/lit/ - Literature

Bakker is the King

I'm halfway through it, does it pick up soon? It's pretty boring so far.

>>21685174
Finished the second Latro book. Only the third left and after that Peace and I will have read every novel Wolfe has ever published.

>>21685249
The 1st book is mostly a setup for the other three. Also I liked the focus on the daily encampment life.

If only we could summon Uzi Jesus to cleanse this general from the shitposting.

>>21685440
Is the book already out?

>>21685527
not yet , maybe 3-4 months more.

>/sffg/'s are slow threads on a slow board, they can easily last a week or more

If I enjoyed asoiaf, what else I might enjoy?

>>21685557
Depends on what aspect of asoiaf you liked, if:

melancholy and excellent characterisation- only martin's other works would satisfy- dying of the light, windhaven, a song for lya, house of the worm

fantasy and court intrigue- the accursed kings by Maurice druon

knightly elements and comfy adventures- dunk and egg (3 novellas) by martin

lonely ruins and travelogues through lost lands - zothique by Clark Smith, for jocularity, dying earth by Jack vance

>>21685631
I liked all of them elements

>>21685637
well, there's no like-for-like replacement of asoiaf, the only things that can compare are martin's other works, I would say to start with dunk and egg first as they are in the westerosi setting only 190 years before the main series.

After that, stories in the 1000 worlds by martin would make for a good reading, the most striking tone is of melancholy across most of his works which is quite distinct and not present in works of other writers

>>21685174
What’s your favorite take on fantasy goblins? I’m thinking that my goblins are the result of a mystical disease/parasite, is that something interesting? And which do you think works better?

>>21685174
I’m thinking of having each race in my setting be aligned with two (or maybe even three) of the elements, with humans elementally neutral and picture related as the pure elementals that may have spawned the others, are there any existing settings that do the concept of elemental races justice? And besides Dwarves as flame and stone, what do you think would be the best combinations for the classic races and why?

>>21685761
>best combinations for the classic races and why
> Stone Dwarves
> Air Elves
> Water Merfolk
> Fire Drakes/Lizards
that'd be the most plain assignment, but I thin it works

>>21685396
Based!

>>21685707
>>21685761
>>>/tg/87798718

>>21685707
>What’s your favorite take on fantasy goblins?
I don't think I've ever read about goblins in fantasy outside of Tolkien. So, Tolkien.

What do people think about Between Two Fires?

Started reading it today and I'm about 25% through it. Seems ok so far, just read the part where Thomas takes part in a tournament in a castle which turns out to be all a dream. Found that it all being a dream a bit disappointing, because that bit about the court all being demons and him fighting them is what I was expecting from the book

Does it get better from there? Are there actual fights against devils and other dark forces? Or is it all just a fever dream caused by the plague?

I wanted something really dark and gritty, it seems to vary between trying to be dark with bits of horror and being lighthearted and funny.

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.

>>21686099
I will never understand why people make these exact same posts every single thread.

If it was shilling I could possibly understand, but /sffg/ and /lit/ in general have hardly any traffic shilling is pointless.

>>21686112
Are you gonna complain the same way every thread?
Can't you see your ilk is no different than a ritual poster?

>>21686119
I just don't understand it, every single thread. For years.

>>21685557
Poop

>>21686112
It's an underage ESL who self-admittedly "doesn't think hard" about what he posts here, hence the ritualposting and complete antiadherence to any discussion.

The number of people in this general who prefers to start dumb discussions with a ritualpost instead of talking about the books they really read shows and proves how no one here reads anything

>>21686209
>no one here reads anything
They only read the books in the ritual posting. Those and other litrpg books, litrpg fags should make their own general.

>>21686112
>>21686126
>>21686177

>>21685923
>Does it get better from there?
No, just worse. It's a collection of macabre short stories tied into a theologically washed out setting (he's playing Catholic theology straight until the moment he finds it awkward to modern progressive sentiment). With each passing story it become less and less interesting because there's nothing beneath the surface. It's a Lovecraft short story needlessly stretched to 400 pages.

is bakker based and redpilled?

>>21686234
Thanks, I feared as much. Think I'll start reading something else. Thought it was going to be some dark fantasy horror about fighting demons and the devil in medieval Europe.

>>21686212
Some of us are in our 40s and have read all the other shit out there.

litRPGs have some of the fresher concepts I've seen in years. Especialy in sci-fi , where it's dry as hell.

>>21686249
>Thought it was going to be some dark fantasy horror about fighting demons and the devil in medieval Europe.
Well yes, it promises exactly that, but you get girl Jesus and powerless characters just trudging along France and running away from events that don't get any deeper than spooky. It's a premise that promises much, but is more disappointing exactly because it doesn't really deliver anything new.

>>21686250
Impossible, if you read LITRPG, Cradle or Chinktrash you are obviously underage ESL, trust me on these guys i know what im talking about >>21686177

>ESL pretends to be a non-ESL
embarrassing

>boomer pretends to be a ESL pretending to be a non-ESL
embarrasing

Current Bakker status?

Yes, i’m the guy who only posts once a month to check on him.

>>21686250
I'm close to 40 and currently reading CivCEO. It's about a retired CEO who gets transferred to a world where he's basically tasked with building up a tiny settlement. It uses 4x strategy mechanics and for some reason, it's pretty fun.
Sometimes, I'm just in the mood for something lighthearted and easy. I usually switch between something more serious and some trash.

>>21686501
series turned trash stopped at book 3

>>21686501
>I'm close to 40 and currently reading CivCEO. It's about a retired CEO who gets transferred to a world where he's basically tasked with building up a tiny settlement. It uses 4x strategy mechanics and for some reason, it's pretty fun.
>Sometimes, I'm just in the mood for something lighthearted and easy. I usually switch between something more serious and some trash.
Strategy genre LitRPGs are untapped potential. Very few stories attempt it, as it requires more planning and insight than just brainles 'Strength +100' and writing social dynamics necessary in making a kingdom. It's funny how uncreative are authors, they all copy each other instead of ruthlessly copying one of hundreds, any, thousands of diverse gaming systems, especially the older ones from 90s and 00s when developers were still trying new things all the time.

Kingdom-building genre doesn't count because it's focused on the main character being extremely powerful and by the sheer momentum gaining followers, it's a different beast.

