/lit/ - Literature

You have 10 seconds to name a sffg character that is literally you

Memory's Legion, The Expanse - James S.A. Corey (2022)
A collection of The Expanse short fiction.

Drive (2012)
Drive takes place during and before Solomon Epstein's successful test of the eponymous drive, though one would think he that he would've taken more safety precautions than almost literally none. The before part is mostly about his love life, which is fine in that it provides more of an existence to one of the most influential characters in the series, but it's just ok.
Ok

The Butcher of Anderson Station (2011)
This nonlinear story takes place before, during, and after the titular event. It's about half a character study of Fred Johnson and half a demonstration of the lengths that governments will go to protect corporate interests, which are too often one and the same. Unfortunately labor relations are even worse than they are now in various ways. Lives are cheap and plentiful and interstellar commerce is lucrative.
Enjoyable

Gods of Risk (2012)
The viewpoint for this story is Bobbie's sixteen year old nephew. He's highly proficient in chemistry and has fallen into making drugs for a local dealer. He does so because it's something that's his own, outside of the oppressive expectations that his parents have. He fantasizes about saving the girl the dealer is often with. She's a perpetually strung-out junkie with a heart of, well, cardiac muscle, but he's infatuated with her all the same.
Enjoyable

The Churn (2014)
A young tough in Baltimore does what he has to do to survive and comes into the employment of a crime boss. He does what he's told, but life doesn't quite go as planned for anyone involved.
Enjoyable

The Vital Abyss (2015)
Paolo Cortazar, a protomolecule researcher, recounts his life history. The desperation to achieve one's dreams can lead to some very dark places, especially when circumstances only allow for a choice between which kind of being dead inside one prefers.
Enjoyable

Strange Dogs (2017)
An unintentional immigrant family on Laconia, a newly settled planet, is taking it day by day to see what happens. Their ten year old daughter only knows this new world. She comes across some strange dogs who have quite the abilities that come in handy for fixing her mistakes and those of others. It could be considered a horror story, but as the author's note, there are other perspectives as well.
Meh

Auberon (2019)
The planet Auberon has a new governor, filled with idealism, that meets the reality of corruption and fallibility. This is also the third part of Erich's story, starting in the Churn, continuing in Nemesis Games, and concluding here. There are a few references to other The Expanse works.
Ok

The Sins of Our Fathers (2022)
The conclusion to Filip's story and an example of what life is like after the events of Leviathan Falls on one of the undeveloped planets. A few hundred people try to maintain civilization, but monsters are everywhere.
Ok

>>21818275
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins from LotR
I hate it but its true, I stole so many silver spoons bros

>>21818275
Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter. I have never read Harry Potter but I know I am unvaccinated

>>21818289
It's been a while fellow anon, you good?

>>21818318
A while since what?

>>21818289
your """reviews""" are SHIT
FUCK OFF

Any fantasy that's deeply and primarily influenced by Celtic mythology?

>>21818262
Besides the obvious answers of Avatar and Codex Alara, and maybe Mother of Learning, what fantasy settings have interesting applications of elemental magic? Especially if they have elements besides just Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

>>21818427
Pretty much anything to do with Arthurian legendry, though John Matthews' adaptation of the primarily Celtic-based stories in his edition of "The Romance of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table" bear much greater fruit than the traditional Malory-based narratives which are predominantly Normano-Breton
Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain"
Almost everything by Stephen Lawhead though the Song of Albion in particular is noteworthy regarding Celtic Myth
Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian and Bran Mak Morn stories
Dennis L. McKiernan's "Faery" series to a small extent
much of Tolkien's work disregarding the main plot of LOTR and the Hobbit specifically
"Storyland" by Amy Jeffs

>>21818497
>>21818427
oh also Tim Powers' "The Drawing of the Dark", though that is in fact Arthurian - but some books are much more subtle about their Arthurian premises than others, so you have to investigate, as with Fionavar Tapestry for example

Any book with Spyro the Dragon vibes?
Pic may or not be related, as I have not read it yet

>>21818571
have you considered reading books that aren't about dragons?

>>21818479
I guess Beneath The Dragoneye Moons? The author has anentire system where there are multiple elements that can be combined into even more ascended elements.

