/lit/ - Literature

>"I will kill you" screamed Datharion, hurling a spear through the air like a thunderbolt. But this was not enough. With muscles rippling like a jungle cat Zath leaped in to the air, and, whipping his body around in a single motion, sent the spear back and through Datharion's skull, painting the grass crimson with the brush of his martial prowess.
>"No, brother..." Zath said calmly, "..it is you who die by my hand".

Absolute kino

>>20413987

Bakker is King.

Simple as.

I want fanfiction where Hari Seldon isekais to Rome ~100AD.

Still the best chart for reading sffg

>>20414134
sry but I think we know what is the true chart, I will now go read my advanced fantasy AKA witcher

>>20414134
>Still the best chart for reading sffg
I don't get what's so amazing about Earthsea. I read three books and felt as if the author tried to write a philosophical book but for some reason did fantasy instead, in a way that resembled neither. It didn't even feel like an actual story to me.

Crucify me, but between the books and the show, the show has actually stayed in my mind and I recall it fondly. Idk, maybe I was clueless as a teenager, not being able to grasp some subtle value of the Earthsea books, will try to read them again one day.

>>20414173
No one here will crucify you for counter signaling Le Guin, because most people don't actually understand her literary mastery.

Reminder to read Dune.

sunrays smiling on jolenta booba as the river breeze stiffens her nipples

I feel like I've already this book but this time around 70% of everyone is gay everything revolves around pandemics.

>>20414242
>70% of everyone is gay
There are no gay characters in the book anon.

>>20414242
>everything revolves around pandemics.
And it is set before, during, and after one of her previous books Station 11 which is about a flu that kills 90% of the population, the same flu and pandemic you see in this book.

reposting cos old thread and forgot pic anyway

I got around to finishing this finally.
My first attempt was sometime last year, right after finishing all the malazan books then fall of darkness. I only got about 300 pages in though.

I started from the begining and maybe due to nostalgia I stuck with it this time and was glad I did.

Its honestly a really sad book, I don't usually get emotional when reading but I did with this, maybe to due to it being a prequel and knowing how a lot of these characters end up or maybe it was due to unusual amount of philosophizing and inner monologuing that you get from so many characters, you feel closer to them.

I really did like it, in the end. It was a good read. When I reread the start I remembered feeling out of place with all the pages of not a lot happening, but it does pick up.

Is arathan ruthan gudd?

>>20413987
>I will kill you
>No I will kill you
its cringe

>>20413959
Can someone recommend me somewhat recent scifi books with actual original ideas or REALLY good takes on classic tropes? The less gender issues shit in them the better.

>>20414140
This sounds a lot like those channels reviewing only fast food.

>>20414134
True.

>>20413752
How was DCC too overcomplicated prior to the e-book? I'm kinda curious what was changed now. I don't recall too much complex stuff in the second book, at any rate.

>have a nightmare
>its Sanderson raging and screaming
I need to stop posting in this general

>>20414351
The Quantum Series by Douglas Phillips.
The Gone World
Project Hail Mary
The Nanotech Succession by Lind Nagata
The Last Watch and Exiled Fleet by S.J. Dews.

>>20414140
>that advanced list
Kek

>>20414385
Thanks.

>>20414393
Absolute Kekery of these fast food eaters, I Kek on them all the time

>>20414140
how is The Witcher an advanced series? It's not difficult or anything

>>20414134
i want to know what this faggot has against kj parker

>>20414559
>>20414566
why are you just posting book covers?

>>20414372
>How was DCC too overcomplicated prior to the e-book? I'm kinda curious what was changed now. I don't recall too much complex stuff in the second book, at any rate.
Idk if it was the second, might have been the third. It's about the floor witht he trains, stuff was so complicated that the author made a map and it STILL was confusing the shit out of people. I personally just started skimming some parts.

>start book
>think it's gay as shit
>read negativer reviews on goodreads
>they're all from butthurt american feminists complaining the author inserts rape and bondage fantasies
>decide to power through it after all.
thanks goodreads

>>20414610
Oh yeah, that's book 3 I believe, but the point is that it's intentionally overcomplicated to the point that most people in the story aren't even clear on it. There's a disclaimer at the start that says "Don't worry if you get confused, it's meant to be kind of nonsense until the end".

>>20414611

>>20414611
>they're all from butthurt american feminists complaining the author inserts rape and bondage fantasies
What's wrong though, BDSM and rape is all female readers want to read considering the best sellers. Most of the books women read is just some Alpha Chad trying to force himself on some weak, uninteresting woman who for some reason becomes special and now everyone wants to fuck her. Like, isn't it literally the most revenue generating kind of book? Women eat it all up.

>>20414624
Aren't thrillers actually the best-selling genre?

>>20414572
Seems to be the method to have people read anything ITT.

>>20414628
The actual method is to discuss books, but that brings about shitposters who get upset people are discussing books in the book discussion thread.

