/lit/ - Literature

I bless this new thread with The Wandering Inn, may the story be continued for decades to come.

>>20654689
What are you reading and what are you planning to read?

>>20654751
Started reading Bruce Sentar books hearing good stuff. I was shocked how solid 'Saving Supervillain' was despite being a Harem story. Genuineyl were more interested in the story than the sex, for the first time when reading erotica. It wasn't perfect, it kinda stumbled at the end and had some flimsy plot points, but for a self-publish and a harem at that...genuinely impressed with it. Definitely going to read Mana Master now. I wonder whether on average he's better than Randy Darren, so far it would seem so, but must check Sentar's other series to be sure. Good stuff imo

>>20654772
To add to that, i think the author made a big mistake with the cover, it's not bad, but definitely not in tune with what the book is. A more serious yet still smutty cover art would be much better, as it is I almost over-looked it due to the porny look. A shame.

>>20654777
All of these books have the same cover, and I will never forgive this shithole for telling me the Darren/Arand guy is anything but below-average fanfic tier.

>>20654751
Been reading Ending Maker the last couple of weeks, about halfway through. Read Nolyn yesterday, and was surprised to finish a book in a day. Webnovels are throwing off my sense of how long books are supposed to be.

Why do you consider sci-fi and fantasy to be the superior genres of literature?

>>20654811
It's all fun and games until Meng Hao bashfully smiles

>>20654811
Fantasy is completely unbound in its ability to express themes and characterization through any effective means.

>>20654782
Almost every fantasy smut author seems to be pretty meh at best, because they seem to just be required to pump out like a book a month, and they're all cut-and-paste bullshit as a result.

>>20654829
>AI will replace them in both the writing an cover illustration within five years
>And it will do a better job at both
I don't care what anyone says, this timeline is fucking baller

>>20654751
Currently reading Herodotus until the second wayfarers comes in. Long way to a small angry planet really made me smile so I’m going to continue on.

>>20654844
It'll always be five years away.

>>20654729
why does the cover say wanderins inn

>>20654851
I was just saying five to be generous, it's already pretty much there, I just don't know how long it will be before it becomes widely available to the public. Definitely DALL-E is making better cover art for anyone with access.

>>20654857
Delusional

Kill. All. Bakker. Fags. Simple. As.

>>20654844
Dubs of truth, I can't wait

Damn this shit slaps frfr

>>20654864
If you say so

>>20654873
https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-asking-robots-to-design

>>20654873
he cute

>>20654751
I am currently reading pic related. I like it quite a bit so far. The world feels unique and races are definitely so. Names are hard to remember as the language spergery gets in the way but I kinda like it being so weird.

>>20654875
Yeah, he was my introduction to the field when GPT-2 dropped. I think it's crazy interesting what gets the AI to give better results, like adding more adjectives to the query makes the image more detailed generally. Or just adding "very" several times. Or the way GPT gives better answers when you tell it to think about its response, or to call you out when you ask an impossible question. Just fucking nuts how far we've come.

Damn this is better than Dahlgren

>>20654885
Sure, but if you go too far you end up like Blake Lemoine and other delusionals who are too optimistic of the current state of the tech or anytime soon.

Let's play a game, /sffg/. I'll post an AI generated image, you tell me what book should be reprinted using it as the cover image.

>>20654892
I have a bachelor's degree in art and I say the computers are already better than myself or any among my cohort.

>>20654883
tell me more
i kinda wanted to read this but i've heard it's not that good and the author was a muslim convert freak

Jesus fucking Christ, don’t you have something better to do than to spam this thread?

>>20654897
If that's how you feel, then I offer my condolences for the obscelence.

>>20654892
I don't think it's delusional to suggest that we're on the cusp of a big tech revolution, as advances in computers suddenly wipe out a bunch of white collar jobs everybody thought was safe from automation. I'm not saying that author or artist is going to disappear as a profession, but the low-prestige parts of it probably will be. If you're a publisher who makes their money grinding out bottom of the barrel smut fiction, and a computer can produce a hundred novels in the time it takes a human to write one, that job is gone. Being an "author" will be almost entirely about building a brand, because the already massive glut of cheap fiction is about to go hyper-saturated.

>>20654898
The author was based and anti-Semitic. I believe he was a Muslim convert as well. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or anything, though I’m not finished yet, but it’s certainly entertaining and if you enjoy world building I don’t see how you couldn’t like it.

Also there is ttrpg based in the setting so you can look up pictures and info on creatures, races, maps etc if you are into that as well.

>>20654907
Obscelence? No it's great. I'd much rather be a cutting edge ai artwork "designer" than a dead tree artist.

>>20654899
try the wandering inn

>>20654895
which ai are you using?

>>20654751
I just finished The Imago Sequence for the umpteenth time, I'm rereading through my collection of Laird Barron books and short story collections.

I fucking love Barron's writing, best cosmic horror writer to ever grace the scene, I wish there was more. Started Occultation collection today.

>>20654931
90% sure that's dalle2, it's gonna be a gamechanger

>>20654931
I'm just grabbing DALLE-2 pics from twitter accounts I follow.

>>20654917
I think we've been on the "cusp" for a very long time. The future isn't what it once was. The promised revolution isn't meant to be. Technological progress has stagnated overall.

>>20654924
Good luck with that and your competition with a billion others or more. You won't be among those whose work sees any recognition or commercial success.

>>20654940
Ok? I got into art for myself not for "recognition or commercial success"

>>20654944
Alright, my mistake. Enjoy your solipsism.

>>20654940
I, personally, would not have described any AI moment before now as the cusp. I say it now because the tech is there. It can write internally consistent stories, it can create works of art, we have tech and use cases. It just needs to be distributed

Since this thread is absolute dogshit and the chances of it actually talking about books are next to nothing, why is /sffg/ incapable of talking about books?

Is this good?

>>20654955
Read it and find out.

>>20654954
stfu fag. you WILL be replaced

>>20654955
I enjoyed player of games as a standalone book but none of the other Culture books more were very good, and Wasp Factory was only okay with a shitty Sleepaway Camp twist

>>20654966
I also liked Player of Games, but never read any of the other books. I only read it as part of my hunt for english language versions of gambling/death game manga, which it did not satisfy. Only The Cardturner has ever come close.

