reasons, but sometimes there's merit to them.

>>20280803
always thought black company was longer

>>20280621
I agree with that statement, just get the first one. I own all three but couldn't get past the second one.. way too boring and slow.

>>20280621
Not really, unfortunately. There's some good moments in there, and you ultimately learn enough about what's going on to be satisfied, but it's not told in a very satisfying way imo. Pretty covers.

Good morning I hate women
>>20280929
They even managed to introduce a system in a horror story.

>>20276661
keep at it, anon

KNEEL BEFORE YOUR GOD OF WRITING

>>20281144
Who tf is this hack

>>20280803
Holy mother of BLOAT
Wheel of time is fucking big and have a shitton of filler, and TWI beat it by far

>>20277404
no tolkien readers in this thread?

>>20281155
the greatest writer of our time, apparently.

>>20281239
I daresay a lot of older anons would've read it too long ago to answer in detail, and younger anons may have skipped it.

>>20277404
I have a vague impression that he considers it a possibility but doesn’t know, what but like >>20281355 says I haven’t read either in at least fifteen years.

>>20281144
>for most publishers a book is novel length if it falls between 50,000 and 100,000 words
This bitch is literally putting out a novel with each chapter.

>>20280862
And the truth comes out

>>20280862
>jrpg
Generic DnD fantasy actually.

>>20280929
Capitalist realism

>>20280630
I admittedly get grated by Jason a little but I generally like him because he's at least a character. Zac, meanwhile, has far less character traits beyond "is strong" and "cares for sister".

>>20280803
Goddamn I never really realise just how big Discworld is to read through. Only barely edges out the fucking doorstopper that is Malazan. I also wonder about Stormlight when it's finished, presuming the next 6 books are about equal length, it'll maybe just beat out Wheel of Time.

>>20276694
You are describing the System Apocalypse series by Tao Wong.

>>20280803
It's crazy how JRRT who really got the genre going was able to convey his entire story in 3 volumes that combined are shorter than some of those dortstops near the end. Why have authors moved away for concise stories to nonstop filler? It seems worse with fantasy than any other genre.

>>20281725
>>20280803
This doesn't even include all of malazan. Aren't there another 10 books in the world?

>>20279381
I'm reading through it right now. FInishing the 3rd book today but I'm beginning to grow tired of the repetitiveness of the plot. I'll need to get farther in because it's apparently a huge series, but I don't find much enjoyment in the crew needing to ask Skippy to do everything and the human crew coming up with ideas that the AI can't.

>>20281746
Consumerism. Look at the Wandering Inn, people are bragging about how long it is because it means they have more hours of entertainment.

>>20281751
I guess those are considered their own series, as they're not part of Malazan's story, just are in the same world.

>>20281746
Escapism is valued for the time it consumes. That's why life replacers like these webnovels are so long.

>>20281763
I think web novels are so long for a combination of things: Longer works are constant sources of engagement and potential revenue, whereas a short work will run out of money-making potential. Authors tend to have absurd scopes (LitRPG and cultivation stuff in general tends to go high-scope but start low and slow because that's the point almost). And sometimes writer's block means the author just writes filler because they don't know how to progress the story, but they know how to write nothing that just pushes the chapter count up.

>>20281746
>It's crazy how JRRT who really got the genre going was able to convey his entire story in 3 volumes that combined are shorter than some of those dortstops near the end. Why have authors moved away for concise stories to nonstop filler? It seems worse with fantasy than any other genre.

>>20281760
>Consumerism. Look at the Wandering Inn, people are bragging about how long it is because it means they have more hours of entertainment.
People who think TWI's only virtue is the length are ignorant beyond belief. It's amazing because despite its length the story still rivals the best the Fantasy genre has to offer. But none of you arrogant idiots will even attempt to try to read it, seething ignorant beings that you are.

>>20281875
It's not a series that's easy to get into because of how long it is. Nobody wants to get into anything that big, especially when it's still fucking going.

>>20280528
Litrpg names tend to be generic/uninspired/Western from my experience. The two main characters of that series are Zach(aria), who is 100% nigga, and Ryun, an Asian.

>>20279024
Infinite realm starts with 2 mcs and then introduces a million new characters and backstories. Bored and dropped.

>>20281923
Is it just to make the protagonist seem everyman-y? If so, why are so many of them in the same sort of generic range. You never see a Kyle or a Greg.

