/lit/ - Literature

Bakker is King

>>20907860
Based.

Hadn't noticed the old thread was full already, forgive the double posting.
>>20906894 #
I posted a picture of the german originals because a) I don't own the english ones and b) the english cover is (inexplicably) just some random (and I do mean random, they're not even named, not to mention speaking characters) illustrations from the book slapped together infront of a monochrome background. Much less enticing of a cover.
>>20907543 #
They measure up quite well, they really are books for everyone (well, perhaps not all of Rumo with how how bloody some scenes get). My dad loves em, I love em. Moers' more recent Zamonia books haven't been quite as good, but these original three are amazing each in their own right.

Who's the new Tolkien of last decade and why?

This was not a Manuel, Zucc.

>>20907931
Tolkien is trash, anon. Do you want me to name bad authors?

I've decided I'm going to write a viking fantasy novel
It will involve a partially Christianised Scandinavia and demons
I'm going to read the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda and then all the Icelandic Sagas I can get my hands on and maybe parts of Saxo Grammaticus
Has this been done before?

>>20907949
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson

>>20907946
No, Only with a same impact as Tolkien. I mean he's kinda influential

read cradle

>>20907954
No one has. And you have to be more specific if you're just talking about the same influence in fantasy, sci-fi or overall.

Only George R.R. Martin has had any influence in the space

>>20907951
That's impressive and quick, thank you though
I assume you just googled that?

>>20907962
No I read it and loved it. I also wanted to base my own stories on it, so I was reading the Eddas.

What do you guys think about post apocalyptic settings in which current humanity treats everyday items of ours as sacred or amazing objects?
Does it make you cringe?

/sffg/bros, I don't think I can go on like this anymore. I haven't slept in two days, I've lost apetite and even the books don't help. I feel like my life has come to its epilogue since there's nothing else in sight.

>>20908028
Go for a 9 hour walk

Any Red Rising bros? Rereading dark age and I want Lysander to win so bad

>>20908028
Don't worry, even if you improve and get over this hurdle, the world and wherever you live will progressively be guranteed to get worse over the years as climate change shits all over everything, increasing the frequency of natural diasters and crop failures. Have fun!

>>20908073
>I want Lysander to win so bad
He's gonna get his time to shine in Lightbringer then get fisted by the Pax + Lyria tag team in Red God. Darrow will die almost 100%, he killed like 10 million people at Ganymede. No way he gets a happy ending.

I finally finished reading all of Sanderson's main books.
Pretty good ngl. Who knew depressed people would make good main characters.

>>20908107
>Sanderson
>Pretty good ngl
Excuse me? You can't say that here.

>>20907860
and will never rule Supreme

>>20908107
Congrats on making it past Oathbringer

>>20908092
>Darrow will die almost 100%

True, I was 100% sure DA was going to be his last book and Pax would take over. I really hated Lyria in IG,but she grew on me during DA. I'm going to miss my boy though. Should've been Darrow instead.

>>20908116
I can see why people didn't like Rhythm of War since it's mostly science stuff but what was so bad about Oathbringer?

>>20908073
just read the first three again recently. first time was long enough ago that I forgot almost all of the twists
that sevro fakeout got me AGAIN

>>20908123
It seems to be the filter that causes most people to drop Sotrmlight. It was the case for me. Something about Sanderson trying to expand the world and integrating Cosmere shit just put me off. Or maybe I was just exhausted reading another thousand pager

>>20908129
There's a ton of shit that I missed until I reread the series. Stuff like Karnus mentioning the 6th course of the Gala meal leading to Darrow piecing together the Sovereign's plan, shit like that. Golden Sun will always be my favorite.

>>20908130
I think the expansion into the cosmere is the big filter for Sanderson's stuff, personally its what had me more interested but I understand why people feel the other way about it.

>>20908030
There's nowhere to walk.
>>20908092
Don't worry, anon. I've tasted this at firsthand. My town was destroyed by an earthquake few years ago, I've been through a car crash last week, our crops are failing due to hailstorms and drought, and prices of food and firewood are skyrocking, so we had to take down some of our own. There's also a chance that the war will spread here.

>>20908142
Is the image the scene where the protagonist went full 'when you partied, I studied the Blade'? I can't recall whether he was serious or just playing it up for the audience. Mad edgy shit

>>20908236
Don't forget that the prices for basic things like energy are skyrocketing as well. It's going to be over 400% increase in energy price where I live, not to mention political insatibility and growing societal divide. And of course the dificulties to warm the house during winter.

It's funny how catastrophic literature is now pretty mundane, the same reason why cyberpunk media and stories no longer work: it's not some strange future, it's here and now so it's not fiction, just the same situation but with some sci-fi shit.

>>20908142
Malazan did whipswords better desu

>>20907931
Sanderson would have been a contender if he wasn't shitting out crappy books. The first two books of Stormlight Archive were decent enough. In my honest opinion Steven Erikson is the one author that has blazed a new trail in the epic fantasy genre. Unfortunately Malazan Book of the Fallen does start off as a kind of generic Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but it becomes so much more as the series progresses and Toll the Hounds is probably the single best fantasy novel I've read since The Lord of the Rings.

>>20907946
>Tolkien is trash
Zoomers that don't read seem to think so.

Hidden Legacybros what do we think of Catalinas final book

>>20908265
Exactly. That's why old cyberpunk and apocalyptic novels feel like a breeze. Humanity has found very boring ways to fuck itself over with this long stagflation.

>>20908292
Erikson is good, but he's no Abercrombie.
Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country are three of the best genre novels written.

>>20908028
just have a lovely wank

>>20908297
>In 1954, the Scottish poet Edwin Muir wrote in The Observer that "however one may look at it The Fellowship of the Ring is an extraordinary book", but that although Tolkien "describes a tremendous conflict between good and evil ... his good people are consistently good, his evil figures immovably evil". In 1955, Muir attacked The Return of the King, writing that "All the characters are boys masquerading as adult heroes ... and will never come to puberty ... Hardly one of them knows anything about women", causing Tolkien to complain angrily to his publisher.

No, anon. People who have actually read and explored, not only genre fiction but other works of literature as well, look down on Tolkien.
You would know that if you actually did the same

>>20908430
>DEY DUN HAB SEGS
t. some scots nobody

>>20908292
Agree Erikson. I enjoy cosmere also desu, but it legit is in more of a capeshit kind of consumer enjoyment. I wanna see the fights, see people level up and then fight bigger people.
Malazan has depth and is just better. Neither are my most favorite of the stuff that's come out in the past two decades but Erikson has the popularity + talent that puts him on the 'tolkien of our time' level.

>>20908297
Tolkien is literally baby's first fantasy novel.

>>20908436
Thank you for proving my point.

>>20908430
>NOOOO, HE CAN'T SAY THAT!!! HE CAN'T CRITICIZE THE MEN IN STORY!!
Based Muir triggering Tolkien.

>>20908430
>wtf why isn't literal Satan a morally complex and grey character with nuance?
is this what people mean when they call people "midwits"?

>>20908517
Satan doesn't exist.

>>20908517
Satan was morally grey in Paradise Lost, arguably, or he at least appealed to human ideas of freedom.

>>20908527
Indeed. Which by default already makes it better fantasy than Tolkien.

>Satan was absolute evil.
This is your brain on Tolkien.

>>20908517
Retard.

>>20908527
Milton gave Lucifer anthropomorphic motivations, but he made him pretty indisputably 100% evil; the "pro-satan" part of the poem is literally cope from Lucifer's perspective. There's a reason Satan is called a father of deceit, it's because he lies to himself most of all.

>>20908557
>but he made him pretty indisputably 100% evil
How do you write things like this without cringing? You're in Milton's head now? Stop insulting his memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFZNpT_INmA
Do you think Brandon plays more games than he reads books? Why is he so invested in gaming?

>>20908564
Milton was a puritan Christian, you think he had anything positive to say about Satan in his theology?