>>21818610
>he doesn't live solely to read about dragons
NGMI

>>21818427
The Swords Trilogy and it's sequel, The Prince with the Silver hand trilogy by Michael MoorCOCK
Song of Albion
Sevenwaters - Juliet Marrillier
Mabinogion tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
Chronicles of Prydain
The Age of Misrule by Mark Chadbourn
The Fay - Kristine Kathryn Rusch

>>21818571
>the current year
>sethposting

>>21818610
I just started with books about dragon protagonist, with the fisrt book being picrel. Was not bad, dragon guy takes into the mafia in a desert setting.

Who the fuck tricked me into reading this shit?
At first I was concerned because at least one half to three-quarters of the characters introduced were "dark" or "olive" skinned. Then there was some bullshit about stats and numbers? People calculate their magic level by an RPG stat that goes up and down? What the fuck?

The final straw was the main character having some brown dude walk into his dorm and ask him on a date to the prom and the MC's like "Oh boy I have a date!"

I didn't know there was gay shit in this. Its all black and brown people, gay shit and retarded fucking numbers on a terrible boring ""magic system""

If I'm dropping the book too early and I should keep reading, please, try and sell me on it because at the moment I'm just disgusted.

>>21818704
It's your fault for going in blind and not knowing what it was before you did so. Those points have all been discussed here many times.

>>21818723
I barely browse this board, I had no idea what I was getting into
is the primary themes of this western pozzed degeneracy?

>>21818704
Every thread that mentions Rowe mentions his slides into pozzedness. Every one. You knew.

>>21818734
No, I literally don't
I've never heard of this author, a few days ago I came into the thread and I asked for the rec's to read, didn't get any, saw a picture of this so I picked it up.
Don't just assume, that's rude as fuck. I haven't been here in months otherwise because I had a serious amount of reading before that.
Also, a slide? Isn't this the first book? Does it get worse or something? Seriously there's like a bunch of books in the series and I need to know if this is an outlier

>>21818262
Just saw Everything Everywhere all at Once, give some books with asian milfs.

>>21818740
My problems with Arcane Ascension is the way they kind of stop things dead to lecture the reader indirectly on why this thing is fine. I don't even mind most of the things, but it still grates me when we have a couple pages explaining why somebody going by they/them pronouns is a thing.

>>21818757
Wait wait
they get into bullshit like pronouns?
I'm out. Nope. I can't handle that.
Please give me some fantasy schlock to read. Something to entertain me until I find another series to devour, I just, I need books. I'm just looking for fun adventures with magic and swords or just swords or whatever
Ah fuck maybe I'll read the Black Company again

>>21818740
That's what you deserve for judging by the cover and nothing else.

>>21818765
Bitch mother sunday I fuck you like dog

>>21818740
Take some responsibility you fat gay cunt. You have to assume any western author from the past 5 years has the disease, and his is discussed over and over. The disappointing thing with him is that it comes and goes - two-thirds of the way through, the MC is suddenly gay. Book four is rolling along, then there's a five-page lecture on privilege-checking. It's just wearying, and wedged in. I can't tell if he truly believes in it or if he's just angling for mainstream approval. I suspect he himself couldn't say, really. In any event, there seems to be less of it in his Weapons and Wielders series, which is far superior. Though he's burned me enough times so that I approach the next volume with more dread than anticipation.

>>21818771
That's depressing. Man I hate modern pozzed shit, it makes no sense. Anything preachy makes me hate it - and, fucking hell, that applies for anything overtly right-wing too. I don't want some book snarking to me that fascism is the true only way forward, nor do I want it talking about communism or whatever.
Fuck.

>>21818762
One character who is vaguely described is mentioned to use they/them pronouns, because they're a follower of one of the local six deities who's a shapeshifter who is broadly referred to with gender-neutral terms, and a lot of that god's followers like to emulate that aspect. But they also point out that sometimes some people just like to be called that instead. It's not that it has the modern social politics, it's the way they have to sort of point it out that bugs me.

>>21818704
any books with the LGTV or whatever tag should be ignored, anon.
You should have read the atgs.
Why didn't you read the tags?

>>21818740
If you had READ that post on this board for literature you would've learned it was a review that mentioned the faggotry and gave it a middling score of 6.5

>>21818781
If I wanted lessons in books, I'd be three years old again and read Caillou or some shit
>>21818788
tags? I don't see tags. Are there sites for this shit or something? I just get my books organically man, from here or from recommendations.