>>20654954
>why is /sffg/ incapable of talking about books?
Because very few. If any, people here actually read. How this thread would rather talk about AI instead of books should tell something about this general

>>20654984
AI is pretty relevant to the thread, all things considered. It stands a chance to affect the actual publishing of books on top of being a topic near and dear to science fiction

>>20654984
You can't tell me that AI xianxia wouldn't be superior to the real deal

>>20654989
>AI is pretty relevant to the thread
No it isn’t.

>>20654989
will sff become sovless and irrelevant when it's all written by ai?

Is The Culture the only series that really treats an AI run world as somewhat utopic? Seems like most scifi only writes bad ends for that.

lemme guess. the parshendi/parshmen are actually the good guys

>>20655022
it will become extremely soulful; humans are holding SFF back

>>20655022
Honestly, I feel like these threads get more important. Basically similar to the webnovel thing where there's an endless amount of it to sift through, and the best way to find what you want to read is to talk to other people digging into it as deeply as you are.

>>20655025
Not really. They are being used by a god to kill humanity. Also they were the first humanoids in roshar and the humans conquered them being allied with the same god, that makes humans the first voidbringers.

>>20655030
how will one even navigate the new ai market? there will be so much material and if you can get an ai to make personalized stories for you would you even bother reading anything else written post-ai advent?

>>20655055
>that makes humans the first voidbringers.
so the Parshendi are the good guys

>>20655052
>>20655059
Nobody re ever going to res these. Stop posting them.

What do you think about Moid?

>>20655060
Mostly because shared experiences will still matter. Talking to others about a book you've both read is equally as fun as reading the book

>still no one is talking about books
Why is the point of this thread?

>>20655063
Not really. Now the parshendi are allied with the bad god. So in a way they are the voidbringers now.

>>20655073
>Thinking /sffg/ talks about books
Only one person reads in this for forsaken general, and sadly he won’t be reviewing books this month.

>>20654751
I am currently reading Dungeon Crawler Carl 5: The Butcher's Masquerade. I don't know what to read after. I heard Thousand Li 7 begins a new arc and has the same pacing issues as it had early on. I don't particularly care for Dreadgod. Maybe I'll read some Dick or some /x/ stuff.
>>20655065
Learn English. And thanks for the bump.

>>20655073
>Why isn't anyone talking about books?
>No, I don't want to talk about books!
>I just want to complain about other people not talking about books!

>>20654895
well this is obviously just god emperor of dune

>>20655088
What’s the point of trying to start a discussion here? There’s no point. Almost a 100 posts in less than 2 hours and no books are being discuss.

>>20655068
would you read a book made for another instead of the next book made for you? if the book was bad per your taste would you criticize it if said book had been written for your friend?

>>20654956
I start tonight.

>>20655075
alright that's kinda interesting.

>>20655096
What a pointless and asinine question.

>>20655096
>would you criticize it if said book had been written for your friend?
Yeah, that opens up a whole word of bantz
>bro, I'm starting to notice that an awful lot of the love interests in your books are described as "fecund"

>>20655073
The thread is zooming. There’s no point in being here. Nothing will be discuss. Just hope that the next thread is slow and comfy.

>>20654751
Currently reading a shitty western by Ralph Compton (this author sucks, nowhere near as good as Louis L'Amour or William W. Johnstone), next on my list is The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold. I've heard lots of praise for Bujold in these threads before and the fantastical magic version of Renaissance Italy setting seems appealing.

What's the point of nascent souls escaping from dying bodies if the little flesh mech pilots always get killed as they try to exit?

>>20655104
why are you always seething purist anon?

>>20655129
What’s the point of this question?

>>20655073
>Why is the point of this thread?
Rage and scream?

>>20654751
The Wizard Knight. It’s really comfy.
>>20654689
I’m only smarter than 7/8 of the population, can I still understand Asimov much? I picked up his short stories because my friend loves his story about the supercomputer, but I’m not sure I’m highwit enough.

>>20655145
Good lord, do you even have a life, or is shitting up this the only thing you do.

>>20655150
Asimov is not too brainy.Also if you don't like his short stories don't let that deter you from his novels.

>>20655150
Asimov is extremely midwit friendly. I was able to enjoy and understand his stuff as an eight or nine year old child, so I am sure you can manage as a grown adult.

>>20655109
This man gets it

>>20655076
I was asked to read a book, Upgrade by Blake Crouch, so we'll start reading that when it releases in a few days, finish sometime, and then write about it. Hopefully others will have something to say, including the one who asked. Otherwise, yes, I'll be playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild until I finish, which may take rest of the the month depending on how much I do. I'll resume reading and writing afterwards. Until then there's Of 20's current and then next batch of books to have at least one person writing about various works.

I'm totally just putting around here out of general boredom, probably nothing will ever materialize... but I'm curious would anons be interested in a book like this?

>>20655532
>urban fantasy
stopped reading

>>20655533
That's the weakest link really, I'd def drop it especially if I'm going deep hermit/daoist roots, probably no magic whatsoever

>>20655532
Calling something "anti-politics" is about as truthful as the "know nothing" literally knowing nothing.

>>20655543
Shut up, pol scum. If anything I'm thinking "does more harm than good"

>>20655552
You've mixed up your memes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing

>>20654751
I'm currently reading Malazan. On Dust of Dreams. Hoping to finish The Crippled God before August. Then I want a break from fantasy. Have a bunch of sci-fi piled up.

>>20655552
What does that even mean "does harm than good"? That there there ought not to be any "politics" and all ought to be anarchy? Living outside of society entirely alone is the only way to avoid politics.

For me it's spoopy gothic fantasy.

Like cursive, is whistling through one's teeth an art lost to time?

>>20655591
What’s with these stupid fucking questions?

>>20655596
why don't you kill yourself?

>>20655591
I could never figure out how people whistle with their fingers
I have no problems doing without, and generally it's louder than friends who can do sharp ones with their fingers.