>>20281746
LotR would've been 6 full length novels if it were written in the last 40 years. Back in the 50s everyone wanted to write big hardcover volumes, but these were expensive to tool up. So you had to work everything into 500-ish page blocks of fairly dense story. If you look at 19th century books that were first published serially in pulp mags, even monsters like Dostoevsky were turning out a lot of filler because they had to publish something every month. It's just one of those things that ebbs and flows over the course of history.

Just read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and everyone who says it's bad or lesser or skippable PKD is an idiot

>>20276694
The Chnorr books

>>20280803
realm of the elderling is GOAT
wish Robin was still writing

>>20282108
>realm of the elderling is GOAT
>wish Robin was still writing
Has Hobb Robin ceased writing? I never read the third Assassin trillogy, but I thought she was writing other stories in her universe.

>>20282505
Last book was published in 2017 if I'm not mistaken.

>>20275640
Mask of the Sorcerer is set in a fantasy version of Egypt.

>>20282017
>>20281760
>>20281763
People wanting "good value" rather than a good story has been a disaster for the human race.

>want to try Cradle
>apparently first book is shit
Idk why people shill books with terrible starts when so many books are good from the get go.

Asked last thread but gonna try again:

Are there any good books set in the post apocalypse where the setting is less gritty/realistic and more balls to the wall mad max wasteland?

>>20282683
It's not a bad first book, it's just rocky. The series takes four books before it really hits its stride. They're also all pretty short, though, so you can at least power through Unsouled pretty quick.

>>20282683
Calling the first is probably too harsh. I'd give the first book like a 7/10 with most of the series being around 8.5-9/10. That's assuming you're willing to put up with the tropiness common to progression fantasy and cultivation stories. Don't go in expecting Wolfe or Mervyn Peake or anything.

>>20282733
*Calling the first book shit

>>20282733
>>20282732
I heard it compared to Sanderson who I hate. Is the dialogue as cringe?

>>20282761
I have literally no definition for what you define as cringe.

>>20282764
he said sanderson, so mistborn.
I agree btw sanderson can't write dialog for shit

>>20282836
I don't think there's anything wrong with Sanderson's dialogue, it's just nothing special. It's unremarkable.

>>20282683
I'd be the first person to call first Cradle book shit (although more accurate would 'painfuly average'), but the other books absolutely make up for it. The author had really needed to gain some wordcount under his belt until he spread his wings. Cradle is not incredible, but it's fun and enjoyable, it also has some of that juicy motivational mindset that gets you going, that's important in cultivation fics, but a lot cultivations sadly fail in that regard.

>>20282683
>so many books are good from the get go
dude there are like four good fantasy books total

>>20280489
Nice, thank you!

>>20282848
Bro what

>>20282862
Maybe it's because I've seen genuinely awful dialogue that I can only call Sanderson's average.

>>20282851
>>20282683
Then I'll be the first to say the whole series just kinda sucks. Yes, it's a lot like Sanderson, and more like an anime crossed with a marvel movie. Every book is the introduction of a series of "wacky and cool" characters who subvert your expectations by being "secretly badass". Then they all spend their time either having long conversations full of "hilarious" quips inbetween sitting in caves and meditating for several months.
And honestly it wouldn't be that bad if the MC wasn't a kinda bland whiny cuck who skates by on his never explicitly mentioned but overwhelmingly ridiculous luck.
The other characters are also not great, and even he's better than the overpowered space bitch, who thankfully doesn't show up much.

>>20282888
It's literally commented on several times that the protagonist is a little absurd in what's going on with him. And most of his luck is just one guy helping him. And nobody's really secretly badass past book... 2, really.

>>20282920
You can't deny he's a bland cuck being led by the nose to power though. Doesn't have a proactive bone in his body. Couldn't even leave his home town until a literal god told him to, and even then only get by because of a series of ludicrous coincidences that force him to succeed against his will.

>>20282930
And then he promptly makes proactive choices afterwards. Did you only read the first two books?

>tfw I can't go back in time to when I was 13 and discovered Elric
>tfw I can't go back in time to when I was 15 and discovered Dune
>tfw I can't go back in time to when I was 17 and discovered Book of the New Sun
Now I'm 23 and read fucking Warhammer and cyberpunk

>>20282939
I dropped it after he spend an entire book in a turtle cave doing nothing, and then promptly got forced into a duel, bitched out, failed to run away, failed to win, got his arm chopped off, cried a bunch, then got a new, better arm for nothing immediately afterwards
He's a dressup doll for the author. He has no character, no growth, no agency, and no plot significance. if his character was replaced by a literal mannequin remote controlled by one of the other characters he'd be more interesting and relatable.