>>20414628
sure buddy

>>20414624
don't ask me, ask them
i think they just hate it when it's male authors who do it, but ultimately i don't care either way.

>>20414627
Romance completely shits all over every genre that it isn't even a competition.
https://bookadreport.com/book-market-overview-authors-statistics-facts/

>>20414632
Been discussing Radix for over 6 years, not in much detail of course. I need to reread it.

>>20414637
Fucking hell.

>>20414637
Fucking hell, I didn't know Romance rules supreme.

>>20414637
>>20414645
>>20414677
meaning men have stopped reading, literature belongs to women, sorry chaps but the world has changed

>>20414702
in the book reading world, women rule supreme, while men rage and scream in 4chan, cause they can't compete even in a dream.

>>20414134
Is children of time bad? It seems really fun to read.

>>20414259
Nobody else has finished the book

>>20414723
I wanted to read it but found out it's about an advanced race of evolved spiders living in space.

>>20414718
What the fuck do I care about the book reading world? I don't read books, I just write them.

>>20414844
Post some of your prose.

>>20414844
>What the fuck do I care about the book reading world? I don't read books, I just write them.
It's undending source of fascination to me how the people who are most inclined to write are at the same time the ones who are the least inclined to read. One would think it's one and the same group, yet it's opposite.

>>20414464
Actually, it was another anon that proposed it to be there. Another one tried to convince him to put it higher but he called him a spic and did nothing.

is Deed of Paksenarrion good

>>20413959
What type of stories or settings do you all want to read, but just can't find enough of? What would you want corrected in fantasy or scifi?

I often find parts of a setting or story spoiling an otherwise great book. For example, medieval fantasy turns into gunpowder BS. Or hidden heroes in scifi kill a mass of enemies but remain hidden and underestimated.

Just finished Conan's Tower Of The Elephant and found it a little lacking, it seemed to me that the whole situation wasn't developed enough especially Taurus as a character and the way he died. Though this is my first Conan story so I may not have developed the acquired taste.

>>20415413
For me its progression fantasy, I like the idea as a whole but find that most of the top entries into the genre amateurish.

>>20415413
>I often find parts of a setting or story spoiling an otherwise great book. For example, medieval fantasy turns into gunpowder BS

What do you mean with this? Is gunpowder being introduced to a medieval fantasy that usual of a trope? Concerned now...

>>20414134
cmon please move Anathem from the D ranking. I love that book so much, it should be at least A.

>>20415426
Ha, I wasn't even aware of this genre. Does the progression in Dune count as a grandfather version of it?
So you like the genre, but it lacks good plots and pacing?
>>20415441
Stay calm - I don't think that it is a usual trope. Just something that I noticed and gave as an example.

>>20415492
no.

>>20415496
>Stay calm - I don't think that it is a usual trope. Just something that I noticed and gave as an example.

Ah. Ok. Could you still tell me what bothers you the most when that happens? Is it that you go in expecting classic sword fantasy or is the execution poor? Or is there just "too much of it" after it is made a thing?

>>20415538
The first case - I expect a certain setting and then it changes, while the story and character development can easily continue without that.

Anything like this I can read? Already read Silmarillion and Book of the New Sun.

>>20414582
this was okay, felt too much like doom patrol or umbrella academy

>>20415496
>Ha, I wasn't even aware of this genre. Does the progression in Dune count as a grandfather version of it?
>So you like the genre, but it lacks good plots and pacing?
Yah pretty much the genre is so shit right now especially because litrpg is for some reason popular even though it takes away all of the fun of the genre since it forces people to follow numbers instead of creating their own interesting progression systems.

Requesting loli recommendations. Preferably with loli POV, lude is welcome but not necessary.

A previous well received recommendation was Perilous Waif. Currently reading Daughters of the Blood.

>book 1 ends on a cliffhangerr
>open book 2
>new character POV

>>20415812
name 70 trillion series

>>20415413
Biotech sf. Other branches of transhumanist research get plenty of attention in literature, but so few stories dedicate themselves to exploring the future of biotechnology.

>>20415812
>pov doesn't change back until the next book and you have forgotten mos of what happened

>>20415907
>POV only changes after new POV meets the old one, and the story never depicts how the cliffhanger is resolved just says that it was handled

>>20415977
FUCKING DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES WHAT A CANCEROUS SERIES

Is The Dark Tower worth reading? The only King book ive read is Salem's Lot, but I found it too classic, not very creative.

>>20415710
>follow numbers
>>20415710
>creating their own interesting progression systems.

Those aren't mutually exclusive. It's just that most authors are lazy with their systems.

>>20416001
I wasn't actually referencing anything in specific but I'm glad to know I brought up a terrible memory.

>>20416009
Yeah, basically this. A lot of LitRPGs do the 'default' thing (levels, stats, skills, titles, quests, with no real interesting ways of using any of those). Some do neat variants, or use them more as set-dressing for more interesting plots.

>>20415812
>>20415907
>>20415977
this is the kind of shit that makes me want to post illegal content in regards to the author

Anyone have any opinions on Naomi Noviks work?