>>20654689
How do I get into sci fi. I've read a lot of fantasy but never sci fi. Anons here say its a lot more deeper and philosophical which has got me interested. Good recs?

>>20654977
there's ironically a better gambling/death game in Consider Phlebas lol
only one chapter though

>>20655532
all politics for the last fifty years has been "anti-politics". put it this way, tell a room full of normies "what we need to do is take [field] out of the hands of politicians" and you will get enthusiastic agreement no matter what field you choose. it's the cancer of liberalism - doing politics while pretending you aren't.

>>20655900
Entry level sci-fi with a philosophical bent? try the first three Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov.

>>20655900
Red rising is simple and entertaining.

>>20655059
Bayne?

>>20654772
>Genuineyl were more interested in the story than the sex
Same thing happened to me with Mike Truk.

>>20654689
A common fantasy trope seems to be that people with whatever special power that is unique to the stories is that when they have alcohol or drugs, it takes way more for them to feel it's affects. Sometimes even making them unable to be drunk at all.

Are there any stories where the opposite happens? Like wizards that get absolutely wasted from just a drop of alochol?

>>20654729
Based, you just reminded me to go read the new chapter.

The best parts in referend insanity are the Gu refining stuff

so im playing this for the first time and just now started with the crusade, i had the big brain idea of skipping days so i can buy more troops, but i didnt noticed that my morale was decreasing to the point of going -100 and broken, after losing some battles and having no more recruits i tried to buy more

but now i cant recruit more troops, how do i recover from this bros? am i fucked?

>>20654772
What is this, reverse corruption romance novel?

>>20656131
oh shit im fucking mental, i had the /vg/ thread open in another tab and posted here instead of there

sorry

>>20656131
>>20656140
nice

>>20654854
>why does the cover say wanderins inn
I asked this question myself multiple times and still don't know. Maybe some strange tradition in cover art to make S look like G? Other TWI cover arts also look like it.

>>20654883
Wanted to read this for a while after researching the role-playing game a bit. The world seems very interesting. How is the writing/prose itself? Game designers don't always make good writers.

>>20654934
I've only read his short stories. That's a novel, right?

I wish Xu Qing had a character beyond "she comes off cold because she's actually kinda dumb"

>ctrl+f
>"sffg"
>find thread
>read posts
>reply if i think of something interesting or funny to say
just another awesome *sips coffee*

>>20654751
Finished House of Suns last night, liked it.
Reading Black Company or Revelation Space next, but havent decided.

>>20656131
What game this is?

I'm interesting in finding more science fiction with heavy characterization.
I've been reading around a number of classics. While I like Isaac Asimov in general, I dislike how he's essentially just giving us a cool sci fi world with a rather weak plot. Vonnegut I love since he creates these entertaining worlds and scenarios with powerful characters that also dive deep into philosophical thought.
Does anyone here have any recommendations on science fiction that have strong characterization and philosophical themes?

>>20656178
>ctrl+f
>"Bakker"
>find no praise
>guess I have to do it myself
When Bakker rules
He rules in might
When sandi drools
It's and ugly sight
When Bakker wins
He reigns in majesty
When sandi lose
He whines in misery

>>20656184
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

>>20656155
yeah shes too simple, i like Chu Yuyan way more

but i also dont like how er gen made like every girl wants to marry meng hao at the end, like every girl he met regrets not taking him faster than xu qing

>>20655581
Extremely based, any recs?

>>20654751
I'm reading The House Under the Medlar Tree, and after this I'm planning to read The Andromeda Strain
I'd like to get into The Culture series, but I dropped Consider Phlebas after some 50 pages because I couldn't stomach that particular brand of edgy, even though I loved Against a Dark Background

>>20656201
>Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
any good?

Robert Anson Heinlein…shame on you, sir. W…T…everwomanhating…F were you thinking when you wrote this drivel?

Friday is, in my irritated opinion, the most offensive and childishly ridiculous female protagonist since Russ Meyer and Roger Corman teamed up to co-direct Planet of the Nympho Bimbos Part II: Attack of the Soapy Breast Monsters.**

** Not a real film, so don’t bother searching Amazon for it.

Pardon my soap boxing, but this is a despicable pile of misogynistic shit that should have been dropped, wiped away and flushed from the literary world before it ever plopped on the printing press. Sorry for the dysphemism, but “I really didn’t like it” just doesn’t adequately express my loathe-on for this book

>>20656248
>any good?
One of the better RPGs released in the recent years. It has some flaws though, like a small part of the being crusade managmenet. Otherwise it's pretty good. And you can become a Dragon or Lich or Demon or Angel. And marry a cute succubus, or a psychopathic murder. Pretty based.

>>20654966
Player of games is the blandest and most forgettable Culture book. I have no idea why does it keep getting recommended.
>>20654955
I liked it.
Excession > Use of Weapons > Consider Phlebas > Surface Detail > Matter > Hydrogen Sonata > Look to Windward > Player of Games.

>>20656223

>>20656263
Is that the one Sseth reviewed where it's really morally ambivalent and you are basically a functionary working for a conqueror?

>>20654955

The first half is absurd kino and is all over the place in a way that feels just right. The second half seems to entirely change scope and pace and feels like brakes were really heavily applied. It's a passable debut.

>>20656264

You meant to put Inversions > Excession > Use of Weapons > Consider Phlebas > Surface Detail > Matter > Hydrogen Sonata > Look to Windward > Player of Games.

>>20656274
You're a funny guy, I'll eat your soul you last.

>>20656272
not him and im still early at the game so i dont know much about the history, but its a demon campaing, crusaders going against demons and you work for the queen, you can be evil good or whatever you choose

also i avoid spoilers but i saw some talking about you killing the queen or queen dying or you get the kingdom for another person instead of the queen and other options, idk if all is true or how it is because i avoided reading the rest

>>20654729
>TWI 5.52
it's no wonder people dislike laken. i already raised eyebrows when the first idea he had for the economy of his empire was to export engineers who could build trebuchets. and now here he is, building fucking siege weapons for tyrian to assault liscor with.
he's doing absolutely nothing right so far, but i guess the author wants him to make mistakes so he can do better later?
regardless, fuck laken.