>>20282957
He doesn't bitch out or cry at any point? He tries to pull out because he knows it's a death sentence, then goes in as hard as he can. His character is one of ambition and overbearing politeness, his agency is literally him leaving and deciding to take these risks, his growth is him dropping the politeness for firmness and his significance in the plot is there because the entire plot is "get strong enough to save my home from the big thing that's coming".

>>20282676
Midwit take

>>20282761
Lindon is one the absolute worst MCs out there.
>Apologies
Fuck off.
The author also wanted to avoid making the MC always win and be a Gary Stu (which is a good thing); but instead he did that with the FeMC.

>>20275640
Master Assassins

>>20282957
Imagine getting filtered by Cradle of all things good lord.

>>20282954
have you read the Culture series?

>>20282920
I can't wait for Little Blue's turn to be a secret badass

Westerns?
Space Westerns?
Fantasy Westerns (if there are such a thing)?

>>20283294
Golarion

>>20283294
Horror Westerns?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793094-the-six-gun-tarot

Isekai Western?
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53685364-wrangler

Harem Western?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53497933-suited-for-luck

If I want to start sanderson, is elantris or mistborn series the best start?

>>20283533
Emperor's Soul.

Give an aspiring fantasy author one thing I need to include/not include in my book/s to make it

>>20283544
Competent protagonists that aren't doormats and can think for themselves.

>>20283544
Protag over age of 25. No harem/love triangle.

I’m new to reading science fiction and I’m not sure what I should try next. I’ve read a few of the alien novels and they were ok but didn’t catch my attention. I enjoyed roadside picnic and i, robot a lot though. Any suggestions? Is soviet scifi just better?

>>20283595
I didn’t read the OP post but my question still stands

>>20283595
>>20283602
Read the OP.

>>20283595
read lem

>>20283595
u liek 1984?
try we by zamyatin

>>20283544
An overreaching theme or idea that the reader can attach to, i.e. motivation to improve in cultiavation/power progression genre. Make the story feel more than just a plot.

>>20283544
i give you 2 things
1. read Story Genius and do all of that
2. additionally develop and include a really compelling antagonistic force

1 is kind of the baseline for having a solid protagonist, theme, etc.
2 is the BASEDline
a fantasy novel with something on the level of anton chigurh would be incredible

>>20283544
a good magic system that is neither autistically hard or boringly soft

>>20283679
Have you read The Sum of All Men?

any good bronze age/prehistory based fantasy series?

Let it be known
Sandi rage and moan
Everyone agrees
On sandi, Bakker pees

>>20283294
>Fantasy Westerns (if there are such a thing)?
The Western genre was a big influence on Sword & Sorcery (which a lot of modern S&S writers either forget or don't know). The Conan tale Beyond the Black River reads like a 'Fantasy Western' since it features not-Indians and not-Frontier Settlers.

>>20283910
>Fantasy Western

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MADvxFXWvwE

>>20282711
A Moon Full of Stars by Jon Mollison. It's wonderfully bonkers; it features motorcycle-riding pig orcs to rocketships to the moon (if I'm remembering correctly).

>>20283918
Cowboys are the last generation of true Masculine supremacy.

>>20281875
I did read it a little. I clicked on a random chapter and it had a spelling mistake in the first paragraph. It was describing a goblin falling down the stairs or some shit.

>>20283544
Mystery. It's the core of all storytelling.

>>20283935
That's why they killed cowboys

>>20284031
THEY knew cowboys would never read sandersnoy, so they killed them and turned the survivors into sandersnoys, some of us still have cowboy genes so we still enjoy masculinity.

Why is there so much overlap between Samurai and Cowboys?

>>20284073
Because globalization and are considered "cool".
Imagine them being substituted with gauchos and zulu warriors.

Asking for SPECIFIC recs so hope this allowed. I like Vandermeer’s early work and all of Mieville’s stuff—can anyone hit me up with some recommendations?

Bros I need some reccs on newer fantasy or sci-fi, let’s say post-2000, that isn’t written by total fucking effete libs or women. I don’t care if it’s trashy haremshit, I just want entertaining chauvinism.

>>20284073
Because people admire masculinity, because they are both SUPREME and they are both SUBLIME in the ways of ultimate masculinity, one may be eastern, and even though they have small "swords" the slight curve makes it more SUPREME.