>>20908430
>muh grey morality
Every fucking time.

>>20908535
Let me guess, you struggle with metaphorical texts and thought experiments in general as well?

>>20908111
>Excuse me? You can't say that here.

>>20908535
kek

>>20908625
Because people can have multiple interests in life?

>>20908628
Depends on what you mean by positive. God did prefer Lucifer and regarded him as very beautiful. Part of the "evil" of Satan is that he is appealing, and he influences people with beauty, urges, and more. Milton didn't personally like Cromwell, but he saw him as a person who had special qualities. I assume basing some of Satan's character on Cromwell meant that he thought a leader for "liberty" was ultimately bad but also had aspects that were attractive.

>>20908436
>Doesn't know who Muir is
>"Zoomers that don't read"

>>20908646
Gaming is a waste of time ultimately and it can only be the detriment of your writing as it is audio-visual media that will slowly rot your language faculties and ossify any literariness.

>>20908479
>it's widely popular and approachable so that means it's bad
Literally gay contrarian mindset. I don't doubt that there are plenty of less-known works that are better than Tolkien's writings in one way or another, but there is a reason with LotR was the most read literary work of the 20th century after the bible.

>>20908651
>I don't doubt that there are plenty of less-known works that are better than Tolkien's writings in one way or another
You would know, if you actually read

>>20908655
If you actually read, you would understand that literature is way too vast and varied to create dumbass hard hierarchies where this dude is the bestest, and that other dude is only the best.
You can seethe about it all you want, but Tolkien is a very great author of the 20th century and LotR is undoubtedly up there among the hugely important works of fantasy, and for good reason. Doesn't stop you from enjoying other things.

>>20908671
>No U!
Are you for real? You're the one implying that Tolkien should be regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time. He doesn't even make it into my top 100 List. There are very few qualities in Tolkien.

Touch grass.

>>20908671
Tolkien didn't even get a Nobel prize, anon. Don't go full retard now.
>inb4 "Nobel don't matter"
They actually did matter in his time.

I JUST WANT SEX IN MY COSMERE WHERE IS IT

Last night, and night before
There were three women, walking down the street
I saw them
I said, "hey you 3 women, why are you all walking down the street, that way. There's nothing down there"
They said,

>FUCK BAKKER

>FUCK CHINKSHIT

>FUCK LITRPGs

>>20908687
>Women hating Bakker
Why am I not surprised?

>>20908671
The only people that Tolkien managed to influence were the people who are writing fantasy nowadays. It really is no wonder that real respected writers frown upon genre fiction. Most of it is shit.

Even Herbert was too much for Tolkien's christian brain when he publicly disavowed his works. I can count with one hand the names of worthy authors that have publicly stated to be influenced by him. And all of them have surpassed him.

>>20908683
Sanderson doesn't really write about sex. He's basically said "yeah it happens I just don't mention it". Apparently his editor even asked, with regards to Mistborn, if Vin and Elend were sleeping together and he was just like "...Yeah, but it doesn't really matter to the book".

>>20908714
You know posting Hunter invalidates your entire post on principle, right?
Like, you're literally a discord trannie.
Good effort though. You didn't swear or fuck up your sentences so you must be on your meds.

>>20907506
>>reading cuckshit
>I shiggy diggy.
I didn't know when I began. But now the story is compelling and I can't stop. Say what you want about cuckolding, but it makes for good drama.

>>20908727
One of the few things Sanderson does right. Sex is unimportant to majority of fantasy books.

>>20907869
>Suicide and kill John Chief
>Be immortalized for winning the war
I'd take that offer.

Don't know if it's /sffg/ but the other side is definitely a great read
This surreal fantasy is sometimes absurd and other times really gory. I have seen some reviews compare it to the gormenghast novels, I wouldn't know since I haven't read them, and it's hard to tell because there's no evidence Peake ever read this book

>>20908688
Lol this is just embarrassing. His only redeeming qualities are his height and hairline. Which help him pull the kind of bottom barrel chicks shown here. You know, the meek and ugly book nerdy types of high school and college who never went to the parties, neber had a social life and were always overshadowed by their hotter counterparts. Only to become "party girls" in their mid 30s in the cringiest fashion possible

>>20908743
I knew you would do a full straw-man if I posted that picture. You make it too easy.

I unironically accept your concession.

>>20908762
You sound resentful.

>>20908775
>emotionally charged meaningless babble

Don't get your panties in a twist just yet , babe

>>20908794
Oh... Is it jealousy that I sense then?

Yikes!

>>20908762
The alternative is that he could be like you. Receding hairline, average to short stature. And thus, passed over by all the nerdy chicks, who are you only hope for your autistic, unsociable ass.

>>20908799
I'm objectively right about that picture and there's nothing your constant dilating could do about it

>>20908762
The projection in your post is off the fucking charts.

>>20908826
Cool, good thing I wasn't asking.

Jealousy though? Now that's a terrible sin.

>>20908821
The funny thing is that even if you were right, you'd still be conjuring up a bottom tier man in your imagination just to make your gay crush look better in comparison.

There's no winning for bakkerfags

Cope

>The funny thing is that even if you were right

>>20908838
>muh jealousy
>muh resentment

Go easy on the estrogen esse

What a fucking mess. Are there any altchans worth a shit discussing books on?

Honestly, this bald manlet complaining about Bakker actually makes me wanna read him.

> The funny thing is that even if you were right

How's this compared to cryptic expectations vs. reality?

>>20908860
Sure, if you don't mind a post rate of a few per day and not much better quality.

>>20908870
This isn’t /tv/, fuck off.

>>20908843
I'm not a bakkerfag. But neither am I someone who goes out of his way to make weird projection posts that say more about himself than the person he's criticizing. What are the unlikely chances that you're in a healthy relationship with a woman better looking than those in that image? I'd say about 0.001% chance.

>>20908870
Daemon doesn't wear a visor when jousting so that pic is worthless

>>20908881
I've say that the chances that Bakker writes the No-God are higher.

>>20908851
>>20908861
It was actually expected that you'd jump on that part lol. Insecure men simply cannot imagine someone confident enough to attract negative allusions to themselves.

"Balding manlet" is nothing. In online discussions I've told such critically pussy men that I'm a nignog from Somalia. Just to watch you giddily catch and play with it like a cat plays with a ball I throw at them. Of course none of this changes the fact that you had to create this fiction to make Bakker look better otherwise he couldn't even measure up

>>20908881
I'd say the chances that Bakker writes the No-God are higher.

>>20908876
Another place would be hard-pressed to beat nonstop samefag shitposting.

>Loves Tolkien
>Hates Bakker
>Bald
>Manlet

Many such cases.

>>20908881
I couldn't care less about whatever this Bakker dude manages to fuck. But if someone is gonna post that picture as an embarrassing example of his gay crush's Chaddery. Then I can't help but lmao @ that sorry attempt.

>>20908028
>pic
I was like that until I got a job and decided to quit drinking so I could keep it. Left that job 4 months later but my life is now exponentially better. Lost 30kg, ran in a 10k event, graduated top of my class with my MSc and work as a researcher at a national institute now.

Surely you can do it too. It's literally a matter of going out and doing shit rather than drowning in distractions. There is no logical answer to the "why" of anything, but if you take the leap and get your life in order you will find that the question seems rather pointless because you start WANTING to do shit.

Imagine if an actual good writer kidnapped Dan Simmons to use his cool worldbuilding without all the disappointing endings.

>>20908941
That's a fair point actually. I've become so numb to Bakker posting these days, that I forget how ridiculous their claims are.

>>20908916
Why hasn't he finished the later books yet? Writer's block? The Philosophy stuff got in his way?

>>20909018
His brother explained it (although not everything is revealed) what the current status is.

