/lit/ - Literature

Any recommendations for stories featuring Utopias or Dystopias?

I already read:
- Brave New World
- Island
- Year 1989
- We

>>21717891
Hyperion/Endymion Cantos is both utopian and dystopian at once!

How do you find new books to read, /sffg/? When I was a kid, I used to go to the library and literally just picked books based on cover art - it's how I discovered Book of the New Sun, Gateway, Foundation, Chronicles of Amber, Lord of the Rings, Elric and so on.

/SFFG/ Recommendations:

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.

>>21717906
>Hyperion/Endymion Cantos is both utopian and dystopian at once!
Thanks no thanks, Hyperion is utterly shit. I want to read something serious, not coomer chasing after metal vagina with teeth.

>>21717906
Hyperion was okay. Endymion killed my will to read more scifi.

>>21717970
Can you actually count Endymion as science fiction? It read more like space fantasy than anything else.

>>21717939
top 10 lists , having a few select booktubers I'm watching , royal road , word of mouth (from friends)

>>21717986
I don't care. I have Dan Simmons now. Jesus, Rise of Endymion has to be one of the words books I've encountered. The perfect example of how not to write.

>>21717998
Hate*

Why is paypigging webnovels so hard? I know I can just pirate it but I want to show appreciation to the author, kinda like how you buy a collectors edition of some book you really love

>>21718101
i got kindle unlimited, so i usually read and give 5 stars review when webnovels relase on amazon, if its like wandering inn or mother of learning that u can buy on amazon, i will also buy it

im not reading on royalroad or paying patreon to read weekly chapters
you want my money? release shit on book stores or amazon kindle stores
simple as

>>21717970
Endymion was so bad it was good, then bad once again. What were they thinking?

>>21718101
Most of Royalroad authors have linked both their Patreon AND Paypal so that you can give them arbritrary amounts of appreciation numbered in fat green dollars. Hell, some like The Wandering Inn even have their own merch store.

>>21717939
I make a note of books mentioned here that seem interesting, add them to my list on goodreads, then completely ignore them in favour of whatever takes my fancy

I'm currently reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms

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

>>21717939
these days I tend to just look at "recommended books" on amazon based on my purchase history, it's a crapshoot but occasionally it can be worth it

Pic related is FINALLY coming out soon. Was meant to come out several years ago, but was delayed for whatever reasons. Hocking wrote one of the best non-Howard Conan novels, Conan and the Emerald Lotus, so this one should be based.

>>21717939
Mainly the mega charts. Just be careful because they slip absolute turds on there and i just read one.

>>21718939
Good reads and other similar sites.

I also use these
https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/
https://www.risingshadow.net/

>>21718952
Meant for
>>21717939

>>21718390
Oldfags left in disgust long ago and positive discussion of anything is non-existent.

>>21717855
DAMN, he's good.

>it's an Esmenet chapter seguing into Kellhus mogging every Paul Atreides descendant a thousandfold with his max charisma, max intellect, max everything

>>21718952
>grimdark magazine
>on the front page there is a review of some Miskatonic comic book
>calls Alan Moore's Providence problematic
>Miranda joins up with Detective Malone from The Horror of Red Hook, who is a traumatized and racist protagonist who continuously warns our heroine of messing with forces that mankind does not understand. He’s an interesting character because while an ally of Miranda and well- intentioned, his beliefs are so repellant to both our heroine as well as the reader that he is as much an obstacle as a help. Unfortunately, there are many places in 1920s America where a white male is necessary to get any traction whatsoever.

Jeesh

Can we have less gay images as the OP? There are THOUSANDS of classic fantasy paintings and covers, yet you choose to go with this gay PS3 shooter DeviantArt shit.

>>21719318

Griffith(Berserk) vs Kellhus

Who wins? None have handicaps, and both are at their full peak power

>>21719385
Kellhus talks to God Hand and they unrape Casca and Griffith eats the apostles. Then Guts hangs himself and Mr K marries Luca and Skull Knight tells him he loves him. Schierke grows a beard.

>>21719360
Use this one for the next trhead

>>21719325
The ironing of a site called GRIMDARK Magazine being triggered by basic bitch edginess.

>>21718101
I Gave the Wisher Beware guy a one time donation of $30. If you like something why not give the author pizza money reading per $ of entertainment is through the roof.

>Read Clark Ashton Smith’s Hyperborean Cycle, expecting standard sword and sorcery
>Instead get locals horrified at sorcery, cosmic horrors bearing down on Earth 1 million years before the Ice Age, and most stories being a partial comedy,

>>21719471
One of the neater things about S&S are how writers could lean more towards the 'sword' aspect of S&S like REH or lean more towards the 'sorcery' aspect of S&S like CAS.

>>21719471
For me, CAS defines "standard" S&S. Conan is fairly boring and repetitive in comparison.

>>21719534
Low T post.

>>21719534
Bro
How could you

>>21717891
Book of the New Sun has an interesting far-future dystopia. Nothing else quite like it.

>>21719385
>>21719404
Martin the Warrior > your faggot ass munching faggots

what are some fantasy stories that have great audio books?

Who else has the same level of autistic technical description as Michael Crichton?

>>21719551
>Book of the New Sun has an interesting far-future dystopia. Nothing else quite like it.
Will check it out then, at some point.

>>21717891
Stand on Zanzibar
Virtual Light
Shockwave Rider

>>21719537
>>21719546
In the typical REH story, Conan fight X (giant animals, brigands, ice giants, niggers) and wins after a big fight because he's the strongest. It's boring.

There is no typical CAS story. That might be why he's less known than HPL and REH despite exceeding both of them in skill. CAS is harder to flanderize with simpleminded memes.

>>21719590
Never read Crichton, but Neal Stephenson definitely does that with some things.

>>21719590
early tom clancy
for example, his descriptions of subs in the hunt for red october are so thorough early critics thought the drama and characters were completely secondary

>>21719665
There are some things that are repeated throughout certain bodies of Clarke Ashton Smith’s work, though never in the exact same way.

For example, the Hyperborean Cycle is generally comedic in a very dark sense of the word(with the Doors of Saturn being a literal buddy comedy), with only one or two stories being entirely dedicated to horror.

I haven’t finished reading the Zothique cycle, and thus do not have any opinion about it, at least any well developed enough to share, but its grim and exotic landscape is truly wondrous.

>>21719590
Andy Weir - The Marsh Ian & Project Hail Mary.

>>21717939
That's a personal experience that depends on a lot of factors, most importantly what specifically one wants to read. There's a quite the difference for looking for new webnovels to read versus Golden Age SF, 70s fantasy, or whatever's new.

I wouldn't say I have any idea what's best, but here are some general ideas. Maybe I'll go more detail some other time.
I made this spreadsheet in mid-2020 when the Goodreads only had in the mid 200s of members, it's currently over 700. It's linked there, but I may as well post it here again. It's exceedingly unlikely that I'll ever make an updated version.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSIqYUrsZUm9ssjDnDIrTH1C6OEQeYCNFRIz6orzgXBdsGZiB8MNbsfiykqp602ipeEMYFkTpyW6Bwt/pubhtml?gid=1068221528&single=true

On a signed-in Goodreads account, going to Browse tab at the top, then new releases, shows new releases from authors you've read something from.
https://www.goodreads.com/new_releases/

New/upcoming books
https://www.risingshadow.net/library/newbooks
https://www.risingshadow.net/library/comingbooks
TOR and other sites also have some stuff about new releases

For litrpg and self-published they have their subreddits and release websites

The MEGA may be able to help, as much as any selection by random users can anyway.

Some like looking at various awards or curated selections from publishers.

If you have enough friends, you can look at your Goodreads activity feed, or look at friend's accounts in general, especially if they have similar taste. I linked the /sffg/ reviewers in the previous thread.

The older you want stuff to read, the more likely there are curated lists of what was most enjoyed from the time. Overall though you just have to look yourself a lot of times.