Ironically, Harem books are the closest to the idea of actual Kingdom building. Especially William D. Arrand/Randi Darren books, albeit they are somewhat formulaic.
Fostering Faust series also has ex-CEO in another world that lands in a ruling position with an ability to make binding deals in the name of a Goddess. It's not amazing, but enjoyable.

Title: System Change
Author: SunriseCV
Rating: 5.9/10

Decent writing brought down by tired cliches and lack of originality. Typical case of OP MC from Earth landing in another world, but with a system-apocalypse flavour. I'm unsure whether to admonish or praise the author for starting the story AFTER the main character became powerful.

On one hand there wouldn't be a weird transition from one established world to another (I believe this author tried to avoid mistakes made by others, i.e. Randidly Ghosthound), on the other the story is in a weird place where the plot starts on Earth, the protagonist is from Earth...but he soon lands on another world will all his Character Attributes but without any levels. And yet the story appears to make us care about Earth side of things? Even though the protagonist doesn't even THINK about Earth? It's weird.

As for why the story is ultimately a failure, it's due to being extremely formulaic, unoriginal and uninspired. Overpowered protagonist? Check. Acts like an asshole yet instantly starts helping people and acting like a hero? Check. Bratty Nobles that abuse their position and need to be brought down by the protagonist? Check. Cute pet companion with a gimmick? Check. Lack of any real stakes? Check. Scenes where we see other people reacting to the protagonist being extremely powerful? Check.

You get the picture.

I read both the first and second book in the series, and even though they aren't BAD...there is nothing to look forward to. It's a shame, because the writing is actually good and compelling. Sucks there is nothing to read, though. 5.9/10 for the first book, 5/10 for the series.

I don't recommend it, unless you are extremely new to the genre or aforementioned cliches.

>>21686978
I keep not reading this because the premise alone just sort of tells me what kind of book it is and it's a shame to hear that I'm justified in that. I know LitRPG has its conventions but it feels like a lot of them do things just to make things constantly shitty and there's literally no downtime ever.

>>21687011
A lot of litrpg system-apocalypse books are like that, although it mostly comes from writing from a formula that's working. Everyone wants to be the person to writes another 'Primal Hunter' or 'Defiance of the Fall'.

Nothing makes people throw more money at the author for the possibility of reading another formulaicly written 40 chapters than numbers going up. It's like popcorn, except more addicting.

In general I tend to avoid books that have extremely generic titles containg things like 'System', 'Rise of X', etc. Some of those are decent though, the problem is with over-saturation of the market. Well, kinda over-saturation, I don't think we've reached the limits yet.

>>21687041
I bounced off hard from DotF after around book 3, but I am surprisingly enjoying Primal Hunter still. Both have problems, but DotF I just found myself unable to care about the characters, whereas PH's Jake I at least find kind of endearing because he's actually just a fucking dork. Zac, meanwhile, was... Nothing. I've read a couple other system apocalypse-type things (I tried Randidly Ghosthound and god that was just a whole lot of nothing) but they seem to have a lot of problems overall. I think I'm starting to prefer LitRPG stuff where the RPG stuff is just native to the world, to be honest. Path of Ascension is a recent-ish one I'm enjoying quite a bit because it's basically got this absurdly high-scale setting to account for the fact that significant chunks of humanity end up immortal, so there's people in the protagonist's faction of people that just find new planets across the multiverse that they connect through some nonsense and then, just to make things easier on people, said planets then have their orbits and rotations forcefully altered to all fit the same standard. It's a neat story besides the fun worldbuilding, though it has some of the cliches on it too (protagonist isn't so much an asshole as self-deprecating with some unchecked justice-seeking issues, there is a pet companion, etc.) but there's relatively little 'higher strength person takes advantage of weaker people'. In fact the main one that's really brought up in story is treated just like a big awful crime and the guy responsible was immediately executed upon it being discovered. It's kind of nice having a setting where those issues have been by-and-large sorted on the grand scheme.

>>21687041
I kept skipping DCC exactly because of this.

>>21686915
>Strategy genre LitRPGs are untapped potential
It's because you don't read a lot of the litrpg/gamelit genre. There are a lot of 4X books, but they don't sell well because they are boring, as only autist (such as yourself) enjoys a story where the world is like a fucking strategy game, and you don't really have free will or freedom of choice. Everything is mechanical like a fucking soulless computer, with quantifiable stats. No one wants to read that shit. I'm a reasonably well adjusted individual, and I know I don't want to read that shit.

>>21687093
but then again , Foundation and psychohistory

>>21687069
Primal Hunter is odd because he's got a god's god sucking his dick, but at least the author realizes his protagonist is a sociopathic cringelord.

Path of Ascension is at first interesting, but then you realize that all of the big issues have been solved already and the protagonist and his galaxy-wide-empire princess gf are so super special that they've got people quadrillions of levels higher making sure they don't accidentally do anything even remotely suboptimal. I quit after the arc where they get the cat teacher lady and she's a total cunt but clearly in the right always.

>>21687081
There's a lot of moving parts and short/long-term plot progression in DCC though, with a clear goal in mind, as opposed to some generic powerlevel/cultivation litRPG.

>>21687112
Eh, I'm enjoying Path of Ascension so far. Maybe it'll get worse, but hey.

>>21687150
I mean , I was reading the synopsis in RR while it was still not published and it sounded like all the other System Apocalypse stories + some hunter games elemnts I wasn't sure the author was going to handle well.

Best bet I ever took when I started reading it out of boredom.

>>21687167
hunger games elements*

>>21686634
I enjoyed book 1, finished it ten minutes ago. I'll probably read the second one at some point, but not any time soon. I don't have high hopes of reading all six books, though, desu.

>>21686915
Thanks for the rec, I think I've read something about Fostering Faust some time ago. But now that I'm done with CivCEO, I'll look for something "serious" to start now.

>>21686498
sniffing the honey of unwashed man asshole on the plains of Gorglesmurff while the Dread King of Blumplesnort and the legions of Korq the Reaver cross the Undying Dead Sea of All Things

>>21686915
>>21686501
Best one was a webcomic, and ended a LONG time ago: Erfworld. Interestingly it eventually turned into a webnovel after they lost the artist.