>>20284117
>they have small "swords" the slight curve makes it more SUPREME.
This, a curved small sword > straight long sword, because the straight long sword would never hit that spot, only a curved sword can get that critical hit.

>>20284117
The actual answer is that samurai films were in a crisis post WWII so they began to copy westerns. Then, the two archetypes began to blur into eachother.

What? So no gauchos or zulu movies?
Damn...

>>20284126
effeminate libtard propaganda, Samurai was always like Western Cowboys, maybe they were less masculine and less hunk-ish, but they were reigning supreme in their own way and in the same spirit of ultimate masculinity.

For me, it's The Rifleman.

>>20284135
Well, they were mostly just bitches for the shogunate I don’t know what to tell you. Cowboys pretty much played by their own rules. Very different. It wasn’t until Seven Samurai that the samurai were developed as individuals with their own motivations and beliefs.

>>20284140

>>20284147
>Cowboys pretty much played by their own rules
Based and non-pozzed
>they were mostly just bitches for the shogunate
Also based and non-pozzed, nothing wrong if a twink man becomes a bitch for a supreme hunk that commands him and make his life worth living.

>>20284135
>>20284147
I should also add that then the spaghetti western started copying samurai movies. A fistful of dollars is just yojimbo.

>>20284147
If a Samurai is a twink, he can submit to Shogunate hunks and live his life a honorary hunk.

Bakker was the ghost writer for Elden Ring, this is the supremacy of Bakker.

>>20275640
Wheel of time but it takes 3 books to get there.

And so it went

>>20275366
Scholar, Imager Portfolio #4 - L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2011)

Scholar is the first of five books featuring this protagonist and time period. The narrative travels back several centuries to a time before unification of either country or imager. Five states vie for dominance and imagers remain unknown or die. While it would be possible to start here, it would be inadvisable because it seems to assume that the reader has read the previous three to have established everything that matters. There's minimal covering again of anything from the first three books, so a new reader may be confused about certain matters.

Quaeryt, the 29 year old sole POV, is tasked with providing an assessment of whether the former nation that his lord's father conquered still harbors notions of rebellion. The entire novel is Quaeryt's journey there and then taking matters into his own hands. His ambitions are audacious, though concealed. He has few qualms about killing, as long as it's something he can do without there being any evidence. He plays the role of assassin almost as often as that of scholar. As there's no formal training, his imager abilities are developed through trial and error, which are described in text. Some of the side effects of being an imager are either not described or aren't present for whatever reason.

This book continued the trend of focusing on the protagonist's day to day life. The POV is even more closely held than with the previous protagonist and I often felt that almost all the other characters were more background than significant forces than could affect Quaeryt's life, which reflected how closed off he was to others, often by necessity. The various discussions regarding politics, religion, sociology, history, and other subjects are present here as well. This first book compared favorably to the first book of the prior protagonist and I have little doubt that I will comfortably enjoy the rest of my time with him.

Rating: 4/5

>>20284516
Princeps, Imager Portfolio #5 - L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2012)

The following is filled with structural spoilers to help you understand whether it's something you'd want to read. With this kind of story, the concept and the details thereof seem to matter much more than anything else.

The first 15% or so is Quaeryt becoming accustomed to being the Princeps and newly married. The marriage is awkward throughout the book, but that's to be expected since his lord showed up unannounced one day and presented his teenage (19/20) sister to him (29/30) as his wife. Vaelora, his new wife, agreed to this because her grandmother had a vision and told her as a child that she would.

The next 60% or so is Quaeryt's day to day life working on his next assigned project, rebuilding and setting to order a town partially destroyed by pyroclastic flow from a recent volcanic eruption. It's wasn't quite how I wanted it to be, though I don't know what that would be, but I found it quite nice anyway. He personally fills a surprising number of roles until he can find someone more suited for them. He's the governor, civil patroller (police), justicer (judge), chorister (priest), and whatever other role is required. He really just does everything. There can be no doubt that this is competence porn. Sometimes there are still problems that the law is unable or unwilling to address that need to be resolved. Quaeryt solves all of those thorny issues the only way he seems to know how, assassinations. He briefly wonders whether doing so is sustainable and the ethics of the matter.

The last 25% or is military action where Quaeryt is assigned to quickly train a squad of imagers to cause as much devastation as possible to the enemy forces. Considering how successful he is with that, I have to wonder just how much outright slaughter there will be in the following books.