>>21818790
That sounds like an awful lot of work but you're right, I jumped the gun
It was late, I wanted to read something in the evening before bed and I just grabbed what I could and went.

>>21818788
>LGTV

>>21815110
im reading Way of the Shaman now, currently on book 4. the first book is BORING with all the mining ore and fighting rats, but the other books are all good. im glad i stuck with it
ELLC is kino

Any good western isekai stuff similar to japanese light novel shlock

>>21818781
This was the part I was okay with. First it fit in the story, but more importantly it was portrayed as transgressive, not as normative. The mc is disturbed by the character's ambiguity, and by his own ambiguous response to it. More David Lynch than social justice. Contrast that with hey anyone might want to get buttsexed by an Arab as much as take a girl to the dance, it's a coinflip.

>>21818845
Isn't Jin asian? The olive skin and the more asian feeling. Even the name makes him sound kinda Japanesey.

i know it's been shilled a lot lately and I won't be a faggot about it more than i already have but here is my recently completed sci-fi novella now available in paperback, ebook pending, thanks for all the love, shine on you crazy diamonds.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYRNM6Z5
>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYRNM6Z5
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYRNM6Z5
>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYRNM6Z5

Abolish this general. /lit/ doesn't belong to philosophy fags and self-help goblins.

>>21818859
pedo

>>21818850
I don't know. I listened to the audiobook so Jin sounds like djinn. Plus he was brown and gay, so I associated him with Magian civilization. Either way...

>>21818874
Audiobooks? I'm sorry about your vision problems. Is it full blindness or just partial?

>>21818859
>philosophy fags and self-help goblins.
That has nothing to do with this thread.

>>21818859

>>21818877
This isn't just a thread. It's containment. Break free, anon

>>21818887
>>21818900
Leave

>>21818901
I would if I could, brother. but we're all kept here by the pseud elite, wanting to discuss their Marx, Hegels and Kirkegaard in peace. Keeping us locked in this general

>>21818771
Unfortunately, Andrew Rowe is a member of /r/Progressionfantasy moderation, a strange cabal of writers whose only grace is being passable at writing and being first in the community. They push their agendas HARD, while at the same time being atrocious at understanding why people hate it.

>>21818938
Those fuckers sit in r*ddit and watch the mongoloids there praise their progressiveness and so they think its the "right thing"

>>21818858
I genuinely hate the cover art. Like, it's not inherently bad, but it gives me no desire whatsoever to read the book. Neither does the description.

>>21818938
That is sad, because he could be a good storyteller if he'd lose the baggage. I do hope he keeps it out of weapons and wielders but I guess he can't if he's truly swallowed the hook.

>>21818887
I think this poster just wants to see more threads about scifi and fantasy outside the general.
Go for it, I say. Hate the philosophy and theology fags. They shouldn’t have a monopoly on oars space.

But fuck the frogs and other trolls more.

Anything like Freiren where the main character is an Elf and the story largely deals with how they come to terms with immortality how they react to the past actions of her party members influencing history.

>not dropping Andrew Rowe and ignoring anything he writes after Arcane Ascension.
Some of you faggets are a glutton for punishment. I give an author one chance, by reading out the entire book, depending on what I experience, I will either drop the series and never read anything of the author again, read book two, or drop the series and read another book by the author.

>>21818948
Thanks for the feedback!

>>21818842

>>21819051
>Three Hearts and Three Lions
>Schlock
It's over...

Anyone ever read driving Miss Daisy? Is it based on a true story?
Yall think that the driver ever went balls deep on that lonely mature woman?

>>21818479
Wheel of Time

read worm

>>21819094
>GilfxBBC cucking
Cool, a new fetish

>>21818370
NTA but you're boring.

>>21818370
I agree
>>21819159
suck up more

>>21819183
Suck me off first

I will finish this tomorrow. Half is super pulpy fiction you would expect from the period, the other half is subliminal messaging and downright parallels to things occurring or formulating around us in the times today. Plus I am partial to plants.

>>21819220

>>21819159
NTA but you're baited.

>>21819240
NTA but you're sneeded.

What's the most honest fantasy book or series?

>>21818831
That's good to hear. Plenty of love for chinklit here, but not so much for the Russians.

>>21819325
Boring answer but LotR. Tolkien was extremely earnest and passionate about just creating his own mythological canon

>>21819325
Well that Brandon Sanderson guy hasn't written a subtext in his whole life.