>>20908028
Take vitamins.
Reduce or eliminate sugar.
Force yourself to lay in bed at regular intervals. No, it doesn't matter if you "can't sleep". Just lay in bed at a regular time for a couple weeks, and eventually your body will find the rhythm.
Alleviating the waking-tiredness you're in, will have a huge impact on your mood. Remember, "I can stay awake" and "I should stay awake" are two different things. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can beat tiredness and not pay for it. You will pay with self loathing thoughts.

Take on small achievable tasks. You probably can't do 10 push ups, but you can do 1. So 1 pushup is your task. Do that one thing, and count it as a win. Do 1 push up every day until you're strong enough for 2 and 3, etc. But each time you have to deliberately think to yourself that you're going to reach that goal before making the attempt. And then deliberately think to yourself that you did the goal once the task is done.
This is going to steadily groom your mind into a goal achieving mind. Keeping small regular tasks are important. Because even if you miss a day, you can always pick it up again with ease the next day. Failing a small task is not as anxiety inducing as failing a large one. And if you happen to fail a large task, you can always fall back on the small one for an easy victory and prevent your mind from slipping back into despair.

>>20908688
Can you even fathom the amount of pussy Bakker slayed in his youth? Tall, blonde, aryan profile, high IQ. You can see in his writings that he's both extremely knowledgable about sex and redpilled on the nature of women after interacting with them so much, as opposed to virginal cuck writings of GURM and Sandersnoy

>>20909056
>Take vitamins.
Vitamins are pointless with a healthy diet. No single study has proven the effect on those, except on malnourishing organisms.
>Reduce or eliminate sugar.
Fucking retard. I stopped reading there.

>>20909056
I'm pretty sure you quite literally die if you eliminate sugar in your diet, anon.

Some seething tranny bakker dick sucker janny deleted my posts. Anyway to summarize:

>fuck bakker, fuck chinkshit, fuck litrpg

>imagine how shit bakker is if you gotta compare him to a "balding manlet"

Go ahead, ban me for offtopic. That's all your dilating neopussy could do anyway. Because you certainly won't do your job and delete bakkerspam

>>20909094
>>20909102
>Vitamins are pointless with a healthy diet.
1. A lot of people aren't getting the nutrients they need. "A healthy diet" is something you have to work toward consciously. The average neet or wage slave that's depicted in that image isn't planning their diet. Do you think everyone is eating their vegetables like they were told to do growing up? A lot of people are out here subsisting on instant ramen, and other poor people meals.

>I'm pretty sure you quite literally die if you eliminate sugar in your diet, anon.
Sugar is the 1 thing that even the least nutritious diets have naturally. When I say get rid of sugar, I mean additive sugar. I mean soda. candy, sweet cakes and pastries. You don't need that stuff. They cause your insulin to spike, which then puts you into a hypoglycemic state. You crash. I'm attempting to alleviate the guy's feeling of tiredness. Because it's terrible for his mood. If he's eating food that's causing his body to crash all the time, then he's going to feel too useless to get anything done.

Your body doesn't need added sugar, because it converts carbs into the same energy. That shitty instant ramen will turn into glucose, which will technically power his body, albeit in a sluggish malnourished state. Carbs take longer for the body to process. Thus, the body won't spike insulin, and you won't crash.

>>20909056
I used to have a goal oriented achieving mindset in my teen years. But it all went away.

>>20909143
Based janitor.

>>20909143
>fuck bakker, fuck chinkshit, fuck litrpg
the hero /sffg/ needs
if all of that shit was banned this general would improve 100fold instantly

>>20909169
Because when you're young, you're forced into a system that structures your life for you. You wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, make friends easily, exercise in the form of play, do your homework, go to bed at the same time, etc. So without you even realizing, you end up in a mostly healthy cycle. Even when you start to get freedom and deviate from the cycle, you're still being carried by the *momentum* of that old healthy lifestyle. However, over time, if you haven't been structuring your life very well, then you lose that momentum and falter into feelings of ungroundedness and despair.

Even wagies feel this more nowadays than before, because businesses deliberately scramble people's schedules. So not even work is regular anymore.

>>20908727
This is good.

>>20909268
Enough

>>20908028
Literally me

>>20909338
I don't have a strong opinion on it, but Sanderson is very sexless overall. Warbreaker is probably the only one to really acknowledge it, and even then it didn't seem to be a 'thing' as much as it seemed it was going to be.

>>20909268
Keep spreading the gospel of benefits, fellow Xianxia-enjoyer. Some people here have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai.

>>20908748
>>20909338
Ok reddit, keep pretending sex isn't a significant and meaningful part of the human experience. Even if you don't depict, creating sterile sexless story that doesn't have even a hint of sexuality to it is some truly low test shit.

>>20908028
It's unreal how accurate this is. God I wish Russia would attack my country. I just want to die, but I don't want to kill myself.

>>20909595
Its very very rare if sex improves a story or add anything to it. I don't need to read about characters having sex much like I don't need to read about characters taking a piss. If it doesn't contribute to the story or themes in any meaningful way it doesn't need to exist

>>20909570
Frogs in a well.

>>20909570
>>20909268
Isn't that the worst novel in this general?

>>20909807
Its literary the best.

>>20909848
I agree, that chart is amazingly accurate.

>>20909570
shame about magic ebay

>>20907853
Warriors - George R.R. Martin, editor (2010)
Every story is original to this anthology.

The King of Norway - Cecelia Holland [The Soul Thief]
A story about the Battle of Hjörungavágr in 986, as told from the perspective of the invading Jomsvikings.
Enjoyable

Forever Bound - Joe Haldeman [Forever War]
This was an odd mix of being set in 2054 but feeling like 1954 aside from the tech. The focus is on relationships, including sex, but mostly in emotional terms. There were ten person mindmeld squads where they remote control mechs, but that was more of a sideshow.
Ok

The Triumph - Robin Hobb
Everything about this story of Marcus Atilius Regulus being tortured to death in 250 BC was unenjoyable. I found it distasteful at best that his voluntary return to be tortured to death as a way to preserve his honor because he made an agreement to do so was celebrated as the height of Roman civic virtue.
Blah

Clean Slate - Lawrence Block
This was a dialogue heavy story of a modern day femme fatale serial killer, father-daughter incest, and her psychotic delusions about sex.
Meh

And Ministers of Grace - Tad Williams
A highly genetically engineered Christian fundamentalist assassin has been tasked with assassinating the planetary leader of their enemies. However, a seed of doubt has been planted.
Highly Enjoyable

Soldierin’ - Joe R. Lansdale [Deadwood Dick]
In 1870, a black man afraid of being lynched joins the colored army in West Texas to hunt the natives. Tragedy and comedy ensue.
Enjoyable

Dirae - Peter S. Beagle
A vanishing vigilante targets abusers. The story is prefaced by warning the reader that it will be confusing. I didn't care for its style and that's mostly all it is.
Blah

The Custom of the Army - Diana Gabaldon [Outlander/Lord John Grey]
I don't know of any other story that has an electrical eel party. After the narratives proceeds to the days leading up to and the day of The Siege of Quebec. I liked how it was written, but the more I read the less interested I was in it, unfortunately.
Meh

Seven Years from Home - Naomi Novik
A female cultural ambassador unaware of her privilege completely freaks out when the industrialized people of the planet she's assigned to don't give her the deference that is accorded to the women of her homeworld. She instead goes full native with the other civilization of the world, a matriarchal society who wish to live attuned with nature through extensive bioengineering of both themselves and their environment. Genocide ensues.
Ok

The Eagle and the Rabbit - Steven Saylor
In 146 BC Carthage has fallen and many of its people have been enslaved. The protagonist is one of those slaves, though he has options available to him. The question is which one he'll chose, even though all paths may lead to death.
Ok

>>20909870
The Pit - James Rollins
A dog is the protagonist and is cast in the role of a Roman gladiator, which is to say it's about dog fighting. There are also the trainers and dognappers, which fill the role of slavers. There's animal cruelty, though it's not particularly graphic. It's written well enough, but it was somewhat uncomfortable to read.
Ok