>>20655055
anon, as long as we are on the subject, do we have a detailed understanding of the movement of humans in the cosmere?
the originals are from yolen,
ruin and preservation created their copy on scadrial
what about the rest, on roshar, sel, therenody? is that discussed somewhere?

thanks and also checked

>>20656272
Unless I'm mistaken, that's Tyranny, and it was Mandalore.

>>20656189
hyperion ticks your boxes i think, excellent characterisation and the pov style narrative ensures a different "voice" for the ensemble.

Plus ridiculously good writing, especially with the writer character, martin, you can see the difference in the approach, and some philosophical thought to top it off

Have you read the gospel of benefits?

>>20656189
>>20656341
>hyperion ticks your boxes i think, excellent characterisation and the pov style narrative ensures a different "voice" for the ensemble.
>Plus ridiculously good writing, especially with the writer character, martin, you can see the difference in the approach, and some philosophical thought to top it off

Friendly reminder that Hyperion is a meme and everyone that take the book seriously should be laughed at like pseuds they are. Read it as comedy and you will not be dissapointed, otherwise you are a fool. And even retards who worship it will tell you to not reader past the first book.

And to think sci-fi folk have the audacity to consider themselves superior to Fantasy when they shill something so utterly stupid. Be smarter, don't read shit.

>>20656312
Don't worry, it gets even more hilarious. In a way it's hilarious how Pirateaba portrays disadvantaged folk like Laken as horrible people. Representation at its best. Anyway, you are approaching the the end of the volume, good luck.

>>20656355
I have. Unironically my favorite parts in Reverend Insanity are the economical aspects of the Gu world, and recently I've just reread the northern plain auction and it's such good writing with twists and turns that don't feel forced, as in everything that happens economically in the book make sense in universe, even though it may not make sense in real world.
I especially like the mystical aspects of immortal Gu and the fact that they're unique in the world. Meaning they are "practically" priceless, their price is entirely dictated by how much the seller wants versus how much the buyer is willing to pay.

>>20656393
>stop liking what i dislike, REEEE
(you)

>>20656272
>Is that the one Sseth reviewed where it's really morally ambivalent and you are basically a functionary working for a conqueror?
Yeah, that's Tyranny >>20656331
Delivers on its premise I'd say which makes it worth playing but is sadly rushed/unfinished. Also, it's not realllly morally grey, as you are clearly supposed to dislike the conqueror and want to usurp them.

>>20656449
The best part is how for once it manages to make The MC look smart and pull off interesting scams without it making everyone else come off as idiots. And how in general all the immortals are highly competent and experienced, with their personal philosophies, emotional attachments, and available resources being the keys things differentiating them.
It's a breath of fresh air compared to other xiaxia where the MC ranks up and all the ancient masters are total braindead retards you can't imagine surviving a week let alone a million years.

Any sci-fi/fantasy book where MC has a canonically small dick?

Just finished marathoning this over a couple of days. Easily one of my favourite Wolfe novels. I recommend it to anyone looking for an entry point to Wolfe. There's one thing that might be a hurdle for some people, as a matter of preference, it's an epistolary novel.

>>20654751
hello pal, rn i'm reading "A Gentleman-at-arms Being passages in the life of Sir Christopher Rudd, Knight" by Herbert Strang. i found it on Gutenberg, i liked the title and i like this kind of swashbuckler/cape-n-swords set in a reinassaince to early-modern period and i'm also reading Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini. Ah I'm thinking to get into the Tom Swan series by Christian Cameron.

>>20656263
how's the combat? i've had a look at some reviews and it says you can choose between real time with pauses and turn based, but the turn based is pretty rubbish

The fat man speaketh

>>20656603

>grrmfags can't crop two images together
sasuga

>>20656603
saying I'm working on a Tyrion chapter gives away the fact that Tyrion is not dead
what? no it doesn't. that only works for people who ended on cliffhangers or are missing presumed dead, like jon snow

>>20656603
>>20656608
I don't get why people are doomposting about this. The book isn't going to be less written than it already is.
GRRM discussion on this board is really tiresome because of all the tv show secondaries. The wait has been so long that anything worth saying has already been said five years ago.

>>20656538
It’s not that sci fi but Wasp Factory comes to mind.
>>20656543
Nice. I’ll check it out. Thoughts on the Fifth Head of Cerberus?

>>20656603
>>20656608
this is like the nth time where he's said he is making progress on the book, I'll believe him when it hits the shelves

Here is the obligatory "Why dont dis thread tak bout books?" comment

Me? I like A Song of Ice and Fire.

>What if she uses her evil whore sex magic to lure him away forever? Like one of those school teacher ladies?

Anyone read Tanith Lee? I’m interested in her early series, Wars of Vis, so I’m awaiting the first book to arrive in the mail. I barely see her mentioned here.

I've just read yet another a classic 'Greater Good' vs 'Morality' conundrum in a fantasy, where a powerful character mind controls other less powerful and not really good people to defeat other evil character (not absolutely evil, just an evil racist emperor who's also extremely powerful). Now, I don't want to talk about THIS specific conundrum, but the way it was WRITTEN. Was it too blunt of the character to mention 'greater good' and 'the consequences justify the means'?

Not from a moral stand-point, but from a literary one. It wasn't BAD writing, but I instinctively felt that I read better examples of this in other stories. Like, it was too direct, it had some nuance, but aside of 'there are things that just shouldn't be done, even if great catastrophe is unavoidable consequence' there wasn't anything standing against the idea. This kind of conflict appears somewhat shallow to me, not providing any noteworthy concepts to consider, just 'greater good.' It's shallow.

What would make it a better story? Maybe if it was more nuanced, like 'The Emperor is generally considered bad from a moral stand-point, but not TOO bad, people aren't too oppresed under him, the empire is ran competently and doesn't tread its citizens and just a resource, but actually cares about them in a relevant way.' And to that add a personal reason to oppose him by a another character, something understandable, but still ultimately selfish as it would not lead to good outcomes, even if the emperor is 'bad.'