There's a lot mentioned in the threads, which can be fun if you like playing roulette, though it tends to be mostly be a few people regularly pushing their personal taste, which is fine. Then there are the ritualposters as has been mentioned by another. As with it anything else, that doesn't make it not worth reading, they just so happen to be among the most persistent.

>>21717855
Medieval horror recs? Already read Between Two Fires and ordered The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart.

>>21719779
>>21717939
I'm an outlier, but let's see how I decided to read the last 50 books I've finished. This covers from Sep 2022 - Feb 27th 2023

Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #3) - continuing series

By Blood We Live
Loosed Upon the World
Wastelands 2
Themed anthologies, whim, from the sff torrent/mega

Righteous Prey (Lucas Davenport, #32) - continuing series
Did You Read The News? - self-published book by a /sffg/ member that I was asked to read.

Station Eternity (The Midsolar Murders, #1) - I saw it in the upcoming books by authors I've read before and was part of the 1 newly released book per month that I was doing last year.

Dracula - 1 of 4 themed books for the month and decided to just read it.

Orthogonal #1-3
The Clockwork Rocket
The Eternal Flam
The Arrows of Time
A continuation of reading Egan's releases

A Night in the Lonesome October - A /sffg/ member suggested that it.

Shadows of Self (Mistborn, #5) - In preparation for Lost Metal

Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
Roadside Picnic
The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1)
Voted on by /sffg/

The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn, #6) - same as previous

Cosmic Powers - same as previous anthologies

The Lost Metal (Mistborn, #7) - Thought I may as well and for monthly newly released book.

The Book of the New Sun
The Claw of the Conciliator
The Sword of the Lictor
The Citadel of the Autarch
Gene Wolfe's Book of Days
The Urth of the New Sun
Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle
The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2)
From the vote

The New Space Opera - same as previous anthology
City of Last Chances - Gave Tchaikovsky another try and needed a newly released book for the month.

A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)
Solaris
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
Engine Summer
As part of December Gift Reads whim

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)
Caliban's War (The Expanse, #2)
Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse, #3)
It's been a year since the series ended and it was time to try again.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 1
Aching God (Iconoclasts, #1)
/sffg/ vote

Tress of the Emerald Sea - Sanderson secret projects

Dark Angel (Letty Davenport #2) - continuing series

The Tyranny of Faith (Empire of the Wolf, #2) - I saw the first book in a list of new releases, which I read for the month, so I continued.

The Sword Defiant - One of the books I got an ARC from NetGalley and tried on a whim.

The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1) - Another NetGalley ARC that looked interesting.

Pushing Ice - A group read selected by the /sffg/ member who may be currently doing them.

Travel by Bullet (The Dispatcher, #3) - A NetGalley ARC continuation.

A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder
Snow Crash
/sffg/ vote

Cibola Burn (The Expanse, #4)
Nemesis Games (The Expanse, #5)
Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse, #6)
Continuation

>>21717855
Babylon's Ashes, The Expanse #6 - James S.A. Corey (2016)

There are nineteen character perspectives this time. Nine of them only have a single chapter and seven have four or less. This does mean that several previous POVs make brief returns, which is certainly another change. The remaining three have more. Holden has the most chapters again, but just barely at a fifth of them with eleven chapters. Reality has caught up with Holden's idealism and it's difficult to be who he was, but he tries, as his core savior complex remains intact. Michio Pa, who has ten chapters, and is a returning character who was in the TV series in name only as her character and Bull's were folded into Drummer. It was strange reading her being basically the same but a different person and surely it was the same for those who read the books first instead. I still liked her anyway, as she plays an interesting role. Filip has a lot to think about after the events of the previous book in his seven chapters, though really all of those involved seem to be taking it better than I would expect, but maybe their actions were of such enormity that it was beyond comprehension aside from being considered in abstract terms and so they can't feel it at all.

The overall structure of the book was comparable to the TV series, but otherwise had less similarity than I thought it would, especially in terms of emotional impact. There's an argument in here that apparently I may have no longer any have defense against, or maybe it's due to a confluence of real world events. That argument being that either we universally make common cause and collectively try to save ourselves from own self-inflicted impending demise or we resign ourselves to savagery, madness, and desolation. The(ir) first step of which would be to stop the war to lessen starvation. That being said, it's all well and good Space Opera. I was surprised that some background information was provided about the OPA, despite it being mostly being that they're as confused as anyone else about who they are overall. It's too bad it wasn't provided several books earlier and with other general background information to go along with it.

I've mostly tried avoiding spoilers, so I don't know, but I'm expecting a considerable time skip for the ending trilogy. It's been roughly ten years in-universe since the destruction of the Canterbury, the start of the series. Skipping ahead few decades seems about right. Maybe that was part of the reluctance for continuing the TV series, though it will be continued through a graphic novel series. I'm feeling a considerable amount of nervous excitement about how it'll go because based on what I've seen it's been a contentious matter, though a lot of endings are. I'm also expecting it'll be a different experience than what's come before, or at least that's what I'm hoping for. I'll find out for myself sometime next month.

Rating: 4/5

>>21719876
Booy 7 is garbage, brace yourself

>>21719894
Either way really. However I feel about it is what I'll write about it. In this case probably sometime mid to late next month.

It's kind of haunting to read about how Mervyn Peake died. Very tragic. I didn't realise that was something that could just 'happen'.

>>21719641
>Stand on Zanzibar
>Virtual Light
>Shockwave Rider
Dao of Books bless you, Anon. Exactly what I wanted.

>>21719779
NTA, but I find your google list and links very useful.

Also:
>https://www.risingshadow.net/library/newbooks
First book I laid my eyes on was a reverse harem. I know it wasn't your intention, but once again I'm turned to sin. How am I supposed to read all of that great literature when unending wave of harem books crashes against the cliffs of my willpower?

>>21720008
idk, deal with it or don't. If it's that much of a problem then you'll have to adjust for your weaknesses or not. Either way really.

>>21720058
I was just being facetious, don't worry. Anyway, good write-up on finding books.

>>21717939
Sometimes I read books talked about on here (except Bakker) but honestly I do the same thing as you with libraries and used book stores, if I'm not pressed for time I might read the sample at the beginning and the back of the cover

The theme for March is books translated from an European language to English. I may have to take the easy way out again because as I look through this spreadsheet someone made of the several hundreds of translated SFF-ish novels I realize again that I have no idea what to pick aside from the most popular and well-known because I haven't heard of almost any of them, let alone read them. Even looking through the reviews of that same person has written doesn't help much. Nor do the provided reviews either So go the problems with whims that meet the reality of requiring effort.

>>21719790
Peter Fugazzotto - Skin
It's a short story.

>>21720162
European month is a great idea desu, should be more of them. European fantasy just hits different. I wish americans weren't so ubiquitous everywhere in Fantasy, their books always seem so...otherwordly. America is not just another continent, it's an entire different reality and mindset. On the other hand, I can read typical YA fantasy set in urban america and read it as a fantasy setting that's not real as I have no connection to USA whatsoever.

As for voting, I guess something like Sapkowski's The Tower of Fools from his other known trillogy would win.

Started reading Black Stone Heart, because someone mentioned it in the last thread.

What the fuck, this is just smut and author power fantasy. Every single woman wants to fuck the MC for no fucking reason.

Does it get any better?

>>21720282
I didn't think it did.

