/lit/ - Literature

First for Revenant Insanity

>>21622187
After trying to find newer decent fantasy and failing I decided I needed a pallet cleanser and went with Wolfe. I only have Peace and Latro left and went with Latro. It's really nice thus far. Dreamy, the prose is beautiful and simple at the same time.

I'm tired of humanoid aliens. Any scifi book that contains only incomprehensible cosmic entities?

>>21622296
redditoid

>>21622296
No, because no human can write a story about something incomprehensible. But there have been attempts, most famously by Lovecraft and Stugatsky brothers. Blindsight is an attempt as well, but Watts can't write so I wouldn't recommend him over the first two.

>>21622310
Blindsight's greatest contribution to literature was the idea of straight lines and right angles fucking with vampires' eyes

>>21622296
>>21622310
Someone once named a counter-example to The Things by Peter Watts, which I liked, but he still found to be too close to human in writing. I don't know why I don't remember the example he gave. I'm looking for the same thing. Supposedly that one is also written in first-person from the alien perspective. Wish I remembered.

Adamat, Tamas, and Taniel each could've been the protagonist of the Powder Mage (although the focus shifts between them I'd argue the "main character" overall was Taniel) and I even liked the side story of Nyla as the most unlikely of heroines.

In contrast, for Sins of Empire so far (about 30-40% in) feels like it's missing a protagonist. I haven't really gotten to the point where I care about any of these chracters' stories.

Enough with planets, what are some FANTASY novels that dont take place on the surface of a sphere. Anything goes
>discworlds
>ringworlds
>inside of spheres
>floating islands
And none of that "this is actually Scifi but people think that technology is magic" hogwash.

>>21622573
the setting was nice but I kind of failed to like any of the characters or plot, it was just sort of not written well

hello, had some nice reccies last thread, was hoping for another one or two recommendations for a fantasy series with a female protagonist that isn't obnoxious girlboss shit. i'm actually not sure how pervasive that would be, but the literary industry is so bad i'm assuming anyone that identifies as anything woman-adjacent can get any piece of trash published these days, hence my dilemma.

>>21622641
in Planescape there's Sigil which is basically like a ringed mobius strip thing. outside of the novelization of Torment i'm not sure if there's a lot of stories in that specific setting though.

>>21622573
Huh, interesting. Despite the lack of main character, i felt like I enjoyed Sins of Empire more than the first trilogy.
Did you read the short stories in between the two trilogies? I really felt like that helped set up the characters and the setting (+ they were overall more fun than either trilogy on its own)

>>21622715
no

>>21622721
In which case here's the complete (i think) grouping of the novels. They take place mostly before the original trilogy, with some taking place during or in between the two trilogies. They mostly focus on worldbuilmg, many of them expanding on the continent the second trilogy takes place in and giving some more context for the characters

>>21622641
Night's Master, although it's really not pertinent to the story

>>21622660
Paladin of the Souls, with the caveat that it's a book by a woman, about a woman, for women

>>21622641
There's Discworld which takes place on a discworld. The shape of the planet isn't relevant for all books, but it is the butt of some jokes here and then and I think there's at least one book where it's central to the plot

>>21622660
The wandering Inn
Practical Guide to Evil

>>21622641
World of Tiers series

>>21622747
>it's a book by a woman, about a woman, for women
as long as the writing is good and it isn't preachy/annoying that's okay. that's part of what i'm looking for, a fantasy story from a woman's perspective - not necessarily a woman author. but i'm trying to avoid stuff like those schlocky Buffy ripoff urban fantasy novels, or some chick's feminist manifesto or whining about the fantasy genre disguised as a fantasy novel. really just LotR if Eowyn was the protagonist, whether she's a warrior or a sorceress or whatever.

i enjoy the fantasy genre but 99.9% of the books i've read have had male protagonists so i thought this might be a nice change of pace.

>>21622775
generally not a fan of isekai fantasy stuff but i might give the inn one a try

>>21622825
>so i thought this might be a nice change of pace
Iron Dragon's Daughter and Dragons of Babel have a female protagonist and both are okay reads.

As for Isekai, technically, Wolfe's The Wizard Knight is one and it's a really fantastic read.

Anyone encountered a fantasy setting where the ending refuses to give you clear answers to the true reality of the fantasy world? Even better, mocking the hero for having the will to truth, in a kind of metafiction way as Alice in Borderland did.

>>21622296
Story of your life, ted chiang
Contact, carl sagan

>>21622660
Fantasy with female but not girlboss protagonists? Try Dragonsong by McCaffrey. I dont know which other books of her Dragonriders of Pern books also have female protags but she usually writes very good ones.

>>21622296
There is zero communication between the Xeelee and any other species in the Xeelee Sequence. And life is everywhere so the presence of bizarre life does exist throughout.
Reynolds will sometimes write an actual 'alien' alien species like the Fountainheads in Pushing Ice.

>>21622296
if they were truly incomprehensible, they would be incapable of being comprehended such that they could be described by the written word, and ipso facto could not be written in any book
or else they'd be God, but I imagine that sort of character bores you

I think I grew out of Fantasy

>>21622825
you definitely dont want to read wandering inn, dont listen to those retarded litrpg shills

as far as female protagonists go, I suppose you could read The Deed of Paksenarrion but I just finished it up a couple days ago and I'm really not impressed, it's not offensive or anything, but it's really fucking boring and doesn't justify its length
it doesn't screech obnoxious feminism either but it does have a blind and nonsensical equality where fully half of all the speaking characters in the book are female with no explanation whatsoever, I'm all for female warriors in fiction, but this is really stretching the suspension of disbelief for what is otherwise bog-standard military fiction

ironically, I can find a lot of good female protagonists in historical fiction, but not so much in fantasy fiction

>>21622825
It's a jap comic rather than an actual book, but I found Chise from Ancient Magus' Bride to be nice.