>>20415601
Im writing a book that shares a lot of mythology and themes with elden ring (not superficially (and quite by accident, i just chose to use irish folklore as a mythological basis). Tell me your home address and ill mail you the manuscript once its done.

Should I spend $28 for the entire Malazan collection at my local shop or pay $7 for a hardback about sasquatch

>>20416213
Sasquatch

>>20415601
The Second Apocalypse.

>>20415808
The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop.

>>20415441
it's unironically even in Lord of the Rings, since that's how they crack the wall at Helm's Deep

>>20416213
Definitely Sasquatch.

>>20416224
>>20416266
Thanks lads

>>20415812
>book ends on a cliffhanger
>next book never gets released

>>20416213
both desu but sasquatch first

>>20416253
Ah yes. But what i was worried about was "too many writers" bringing actual guns to fantasy settings.

>>20416320
I mean, if it's specifically a fantasy version of a setting that would have guns, I have no issue. If it's medieval fantasy and suddenly there's guns it's a little tougher to swallow.

>>20413971
is that stuff any good? it seems to be a lot of books. is it finished?

What would Tolkien think of catgirls?

I'm looking for old fantasy or science fiction books, anything of our enjoyable fiction type, that have fallen out of the public domain. I want to narrate them so I'm hoping a few anons here might know some nice old books.
https://gutenberg.org/
This seems to have a good collection but I'm struggling to search through it.

>>20416395
fantasy was a mistake

>>20416407
This site is pretty good for searching for books

https://www.risingshadow.net/library/searchlist#nav

>>20416148
>Anyone have any opinions on Naomi Noviks work?
The one behind the Temeraire Dragon series? Not worth reading, adequate at best, horribly dry and boring at worst.

>>20416428
Thanks, this looks pretty good.

>>20416295
>book 3 ends on a cliffhanger
>wait 5 years
>open book 4
>new character POV
>drop series

>>20414134
The Witcher definitely does not deserve to be so high. I say this as someone who read it in polish.

>>20416007
I would say no. Book 1 is something different and has an intriguing mood and tone. In book 2, King reverts to modern pop but it's not so bad and then it just gets worse. I dropped it somewhere and feel any need to revisit.

>>20416148
Like Temeraire. Didn’t like Uprooted.

>>20414134
I'm a faggot. Is the Earthsea anime, Tales from Earthsea, worth a watch/

>>20416027
Which litrpg should I read

>>20415900
Also bio-fantasy. I'm sick of elves, give me horrible magical abomination cities with living flesh walls.
Or basically just Osmosis Jones but human-sized.
Afaik there's only the few "inside the body" stories like that and cells at work, nothing remotely similar in the outside world. Where's my entirely integrated artificial biological ecosystem?
There should be a book about planting a "world seed" in a solar system and an entire civilization growing out of it like a biomechanical fungus.
I want that horrifying documentary about fig trees and the insect ecosystem that lives on them but with humans instead of bugs.

>>20416671
>I'm sick of elves, give me Aylied!
FUCK ELVES

>>20416644
>Which litrpg should I read
If any, try The Wandering Inn. The best LitRPG out there, not using its LitPRGness for content but for story reasons instead.

>>20416007
No. Read The Jerusalem Man trilogy by David Gemmell instead. It's extremely similar to Dark Tower except it's written in a Heroic Fantasy mould so it's good.

>>20416605
For the animation, yes, but not the story
Both Le Guin and Miyazaki said it butchered the story, despite it being Miyazakis own son that helmed the film

>>20416834
Why would I want to read something with a female lead?

>>20416605
It's pretty mediocre. They made a Frankenstory out of the 3rd and 4th books, and starting the story there makes as much sense as it sounds like. All the set pieces are asset swaps from better Ghibli movies.

>>20415808
Seconding this. I'm very interested. I'll have to check out the ones you mentioned. Although personally I would prefer a chad
POV with a loli love interest.

>>20416945
>Why would I want to read something with a female lead?
Because not reading something due to it having a female lead is the dumbest reason possible for not reading? Like a little boy's 'girls are icky!' whining. Grow up.

>>20416945
There's multiple POVs

>>20417033
>responding to the shitposter
well it's good to see /sffg/ is still getting newfriends

>>20416913
>despite it being Miyazakis own son that helmed the film
Miyazaki walked out of his son's debut movie. Miyazaki's son also made pic related.
That should tell you all that you need to know.

>>20416945
>mogs your male MC

>>20416834
>it gets good after 2000 pages bro!

Tolkien has so many Wikipedia articles dedicated to him. This is a fraction of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien%27s_influences
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_the_medieval
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlacing_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_and_Middle-earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impression_of_depth_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson%27s_interpretation_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien%27s_artwork
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Named_weapons_in_Middle-earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien%27s_maps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_reception_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_inspired_by_J._R._R._Tolkien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_fandom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_hostility_to_J._R._R._Tolkien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_constructed_by_J._R._R._Tolkien
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry_of_Middle-earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proverbs_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien%27s_Middle-earth_family_trees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien%27s_prose_style
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_the_modernists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_The_Lord_of_the_Rings

>>20417166
Don't care; lotr is boring normalfag shit.