>>21719968
Jagged Orbit (1969) also written by Brunner is pretty good too, Stand of Zanzibar is better but jagged Orbit has some nice passages.
>Be an individual!'“ Conroy contrived to make the slogan sound obscene. “And what's this been twisted into? The biggest Big Lie in history! It's no use making your life so private you refuse to learn from other people's experience—you just get stuck in a groove of mistakes you need never have made.
>We have more knowledge available at the turn of a switch than ever before, we can bring any part of the world into our own homes, and what do we do with it? Half the time We advertise goods people can't afford, and anyhow they've got the color and hold controls adrift because the pretty patterns are fun to look at when you've bolted and barred your mind with drugs. Split! Divide! Separate! Shut your eyes and maybe it'll go away!
>“We mine our gardens, we close our frontiers, we barricade our cities with Macnamara lines to shut off black from white, we divide, divide, divide!” A stamp emphasized each repetition of the word. “It gets into our families, goddamn it, it gets into our very lovemaking!
>Christ, do you know I had a girl student last year who thought she was having an affair with a boy back home and all they'd ever done was sit in front of the comweb and masturbate at each other? Twenty miles apart! They'd never even kissed! We're going insane, our whole blasted species—we're heading for screaming ochlophobia! Another couple of generations and husbands will be afraid to be alone in the same room with their wives, mothers will be afraid of their babies, if there are any babies!
>“And for what purpose? Why are we encouraging the spread of this lunacy? I mean we here, in North America. I don't mean the Afrikaners sitting smug on top of their pullulating heap of poor black devils hungry, half-naked and diseased, the richest people in the world battening on the poorest. That's just greed, which is a comparatively clean kind of vice. I'm talking about perversion, horrible, disgusting, systematic, deliberate perversion of the power of Reason to destroy people without killing them, to strip them of their initiative, their joy in life, their hope, for Christ's sake, their last ultimate irreducible human resource, hope.
>Out of sheer desperation millions of people are abandoning the use of reason, bankrupting themselves to buy mass-produced Plastic idols, in a last puerile attempt to outdo the bastards who've made 'Reason' a dirty word.

>>21720282
No, it's reddit incarnate

>>21719790
hellmouth: a novella is also pretty good just a warning it has female knights

>>21720328
>Christ, do you know I had a girl student last year who thought she was having an affair with a boy back home and all they'd ever done was sit in front of the comweb and masturbate at each other? Twenty miles apart! They'd never even kissed! We're going insane, our whole blasted species—we're heading for screaming ochlophobia! Another couple of generations and husbands will be afraid to be alone in the same room with their wives, mothers will be afraid of their babies, if there are any babies!
Okay that bought me, this level of prediction deserves going on my to-read list.

>>21720162
I've picked four. I could do it weekly again like I did with the Asian month last year, where I had like 16 books total, but nah, too much effort. That would've been a week each of Western, Southern, Northern, and Eastern Europe. Instead, unless I change it by tomorrow night, it'll be one each from Poland, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia. I considered having it be 21st Century Slavic SFF instead, since it's close to that already. I might switch out the Polish and Russian for something Scandinavian and Iberian, but I probably won't see anything. I considered a Czech Space Opera since there doesn't seem to be that many of that sort based on my very limited glance, but it wasn't available enough and its quality was unclear. I thought I might pick something French, but didn't see anything. Did I make the best choices? Surely not. They're nothing than choices I made.

>>21720282
dropped

>>21717939
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/books.asp
https://www.isfdb.org/
https://www.literature-map.com/
The "Visitors also looked at these books..." section from https://www.fantasticfiction.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Fantasy:_The_100_Best_Novels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Fiction:_The_100_Best_Novels
The Fantasy and SF Masterworks collection by Gollancz
Goodreads, believe or not, the key is looking for specific things, don't check the goodreads list about "super cool EPIC fantasy that'll make you say Whoah mama!" because it's just going to be Robert Jordan, Sanderson, and the rest of the usual suspects. look for something more niche like "Fantasy from 80s" or "underrated scifi from X year to Y year"
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1117.Best_Fantasy_of_the_80s
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/80066.Popular_Fantasy_on_Goodreads_with_between_1000_and_9999_ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/115805.Best_Forgotten_Fantasy_of_the_20th_Century
In my personal experience is best to stay way from any kind of "Top10" or "Top 20", anyone can name 10 or 20 SFF books from the top of their head, 50 or 100plus books list is where the real stuff is at.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/55-essential-space-operas-last-70-years/

>>21720737
they don't make 'em like they used to

>>21719641
posting the superior cover

Moorcock remains supreme, his Doctor Who novel will make you cream.

>>21721087
What reader is this?

>>21721096
Apple Books, which is free on all Apple products, but the font is Iowan if you wanna emulate it elsewhere.
I usually hate Apple but they’re more streamlined for books and audio, honestly.

What went wrong?

>>21721087
I actually have it in my DW backlog folder on my Kindle. How is it compared to the quality of other DW novels?

>>21721195
The writing is great and I know from reviews that it was seen as a new turn for the DW novel line, though Moorcock feared hardcore fans wouldn’t like it because it’s more original and has elements of chaos/order themes he employs.

>>21721219
Okay. I don't read Moorcock so I'll just take it as a good book and read it sooner-ish. In return, I would recommend Silhouette. It's a nice hard sci-fi featuring the 12th Doctor.

>>21721242
Thanks. I’ve been meaning to read more hard sci fi and Doctor Who. I’ll go download it now.

>>21721258
I'll spare you from listing off what all I've read and liked but I will say https://www.goodreads.com/series/63391-doctor-who-quick-reads is nice; there are very few as you can tell but they are, like they say, quick reads, like if DW were half an episode.

Read Empire of the Vampire and it's actually decent for a current year novel. Any suggestions for similar stuff? Thought the author would have some other decent books but it's all female leads and gay sci-fi.

>>21721087
>reading a book by a guy named MORE-COCK

>>21721311
damn he's got a point

Why is there an assumption in sci fi that there will always be exponential technological progress or even moral progress? I feel like there should be more books like Orion Shall Rise where cultures become backwards and use less technology.

>>21721344
The underlying assumption of Americanized modernism is that progress has never and will never stop, therefore everything in the past is bad, and everything in the future is good.

>>21721344
>automatic
>always
There isn't.

>>21721344
Secular humanism aka kabbalism demands such faith

Nothing is worse than spending a lot of time reading a long web novel just for it to be ruined by a deus ex machina.

It's so difficult to find worthwhile fantasy novels.

>>21721510
I feel like Lord of the Mysteries doesn't revolve around deus ex machinas (except maybe 1 instance that I can recall) because of how much time is spent planning and plotting. But on the other hand I have literally no fucking idea what happened in the final battle because it was so convoluted.

>>21719360
Sleep tight Kurt Russel

>>21721510
>reading web novels
you get what you fucking deserve

>>21721510
why is there literally zero english web novels worth reading bro

>>21721645
Published novels tend to be less fun and too short. They appeal to the lowest common denominator. No thanks, I don't want to read yet an other generic YA or boring boomer book. Most web novels are shit. But there are the rare gems written by a giga autist who doesn't care about money or fame or awards, only about their obsession of an ideal fictional world. No editors or publishers or other constraints. Just pure unadulterated fucking kino.

>>21721765
nice

>>21721666
Worm's kind of interesting

With all the webnovel talk, I'm genuinely surprised nobody brings up homosuck

What's the longest English written work?
All the answers online are pathetically out-of-date or possibly incorrect even when they were written, giving little baby numbers like '8 million words', '5 million words'. I saw one even give '4 million words' which is embarrassing. But they're presumably accurate on actual published books, so webnovels and fanfic are where the real answers lie.
I know The Wandering Inn is big; thankfully there's an autist who tracks this stuff and says it's currently 11.2 million words.
I recently finished catching up to The Mech Touch (which is why I'm thinking of this) and a rough estimate of that clocks in at 10 million words.
AO3 has four fanfics ranging 5-7 million (and none above), and I couldn't find any ability to filter/sort for wordcount on fanfiction.net but there's another autist to the rescue manually collecting them; I found 2 more >5 millions on that list but nothing close to claiming the crown.
Honourary mentions to The Loud House: Revamped and Covered In Chocolate I, but I am not counting them.

Anyone know of anything above these?