Out of the Dark - David Weber [Out of the Dark]
Aliens invade Earth seeking to make all of humanity their slaves. They've badly miscalculated though, because it's not the humans they should be worried about. Regardless of how insane human are, what they truly ought to fear is what comes...out of the dark.
Blah

The Girls from Avenger - Carrie Vaughn
In 1943, a female pilot of WASP investigates the mysterious death of a fellow pilot despite the obstacles presented by military secrecy and male contempt.
Meh

Ancient Ways - S. M. Stirling [Emberverse]
It's 2055, which is 57 years after an apocalyptic event called The Change. Modern technology exists only as scattered artifacts. A Cossack saves a stranger from his tribal enemies. The stranger then requests help to rescue a princess, and so the adventure begins. The more I read this the more I enjoyed it.
Highly Enjoyable

Ninieslando - Howard Waldrop
In the midst of World War I, 1917, a British soldier in the trenches suffers. Soon his life will change due to the secret power of Esperanto and its global plans.
Meh

Recidivist - Gardner Dozois
This was a bleak and hopeless AI apocalypse future where the rules of reality no longer applied and nostalgia rather than hope sustained those few who remained.
Blah

My Name Is Legion - David Morrell
During World War II, 1941, the French Foreign Legion was in Syria on both sides of the conflict. The legionnaire protagonist recalls his life and a historical battle critical to the lore of their organization. How difficult will it be for him to kill his comrades and for them to kill him?
Ok

Defenders of the Frontier - Robert Silverberg
A group of eleven soldiers who are known only by their military position wonder if their outpost needs to be defended any longer from enemies or indeed if their allies even still exist because there doesn't seem to be anyone else out there. No one at all. Is this all there is to life now?
Meh

The Scroll - David Ball
Sultan Ismail of 17th century Morocco tortures a French engineer and executes many others on a regular basis, for both whimsy and compliance. The engineer suffers and suffers, as do many others, in this relentlessly grim story.
Blah

The Mystery Knight - George R. R. Martin [A Song of Ice and Fire/Dunk and Egg]
The third and final novella in this series. Dunk and Egg enter a tournament where the prize is a dragon egg, but nothing is what it seems. I didn't read it again, because I'd prefer starting from the first if I were to do so. I don't remember why I relatively didn't like it that much.
Ok

Does pic related type of stuff have a sub-genre name?
I thought it was called urban fantasy but that doesn't seem to be it at all.
A small modern and snug local community with weird fantasy elements added to it.
Is my best luck in magical realism?

>>20909880
That's urban fantasy, but urban fantasy is still pretty broad. It can be hidden world, known but localised, or just kind of modern day but fantasy is also there.

>>20909925
I went looking for urban fantasy books online.
I got dresden files, bunch of books with titles like "touch the evil dark" with a person holding a sword on the cover dressed in party clothes and neil gaiman.
Which is quite different from what I mean, do you know of anything like it?

>>20909620
Sex makes the world go 'round. Virtually all conflict in the world can be traced back to sex. Men are driven to acquire wealth and status in order to get their dicks wet. Men kill one another over access to the best cunts. Every great deed has been performed and every great monument been built to impress women. The ability to grant or withhold sex has been known to be women's greatest strength since time immemorial. Selling sex for material goods is the world's oldest profession. Sex is so important that states and even religions try to regulate it. This makes sex the source and the subject of both divine and secular law. If there is one thing that will always without fail contribute to a story or its themes, it's sex.

Any author who shies away from incorporating sex into his stories is a dishonest cowardly hack in denial about human nature.

>>20909958
I doubt selling sex is older than being a hunter or a gatherer.

>>20909958
t. porn addict

>>20909965
People have hunted and gathered because it enables them to have sex.

>>20909958
This is what putting pussy on a pedestal does to a man.

>>20909965

You are correct that the old chestnut "prostitution: the world's oldest profession" is a highly dubious historical claim, one which the other guy lazily repeated as part of his rhetoric. And while the subsistence hunting and gathering you've just mentioned are the crudest sort of economic activity, they don't directly involve the exchange of money that prostitution entails, the providing of a service in exchange for money. It is in this sense that prostitution is economic activity in the sense that we now understand it, while subsistence hunting and gathering are arguably not.

I'm quite certain that some girl living in Sumer, or elsewhere, was the first ever in history to sell herself for a few shekels, or whatever they were using at the time. But I wonder if some other "profession" involving money exchange actually preceeded whoring. If prostitution wasn't the oldest profession, I am comfortable with the closely related and much safer formulation that it was among the first.

>>20909958
It's such a basic bitch thing that everyone has an understanding off it so that when it is needed, it is implied and that's all it needs to be. Writing about it is tactless and gross.
You gain nothing by trying to arouse your reader at all. It's the kind of emotions that only ever interest the character itself. It'd be like trying to write about taking a shit.
There's a reason no one respect women's taste in novels when 90% of the just pick romance/smut with Fabio on the cover.

>>20910024
>You gain nothing by trying to arouse your reader at all
A billion dollarydoos in Romance profits say otherwise.

>>20909268
I
WILL
NOT

>>20910024
This.
Writing especially science fiction and fantasy should be about new things, new experiences, new concepts and ideas that open up the mind and let reader experience things not possible in real world.
Scifi or fantasy porn is just garbage.

>>20910097
I'll give you Scifi, but Fantasy isn't about new experiences or concepts whatsoever. It's all about repackaging, rebranding and reselling Tolkien for the millionth time.

>>20909807
I'm glad the letters are so big in that image, otherwise I couldn't see them because the titles of the books would be too big.
But I squarely know S and D and C.

>>20910160
That chart is made to be inclusive.

>>20910170
That's good because I increase the font size on my kindle and it makes me feel insecure.

>>20910179
>not font size 1

>>20910192
>Page 1
>*click*
>Page 5

>>20910192
>not being so well read that you're far sighted
ngmi

>>20910202
But I can already see how much of a big gay you are from over here.
get pwn3d, nerd

>>20908430
>Muh fantasy must be morally grey or it's terrible REEEEEEEEEEE!
FUCK OFF! You can tell a powerful and meaningful story without it needing to have SEGGS and ANGST. Fuck me I guess for liking stories where the main characters are admirable, well-adjusted, and genuinely heroic

>>20910229
You need to be 18 to post here.

>>20910237
...what if he's 19?

>>20910240
Then he can't post.

>>20910229
>Fuck me I guess for liking stories where the main characters are admirable, well-adjusted, and genuinely heroic
All things you'll never be.

>>20910250
>pretending these things can't exist in a morally grey story
lmao, ultimate brainlet detected

>>20910032
Any genre where the audience is primarily female, is not worth reading.

Here's a legitimate question. In a few weeks I'll be holding a lecture on J. R. R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings. I have a shit ton of material and I have probably lost perspective. In your opinion, which things about the trilogy should I talk about that might interest regular people? For example, one topic I'll be addressing is the connection between the Dead Marshes, letters from the First World War that describe the No Man's Land, and the No Man's Land itself (the parallels are incredibly interesting). I'll also be talking about how Tolkien constructed his fictional world and what role his work has played for fantasy literature, but those topics don't really delve that deeply into The Lord of the Rings and its story.

I imagine the audience will be familiar with Middle-earth but not have in-depth knowledge. I want to make it interesting and provide some fairly esoteric information about the trilogy that they are unlikely to know already.

>>20910295
Stop larping.

>>20910295
Do LoTR as an allegory for WWI

>>20910295
>which things about the trilogy should I talk about that might interest regular people?
You could take inspiration from last year's Tolkien Society seminar, if you want to appeal to contemporary audiences.