>>21623176
Kek Powder Mage does the same thing where there's a lot of random female grunts and officers and it's never relevant to the story why they're there at all. It's probably justifiable with the existence of female magic users of all levels, can't help it if you're born a powder mage you get in the army or get murdered.

>>21623194
Any world with litrpg mechanics will have a way higher proportion of women in physically intensive roles because the rl physical strength hard cap just isn't present in most of those settings

I understand disliking stupid feminism shit but sperging over things that make perfect sense just because REEEE WOMYN BAD -4 STR -4 INT is pathetic

>>21623194
if it were like Wheel of Time where there's some supernatural cosmic significance to gender roles having "separate, but equal" power classes, then it'd be interesting, but it's not, it's just a comically generic nearly magicless low-fantasy setting (with aspirations to high fantasy it consistently fails to live up to) that for some reason has 50/50 gender ratio in every military organization or even in any discussion of martial capacity
that alone wouldn't bother me sufficiently to dislike the book but there are a bunch of niggling autisms like that in Paksenarrion that lead me to keep it off my shelf and in the Goodwill box

>>21622223
Based

>The Utemot chieftain wiped a bare forearm aross his mouth and nose. He spat blood. "A prince of nothing," he said
Bravo, Bakker.

>This will be a real... A Clash of Kings. A Song of Ice and Fire, ser Davos.

>>21623371
But that is not a real quotation from the books.

>>21623194
Huh, I actually found Powder Mage's military usage of women to be pretty good. In the magic circles it's understandable that there'd be plenty of women since regardless of gender, if you're able to explode Gunpowder with your mind you are going to war. And for the nation in general, the main country is in theory very militarized, so even if not 50/50, the presence of women in the army is acceptable.

>>21623304
The real joke is what was Bakker smoking when naming AE books
>Judging Eye
>judging eye is mentioned once and not again until the next novel
>White-Luck Warrior
>WLW has like two chapters where he does nothing
>Great Ordeal
>already been happening for 2 books
>Unholy Consult
>tweest is that it no longer exists

>>21623409
I guess AE is more like a single book which was divided into four volumes—just like BotNS, where the naming convention is somewhat related to the books' contents.

Anybody know of any musket fantasy? Like the Sharpe series but harper is a dwarf or something.

>>21623430
Musket Fantasy as in fantasy with early guns? The Powder Mage trilogy is pretty good, and featured both guns and gun-related magic pretty prominently.

>>21623443
Yeah, fantasy with muzzleloaders, large formations of fighting men, fancy uniforms with glorious shining standards. Bugle calls square as cavalry charges type shit. I'll check out powder mage.

>>21623409
The real gripe I have is the clear lack of editing in the last two or three books, from things like names and directions getting mixed up, down to misspellings and grammar lapses.

fyi, science fiction is used clinically during hypnosis scripts, especially with pediatric populations

>>21623684
meds, schizo

>>21623679
Examples? I have books right there so I'll fact check you nigga dont try any funny business

>>21623725
Multiple instances of looking east towards The Horns, when in fact The Ordeal's encampment was on the eastern rim of The Occlusion and Kellhus had blown out the westward facing wall of the Umbilicus to make his point. There was one instance in TUC where the subplot switched but the little filigree marker was missing between paragraphs. I wouldn't call them significant issues, but in the moment they stuck out as things that would have been ironed out with an editing pass. Though that might have removed other things I enjoyed about Bakker's style. Do you think we would have a cunny-raving dragon if the publisher had had a proper look at the material?

I just finished the story a few days ago, and I'm working my way through the glossary at the end. I wasn't specifically looking to note every slip up; I really enjoyed the series and am hoping that we will some day see The No-God.

Is there such a thing as fantasy Slice of life, no real stakes, just calming ambience and comedy shenanigans as main characters traverse exotic fantasy locations?

>>21623884
Only nips do that

>>21623884
Cozy fantasy on r*ddit
Most shit is for women though

>>21623884
That only really works in a visual medium.

>>21623906
i think it depends, if it's "slice of life" in the sense that there are no world ending threats and it's just regular people dealing with regular problems it can be okay but if it really is just "and then we went to this place and nothing happened and then we went to another place where nothing happened' i could see how that would get old. like a series about traveling RPG merchants sounds like it would be entertaining if it were done right.

>>21623884
There's this...

>>21623948
you conspicuously cut out the lesbian tumblr cover art

>>21623953
I didn't cut anything but here you go lmao

>>21623918
Traveling merchant is literally Spice & Wolf.

What is konosuba of sffg?

>>21622296
This sorta skates around that...

>>21624001
Konosuba is a fantasy light novel so it's itself

>>21624022
I mean the western equivalent

>>21623409
More like
>Judging Eye
A core concept tied to a new central character for the entire series. Also tied to the climax of the first book, and the theme of the 4th.
>White-Luck Warrior
Another concept that is introduced. Works well as a mystery. Reader has to figure out who this character truly is.
>Great Ordeal
This book now turns the major focus to the Kellhus front. It is also the climax of the 3rd book. Naming checks out.
>Unholy Consult
The 7th book of the series. What else should you name it after than the major opponent of the series?

Read this in a couple of nights, and it was very good. The world is interesting, plenty of kino scenes and a good bittersweet ending. 8/10 would recommend

>>21623906
Novels are the perfect medium for a character study that doesn’t require combat or world saving to be interesting or dramatic.

Read The Wandering Inn, Read Mother of Learning, Read I Shall Seal the Heavens.

Also read The Prince of Nothing, Neuromancer, Cradle, A Song of Ice and Fire, Hyperion, Between Two Fires, The Poppy War.