>>21721800
No

>>21721765
>and too short
lowest common denominator complaint

>>21721799
Because this isn't /co/

>>21721800
Quantity =\= quality.
Lovecraft barely wrote as much prose to best the size of Infinite Jest, yet he obviously BTFOs DFW on a cultural level.

>>21721819
>doubt this
>happen to have both these books on my nightstand right now
>it's true, lovecraft is much smaller
Neat. Though to be fair, I don't think DFW was trying to sell quite like Lovecraft was

>>21721800
Someone somewhere out there is surely having an AI generate a work that would take consecutive lifetimes to read.

>>21721844
https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Lovecraft%27s_Word_Counts
Lovecraft wrote a lot of ghostwritten stories for the likes of Houdini and Bishop, among others, as well as a lot of poetry, but I still think that wouldn’t be much more compared to Infinite Jest which sits at 577,000 words or so—where Lovecraft’s attributed works remain at 470,000 words.

>>21721800
There's a 4.5M word kancolle fanfic, I'm sure there's longer works.

>>21721800
Reading all of the Wandering Inn at this point would be like reading 45 Stormlight Archive books. Truly we've reached levels of filler that should never have become known to man.

Are there any living writers today who's prose comes close to the levels of Peake, Wolfe, Tolkien, or Eddison?
I would like a book with a good plot and characters, but I want one that is well written rather than Sanderson bullshit.

>>21721940
I think GRRM's on a level with Wolfe, but I'm a big fan of both. Don't know if the living one counts as a writer anymore though, I guess.

>>21721940
Guy Gavriel Kay

>>21717855
Started to read Watership Down. Don't know what to expect, desu. Only know it's a bit violent and that it's about some rabbits wanting to find a new home.

>>21721940
>GRRM
I actually think Martin has subpar prose, or I should say he's hit or miss. Some of his sentences are beautiful, but some are grammatically confused. If I recall, whenever there were three male characters in a room speaking, he'd say "he said' without using a name.
>>21721957
I'll check him out.

Goddamnit >>21721967 was meant for >>21721949

>>21721967
I agree. His prose is especially tight in AGOT, sometimes I would just get lost in the prose. Not poetic but tight. ACOK and onwards is where it starts to get messy and bloated.

And then of course there's
>She shat brown water

>>21721967
Martin's prose is generally underrated by everyone but writers. Writers know that writing "tight" prose that still conveys a weighty tone and feels like it's driven by an intellect is impressive in its own right, and I think Martin's does it very well. Wolfe's Wizard Knight books actually remind me a lot of Martin in terms of the prose - of course he had a wider range with stuff like BotNS, but even he went in that direction sometimes.

>>21721795
>Worm
There's so much wrong with it. Dropped it during the S9 arc and I've heard it just keeps getting worse. Stupid and annoying mary sue protagonist. Most characters don't even try, they use their superpowers in extremely dumb and ineffective ways.

>>21722037
The protagonist walks into a room and shoots a child in the head; I don't know if she's much of a Mary Sue. If anything I'd say her friend that can or cannot see whatever the plot requires is more of a Mary Sue. The most Mary Sue character is the deus ex machina character at the end with the "always does the correct thing to win" power, though. Anyways, the S9 part was awful and I mostly skimmed a lot of the grimdark-heavy sections, but that was also after a pretty long while, so there's still a lot of content before that at least.

How do you beat him?

For me it's thinking up fantasy and sci-fi stories in my head that I'll never write.

based

Are there any modern fantasy/sci fi authors who still write with the flowing prose of the early 20th century? Even Robert E. Howard’s prose, as tight as it is, still has the same usage of words many of his contemporaries had, if that makes any sense.

just finished the book of the new sun do i reread it or do i read the urth of the new sun
>>21722158
based thinker

>Tell me Nersei Proyas! How long have you served Golgotterath?

>>21722109
>skimmed a lot of the grimdark-heavy sections
you mean the whole story then?
worm is quite good for what it is (some guy's unedited first novel), though I do wish there was less repetitive action and misery porn and more character development

>>21722216
First one, then the other. Either way works, really. Personally I reread it once before going onto urth but it's up to you.

>>21722375
Specifically the S9 part and the stuff with the underground monster were more into comically-edgy territory than the rest of it. Lots of it is skimmable.

>>21722115
What part of the unavoidable don't you understand?

>>21722115
by avoiding him

>>21722216
I read it without knowing anything about it, thinking it was just a 5th book in the series.
Now I kind of regret not re-reading BotNS first, or at least taking some time to think about it and see if I could have figured out any of the stuff that gets revealed explicitly in Urth myself.
So if you're really invested in the series, I would say there is some value in re-reading first.

>>21722388
i don't recall it ever getting less grimderp though. it just keeps ramping up, that's what made me drop it eventually
despite that i'd say the first half is still worthwhile

which one do you find more impactful, a single book or a series?

>>21717939
>How do you find new books to read, /sffg/?
I go by writers mentioned and liked by other writers now. If Wolfe likes someone I read him, if I see someone else whom I like mentioning writers he likes I'll check them out. Also by metal albums, if the fantasy novel themed album is good, I'll read the book.

>>21721880
>Reading all of the Wandering Inn at this point would be like reading 45 Stormlight Archive books. Truly we've reached levels of filler that should never have become known to man.
The Wandering Inn never felt like a filler to me. It has chapters that I like LESS, but overall everything serves a purpose and tells some story. At worst a chapter is more formulaic than usual, but even a formulaic TWI chapter is still better than 80% of webnovels. The author's power level is simply off the charts.

What's your favorite monster from the Conan the Barbarian stories? For me, it's the Swamp Devil from Beyond the Black River

>>21721795
I enjoyed Worm and don't regret reading it, but even I have to admit that it's got a lot of problems

>>21722555
I'm a single book guy for sure. The Lord of Light is still among my absolute favorites and I love that I can easily re read it every year without that much of a time sink and get a absolutely complete world and story.

>>21721940
None that I'm aware of. As far as I'm concerned, fantasy is a dead or dying genre, without any vitality left in it. Some authors are okay, like John C. Wright, but he is just a good pulp writer and not an artist like Peake, Wolfe or Tolkien.

Books about leaving earth and starting life on a new planet?

>>21722634
Book of the Long Sun and Book of the Short Sun

>>21722634
The Lord of Light by Zelanzy

Brutal.

>Fremen: we want water on Arrakis
>Paul: here you go
>Fremen: NOOOOOO NOT LIKE THIS WE HAVE GROWN SOFT AND MOIST FUCK YOU MUADDIB
What the fuck was their problem?

Is The Dread Empire's Fall any good? I was about to read it. It seems nice from the synopsis.

I want scifi Potop, basically. But I can't find that anywhere.

>>21721047
>>21719641
>Forgive me...

>>21722634
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy

>>21722109
>>21722375
The grimdark doesn't bother me. The predictable lack of consequences does. The protagonist is a mary sue because she always gets saved by a deus ex machina and healed. Her plot armor also protects the people she cares about the most. The story is full of overpowered characters who repeatedly fail to harm each other in fights. All characters are stupid and incompetent. And everyone except the mary sue is passive, only doing anything at all when it's convenient for the plot.

>worm is quite good for what it is (some guy's unedited first novel)
True. I respect the author and am happy for his success. I'm just pissed because the people who made me read it sold it as something it isn't.

>>21722858
they built their identity on their barren planet, and now its prospering and they have an identity crisis

>Please give three "key words" for your new book Lord of Mysteries 2 <Circle of Inevitability>, exclusively for this interview done by the official publisher, that can give us some vague spoilers for the story.
The first is "Deep Crimson". It represents a "status/condition/state of affairs" and a "background/setting".
The second is "Salvation/Deliverance". It is both a deliverance of the self and for the entire world.
The third is "Awakening". The entire main story line is more or less a process of awakening Klein. BUT, of course, this is just the main story line of the initial/early part of the novel.

I like the author Xin Feng
Read a few of his works

>>21722923
>image
is that from the special chapters? are there a lot of them? i should catch up soon.