>>20910229
I also like that,but with seggs

>>20910295
Tolkien's phonaesthetics

>>20908418
>Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country
Fuck off, seriously

rant about Time Enough for Love, The Number of the Beast, and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Heinlein:

I loved Methuselah's Children and Time Enough for Love, as well as bunch of other Heinlein stories. I think Lazarus Long was an interesting character, even if he started monologuing Heinlein's political opinions occasionally. Time Enough for Love might be some of his strongest writing. I started out really enjoying The Number of the Beast. When they started going into fictional universes the tone and pacing got off track. The four characters were starting to annoy me, especially Deety, but I stuck with it. I was over it when Lazarus Long appeared. The plot about saving his mother was foreshadowed in Time Enough for Love, but it should have been a job for Lazarus and his family; now Hilda is showing up every single one of them in every way.

Cut to The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. The first 60% was superb as a follow-up to The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. It was great to see the life of somewhere other than the moon's underground habitats. And when we do go to Hong Kong Luna and Luna City that stuff is great too. But then suddenly, Gay Deceiver shows up, whisks them away, and now we're in Boondock. Why does Lazarus have to be present in every story? After around 200 pages of grounded Luna goodness we're on Boondock with all of the free love polygamy and "Time Corp" and so on. To be fair I haven't finished the book yet; I have around 80 pages left. But it seems like The Number of the Beast started down a wrong track and polluted his remaining novels. I admit multiverses were probably a slightly more novel idea in 1980, even if they weren't original then either, but now it seems so dated. I skipped over Friday and Job to come back to them, but kind of dreading it now. It's a shame as I love so many of Heinlein's stories but it seems he ended on rough notes. I'll finish this, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, circle back to Friday and Job and I'll move on.

>>20908292
Erikson is a feminist shiteater

>>20909039
Where?

>>20910567
https://www.newsload.ca/post/insights-on-the-second-apocalypse-book-series

>>20910501
Just skip Friday and Job. I think Heinlein tends to be overrated, though often still worthwhile, but later Heinlein is just bad.

What would you tell your former self if you had a time machine? I’d probably tell myself to read fantasy and science fiction again like I did as a kid when I was a teenager/young adult.

>>20910295
You've read his essay "On Fairy-Stories" and his poem "Mythopoeia"? These might aid you, if you're speaking of the construction of the fictional world.
The No Man's Marshland does sound appealing to people; to make parallelisms and how much Tolkien drew inspiration from experience.
Also, regarding WWI, you could mention he already had been working on his secondary world even then. picrel
>>20910346
>Allegory
Don't present it as an allegorical work though.

>>20908028
That’s not even a meme at that point. Why use such an infantile format instead of just actually expressing your feelings like an adult?

>>20907931
Neil Gaiman unironically

>>20910668
I KNEEL ANON-SAMA

Any good short fantasy stories?
Or collections of them?

>>20910736
Post bobs

>>20910668
I love how you gave each one a different look to fit their personality. Incel Maeglin made me laugh out loud
Caranthir should probably be angrier rather than depressed looking
For Irisse, wouldn't be too hard to just make another dark haired Noldo elf girl, since we never see her.
For Aegnor, I would imagine him to look quite similar to his brothers. That wouldn't be hard to do.
For Celebrían, maybe just take Galadriel's model and give her silver hair? Celebrían means silver-queen so I assume she got her father's hair.
Nearly done anon, and what a masterpiece this is.

>>20910751
plenty
vance's dying earth
smith's zothique
howard's conan tales
lots more if you have a kindle like me with kindle unlimited, amazon has loads of sword and sorcery on the service but you have to dig for the ones that arent pozzed schlock

>>20909958
Yeah I really hated LotR because Samwise Gamgee didnt fuck Frodo

>>20909958
>reproduction exists
>therfore you HAVE to include clumsily written descriptions of benises cumming
While you're qt it, why not posit that the digestive cycle is equally fundamental to human society and behavior so we can get equally in depth descriptions of shitting anuses

>>20910609
Thanks.
I found this video interesting too. Both GRRM and Bakker seem to believe in a sort of rationalism that begets the whole “gritty realism” meme but I think their take on history and fantasy is a bit more complex than “gritty realism.”

>>20910668
Maeglin-bros...

Is Lies of Locke Lamora worth reading?

>>20911114
You may as well ask a magic 8 ball site.
Is it well liked? Yes. Does that necessarily make it worth reading for you personally? No, unless you're someone who reads primarily to read what others like to feel like you belong.

>>20908975
>Work as a researcher.
I'm sorry to be off topic but I toss in my 2 cents to see if someone who posts job stuff can help me.
How do you do that? How do you decide to be a researcher? People always say look at your own talents and the only talent I have is finding things on the internet, and usually finding the best or good enough version of it.
I feel like that's a job with purpose. You're furthering something instead of making car parts.
Did you have a knack for it in high school, like chemistry or something?
I can't blatantly lie. I know some people would just jump into a field and make shit up. Like I could do a bunch of shit about aliens and claim I'M the one who knows what's up and sell books but, I cant lie well. It's not right.

>>20910751
That depends on you, doesn't it? Maybe you're someone who doesn't like short fiction. Maybe you haven't seen the relevant recent posts.

>>20909094
Most of us live in America, anon.
We don't have a healthy diet.
Did you know they can eat pasta there?
Because it's not shit. Here it's all shit. Almost all of it, and I guarantee Podunk, USA doesn't have the stuff you want.

Just finished the Left Hand of God trilogy by Paul Hoffman. Interesting first book/premise but the story becomes “historical analogy” fiction very quickly. Oh look it’s the Battle of Agincourt but with a different name, what a brilliant narrative. Author does this the whole series then adds a butthurt note at the end of the third book giving credit (despite not doing it for the first 2 books) and acting like it was somehow inventive and not lazy references. In the third book, the protag even does the fake Calvin Coolidge “you lose” gag to a prostitute described literally as something like a teenage boy’s fantasy. weird series.

>>20910668
Wait a minute, Turin made it with an elf? I thought the only woman he fucked was his sister

>>20911215
A majority of SF seems to be historical analogues, so I don't hold that against it.

>>20911370
SFF, rather. Fantasy and science fiction. It seems it's rather difficult to create compelling scenarios that aren't at least somewhat historically based.

>>20911215
>>20911370

Some of that can be fun and sort of continuity affirming like he touched the point that is our touchpoint but start leaning on it too hard, and they they realize they're leaning on it and they start to lean into it, pointing, taking a selfie, saying look what I'm doing.

It's okay if it's on display and the author is using it as a launchpad and not a cushion, or if the surface is totally different and it was just used for bones. But degenerate gen-x lampshading just doesn't give the reader anywhere to hide from the author.

>>20908028
Two days? That's all? You'll probably pass out sooner or later, so it's okay. Post again after a decade of shitty sleep and we'll talk.

>>20911179
gonna assume anon had a some sort of degree or training in the relevant field

Is there a word or phrase for when an author thinks a character is subtly witty but actually they're just dry and mildly cringe

Can someone with no knowledge of the old Myst computer games please read Myst: The Book of Ti'ana and tell me your opinion? I read it when I was young and thought it was a really cool science fiction novel on its own.

Premise:
>woman and her father are geologists studying an extinct volcano in a desert
>unbeknownst to them, deep underground is an isolationist civilization of human-like people called the D'ni
>the D'ni have a revered art of writing "linking books" where they describe a world in writing and then are able to link to a parallel world that matches the description

I know books based on games are typically shit, but consider that the Myst games are about exploring and figuring out how machines work, so they're already kind of science fictiony, kind of like Rendezvous with Rama. Also it's a prequel to another prequel novel that ties in more with the games, which was decent but not quite standalone like pic related (also there's a sequel book which is good for a few chapters then the rest sucks).

Anyway I think it's a cool setting - a geological camp at a volcano in a desert, and an underground city, and of course parallel worlds that are essentially like other planets that can be visited just by touching a page on a book.

>>20911606
a woman scientist? no thanks.

