/lit/ - Literature

>>20710030
I hate niggers

>>20710030
I just started playing State of Decay, it's a nice zombie game. I should check out some zombie books.

>It, the Wild Thing, was at the enemy assault center, having bisected their wedge neatly in its first move. That was when it opened fire like some relentless future death machine from an age of post-apocalyptic horror that nightmares were made of. The outgoing fire from its wicked battle rifle, matte-black, two huge drums hanging from the mag well, blurred away from the weapon and just disintegrated the left-hand wedge of the team. Body parts went flying away and corpses that didn’t know they were dead watched in horror as they took hundreds of hits in seconds. From my perspective it looked like they just got vaporized in graphic detail.
Based.

Frog fantasy!

>>20710161
You will never rule supreme.

read cradle

>>20710030
How many of you actually write sci-fi/fantasy?

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

>>20710203
All of us "write" it none of us write it

>>20710218
I already told you.

>>20710218
Because Bakker is the most supreme writer and this alone proofs the superiority of sci-fi and fantasy

Simple as.

>>20705390
lol she just showed up.
>He casts one washed-out sun-faded blue eye over his shoulder, glancing at the pilot in the drop that has just come in and put down. A woman. But even with her flight helmet on she’s beautiful. You can tell. Otherworldly beautiful.
I didn’t know it then yet, but that was the first time I saw the Monarch known as the Seeker.

>>20710218
>extremely flexible for writers, can range from short stories and pulps, to epics like Lord of the Rings
>escapism that allows the reader to be taken to different settings that can be familiar, completely foreign, or something in-between
>the fantastical can be used to explore a whole plethora of ideas and themes that otherwise be confined in realistic fiction
>No limits or rules beyond using your imagination

>>20710255
>too obscure to be found on book sharing sites
guess I gotta buy it like normal then

>>20710489
Based.

Can any Tolkien lore autists explain this to me? What exactly is Sam seeing a vision of? Was he alluding to Eru vs Melkor in microcosm? Or am I seeing something that isn't there?

>>20710030
https://www.theverge.com/c/23194235/ai-fiction-writing-amazon-kindle-sudowrite-jasper

>>20710529
I always assumed it was Eru and Melkor

>>20710030
I finished reading A Princess of Mars and I really didn't like it. I kept forgetting why anyone was doing anything and I hated how inorganic the exposition was. I really want to read The Gods of Mars and get into the Barsoom series, but I'm worried it's just going to be more of what I read. Does it get any better? Is there something I'm missing?

>>20710607
No, that's basically how all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' works are, they're 99% action with no time to rest and there's no resolution until the very last page of the last entry in the particular series. That's what happens when you're dealing with early 20th century serial novels, they are incorrigible cliffhangers.

>>20710161
Are you that anon that was writing a story based on that pic?
>>20710180
Fun!
>>20710203
I write stuff but haven’t had anything published. Really trying with this short story, though.
>>20710607
Actually thinking of getting this as my next weekend read.

Any cyberpunk thrillers you guys recommend? Need to read some for research

>>20710030
So, just finished The Crippled God. I have mixed feelings. First one is that Malazan Book of the Fallen is one hell of a long read and that I have zero desire to read another series of this scale. Second is that It's a flawed masterpiece. I won't ignore the flaws. The first book is weak. Dust of Dreams is sketchy unless you treat it as the first half of The Crippled God. Steven Erikson writes every character as if they're secretly a philosopher. The man really likes stretching things out. No I don't care about the specific details of dragon combat. No I don't want to read five hundred pages of back and forth fighting over a hole in a wall. Thank you. That said, what trip. To be honest I don't think I've read anything better in this genre.

>>20711095
Glad you enjoyed it

What do you think the cover art is supposed to be?
I'm assuming that might be korabas, who do you think the guy is supposed to be?

>>20711095
>No I don't care about the specific details of dragon combat
That sounds cool.

What should I read if I like autistic details?

>>20711161
>>20711095
I think a lot of the description was to build up to the manifestation of T'aim, though its explained more directly in fall of light how that happens
Basically when too many dragons begins fighting they enter a rage and can't stop fighting, then T'aim can manifest herself. Rake and other tiste have said soletaken came from drinking T'aim's blood. So seems like in the third book of that prequel trilogy we will see a big dragon battle over kharkanas that showers heaps of them with her blood. It looked like it would almost happen in forge of darkness when the dragons starting appearing over the battlefield but the war was over quick enough.

>>20711018
>Actually thinking of getting this as my next weekend read.
You can easily find the first five books in one volume.

>>20711018
>Are you that anon that was writing a story based on that pic?
I wasn't actually going to write a story, anon. Please forgive me.

>>20711231
You will never rule supreme

>>20711244
it's not about the word count, its about the premium prose, sublime story, complex world and the supremacy of the writer, why would you read from a faceless writer like in the wandering tin? why would you read from a man who likes to be ruled supreme upon by women like in the squeal of time? you should take pride in reading from a noble blonde lion who rules in absolute honor and majesty like in the Prince of Nothing.

>>20711244
That's what not having a publisher does to you.

>>20710030
FUCK he is comfy.

>>20711244
Thanks! Now I know never to read anything above the1 000 000 word threshold.

>>20711244
Hobbchads remember your loyalty

>>20711346
Realm of the Elderlings is comfy
I'm only halfway through it's a bit of a slog sometimes tho

>>20711244
The Wandering Inn is currently at 9.9 million words.
https://wanderinginn.neocities.org/statistics.html

>>20711276
>That's what not having a publisher does to you.
he's much more successful by not going through official channels, though. Patreon bucks + self-publish on Amazon +audiobook + merch shop...I'd guess Pirateaba is in top 5% of the most earning writers

>>20711420
>The Wandering Inn is currently at 9.9 million words.
>https://wanderinginn.neocities.org/statistics.html
Over 10 mln when counting The Last Tide comics and side-novel Gravesongs

>>20711434
It looks like that because he's following the LN publishing formula where you consistently release shorter chapters. I wonder if official printed versions will ever happen.