The more of his stuff I read, the more I am convinced that Klarkash-Ton was the greatest fantasy writer who has ever lived. He was on another level.

>>21722878
The Worm fandom is awful because it grew out of the rationalist community and the whole thing caters very strongly to that particular brand of autist.

I don't think the author is really even one of those guys, but reading his other stuff you do notice that everyone is weirdly good at analyzing their own thoughts and emotions.

>>21721344
I mean , how many more post-apocalyptic distopian YA novels do we need?

>>21722878
Worm's protagonist is a villain who gets away with bad things, which is necessary for them to continue existing as a villain. Only at the very end does she become a hero, and it's because she lets an outside force take over her brain. In everything before that it's implied that she's doing morally wrong things, so it's not like you're supposed to think she's perfect. I don't think plot armor makes someone a Mary Sue, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a novel that long where the POV character doesn't have some degree of it. Not that the book isn't very clumsy with its side characters and such, but I think it's worth reading if you're willing to skim the filler.

>>21722579
This ugly ass nigga.

>>21721666
twi is legitimately amazing, but ymmv

>>21723455
Klarkash-Ton > Two-Gun Bob > Éch-Pi-El

Title: Save State Hero
Author: William D. Arrand


William D. Arrand is a strange author. One hand, he can write well above average in Erotica and Harem genre. An easy-going style, at least serviceable story-telling, decent grasp on how humans work, drive and ambition to write not only several trilogies but even to make a larger, shared universe that unifies into a greater story.

Too bad it didn't work out and almost everyone hates his 'Runner-verse' and it's all crashing down on its face.

Every story he writes is eventually poisoned by shared universe in the worst way possible, interweaving starkly different setting but with basically every protagonist being something of a cold sociopath that only cares about his women and family. Very little deviation on that. You read one protagonist, all others will be similar.

Now, coming back to THIS book however...I shouldn't have read it. I read books that I consider bad after, but this is the first one in years that I genuinely, actively regret reading. It's bad in many ways that I'm soon going to describe, but it stole time from me pursuing self-growth and irritated me. It was straight-up a negative experience. Bad in a way only a complicated story might be, not lacking in content or range of events, but in them being there and everything being far worse for it.

[Characters]
The protagonist is likely every other William D. Arrand's, except worse. He's hollow. Theoretically you can infer his personality from his actions, but Edmund feels more like a PoV to experience this story rather than actual person. He's barely a person, period. Aside of his near sociopathy (like every other author's protagonist), the only noticeable trait he has is not wanting a harem. Woah, how special! Instead, he pursues one girl...that I actively began to dislike soon after she was introduced, and hated her and protagonist even more because he liked her, for some unknown reason. She was also hollow. Other girls were barely better. The story will end up a harem anyway, as everything indicates.

This not being 'Randi Darren' book (author's other name for publishing Harem smut, instead of just off-screen Harem without smut) means we get a lot of flirtation, some titillating content, but overall, nothing concrete. Which is a shame, because then I could get at least that much from this book, it being a saving grace of the author's other series.

{Post 1/2}

{Post 2/2}


[Plot]
The description of the book lies to you by omission, describing a semi-superhero story with a character that can go back in time, creating 'Save Sates' to load back to. Clearly stolen from 'Perfect Run' story - which isn't bad on its own, everyone in webnovel and self-pub steal from each other all the time. Except the story isn't really about this. I mean, it starts like this, but it quickly deteriorates into a different story full of Runner-verse bullshit, with the second half and the last third especially being something utterly different.

I picked this story assuming I would at best suffer some references to stuff I don't care. WRONG! Instead, it turns out it's ~75% Runner-verse stuff. Maybe if I read all the other author's series I'd like it a bit more, but it's still written in a confusing way, leaving a stitched-together, incoherent mess at the end.

This isn't a Save State Hero story, the description is a scam to shove you into Runner-verse finale or something. And it sucks. It's seriously barely coherent, with dozens of characters and series of events that don't make rhyme or reason. Of course, it's only a first book in what is most likely a trilogy, but several plotlines are introduced just to be left incomplete at the end.

It's like the author tried to write three books at once, shoving multiple ideas and plot points into one. You end up with a story that is mostly inconsequential and unsatisfying.


[Summary]
Don't read it. Read it you like the author's Runner-verse, otherwise don't touch it. Especially don't touch it if you want a stand-alone story, which it seems to be marketing itself as. It's not a book about Superheroes, it's not a book about using Time Travel power, and it's definitely not a smut book with scenes involving the Half-Angel girl from the cover art. Incoherent mess, scamy description, a disappointing experience.

At least the Cover Art is nice to look at, I guess.

Rating: 4/10

>>21723736
>>21723742
Are ANY harem erotica authors good? I feel like the only ones I have enjoyed even marginally have been Cebelius and Marvin Knight. I've also heard decent things about Bruce Sentar but haven't ever read anything of his.

I wonder what happened to that Arrand paypig spammer from years back. To be a ritualposter, he wasn't too obnoxious about it.

>>21721971
>it is but a mummer's farce he said as he broke his fast with brown bread

>>21723770
Depends on what you're asking for. Bruce Sentar is...decent. It's less sophisticated and shallower than Arrand's stuff, but overall the story's more coherent and the worst you can say about it is that harems grow too big and previously established partners fall to the way-side. Actually, Sentar's stories might even be better than Arrand's, his Saving Superhores series is definitely better than most of Harem stuff you will find, even most of Arrand's. I recommend reading at least first Saving Superheroes book to get a taste.

Aside of that, Good Intentions is a good book, from around 2010 so it predates self-pub. Way more polished than anything you'd find among self-pub, just a normal modern Supernatural Fantasy but with smut. Probably the best Erotica Harem book I read. However, it is unrecommended to read past the second book, as the series loses steam and gets a bit...weird.

Other than that, consider:
- Prism Academy: Inferna
- Fostering Faust (William D. Arrand's one series that can be called decent from start to the end)
- Blue Core (if you don't mind the story being autistic LitRPG about magic first and foremost, with smuty harem elements)
- Domestic Decay (I liked it a lot, it's a good story even when you take smuty elements out)

>>21723770
i don't understand why you'd want to read this as opposed to fan fiction with a harem setup

>>21723857
>i don't understand why you'd want to read this as opposed to fan fiction with a harem setup
NTA, Fan-Fiction is extremely distastful in ints premise. Why would I read someone taking an already existing story or universe just to shove their mediocre smut into? Well, if it tried to do its own thing taking everything in an entirely different direction maybe I could stomach it, but I'm one of the people who have visceral negative response to anything fan-fiction. I'd rather watch gay porn that read a fanfic.

>>21723951
Let me blow your mind real quick no homo ALL fiction is fan fiction!

>>21722216
Urth explicitly points a few things out, but I feel like it's only what was supposed to be pretty obvious. To me, it felt like it added more loose ends that don't quite connect and gave me more to chew on because the few big but only slightly vague points were cleared up.

What's the literature equivalent of Heretic?

>>21724412
WE

>>21723831
>Prism Academy
I tried to read that and genuinely the thing that puts me off is that the paragraphs have double spaces between them and it's just so awkward to read. Same thing with that author's other stuff.
>Domestic Decay
That's the one with the not-quite incest, yeah? Never really appealed.

Damn this book is good. 80% through but I can definitely recommend it it.

Beautifully written, excellent pacing, great characters, good humour, dark, lots of action and not too much romance.

>>21724460
Vampire stories are supposed to be about seduction and romance.

>>21719779
Gardens of the Moon filtered so many people from getting to enjoy that whole series. It's astounding.

>>21724469
Not really, there is some of that in there but it isn't a romance book. It is about a war against an empire of vampires who have taken over the world since something happens to stop the sun shining. Give it a try, if you like dark fantasy, vampires and a bit of horror you will enjoy it.