>>20416945
This

>>20417184
this is an 18+ website kid

>>20417152
Mogget was based.

>>20417239
So why are you still obsessed with babbys first fantasy novel?

>>20417329
why are you obsessed with trying to be an edge lord contrarian?

>>20417318
He really was. Best cat.

>>20416243
Added to the reading list, thanks.

>>20416077
Doxing is almost never actually illegal on it's own. I think in the US only doxing undercover CIA agents is illegal.

>>20414134
>the darkness that comes before
>harder than the lord of the rings AND Dune

>Update from the /trash wings of fire reader.

WoFreaderguy again. Names're hard. Fuck you.

Just finished the 3rd book. I've started burning through these faster and faster, it seems. This was especially good. Even if Rainwings're fucking trash, holy shit
All you nutters insisting they're the best tribe are deluded.
Scarlet may be a psychotic sadistic bitch, but at least she defends what's hers. Rainwings didn't even notice when folk disappeared.

Squid is adorable. So is Fatespeaker. I barely know either of these characters, and they're vying for the top of the list for secondaries.
Nautilus isn't the best dad, but he tries. Dig his style. His back-and-forth with Morrowseer was quite enjoyable.
I'm pretty sure I've heard Fatespeeker's name before, so I'm going to assume (hope) they don't get killed.

Glory's still a bitch, but significantly better than the last book. At least at the start. She's more on par with her initial style and attitude. And she gets better as the book goes on, largely due to switching from general cattiness towards everyone, to quite justified anger and sorrow.
By the end, she seems to've gotten her stuff together well enough to maintain a healthy playful snark, rather than outright meanspirited aggressiveness. Even if she apparently thinks some of it still.

Kestrel was 100% right about Rainwings, fight me.
Lazy, useless, and backwards. Not very bright, either.
'Least there were a few decent characters in the bunch. Though, most of those still didn't exactly care that a huge load of people've been kidnapped, until after they were told it's been happening by one of the victims thereof.
Jambu has a weird pronunciation in the audiobook. Honestly thought it was some French thing, like Jean-Buu at first. Very confused.
Adorable as fuck. Big pink bubble of friendliness and joy.

Sunny gets the raw end of the stick throughout this story for some reason. Generally being ignored outright, and just not treated seriously. Kind of hate it. Probably important later.

>>20417716
>dox some faggot that won't stop fedposting while you're trying to post about children's cartoons
>get van'd
Kek

Where do you guys go to find new sci-fi books from new authors?
Totally not trying to find where to advertise my first book before I put it out there.

>>20417827
Seeing a sad lack of Clay doing much this time around. He's still a reliable rock to lean on, but no longer the peacemaker of the party, so much.
Definitely treated more for laughs as others've mentioned eventually happens. Bit sad.
Starflight funnily enough, in a semi-foreshadowing way, experiments on our lovable boy. Putting fruit just at his nose.

Rainwing queens are fucking horrible. Which makes sense, as so are Rainwings. Still, not caring about major missing persons was a might odd.
It'd be one thing if they said "jungle probably got them. Happens". But they act like nothing bad ever happens, anyway. So it's just offputting.
Mangrove was a champ, though.

Meeting Blaze was a bit weird, and felt a tad forced honestly. It doesn't connect at all with the main story.
I did like seeing a little bit of Sandwing lore with those tapestries, though. They seem honestly pretty chill, when they're not trying to kill you.
Blaze is definitely the best sister.

Deathbringer is a sauve asshole, and I absolutely adore him. His banter with Glory is exceptional.
Shame the major age gap adds some weirdness. But especially as she was playing the Icewing, I loved their interaction. Also raised some interesting lore aspects. Dragons buy drinks. Dragons have bars. This is new, interesting information, with a lot of potential.

Same way for seeing the Nightwing home. Little creepy, not much particularly said about it, but it was interesting to see, and I'm rather curious about what they're doing with the venom/why they're running experiments on Rainwings.

Glory's ascension to the throne was not at all expected. Kind of dig the character move, though. Seeing Rainwings don't give a fuck, she says "fine, I'll do it myself", and would've killed the queen if it weren't for the challenge.
Ended in a bit of a forced-feeling 'ur related to queen line' way. But not bad.

Overall, this series's gotten progressively better. Easy 8/10. Not perfect, but very engaging.

>>20417996
Post it on 4chans /lit/ board, in /sffg/ thread.

>>20417996
I think there's a print sci-fi subreddit.

You're really better off there if you desire success in any form. Nobody gets famous from 4channel unless they stick stuff up their ass whilst speedrunning Miracle Warriors or commit some atrocity.

Request. Any good books with this feel?