>>21624125
I started reading The Drawing of the Dark by the same author last night and even though I only read a few chapters it's really captivated me quite well, I'm positive I'll like this book, and I'll be sure to get more from Tim Powers

>>21623884
Xanth, obviously, Discworld to a lesser degree (there's a lot of worldsaving but none of it is done seriously)

>>21623304
>The Utemot chieftain wiped a bare forearm aross his mouth and nose. He spat blood. "A prince of nothing," he said
Kino

>>21622296
Footfall - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Mote in God's Eye - same authors^

>>21622187
I have an unhealthy obsession with redemption arcs.

What are your favorite short story collections that were released after 2000? Bonus points for adventure or sword and sorcery feels but I'll check them all out.

>>21624305
Okay. And?

>>21624129
They don't mean character studies.

>>21624394
What’s the difference?

>>21623906
I agree, anon.

>>21624443
The characters matter less than the locales and the events. The characters only exist to provide narrative structure.

>>21624461
I see. And the narrative would just be something that doesn’t involve wars or adventure to save the world

>>21624474
It's kinda like a travelogue.

Who assassinated Sasheoka?

>>21622296
Solaris
Mote in Gods Eye
Game Players of Titan

do u guys even buy digital books (e-readers) or just pirate? i was thinking about read the hobbit, but i doesnt make sense to pay for it if tolkien and his son is already dead, like who is getting the money? i dont like to pirate books even digital books, but it makes no sense to pay for a book when the author is already dead

>>21625042
I usually pirate then buy the book if a) I enjoyed it and b) i think the author needs/deserves it based on purely subjective factors

>>21625042
i pirate everything with libgen because it's no different from going to a library and checking out the book for free anyway, but i do buy books i really like that i know i'd re-read

This book any good?

new thread when?

>>21625096
My thoughts
>>/lit/thread/S20067176#p20067420

One other /sffg/ member read it and rated it 5 stars.

>>21625101
That depends on how much spam and discussion there is, thought sometimes it can be difficult to tell the two apart. So, anywhere from 24-48 hours probably.

>>21625042
I despise e-readers and e-books, I would sooner spend 20 dollars for an overpriced print-on-demand self-published novella than spend $0.00 on an ebook with my amazon prime membership

>>21625129
Why did you despise?

>>21625096
John Scalzi is a cringy SJW dipshit. like one of those stupid, annoying people where if you disagree with him or criticize him you're a heckin nazi chud. i don't do ideological purity tests on everyone i read, Grant Morrison is my favorite comic book writer and he's a hard lefty and a "they/them" now but Scalzi is exceptionally stupid. i would really caution against reading anything by him.

>>21625132
they hurt my eyes
I am not going to spend additional hours getting blue LED lasers zapped into my corneas when I could be viewing paper under a soft natural light instead

Why does Alastair Reynolds think I give a shit about some comet that it warrants several paragraphs describing it?

>>21625182
Ereaders aren't LED.

>Imani turned and scanned the room, eyes resting on Donut, who was in the middle of the dance floor, bopping on the shoulders of The Sledge. She twirled while the rock bodyguard was doing an approximation of the robot. A crowd had circled around them, and they were chanting, “Go Donut! Go Donut! Go Donut!”

>>21624037
DCC

Just finished reading the released Arcane Ascension novels, by Andrew Rowe. I quite liked the world and systems therewithin, although it was somewhat marred by the frequent interjection of what I can only describe as "liberal social faggotry". The characters would frequently stop to have conversations or mental monologues about the correct treatment of marginalized groups or gender or whatever moralizing issue the author had on his mind that day. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the series and will be reading the next book when it releases.

In the meantime, does anyone have any recommendations for similar books to read?

>>21625442
Man I'm glad I dropped that book on the page where the MC revealed he was secretly gay all along.

Read Mother of Learning if you haven't. Lord of the Mysteries even has trannies to appease the nascent chinese woke? but it's still readable.

World War 1 but it's Steampunk - Decopunk type of alternative history. Does the story exist? If yes point me to it.

>>21625451
Yeah I don't even know why the author even bothered with that when all that came of it was an aborted subplot with a character that gets basically written out after book 1, and the MC remains a kissless virgin forever. As for your recommendations, I've read both of those and really liked them.

>>21625442
Honestly, the Weapons and Wielders series by the same author is stronger overall. Better protagonist, better sense of adventure/progression, and there's relatively little social commentary because it instead sort of goes down the route of "hey are magic sentient items considered people", akin to Star Trek asking if Data is a person. They don't really follow the same structure as Arcane Ascension, though. I don't even mind the social commentary in Arcane Ascension in and of itself, I just wish it was handled better instead of sort of... Dropped in. Also, like, every major character seems to be bi/gay except Patrick. Not to mention Corin's ex-fiancee who I forget the name of is clearly meant to be sort of autistic, and there's a general idea that "birth family matters less than found family", which, fair, but in context feels a little too 'real-world subtext'.

Does anyone else get hungry for Desi Pie? Geographically it's Texas and Mexico but I'm imagining it as some sort of balti / curry pot pie.

>>21625229
Because you're not reading his books for the plot or characters. Also did you just take a picture of a fucking Kindle?

>>21625536

>>21624037
discworld

>>21625182
Blue LED shit isn't real. Looking at screens with bad color rendition and excessive backlight flicker causes eye strain. eReaders have neither.

>>21625231
They all have some these days, but you could say it's not mandatory.

"I won't lose too much, just myself. There are always some things that are more important than others."

Any recommendations for books that have a power metal album cover feel? Can't really think of a better way to describe what I'm looking for.

>>21625927
Praise Mr Fool

>He could not see Serwë. He could not see Cnaiür or Conphas.
>Neither was Xinemus anywhere to be found.
The end of TTT is so damn good. It really made Akka kneeling in TUC such a crushing image.

>>21624318
A recent one I liked was the lerebus shieldbreaker collection. five stories, pretty short

>>21624318
Check out Schuyler Hernstrom if you haven’t.

friends
are you guys watching the live-action chinese adaptation of three body problem on youtube? its free on the tencent video channel, they're dropping eps pretty often.