>>21687011
>there's literally no downtime ever.
Sounds like you want to read slice of life books, not action adventure

>>21686978
Book one looked like it would have at least made a nice story even with the cliches, but book two was basically the protagonist just idling around for like three quarters of the book. It was like it was one big set up for the rest of the series, like you got half a book. I will still read the sequel because it did pass the time, and it was better written than many of the books I read before.

>Overpowered protagonist
What is wrong with an OP protag? I grew up on books where weak shits had to struggle to get shit down, get beat up by the bad guys multiple times, have the bad guys kill someone they love, then say some bull about killing them would make them just like the bad guys when they finally cornered the baddie and they let the baddie go. Of course the baddie comes back in book two and kills more of his people.
Books written these days are great, if they are done right. Powerful protag does what he wants and enjoys life, kills someone who tries to kill him first, no "letting the bad guy go because it's wrong and the bad guy comes back" like it's some fucking Saturday cartoon / comic book. Just having someone struggle and get no where pisses me off. I don't read misery porn.

Love him or hate him, his take on Gandalf's return is based

>>21687081
>I kept skipping DCC exactly because of this.
Don't skip it. Dungeon Crawler Carl is one of the best stuff you can find in the genre. It's pure absurd and grotesque humor intertwined with serious plot, litrpg numbers are just a cherry on top.

>>21687093
Bullshit. I read a lot of Litrpg genre, but if there are REAL strategy Litrpgs then they are either hidden or very unpopular. And I don't believe that you cannot write them in an interesting way, fucking everything can be well-written and game-like are almost a cheat to making a basic story.

Give me names of those good strategy stories, and it better not be quasi-strategy like New Era Online. Good series, but not really a strategy overall.


>>21687069
I actually have Path of Ascension on my to-read list, thanks for justifying puting it there.

>>21687227
Who’s Gandalf?

>>21687220
>Sounds like you want to read slice of life books, not action adventure
Not really what I mean. I mean it's more that you get some stories where it's several books of literally event after event happening and there's no such thing as a break. Even if it's only mentioned in passing, it makes the pacing of the story seem a bit less absurd if there's a few days where nothing horrible and dangerous is happening. It's why I like Cradle, because Cradle, despite it having quite fast narrative pacing, doesn't have to destroy the sense of time to do so, as there's quite a few week/month-long gaps between/during some chapters. It's the "all conflict all the time" sort of writing style that bothers me.

>>21687112
>the cat teacher lady and she's a total cunt but clearly in the right always.
Is that in book 2? I read book one and two and can't remember a cat lady teacher

>>21687227
the more she drank the more she shat on his fat pink mast while the ship groaned like a fat man taking a shit

>>21687239
I read that shit straight from the tap, so no clue.

>>21687239
There's a teacher introduced at the end of book 2, probably there's more about her in later stuff that's on Royal Road and not yet published. I haven't really looked at RR for it because complete books tend to at least be narratively satisfying compared to just stopping dead in the middle of an arc.

>>21687081
You did right. DCC is bad, and popular for all the wrong reasons.
It started okay, but the author started to pander to his paypiggies on patreon, and made it into a fanservice about the fucking cat. It was okay for a one off gag, but he kept doing it book after book. I dropped the series when i finished book two. Not even that backstabber Jeff Hayes can make that book tolerable to consume.

>>21687193
>Best one was a webcomic, and ended a LONG time ago: Erfworld. Interestingly it eventually turned into a webnovel after they lost the artist.

Funny thing, there was that one popular webnovel author that wrote a logn and supposedly decent fanfic of Erfworld, 'The Last Turn'.
You know what was that author's next big project?
You might have heard of it...The Wandering Inn.

>>21687230
>Give me names of those good strategy stories
Can you fucking read? I said the fucking genre is shit, and the books are boring. Where did I say there are good fucking 4X books?

>>21687273
Like pottery...
Just reinforces my theory that all webnovels were originally webcomics, look at the most popular genres: litERALrpg with metagaming/isekai protagonists. All the way back to the FF one. Only webcomics were usually better since it both took more time and effort to draw and therefore tended to be less longwinded and also followed the convention of having at least one humorous/important event happen per update, unlike webnovels which can go YEARS without anything significant occuring.
I wonder if the genres can be fully fused and a webnovel with "joke of the week" format could be written. A truly episodic story where every chapter stood basically alone aside from a common setting and characters.

>>21687234
A short fella from a book written 800 years ago.

>>21685761
You need to think long and hard why you have "races" in your setting at all. Otherwise you are just cargo culting existing settings. And thinking about *settings* when you have no story is another bad sign.

>>21687260
past tense , I'm a fan now

>>21687312
I thought LitRPGs are just a western take on Isekai light novels. Or maybe an unnatural evolution of fanfictions.

>>21687312
>unlike webnovels which can go YEARS without anything significant occuring
lmao is this true? I’ve never read a webnovel because I assumed it was way too imbalanced in terms of quality vs quantity but now you’re telling me there isn’t even really quantity because it’s just a lot of filler?

>>21687400
NTA
Big names are good. They are popular for a reason.

>>21687400
It depends. Some webnovels clearly are just overly meandering nothings. Some are more tightly paced.

get to work you lazy piece of shit

>>21686498
Today marks the 3rd year anniversary since Bakker’s last blog update.

Let that sink in.

>>21686978
>>21687041
your """reviews""" are SHIT
FUCK OFF

>>21687400
It's the typical serial format problem. The author can't move the big plot forward too fast or they'll write their way out of a meal ticket. But normally there are plenty of "but first" happenings or they just lose their audience to boredom. Some authors can disguise this better than others.

>>21687473
Don't worry bro he's just stuck on the Kvothe/Auri sex scene the book will come out any day now

>>21687473
He unironically became Kote lol

>>21687499
I surely do not remember that character being overweight.

>>21685707
I like the warhammer fantasy greenskins

>>21687237
> I mean it's more that you get some stories where it's several books of literally event after event happening and there's no such thing as a break
Again. If you want down time shit, read slice of life novels. The break neck pace is the only way to push forward. Remember these guys are usually getting powerful as quick as possible, or outside pressures are pushing them to develop means of bettering themselves quickly. These books are usually get strong or die.

I seriously suggest to read slice of life or slow paced litrpg if someone running themselves ragged putting out one fire after another is annoying you.

>>21687499
I meant that he's a shadow of his former self who doesn't think himself capable of the feats he accomplished when he was younger, to the point he probably isn't even trying.