>>21818704
>>21818788
>>21818734
>>21818740
>>21818790
>>21818765
>>21818757
>>21818723
>>21818726
>reading """progression fantasy"""
lol

>>21819352
is that some kind of r*ddit thing? I don't know that site.
Is there a place to see what is pozzed and what isn't?

>>21819356
All of it is pozzed but some of it is SUPER pozzed. r/progressionfantasy falls into the latter.

>>21819362
I meant, like, a list of books or whatever. I don't know how to search for what I want to avoid.

>>21819363
No you need to do manual research. If it's released after 2015 it's likely pozzed.

>>21819366
If I skip all books released after 2015, I'll have nothing new left to read.
LGBT, tag, that makes sense. What site is that? Sorry. I'm not very good with technology.

Thoughts on Robert a heinlein? He has 7 books at the library and curious about him.

>>21819370
You shouldn't want to read anything new. There are lifetimes worth to read already. Reject modernity.

>>21819377
Kind of 70s cringe, but exemplary if you want to vibe with that. His best pure storytelling comes in in his "juvies" which are basically coming of age in space books, like something a 50s Eagle Scout might read.

>>21819341
Of course this is before a time where the goal was for your shit to be picked up by a studio and thrown on a tv screen so you can collect royalties. Very fascinating that I had read LotR after watching the movies and had assumed

Gandalf = Merlin
Aragorn = Arthur

But holy hell, Tolkein had a hate boner for people who compared it to Arthurian Legend

>>21819325
Probably the guys that were around during the weird fiction era where it was not quite fantasy and not quite science fiction. Ray Palmer/Richard Shaver relationship was basically a writer exploiting a schizophrenic. The premise of the Deros and the Shaver Mystery are probably more interesting than the actual stories.

In fact Richard Shaver's art is so highly sought after (Rockfogo) because Richard was a nutjob and he didn't think he was drawing the art, he thought he was being manipulated by forces inside a rock

>>21819377
Amazing author, tons of fun. Starship Troopers is great but if it doesn't appeal to you right away try The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

>>21819325
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

lmao at all the seething over pozzed shit in Sufficiently Advanced Magic.
The book was complete ass right from the start. If you were retarded enough not to bail within the first 100 pages, you deserve to have your time wasted reading that gay trash.

>>21818262
Fuck you, Clarke, you retconning sonuvabitch! I know the writing and filming of 2001 was simultaneous, but your writing is still superior to Kubrick's special effects. You should have just made a deal with Kubrick that you write the books and he loosely followed them. Don't give me this crap that TMA-2 is suddenly transported from Saturn's Japetus to floating around in Jupiter's orbit. And your Dr. Chang radio transmission is far spookier than some silly green plasma bolt or whatever shooting out of Europa. The only thing Kubrick did right was cast Roy Scheider as Floyd in 2010 because he looks like a Heywood Floyd.
Thank you for coming to my vent post.

>>21818762
Robert Asprin's Myth-Adventures are fun reads with good humor. The co-written ones with Jody are not as fun.
Christopher Stasheff's Wizard in Rhyme books are fine if you are okay with medieval europe magic having religious tones.
Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber is a good read if you like fantasy intrigue but the second half goes a bit off the rails. I'll admit that I lost the plot by the seventh book.

/SFFG/ Recommendations:

Read Reverend Insanity, Lord of The Mysteries, Neuromancer, Hyperion, The Prince of Nothing

Also read The Wandering Inn, Between Two Fires, Mother of Learning, Cradle, I Shall Seal the Heavens, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Poppy War.

>>21819370
>What site is that? Sorry. I'm not very good with technology.
goodreads.com

>>21819385
No, there isn't. If I wanted high fantasy light adventure I have read over a hundred, most likely far more, of those sorts of books. There's a grand limit on them as time goes on, and same for many others.
I know you're LARPing, but at least think before you troll.
>>21819450
I'll look into ALL of those, thank you!

>>21818262
read them.

>>21818275
Michael Riley.

>>21818275
Muad Dib

>>21818275
Thorby Baslim

>>21818275
I'm intelligent, nihilistic and with a wicked sense of humor.
Yep, gotta be Kellhus.