Anyone got a recommendation for a comfy, 70s space opera?

>>21723455
>thought this was shitpost
>then I actually said the name outloud
Funny stuff, Lovecraft-anon. Anyway, does anyone know where I can find his Zothique stuff to buy as a hard copy? Do they even get printed nowadays?

>>21718111
my shitty sci fi books are on amazon. Free on kindle, too.

Magellan: The Adventures of a Star Seeker

It is pulp science fiction. The sequel is a novel about a new "oregon trail" on a newly colonized planet.

I am writing the third book right now. Really, it is a lot of fun just to write. My third book is going to be quite long, though I am not sure of its total length at this point.

>>21721765
That would be my book.
I am just writing for me. I think the stories are fun and informative. I hope others enjoy them. If not, too bad, you have absorbed my ideas and they are a part of you now.

>>21723831
>Blue Core
Fucking disgusting. No one mentioned the fucking vore.

>>21724642
>Fucking disgusting. No one mentioned the fucking vore.
Nice try retard, it doesn't have a single word of vore

>>21724426
WUZ

Honestly the best thing about Bakker is that he's not afraid to be ridiculous and over the top. Yes, there will be three scenes with gay anal rape, yes the prose is going to be constantly dramatic as if narrated by a spaz, yes evil Mary Sue is just going to continue to get more bizarre and inexplicable with every book, yes there will be even more factions introduced with each chapter.

Romance chapters in fantasy books always makes me feel like a loser. Escapism shouldn't make me feel bad bros

>>21724752
As an author, what do you mean by the frogpost? I get intentional trolling. If not that, you're just extremely out of touch and should kill yourself or seriously rethink everything and stay off the internet for a few years until you grow a personality. I'd still like to know your own intent.

>>21724769
Absolutely triggered by a frog? Who hurt you, anon?

>>21724816
>Who hurt you, anon?
Clearly, a frog.

>>21724752
>Reading fantasy books with romance
Dumb fucking frogposter. Stop reading YA trash.

>>21723478
>it grew out of the rationalist community
I don't get this. Worm is not rational.

>>21723690
>Worm's protagonist is a villain who gets away with bad things, which is necessary for them to continue existing as a villain
>it's implied that she's doing morally wrong things, so it's not like you're supposed to think she's perfect
What does this have to do with anything I said? Doing morally wrong things is not what makes her bad.
>I don't think plot armor makes someone a Mary Sue
I guess I'm using mary sue in an unconventional way. By mary sue I don't mean someone who's flawless, I'd love to read about flawless characters. I mean someone who has the entire story bent in their favor to the degree where it becomes meaningless.

>>21724769
>tell me you write shit romance without saying you write shit romance

>>21724874
Rational is a weird scope, sometimes. I still don't really know what it means beyond "the protagonist acts believably smart sometimes". Like they tend to try to avoid "this character magically knows relevant things" smart characters, but that's not a specific rational writing thing, that's just writing a good smart character thing.

>>21725035
>Like they tend to try to avoid "this character magically knows relevant things" smart characters, but that's not a specific rational writing thing, that's just writing a good smart character thing.
One defining trait of web fiction is that every group chases one specific story-type, and because almost everything online is shit people who can consistently write stories with that one element working properly are elevated into great works of 'genres.' Rational fiction (ratfics) is just group of people who like their fiction coherent and logical, even if other aspects of the story don't work.

Of course, in a normal book you would have multiple different things working together and specifying one thing like rationality would be silly. But synergizing different elements to create a good story is almost a dark art among online spaces.

>>21725035
Rationalist =/= Rational
It's a specific group of AI worshipping/fearing atheists with mathematic OCD who larp as robots to cover their deep emotional insecurities. The type of person who comes up to you out of nowhere to tell you how they're really smart and cool and how no one listens to their genius ideas about how all the problems in the world could be solved if everyone ate nothing but onions and prozac.

>>21725122
I feel like I see some webnovels try to describe themselves with a hodge-podge of 'genre' terms or broad content descriptors (I see a lot of "no swearing, no harems" for some reason like are people really that turned off by the mere existence of either of those? Harems I can sort of get wanting to avoid but if handled well I have no real issues with, but swearing is just a part of fucking language, unless you're aiming your story at children who gives a shit), but they still broadly fit into like two categories at most.

>>21724664
Hmmm...
>Breeding options:
>>Moil (Consumes host) - 50 biomass.
>Imp - 50 biomass.
>Boring Beetle (4) - 50 biomass.
>Imp (Gene Strength 0): A low-level monster.
>Boring Beetle: Capable of mining quickly.

>>21725176
>are people really that turned off by the mere existence of either of those?
Harem is utterly despised by the vast majority of webnovel.com readers. People tend to hate swearing with hot blooded characters who can't stop saying fuck everytime they open their mouths.
>but swearing is just a part of fucking language, unless you're aiming your story at children who gives a shit
Some authors do avoid swears though. The mildest swear in LOTM is dogshit and it's said by one character in the entire thing

>>21725184
Ah, yes, one mention as a throwaway line, describing possibility indicates the story is vore. Definitely you are /sffg/'s most perceptive and wise poster.

>>21725233
To be fair LOTM's a translated thing. I'm just generally saying that using "no swearing" as a selling point weirds me out. Some characters are swear-happy. Fuck, if they're Australian or Scottish it's basically mandatory. Granted there's not many of either of those.

About a week or two ago someone was asking about getting a complete compendium of Arthurian legendry and I recommended this as a companion piece/auxiliary work to Malory's La Morte d'Arthur before reading it, and now I've read it and can confirm it's very much worthwhile, although it is not a "summary+" as I expected, but contains most of the Arthurian literature that Malory excised from his book or did not have access to. It deliberately glosses over the important stuff from Malory (Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guenevere, Arthur and Excalibur, Mordred and Morgan's villainy) in favor of the stuff that had not crossed Malory's eyes, for example connections with the Matter of Charlemagne, the Perceval-Grail tradition, and the earlier Celtic adventures of Sir Gawain as a heroic figure, among other obscure medieval romances connected to the Round Table such as Avenable and Palomides.

>>21725438
Cool. I'll check it out. Thank you, Paul!

>>21725438
This.

>>21724838
Even David Gemmell has it in Legend though

sci-fi books with a Kenshi vibe?

>>21724838
why do so many fantasy readers hate women?

>>21723977
You will never be a real writer.

>>21723455

The man does not stop putting out hits, what a beautiful brief supernova of a career. I started with Zothique, but I've fallen in love with his sheer versatility and ardor for transporting multiple grand archetypes to a weirder end.

>https://gizmodo.com/56-new-scifi-fantasy-horror-books-march-victor-lavalle-1850053585

Some of these actually look pretty interesting. Are you planning on reading any?

>>21725855
They're Low T, can't you see?
From Aquilonia to the Western Sea,
Amazonian goddesses will be free,

>>21723455
I don’t know how he managed to make Zothique, a far future setting seem more antique than even his Hyperborean setting which takes place before the pleistocene age. I love it.

>>21725892
>See yet another feminist retelling of a Greek myth in there
How many of those do we fucking need

>>21723951
>Why would I read someone taking an already existing story or universe just to shove their mediocre smut into?
Apparently that's what a great number people of do in their heads, otherwise the limitless rule 34 shit wouldn't exist.

>>21724460
It's comically edgy. That cover is way too tame for how edgy it is.

>>21725907
>Amazonian goddesses will be free,
Any books for that feel?

>>21725140
You forgot the rampant polyamory.
>their genius ideas about how all the problems in the world could be solved if everyone ate nothing but onions and prozac.
Their ideas aren't as direct that. It's more like a vague notion that someone someday will maybe write a python script that somehow stops global warming so you should donate to their not-for-profit today to make that happen.

>>21725832
Edgar Rice Burroughs Princess of Mars
Jack Vance Dying Earth

>>21725438
>Malory's La Morte d'Arthur
I tried reading that and got filtered hard. Am I a retard or is it a hard book?