How reddit is it?

>>21687554
meant for >>21687505

>>21687557
The quote at the top should give you enough clues

>>21687557
It's just a good story about a city and a clever, charming rogue. Don't read the sequels though, they are shit.

>>21687557
I agree with this
>>21687575

>>21687260
I DON'T BELIEVE THE CAT IS THE PROBLEM, ANON.

sffg verdict on Peter F. Hamilton? I really enjoy his work, especially the Void trilogy. It improves upon The Commonwealth Saga

sffg verdict on Sneed N. Feed? i really enjoy his work, especially the Shitpiss trilogy. It improves upon the Basedsoyjak Saga

>>21687725
based
>>21687718
cringe

>>21687557
it would have been an excellent book if it had just focused on scamming people and on heists
the addition of the other things were not so great and the sequels really just double down on it instead of staying in that great city he spent so much time doing world building for

>>21687557
it's pretty good, the sequels are terrible

>>21687749
I agree the superheroic ending was so stupid. Ruined what could’ve been a great book. But it’s obvious now, based on the sequels, that he always intended the series to go that direction, rather than being a series of fun cool clever fantasy heists.

>>21687250
The manager? Book two (the official proofread version) ended with some top tier manager pushing them to fight. It's a cat lady? She was never described.

>>21687664
>fellow donut poster
I wrote two and canceled both.

Bit of a stretch to ask here but best fantasy books that describe food/feasts?

>>21687956
Unironically Song of Ice and Fire, GRRM is a fat fuck and it shows every time characters are at a tavern/partake in a feast.

>>21687557
I think it's very good, one of my favorite books on its own, despite some of its flaws. The sequels are a major step down though, and while I do like the third book, general consensus is that both the second and third books are shit.

>>21687956
They might not be "best" (some are shit), but there is a subgenre in the litrpg genre that covers food. There was a guy who wrote about an orc chef, that just wanted to cook. (those kind of shit piss me off)

>>21685923
I would recommend you a superior dark fantasy horror novel I've pimped here numerous times, but you'll never read it since you actually have to pay for it.

>>21687999
>There was a guy who wrote about an orc chef, that just wanted to cook.
Sadly, I heard the guy that wrote the book is dead. I guess the series will never be finished.

>>21688149
He's still making books, though? Sure you're not confusing him with somebody else? Or are there two orc chef series?

>>21688182
I might be wrong, though I remember reading about it from some comment in Litrpg community, either /r/litrpg or the discord.
And yeah, I think there was some copy-cat with another orc chef series. Maybe it was that author. Dunno.

>>21687956
Redwall

>main character is good looking
>main character is strong and cool
>main character has interesting skillset
>main character defeats evil
>main character gets the girl

Books like this?

>>21687999
>orc chef
please tell me there was at least one orc chef/chief joke in there

>>21688243
Beren and Luthien?

>>21685174
Okay, I'm working on a setting where the main mystical forces are Order and Chaos, with neither being fully good or evil, what are some settings that do this well besides Moorcock's stuff? Especially in terms of the magic, someone mentioned Saga of Recluse to me, but not much in the way of details. The Chalion books were also mentioned.

For the magic, I was thinking that Order magic would work mainly within and strengthening the laws of the universe, like healing magic restoring the subject to a "previous order" as it were, creating new tissue to replace anything missing, while Chaos magic works by twisting and breaking the normal rules outright for the desired effect instead of bending them, like healing by causing flesh to twist and regrow in unnatural ways much faster than the body could do it. I could use some more help coming up with more examples like this, along with things each type of magic could do better than the other. For instance, perhaps Order magic is less skilled at destroying things than Chaos is? What do you think?

Any writers worth reading for the prose?

>>21688621
I sleep.

>>21685815
No, I said that each race would be a combination of elements, with Dwarves being Stone AND Fire. Also, why Air for Elves?

>>21685249
it picks up pretty soon towards the end so dont worry too much about it. also after you finish it if you are still interested in more books that are similar i would recommend looking more into byzantine history, especially around the kommenian restoration which is the series' main inspiration. there's even a primary historical document written by emperor alexios's daughter, but this one was far more ambitious than alypia. you can find the complete text online here:
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/AnnaComnena-Alexiad00.asp

>>21688738
Do you know anything about fantasy elves?

>>21688621
>Okay, I'm working on a setting

>The Hail Mary Project - Andy Weir
based or cringe

>>21688941
I haven’t read it and I can confidently label it cringe.

A Kellian Gnostic Zaudunyani New Imperial Mandati sorcerer was teaching a class on Anasurimbor Kellhus, known false prophet. ”Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Kellhus and accept that he was the most highly-evolved being the world has ever known, even greater than Inri Sejenus!”
At this moment, a brave, pro-salvation, skinspy champion who had served Golgotterath for 1500 years and understood the necessity of Mog-Pharau and fully supported all military decision made by the Holy Consult stood up.

”How does one achieve salvation, dog?”
The arrogant sorcerer smirked in a Nilnameshi way and smugly replied “by following our Lord-and-Prophet in life and death”
”Wrong. If Kellhus is the God-of-Gods, then why hasn’t he shut the World yet?”

The sorceror was visibly shaken, and dropped his quill and copy of the Rehabilitation of Sorcery. He stormed out of the room crying those Zaudunyani crocodile tears. The same tears Kellians cry for the “caste-menials” (who today live in such luxury that most own ancestor tablets) when they jealously try to claw justly earned wealth from the deserving caste-nobles. There is no doubt that at this point our sorcerer wished he hadn’t grasped the heart of Chigra and become more than a sophist Mandati blasphemer. He wished so much that he had a weapon of light to immolate him from embarrassment, but he himself had campaigned against the Tekne!

The students applauded and all joined the Consult that day and accepted Ark as their lord and savior. An Inchoroi named “Eternal Salvation” flew into the room and perched atop the Sign of the Horns and shed a tear on the soggomant. The Inverse Fire was looked into several times, and the Progenitors themselves showed up and enacted a mass culling across the kingdom.

The sorcerer lost his tenure and was thrown to the Sranc pits the next day. Death came swirling down and his soul was tossed into the Outside. Agony and wickedness chattering with famished glee… demons, come to pull his outside through his inside, to invert and expose, to bare his every tenderness to fire and gnashing teeth.