>>21818479

>>21818275
Zorian Kazinski

>>21819674
He's literally me which makes you me

>>21819377
Stick with pre-1970s Heinlein. (After that he gets weird and meta which includes going meta on him own past writing.)

>>21819799
Glory Road is quite possibly the most meta work i have ever read.

>>21819816
>>21819377
I'm going to post some spoilers of Heinlein's Number of the Beast for you because it's a bad book and you shouldn't read it

>>21818275
Mat from WoT, only because i like milfs too
fuck Jordan for killing best girl Tylin

>>21819898
Filtered by superior Heinleinkino, go back to the expanse and red rising

Just finished Thousandfold Thought what a fucking ride.
What the fuck is it though is it like the Golden Path it's his plan for the future?

>>21818571
Enchanted Forest Chronicles

I want to write a proper space opera but haven’t found any books with competent prose. I’ve watched a ton of space opera tv but that isn’t the same. Any recs that aren’t fake and gay?

>>21819937
Sun-Eater is only gay.

>>21818571
Wings of Fire series.

>>21819898
>incestuous polygamy
How is it possible for one man to be this based

>>21819937
>Any recs that aren’t fake and gay?
The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson
Maybe Peter Hamilton

>>21819937
The Demon Princes by Jack Vance
You can't go wrong with based Vance, trust me.

>>21818966
Lost in Translation is fantastic. I know its a webnovel but its on the end of the spectrum where its closer to published work the word vomit.

>>21819921
The autist is trying to reach omnipotence

>>21818275
Puddleglum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SucJIoh3LCA

>>21818275
Hiro Protagonist.

>>21820013
What kind of schizo shit is this KEK

>>21820088
You mean the weird-ass covers?, They don't do a good job representing the content of the books, the books tell a fairly straightforward revenge plot in space. There's no naked spaceman swordfighting as far as I can remember.

Is it worth getting into the works of TED Klein?, How does he compare to other horror authors of the 80s like King, Barker or Campbell?

>>21820116
cringe, we need more stories about chad barbarians and greek goddesses in space

>>21820186
Edgar Dice Burroughs has you covered.

new SF Masterworks covers are so much better than the old ones

>>21818427
The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne is fun fantasy schlock

>>21820254
I read halfway through Princess of Mars, a lot less action and a lot more simping than I imagined.

>>21820278
Eh, I actually like the cheesy covers. Those aren't aren't new covers for SF Masterworks anyway, that's just for a 'best of' mini series they're doing.

>>21820279
I read that and it was pretty bad
world building is ok but the characters are kind of one dimensional, plot is bad, prose is bad, protagonists are constantly intentionally throwing and running into the antagonists who also allow them to get away any time

>>21820297
Not read faith of the fallen but his Bloodsworn Saga books are good.

>>21820356
No amazon, i will not read your recomendations.

Reminder that if you read and enjoy harem books you are effectively renouncing western society.

>>21820377
Based. Except unfortunately even western society is renouncing itself.

>>21820356
isnt this the sequel series to faithful and fallen tho?
>>21820315
ohhhh i see, i thought they were repubbing all their stuff with new covers like penguin classics is. i picked Grass and The Word For World Is Forest up today, man books are getting expensive lately. I need to start investing or get a better job!

>>21820377
>renouncing western society
B b b b based

>>21820377
I only read harem doujins, and by read I mean ignore the text and just jerk off to scenes where a bunch of impossibly hot sluts are worshipping the dude's cock.

>>21820388
>isnt this the sequel
No different story. Not sure if it is set in the same universe though. The dragon on the cover is a god called Lik-Rifa, if that god was in the other books possibly.

>>21818262

>>21820483

>>21820362
I swear more than half of Amazon's SFF recommendations these days are for litrpg and the rest is the same 4 authors. Their algorithm has sucked for too many years now. The rest of the site isn't much better.

>>21820013
Seconding this.

>>21820483
>martha wells
I think I recognize that name, they're writing fantasy now?

>>21819466
Quick run down?

>>21820490
The only thing amazon is good for is buying things you already know you want. Its a god awful product floor

>>21820483
>>21820485
are you expecting us to scream about how its endless trash or something?

>>21820536
anon, stop listening to the voices in your head

>>21820116
No I like covers it’s the book that’s weird as hell

>>21818275
I am literally Hector from the Zombie Knight Saga.
Even down to the abusive parents and the suicidal ideation.
He is literally me.
Too bad I do not have a therapist grim reaper to help me out and become a superhero.