>>21725855
I don't hate women, I hate romance

>>21726070
>Am I a retard or is it a hard book?
both. start with something more reader friendly like The Once and Future King by T.H White or the Merlin Trilogy and the Wicked Day by Mary Stewart

>>21726088
>The Once and Future King by T.H White
Already gone through that. It was pretty enjoyable, even though I'm pretty sure a lot of it went over my head because I a) rushed through the book b) wasn't really as good a reader as I currently am
> Merlin Trilogy and Wicked Day by Mary Stewart
Never heard of those, thanks for the rec.
I was thinking of going for The Mists of Avalon for my next Arthurian legends read, as I've heard a lot of good regarding it despite the woman factor

>>21726088
The Once and Future King is postmodern revisionist schlock written by a butthurt communist, you aren't getting proper Arthurian myth if you rely on T.H. White, that's like expecting to get something out of watching the 1960s musical Camelot with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave. You're better off reading the Pendragon cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead or the Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay, though I wouldn't rely on those either due to deliberate Tolkien-esque mythopoeic syncretism.

>>21726070
Reading a Malory translation is definitely an ordeal due to the stilted aristocratic prose of early modern English, even when you consider that it was pared down from the original texts (La Morte d'Arthur is like 30% of the entire Chretien de Troyes Lancelot-Grail cycle, which is an endlessly repetitive recitation of the names of knights jousting with each other in tournaments), but I would consider it necessary to get the fullest attempt at collating Arthurian legendry. If you want a sparknotes version, read Bulfinch's Mythology, which summarizes pretty much all the salient points of the Arthurian romances in fairly easy to comprehend 1850s American prose, no more difficult to read than Nathaniel Hawthorne or Mark Twain, but it's all condensed into about 90 pages in between Norse mythology and the Matter of France.

https://bookriot.com/guess-the-sci-fi-book-based-on-its-1-star-reviews/
So /sffg/, how many can you get right?
There's only one classic and the rest are modern stuff you likely don't give a shot about and frankly I don't blame you if you don't

>>21726174
Why would anyone ever waste their time doing stupid shit like this?

>>21726100
>I was thinking of going for The Mists of Avalon for my next Arthurian legends read, as I've heard a lot of good regarding it despite the woman factor
The problem with Mists of Avalon isn't that the author is a woman or that it focuses on women, it's that the author is a communist atheist radical feminist lesbian pedophile jew who deliberately extols villainy and disparages virtue on the basis of whether the person has a cunt between their legs; it is peak SJW subversion, and I do not exaggerate. It is a moral inversion of the most insidious and puerile manner, in which good is evil and evil is good, and anything women do is good by default and anything men do is evil by default simply out of contrarian vitriol. It is a spiteful, horrible work that makes George RR Martin's reaction to Tolkien look honorable by comparison. It is one of the few works of literature I have ever read that borders on the actual satanic, and I've read the author before and she's not uniformly so disgusting in other, better novels, as she is in Mists of Avalon. Avoid it at all costs.

>>21726189
>Avoid it at all costs.
Why? I’m not a retarded /pol/tard so all your allege “complaints” means nothing to me.

>>21726174
My adblock blocked the links to the books, so I had to open the site in incognito mode.

>>21726028
regrettably, the only novel I've read as such is Dellia by James Scidmore
unless you count Mara Jade from Star Wars EU as an amazon, which would be fair

>>21726189
Wow, this is one of the most impressive reage filled reviews I've read in a while. Honestly, you've only piqued my interest as to what could possibly spike so much vitriol and anger
>>21726170
Hmm, fair enough. I'll likely give La Morte d'Arthur another try then

>>21726100
>I was thinking of going for The Mists of Avalon
yes, it's good. since you read T.H White you already know the major story beats so you can see how Bradley changes some story arcs. it has a big focus on Paganism (like most female oriented fantasy from the 80s) and of course is a feminist take on the story but you shouldn't have any problem with that unless you hate women.

>>21726220
>Honestly, you've only piqued my interest as to what could possibly spike so much vitriol and anger
it's simply bad literature; bad writing, bad story, bad characters
it's no skin off my back if you decide to read it, but don't say nobody warned you if and when you finish and are unable to get the sour taste of bile out of your mouth
if you want actual good feminist SFF, read Tanith Lee's Birthgrave

>>21726203
>tfw no redhead amazon wife

>>21726283
coincidentally the heroine of Dellia is also a redhead
also I made a mistake, its David Scidmore who's the author, not James Scidmore

>>21725438
>>21726088
>>21726170
For me, it's Down the Long Wind

>>21726174
I got all 7 that I've read, 1 that I hadn't, and then I had heard of the other 4. I was surprised that I realized what all 7 that I read were.

>>21724519
Try asking google.

>>21725832
What does that even mean?

>>21719876
Glad you like book six, hope you like book seven. I know some people didn’t

>>21724488
That’s because Gardens of the Moon and the rest of the series is dogshit and the only people who claims otherwise are those that refuse to admit they waste their time reading a terrible series.

>>21724874
>I don't get this. Worm is not rational.
Worm got a shout out from Yudkowski in the middle of writing Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, which is a rationalist fic (hence the name). I don't know enough about Worm's readership metrics to know if this is what catapulted into its niche internet microfame, but it was definitely helpful in giving the story an audience.

Because of this, there's a big contingent of Worm fans who are convinced that Taylor succeeds "despite" her "lame power" of "controlling bugs" because she uses it intelligently. When in actuality Taylor's real power is a supercomputer brain capable of running thousands of subprograms simultaneously and also having pinpoint psychic understanding of every person's position in a two block radius.

I mean, Taylor's power is cool, don't get me wrong. There's a lot to like with Worm, and I do hope that we someday get an edited version. But Taylor's power isn't weak, it's ridiculously busted right out of the gate.

>>21719779
Nice effortpost, Anon. Wish more people here did the same.

>>21726467
filtered by Empathy and Compassion fantasykino

>>21726510
What Kino? Garden of the moon, and subsequently the Malazan series is shit, it has the depth of a puddle and only idiots who refuse to see this thinks otherwise.

>>21726510
Did you even read the books? The timeline makes no sense, characters change completely or die randomly, the history is just a bunch of zeros tacked on to dates. Reading those books felt like a chore.

>>21726436
Some people are going to dislike anything. That's why I think it's important to have a lot of opinions, especially among those who may be more similar to each other than random strangers.

On a related note I've finished Endymion and wrote about it. I still have to look over it more tomorrow, but I should be posting my thoughts about it and a summary of the /sffg/ consensus of 30 ratings.

>>21726503
I wouldn't consider it much, but it's something, yeah. Maybe someday I'll do something extensive with it. The problem unless something is posted every thread it doesn't seem to have much effect overall due to a variety of reasons. That's probably one of the main reasons the anons who do that do so. More return on their investment.

>>21724523
>does anyone know where I can find his Zothique stuff to buy as a hard copy? Do they even get printed nowadays?
No, trust me I looked and spent the most I ever have on one of these paperbacks

>>21726593
>On a related note I've finished Endymion and wrote about it. I still have to look over it more tomorrow, but I should be posting my thoughts about it and a summary of the /sffg/ consensus of 30 ratings.
I’m assuming you’re going to post it on the next thread?

>>21726618
Yeah, but not immediately because it's a hassle if the thread is deleted.

>>21726637
Shitposters really have ruined /sffg/. Well it’s good. I’ll read it when you post it.

>>21726646
Maybe if jannies and mods banned the shitposters instead of just deleting the thread, /sffg/ would improve, but that’s asking too much.

>>21726593
>That's why I think it's important to have a lot of opinions, especially among those who may be more similar to each other than random strangers.
Agreed. It’s why I often read books that I don’t agree with philosophically or politically, always nice to have a divergent point of view and not an echo chamber.