>>20418112
The High Crusade

>>20418112
hard caveman rules supreme over purple soft gays?

>>20413959
Who is your favourite sci fi pioneer? +1000 points if they're from the 19th century.

>>20418381
King Bakker the pioneer of sci-fi mind rulers, its about a supreme killer that rules the minds of plebs.

>>20418381
Stanislaw Lem

>You feel it too, don’t you?
>The Bakker’s reawakening…

>>20418494
Correct.

>>20418388
Wrong.

>>20418538
I wasn‘t asking.

For me it's not reading epic fantasy ever again.

>>20418570
I was.

>>20418708
This is what is known as Self-Care.

>>20418761
Not my problem.

>>20418779
I've actually tried to force myself to read more epic fantasy, but my brain rejected it. Even an epic fantasy novel with the entire story confined to a single book that isn't a million pages long that was suggested by a very trusted source? Couldn't do it. Got about 30% into it and stopped. Wasn't a bad novel or anything; I've just read enough epic fantasy and I don't want to read anymore of it.

>>20417729
Does it trouble you?

>>20418796
I'm making it your problem.

>>20418847
No, not really.

I need a fantasy book that has a similar vibe to Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. Something fun, wild, no too self-conscious, unafraid to turn it up to 11 and be outrageous in the name of party rocking.

>>20418853
You don't have a choice.

>>20418863
Accept defeat.

>>20418865
Now you are begging.

How often do you guys re-read Dune?
I do LOTR re-reads ever 2-3 years and so I'm thinking maybe every 5 years for Dune?

Your defeats will be accepted in the not my problem department, contact didn't ask for further questions.

>>20418856
Ruler Supreme is in the house tonight
Everybody just rage and scream (yeah)
And we gon' make you blow some steam (woo)
Everybody just rage and scream (clap)
Ruler Supreme is in the house tonight
Everybody just rage and scream (I can feel it, baby)
And we gon' make you blow some steam (yeah)

Fuck I knew Davos didn't die but to read the chapter when it's all revealed I thought that was really awesome
I love Davos

>>20418896
What?

>>20418887
I read Dune 1 time like 10 years ago, too boring to re-read. Re-reading LotR every 2nd or 3rd year as well.

how many books a week do you read

>>20419255
0, books too big to finish in a week

didn't realize my kobo died last night & forgot to charge it before leaving this morning
sad i couldn't continue sev's journey

Most evil villain to exist in fantasy?

Spoiler question ahead, so don't read if you haven't finished the first 3 Bakker books:

SPOILER:
What happened to Cnaiur urs Skiotha?
Does he return in the other six books? I'm in the middle of book 4 rn (Judging Eye) and so far, he isn't even mentioned irrc.
Did he die in that underground nonman fortress under Shimeh after the skin spies fight Moenghus?

I really liked the character and feel like there must have been a clearer conclusion to his arc/POV.

>>20419298
Rafo fag

>>20419298

Advice on making sure I get a good copy of an ebook when downloading from libgen? I downloaded three separate copies of the same book and they all had the same typo. It's not easy to tell with sci-fi what with all the made-up words littered about.

>>20419563
LOUTS WU
MC OF A FUTURE XIANXIA COMING NEAR YOU

>>20414173
If you want to understand the Wizard of Earthsea properly you need to read and enjoy Tao te Ching first. All there is to it.

>Alea actually dies
>becomes a permanent story fixture in the form of the cringiest piece of permanent equipment in fantasy history as well as a long term resurrection target for Zac
I'm actually impressed that the author managed to monkey paw this one so hard. Simps find a way.

Also you lied /lit/, you said Zac's only love is axe.

>>20419629
That'd imply Zac has any actual personality to be a weapon-obsessed unga bunga dumbass. He's just 'guy trying to survive' and never really progresses past that.

>>20419678
And a massive simp to terrible western takes on yandere*

>>20419688
He's not even that. His entire relationship with Alea is "she's into him" and "he just doesn't know what to think".

>>20414134
>His Dark Materials two tiers lower than HP
???

>>20419298
He returns and dies shortly after

>>20419698
*and goes to absurdly melodramatic lengths to preserve her life in a setting where fucktons of people die
He guilt trips harder over Alea than his fucking dad dying, despite knowing eachother for like 3 months, and she has way too much fucking plot armor for a character whose entire existence is just hitting on him between battles. Oh, and he's already kissed her anyway. It's very easy to understand the narrative intention behind love interests like Alea, she's the author's beta fantasy and inferiority complex toward a dominant, protective, and controlling woman, which fits Zac's profile perfectly as a timid, inoffensive, moralfag prone to emotional outbursts due to getting walked on by non-betas. This is the heart of why DotF dragged down by how fucking boring Zac is, cultivation style settings are about ideals, ambition, and conquest while the author and thus the protagonist is just a massive reactive pussy.