>>21819377
I've read his big three: Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land. The military Starship Troopers is definitively his crowning achievement, a great sci-fi work with an interesting character development jampacked with political philosophy. Stranger has a mentor character that kind of lives up to this philosophy, but it struggles from a big part 2 problem which includes lack of narrative drive. Other than that, the first part comes of as a thriller made even better by the interesting aspects of the Martians. Top notch worldbuilding and use of concepts. Moon is alright, but it's pretty forgettable, with plot being a bit weak.

>>21820618
>Stranger has a mentor character that kind of lives up to this philosophy, but it struggles from a big part 2 problem which includes lack of narrative drive.
Lol check out citizen of the galaxy.

Thanks to the anon who recommended Red Rising a few threads ago to me, I'm finding Golden Sun much more enjoyable but Red Rising was still pretty S-tier YA

>you will never get an ending to Golden Sun
feels bad man
two great games and no release

>>21820417
>Not into point of view fantasy role play pornography.
2 dimensional degens lose again.
>>21820378
To what fantasy or science fiction society should we aspire then?

>>21820377
Polygeny is fundamentally western.

>>21820514
I've found a good deal of interesting recommendations at the bottom of the webpages of those items I searched for originally, and then those lead to other potentially good recommendations. I'd never have found C. Dale Brittain, Stephen Lawhead, Lois McMaster Bujold, John Howe, Tim Powers, John Broughton, or Louis de Wohl without those. Of course that's only the worthwhile 10% of the recommendations, and it can be a crapshoot with regards to the rest of the junk it offers, but it helps if you have taste in the first place and aren't browsing dogshit LitRPGs for amazon's algorithms to judge you by.

>>21820946
>To what fantasy or science fiction society should we aspire then?
There are a few notable ones. But lets go with the federation from starship troopers

>>21820959
...how do you figure?
Its been independantly practiced by societies all over the planet all throughout history.

>>21820997
I do not aspire to living in a society whose primary defining characteristic is suffering under an existential threat from giant genocidal space bugs.

Name the series

>>21821042
Setting aside for a moment that the question was what SOCIETY we should aspire to be like, not what narrative premise we want to experience...

>>21820999
I said it was fundamentally western, not uniquely.

>>21821058
FUCK i forgot the picture

I've taken an interest in learning about mythology lately, specifically Norse, Egyptian and Celtic. Any recommendations for good books on this subject? Apologies in advance if myths don't qualify as on-topic in this thread.

>>21821070
>Heimskringla
>The Prose Edda
>Thorsson, Edred; Runelore
>Crawford, Jackson; The Poetic Edda, Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
>Colum, Padraic; The Children of Odin
>Waggoner, Ben; The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok
>The Saga of King Hrolf Kaki
>Smilely, Jane; The Sagas of the Icelanders

>>21821070
Norse and Celtic mythologies are difficult to ascertain the "truth" of, because those cultures were illiterate (by design, since their religions quite literally forbade transcription of religious affairs) almost everything about them was documented by Christian priests, often many centuries after the conversion of the societies in which they lived, based on garbled oral transmission. It becomes very difficult to determine whether a particular theological device is indigenous or a Christian interpolation.
If you accept that limitation, your best bet is to look at the Poetic and Prose Eddas for Norse mythology, and the Mabinogion for Celtic mythology.

Egyptology is a much more developed field and has considerable primary documentation with which to reconstruct ancient Egyptian religion with a reasonable degree of accuracy. You can probably get a decent summary of Egyptian religion from a wikipedia article, or a generic search on Amazon or something. If you're into non-Egyptian middle-eastern religions though, you're in deep shit - almost all scholarly work on the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Mesopotamians, etc is done by Continental European universities that don't translate their journals into English.

>>21821070
>>21821110
oh and I forgot to mention: Thomas Bulfinch's "Mythology" contains a reasonable summarized overview of major mythological traditions, but they are strictly encyclopedic, not literary

>>21821110
>almost everything about them was documented by Christian priests, often many centuries after the conversion of the societies in which they lived, based on garbled oral transmission
this is what makes larping pagans (especially the ones who call themselves pagan or heathen) so funny to me. the irony of throwing off their father's religion to follow a 'religion' their ancestors didn't even follow, based off of what christians had to say about it or what christians translated.
>>Pa"gan, a. [L. paganus of or pertaining to the country, pagan. See Pagan, n.]
>Of or pertaining to pagans; relating to the worship or the worshipers of false gods; heathen; idolatrous, as, pagan tribes or superstitions.