>>20911114

>>20911614
it's geology, not rocket science

>>20911618
LMAO
Yeah you creampied my wife but if she's in my arms in bed at night then who really won

>>20911618
That's not Locke Lamora.

>>20911618
>>20911675
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu6MaN9tT_8
I can only hear it in this voice

Ok I'm about halfway through The Darkness that Comes Before. Maybe I missed something important, but I'm a little confused. If the Mandate are so desperately looking for proof of the Consult's existence, why don't they just go to Golgotterath to see for themselves?

>>20911606
You don't need to have played Myst games to like the books because they're not adaptations so much as background and what happens between games.

>>20911848
Don't remember if it was only explained later, but they have tried. None of their expeditions returned and since they lost a bunch of mages each time they have stopped trying.

>>20911848
It's on the absolute far other side of the world across a vast trackless wasteland filled with millions of hungry Sranc. Second series spoiler ahead. That's why the Great Ordeal was necessary, essentially a Dunyain-to-Golgotterath delivery convoy.

>>20908430
>"All the characters are boys masquerading as adult heroes ... and will never come to puberty ... Hardly one of them knows anything about women"

Holy shit Tolkien is based now?

>>20909807
George RR martin book are harder you dumb

>>20908517
It's possible to make a character without much in the way of redeeming attributes still have nuance and depth.

Not for Tolkien though. He wasn't a good enough writer.

>>20911848
It's impossibly remote and inhospitable, and they only have a handful of fully fledged sorcerers at any given time, who are too valuable to risk on longshot expeditions. They might as well be trying to go to the north pole with medieval technology.

>>20911614
They are really common nowadays. Because of the DIE-principles, it's hard to get funding unless your research group consists of women and non-whites.

Singular characters that are evil for the sake of being evil are cringe.
Races that are evil for the sake of being evil are based though.

>>20910740
My friend, you bow to no one.
>>20911059
Honestly thought it fitted very well, after reading and re-reading the 'Tale of the Fall of Gondolin'. also, the gossiping of him having orc's blood is always amusing to me
>>20910836
Thank you, anon. Yeah, aside those that are still missing, I'd like to revisit others as well (such as Caranthir, Celeborn, Celebrimbor and Finwë certainly).
>>20911312
In Nargothrond, Finduilas (daughter of the king) fell in love with Turin. Yet he only saw her as a good friend and a mother of sorts. Wanted to include him because: 1. I wanted it; 2 He calls out for her multiple times (even at the end); and 3 Turin very likely met with her again in the Halls of Mandos, and together would have stayed for a while.

>>20910474
I know, they're excellent aren't they? S tier

>>20911749
well Locke at least did actually have sex with her multiple times, the Kovthe one is just sad

>>20910668
What am I looking at here
Is this an LotR elf tree?
What is the significance of the different kinds of elves

What should I read next lads:
>The Judging Eye
>ASoIaF book 1
>Malazan book 1
>Gormenghast book 2

>>20912478
Even tho I didn't like it I'd say judging eye since you may as well finish what you have started.
Otherwise, Malazan

If you haven't read asoif by now, just wait until grrm dies or he actually finishes them. They are good, but you'll have a long wait.

>Gormengoober2
Lol

What's some fantasy with spiders?
Both malevolent and benevolent and in between

>>20912396
>Is this a LotR elf tree?
Yes, to put it simply. This is the family tree of Finwë; the first leader of the 2nd elvish people (the Noldor). Elrond was his descendant (by the 5th degree); as was Galadriel (by the 2nd degree; his granddaughter); Gil-galad (by the 4th degree); Aragorn(Elessar) and others.
>What is the significance of the different kinds of elves
It's mostly know in the Silmarillion. I'll try to condense it.
The Elves were first divided into 3 groups (1st Vanyar; 2nd Noldor; 3rd Teleri). These 3 (also known as the Eldar) traveled westwards. The Vanyar and almost all the Noldor reached Aman (the Blessed Realm) and had become 'high elves'.
Part of the Teleri eventually joined the others and were also called Falmari. The other part that had remained in Middle-Earth, in the west land, became known as the Sindar.

>>20912478
The Judging Eye. And I shall join you this winter.

>>20912537
So I'm a Spider, So What?

>>20910668
Beautiful. Well done, anon.

>>20912907
Supreme hat

>>20908028
You are suffering from modern dopamine addiction depleting your brain's ability to create its own motivation and enjoyment for the basics of life. You are not alone in this modern plague. The constant novelty of the internet, modern media and porn are destroying our ability to be happy. Every time we browse the newest posts on 4chan, or scroll twitter, or reddit, or blast our brains with dopamine hunting for porn videos for hours, or binge watching Netflix shows, or gaming for hours on end... we are exposing our brains to supernormal stimuli that we are not evolutionarily developed to handle. This ever growing artificial dopamine pump, weakens our brain's ability to create its own dopamine. This lowers our motivation to do anything, and weakens the enjoyment we get from any activity.

The good news is that the brain is a miraculous machine and by taking a break for a few weeks, by cutting back on all this stimulation your brain will heal and you will find motivation and joy once again. As others have said, replace these life draining activities with healing ones like walking outside, exercise, chatting with friends in person, cooking, etc.

>>20913288
>just have friends kek

>>20912149
>t. not college educated

>>20911114
just the first book

>>20913358
Too simple. Make it more schitzo

>>20913306
I don't really care about proving you wrong, but I am a doctoral researcher. Also, I just got an email about pic related. It doesn't really prove anything except the existence of DIE. However, pretty much every week you do get messages about grant applications and scholarships, and in many cases they are quite explicit about specifically looking for women and non-whites.

>amatuer standup comedian gets isekai'd and becomes the court jester

>>20913416
This stuff makes me not care about any women or minority achievements (except I think sometimes Asians don't get affirmative action) and makes me only consider the achievements of white men who require more merit than the minorities to get where they are.

>>20913539
instead of amatuer standup
jerry seinfeld gets isekai'd and becomes the court jester

>TWI 8.11E
fantastic chapter. erin is such a great MC.
V8 is really enjoyable so far. i dunno why i would possibly complain about having too much plot.

>>20913773
>The Stew Nazi

>>20912537
Charlotte's Web

>>20913808
>elain'es new boyfriend is a necromancer

>>20913358
>>20913388

>>20914144
More pizzazz!

I finished the 4th and final book of the Long Price Quartet. And I don't feel like reviewing it all. But there are a few things I'd like to note:

1. It's interesting how the matter of slavery is never important to the plot. They have slaves, they have slave traders. And this is never an issue to anyone. Not even the "good guys" of this tale have a second thought about it.

2. In the 4th book, The Price of Winter, I can't help but think there is a strong feminist message there. If becoming a poet is similar to becoming a coder or engineer, then it's very progressive for women to become poets. It's akin to women getting into STEM. The whole book is about female agency. And who gets to control wombs. And are women things to be bought and sold and used only for their ability to breed? Or are they more?

And that's why I think it's interesting that nobody in the world questions slaves. You have this super progressive female character who defies her already rather progressive dad. Giving two middle fingers to all traditions, she becomes a physician and later a poet.(which again, is like becoming a computer scientist) Her whole character is carrying about what women are free to do. But for slaves? Not even a thought.

Now I'm not saying that she SHOULD care about slaves. In fact, it might actually take away from the story if it started questioning slavery. Since there is already so much else going on. But I'm just pointing out how it kind of undermines some of her righteousness. I have to wonder if the author actually did this on purpose. Sometimes the mention of slaves came out of nowhere. Was it just random flavor text, or did the author want the reader to think of slavery in that moment?

3. Conversely, the book also has some "redpilled" takes on women. That many simply aren't cut out to become a poet. That they're baby crazy, and prone to childish squabbling.

>>20914152

Sword of truth was ahead of its time. The portrayal of leftism seemed silly at the time, but in the post fentanyl floyd era its been completely vindicated

>>20914144
I finished The Unholy Consult the other day and Jesus Christ Bakker I feel robbed. Where do go from her?