Hail the Old Fathers!

>>21689167
why dont they use horse archers and lancers to keep sranc numbers down?
easy
sranc have no horses
they come and you just ride away

>>21689167
Does anyone have the George R R Martin version of this copypasta?

>>21687312
I fucking hate that the sff writing has become the fallback for "creatives" who don't have the talent or resources for something "better"

Are there any good stories about an underdog rising to the top? I'm talking from actual peasant to king or knight something on that scale without something really faggy secret noble blood. And a large factor of the book is seeing the gradual progression as the character rises in power and influence

>>21689391

>>21689391
>>21689479
based recc although I don’t like that cover

What's your favorite book with a trickster protagonist?

>>21689391
Cradle.

Any good public domain science fiction story's?

>>21689574
Cradle depending on your definition of protagonist or Lord of the Mysteries depending on your definition of trickster

>>21689642
I was thinking of mythical trickster types like Loki or Reynard the Fox. I like those kinds of characters.

>>21689686
Night's Master?

>>21689698
Did you like that book?

>>21689707
I really liked certain sections and was pretty tepid about others. Not-Satan is undeniably a Loki-like character

>Zhou pretending to be Klein pretending to be The Fool pretending to be Sherlock pretending to be Gehrman pretending to be Kalvetua pretending to be The World pretending to be Dwayne pretending to be Gehrman pretending to be Klein pretending to be a clown pretending to be another clown pretending to be an entire city pretending to be human
Heh nothin personnel...

>>21688941
Really good book, would recommend.

>>21688050
Ok... I've started to read Empire of Vampire. Only about 30 pages in but it has already grabbed me. It has really good reviews and seems to be just what I'm looking for.

>>21689391
dunk and egg

>be me
>try to change myself for better for like 3 years
>somewhat unsuccesfully
>read first law trilogy
>watch as pretty much everyone fails to change themselves for better
Fuck you too Joe

>>21689167

>>21685174
Tau Zero doesn’t feel like hard science fiction at all, given people are swimming in pools and walking around despite going outside the Milky Way where there’s little gravity.

>>21689387
I started out with “literary” poetry but I’ve come to want write SFF to emulate Lovecraft, CAS, REH, C.L. Moore, Anderson, and Machen because it’s stuff I actually like to read. Poetry is very important to learn rhythm and technique, and it’s closely linked to weird fiction’s proto-history, but I just like SFF more enough to change my primary focus to prose.

How dishonest can a book cover get?

>>21690123
Isn't this shared universe capeshit? Sounds bad and I know Stephen King's son writes for it too.

>>21690123
>from the producers that saw SHREK

>>21690123
There's a difference between deceptive and dishonest. It doesn't say anywhere that GRRM was involved. If you thought otherwise, then you need to become less gullible.

>>21690261
Fuck off marketing kike.

>>21690265

>>21690369
No contemporary covers have SOVL like the cheap paperbacks from the 60s to 80s

>>21690389
I wonder, at its peak, how many people had the job of mass market paperback cover painter. Pre-digital era. They're probably all dead now. I wish someone had made a documentary.

>slog through the final book in a series
>it's so shit that every other book in the series is ruined in retrospect and feels like an enormous waste of your time
what's the name of that series, /sffg/?

>>21690406
That one started off as the perfect antidote to the cringe elements of his earlier series. Then we get to book four or so and the jade gates were closed. I couldn't even face the final volume.

>>21690369
>vampire romance
IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR, why do women get to read about dating vampire men, but men don't get to read about dating vampire women...

>>21690478
All women are vampire women.

>>21690369
>tentacle monsters
Hol up

Caught up with Erikson and finished The God is Not Willing. As usual, the Malazans are by far the best characters in the book. Really couldn't care about the Teblor or anyone else. Felt like Erikson's prose is worse than I remember, but maybe it was always this way.

>>21690394
There are at least a few left, Hard Case Crime uses some of them.

>>21690406
>the
>the
>the
>the
>the
I'm so sick of it.

>>21689799
Why the hell did you quote me. I didn't say anything about Empire of Vampire, you bastard.

>>21690831
...

>>21686978
Would you be willing to review my lit-rpg blease?

>>21690831
You replied to me so I replied back. Are you ok anon?

>>21690831
Back in my day we fought for our (you)s and treasured each and every one. Now you just piss them away like a fucking ingrate.

>>21690849
Not him but fuck it I'll give it a look.

aren't the armies involved in the story a bit too comically big?

>>21690952
>David and Leigh Eddings adopted one boy in 1966, Scott David, then two months old.[9][10] They adopted a younger girl between 1966 and 1969.[10]
>In 1970 the couple lost custody of both children and were each sentenced to a year in jail in separate trials after pleading guilty to 11 counts of physical child abuse.[11] According to the Black Hills Weekly, February 11, 1970, the couple's four year old adopted child was found in the pitch-black basement of their home, locked in a cage, wearing nothing but a tee-shirt. The child had been physically abused with a heavily swollen and disabled hand with scrapes, and heavy bruising about his body, as well as evidence of prior beatings. Investigators during the trial noted that there were restraints on the walls, no lighting, and the strong smell of cat urine in the basement. Though the abuse, the trial, and the sentencing were all extensively reported in South Dakota newspapers at the time, these details did not resurface in media coverage of the couple during their successful joint career as authors, only returning to public attention several years after both had died.
>After both served their sentences, David and Leigh Eddings moved to Denver in 1971, where David found work in a grocery store.[12]

>>21688621

>>21691026
Polgara is a cute milf so i don't mind

>>21691026
>The unfinished work, along with his other manuscripts, went to his alma mater, Reed College,[25] along with a bequest of $18 million to fund "students and faculty studying languages and literature."[26] Eddings also bequeathed $10 million to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver for pediatric asthma treatment and research; Eddings' wife Leigh had asthma throughout her life.[27]
>$18 million
>$10 million
Damn the Belgariad, which didn’t even get a big mainstream hollywood adaptation or anything, made this dude that rich?

>>21691132
No it was probably them prostituting their adopted children out to pedophile rings that did that.

>>21691026
Crazy that they maintained their marriage through all of that and reunited when released from jail.

>>21691140
Torturing children really brings people together.

>>21691162
You're pretty salty about this. Are you one of the kids?