>>20419629
>I'm actually impressed that the author managed to monkey paw this one so hard. Simps find a way.
>Also you lied /lit/, you said Zac's only love is axe.
Because he does only love his axe. Alea has been reduced to being his 'amulet' but that doesn't mean that she's in the story in any meaningful way, nor that she's a love interest. As far as I see, she's no longer relevant. If you want a slight spoiler, I'm up to date and there still hasn't been any real conversation between her and Zac so far.

>>20419823
Author cornered himself so hard on this one. No relevance means the audience clearly hates the character too, but the Tower of Eternity arc plus making Alea's dying wish be to follow him means he can't ever truly get rid of her without compromising Zac's image. The whole point of her is to be the anti-Hannah, someone he still cares about at the end of the journey unlike Hannah who he didn't after a few months separation, but he miscalculated the fact that nobody else is going to give a shit about the character that long. or gave a shit in the first place. What a terrible subplot, jesus.

>>20419886
I honestly think the author doesn't care about Alea, but she's JUST liked enough that he doesn't wanna just be rid of her. Either way, character interactions featuring Zac are basically the lowest point of DotF so who even cares.

>>20419800
>>20419823
>>20419886
>>20419891
Christ is this even fantasy? If feels like you are having a discussion about some romance garbage. Go to relevant thread (not /sffg/) and discuss pos romance there, don't bring this to /sffg/

>>20419913
>Barely romantic subplot in fantasy
>WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DISCUSSING A BOOK

i thought the R in gri meant romance

>>20419913
Please leave tourist, /sffg/ is exclusively for the discussion of webnovels, cultivation, litrpg, and Gene Wolfe.

>>20413959
Is the Three Body Problem as based as its beginning? I might buy it after what I’ve read so far.

>>20419891
Zac steers the story so his shit qualities directly influence whether the story goes in a good or shit direction. Sister search arc sucked because it was about character relationships, Tower of Eternity had the chance to be really cool but was dragged down harshly by character relationships, especially Alea. Also DotF is persistently getting away from its roots. First arc on the island was highly proactive with Zac farming dogs and quietly engineering ways to get stronger/do quests/beat the incursion but that basically has been abandoned ever since the demons lost. Quests only appear once in every several dozen chapters, usually in reactive situations, the incursions have been more about defending the planet that securing gains, the entire chaos plot was obviously reactive because he was being manipulated by the heavens and the shard the whole time, everything related to the town blows ass, the entire undead class pretty much got skimmed through compared to hatchetman with tons of upgrades being offscreened and the class itself seeing little use even in its intended role as 1v1ing strong opponents.

Honestly Alea is a persistent nuisance but my biggest issue is it feels like the author completely gave up on litRPG for generic drama-fantasy.

>>20419629
What novel?

>>20419985
He just has no real motivations or goals, or much of a personality, so I find it hard to really enjoy DotF that much. It's not like the author CAN'T write good characters (Ogras and Billy are good longer-running ones, Average was a great one-off), he just stubbornly refuses to give any character to Zac.

>>20419961
So discuss all those, and discuss romance in another thread.

>>20419977
I've only read the first novel. Didn't really like it. Thought the translation was wonky and the hard sci-fi element kinda falls away near the end when quantum computing basically gets used as magic. Other anons have mentioned the later novels include plenty of overemotional women causing problems getting before getting owned by rational male protagonists with facts and logic so if that's what appeals to you I'd say go for it.

>>20420010
Your failure to understand the fact that harem subplots are an essential staple shared by all categories I mentioned only further proves to me that you're a tourist. It's only natural they would be brought up in discussion.

Bushido Online series wound up getting better. First book was a mess, with not much going for it but a Japanese setting instead of a European one. But book 2 started a bit stronger and more focused, then finished well with some wheels within wheels clan plotting and book three delivered more of the same. By now there's an ongoing intrigue and a team of regulars engaging enough to make me read the next one.

>>20420044
That sounds cool. What made you pick it up after the first blunder?
>>20420012
Okay thanks. Well, I am bored of women being put on a pedestal in the golden age sci fi I read. Haha

>>20419992
That's a side effect of him just reactively following a constantly phoned in plot for the last several hundred chapters. If characters are free to do their own thing they can then express themselves through what they end up doing, if they're just doing shit because they have to constantly they degrade into mook NPCs. Zac's just an NPC that beats up bad guys. This is what happens when moralfags write murderhobos, they don't know how to validate killing other than reactively so they need to create an endless reactive scenario to validate endless killing.

>>20420064
It's weird, because there's a fucking built-in "okay to kill these guys" group with all the incursions.

Defiance of the Fall sounds interesting but I really hate the idea of litrpg. Progression fantasy and powerlevel autism is fine in moderation but once you make levels and stats and experience points diagetic it just totally takes me out of the story. Would you guys still recommend it in spite of that?