Am I wrong to think about it like that? I'm not saying that only more nuanced stories are better, but it would make it much more interesting in my eyes, more complication and nuance than 'this bends our morality.' Something that bends morality, leads to a bad outcome in general, has even 'good' characters take a stand against the action, BUT still remains a clearly understandable goal to be pursued by other characters?

Would such a conflict be more Kino than the one I described at the beginning?

>>20656603
>in two days it will be 11 fucking years on from when I read the last book.
I've graduated college, moved 5 times, fell in love, married, two kids, Donald bloomrph and then COVID hell, a life away. And the only update fatfuck can give is "reminder that I write like this as I've said for decades, book still in progress with no release date, and as you all assumed it is in fact not the same as the TV show end you all despised".

Incredible to watch midwits defend him

>>20656748
Me too, but I just don't recognize half those character names anymore and don't feel it to rereading 400k words or whatever it was again.

>>20654751
I wanted to read something comfy and whimsical and thus started reading the first book of the Xanth series yesterday. I've read one of the later (80s or 90) books a few years ago and liked it a lot. Was astonished to see that Piers Anthony is still writing in that world.
Very comfy so far.

>>20656676
>Thoughts on the Fifth Head of Cerberus?
Also one of his best imo. It's more literary, more difficult because it's three novellas that each have their own structure and style, compared to Sorcerer's House which feels more like fun and light genre fiction even though it has his characteristic ambiguity and having to read between the lines. Fifth Head has an amazing sort of dark and fascinating setting, French slaver colonies on planets inhabitated by shapeshifting aliens.

>>20656813
As long as she loves him and takes care of him.

>>20656848
High minded morals are boring yes, you need personal connections to show importance. Like it's a no brainer to sacrifice things and people you don't give a fuck about.
You never mentioned what the actual "greater good" even IS. Why does it matter who's the emperor? Who cares? How is mind control bad? Who's affected by it?
Are we talking about a few supermen or is there a war with large numbers of soldiers?

>>20656504
It is an ambitious and original work that elevated xanxia to new height, and that is exactly the reason why commies banned it

>>20656995
>High minded morals are boring yes, you need personal connections to show importance. Like it's a no brainer to sacrifice things and people you don't give a fuck about.
>You never mentioned what the actual "greater good" even IS. Why does it matter who's the emperor? Who cares? How is mind control bad? Who's affected by it?
>Are we talking about a few supermen or is there a war with large numbers of soldiers?
The problem was implicit - The emperor was bad, therefore he had to be stopped, because he's a consistently evil person. A tyran. A mind control is also implicitly bad, people overwhelmingly react extremely negative to anything that takes away free will and makes someone a puppet.

what is /sffg/'s official opinion pronouncement on the expanse?

>>20656272
>>20656486
Amusingly enough the first Pathfinder game offers way more in terms of grey morality. Not sure about the second one as I've never got past char get cause i tire myself out thinking of all the options without ever playing the bloody game, but the first one had you run your own kingdom and it did the whole grey morality decently well. It's hard to compare directly with tyranny, as that game is combination of half assery, false advertisment and briliance, but on it's own merits its one of the best "chose your own morals" sort of game. Allowing you to play in pretty diverse and sometimes even interesting ways, actually making a decent use of the full D&D alignment but not terribly limited by it. Tho granted lawful is OP, because you know, you are a king, and laws help run kingdoms, kek.

Has anyone read the doctor who novels? Might pick one up for my sister but don’t know which would be best.

>>20657085
>he's evil because... he just is!
That's boring and a bad excuse for not actually writing.

What is Xianxia's Lord of the Rings?
What will it's Book of the New Sun be?

>>20657116
>That's boring and a bad excuse for not actually writing.
Are you obtuse? I'm not talking about what he did that made him evil, that's unimportant in this case, his role in the narrative is what matters.

>>20657140
>role in the narrative
No such thing, that's why the story is boring.

>see, there's this badguy, and he's bad
>and then this good guy who's good
>and the good guy fights the bad guy because he's bad and then he wins
Wow, what amazing and well written story that couldn't possibly be improved by giving the characters actual traits, personalities, and motivations for their actions.

>>20656848
What people often miss, especially liberals after the fall of USSR, is that morality is shadow cast by ethics, and two ethical systems both completely valid can easily be at odds with each other. Sure you can argue what is more or less moral, but if you take topic like abortion you can easily see the clash of "christian" and "liberal" morals. With plenty nonsense, on both sides because a lot of folks don't have a clear hammered out non contradictory values system but rely on perception of morality instead. It can be particularly egregious with mythology based ethics because you can arbitrarily focus on some aspect at expense of others, but it can be just as easily perverted, by politics, culture, power, or plain convenience.

There's nothing wrong with simplistic good vs evil stories, reliant as they may be on one value system, in case of anglosphere it's usually some version of liberalism with christian influences. But the problem starts when they try to move beyond that but fail to reach a point where opponents have an actual value system of their own, however self serving. Resulting in situation becoming nonsensical because "greater good" is itself an ethics based evaluation and one dependant on ethics of the guy pushing it.

One of my favourite webnovels, savage divinity, has a curious example of how to do things better, with MC being a reincarnated guy, clashing his personal, in effect, morals that come from being reincarnated against both his new relatives, their allies, enemies and others going all the way to being a large influence on the way characters approach cultivation and Dao. it's a deeply flawed novel, but I appreciate it despite it's flaws precisely because of how much effort and time author puts into trying to make characters and world make sense.

>>20657138
>What is Xianxia's Lord of the Rings?
Journey to the West

>>20656848
It depends. Some people may want blunt affirmations because it makes them feel good about the decisions they've made in their own lives.

There are many stories where aren't any any clearly defined good or bad guys, just people.

>>20657165
There's so much wromg with this that it would take far too much to even begin to respond, so I won't, but just know that.

>>20657231
>There's so much wromg with this that it would take far too much to even begin to respond, so I won't, but just know that.

>>20657231
translation: "you used a lot of enemy-words but I can't understand what you're saying, nor do I have the slightest understanding of morality myself, so I will just give a meaningless cry of alarm"

Reminder that A Song of Ice and Fire will be remembers as a classic of world literature on the same level as The Iliad or Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

b-ok.cc is kill?