>>21688865
Well, I kind of always associated them/saw them associated with nature and forests, which is more "Earth" than "Air" to me.

I have purchased this. Hope it's good.

>>21691343
It's [spoilers]okay[/spoilers]

>>21690478

>>21688738
>each race would be a combination of elements
Ah, that makes sense. I read it as you wanting combinations of race + element.
> Also, why Air for Elves?
Ethereal, good at archery, light on their feet, etc.

>>21691327
Dwarves literally live underground and you want Elves to be the earth elemental race, anon?

>>21691605
How else are we to break conventions?

The Chinese elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Elves are wood element

Dwafs should be removed from fantasy.
Literally the worst race ever created.

>>21691654
You don't even know what the conventions are or why they exist. I hate you. Smelly dumb /tg/ crossboarder scum.

>>21691669
I wasn't the original poster, faggot. I'm just throwing in my two pieces. I also hate fucking dwarves and any books that deal with them, the knife ears aren't far behind with my dislike either.

>>21691697
>faggot
Cool it with the homophobia. This is a safe space.

>primal hunter protagonist fucks a succubus into levelling up nineteen times
hoo boy

>>21691815
He never had sex in any of the books I read. Are you a paypiggie on patreon by chance?

>>21691833
Nah, kemono.party just mirrors a bunch of patreon shit for free. It's made by a bunch of furries but hey, it's not like I can sink lower at this point, right?

>>21691815
what chapter is that
i dont remember that happening

Just read the Poppy war, would not recommned. Pacing is a complete fucking disaster, this could easily have been two books. The magic system, whilst interesting, kind of falls into the category of bad world building. Interesting beginning (the school) but gets less interesting as time goes on. The author seems to *have* something to say about war and the grimdark genre, its drowned out because she accidently wrote a world in which there is no kindness or mercy, so there's no foil to the ideas and has character say 'Hay we shouldn't kill them!' with arguments and motivations which are weird.

>>21691213
Do I have to be one of the kids to hate child abusers, rabbi?

>>21690849
>Would you be willing to review my lit-rpg blease?
If I like the premise, I guess I can try it out. I can promise reading at least a few chapters, but will drop it later on if it's bad or off-puting.

>>21687575
This

>>21687557
It's alright, I read the sequel and it was the biggest piece of shit known to god. Just taking a city based Rogue and then now he's a sailor.

>>21692331
It's the author writing about world war 2 and how the Chinese are the best and the Japanese were the worst and should've been nuked until none were left alive. The various relevant historical events had to be included, which makes some seem out of place.

>>21692365
Yeah we get the (not) siege of Shanghai, (not) rape of Nanking and the (Not) Unit 731. We also get the damn opening, and the nuking of Japan. The story is fairly skitz, there's large monologues of the characters just going on about how much the fucking hate the (not) Japanese, and the acutally interesting magic system based on the Zodiac is disregarded for ultimately revenge porn and some seriously underwritten B plots.

Just finished pic related.
>protag kills main antag (who is a superpowered Nazi She-Devil) strangling her to death during sex by giving her an orgasm so powerful she's unable to physically defend herself
Talk about BASED.

>>21692350
>It's alright, I read the sequel and it was the biggest piece of shit known to god. Just taking a city based Rogue and then now he's a sailor.
Bro, the second book at least holds some of the quality that the first had. The third one is full blown circus that WILL make your experience retroactively bad by changing some of the past events.


You know how the protagonist is supposed to be an orphan that doesn't remember much of his early childhood and lost his parents to a plague that ravaged the city when he was few years old?

You are not going to fucking believe what the author pulled off: The protagonist is actually a body snatcher. An extremely powerful wizard that lost his wife and was driven insane. Attempting to bring his dead wife back with some dark magic he unleashed a plague and transfered his conciousness into a child, losing memory in the process. Oh, and the woman the protagonist loves? She's a redhead, with similar appearance to the wizard's dead wife. That's literally why he loves her.

I understand that cheating on his wife fucked up the author, but pulling shit like this? It's unbelievable how one can shit all over his legacy.
DO NOT READ PAST SECOND BOOK. You can try the second if you reaaaaaly need to, but do not EVER touch the third.

>>21692407
it gets worse, it's going to be medieval larp next if he's sober enough to write ever again

>>21692407
Hhahahahahha holy shit that's fucking badddddd. Considering (if memory serves) its a low magic setting that's fairly egregious. Even more that its rogue priest of the forbidden 13th not a fucking dark wizard storyline.

>I understand that cheating on his wife fucked up the author
Yeah this explains it, terminally divorced is a thing.

>>21692454
All he had to do was make a series of Rogue's doing Rogue things, have him go dark and do assassin stuff as the edgy phase then he's back to wacky heists. Would have printed money.

>>21692407
>spoiler
holy kek

I'm looking for fantasy books where the protagonist starts and ends the adventure alone and doesn't gather a group of DnD along the way, though he can obviously meet and interact with people. Maybe there are thousands of books like this but I haven't read a lot of fantasy

>>21692498
There are many books for newcomers to the genre in the recommendation list in the OP.

>>21692379
She's been successful with the hate though. From what I understand it's basically
Poppy War
Book 1: I hate the Japanese
Book 2: I hate Europe
Book 3: I hate everything

Babel: I hate colonialists (also Oxford)
Yellowface: I hate my critics, especially those on social media

>>21692463
>terminally divorced
He got remarried in 2016. Then this drama happened in 2020.
https://www.alexandrarowland.net/single-post/2020/06/25/on-scott-lynch-and-elizabeth-bea

>>21692561
>groomed
>at 25
What a whore

>>21692509
Damn does she even write about anything she likes, apart from the Chinese and violence?

>>21692498
If you want fantasy that isn't D&D slop, ironically you can read anything from Appendix N. I also recommend Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories.

>>21692406
Hmmmmm

>>21692498
Cugel portions of Dying Earth. Perfect example of solo gigachad adventure

>>21692677
Hmmmmmm

>>21691464
Yeah, sorry if I wasn't as clear as I could have been. Given that you're presumably the one who answered earlier (and apologies if you aren't), how would you modify your answer with the new information that each race should have two (or maybe even three) elements associated with them?