>>21623953
Cute

>Achamian glaced back at the roaring pillar of destruction that was Mog-Pharau, reincarnated dread weapon of The Consult . "So this it, huh, we in some kinda...R. Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse!"
Pure kino

>>21623157
I think I'm growing into it. I'm 30, and I've read more fantasy in the past couple of years than I did during my entire childhood. I used to prefer science fiction, and then literary fiction. I don't actually think it has anything to do with age, just time. Maybe you're getting bored. Maybe you've read everything in the genre you want to read (for now, at least).
Change is natural.

>>21626604
What did you search to get this stock image?

>>21625927
I was unfortunate enough to read LOTM when the latest chapter was somehwere around the revelation that there are some people/objects from the past in the danger zone
I suppose it's as good a time as any to read it to completion, since nothing but shit novels are around. Fuckers got me to read 20 chaters of The Beginning After the End, claiming it's as good as LOTM. Zero taste I tell you.

>>21626720
>mfw

>>21626700
halal wizard

>>21626444
Blocked in my country

>>21626739
To what exactly is that reaction? LOTM or TBATE?

>>21626748
>It's a reaction to LOTM and Klein going to Chernobyl

>>21626766
Well shit now I have to read it

What's a fantasy book with strong characterization where the protagonist spends most of the time flirting and going on dates with cute girls?

>>21626791
Just read some nip light novel and fuck off from here

>>21626791
Harry Potter fanfics

>>21622296
Stanislaw Lem - Solaris

mogs every other recommendation

>>21622296
Short story to read and be MINDFUCKED:
Beyond the Walls of Sleep

>>21625552
Why do people think it's hard to read? Maybe Pratchett wrote too autistically in Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic but most of his stuff is YA tier.

Lords of Dicks in Assia sucks arse. Fuck you for shilling it, autist.

>>21622296
The angry red niggas in the expanse

>>21626792
I'm not a weeb and I don't read translations.

>The Salamanders have a long and noble history, standing proud among the First Founding Space Marine Chapters. Though their appearance can be terrifying, they are deeply honourable, and will go to any lengths to safeguard the Imperium and its billions of teeming citizens. After the death of their captain, Da’kir and Tsu’gan, battle-brothers and rivals, face nemies from within and without. As their paths diverge and they face trials that will test them to their very limits, their destinies draw them back together for one final confrontation... New edition of a great-value omnibus that contains all three novels in the Tome of Fire trilogy - Salamander, Firedrake and Nocturne - plus a host of additional short stories.
WE WUZ SPACE MARINES AND SHIET... 40kids literally worship BBC

>>21626804
pretty cool

>>21625961
Conan

>>21626849
Niggers aren't niggers because they are black. Unless a fantasy race acts like a local rapper thug he bears no relation just due to skin colour.

>>21626604

>>21626444
I'm watching it. Pretty good so far (ep 4), would be even better if they didn't stretch it out to so many episodes.

>do I have something in my teeth
kek what an asshole lmao

>>21626696
>Maybe you've read everything in the genre you want to read (for now, at least).
Not him, but I'm starting to feel that. There are only 2 contemporary writers I like and the dead ones aren't publishing new novels for obvious reasons. Well, outside of Tolkien I guess. I'm really feeling like I've read everything worth reading in fantasy. Which is a shame, because I still very much enjoy it.

>>21627712
>aren't publishing new novels for obvious reasons
What reasons?

>>21626849
I hate how GW turned them into Africans simply because it's what peoples' mind goes to. Salamanders have glowing red eyes and onyx-black skin.

>>21627737
Right? They could be ghost writers.

Geeze man, depressing part 1. All the POV is a slave, poor, a woman or coward. The only one who has a good life is the fisherman.

>>21627762
Damn you, Carlos!

>>21626866
I've already read all of it, and although it come close it lacks a certain bombast that would push it more towards the tone I'm looking for.

>>21627797
The sort of thing you're looking for probably does exist in the sort of deliberately over-the-top pulp throwbacks, but those are... Kinda rare. Because power metal isn't really what pulp was, it's more the idea of what it was.

I could not wrap my head around this at all. I loved Solaris, I loved Fiasco, I loved The Invincible, but this I could not finish. Perhaps I am too much of a brainlet but it was a complete and utter fucking slog.

>>21626248
>>21626427
Both of these look pretty good. Thanks anons

>>21627998
i liked it, it's an interesting concept and the story is engaging and so on. it's not very eventful, no exciting action or anything but i wasn't bored idk

>>21622187
What are your opinions on describing the characters of a book?
Do they need to be fully described, down to their hair and body type? Or do we acknowledge that people know what people look like and can generate a person in their mind's eye without the detailed explanation?

>>21622187
We should make a /sffg/ top 20 like the board top 100. Thoughts?

>>21628521
My thoughts are that if you want anything done you'll have to do it yourself. It's been done before, you can see it in the mega. There are other similar existing. The lit top is never representative and always manipulated and filled with memes. Is that satisfactory to you? It would mostly just be a popularity contest rather than anything about quality. Why do you want to do so?

>>21628456
I hate that especially if they explain their hair color like 20 pages after introducing them. Or saying something like "wide mouth", it makes me imagine some kind of freak of nature

Wow I fucking LOVE the Bobiverse books. It's so much fun to read!
I just wanna heartily recommend We Are Legion: We Are Bob to everyone ITT that wants a good time and wanna ask if anyone knows of any books that have a similar type of:
- Gradual and earned development of the main characters foot hold on the universe, as well as the works he creates (This is my fave part, by the way, it's similar to Jim Butcher's Dresden files in the way that the main character works hard and slowly accrues knowledge/power and wider renown)
- A cheerful, optimistic outlook from the main character, eager to explore the universe and build in it.
- Interesting concepts and new spins on technologies we've seen before.