>>20657310
it is not

>>20656150
I find it very readable.

>>20657323
It is at the moment

>>20657310
works on my internet

>>20657261
>scholars will argue that the ending was lost

>>20657358
Strage, wasn't working for me earlier but is now.

>>20657261
what makes something a classic?
whaterver it is, i'm sure ASOIAF ain't it.

Someone recommended me the Three Body Problem, have any of you read it? Did you like it?

read cradle

>>20657361
>>20657361
Kek

Sometimes ignorance and trolling are indistinguishable.

Are the Expanse books worth my time or is the show sufficient?

>>20657476
Considering that you're in this thread, you're time has no value, so yes.

New novel reading anon here. About to finish my first novel in 10 years, A Brother's Price. It had me so hooked I couldn't put the book down and finished the entire thing in 4 days.

I am looking for another book similar (reverse gender roles, fantasy, romance, and optionally military/tactical). I have looked at a bunch of "similar books" through Google, but nothing scratches that itch; just a bunch of non-adventure pure romance BDSM/femdom/matriarchial society books being recommended.

Anyone here got any books they enjoyed previously they can recommend similar to A Brother's Price?

>>20656330
Humans on roshar come from braize where they fucked up the planet so much with Lashings that it literally become the canonical hell of vorinism.

>>20657392
Started reading it 2 days ago and the beginning 150 pages are intriguing enough to keep reading. The translation is ass tho. Idk if its the spanish translation or what but the prose sucks ass.

Reading Speaking Bones by Ken Liu rn, taking my time because I only have a few other books to read so trying to get a few more by the time I'm finished.

>>20657775
is that the gay book

Anyone know if there’s an ebook version of the german translated version of the Prince of Nothing?

I just read Neuromancer, what was supposed to be so good about it? Did I get filtered?
Or maybe it's because I already watched Matrix and played Deus Ex.

>>20657929
i played cyberpunk and it was better

>>20657446
>trolling
It's safe to say that 'trolling' has been dead since the 2010s.

I like Karl Edward Wagnar and David Gemmell, gib recs

>>20657988
In Savage Lands and The Harsh Suns by Jason Thummel.

Currently reading Wandering Inn (I'm the anon who posted his kindle last week) and really enjoying it (I'm 30% into Volume 2). I like how it's simply people having adventures in a magical world instead of the usual Tolkien (or anti-Tolkien) LARP fantasy novels are.

>>20657806
It's on zlibrary I think

>>20657416
I very much enjoyed Dreadgod. I'm looking forward to Lindon and the lads coming out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber

>>20657929
It was intriguing at the beginning, but imo, it falls apart at the end and goes nowhere.

>>20657929
>what was supposed to be so good about it
Literally everything except the sex scenes and the space rastafari.

What are some fantasy books that use lots of archaisms like Tolkien or Dunsany?
https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2014/08/18/the-ye-olde-in-epic-fantasy-6-more-archaisms-and-why-authors-use-them/

>>20658149
Book of the New Sun

>>20658170
I heard he uses a lot of neologisms. Does he use archaisms as well as his own invented words?
I remembered The Broken Sword is another book that uses archaisms.

>>20658059
sounds boring

why there so many people talking about this wandering inn?

>>20658274
>why there so many people talking about this wandering inn?
1. It's the most successful webnovel on the internet.
2. It's one of the most known webnovels on the internet.
3. It's generally considered to be superior in writing to 95% of other webnovels who are mostly just wordy diarrhea.
4. It's damn good Epic fantasy full of Slice of Life and Slive of Warcrimes. It's not for everyone, but it is loved by many.

TL;DR
Story is popular, people like it, they recommend it to others.

>>20658274
Only a few are talking about, 2 or 3 and there’s a shill who tries to shoehorn it in every conversation insisting it’s the best thing ever when it’s anything but that. Just ignore it.

my father was a huge fantasy reader (and a huge reader all the same) back in the 80's and the 90's so i've a lot of of books. I'm watching it rn and I found "The Gnole" by Altridge, is it any good?

>>20658304
You have the book and instead of reading a few chapters to see if you like it, you would rather waste your time here?

>>20658212
BotNS uses zero neologisms. There's only one word in the entire text you cannot find in a big enough dictionary because of a typo that was never caught.

>>20654751
Just read this up to 580 and it's really fucking good. Trust me, I've gone through so many chinese webnovels with shitty translations and cliche plots it could be called a career

>>20658149
The Worm Ouroboros but lots is an understatement

>>20658341
Oh. I found an interview where he explains that. I've just seen a lot of Redditors say he used neologisms.
>I should clarify the fact that all the words I use in The Book of the New Sun are real (except for a couple of typographical errors). As you know, in most SF about unknown planets, the author is forced to invent wonders and then to name them. But that didn't seem appropriate to what I was doing here. It occurred to me when I was starting out with The Book of the New Sun that Urth already has enough wonders—if only because it has inherited the wonders of Earth (and there's the alternate possibility that Earth's wonders have descended to it from Urth). Some SF fans, who seem to be able to tolerate any amount of gibberish so long as it's invented gibberish, have found it peculiar that I would bother relying on perfectly legitimate words. My sense was that when you want to know where you're going, it helps to know where you've been and how fast you've traveled. And a great deal of this knowledge can be intuited if you know something about the words people use. I'm not a philologist, but one thing I'm certain of is that you could write an entire book on almost any word in the English language. At any rate, anyone who bothers to go to a dictionary will find I'm not inventing anything: a "fulgurator" is a holy man capable of drawing omens from flashes of lightning, an "eidolon" is an apparition or phantom, "fuligin" literally means soot colored. I also gave the people and other beings in the book real names (the only exception I can think of is the Ascian who appears in The Citadel—"Loyal to the Group of Seventeen"). "Severian," "Vodalus," and "Agilus," for example, are all ordinary, if now uncommon, names for men. And if you'd like to call your baby daughter "Valeria," "Thecla," or "Dorcas," she'll be receiving a genuine name many women in the past have had (and some in the present). As for the monsters' names, I simply named them for monsters. The original Erebus was the son of Chaos; he was the god of darkness and the husband of Nox, the goddess of night; furthermore, Mount Erebus is in Antarctica, the seat of Erebus's dark and chilly power.