>>20914234
...

>>20914180
oh yeah, and 4. There was relatively more magic in this book than the previous 3. Not a lot. But enough that magic played a part all throughout the plot. I liked how they handle it here. There's this one part where the andat grants Maati the ability to see that "the stars have moons". The andat's ability was to grant people the ability to see more clearly. Like physically with their eyes. And so for the first time, they saw deep enough into the sky to see other planets in detail. Maybe even other suns. With orbiting moons/planets around them. Unaided by a telescope. That's fucking magical, man.

And then there's this other part that comes up later, where the andat grants Maati the ability to see so sharply, that he sees individual hairs, pores, the molecular level, the cellular level. He looks so deep into the woman's body, that it appears to be infinite. And she's screeching at him if he can see the pain inside her.

>>20914184
That's more like it

>>20914246

>>20914254
The ending of that Book was pure unadultered KINO.

>>20914144
>>20914184
>>20914254
This is no judgement on the books themselves but Bakker's covers are fucking garbage.

>>20914287
Covers should be universal in my honest opinion. For the western market, at least.

>>20914299
Those're better, but still kind of bland to me. I get the aesthetic it's going for, but it's pretentious-seeming. Better than "circle with a dude in it" but still.

>>20914315
These are the best covers for me.

>>20914180
Overall was it a worthwhile series to read?

>>20914327
Oh absolutely. The characters are very well realized, and you get heavily invested in their lives. I can't even talk about most things in the story without ruining it.
It accomplishes so much at 1/3rd the length of the Stormlight Archives. It's like Anti-Sanderson.

>>20913806
>I dunno why i would possibly complain about having too much plot.
Sweet summer child of early V8, still full of hope, blissfuly ignorant. 'Plot' is a rather...flexible word. Especially for Pirateaba.
I hope you can enjoy all of it.

...or maybe it's just the experience of reading along as the story was written, chapter by chapter. There were periods in the past that challenged the readers (Witch arc in V6 meant over a month and a half of only riverfarm, while everyone awaited the resolution of Liscor's election, you can imagine how brutal that was), but V8? Even the author had a writing burn-out.

I recall Pirate hoping to finish the volume before New Year. It was finished in May. That should speak for itself.


Yeah, 8.11E was pretty damn Epic. 'And then she woke up' is one hell of a line to start a chapter. Readers were downright rioting at the time due to lack of Erin, so it came at just the right time. It's also the first chapter that the author hired a professional editor to read through and edit. You have it so easy just binging the story as it goes, when the chapter was first written it took over 3 weeks before it was published (we got the rest of chapters without problems, it was just out of order).

Lol, imagine paying 1000+ for a butt-ugly cover. This is fucking hideous

Speaking of webnovels I'm onto book 4 of Infinite Realm and I'm sort of jarred by the timeskip. It's not that they can't be a thing or anything, it's just a little odd to end the last book with such a big deal and then go "Anyway, three years later". I'm starting to dislike Ryun more and more and I think that's just because I don't like the sort of character he is. Zach isn't that interesting, but he's at least somebody I enjoy seeing more.

>>20911039
If your writing is to reflect the full extent of the human condition, then yeah, it's going to include eating and shitting. People keep meme'ing on Martin for the infamous chapter of Daenerys coming down with diarrhea, but for all his faults, he is not a cowardly writer.
In that same vein, Martin may be a hopeless incel who quite possibly might still be a virgin; he might not even be able to get it up anymore in his old age, or otherwise succumb to a heart attack if he risked the physical exertion. Yet still he should write sex scenes and he does, however badly. This alone makes him the better man than Sanderhack.

>>20914383
>This story is a mix of LitRPG and Xianxia, and it will have Classes as well as Cultivation systems

>>20914474
I don't really care enough to hate things like that, but you do you.

>>20914474
>the story is a mix of brown skinned alt people taking it to The Man
Enjoy your tradpub, normie

>>20908028
Yeah, I feel this way about once a month too. You'll get used to it.

>>20914383
You are mad at such a little timeskip? Lmao.

>>20914474
Infinite Realm is an amazing mix of xianxia, Litrpg and weird shit. If only your horizonts were so narrow...

>>20914383
Is that the real cover? Looks like a 70s paperback in the best way.

>>20914503
There's mountains upon mountains of fantasy novels anon. Just go to your local used book store and you'll probably find some hidden gem for less than a good boy point. Why limit yourself to the false dichotomy of shitty new kike scribbles and shitty machine translated chink scribbles?

>>20914577
Recommend three.

>>20914571
I'm not mad at it, I'm jarred by it considering it's more than the entire series up to that point, and it happened after what should have been an urgent thing to deal with showed up, and then just wasn't dealt with for three whole years.

>>20908430
>LMFAO... SECHS THO!
This is the most pathetic thing I've seen today. Congratulations.

>>20914575
Infinite Realm's covers are... Something, yeah.

>>20914612
Not him, but I've heard good things about The Belgariad and The Worm Ouroboros; then again, I do think Fantasy is just shit in general sooo...

>>20914615
>No new IP
Just cope already.

>>20914645
That doesn't mean I'm the last guy. Just means I've posted in this thread once before already, dipshit newfag.

>>20914645
It really is pathetic. It stings too much.

>>20914733
>Using two sentences to say the same thing.
Retard.

>>20914645
>brainlet
Found a Bakkerposter.

>>20914764
Who are you quoting?

>>20914771
The guy clearly into urethral sounding. What's the appeal?

>>20914773
You tell me, I don't even know what that is.

Fantasy with plus sized women having butt sex?

>>20914776
My diary desu.

>>20914733
No shit captain obvious.

>>20914775
>playing dumb
>Urethral sounding is the insertion of an object or liquid into the urethra. Sounding may be used in urological surgery for dilatation of strictures or for obtaining access to the bladder. Urethral sounding is also performed outside the scope of medical practice by individuals for a variety of reasons.
Why are you so into this? Sounds painful.

>>20914785
You have some weird fetishes. I hope it ends up working for you.

>>20914792
Being filtered by Bakker has dilated their urethras that much. Imagine that.

>>20914807
>quick, sandersoys, DIAL 8

>>quick, sandersoys, DIAL 8

>>20914771
Meme arrows are not quotation marks.

>Meme arrows are not quotation marks.

>>20914816
>Imagine
being
>this
new

I'm personally reporting every bakker spam post I see from here on out

>>20914782
Then why point out that my IP isn't new, dipshit?

>>20914829
Who are you replying to?

>>20914832
Whomst*

>>20914826
What's a Bakker spam post? I'm new here.

>>20914832
>>20914834
You know you can delete your original post and correct it in the new one right, newfag? No need to go around writing unnecessary posts with * on them.

What am I in for?

>>20914842
Good choice. /sffg/ seems to like it.

>>20914841
I started using 4channel today and I think you're lying. I see no edit or delete button. I thought this was the Dark Souls of online communities.

>>20914850
>Dark Souls of online communities
That was /b/ in 2005.
This has been a safe normie shithole since... shit, 2008?

You're far too late to tye party.

Neuromancer=4chan
Snow Crash=Reddit

I'm 150 pages into Book of the new sun and it seems pretty interesting
Do we know if apprentices ever witness torture?
I can't remember if it's mentioned

>>20914857
Comparing Dark Souls to /b/ is pure cringe.

YIKES

>>20914862
Neuromancer and Snow Crash=Reddit
Ghosts of Tomorrow=4chan

>>20914850
Then again, I don't really know what you mean by "Dark Souls of online communities" you thought it would be... challenging? Difficult?

>>20914863

I don't think it is ever brought up outside of Severin's daily life within the guild, I wanted Wolfe to expand more on Witches since they don't really get a mention besides Sev spotting one of them in the tunnels when he goes and visits his dog.

Bakker, you say?
Hello Newfag, welcome to /lit/ and /sffg/.