>>Hea"then (hē"th'n), a.
>1. Gentile; pagan; as, a heathen author. "The heathen philosopher." "All in gold, like heathen gods." Shak.
>2. Barbarous; unenlightened; heathenish.
>3. Irreligious; scoffing.

>>21821147
yeah larpagans are cringe as hell, but it's still depressing to learn that the closest we'll ever come to knowing what those religions were really about is cutting off all the chaff innovations and using linguistic comparisons to get a more genericized Indo-European overview
and that applies to Greek and Roman religion too, since the Greeks changed their entire pantheon after Hesiod, which is a lot like basing your entire knowledge of Christianity off of Dante's Inferno

Bakker is King.

Simple as.

>The Name of the Wind, chapter 55
Guys I'm fairly convinced this author is actually good

>>21821212
I'm totally convinced that you enjoy cuck porn.

>>21821214
I havent gotten to that part yet, so we will see

>>21818427
I asked this a few weeks ago and got no answers. Thank you for being more popular than me

The self-published fantasy harem smut that I like to read has become far less appealing to me now that all the covers are AI generated. They're not any better now than typical tradpub fantasy covers even though they all have giant tits on them. Why don't authors and publishers understand that the cover is the soul of the book?

>>21821238
>the cover is the soul of the book?
On the shelf, maybe. Theres a reason properly made books have largely blank front and back covers...

>>21821238
Feels like I've only seen a couple authors switch over to AI-generated covers on that front. David Burke is one.

https://www.wired.com/story/brandon-sanderson-is-your-god/

>>21821298
Brandon Sanderson writes anime plots for people with an 8th grade reading level, nothing wrong with that

>>21821091
>>21821110
>>21821132
Thank you, wasn't expecting such a quick response.
>almost all scholarly work on the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Mesopotamians, etc is done by Continental European universities that don't translate their journals into English.
This is a shame. Groups like the Canaanites were mentioned in the Bible but weren't given much detail so I just had to fill in the blanks when visualizing them.

>>21821306
There is however something wrong with his editors.

What's your favourite Hugo award winning novel?

>>21821327
Whomst is hugo?

>>21821298
Excerpted:
Sanderson makes about $10 million. Last year, he made $55 million.
I came to the WIRED offices ready to gossip. Nobody had the first clue who or what I was talking about.
Sanderson...has not been written about in any depth by any major publication ever. I called his publicist to confirm this.
In fact, at that first dinner, over flopsy Utah Chinese...I find Sanderson depressingly, story-killingly lame.
Maybe nobody writes about you, I say to Sanderson, because you don’t write very well...He agrees.
Graphomania is the name of the condition: the constant compulsion to get words out, down, as much and as quickly as possible.
Most days, he wakes up at 1 pm, exercises, and writes for four hours. Break for the wife and kids. Then he writes for four more. After that he plays video games or whatever until 5 am. A powerful sleeping pill is all that works, finally, to get him, and the voices in his head, to shut up.
Most will hear this and think: At that rate, none of the words could possibly be any good. They’d be right, in a way, and that’s what Sanderson agrees with.
Sanderson has said: “I detest rewriting,” “I write for endings,” and “I write to relax.” It shows. He writes, by one metric, at a sixth-grade reading level.
Sanderson is a bad writer; I’ve already said it.
If it’s worldbuilding, it’s only worldbuilding one thing: the worldbuilder’s world.
Sanderson feels no pain...I ask Sanderson later to confirm this, he does but asks if I really have to print it. I’m sorry, I say. I really do...Turns out Sanderson doesn’t seem to feel pain of any kind, even emotional...She likes to say she married an android..That’s one of the reasons he writes, he says: to feel human.
“As I build books,” Sanderson says, as I sit there, for once entirely enraptured, “God builds people.”
Sanderson shines in these situations. He’s your god, but he’s your friend too.
So many of us mistake sentences for story, but story is the thing. Things happening. Characters changing. Surprise endings
The surprise is that it was Sanderson’s ending all along, the ending of his best books. A character becomes a god, and the god beholds his planet below. If Sanderson is a writer, that is all he is doing. He is living his fantasy of godhead on Earth.