>>20654751
I'm reading Do androids dream of electric sheep?
So far it's been great. It deserved far more praise than The man in the high castle.

>>20656393
Filtered

>>20657161
Damn. That just sounds so fucking lazy. History books are filled with people doing horrible things. Just pick a book up. Or read about what the people in charge are doing in North-Korea ATM.

>>20654689
Absolute fucking kino. Big thanks to whoever recommended this to me.

>>20657310
b-ok is a-ok

>>20656264
>Player of games is the blandest and most forgettable Culture book. I have no idea why does it keep getting recommended.
I think it's a good intro book for the Culture series because it only has one narrative thread, unlike most of the others. It has some pretty unforgettable ideas, like the neural lace. I don't think it reaches the highs of Use of Weapons or Excession, but I still regard it well.

>>20658310
i'm a people person

>>20658540
Just glanced at the wikipedia article for it. Sounds like it references her earlier novels in some way. Can I jump into this straightaway or should I start somewhere else first?

>>20654805
Can you recommend me some novels? I've never been into books but recently finished shit like Ending Maker, but those are considered trash here so I want to try the real deal.

>>20658540
what is it about

>>20657377
Bro, you know why. You learned about 405 errors when you worked in IT.

>>20654772
How can I read this without buying a physical copy?

>>20658399
Is this the one with the shota mc that is constantly shat on? Think I made it up to 300 or so chapters before dropping it.

>>20658635
Like, you're looking for some books published by real publishing houses that read similarly to the better webnovels? Off the top of my head, I'd say take a look at:
>Codex Alera
>Night Angel Trilogy
>Powder Mage Trilogy
These are all pretty decent examples of sweeping fantasy stories with a focus on heroes that have to power up in order to face down the big villain. Additionally, has a romantic relationship that makes real progress, if that aspect of Ending Maker appeals to you. Some short descriptions of the settings, in case one seems especially interesting to you:
>Codex Alera
>MC and his countrymen are descendants of the Lost Roman Legion in a world of various peoples who have been mysteriously transported there. How and why is irrelevant and never explored, it occurred centuries ago, but the Roman influence on culture remains. Instead the focus is on internal politics, eventually building up to war with a particularly deadly and aggressive race.
>Night Angel Trilogy
>Kinda dumb and very edgy, but engaging if that isn't a problem. MC is an assassin in a world where the evil god is beginning to return. Setting isn't strongly comparable to any one time and place in our world, but pulls liberally from Meiji Japan and Feudal Europe, as all good Junior High lit should.
>Powder Mage Trilogy
>"Flintlock Fantasy", ie the setting is based on the culture and tech level of Napoleonic France. Couple of different kinds of magic available, but the protagonists are mostly powder mages, people born with the innate ability to do cool shit with gunpowder.

>>20658964
I would strongly recommend against Night Angel Trilogy or anything written by Brent Weeks

>>20658922
That's the one. The author really, really likes to pull the rug from under your feet with all the twists and the plot pace is glacial and even someone like me who really likes those aspects almost got enough of it during Eckstedt arc.

>>20658976
I really think he's totally fine for anyone not put off by the intentional edginess. I still find him enjoyable and pick up his books as they come out. Oh, wait, I forgot that the Christian allegory stuff is also off-putting for some people, I should have added that to the summary.

>>20658964
>>20658992
This is good and what I was looking for, thanks anon. Just wanted romance fantasy and some action. The rest isna bonus to me. I'll read them.

>>20658614
I didn't read any of her other novels in advance and I was just fine. The references must be pretty subtle.

>>20658847
>How can I read this without buying a physical copy?
Like any other book you want to pirate, from z-lib.org

>>20659256
Thanks

>>20657416
Too busy reading I Shall Seal The Heavens

Are Sanderson's other books better than Mistborn 1?
I read his WoT stuff and had no issue with it (although the only reason I was reading WoT by that point was to complete it so eh) but I didn't find Mistborn a very good read. I just cared about the lore and couldn't give less of a shit about the characters and plot, at that point I felt like I should have just been reading an encyclopaedia and would have been more entertained.
Read it because I found it in a drawer of an airbnb and I'd heard Sanderson is meant to be good, maybe I started with his worst work.

>>20659831
No, Mistborn is very representative of his work.

I sure hate when ebooks have gaps between all the paragraphs and lines of dialogue.

>>20659856
Then change the formatting.

What are some other excellently written role-playing games (Computer or tabletop) aside from Planescape?

>>20659831
The very first mistborn was the weakest of that whole series for me, I almost dropped it but glad I didn't.

I have read up to chapter 436 of reverend insanity. I don't know why this is so bad. I'm thinking about diving into bakker instead.

>>20659996
Bakker and Reverend Insanity are comrades, those who understand Bakker, understand Reverend Insanity.

>>20659908
You can't.

>>20659831
Sanderson has gotten consistently worse since Mistborne.

>>20660062
I agree, he got stuck in a loop of misery.

>>20660059
You don't know how rather.

>>20660033
Truth Shines.

>>20660066
It’s sad and pathetic you constantly do this.

>>20660078
Touche'

>>20660033
>Chinkshit posters are actually the bakkerfags

Makes sense

Water Sleeps

>>20655127
I should read some L’Amour. The only real western pulp I’ve read is Edge the Loner and I didn’t care for that. I heard Louis is supposed to be great, though.
>>20655150
Nice, need to check that out now that I’ve finished New Sun (Urth not included) and Cerberus. Seems like the next series people talk about in regards to Wolfe.
>>20656546
Hey friend, good stuff with the Gutenberg Swashbuckler. I’ve looked at some of those old, romanticized Highwaymen biographies on Gutenberg before.
>>20656880
Haven’t heard of that, but I could always use some more comfy fantasy so it might be something to check out.
>>20658436
My brother told me to read that, he loves Dick.
>>20658399
I’m surprised how popular those Chinese web novels are on here. Didn’t know they existed before the general.