>>20420077
DotF's positives:
>Actually fairly interesting explanation of why it's a LitRPG
>Worldbuilding is pretty well-done
>Does some cool spiritualism stuff
Bad points:
>Protagonist is a nothing
>No real actual plot, just endless reactive stuff
>Action is boring

>>20414134
>Piranesi
>C

Go fuck yourself

>>20420071
Not the non-combat classes though. They're innocent, even though they're actively invading a planet. Only kill the ones with weapons or find a conveniently placed pirate/slaver/beast horde planet/rift, they're the ball-pits for beta violence.

>>20420103
I'm not that against him trying to maintain a morality thing there, I think it's a dumb complaint that the protagonist is trying to be moral, and he's basically going "Hey you can stay if you want but given how that goes it'll mean you're locked off from your home for ages and you've gotta be on our side", which... Sure, it's an enforced thing (and they mention some of the non-combat ones are just "Yeah okay sure" like this is just normal) but it is a hamfisted solution. It'd make more sense if he just shunted them back through if he didn't wanna kill them.

>>20420038
>harem subplots are an essential staple shared by all categories I mentioned
Reverend Insanity doesn't have this problem.

>>20420087
>Actually fairly interesting explanation of why it's a LitRPG
Let me guess. The litrpg metaphysics were actually created by the gods/aliens/symbolic representation of the author. Bonus points if the characters only discover this halfway through and have to find a way to rebel against the system.

>>20420129
No, no. It's a known thing in the multiverse how it came to be. Basically some ultra-cultivator empire tried to make an absurdly powerful training tool to make their armies even more powerful, and then they turned on the tool and it obliterated the empire and shut off cultivation for ages before it powered up properly and became a multiverse-spanning System that governs cultivation and all that shit with RPG nonsense.

why not just play torment nv or kotor
idk litrpg

>>20418801
I find that there isn't enough difference in style between epic fantasy. You have the multi-POV set up, then you have the political maneuvering court drama, the guy who gets 1.5 action scenes per book to keep you interested, the unexpected death of the guy you thought would be in it for the whole series, the girl who is smarter and more capable than everyone thinks, the pre-mature defeat of a villain to make way for a bigger bad guy, the odd sensation that nothing has actually happened after 900 pages, fatigue as too many sub-plots dilute what initially interested you in the series to begin with.

Pick and choose how "dark" the setting is and how "hard" your magic is.

I am over it, and detoxing with short stories.

>>20420142
Eh... that sounds better than I was expecting actually. My biggest greivance with litrpg is just how lazy it feels from a worldbuilding perspective. Like say what you will about Brandy Sandy at least he takes the time to come up with his own magic systems and works to make it feel like a natural part of the world. The litrpg I'm familiar with treats it almost like a complete afterthought.

>>20420102
simps rage and scream
male authors reign supreme

>>20418801
Read epic poetry instead. The Illiad, The Mahabarata, the Arthurian cycle, etc.

>>20420185
>simping for men
Ok fag.

>>20420180
Like I said, DotF has pretty solid worldbuilding, it's just in service of... Not actually that great story-telling. I MIGHT read the next book when it comes out, but honestly I just don't really care enough about the story to keep going. I'm pretty character-focused when it comes to reading, and the best characters are consistently sidelined or made uninteresting. Other LitRPGs I like have better characterisation and generally do more interesting things with the RPG stuff. DotF doesn't really do much of either.
On LitRPGs with explanations for why it's like that, Dungeon Crawler Carl you might like because the RPG elements are explicitly done as part of an alien game show and it's not really magic, it's just sufficiently advanced technology that the protagonist is unwittingly forced through.

>>20420194
I know I'm tempting fate by asking this with the bakkerautist around but what are some non meme female authors you guys like? Whether it's "high brow" sff like Le-Guin or some trashy but fun webnovel author idc. I just want to expand my horizons a little.

>>20420123
New planets get a lot of benefits, essentially as a training ground for juniors, both in the form of origin dao and the form of low competition/high safety once the invasion ends. He was basically selling access to that in exchange for more work/information for the human side.

Also morality is not the issue, the issue is moralfaggotry. Someone can be moral and still be proactive and ambitious, but Zac is clearly neither. Moralfags usually aren't very good at being moral in the first place, and Zac is no exception, it's usually a mentality that's more about shallow optics or obedience to the status quo than deeply thought out ethics.

>>20420212
I've realised I haven't actually read many female authors lately (that I know were women at least, some authors don't have much about them so I dunno), but that's just because I've been on a LitRPG binge to see if any are really worth it and the only female author I've read in that binge was pic-related, which was... Fine. Definitely a different one compared to other LitRPGs, a lot more focused on social stuff and whatnot.

>>20420212
Don't even touch recent books by females because they are obsessed with gays. I recommend trying coldfire trilogy.

>>20420230
I don't think Zac is explicitly moral or trying to instruct it, he's just... Kinda defaulting. Which is boring, yes, he's not really questioning or changing his worldview, he's just using it like it was.

>>20420202
>I'm pretty character-focused when it comes to reading
I tend to agree with you there. I like creative worldbuilding and strange ideas, it's why I read sff, but if you want to get me to care about a STORY then there needs to be at least some human element to grab onto. Otherwise all your worldbuilding kinda just equates to the literary equivalent of concept art.