Happy that there's a thread for this kind of stuff!
Have a nice day fellas.

>>21628680
It's just so hokey. It's genuinely hard to read the prose with how fast your eyes are rolling. It's all sort of just a flimsy framework to hold up some fun action, big sci-fi ideas, and fanfic characters. Maybe it would have been better in another medium. Video game? Webcomic?

I also find Bob's robo-vagina creepy.

>>21628708
Robo-whatnow?

>>21628708
Also I had no problems reading it. Maybe your eyes are just slow and weak?

so i was re-reading bits of "Prince of Nothing" recently, having first read it couple of years ago, and i had forgotten how fucking obnoxious Esmenet's POV is
>muh peach
>muh custom
>muh daughter
>muh tattoo
>muh harlot
>muh Akka
HOLY SHIT, STFU ALREADY, I JUST WANT MORE KELLHUS, CNAIUR, AND CONPHAS, GOD
at least the retardation of Serwe's POV is justified, she is a battered teenaged piece of meat who has nothing but non-stop rape. meanwhile Esmenet is positioned as this brilliant insightful woman
should i read the 2nd series, if this (really) annoys me? plus i've been spoiled about the salt&butchery twist

>>21628726
Think about it. He grows clones of himself inside his "body" and shits them out into the universe.
As a character he's basically emasculated, literally unmanned. Hetero but not sexual. In becoming legion he's also become something feminine. Motherly. The biologicals he interacts with even come to see him that way.

>>21628745
And maybe your taste is just bad. I'm sure the Bobiverse isn't as poorly written as some of the shit people read around here, like amateur translated chinese web novels.
But like, for those who have not read it, just look at the name and titles of the books. "Bobiverse?"
It's schlock. The author is a retired old programmer who had never written before. It's obviously a collection of his office daydreams and unpublished star trek fanfics (one of his self-inserts is literally Riker from star trek--not a Riker-inspired character, literally William Riker). I don't want to hate on it for being what it was meant to be, a fun romp for the author. But let's not pretend it's high prose.

>>21628779
>muh low-class schlock bayd
yes yes we get it you jack off over finnegan's wake

>>21628797
It's really, really hokey. It's all catchphrases and 80s pop culture references. It's stuffed with what people on this board would call "reddit humor."
I read three (short) books of this stuff, I'm not saying I'm too good for it. But you have to admit it can be pretty cringe.

>>21626696
I've been reading fantasy most of my life and I'm still not tired of it. My tastes and preferences within the fantasy genre have shifted around over the decades, but I've yet to feel like I've outgrown it.

>>21627768
Life gets better for Kaladin, despite his apparent intention to remain miserable.

>>21628908
He sure finds ever new reasons to stay miserable

>>21628908
Should have listened to his dad. Or at least be a general, why the hell would you want to be a grunt to protect people?

bakker is a good example of someone who fetishizes violence without ever having experienced it

>>21629127
That's why Erikson is better.

>>21628752
She is in a much different place by the end of the first trilogy, though she still has many of the same aches. I would say you don't see any less of her in the second series, but you see her from more diverse angles.

>>21629127
I'm reasonably sure the Bucci has seen some forcible touching.

What’s that series where all the books have the same title (the name of the setting IIRC), but each time it’s spelled kind of differently?

>>21629467
Myth Adventures by Robert Asprin?

>>21629467
is this photoshopped? I feel physically ill

>>21627970
Yeah, that's why I didn't ask for pulp. I know it doesn't hit the notes I'm after. I imagine the hypothetical book I'm looking for would be a more recent high fantasy title.

>>21629612
>recent
Cringe

>>21622641
The Deep (1975)

Gonna writea fantasy novel where the protagonista discover their mother was secretly a world renowned assassin. The mother is killed in the opening chapter by someone who wants payback on her for what she did in the past, while a former mentor takes the mother assassin's daughter in for preparing them for revenge. What sort of society should I model my world on? Don't want to do medieval since I think too overdone

>>21629703
>The mother is killed in the opening chapter
Stopped reading right there. The mom should live and train her child

>>21629715
>>21629703
Seconded, keep the mother alive and have her be a mentor figure. Make the Father's death the vengeance driver.

>>21629703
Age of Exploration sort of era?

>>21629715
based

>>21629703
check out the Liavek books and The Mask of the Sorcerer for a good middle east setting inspiration.

>>21629633
More recent than 1932, yes.

For my first epic fantasy series, should I read Malazan or Prince of Nothing?

>>21629703
>Don't want to do medieval since I think too overdone
A revenge plot for a murdered parent is already so trite I recommend a cinder block to the head

>>21629703
Kill Bill but for fat retards?

>>21625229
This reads like an undergrad trying to hit a word count.

>>21626849
>>21627132
Salamanders are the furthest thing you can get from niggers in 40k anyway, their whole MO is honor and protecting innocents.

>>21629103
In fairness, he was barely even a grunt, he rose to Captaincy really goddamn quickly and was doing considerably well until a goddamn shardbearer rolls up

>>21625123
>>21625135
That kinda sucks, are there any actually good kaiju books?

>>21623409
agree, should have just gone with his original title of "Long Live Heidigger: The Gay Cannibal Holocaust"

>>21624553
Did you not read TTT? It was the Cishaurim believing that the Scarlet Spires were responsible for the skin-spies

>>21630091
Ah, I must have missed that. I'm guessing it's in the conversation between Kellhus & Moënghus? I knew that was the theory the Spires had at the beginning of the trilogy, but I missed where it was confirmed. I'm guessing it was in the conversation between Kellhus and Moënghus?