>>20711485
>It looks like that because he's following the LN publishing formula where you consistently release shorter chapters. I wonder if official printed versions will ever happen
The side novel Gravesongs is supposed to be paperback, in theory nothing stops the author from printing already self-published books on Amazon, maybe at some point they will do that for the highest backers or somerthing. They've already had the comic The Last Tide as physical medium (the small blue book at the bottom of the image)

>>20711164
wot
youll get bored though

>>20711462
>merch shop
Damn I kinda want the Wistram hoodie
The price + international shipping though...
Conversion rates really aren't helping nowadays

>>20711516
I read encyclopædias and ontology books/academic papers for fun.

>>20711516
>wot
>youll get bored though
Mother of Learning. The story is more for showing out the setting than being a story, it's full of autistic details. There are still world-building blogpost being made by the author, even though the story's over. Nonetheless, still the most popular webnovel and go-to when you start reading them.

>æ

>>20711520
>Damn I kinda want the Wistram hoodie
>The price + international shipping though...
>Conversion rates really aren't helping nowadays
Wistram hoodie looks good, but overall the merch shop is...dissapointing. Very few actually interesting items. Where's some giant canvass of a Dragon? A Mrsha plushie? A pillow or blanket with TWI things? Most of the stuff looks amateurish as hell. I saw one person make a blanket with TWI cover art by themselves and it looked actually interesting. And yet the shop doesn't have that. It reeks of Pirateaba's autism, it would be just like him to try do everything by himself and fall short.

>>20711550
>ä

The Judging Eye just arrived in the post, lads. What am I in for beginning the second series?

>>20711553
Those things do sound kinda nice but overall I wanna say it's an average merch shop for a fringe webnovel

>that simpleton in The Green Pearl who keeps telling Aillas to bear Tatzel

>>20710030
/sffg/ opinion on this series

>>20711749
Garbage like all King

>>20711749
Really good first book is totally deceptive. The series devolves into pop-King by volume 2 and gets worse from there.

>>20710180
cute!

>>20711602
you are in for the worst book in the second half - sorry anon. it's a slog

>>20711845
what this guy said. first book I remember being pretty great, second book had a cowboy on a beach fighting lobsters and running away through a portal??

>>20710180
non human fantasy only looks good in illustrations, video games and tv/film. It just doesn't work in writing
>b-b-but how about this one book
shut up

>>20711749
>>20711845
>>20711863
Yeah King came up with this character and after the first novel was kind of just winging it and it only got worse and worse. Read the first novel, if you like it that much, go up to number 4, after that you'll probably be disappointed.

When the fuck is this man going to release the final book, the wait is unbearable

>>20711485
>Spends $1000 to print out a free to read work
>it's easier to re-read by indexing and text searching digitally anyway
TWI readers have some sort of advanced autism

read bakker

Chad fantasy coming through.

>>20712122
I have the first 29 of those. Read them, too. But I admit, the quality really went downhill.

what do we think of otherside picnic?

>>20711244
There's only a couple series in there that need updating on word-count, right? Cradle's got its 11th book which probably puts it... Just ahead of Harry Potter in length, and TWI never fucking stops.

>>20711244
>Discworld casually sitting near the top with sheer number of books
Gotta love it.

>>20711164
Titus Groan and Gormenghast

>>20711548
Is it the most popular webnovel? I thought Worm would've been.

>>20712135
Cannot disagree I enjoyed them when I was a teenager tho.

>>20712203
>Is it the most popular webnovel? I thought Worm would've been.
Worm would have been if Wildbow did the rewrite he promised and actually self-published Worm. Instead he's fucking around writing Pale

I've almost finished Dune and don't like it as much as I expected. Should I bother with the sequels? I wanted to like the first one, so if the sequels get better I'm willing to give them a shot.

>>20711153
I don't honestly believe they put any thought at all into cover art or design anymore, so I'm not going to do that work for them. I remember staring at fantasy book covers for hours when I was a kid. The guy on this cover is simply a generic fantasy soldier. I bet you could use this same cover art on just about anything.
>>20711180
I'll definitely be skipping those books. I loved Malazan Book of the Fallen, but the content I enjoyed the most was the soldiers being soldiers. The Tiste Andii and the dragons were the low points for me. Nimander was probably my fave out of the Tiste Andii. I did enjoy the dynamics of his little group.

>>20710203
I have a 245,000-word fantasy I'm sitting on because my editor told me no one will publish something that big from a first-time writer. So I have to finish three of my other, shorter stories, so that in five or ten years I can publish the thing I want to publish.

Writing isn't a career for a lot of people for a reason. The machine is byzantine and stupid.

>>20712492
Dune is one of these stories where the setting and the world-building is more interesting than the things that happen. The dialogue is just... bad in areas. All of the notes people love about Dune from the movies don't actually occur in the book. The invasion happens between chapters, for example, and the retaliation occurs much in the same way. You're just left to your imagination about what took place because the author didn't feel like writing war scenes.

>>20712492
It's generally accepted that the first book is the better than the rest. I felt the same way about Dune. I do intend to reread it to see if my opinion has changed after all these years.

>>20712554
>the setting and the world building are more interesting than the things that happen
Absolutely fucking filtered, holy shit. Films and books are different. The focuses are different. Herbert didn't write le epic battles into Dune because the battles themselves aren't important.

>>20711462
Just shows the real talent is not being able to write something good but being able to write a lot.

>>20712680
>Just shows the real talent is not being able to write something good but being able to write a lot.
Can only partially agree with this, being capable of good writing is one thing, being capable of adequate writing with consistency is something else. You can write a decent novel but who cares if it's the only book you made within a decade? On the other hand, a lot of webnovelists churn out chapters by day, and most of them are shit. Very few webnovels are actually popular, probably less than 1%.

Pirateaba is an anomaly because he puts out 30k words-long chapter twice a week, barely taking any breaks. And that writing is decent. Imagine writing for more than 9 hours without stopping. Pirate had writing streams when they'd done it. Most people can barely force themselves to do that for 2 hours a week, let alone commit an entire day to it.

Inhuman levels of consistency.