>>21726280
>it's simply bad literature; bad writing, bad story, bad characters
Ah, you were filtered by it and instead of just accepting it, you’re lashing out.

>>21724769
Don’t listen to frogposter, they’re downright retarded that shits up every board they infect.

>>21726230
I have this book as a gift from my aunt, got it at tue age of 12. I read up to the scene where Arthur’s mom gets her breasts sucked on by her Roman husband, and I repeated this process, never progressing any further.

>>21726727
>I repeated this process, never progressing any further
Because?

>>21726732
I could not bear to read beyond the prologue. Lost interest the moment I read Morgan Le Fay’s perspective.

>>21726743
Ah, that’s just plain idiotic.

>>21726727
So this is what a coomer mindset looks like. Honestly, suicide would be preferable if that’s the extent of your attention span.

>last book you read
>book you are currently reading
>next book you plan to read

>Dungeon Crawler Cark 5
>Feersum Enjinn
>either that Moorcock Doctor Who novel or Night Lamp by Vance

>>21726759
Why do you care what we last read.

>>21726761
holy newfag

>>21726759
Just go to Reddit and goodsreads for that.

>>21726759
>>21719096

>>21726593
>summary of the /sffg/ consensus of 30 ratings
Is the summary consensus going to be a thing now? Or is it just for these two reviews.

>>21726593
>The problem unless something is posted every thread it doesn't seem to have much effect overall due to a variety of reasons.
Still, it’s worth a try given that so few people here actually reads books.

>>21726079
And all romance is women related.

>>21723346
No

>>21717939
>How do you find new books to read, /sffg/?
For general/broad books, I just use common websites. The literature subreddits and goodreads and other book reviewing websites. For more niche books, I just delve a bit deeper in going to book clubs, libraries, and other real life stores.

>>21726798
I usually only do it if the book is controversial or my thoughts are an outlier. I don't care enough to do so otherwise. Anyone can look, even those not in the Goodreads group if they have a direct link, of the overall ratings by everyone in the group about any particular book by looking at the group bookshelf.

>>21726820
Yeah, it is.

>>21726230
I'm curious, let us know what you think of Mists when you finish. I didn't like it but not because I'm a raging /pol/tard. I think it is worth reading tho because it is an influential modern take on the Arthurian mythos

>>21726876
I wasn’t against it, so sorry if that’s how you read it that way. Just surprised that you were making more posts than the review post. Sad to see it’s limited to controversial books or when you think you’re an outlier.

>>21726888
>I'm a raging /pol/tard
Hope you get better, Anon. Nobody should be a stupid /pol/tard.

>>21726897
>reading comprehension
I'm super left wing

>>21726907
No need to lie, Anon. Just get better.

>>21726889
I didn't think you were against it. I was explaining why I don't do it most of the time.

>>21726915
I just didn’t want to think you took offense, glad to know that you didn’t. And yeah, thanks for explaining it.

>>21726911
i literally wrote that i'm not a raging poltard

>>21722634
Every space opera story in existence.

>>21726888
>>21726897
>>21726907
>>21726911
>>21726934
Please go be trannies somewhere else.

>>21726934
not that anon, but I apparently ever since the death of the poster, any anon can interpret whatever was written in any way they want and it's just as valid as any other possible response.

Also, it seems trolling and responding in bad faith due to being unwilling to accept a mistake was made exist.

>>21726948
Just go back to /pol/ if you want to a safe space and echo chamber.

>>21720364
Why does a novella having female knights need a warning.

>So did the Great Ordeal of Anasûrimbor Kellhus perish in salt and butchery.

Holy fuck, I didn't think he would do it. This is almost as good as the ending to the first trilogy.

>>21726983
boner alert

>>21726983
Because a few fags hate it when women are warriors or some shit.

>>21720127
>>21717939
Seconding used bookstores. Lots of classics with old covers with actual art

>>21727033
You talking about thrift stores.

>>21726948
No

>>21726230
Wasn’t she and her husband convicted for horrific child abuse?

>>21727126
Why do you keep bringing it up whenever someone even makes a slight mention of their books.

>>21719779
Those are some good website for finding books.

>>21726055
Someone once described it as "christianity for nerds", I think that about sums it up.

>>21725892
No

>>21727174
It’s a cult.

>>21726502
Don't forget she's also got superman tier contact telekinesis on her bugs that makes them at least 100x as strong and fast as normal bugs and psionic dissociation from her own body to the point of being able to puppet it like an unfeeling terminator. And then in the endgame she gets gigabuffed to literal galaxy brain tier, and then gigabuffed again ontop of that.
And not only that, but lots of the other characters, especially the antagonists, have the opposite thing going on where they have what seems on paper to be fairly powerful abilities but gimped so hard they're almost comically useless.

>>21727208
Sounds really droll why would anyone read that.

>>21726409
I think he wants a book that’s like a video game.

>>21727222
"droll" means fun, exciting, pleasant, enjoyable, diverting
the word you're looking for is "dull"

>>21727249
Why not just play the game then.

>>21727279
Not him, so I don’t know.

>>21727265
You get what I mean.

>>21727033
Also, it’s cheaper and supports struggling businesses

>>21726712
This.

>>21726690
If only, shame that it’s never goin got happen.

>>21725858
This.

>>21726724
I’m surprised he doesn’t filter them already.

>>21725985
As many as people want to read them. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.

>>21726185
Lack of socialization.

>>21724874
>I mean someone who has the entire story bent in their favor to the degree where it becomes meaningless.
That’s a power fantasy and a sign of a Mary/Gary Stu.

>>21726698
Just seems smart thing to do.

>>21727021
But it’s fantasy?

>>21726759
Finished Ex Captivitate Salus by Carl Schmitt and Spellbound by Larry Correia yesterday
Currently reading The Night Land and Soldier of Sidon
Next up I'll read more Schmitt and Clark Ashton Smith.

>>21726759
Last: a history of the novel that I rated 1 star on Goodreads because the author is pretentious about experimental fiction (ironically his polemics against popular fiction could easily apply to himself) and his strange anti-religious rants
Current: a survey of fantasy literature from ancient Egypt to the 90s, and a book on the epic genre (what it is, what it means, why it's important in the past and for the future)
Next: nothing planned, might read some more books by the author of the book on epics

>>21726759
>last book you read
Fostering Faust 1-3
>book you are currently reading
almost done with Lord of the Mysteries
>next book you plan to read
Dragon Heart series by Kirill Klevanski

What fantasy book/series has the coolest, most badass portrayal of wizards?

>>21726759
>>last book you read
Children of Time. Was very good
>>book you are currently reading
Black Stone Hearth. I like it so far, altough the dialouges are a bit cringe sometimes. Is the main dude intended to be black as in african black?
>>next book you plan to read
Not sure yet. Maybe Children of Ruin, or the 4th James Reece book. Dune Messiah and The Ghost Brigades are also possible choices

>>21725999
I wouldn't say it is consistently edgy.
It is dark and gritty, there is some edgyness to it but not in a bad way. There is always going to be some edge in a book with lots of action.

It isn't Sanderson type anime edgy, just dark and gritty. The writing isn't YA, it is written for adults.

>>21726193
A lot of that might be hyperbole but the book is genuinely written by a pedophile who molested her daughter and procured minors for her pedophile husband and genuinely conveys pedo shit as justifiable in a backhanded way.

Redemption arc is starting to piss me off, the stupid shit Thorn pulls at the gas giant and now all the sudden him and Khouri wanna fuck? Fuck that shit bro it's so fucking dumb.

Fresh bread
>>21727748
>>21727748
>>21727748

>>21727751
Wait until page ten, retard.

>>21727755
Thread is past the bump limit and about to go to page 10 anyway anon

>>21727751
Wait until page ten, you filthy zoomer.

>>21727770
>seething because he didn't make the new thread

>>21727773
>newfag can't talk without newfag buzzwords

>>21727498
The black company