>>21629817
dont read pon as your first, you will be disappointed with everything after, i would not advise to read malazan either as it is too bloated for any payoff, early wot, asoiaf, lotr, mst would be better

>>21628779
>It's bad because It doesn't take itself seriously! Books should all be insufferably self-righteous and impossible to get into!
No amount of pseudo-intellectual wittering will change the fact that it's a really well put together book about the implications of von Neumann probes and the joy of exploration, be that exploration of the universe, or of the self (hence the name bobiverse; he's learning about himself, not just looking outward).

>>21629720
Lame. Modern society shows men raised by single mothers go on to be at best artists, and at worst, women.

>>21631048
Just add a father figure to the book.

>>21629703
>world renowned assassin
Pretty sure being world renowned means you're a pretty shit assassin

>>21631072

>>21631072
retard

>>21629127
Is what fucking way does Bakker ever "fetishize" violence?

>>21625536
>Also did you just take a picture of a fucking Kindle
why not? does kindle do screenshots?

>>21629556
Book of the New Sun is, it's too thin to be BotNS.

This is complete trash, fuck you retards for recommending it. THE most cringy book I've read since Prince of Thorns

>>21631456
It says it's only Sword and Citadel on the cover.

Recommend me some more sci-fi like this please.

>>21631733

>>21630936
Already read ASIOAF and Lotr (and the rest of Tolkiens stuff), but those aren't really in the same league of "epic" as PON and Malazan seem to be. How bloated is Malazan? I don't plan on reading many other fantasy stuff after these two series, maybe some Gene Wolfe--as they all seem boring and derivative.

>>21629715
saggy granny titties arouse me greatly

>>21631869
I'd advise against Malazan unless you're prepared for something really long and involved. It's 10 massive door stopper books and it doesn't finish introducing all the major characters until book 6, and where it takes several books for the story to really make sense. It's not a quick and easy read.

And I'd not recommend PoN on principle, because it's shit.

>>21631919
>Because its shit
Can I get a quick spoiler free rundown as to why, before I buy them? I started reading Malazan and stopped on book 6 during the siege of some city, because it was so bloated it felt like every book could be cut in half, and I don't want a repeat of that.

>>21631927
If you can't even handle Malazan there's no way you can stomach Bakker's overwritten garbage.

>it's a rogue mc episode
>it's a coward mc episode
>it's a mc gets cucked episode
>it's a mc is fine with it episode
>it's a battle devolves into individual fights episode
>it's a small squad tactics in a Medieval setting episode
>it's a plate armor is really heavy episode
>it's an everybody used sword episode
What are some reruns you're tired of seeing?

How much fantasy involving elves is as cucked as Eragon? (elves are just good in every possible way and humans just suck)

>>21631957
All. I fucking hate elves. There was this /co/ show called The Dragon Prince that I heard a little about, that sounded like it had an interesting premise of humans being essentially Treaty of Versaille'd by elves and having to deal with that, but then it cucked out and made the humans the villains anyway.

>>21631869
Second Apocalypse is epic in scope but it's short in length. I actually can't think of shorter fantasy series aside from Dark Tower (garbage) and BOTNS (so fucking overwritten that it'll take longer), PoN+A-E is only 7 books around 400 pages each, you can breeze them in a month

>>21632014
>overwritten

Do you throw books away or keep them no matter how shitty they are?

>>21632042
The only books I ever trash or burn or throw away would be the talmud and the koran. They get shit on and burned after.

>>21631972
are elves really that mary suey in the tolkienverse?
kinda lock themselves in and let humans handle all their shit

I'm ready for the Prince of Nothing series to be over. Please tell me something actually HAPPENS in the Aspect-Emperor series... Its... okay. It certainly is no "masterpiece" like that psychopath that never shuts up about it swears it is.

I definitely would have preferred to read something more fun.

>>21624283
Moties are humanoid in a sense, Fithp are literally just two trunked dwarf elephants.

>>21632077
Ain't that just 3 books? Just take a break and come back later.

>>21622851
>Everything I've told you, has been a lie <3
Typical female.

>>21631935
>overwritten
Does this mean "I'm a brainlet and cant handle prose more complicated than Brandon Sanderson"?
>>21632014
Do either of you anons know what "overwritten" means?

>>21623409
>The twist of the Unholy Consult is that it no longer exists
Jeez, I guess I can stop at the Thousandfold Thought then. Does the Second Apocalypse even HAPPEN?

>>21622187
>The Bakker autist now shills on /pol/, /tv/ and /a/
I hope it's Bakker himself otherwise it would be really really sad

>>21631733
literally any other book written by Michael Crichton
Relic and Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
regrettably I'm not familiar with any techno-thrillers of a similar quality as most tend to veer into one of three categories:
1. Indiana Jones tier adventures with clearly supernatural phenomena (the best kind of alternative to scifi techno thrillers)
2. military fiction with an experimental superweapon or whatever that threatens world peace
3. thinly veiled dystopian political screeds marketed towards impressionable youths (the worst)

>>21632112
I wouldnt spoil you totally my negro, so consider not hovering
Consult still exists but its not the Consult that Akka remembers
Second Apoopoolypse happens, its pretty epic, Cnaiur goes super saiyan

>>21632140
>Cnaiur goes super saiyan
elaborate

>>21632148

How did Moenghus and Kellhus turn Cnaiur into some kind of Dunyain just by being around him?

>>21632123
It clearly is Bakker just being a lazy shitposting pig instead of finishing his twenty year old grimdark cuck cummy rape fag fantasy book series.

He's just butthurt that not many people ever cared about it or made it a bestseller series over all these years. I can't tell you the amount of times I've glanced at the books in the bookstore over the years and just didn't even care to even really look at their synopsis.

GLURP GLURP

>>21632123
Dont forget /tg/

>Fantasy or science fiction series of novels
>X of A, X of B, X of C, X of D
>Repeat ad nauseam

STOP DOING THIS

>>21632123
bakker autist and the soijack wolfe hater also appear in the occasional /v/ book threads

What is the absolute best story involving Bolos?