>>20420248
Good characters can save a bad setting, but bad characters can't be saved by a good setting. I've only dropped one series for absolutely garbage characterisation in my LitRPG binge (pic-related), but DotF is stretching my tolerance too, just because of how bland Zac is. I can tolerate bland secondary characters if the protagonist is interesting but vice-versa is harder to stomach.

>>20420265
Is he bland by design as an audience surrogate à la Bella from Twilight or did the author just not develop his character enough before he started writing?

>>20420245
That's pretty much classic moralfaggotry. He has no core philosophy or core principles, just some ambiguous mix of following the law/social studies ethics/direct emotional responses. Ogras' duel in the tower is a good example, Ogras acts ruthlessly and decisively because he views that as the natural way of the multiverse, while Zac can only put up some vague limp-wristed protest that threatening the civilians made him uncomfortable. It's actually a pretty good representation of what a shallow everyman is like when he's confronted with a lack of authority and the need to be his own moral agent, the problem is a shallow everyman is fucking boring to read about.

>>20420038
Romance in male-oriented progression fantasy and a female-oriented bodice-ripper or even palace drama is completely different. The progression fantasy is gotta-catch-‘em-all, thrill of the conquest. The bodice-ripper is about feelings.

>>20420292
I don't know to be honest. Given the author has shown he can make entertaining, if flat characters (there's Billy, who's just a huge fucking dumbass who is inexplicably giant and dumps all his stats into strength and can level a fucking army but he has NOTHING else going on and he's clearly not mentally right, but he's just entertaining), Zac definitely stands out because it felt like he HAD an arc (he went from 'confused everyman' to 'grizzled, paranoid grumpy survivor' to 'grizzled grumpy guy' and he's just kinda stuck there since, and he's not even that grizzled or grumpy most of the time he just... He feels like he's written by the author writing the first line of dialogue or thought process that comes to mind, utterly nothing as a real basis).

>>20420294
Shallow everyman gaining a more thorough morality and philosophical approach can be good though (this is why I like Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl is absolutely a pretty standard everyman morally-speaking at first, but he ardently refuses to give up on his humanity when he realises that's almost precisely what the Dungeon is designed to do, because he could easily go full murderhobo, and he's occasionally tempted, but he instead goes for righteous fury and indignation against a cruel system that doesn't care for him).

>>20420185
Go back to your rape fantasies you clod

>>20420303
Hmm... I know newer authors tend to be overly safe when it comes to protagonists, since a bad protagonist can ruin a story much more easily than a bad supporting character. I think of it like how when artists start out painting they tend to underuse the darker colors because mistakes are harder to correct when the color is darker. In an effort to avoid creating an insufferable protagonist everyone hates you just made a boring protagonist instead.

>>20420352
Male authors penetrates with might
A force that no one can fight
Simp posters moan and scream
Getting plowed until they cream

>>20420303
Billy started off good because he had a sense of cleverness to him.
>Billy didn’t understand why so many didn’t like the new world. It was so simple. Hit things on the head and they gave you money and made you stronger. But people hid behind the walls and cried instead of going out thwonking. People were the idiots, not Billy.
>“People are stupid. Just thwonk rats for a week and you get as much energy, and you gain money, not lose it,” Billy muttered, and Zac had to agree
I feel like as the story went on he's just degraded into "dumb strong guy" though.

>>20420380
Avatarfagging is against the rules.

>>20420400
newfags rage and scream
/sffg/ regulars know what words mean

>>20420380
Please go watch some youtube videos that provide a basic introduction to rhythm, meter, and rhyming scheme. Sweet merciful Christ I am begging you here.

>>20420311
I would find it very strange for someone with a common sense mindset not to go through a major philosophical change when thrown into a radically different litRPG environment, since they're kind of just operating on the bare minimum intellectual standard for civilized society while the new environment will present very different demands and realities upon them. Whether they go into a highly moralized/immoralized direction or a more neutral darwinistic one is one thing, but I'd definitely expect them to change. That said the character can still be shit depending on if the author does the character development poorly or develops into a poor result. I wonder if Zac's supposed to be shallow for self-inserting while the focus remains on the setting, but there's too much fucking character drama if that's the case.

>>20420419
>20420419
Not him. But Poetry and the English language is an oxymoron.

>>20420427
He can post in Linear B for all I care so long as he stops with this ring around the rosy bullshit.

>>20420417
you are a dumb gay nigger who will die alone
bakkekdrone

>>20420419
>>20420400
If you want him to stop, just report him for spamming. It's that simple.

>>20420441
Accept defeat.

>>20420185
Male authors are pretty prone to simping. I doubt most would approve of Fang Yuan feeding damsels to carnivorous fauna.

>>20420447
Or using them as human shields.

What litRPG should I read for the most focus on numbers autism possible?

>>20420521
Got you bro.