>>21691815
sounds like literal /trash/ to me

>>21686209
not true.
I'm reading game of thrones atm because I've heard how seriously it delineates from the tv adaption.
reading rates are at an all time low, combined with a userbase of a fringe, niche anonymoose website what do you expect ?

>>21686209
>it's the no one here reads ritualposter again

>>21689391
berserkle

>>21692948
>Trying to stir up shit about a post that’s a day old
Get a life.

>>21692948
>Trying to stir up shit about a post that’s a day old
Get a job.

>>21690887
>>21692349
Thanks frens! Fair warning though, there are some massacres, traumatic content and unreliable narrators.
>https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/57441/the-elevation-chronicles-grimdarklit-rpgfeels

>>21693109
>grimdark
Oh nevermind then. I find it impossible to ever care about anything grimdark.

>>21693109
>>21693113
Okay I actually gave the prologue a read and... I can't really enjoy this writing at all. It's messy and inconsistent on the tense, it uses a lot of big words for no real reason in a way that seems at odds with the tone (if you're going for a dismissive tone, you don't overexplain during that, you undersell things by diminishing them to their most base form, etc.) and it's just hard to actually keep my eyes going through it.

>>21693109
There’s a writing general. Just fucking go there instead of attention seeking here.

>>21693109
1. The voyager spacecraft doesn't contain linguistics, it contains audio samples of human speech. Linguistics is the study of language, not language itself.
2. "intelligent deficient" isn't remotely proper english
3. A factoid is something touted as fact, but not one.

To be quite frank you are not nearly intelligent or wise enough to be writing about human folly.

>>21693203
It's about a chink in Australia. It has to be a ruse.

>>21693220
And now it's about young Un-Bep’ee in Botswana

>>21693109
Wrong general.
>>21689127

>>21692498
Check the charts in the op.

>>21692789
> Fire + Earth - Dwarves (Undergound and smelting)
> Earth + Air - Elves (Nature and etherealness)
> Water + Earth - Lizardfolk (Swamp dwellers)
> Fire + Air - Dragonfolk (Fire breathing and Flight)
> Fire + Water - Fuck it, Steam Powered robots
> Air + Water - This one is stumping me. Depends on if Water + air has any special meaning like lightning or ice.

>>21693334
Sounds generic and stupid.

Is this the place to ask for fantasy related smut?

>>21693345
No. Serious fantasy only.

>>21693343
I mean, I like tropes and whatnot, but I see your point. Honestly, you could basically roll the dice when matching race to elements and you'd be able to come up with an interesting explanation

>>21693345
No, fuck off to /h/.

>>21693334
Shut the fuck up please.

>>21693399
Rude.

>>21693334
Might as well read the Tolkein copy cats if that’s what you’re proposing.

>>21693345
You can ask and chances are someone will answer.

>>21693334
So this is the extend of /sffg/ creativity.

>>21693482
But you didn’t answer my question.

>>21692933
It’s the standard litrpg story.

>>21693484
>extend

>>21693521
Yes, Anon. You don’t need to greentext your stupidity.

>>21693345
Celestine Chronicles by Cebelius
Herald of Shalia by Tamryn Tamer
Heretic Spellblade by KD Robertson
Fostering Faust by Randi Darren
Tsun-Tsun TzimTzum by Mike Truk
Daniel Black by E WIlliam Brown
Saving Supervillains by Bruce Sentar

have fun

>>21693527
>extend

>>21693536
Yes, Anon. You don’t need to keep repeating your stupidity. We heard you the first and second time.

>>21693540
> extend

What are some fantasy series about la revolution to overthrow the monarchy and feudalism?

>>21693544
Again, Anon. We know you’re stupid. You don’t need to keep on repeating like some parrot.

>>21693334
> Air + Water - This one is stumping me. Depends on if Water + air has any special meaning like lightning or ice.
sexy mermaids and fishmen. The ugliest motherfuckers in the world that look like ugly ass fish gets to bang the hottest women in the world known as Mermaids.

They'll be basically Slavs.

>>21693334
And what if Water + Air does? Also, what about some kind of merfolk based on flying fish for that combo?

I was planning on having dragons be non-sapient, but having something like Dragonborn could work.

As for Water + Fire, I was talking with someone else, how about Nagas or something, who live on a volcanic island chain like Hawaii?

>>21693556
The type you can search up using a search engine.

Elemental races? That's nothing. In my story there's 18 races, one for each of the Pokemon types

Normal - Humans
Fire - Demons
Water - Merfolk
Grass - Elves
Electric - Pikachu
Ice - Yeti
Fighting - Orcs
Poison - Lizardfolk
Ground - Gnomes
Flying - Avians
Psychic - Mindflayer
Bug - Spider
Rock - Dwarves
Ghost - Ghost
Dark - Devils
Dragon - Dragon
Steel - Robots
Fairy - Fairy

>>21693556
Powder Mage Trilogy centers (in part) around a revolution overthrowing the monarchy

>>21693567
so fvcking zased

>>21693567
And nobody here cares. Now fuck off to the writing general.

>>21693574
Nobody cares about you either fatty

Since we're in primetime shitposting hours, I'm going to say it. I really don't like Samantha. Loud retarded halfway helpful bitch. She's the only character so far that hasn't grown on me or developed in any way, outside of her physical power growing. Maybe her plot will be resolved during book 6 or at the latest, floor 9 at Larracos. I get that she's supposed to be annoying but whatever, what a bitch.
I'd like a guide to the Culture books but there are no charts in the rec link.
I might read Night Lamp by Vance. You fags never talk about his individual works.

>>21693580
I care about him, don't care about whatever you're doing.

>>21693580
Just fuck off.

>>21693591
>>21693596

>>21693608
>He actually goes to tiktok
That’s depressing.

>>21693567
Ok, now this is awesome

>>21693611
>/wsg/
newfag

>>21693629
Retard.

>>21693568
I feel it's kinda shit because it starts after it's already happened, more or less. Then again I'm not confident the author could've pulled off the build up and faction intrigue that led to it.

>>21693334
Just go back to /tg/

>>21693631
>he actually think someone went to tiktok downloaded some random fatty and formatedd to gif before posting here

lmao

>>21693641
We don’t need to know what you did to get that gif. We already know.

>>21693648
He filmed himself at the trampoline park.

>>21693608
>>21693611
>>21693631
>>21693648
>>21693657
>>21693591
>>21693596

>>21693657
Then he needs to lose weight.