>>21632292
What do you mean exactly?

>>21632380
The titles. X of Y or X of the Y titles are very common in fantasy/sci-fi. Sometimes as series titles, sometimes as individual book titles. Probably because of Lord of the Rings.

>>21632380
You know, kinda like.... the Horror Calls series where the title starts with "Call of the Crocodile", "Call of the Kappa" and so on. Except what I'm talking about is that almost all of the books if not all of them begin with "shadow of the" or what have you. I see this shit ALL of the time and it's particularly prevalent among scifi/fantasy novels.

>>21623157
There just hasn't been anything good written for at least 20 years and the best authors are dead. Hard to stay engaged with a genre this stagnant.

>>21623480
Monarchies of God except that it's just a paralell earth in an early 16th century and not the cringe reddit shit you're describing.

>>21623884
Jack Vance, Ports of Call.

>>21626791
The Book of the New Sun

>there are people who see this as the height of fantasy creature design

>>21632501
yes, digimon designs are peak monster designs.

>>21632501
They got swordhands raptors? Picked the fuck up

>>21632501
I remember drawing this guy in middle school

>>21632501
While that does look pretty cool...
>Ancient precursor race is reptilian
YAAAAAAWN

This is really good, it's like that subplot from Count Zero about the woman having to track down the AI that's making art but a whole book instead of ~50 pages total, which is my favourite part of that book anyway. Probably the best of Gibson I've read since Neuromancer. It's in the B-tier at least.
Downsides:
>tries to make you believe the holocaust happened
>tries to make you believe there were airplanes on 9/11
Both of these things are fairly easily overlooked.

>>21631880
Reading Rolling Stones by Heinlein rn and one of the main characters is a redhead Gilf pretty comfy book, very slice of life.

>>21632558
>tries to make you believe the holocaust happened
Why is this debunked conspiracy theory so common in SFF? The main character of Chronicles of Amber was a guard at Auschwitz for example and the author isn't even a jew.

>>21632569
Goddammit, Donut. Don't say things like that.

>>21631046
Post a passage of your choice from one of the books.

>>21632552
the azathanai are the old ones not the dinos

A few weeks ago I got into painting miniatures, I just "finished" (I lack the skills to paint some parts) this one and I want to know what are the essential novels of the 40k universe.

>>21632700
Read the Ciaphas Cain ones, stay away from the rest.

>>21625961
>
A Princess of Mars
A little tropey but a fun read. I thought it was so badassx when I was a kid

>>21632726
Different guy here, I keep wanting to check those out because I've heard good things. I have a broad-strokes understanding of 40k primarily through osmosis, is that enough to go off of for Ciaphas Cain stuff?

>>21622775
>>21624175
> The Wandering Inn
When does it get good? Am at 1.16 or so, and while it isn't the wort thing I've ever read, it's not been that good either.

Forever War and Hyperion have whet my appetite for total war on a science fiction scale. What should I read next if I want to see entire planets invaded and mobilised and such?

>>21632700
highlight all the edges

>>21632778
The best and worst part about TWI is that it remains consistent throughout

>>21632292
Game of Thrones
Clash of Kings
Dance of Dragons
A Song of Ice and Fire
Fellowship of the Ring
Name of Wind
Way of Kings
Justice of Kings
Tyranny of Faith
Shadow of the Torturer
Claw of Conciliator
Lies of Locke Lamora
Color of Magic
Prince of Nothing
Wizard of Earthsea
Blood of Elves
War of World
Children of Time
Prince of Thorns
Left Hand of Darkness
Sirens of Titans
House of Leaves
Breakfast of Champions
Promise of Blood
Caves of Steel
Fifth Head of Cerebus
Elric of Melnibone
Way of Shadows
Curse of Chalion
Lord of Light
Lathe of Heaven
Mountains of Madness

I want a physical copy of Killing Star but there are none but hardcovers for $700? What the fuck why does paperback not exist?

>>21625135
100% agree but I read all of his Old man's war and I really liked the first 2, I kinda liked book 5 and the rest were shit.

>>21632758
Not that poster but yeah, the Cain books are tributes to the flashman novels more than explorations of 40k lore.
Pretty much everything you need to know about stuff like gene cultists and orks etc is explained as it's introduced.

>>21628779
>I'm sure the Bobiverse isn't as poorly written as some of the shit people read around here, like amateur translated chinese web novels.
Unless I dropped the book super early because of the quality of writing I've found every webnovel I've read to be better written than the bobiverse which actually made me angry for how bad it was.

>>21632778
Try to finish the first volume and see if you like it.
The Erin-solo chapters are a slog for most (I found them passable) but the final third is closer to the tone of the rest of the series (world building , slice of life and warcrimes)

>>21632726
Thanks, I'll give it a try.

>>21632758
Yes, you don't need much lore to get the referances, the first book is good. it has everything, jokes action, mistery

>>21632785
First Contact on /HFY/ (on reddit , yes)
First arc is not about war though so fair warning

>>21632899
Good to know. Might pick them up at some point then. 40k as a whole only mildly interests me (grimdark in general sort of turns me off, even if it's to the point of absurdity like 40k) but to my understanding Ciaphas Cain isn't really too grimdark, it's more just pulp-y adventure stuff mixed with a horrendously/hilariously self-deprecating protagonist.

Anyone got anything fun where a protagonist is learning something but not from a school?
So like they wander around and get better at magic or fighting but without all the fantasy college stuff.
Had enough of stories where the protagonist is already one of the best in the world at what they do for now.

>>21632941
Lord of the Mysteries
He gets magic knowledge by joining the magic police and scamming other magic users with the guise of a God.