Rating: 4/5

>>20284522
Imager's Battalion, Imager Portfolio #6 - L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2013)

The previous books have had war as part of their narrative, but this was a military campaign from start to finish. The war to unite the continent had begun. I think it suffered somewhat for that as the other books had more of a variety to keep them fresh. While the abilities of imagers were primarily used for destructive purposes, they were shown to be constructive as well. I would've liked there to be more variety to use their use, as it's rather limited overall. I guess once you have a highly successful tactic there isn't really much reason to try much else. There were various teases about a past civilization and even further back in the past, but it seems they'll remain only that.

Quaeryt has been changing a lot over the course of his story and that's especially the case here. Maybe it's because he's mostly a military commander now is why his personality has changed so much. It's better for him as to accomplish his goals, though for me it makes for a less enjoyable read. The POV isn't as closely held on him, but that's mostly because he's consistently eavesdropping on conversations which allows for conversation without him being strictly present. That's one of several unfortunate habits. Now that assassins are being used against him and his allies he continues reassess whether casual assassinations were really for the best or not. At the end other end of the scale I have to wonder how much his single-handed atrocities are going to affect him in the next book, if at all really. His body count by the end of this book is the several tens of thousands, though it's all very impersonal and at a distance. Very powerful imagers are like pilots dropping weapons of mass destruction on a target, or as a more modern case may be, like a remotely operated UAV with hellfire missiles.

This was the weakest of the Quaeryt books thus far, though it's looking like the next one may even weaker, which is disappointing, but it should still be sufficiently enjoyable. I understand trying to be realistic about how long wars can take, but I would've preferred it to be less so in that regard about this and possibly not have rest of the series be war. It would be nice to see what comes afterward, though even if it doesn't, which would be disagreeable, it's still worth reading.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>20284524
Antiagon Fire, Imager Portfolio #7 - L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2013)

Antiagon Fire was the weakest of the series thus far. The vast majority, 70% or so, is Quaeryt being on a pacification campaign. He travels from place to place reminding the local powers that his lord's forces has already won and that they really ought to stop being so recalcitrant, or as it's described by characters, being stiff-necked. That isn't a term I've really seen outside of biblical references. The last 30% is Quaeryt deciding to conquer a nation on basically a whim with whatever little forces he has with with him.

Strangely, several of the characters have arguably become less developed over time and less individuated. Maybe that's a statement on the military causing homogeneity of personality over time, but I don't think that's what was intended. This is also evident in Quaeryt as he becomes ever more monomaniacal. It's a similar character arc to the starting trilogy and I assume it will end in the same way. There's one book left with him and wrap it all up.

I was disappointed with this book, but it still made for a fine read and I assume the last will be as well. Hopefully it's not almost all about conquering the last remaining nation. This probably should have been a trilogy as well rather than a quintet, but I'll reserve my final judgement until after I finished the fifth of the Quaeryt books.

Rating: 3/5

>>20284530
Rex Regis, Imager Portfolio #8 - L.E. Modesitt Jr. (2014)

Rex Regis was the final book of the Quaeryt Quintet. There were many ways it could have been better, but then it would have been a different style entirely, for better and worse. Primarily my issue with this and the previous book was that they spent far too much time on activities that I didn't find particularly interesting because they were mostly transitory.

The first half was similar to the previous book, but also had parts that were a bit more more like Princeps and that was what I enjoyed most from this entry. The latter half was information gathering from various sources as they travelled to determine the truth of a matter. After that's resolved, there was a bit about long term plans. I wish much more has been used to detail this part instead of almost not quite half being about the day to day matters of traveling a considerable difference.

While these five books provided an interesting view of daily life, this and the previous spent far too much time on matters that should have been lesser priorities. There are often reasons why stories are structured in certain ways and the more dramatic moments are focused rather than an attempt at realism. These books have been highly informative about what I specifically like and dislike about providing minutiae and having a slice of life slant. Which to say that I prefer it to be the focus rather than presented as a liminal space between plot points. The ending was suitable, though rather curtailed.

Overall it was enjoyable enough and served well in its purpose of basically being the sort of comfort reading that I prefer. It's a shame that it wasn't better than it was, if only because it could've been truly enjoyable if it stuck with how the first two Quaeryt books went. I'll be reading the rest of Imager Portfolio sometime within the next few months, which again will be a whole new cast of characters and a different time period.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>20284104
Pls help

I check every so often, but the ip is usually range banned due to abuse. This is a fortunate time to do so though. Closer to the end of the thread and at a low activity time so several in a row aren't as obtrusive. Next time will be five posts as well from a different author, sometime before the end of the month.