>>20711244
rate them by how good they are

>>20712546
Just split the book nigga

>>20712492
when i first read it dune was actually my least liked book in the series but it got better with the next ones and it's best when reaching god emperor but i think the next two books are good as well

>>20710030
Who is your most hated character in fiction?

>>20712853
elayne from wot

>>20712492
Some people don't like Dune Messiah, but I enjoyed it. It's short and kind of wraps up Paul's story before moving on, and introduces some more texture to the worldbuilding. Children of Dune is alright but is only worth reading if you plan on reading God Emperor of Dune. God Emperor of Dune is really solid and thematically feels like what Herbert has been working towards. I'd honestly say the series could end at God Emperor because I only got halfway through the following book bc it was so shit in comparison to the previous ones.

all that said, it's hard for me to recommend that you continue the series without knowing what in particular you didn't like about the first book

>>20712196
Yes and Malazan would overtake WOT's spot in 2nd place.

>>20712949
Ah, wasn't aware that was still going. Dunno how many of those series are actually ongoing (Kingkiller is 'apparently' ongoing I know that, so's Mistborn, I think there's more Inheritance stuff planned eventually. Is The Expanse still going? And there's a few series I haven't even heard of in there so.)

>>20711244
So basically a million words is event horizon for dogshit

>>20712965
They didn't include Esslemont's Malazan books. It's about 6 million word count altogether.

>>20711749
The Jerusalem Man trilogy by David Gemmell is almost exactly like this series, but infinitely better.

>>20713074
you can say that for literally anything Stephen King has ever written

Just finished The Foundation and Earth. Should I read the prequels? What are they like?

>>20713212
No, you should've just read the trilogy and Kingsbury's Psychohistorical Crisis. It's a better continuation than Asimov's.

>>20713212
Why doesn't no one talk about bicentennial man?

>>20712907
Maybe I'm just dumb, but I couldn't even summarize the plot. It’s just a bunch of stuff that happens to a group of characters with no impetus for me to care.

Paul Atreides is a boring protagonist. He's the son of royalty, great. Oh, and he's audio the chosen one! Who could have seen that coming? In the beginning when they speculated if Paul could really be the whatever it was called, it was obvious he would be. La-de-fucking-da.

I find the Baron, his nephews, and Paul's various mentors to be far more interesting characters, yet I get so little of them and am stuck with Paul the Twink.

>>20713276
literally who

>>20712122
This is horny teenager stuff not Chad

>>20713390
You posted an image and don't even know the characters in your image?

>>20713390
that guy that hung hisself

>>20713414
It was based on an Asimov book.

>>20713329
Meant to say "also the chosen one," not "audio."
>t. phonefag

Elia of Dorne. I killed her screaming whelp. Then I raped her. Then I smashed her fucking head in. Like this.

>>20713516
You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children.

>>20713235
>No, you should've just read the trilogy and Kingsbury's Psychohistorical Crisis. It's a better continuation than Asimov's.
Sounds cool anon, what is it about?

>>20713595
https://www.zompist.com/asimov.htm#king

>>20712853
Right now it's Fist Blistig from Malazan.

>>20712492
God Emperor is the best but also 3 books away. If you didn't really enjoy the first book, there's a million other books you could be reading.

>>20713626
>It begins in the year 2722 of the Foundation Era, 1600 years after the establishment of the Second Empire, and it deals with the major unanswered question of the series: How do we get rid of these guys?
>The Second Foundation, after all, is one of the creepiest cabals in s.f., and our own psychohistorical insight is that such an unelected, unanswerable elite is always bad
sounds cool, might give it a try

The Warrior Prophet if it was music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PxQmHIQ5o&t

>>20711550
Fun fact: it's pronounced "ee", so dæmon and demon are actually homophones, one just looks fancier.

A random thought made me remember the unauthorised books in Lord of the Ring's universe, 'The Ring of Darkness.' Quick look at google and...I'm stupefied. It wasn't released in english. That's pretty crazy to me, because it's one of the more memorable fantasy books I've read in my childhood, enjoyed them just as much as LotR.

If you are unaware, there's a russian guy Nick Perumov who writes (used to?) fantasy. In 1993 he wrote two books for his friends, and they were so good they told him to publish it. They were unexpected success and sold hundreds of thousands of copies in European countries. The guy himself also isn't some nobody, all of his book together sold millions of copies.

Now I'm sad, because I've learned that english publishers were afraid of Tolkien estate and never translated his works to english. After 2000s copyrighters in Russia also forced the seriesout of print. I read the books in polish, twice, and never questioned their existence until years later I realised it might have been illegal. I got them around 2010 from a local library, the same one that I got the sequel to E.T. (I made a post about that some time ago in this thread). Also one of the very few instances that I enjoyed fan-fiction.

I've just found epubs of the series (in polish, it seems there is no english translation, alas) so I'll likely re-read and find out how does the series hold up now that I'm no longer a kid.

>>20713954
I do enjoy a good ol' "fact" that can be disproven by a 5 second googling.

The Ring of Darkness wasn't the only book russians did, 'The Last Ringbearer' by Kirill Yeskov in 1999 was another story, but written from the perspective of people of Mordor, which is about to experience an industrial revolution. I remember reading it at some point, but I can't recall much except for the ending. It seems to be pretty mediocre, but if you want to read it the translation is available on z-lib. Also free to read here: https://archive.org/details/TheLastRingbearerSecondEdition/mode/2up

>It is an alternative account of, and an informal sequel to, the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

>Eskov bases his novel on the premise that the Tolkien account is a "history written by the victors". Eskov's version of the story describes Mordor as a peaceful constitutional monarchy on the verge of an industrial revolution, that poses a threat to the war-mongering and imperialistic faction represented by Gandalf (whose attitude has been described by Saruman as "crafting the Final Solution to the Mordorian problem") and the racist elves.

>>20714042
>"crafting the Final Solution to the Mordorian problem"
that's a bit on the nose, innit

The Warrior Prophet if it was music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02PxQmHIQ5o&t

>>20714042
cringe

>>20712492
Messiah is better, but it's all downhill from there. Wait, I'll make my own chart.