>>21693702
You’re just jealous of his sick flips.

>>21693707
No one is jealous of your lardass.

>>21693109
>royalroad
And ignored.

/tg/ and its consequences have been a disaster for /sffg/

>>21693768
/sffg/ has been a disaster for /sffg/

Tell me, why should I read Culture?
I like Star Trek, my favourite series is DS9 followed by TNG but I really love ENT
I like playing Stellaris
I like 40k
I like Dune
Otherwise I don't like Sci-Fi
Is there anything in Culture that could appeal to me?

>>21693792
If you want to read Culture then read it, if not, then don't.

>>21685707
I think of them as slightly less sinister. More as elemental creatures of darkness and perhaps the earth. Evil sometimes surely, but not totally so.

>>21693792
> Is there anything in Culture that could appeal to me?
Try reading it and see. Or you know, read reviews about it. Which would help you faster than whatever the fuck you’re doing now.

>>21693806
I'm sorry 4chan is the only place that I get social interaction so that's what I'm trying to do now + asking a question
I have no friends and I don't talk to my coworkers about anything

>>21693815
Then get friends and try talking to your coworkers.

>>21693818
No I'm ok, I just hope you understand the motivation behind my post

>>21693792
>Tell me, why should I read Culture?
Tell me why I should care what you read? Either man up and just read the damn thing, or fuck off.

>>21693835
Look above
Also books cost money
Wtf happened to /sffg/?
I used to ask similar questions here 5 years ago and I never got this response

>>21693839
> Look above
Yeah, and someone gave you a good answer in just reading the reviews, either do that, read the book, or just fuck off.

>Read Conan
>get to scene where sorcerous horrors beyond human imagining once again trouble Conan
>described as human-like, stout face, fangs, massive arms, red eyes along with being hairy
>soon come to realize it’s a literal ape
Every time

>>21693843
If its everytime, why are you still so surprised by it?

>>21693768
I’ll say writefags are a disease instead.

>>21693768
/tg/ is such a non-factor though.

>>21693792
Do what others have told you already.

>>21693556
I don't know, maybe some historical fantasy books.

>>21692498
Try the recommendation list in the OP

>>21693334
So basically, what's been done for decades?

>>21692498
Dark souls.

>>21693507
Then the entire genre is trash.

>>21693946
It is.

>>21693843
It's not an ape, it's a negro.

>>21693937
If it works it works.

>>21693967
But why would I read that anon's shitty novel when I have a backlog of decades old fantasy novels?

>>21693821
Your motivation is stupid.

>>21693768
/tg/ hasn't even been here all that much, it's the writefags who insist on trying to use /sffg/ as their personal /wg/ that's a cancer.

>>21693982
I’ll say it’s the shitposter than anything else.

>>21693975
I never said you would, just it has some history tk it.

>>21693350
This

>>21693843
It’s a pulp story, anon. Don’t expect anything too deep

>>21693843
>Every time
You got to love it, though. It doesn't pretend to be something its not.

>>21690070
He’s right.

>>21693815
>I'm sorry 4chan is the only place that I get social interaction
Anon, I don't know how to tell you this, but that's incredibly depressing.

>>21692502
He won’t search for it on his own.

>>21694036
Are people that lazy?

>>21694042
Yes.

>>21694025
Profoundly based choice for Howard to do so. However, I ended up liking CAS’ Zothique cycle better, for his vivid and dramatic supernatural beings.

>>21693345

Good Intentions - Hands down the best harem/erotic book I've read, the characters, the sex scenes, the plot...Genuinely good book all around. It's not some self-published stuff, it's from 2010~ so it's pretty polished. The only minus for you might be that the setting is in modern times of our world with fantasy elements.

Fimbulwinter - Decent book about a guy who was cheated on by his wife and then ran over by a car, then sent by a Nordic Goddess into a fantasy world to protect her faithful (and beautiful) worshippers. A bit more intelligent than your average harem smut, decent enough titillating aspects. Considered one of the best Harem books out there.

Blue Core - LitRPG with the protagonist being a Dungeon. How does he have sex then? Tentacles. Consentacles, as the readers call it. Good sex scenes, but the focus of the story is exploiting magic combined with the knowledge of science and technology, also kingdom building. Pretty good.

Saving Supervillains - Super-hero post-apo story with a compelling protagonist and interesting setting. Not yet another twenty-something young boy suddenly getting powers, the protagonist has been a powerful villain for decades. One of the better harem books around, but then most of the books by Bruce Sentar are. (Un)surprisingly most of harem authors don't know anything about women or humans in general.

Prism Academy: Inferna - Also a post-apo Super-hero story, but significantly different. Not as interesting or fun as Saving Supervillains, but it has a more straight-forward story that can be called decent. Above average when it comes to the genre.

The Wild Wastes - Not great, but decent enough. The author is a known harem writer with a lot of books like these, with this one considering one of the better ones. Check it if you want something easy and light.

Fostering Faust - The best harem/smut trilogy written by the author of The Wild Wastes in my opinion. Pretty good plot, somewhat psychopathic protagonist that makes binding deals for his Goddess, the more he gains from the deal the better it is. He of course uses it to have sex with women and bind them to his whims, but in much more interesting ways than you would think. Good even if you don't read it for the smut.

Hellcats - This one is pure porn. It doesn't even attempt to give a plot, just a guy hired to be a technician on a space-ship belonging to a female-only mercenary team. Turns out he's there to have sex with them. Surprisingly comfy and well-written.

Herald of Shalia - The most hilarious smut book I've seen, sometimes feels like a fever dream. Written by a woman, so female characters are much better than usually. Funny, witty, and it's about having fun by a guy who was sent to the fantasy world by an elf Goddess Shalia to protect her worshippers. Turns out that yes, Elves are hot as fuck.
I recommend to start with Fostering Faust.

>>21693843
Solomon Kane literally wrestles with a giant gorilla/nigger hybrid

>>21692509
I've only read Poppy one, but look at the synopsis for the others that seems to be about right. Which is a shame because there's some interesting ideas which are drowned out by the constant fucking hateboner for everything, its a real detriment to her writing.

>>21693132
>>21693212
>>21693220
>>21693228
Thank you for giving it a shot. I hope you have a nice day.

New thread
>>21694576