As usual, the previous ones can be seen at
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_tripcode=sffg
or by joining the goodreads group in the OP.

The recent posts of the guy doing progression fantasy reviews can be seen here:
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_username=of+20
Hopefully he continues identifying himself. There are several posts before that by him, but they aren't easily linked, same as this posts I do or what I wrote before the tripcode.The posts aren't hard to find though. I really appreciate his posts, not the least of which in that it saves me from having to concern myself about it in any way. It's a valuable service.

>>20284571
Titus Groan

I actually liked the literal autist mc and space vampires
should I read the second book?

>>20282930
>>20282957
You're just saying wrong things for the sole purpose of making Cradle fans angry. I can not accept that you have such a poor understanding of the character. You have to be trolling.

>>20284590
Already read it but that’s a great suggestion— I loved it

Oh no! The Cradle fans!

>>20284616
Do so and report if it's any good.

Can someone tell me what the new sun actually is in Book of the New Sun? Does Tzadkiel actually send Urth a new star? How does the physical star relate to Severian being made the "New Sun"?
t. brainlet

>>20284792
That's one of the answers he spells out in Urth, but honestly just read BotNS again and have fun puzzling about it.

>>20283573
I've noticed compelling characters really sell a book so I'm gonna work hard on that
>>20283579
My protag is not over 25, he's a young prince, is that cringe?
>>20283640
Overarching themes are one of my driving principles, so hopefully I nail it right (the themes being transformation and the machinations of hidden groups in major events)
>>20283664
By compelling how about the antagonists have just as much justification for their actions as the protagonists? But you don't find this out till later?
>>20283679
In my lore, magic is outlawed by religious edict as it causes unpredictable shit to happen. In fact there's an entire kingdom reduced to a wasteland because the elites won't stop practising magic
>>20283999
Easier said than done (nice trips btw); how would I do this, exactly?

>>20284792
>physically relate
Asking the wrong questions here.

>>20275957
>snodgrass
I'm about 80% sure that's something from Harry Potter.

>>20276011
Is this real? The chinks really have no fucking imaginations do they?
>Rank 9 super hero powers! Level up!

>>20284839
Sounds generic as fuck. Unless you are part of a marketable minority and the protag is a sexual deviant, you aren't going to make it. Also, most of the advice you got was either useless or harmful in both literary and marketability sense.

Captcha:
>PS00Y

>>20283533
elantris is a stand alone yet, 2 further books are planned but they are slotted around the 2030 timeframe. Mistborn has 3 books in era 1 and 4 in era 2, of the 7, 6 are published; era 1 has more juvenile writing from the second book onwards, era 2 is much better in terms of characterisation.

If you are looking for a standalone sanderson, go for warbreaker first, elantris drags too much in the middle portions, mistborn has more commitment.

If you are reading sanderson for the first time, read emperor's soul and shadows for silence in the forests of hell; novellas, but his best works yet.

>>20284881
Yeah the protag needs to be more hard gay if he wants the /sffg/ endorsement.

>>20284839
>Easier said than done
Look at your story in the negative, what information do you NOT present? Instead of expanding the story by revealing additional facts, expand the unknown by adding questions.
Obviously don't get caught up in a LOST scenario with no nanswers ever, but try to have all your answers raise additional questions.

For example, a murder has taken place, the body was found in a confessional by the priest when he opened for Sunday service. Through an examination of the evidence and an investigation the culprit is found. The victim was killed by a vagrant who was sheltering in the church overnight and happened to overheard the victim making a clandestine transaction with an unknown third party, killed him, and stashed the body in the confessional.
You've learned about the murder, found the culprit, and also revealed a second, deeper mystery.

>>20284839
Even if your story is pozzed, you don't have to delete the pozzed parts, all you have to do is add non-pozzed parts that will cancel the pozzed. if your book is unbased, then its the same, just add a lot of based parts and it will cancel the unbased parts.

>>20283544
This is a rule of thumb for most authors: Never ever have you character win by blind luck. There is absolutely no worse feeling than a character getting defeated for the sake of "character development". And when I say "defeated", I don't mean he got ruffed up a little by some bullies. I mean, sword at his neck, seconds away from death, and then he's spared because the person holding the sword suddenly has a change of heart. That shit is incredibly annoying. Like my whole body shakes with barely contained rage when that happens.