I will start reading TWI if the TWI anon stop posting about TWI for 1 week, i will even buy the books at amazon to support the author, just shut the fuck up

>>20714291
There are over 110 posts in this thread. Only 6 are about TWI. Are you guys really so fucking fragile that a few people throwing 2-3 lines-long posts to eachother trigger you?

>>20714325
Damage over time. Also that's 3x the number of Bakker posts.

>>20714196
>Wait, I'll make my own chart.
we don't want it

Twi is about some stupid female, its garbage.

>>20713648
god emperor makes up for any book

>>20714291
I haven't started TWI discussion for over a week, it's other people who do that now. Because they actually read and want to discuss what they readm instead of bitching about the same few books in a circle-herk. You guys are worse than redditors sometimes

I thought this was a good video explaining Herbert's sequels in 10 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ658qV-xAg

>>20714291
why don't YOU stop posting about TWI?
it's not doing anyone any good. or talk about it once you've actually read it. otherwise just ignore it. that's what i do with series that don't interest me here.

>>20714325
>>20714406
LOOK LOOK GUYS MY BOOK HAS 50 ZILLION WORDS !!!!!!!! WOWWWWWWWWWWWW !!!!!!! SO MANY WORDS !!!!!!!!!

shut the fuck up

>>20714412
we have an actual toddler right here.

Am I too stupid for Gene Wolfe? I'm reading the 'A Story' section of pic related, and I have no fucking clue what's going on.

>>20714426
A little confusing right at the beginning. Do you realize they aren't humans? It makes more sense then.

>>20713981
>>20714042
I think it's telling about their ethnic character that the first thing the average Russian identifies with in a story of objective, Christian, good versus evil, is the orcs.

>>20714426
Can I suggest The Wandering Inn instead?

>>20714527
Added to my "to-read"

How many have you boys read?

>>20714572
Dragonlance was an inspiration for D&D? This list is fake and gay.

>>20714586
You don't think it was?

>>20714590
Give me Gary's original list.

>>20714590
The original Dungeon and Dragons came out 1974, you stupid dipshit. Dragonlance came out in March 1984

>>20714597

>>20714504
Is it supposed to be completely ambiguous? Several reviews and blurbs have said that the mysteries unfold as you read, so I've been looking for clues and trying to make sense of it all. Sandwalker refers to the people as humans, for instance. Perhaps the last section will spread some light.

>>20714604
The image is from 5e which came out in 2014.

>>20711244
>quantity = quality

i see

>>20714615
Stop being such a fucking retard, christ.

>>20714572
At least ten thousand, maybe twenty. Of that I remember like 5 off the top of my head and could probably recall a hundred if someone reminded me of them. It's kinda crazy to think about in retrospect. Sort of like trying to calculate how much foo you've eaten in your lifetime.

>>20714606
I like Howard, Leiber, Lovecraft, Saberhagen, Tolkien, Vance. Don't like Farmer, Burroughs, Moorcock. Mixed on Zelazny. From what I've read, this makes me respect Gygax all the more as D&D feels derivative but on inspection is so much more than the sum of its parts. Give me the same thing, only different -- he hit that one off the tee.

Aside from that, is Poul Anderson worth reading? Should I check out the listed one or is there something better for an intro? I've always seen the name but never read any of it.

>>20714610
Nah not completely, there's several clues, obvious ones, contextual ones, some are subtle but I don't think he's trying to hide it from you. For me the confusing part was when it says someone drowns at the beginning when the twins are born, that was intentionally obscured and will make sense later.

>>20714572
>Appendix N*
ftfy

Does anyone recommend any good pulp novels? I liked reading Starwolf: The Weapon from Beyond by Edmond Hamilton.

>>20714916
Lensman series by Doc Smith, if you haven't read him yet.

George R. R. Martin
Patrick Rothfuss
Scott Lynch

which one is the worst piece of shit?

>>20712201
Brevity is the soul of wit.

>>20714948
Martin is the worst piece of shit since he feels no reciprocal obligation towards the people who make him rich. Rothfus I wouldn't want to be in a room with fewer than five people. Don't know anything about Lynch.

>>20714916
The Face in the Abyss

>>20714916
There's a guy named Harry Harrison who looks like he wrote some good stuff but I haven't gotten around to him. The Stainless Steel Rat, and Deathworld.

>>20714948
You

>>20714977
Finish the book, George.

>>20714956
It's a good thing Discworld's stories are all just their own thing as part of a developing world rather than an absurdly long mega-story.

>>20712108
No thank you. Bakker-posters all have brain damage.

Greg Sadler said Gygax doesn't understand fantasy and that D&D is bad. Is he right?

What is a good book that mostly describes unusual machinery, alien landscapes, impossible sights and beings beyond our comprehension?
I am in the mood for something like that.

>>20715156
Greg Sadler can go suck a lemon until he can answer the question: what is fantasy?

>>20715195
House of Suns

>>20715156
Gygax is Promethean, granting the spark of creation to the plebs who would otherwise have only been able to consoom.

>>20715156
Gygax is a Sword and Sorcery guy.
His vision forD&D is much different to what we have today.

>>20711550
I used to love encyclopedia dramatica

>>20715111
Just try it out anon.

>>20715205
based because that is next on my list after I read Flowers for Algernon. bros I'm crying over here

no Bakker fan has ever known a woman

>>20715360
I've read all of the Second Apocalypse books and I've slept with three different women. and I've had sex five times so (You) can do themath pic semi related

>>20715198
He didn't elaborate. He randomly brought it up in I think one of the Earthsea videos.

>>20715377
Stop lying on the internet. No one believes you.

>>20715433
I believe him. Cope.

>>20715493
I don't believe him. Seethe.

>>20715493
You probably ARE him. Dipshit

>>20715613
Why is it hard to believe someone has had sex? Even the most unpleasant guys I've ever met have had sex, maybe not with the kind of women you'd want, but they still did.

>>20714146
What are some other books with the same vibe as the prince of nothing trilogy? The vibe of a holy war marching through a desert. Doesn't have to fantasy.

>>20711244
Why isn't the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant on here?

>>20715956
>What are some other books with the same vibe
>vibe
What do you care? You don't read.

>>20716076
Neither do you apparently.