>>20654751
Currently on a short break, but going to read The Book Of The Short Sun Trilogy, since I finished Book Of The Long Sun. Or I might reread BOTLS and analyse scenes, due to ending reconceptualizing the story.
If I'm bothered I might read the Aspect-Emperor, some classics or hard scifi, afterwards.

someone recommend me some good, stereotypical fantasy. i want elves and dwarves and wizards going on adventures to fight orcs and stuff

>>20660277
Sounds like every generic fantasy you can search up if you bothered to a five second search.

>>20660277
Dragonlance

>>20660277
Was the image really necessary?

>>20660289
Believe it or not, using a search engine is too much for people.

>>20660312
Then they can use tik tok as a search engine like their Zoomer brethren>>20660301

>>20660223
My first (and so far only) Louis L'amour novel was Hondo, which was turned into a movie with John Wayne - it's basically a novelization, but it's very well written for what it is, and I'd definitely pursue other of his works given the opportunity. Very comfy, if a bit simple and rustic, but what else can you expect from a western? Anyway I'm going to start on an ACTUAL fantasy tonight, The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold.

>>20660179
You sound angry, because Bakkerbros and RI kings are teaming up.

>>20660344
A true unholy consult if there ever was one

>>20660291
thanks

>>20660238
I need to read Urth still. It’s tough because there’s so much other Wolfe stuff I want to check out too, but don’t like spending too much time on one author.
>>20660277
The Azure Bonds trilogy.
>>20660335
Thanks anon, might be worth a read. I want to get into some more literary westerns as well like Lonesome Dove, but it’s tough to find the time for them.
>>20656189
Maybe Book of the New Sun or some Kane short stories by Karl Edward Wagner? Howard’s Conan is a pretty realized character but I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for.
>>20657988
>Karl Edward Wagnar
Good taste. I’m sure you already read him but Robert E. Howard.
>>20658596
Based, those questions are good because they give fans of the book a chance to talk about them.
I never read Gnole, though, so I can’t say sorry.

>>20656603
i hate the fat man for being such a lazy fuck because i care about 2 things, and only 2 things in the entire series: the Others and more details/unfolding of the Southron Ambitions.

i want the mystical and epic back in the series, not another chapter of feasting/fucking/slaughtering/squatting in the grass

>>20657090
idk about others, but i had a lot of fun reading books 1-3, book 4 bogged down for me and i ended up dropping it several years back. I really liked it though, just couldn't focus enough to get through it.

i also loved the TV show, but want to finish the books before tackling the show.

>>20658708
Terrible story, I would rather read edgy shadow the hedgehog fanfics.

>>20660344
Is it worth continuing RI? I'm sick of him killing teenage girls and this northern continent shit seems ass, why is he downgraded for crossing a border?

>>20660468
Can't you decide on your own?

>>20656627
You can't have a chapter from the perspective of a dead guy, genius.

Explain this quote bakkerfags:
>Death, in the strict sense, cannot be defined, for whatever predicate we, the living, attribute to it necessarily belongs to Life. This means that Death, as a category, behaves in a manner indistinguishable from the Infinite, and from God.

Or this one:
>One cannot assume the truth of what one declares without presuming the falsity of all incongruous declarations. Since all men assume the truth of their declarations, this presumption becomes at best ironic and at worst outrageous. Given the infinity of possible claims, who could be so vain as to think their dismal claims true? The tragedy, of course, is that we cannot but make declarations. So it seems we must speak as Gods to converse as Men.

>>20660531
>>20660543
Do you not have a life or something?

>>20660531
Death is not of life, so the christcuck explanation for it is unbased and non-red pilled, a cope of copes.
>>20660543
For example, some reddit posters voted Sanderson as the supreme fantasy writer, they think the supremacy of sandi is true, but they are far from truth and they will never rule supreme.

>>20660289
Kill yourself

>>20660616
Just stating the truth.

>>20660531
this is exactly the sort of pseudointellectual faux-profound midwittery I expect from an atheist canadian homosexual that huffs his own farts

>>20660648
You didn't understand the complexity of his words, which made your brain blow steam, so you resorted to maniacal screams.

uhhh bakkerbros...?

>>20660531
my favourite RI quote

>>20654751
Currently reading The Snail on the Slope, probably gonna do another Noon Universe book after that, but I might try and finish Xenogenesis Trilogy or bounce off Solaris again.

>>20660677
>lifted her with ease
Women love that, Bakker knows what women love, because he is not sandersimp. that's why RI kings love Bakkerbros, we both know how to please women.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-lZdK_2vC0

Thoughts?

>>20660648
Imagined being filtered by Reverend Insanity.

>>20660888
About what?

>>20660707
In Japan they like to mention how little girls can be lifted with ease, so the excerpt reminded me of that.

>>20660648
nailed it

>>20660897
The moment he reads the name Bakker, he is met with a seething rage that clouds his judgment and brain with steaming fog.

>>20660897
Reverend Insanity is terribly written and downright awful.

>>20654689
What I would give for post-apocalypse genre to undergo a mini-renaissance.

>>20660982
Go check on Amazon's self-publish books. Loads of post-apocalypse novels.

>>20660972
I accept your filtration.

>>20660985
I have, and I’ve read a few. The results were pretty mixed overall. Rather I want post-apocalypse to experience something like the zombie genre underwent in the late 00’s and early 10’s.

>>20660992
Get a life.

>>20660888
On?

>>20660996
>zombie genre underwent in the late 00’s and early 10’s.
Nah, then it'll oversaturate the markets. Besides, most of the zombie fiction that came out of that time weren't good.

>>20660972
Pretty sure everyone agrees. Lord of Mysteries is better. Don’t know why he keeps shilling Reverend Insanity, it’s garbage.

>>20660888
Generic grimderp I'm sure with lots of woke politics thrown in for extra good goy points.

>>20660972
>I was filtered by garbage
many such cases

New thread
>>20661334

>>20660888
its good, much better than most of the current market, the world has lots of women warriors but only because most of the men have died defending their lands from goblins