Chances are that you‘ve seen the name Bakker thrown around this place quite a lot. Fear not, this is what you need to know:

First off, I would generally advise against reading him early on, especially if you're new to reading and just migrated from /v/ looking for a Dark Souls type of book. Read other, lighter, stuff first. There is plenty, just don‘t fall into the web-novel meme. Those are atrocious, especially Reverend Insanity, Cradle and the Wandering Inn. You should also know that a lot of people here suffer from PBS(Post Bakker Syndrome). Meaning that once you've read him, it will be hard to find other authors in fantasy as good as he is. Which is why Bakker memes are so prolific here.

Having that said, he is quite literally the most beloved writer in this general, and has been for over a decade, regardless of what filtered (Yes, some people here are unable to truly understand his prose) anons might tell you. And he is, in my humble opinion, the greatest living writer in fantasy right now.

If you enjoy dark fantasy series with intense battles, pitch black lore, highly intellectual themes that dovetail into real world philosophy, poignant character psychology, and just a hint of Lovecraftian horror, then R. Scott Bakker is the author for you. When the time comes, start with The Darkness that Comes Before from the Prince of Nothing trilogy.

>>20914864
I don't really know... DS is a shitty game franchise and /b/ is just... shitty. I haven't browsed /b/ in a coons age, I can't imagine the post quality has improved beyond.... "logposting"

>>20914877
The saddest part is that /b/ was at its peak when I first came upon this shit hole. Now it's dead beyond recognition.

>>20914885
"Eh" I remember when niggers would get away with posting CP there on a fairly regular basis.. I don' know if you would call that "peak" but it certainly wasn't as cucked and pussified as it is today.

Was kind of an "internet wild west" for a short period of time, at least for those of us who didn't have access to dark web shit.

>>20914635
There's plenty of science fiction out there too, although most of it is just fantasy in space.

>>20914842
Pure kino.
Unless you bought the edition with that cover because it's written in favela monkey hues.

>>20908430
>le grey morality
I don't understand this meme. Most of the people good people I know are consistently good throughout their lives and the bad people are also consistently bad.

>>20915091
Fiction doesn't have to be the same as reality. Shocking, I know. Maybe that it doesn't exist is part of its appeal. You could even say it's.... FANTASY.

>>20912580
It's crazy to think about how many events of significance happened in the span of basically one generation of elves during the FA, whereas comparatively so little else happened for the rest of their thousands of years of history.

>>20915173
That's sort of a natural issue with storytelling is that you have incredibly dense periods of time where ALL the things happen, and then a bunch of nothing happening in between.

>>20914234
like many of us ordealmen who have journeyed and slogged all the way to the end, you will probably feel morose, helpless and depressed for the next few weeks or months. maybe eventually you'll come around and unironically take up christianity, or at least gardening
how do you think the fag felt after writing that ending? i'd probably give up writing after that, too.

>>20910501
Finished the book. It does recover at the end a little bit. Now until To Sail Beyond the Sunset.
Even if late Heinlein is bad, it's going to be sad to run out of Heinlein. Of the Big Three he is my favorite.

>>20910501
>After around 200 pages of grounded Luna goodness we're on Boondock with all of the free love polygamy and "Time Corp" and so on.

That motherfucker made Stranger in a Strange Land unreadable because of that shit too. Same point too, great great great oh free love faggotry time

Andromeda Strain was so comfy kino. Didnt realize that Crichton was 6’9 either

>>20915186
Maybe if you're a hack that can't tell stories.

>>20915234
Honestly I didn't mind it in Time Enough for Love because it felt like it belonged. Long living humans who've lived hundreds - or thousands - of years probably would stop caring about monogamy. But he has to shoehorn it into every one of his later books, along with casual nudism, no matter how out of place it is for those stories.

>>20908996
Now imagine it was Bakker.

No one has mentioned Virdri's debut novel yet, The first binding. Has anyone read it yet?

Tolkien absolutely mindbroke posers

The journals in God Emperor of Dune are a suicide note

>>20915319
>Ari, a mysterious man with an incredible story to tell. It features a very cool magic system, worldbuilding based on South Asian culture
pass

>>20915360

>>20914371
>cardboard bound
>chuuni box art
I call bullshit on them selling any of these.

>>20914371
You don't want to see gormengoober art in delicious ai upscaled high quality?

>>20914383
Yeah the timeskip after the timeskip was a bit something. I don't see entire character personalities rewritten due to time shenanigans, or much if at all really. Change over time? Sure.
Ryun is very... unapologetic/stubborn. His most prominent and frustrating traits at times. He will do what he wants to do. I think he's much more the plot device behind gathering power and breaking the system.
I do like how they assembled A TEAM and then subsequently got fucking mindraped BAD END if it weren't for Zach conveniently becoming a monster.

>>20908418
Loved First Law by the end, especially with the ending of TLoK. Ended up stopping midway through Best Served Cold because I hated every character (except for the northman guy who seemed just like an expy of Logen). Is there any notable change to it near the end of the book?

>>20915319
>Has anyone read it yet?
No, but if it interests you, just read it. Don't know why you need our approval.

>>20915790
Not looking for approval, just camaraderie. Looking for fellow readers. I guess everyone here sticks to their favorite authors.

>>20915813
>Looking for fellow readers. I guess everyone here sticks to their favorite authors.
Nah, a few do branch out and read outside of their comfort zone, but they get shit on by shitters who don't read, so It's a pointless endeavor.

>>20915815
Indeed, I keep to my comfort zone which is the island of not-absolute-bottom-of-the-barrel-garbage-from-some-no-name-litrpg-shitter.

>>20915815
>but they get shit on by shitters who don't read, so It's a pointless endeavor.
Makes no sense why they get bothered by people they don’t know reading.

>>20915848
I always assume is due to science fiction and fantasy get shit on if you post outside of /sffg/ that they need to feel better about themselves? Makes no sense to me, since we're just reading genreshit at the end of it.

>>20915855
Ah, so it’s like highschool, except with grown men with no social life.

>>20915895
Basically yes.

>>20915909
Didn’t know what to expect from here, but it does paint a depressing image.

>>20915919
>Didn’t know what to expect from here
Don't expect much from /sffg/ at this point.

>>20915920
I’ll check the goodreads group then.

>making up an elaborate victim narrative about incel snob terrorists because nobody gave you attention for bringing up a literary turd you scraped off somewhere
imagine

>>20915922
lol it's even worse, good luck homie

>>20915922
Good luck, they do reviews and discuss books more seriously.

I want to thank the anon that reviewed Dungeon Crawler Carl a few threads ago. I wouldn't give give it a 9/10 but i enjoyed it very much up to book 5.

>>20910407
This has got to be a joke. Is this how bad things are?

Why do so many fantasy worlds have humans, horses, etc? Hmm... somehow they had the exact same evolution as Earth?

>>20916072
They are fictional settings created by humans for the purpose of telling stories that will entertain humans with elements that will be relatable to them.

>>20911848
>mandate
>consult

Lmao wtf are these terms

>>20910407
I thought that was a /pol/-tier joke, so I googled it. It's real: https://www.tolkiensociety.org/events/tolkien-society-summer-seminar/

>>20916072
If you don't enjoy reading about people seeing to their horses, currying their horses, getting horses stabled, remount logistics, mourning over lost horses or know what different horse breeds are then you are not a true fantasy literature connoisseur.

>>20916072
Quintessential fantasy = European Middle Ages but the things people back then believed to be real really are real.

>>20916072
Many do. You have to be more specific.

>>20915108
Good fiction has.

>>20916224
>>20916224
Based

>Stables your horse

>>20916224
I hate horses, I can read a novel and if horses are mentioned thats fine, but any more info about horses and its getting dropped.

>>20915108
What an absolute brainlet take.

>>20916258
You can tell a lot about the quality of a man by how he takes care of his horse.

New thread
>>20916445

New thread
>>20916476