>>20716061

>>20716106
now show me I shall seal the heavens

>>20711749
Worse with each entry and ends on a note of futility. Haven't touched the author since.

>>20714522
Well, the orcs are Russians. Twisted mongrels speaking an artificial language, led by senile geezer hidden in a fortress, industrialising at the cost of everything else save capacity for war, coming from the east to destroy and pillage the lands of the free peoples.

>degraded and repulsive versions of the least lovely Mongol-types
Scratch a Russian, find a Tatar.

>>20712135
>The shoo three has shoes on it hehehe

God these books were inane.

FUCK he's good.

Are any of orson Scott card's books from the last twenty years any good?

At what point is it kosher to post RR links here? I've only ever released full novels before so I'm still learning the whole web novel thing. Apologies if I should fuck off to /wg/ instead

>>20716500
The only rule is no self-promos. That's why R. Scott Bakker's posts get deleted here.

>>20714916

Cordwainer Smith loves romantic adventures to the highest, and has an interesting point of view on literature being a Westerner who grew up entangled with the court of the Chinese emperor

>>20716482
Mithermages was passable. But yeah, his early works were by far his better works.

What do people think about The Grace of Kings?

Re-read it recently and loved it.

>decide to start Vorkosigan Saga
>start with Shards
>oh cool, female MC and space opera
>book is actually a barbarian romance novel in disguise
Why are women like this

>>20716912
As much I don't mind female writers, there should be a trigger warning whether a book by a female has romance. Bitches can't stop themselves from adding it. For fuck's sake, just write something without centring about it around love. Even Le Guin was guilty of this

>Fang Yuan is anti-social
No he's not, Fang Yuan is socially pragmatic. He tells you what he views as the true exploitative nature of social hierarchies and moral ideology, and then says to apply that knowledge as you desire. True anti-social would be to say "society is exploitative and that is evil and should be stopped". Fang Yuan regularly engages with, uses, and builds society to his convenience. Even becoming a Righteous Path venerable for said convenience.
>Fang Yuan is evil
No he is not, Fang Yuan has no malice toward other people whatsoever. He simply has a goal, in fact an extremely simple and relatable one called "survival", and is willing to compete against others to achieve it.
>Fang Yuan is heartless
No he is not, Fang Yuan shows clear sentimentality at times in the story. Furthermore he has a worldview that's impossible without empathy, as he does not consider himself an exception among people, he has a worldview that treats himself as consistent with the rest of humanity and operating by the same fundamental principles as everyone else.
>Fang Yuan is shameless
Debatably untrue. He seemed troubled when an earth spirit asked him to bring his true love and the face of his previous life's fish waifu involuntarily appeared in his mind. He may be embarrassed that he's not so devoid of worldly sentiments as he lets on.

You pretty much cannot have a purer expression of a true neutral protagonist. Really just a guy without any particular ideological motive, trying to live as long as possible. The only reason he gets misconstrued as anything else is a telling commentary of the anti-neutral mentality of modern, black-and-white, with-or-against-us society.

>>20717027
Furthermore there's a major underlying implication that, ultimately, the root cause for people in the story hating Fang Yuan's actions for survival is Fate Gu's entanglement manipulating humanity to oppose their and others' drive to survive.

>>>/tv/171445775
can you believe those chuds, guys?

>>20717027
>Fang Yuan
wow who cares about some blank canvas self insert character that every anime-consuming autist can relate to

>>20717217
Self-insert characters are mindless and lazy way to write. I see too many of them in fantasy, I want a character that is different to me with whom I can still empathize because he/she is written in such compelling and believable way.

>>20716413
Good and dead, lmfao

>still reading Marrow
>woman pisses and reads her son's future through the way the droplets hit the ground
ok

Why are /sffg/ threads so full of Xianxia shit these days? Did mainland China finally gain access to 4chan?

>>20717231
>Self-insert characters are mindless and lazy way to write. I see too many of them in fantasy, I want a character that is different to me with whom I can still empathize because he/she is written in such compelling and believable way.
People here are incapable of that. They cannot even bear a female PoV, let alone a person with different world-view than themselves. I'll never forget the moment I first started seeing discussions of fantasy after years of reading alone, the very concept of 'relating' to characters was alien to me. There are characters and stories that can hit particularly hard because you can understand them due to your own personal experiences, but the true magic happens when an author writes something so well that you can feel and understand the character despite never living through any similar experience.

But most retards would just want edgy boys as protagonists because they cannot relate to anything else, vide the fascination with Fang Yuan. Just look at the retard above who claims Fang Yuan is not anti-social. A person that doesn't see other people than anything else than resources and casually burns children on a pyre to gain power while not feeling any remorse. People who think like this should find the local psychotherapist and book a visit, before they hurt themselves harder in their derrangement.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/20/top-10-21st-century-fantasy-novels-brian-attebery
>google suggests this article
>"cool, let's see if there are any interesting entries"
>However, in this century, a new wave of fantasy challenges that European dominance. Writers of colour and writers from indigenous cultures use magical narratives to depict experiences and express viewpoints difficult to convey within the constraints of realism.
>all the authors on the list are mystery-meat women a la picrel

>>20711244
Dresden has like 3 good books, how the hell is it selling at all

>>20717289
>there is nothing suspect or inorganic about my three consecutive Best Novel Hugos you bigot :)

>>20717324
I don't think you understand the chart, those aren't sales figures. They're wordcounts, and each block of colour is a book in a series.

>>20717263
Manchild weebs that finished reading every available Isekai found themselves out of power fantasy Gary Stu escapism, the chinkshit fills that niche

>>20716967
They also love writing about rape

>>20712108
reminder that Bakker agrees with and promotes this mindset

>>20710203
I've been writing a Lovecraftian adventure web novel on RR. My writing never seems to be up to par with what I want it to be but at least it's getting views.

>>20717279
All I want is an unrealistic female MC who doesn't immediately start revolving around a man. Even if women give male writers a lot of shit for their portrayal of women, female MCs written by women tend to go weak at the knees the moment the alpha dude rolls up

So I was curious, after reading DCC, what the author's other books are like. I went for Dominion of Blades because it seemed the most similar, and... You can sort of tell how his writing went from DoB to DCC, it has a very similar feel to it.
I'm so far enjoying it, though the start was a little rocky. Also I'd have a hard time recommending it here because the protagonist is female-to-male transgender and this is 4chan.