It's ok for characters to lose. But to keep their lives, they should make some pro-active move. They figure out how to escape. They say something that *persuades* the other person to spare them. They coordinated an attack with their team mate, and that team mate comes at just the right time. That's all ok. It's pro-active. They didn't get spared like some cuck.

>>20284073
Some cowboy movies were explicitly inspired by samurai movies. A Fistful of Dollars got sued for being basically Yojimbo for example.

>>20284908
An addendum is they can just have good things happen by blind luck, but it shouldn't be overly positive benefits against an active antagonistic force. And the luck shouldn't save their ass all the time (the thing they were gathering for minor reasons is EXACTLY the thing they needed for this plot convenience later).

Just finished elantris. How the fuck did sanderdon get so big after this dogshit of a book

>>20284901
We almost made it through a sffg thread without someone posting Bakker.

>>20284928
Elantris wasn't really his 'in', it was moreso Mistborn. Which, at least the first one is decent?

>>20284881
Deviant leftists don't actually read books, they just use them to signal because social status is everything to a chronic loser

>>20283544
Don't skip the good parts. I.e. don't setup some sort of potential story arc and then invalidate/remove/speed past it.
This seems to happen all the time, a writer has some specific scene or plot point he wants to get to and absolutely shreds his way through the entire rest of the story, including many parts way more interesting that what he has in mind, and then after blowing his load has nothing left to say and falls into endless filler.

Remember, the ENTIRE LOTR trilogy is Frodo walking across Middle Earth.
And in every book all the "key scenes" taken together are maybe 5% of the actual wordcount and all the rest is what happens between those points. If anything, you'd be better off intentionally sabotaging and half assing the climax for the sake of the transition scenes instead of the other way around. People have read million word long slice of life stories where nothing ever happens, you shouldn't ignore the power and utility of the process/journey over the result/destination.

>>20284965
This said, don't get bogged down by too much little details. Time jumps are perfectly valid, though take advantage of downtime a bit, a lot of modern fantasy novels, even novels I like, seem to kind of just skip downtime even when it's a perfect moment for characterisation and whatnot.

>>20284972
Yeah, there's balance, but it's important that most characters actually CANNOT be developed or show their likability during climax scenes. We can't have someone making funny jokes, or telling a sympathetic story from their childhood, or having a philosophical discussion with their companions while they're in the middle of swordfighting a dragon after their love interest got chopped in half by lasers.
And also no one gives a fuck about action scenes unless there's some sort of connection to the characters involved in it. You don't even have the excuse of Michael Bay robot explosion porn, all you've got is words. So unless you're some sort of magical genius who can enrapture an audience through your mastery of prose alone, you need all those slower scenes to build up enough interest in the story and characters before you can start writing those major important scenes.

>>20284965
>>20284972
>>20284988
Very cool advice, anons. Thanks

>>20284865
You mean something that's in Harry Potter. It's from...English I guess. There's lots of funny names. There's a surname of Manlove. So you could conceivably have a man named Gaylord Manlove. There has to be one kicking around.

>>20284792
I thought it meant the sun would be regenerated somehow. It's alluded to that it's fading I'm pretty sure because there's a wyrm or something inside it like a worm eating an apple. Not sure how or why that happened, though. But the New Sun in the person of Severian would be the reincarnation of the Conciliator, I thought.

>>20284937
Why would you make it through a thread without mentioning arguably the best contemporary sffg writer?

I don‘t get it.

Sandersoi is sad
Bakker is his new dad
Sandersoi screams
Bakker sprays his cream

>>20283544
start the story as late as possible within the narrative

reminder than 95% of fantasy writers would rather make a tv show if they had the ability or budget but can't so instead of writing a screenplay they write a generic novel with their anime oc often self insert and since they are incels with no friend or life experience their only reference is shitty fantasy and isekai novels they copy.

>>20285318
Not me, I haven't watched tv in 20 years.

>>20285031
I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet.
Under absolutely no circumstances should you open the book with an action setpiece.
It ties into what anon is saying here >>20284988
Opening a story with a a huge ""epic"" scene is basically self-sabotage, with no context, action is just filler.

The single best opening scene that comes to mind for me is the opening of Curse of Chalion by Lois Mcmaster Bujold. It consists of the protagonist walking down a road and being asked for directions, and in it you're given enough information to form a picture of the countryside, the characters motivations and personality, and the type of setting it is. I highly recommend you read it.