>>21632785
I wold recomand the world at war series by Harry Turttledove I read it because I wanted to see Nazi germany fighting aliens. But it's not worth it about 1/3 of the capters are like trench warfare to read them, it's clear the author wanted to bloat the books as much as posible (the author is jewish by the way)

>>21632927
> the final third is closer to the tone of the rest of the series (world building , slice of life and warcrimes)
That seems a bit closer to what I expected. I feel like the book spent way too long with just Erin, and didn't really develop much in that time

>>21632941
I'll just gesture vaguely at the progression fantasy stuff, though a lot of that is school settings. LitRPGs and whatnot also have that, if you can handle game-y systems existing (some handle it better) in books.
Cradle's a solid progression fantasy thing, it has learning and whatnot, but never really from a school, it's mostly either self-directed learning or being taught by a weird mentor.

>>21632955
>Turtledove is a jew
wh
huh?

>>21632941
Like... Most of the progression fantasy subgenre

>>21632941
Mother of Learning starts with school-setting but preaty soon the protag needs to do his own training

>>21632941
seconding Cradle, it's fairly YA-ish but the setting and system is pretty interesting, it's sort of like a shounen novel in some respects but the protagonist starts out as a total weenie which fits in with your criteria of him not being the best in the world. it even has a tournament arc.

>>21632963
C'mon he... is half of all his characters are jewish
And he cames from a Eomanian-jewish family

Is there anybody good to follow for fantasy and sf discussion? Like Vox but not a cringe retard?

>>21633086
My wife Martha Wells

>>21632941
paranoid mage
>>21633019
i hope this isn't a subtle comparison of yyh to cradle

>>21633175
Probably just bringing it up because YYH has a very notable tournament arc. Cradle's tournament arc is similarly protracted (goes over the course of two books, even if the focus isn't quite as strong on it in the second) and features a lot of major character growth.

>>21633175
i just posted YYH as an example, i can't really think of an anime that you could compare the story and structure to because its structure is more akin to standard genre fiction.

>>21633192
dark tournament was orders of magnitude better than the uncrowned tournament
fuck dude, dark tournament is what i think of first when i think of a tournament arc

>>21633142
I said not a cringe retard.

>>21633222
Fair. I don't have TOO many problems with Cradle's tournament, but it does kind of peter out a bit too much. Lindon losing is fine, but it means you by necessity take away a lot of the charm of the tournament itself by shunting him away somewhere else.

"Honor is not dead so long as he lives in the hearts of men"
Really sandersnoys?

Any sci fi with gigantic time skips? Things like the later parts of the three-body-problem trilogy or marooned in realtime.

>>21633086
wertzone, his other blog the atlas of ice and fire is also pretty good and super detailed

https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/

https://atlasoficeandfireblog.wordpress.com/

>>21631869
well if you have read these, then i would say go for pon. in malazan, you have overpowered over overpowered entities, they get built up for long sections of books, only to be benched suddenly, and then their story picks up after a couple of books, not to mention there are way too many mcs in the story.

pon is sort of self contained, but it is not completely finished, even so you would gain much worth from it, that said, pon in isolation is inadequate, it requires reading of lotr before it can be enjoyed to the fullest

>>21631474
filtered by Chad Stover, go back to chinklit and c*zy fantasy

>>21633352
he writes more like an edgy chinese webnovel author than anyone else in the english language

>>21633222
yeah Dark Tournament is the best shounen tournament arc. i still love the first tournament of the original Dragon Ball too.

>>21633235
i actually liked that because it was a good subversion of expectations and it helped free things up so the entirety of the plot wasn't happening at the tourney. i also think it was good character development for Lindon and it pays off a lot for Yerin as well.

>>21631935
Pretty sure every 2nd Apocalypse book could fit inside Gardens of the Moon with room to spare.

>>21633269
Tau Zero

>>21633277
Thanks, I'll keep watch.

>>21631733
I don't know, his other works? You do know Micheal Crichton wrote different scifi books.

>>21632728
>A little tropey but a fun read
Don't you mean a little pulpy? Could have sworn it was a pulp read like Conan.

>>21633277
Good to know someone else knows about him.

>>21632937
>First Contact on /HFY/ (on reddit , yes)
I think I'm going to have to pass on that.

>>21634620
It's really good and you're missing out.

>>21633086
No

>>21633142
Will keep an eye out on her.

>>21631474
That's why you don't take what people say here seriously and just read what you want.

>>21634579
It is a pulp read.

>>21633277
>https://atlasoficeandfireblog.wordpress.com/
This hasn't been active for 3 years now.

>>21632042
Why would I throw them away? Just return them or sell them.

>>21634642
Bold of you to assume that anons have any idea at all of what they want to read.

>>21634652
I know what I want to read, and I don't take any recommendations here seriously unless it's the people from the goodreads group.

>>21634652
Do you not? Because that’s low-key kinda sad.

>>21634620
Dude, don’t miss out on a good story just because of the website.

>>21634643
So why did he say tropey?

>>21634652
I know this might come as a surprise, but some people don’t need anonymous online strangers telling them what to read.

Glad we managed an almost-normal thread before litrpg/chinkxia faggots showed up to spread their aids

>>21634708
And we almost lasted three days.

>>21634642
well some anons i ignore, some anons seem genuine in their recs. if it wasn't for /sffg/ i wouldn't have known about some of my favorites like
>the inverted world
>the jerusalem man
>the night land
>vance's lyonesse
and probably some others favorites i can't remember

there have been a few stinkers, but one favorite is worth 5 stinkers to me, so i've still come out ahead.

>>21631474
>he couldn't tell it was trash just from the cover
gonna make it status: not

>>21634708
I would refer you to the first post in the thread.

New thread
>>21635354

>>21634708
Our worst spammer has no relation to litrpg/chinkshit, newfag. It's probably you.

>>21632785
Old Man's War, kind of

>>21635522
total war against ignorance, bigotry and sexism