>>20717541
Ah, fuck, forgot the image.

>>20717541
I want him to finish DCC before going back to his other works because I have a butthurt against author who write multiple series at one time but I also acknowledge that his other series came beforehand. However, DCC is definitely paying his bills now.
I say the same thing about gay fucking Cradle because I want more Traveler's Gate.

>>20717556
I mean, Traveler's Gate is 'finished' on an open-ended ending. It's something he might pick up again, and Cradle's ending in... I guess six months is how often he releases books, so six months 'til the last one. He's got SOMETHING planned after that but it's not clear what.

>>20717562
>open-ended ending
Yeah but that's gay. Simon has a lot of advancement to undergo and exploration to perform not to mention recovering and improving Valinhall.
He was writing short stories for a while before he abruptly stopped.
He's said that a 6mo release is the most optimum for profits.

>>20717231
>>20717279
>>20717477
If you want a good range of female PoVs read realm of the Elderlings.
Hobb is a woman so I think that helps, the main women grow throughout it, some are stupid from the start, some are useless housewives and others are competent but like all good characters still have their flaws

>>20717633
> Hobb is a woman so I think that helps
Thats the only reason those books are so bad and boring.

>>20717824
I disagree. There's less 'action' but I don't find it boring.

One issue I have though, especially in the rain wilder books that I'm currently on is the recapping that she does. I get it, if I was reading these books years apart as they were released, but reading the recaps when I'm reading them back to back is very tiring.

worst thing I've read in years, goodness gracious

Right I'm playing kingmaker as a knife master

How the fuck do I actually reliably hit shit ? I seem to be missing all the damn time.
Do I need to dip into some other martial class or does it get easier later on in the game ?

>>20717894
dip into >>>/vg/

Should I read Three Body Problem before reading The Dark Forest?
t. literaturelet

r

Bakkerbros what're we reading recently?

>>20717898
Should I read the book that establishes everything first?

>>20717916
Stormlight Archives

>>20717990
Bakkerbro status renounced.

>>20717845
The books are very blotted, you can easily omit 200-300 pages per book that add absolutely nothing to the plot or setting.

>>20717890
y

Eversion - Alastair Reynolds
Thoroughly enjoyable.

>>20718028
Yup
Iv skimmed the earlier chapters of each book but I do really enjoy it. I think she does such a good job of detailing events and locations. I also love the variety in the personality in the PoVs.

That said I really am looking forward to get back to Fitz story.

Prince of Nothing is actually a fairly easy read. More people should try it.

>>20718289
is it part of revelation space?

>>20718398
I'm convinced Bakker and his family just hangout here shilling his shitty books.

>>20718451
This is a standalone book.
The Revelation Space series had a good sequel come out just last year: Inhibitor Phase.

>>20717359
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B8xfwpTorY

>>20711297
Yeah tower of babel series was a guilty pleasure. Guilty because it had a lot of strong womyn shit injected in but he probably wouldn't have gotten a good reception from the unwashed masses otherwise

Thinking about picking this up as my first Gene Wolfe novel. Thoughts?

>>20718924
it's a good place to start
you'll get a feeling for his style, but it's probably one of his more grounded works in terms of storytelling.

>>20718924
There's a guide on the wolfewiki.
https://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Articles.Novice

>>20713212
I enjoyed the prequels a lot. I didn't read Asimov other's novel beside I, Robot but I believe he knew how to tie his other novels into a single literary universe.

>>20718924
It's just boring wish fulfillment written in above average prose

>>20718028
>add absolutely nothing to the plot or setting.
Sounds like chink webnovels are more your speed desu.

best fantasy books for men who hate women?

So, I read Old Man's War. I was surprised to read a lot of criticism shitting on it for not being hard sci-fi. Or highbrow enough. Or magically unique. Sci-fi fans seem to be ridiculously autistic. It was a great book that gripped me from start to finish. It kind of felt like Ender's Game for old men. Scalzi's writing is solid and direct without any annoying flourishes. He gets out of the way of the story. I don't feel it's a stretch to say that this is one of the best novels I've read in years. I feel like the reason people don't get this book is that they've simply never been married. Or they're not old enough to appreciate it.

>>20719380
People don't like Scalzi because he's a wokist pastor. But I don't think that comes through in his books.

>>20719454
It's like the mormon writers. They usually don't too preachy in their books so I don't care.

Is this a joke?

>>20719579
For some reason the only good cyberpunk comes from Japan.

>be me
>remember reading 100 chapter long webnovel a couple years ago
>go back to see if it was ever completed
>nearly 2000 chapters long
>last chapter posted 2 days ago
I don't know how someone can keep something going for that long and it scares me

>>20719761
Press shift+4.

>>20719579
why are you always seething

Hi /sffg/
I'm a narrator what wants to get into narrating web fiction or web novel type stuff. Do you have any idea on how I could get into that specific line of work?

Right now I'm narrating a history book for audible, and while it's not bad, I would rather be treading water in the garbage end of fiction.

>>20719796
directly contact the author and ask how much they would be willing to pay for it.
Most of them do it for fun without the expectation of making it big, so they won't go looking most of the time.

>>20719819
The few times I have, I offer to do it for free with only royalties when it sells. Which from what I understand is a very good deal for authors, and a not so good deal for me.

Also I struggle to contact them.

>>20719796
Doesn't Amazon have a sort of mosh pit for narrators where you can bid and audition to read kindle unlimited books?

>>20717217
You basically cannot find less of a blank canvas self insert than Fang Yuan in web novels period. He spends literally the entire book expressing and acting out his highly personal viewpoint and purpose. What is this sperg on about?

>>20719837
I believe it's only available for USA and UK residents? Not a 100% sure.

I am a native english speaker and do plan to eventually move to either country.

>>20719834
Most of the sites they post on have comment and DM functions, the smaller ones and good authors read what they can.