>Scorio awoke from death in a tomb of hammered copper.
kino opener.

>>20285322
a new hope opens with an action sequence

>>20285335
Star Wars is the MCU of the 80's.

Any good books about pirates?

>>20285361
count of monte cristo

Why is it that video games spend so much effort trying to get away from old, clunky video game system, while it seems like so much self published fiction is intentionally trying to ape terrible video game cliches?

>>20284616
Yes. Echopraxia makes Blindsight seem like a straightforward story.

>>20285481
Do those clichés have the same impact on literature as on a video game? What effect do they induce in the audience?

>>20285553
They don't have impact in any medium, the only effect they induce in the audience is revulsion.

>>20285562
Don't these things do numbers on Royal Road? I wouldn't touch them, but they must be doing something right

>>20285567
The three most popular Royal Road series are Mother of Learning, which doesn't use any video game shit unless you count time looping. Beware of Chicken, which is just a horrendously slow paced wuxia series, and Paranoid Mage, which, again, doesn't have any video game shit. So honestly, I have no idea.

My best guess is the Amazon algorithm spits it up in recommendations for KU readers, therefore it gets readers, therefore writers assume people actually like it, so they make more, which just reinforces the bias created by Amazon's terrible algorithms.

>>20284616
Maybe. It's bad, but it has more Watts autism shit.

>>20285361
"A Search for Something" by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

Morning topic: Which is the worst between Harry Potter and Star Wars?

>>20285591
People hating on popular things.

>>20285591
Star Wars because it's a film and thus off topic.

>>20285596
Triggered normalfag with a milquetoast opinion.

>>20282761
>four books before it gets good

>>20284946

>>20284887
>era 1 has more juvenile writing from the second book onwards
It gets even MORE juvenile?

Are you supposed to let the thread archive before making a new one?
I'll just post this now cause I have no one else to talk to about it.
I figured out how the long sun works in Book of the Long Sun. I thought the shade that covers it to create night was somehow covering the length of the sun (which is a beam, imagine our sun, the same height, but extended all the way from one end of the horizon to other), and I couldn't figure out how that would work.
So I realized it's obviously covering the source of the sun in the east. There must be an aperture that from which it originates that opens and closes. So when it's partially closed, the line of the sun gets thinner.
Although, I still don't get then how the skylands are illuminated. I'm beginning to think the whorl does go all the way around, so that a person could arrive at the skylands if he walked long enough and literally be on the ceiling of the whorl from where he started. I suspect now that it might be for show, an empty landscape with empty cities that is artificially lit and exists to provide the equivalent of moonlight by night.

>>20285778
>Are you supposed to let the thread archive before making a new one?
No, we wait until page 8 or 9

>>20285778
>I'm beginning to think the whorl does go all the way around
*doesn't

>>20285778
The Long Sun is literally just a big lamp which spins its shade (the Nightside) around, presumably perpendicular to the spin of the O'Neill cylinder.

>>20285819
>perpendicular
contrariwise. I'm retarded ETL.

>>20285819
Damn it. I thought something like that was going on at first but I couldn't make sense of it because of one thing. The shade would have to be an opaque object in the sky that obfuscates part of the skylands, but nothing like that is referred to.

>>20285826
In the cover art it's just a beam, so I don't know what to think. A huge sun lamp seems like most sensible option though. Still, I guess a bizarre sky of Potemkin villages would be in character for Typhon.

any fantasy books with runescape style progression?

>>20285841
The runescape novel

>>20285571
>Looking for new shit to read on RR or Amazon
>Gamelit
>Class system
>Cultivation
>Tower

>>20285868
Just read them, they're the new fantasy.

>>20285868
You forgot
>Dungeon Core
Which I think might actually be the most autistic. There's power fantasy, then there's reading about some fags autistic base building roleplay.

New thread. I don't normally make them.
>>20285899

>>20285650
It's more the fourth book is the last one before it's always good. Fourth book is the weakest by far.

>>20285868
I see more System Apocalypse shit than Tower shit, really.

>>20285361
Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe. Though it gets pretty cringe with the women for some reason. Definitely not Wolfe at his best.

>>20276003
I’ve read Reverend Insanity and it’s terrible. I don’t know why you recommend this garbage.

>>20285883
I love autistic base building roleplay...

>>20275538
Just finished the first half of The Book of the New Sun. Starting the other half later today.