Finally, some fucking news

>>20719854
I've spent that past two years, on and off, reading long, long series and then attempting to contact and only sometimes contacting the author.
I have so far been mostly unsuccessful. A single author accepted, then rug-pulled hallway through to sign up with a publisher.

>>20717231
I think the problem is you either never tried Reverend Insanity then, or failed to empathize because of him being too distinct and individualistic.

>>20717279
>People here are incapable of that.
Narcissism ahoy. Japan loves female POV, Korea and China haven't quite gotten it down yet but are trying as well. Westerners can't write female POV worth a shit because westerners treat women as dogmatic ideals, not humans.

>But most retards would just want edgy boys as protagonists because they cannot relate to anything else, vide the fascination with Fang Yuan. Just look at the retard above who claims Fang Yuan is not anti-social.
I don't see you making any argument to the contrary, just empty seething.
>A person that doesn't see other people than anything else than resources and casually burns children on a pyre to gain power while not feeling any remorse.
You missed the entire point of the book. Fang Yuan sees others as people, he sees them as more than resources, but he uses them as resources anyway, because his dao of eternal live requires him to do so. You're an unironic brainlet and subconsciously strawmanned the protagonist into a stereotype instead of just reading.

>>20719847
I don't see that anywhere
https://www.acx.com/

>>20719454
>But I don't think that comes through in his books.
Yes it does.

>>20719872
>still reading Pierce Brown after that soap box pandering novel that was basically a noir urban fantasy with his tranny daughter
The Red Rising Series only has 3 books.

>>20719916
ahh, I must have misunderstood at the time I tried applying
> ACX is not currently available to users in the country you have indicated. If you wish to be alerted when ACX becomes available in your country, please submit this form, and an alert will be sent to the email address provided.
It is only my country.

I am looking for the name of a short story I listened to on YouTube (possibly horrorbabble) a while ago, it was part SciFi and part horror. I think it was called "X's world's" whereas X is simply the dude's name.
The story is basically dude X inviting his friend over to show him his cool miniature/simulated universe which he used to experiment the effect of calamities on alien civilizations. the end was the friend pushing dude X into the container containing the universe to stop the atrocities he inflicted upon the peoples of the simulation and then X exploded because, apparently, zero-gravity is deadly to humans for the same reason as decompression

>>20720008
That's no friend.

>>20720008
>I don't like how you're using the thing you created and showed me out of good will so I'm going to kill you

Finished The Black Company in Space last night. I'd give it a soft 7/10.

>>20710030
>be me
>post in /sffg/ about how disappointed I am with fantasy and how repetitive it is
>I'll just write my own, that'll show them
>spend some days laying out a story
>it ends up being another hero's journey

>7 books in
>first chapter
>4 new POV
>each in a new location
>10 new characters

Name something worse than a stupid annoying villain who is only capable of being a problem due to contrived circumstance, you cannot.

just finished the 7 frontlines books before the 8th and final(ish) one comes out in aug. Any other anons want to talk about it with me?

>>20720167
is this any good?

King of /sffg/.

Simple as.

>>20720241
I'm about halfway through and I would give it a solid 7/10 at this point. It's nothing out of this world but it's a very solid and well put together book.
You can tell it's just the first part to the larger series though, not that that's a bad thing but it's very obvious that the writer is chumming the water.

>>20720262
thanks anon, I suppose I'll download it and add it to my ever growing to do list...

I will never read the Wandering Inn and there's nothing wrong with that.

>>20720300
I bet it doesn't even offer a good murderhobo experience.

>>20720300
No respectable person ITT has even considered reading the Wandering Inn. Same goes for Reverend Insanity.

>>20719533
That's just because you're too ignorant and stupid to notice all the mormon worldviews being constantly praised.

>>20720336
I read it. That freak who posts here is sucking out the few grains of pleasure I take from it though.

>>20720336
I hate myself and have zero intention of reading either of them.

>>20720400
Alternatively, it just means that you're too obsessed to not seethe over all the mormon worldviews being constantly praised.

>>20720300
>>20720336
It's just young 'uns something they like. I wish they would shut-up about it though.

>>20720130
You reading Malazan? kek

>>20720442
Not him, but it was also the only book I could think of that does that. Too bad, the books weren't that interesting after Coltaine died, so I dropped it during the flashback book.

>>20719755
Name one example.
>inb4 Mardock Scramble

>>20720336
>>20720422
t. ameriboomers seething that a chink managed to write a better idealistically unfettered work than their slave morality shithole can

>>20720638
>wandering inn
>ideologically unfettered
Oh no, anon...

>>20720638
Uh, no chud. I'm European actually.

>>20720650
>wandering inn
>chink-written
Read anon. It's what the board is all about.

>>20720682
Anyone that sucks anglosphere cock deserves to be called american. You're part of the american empire after all.

>>20720690
>Says this while on a Japanese Inspired American image board while speaking english.
LOL
LMAO even

>>20720714
So you don't deny it and instead rationalize it. See? There's nothing wrong with me calling you an ameriboomer, and I can culturally infer from the very reasons you stated. :^)

>so what if we remade naruto, but it was a fantasy book with a bard as the main character
>a million reads on goodreads
>constantly comes up in popular online discourse
It was very comfortable and easy to read I'll give it that.

>>20720722
I wasn't asking, but thank you for conceding your entire argument.

>>20720252
Based.

>>20720682
What are the top 10 sffs from your country in the past 50 years? Always looking for something new. Thanks.

>The Wandering Inn

What a retarded name.

>>20720684
I don't read trash, sorry

Has anyone read Building Harlequin's Moon
I was on a big Niven bender recently but this one is dragging hard, might just give up and move on
it goes to show: there is nothing so mighty that an average woman can't ruin it

>>20720806
>I don't read trash, sorry

>>20720684
>Anime
>Mange
>Audio books

All of those, with no exception, are NOT reading.

>>20720825
I haven't but those times I've held on to a miss from Niven I've regretted it. Wish I hadn't read those last couple of Ringworlds since they kind of shit on the great fun I had with the first two. Same was true of something else of his, but I've forgotten it. Drop it if you sense it might nullify your enjoyment of the other stuff you've read of his.

>>20720739
I accept your concession, ameriboomer.

>>20720829
Yes.

>>20720849
>NO U
LOL
LMAO even

>>20720830
Is reddit spacing reading?

>>20720855
>>NO U
>LOL
>LMAO even
Uh oh xe's coping.

>>20720865
Yes, unlike the Crawling Inn.

>>20720852
>Yes.

>>Yes.

>>>Yes.

>>>>Yes.

>>>>>Yes.

Guys could you get a room?

>>20720902
Just report them for spamming/flooding.

>>20720907
I have never reported anyone for anything and never will.

>>20720844
I hear you on the latter Ringworlds. I think I'll skip this one, it's a shame because I think Niven could have worked really well with the premise but this Brenda woman is such a drab writer in comparison, there's offensively little style or flair to anything. Just writing down words.

>>20720585
Akira, Battle Angel Alita, Ghost in the Shell, Blame!, Serial Experiments Lain, Cowboy Bebop. Yes, it's manga/anime. Actually non-literature Western cyberpunk has some good stuff. There's just a lot of bad Western cyberpunk literature.

>>20720907
>deleted
What did he mean by this???

>>>>>>Yes.

Mods, clean it up.

>>20720336
this desu but also add bakker

>>20720969
No, not really.

>>>>>>>Yes.

>>20720972
>longwinded pretentious chink anime powerlevels bullshit that nobody on earth knows or cares about except a few dedicated autists that have literally nothing else to do in their lives but shill their drivel on /lit/
how is Bakker any different from those other two

>>20720980
I wasn't asking.

>>20720980
RI is neither pretentious nor anime, get a life boomer.

>>20720917
If you're into Niven have you read the Smoke Ring / Integral Trees? They are seldom read, nerdy and autistic and lack Ringworld's humanism. There's almost no attempt at mass appeal. I like them precisely because the plot and characters are a thin excuse to explore the setting. Kendy for the State.

>>20720994

>>20721030
>>>20720994

>>20720130
>>20720442
at least wheel of time sticks with the same povs. who reads garbage like malazan?

>>20720779
uhh source on the image on the right?

>>20721113
Posted right here 2 or so years ago.

>>20721113

>>20721113
it's a man

>>20721127
They look nice but that hand is rather manly

>>20720336
'respectable people' are allowed to indulge dumb shit for grins Anon. Don't let phantom gatekeepers in your head keep you from living your life. That's teenage behavior.

>>20721142
Just like you then.
>>20721149
No one cares.

Can someone explain to me why bakker fans obsess over a trans mtf who posted their picture on here once.
Lots of women and probably some trans women read fantasy you guys.

>>20721150
Still not reading shit, sorry.

>>20721154
I do. It's important weather or not it's really a woman.

>>20721160
I don’t know, anon. Why do you keep making posts about them or replying to them instead of just ignore it or reporting it if it bothers you? And this is someone who hates them.

One cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten.

>>20721160
You sound resentful.

This triggers people for some reason.

>>20721160
When the bakkerspammer starts doing shit like this
>>20721194
>>20721127
>>20721140
Don’t reply to it and just report it. Jannies and mods deal with it. It’s the only way to keep the general useable.

>>20721187
no I quite like bakker actually, I just don't get the obsession with that picture

>>20721206
Does it trouble you?

>>20721215
What picture? The fucking guy asked for it, I posted it. Who's obsessing over what exactly? The way it looks to me is that whoever that person is, is living rent free in your head.

>>20721206
Announcing a report is against the rules.

>>20721206
Will do.

>>20721206
LMAO

>>20721206
Will not do.

>>20721206
If it cleans up this general, sure.

How did he do it, bros? I've never read anything like him. I was not prepared for this much kino.

>>20721257
Not even bakker likes this faggot.

>>20721160
because they're trannies

So is Sando already writing the 5th instalment of the Stormlight Archive?

When is she releasing another book?
Don't look at me like that she's better than fucking Sanderson

>>20721302
Literal WHO

>>20721315
Begone zoomzoom

>Female reading zoomer calling me a zoomzoom

>>20720252
Truth Shines.

>>20721324
>kneejerk opposition to acknowledging the existence of women
you are definitely a zoomoid

>>20720915
Unlike me. I report every post I disagree with as being low quality.

>>20721324
What a knob. Take your tide pods.

>>20720336
No intention of reading TWI, but I must admit the shiller has made me at least partially interested in RI. And it's worth mentioning that I have never read a web-novel nor any wuxia/cultivation shit.

>>20721194
>No Peake
>No Vance
A sad day when the newfaggot who made this dumb survey considers the two best authors in fantasy ever to be 'Other'
What a shame they both wrote little fantasy.

>>20721347
I have yet to see cultivation novels exceed average Shounen Jump level writing. It's pure serialized autism bait.

Peakefags- are Boy in Darkness and Titus Awakes worth reading for a first time reader, or just I just stick with the trilogy?

redpill me on Malazan

>>20721347
>And it's worth mentioning that I have never read a web-novel nor any wuxia/cultivation shit.
None of them are as good as RI so there's nothing wrong with that. And believe me I don't like saying that, I've looked for alternatives.

I'm reading The Pastel City and I find it to be not really on the same level as New Sun or even Vance's stories. I feel as though Harrison took a very competent sword and sorcery story he had and gave it a postindustrial dying earth coat of paint. Is A Storm of Wings much better?

>>20721519
>a very competent sword and sorcery story he had and gave it a postindustrial dying earth coat of paint
That sounds perfectly fine though.

>>20721519
>took a very competent sword and sorcery story he had and gave it a postindustrial dying earth coat of paint
Isn't derivative storytelling in an arbitrary setting how most people write fantasy?

Are there any good fantasy stories where the world is just beginning to transition to the use of metal? ie. Copper age to early Bronze age period.

>Sanctuary provides. Secrets empower. Fate illuminates.

>But remember:

>Sanctuary can never shelter enough. Secrets grow vast unspoken. And Fate mocks us all.

New thread
>>20721983

New thread
>>20721995

>>20719872
This is good news