>>21821332
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Gernsback

it's kinda a shame his prose is so shitty cause I think the mistborn setting and characters and magic are pretty cool

>>21821460
>it's kinda a shame his prose is so shitty cause I think the setting and characters and magic are pretty cool
sums up pretty much every fantasy novel in the past 20 years

>>21821460
The Cosmere would have been cool if he decided to have actually completed it.

>>21819136
not cucking, she was a widow. Just helping a granny to get some coomies

>>21821238
>Why don't authors and publishers understand that the cover is the soul of the book?
Most of Harem covers are so fucking dogshit that AI is a significant improvement. Most of them are still souless 'pretty girl with nothing else', but a person with two brain-cells can cook up something decent.

>>21821238
So you read the covers and not the books?

>>21821327
Starship Troopers is pretty tight. There's nothing really wrong with it and it's short enough that it can't overstay its welcome. The Dispossessed is the best written though.

>>21821581
You cannot tell me this book (it's great) wouldn't be better off with good cover.

>>21821592
I wouldn't read it because it has chink shit on the cover.

for some reason I had this idea in my mind that each LOTR book would be like 1000+ pages and that's what kinda put me off from reading them

>>21821621
I just remembered A Wise Man's Fear is almost as big as all three of TLOTR books put together. That's crazy.

>>21818751
That's a man.

Should I read Kull of Atlantis before Conan the Barbarian since it takes place earlier in the timeline or does it not matter?

>>21821673
It doesn't matter, really.

How to >we feel about this, /sffg/?

>>21820388
>sequel series to faithful and fallen
that one is called blood and bone and is worse than the first one which was already bad
plot revolves around horny angels and demons and half breeds in the same world but at a much reduced scale characters are just as shallow with just as scuffed of a plot

What are some light-hearted fantasy novels with romance?
Based on the lit charts I've added Stardust and Princess Bride to my list but I've already seen the films.
Thanks.

So i have read roadside picnic and it's hard to be a god. I wonder if there's more books by the brothers, that are recommended and have good translation available. Anyone has an opinion?

>>21819223
I read that last week and it was boring. the Kraken Wakes is way better.

Sandersneed bros... not like this!
https://www.wired.com/story/brandon-sanderson-is-your-god/

>>21819394
> The premise of the Deros and the Shaver Mystery are probably more interesting than the actual stories.
People are reading Alan Walton's Inner Earth

>>21818275
why, conan of course

>>21820490
>>21820514
The recs are full of them but, weirdly, Amazon doesn't have a litrpg book category for best sellers. DCC is tops in "Changeling Gaming" (whatever that is), while Primal Hunter is #1 in "Cyberpunk". I don't see a pure litrpg or progression category anywhere.

>>21822139
Categories seem to be... Very arbitrary on Amazon, sometimes.

>>21822143
I believe that authors can suggest tags for their book but the Amazon system also automatically assigns them. There have been several examples of authors complaining their books were put in stupidly wrong categories.

>>21822139
Amazon more frequently recommends books that agree to be locked into KDP and of course authors can pay for ads. Self-published litrpg authors tend to do both.

>>21822098
>coastal journalist with a useless degree and shattered delusions of grandeur shits all over a hard working and very successful rural American.
I don’t even like Sandersoy, but fuck this writer. Crying because he had to watch some shitty movie and eat Utah Chinese food, what a pathetic fag. California can’t sink soon enough.

>>21822139
>>21822143
>>21822179
I swear some LitRPG books I've checked on Amazon keep changing genres. I'm 99% sure I saw 'Gamelit' tag or something similar, but now even typical LitRPGs get 'Cyberpunk' or 'Sci-fi'. I love Litrpgs, but this situation is absurd. Downright insane how bad book categories on Amazon are.

>>21818751
What are those things on her feet

>>21822276
Those aren't feet, those are insults to God's creation

>>21819366
>Young Adult
>LGBT
6 million jews wasn't enough.

>>21822342
Change your diaper bro.

>>21822098
>>21821298
>not reading the thread

>>21822407
>reading the thread

>>21822255
Salt Lake is about as risk as Tel Aviv

Malazan, yes or no?

>>21822276
Bunions from wearing tight/pointy shoes too much. That's how you know it's a woman. Even a man dumb enough to geld himself for social media likes isn't so insecure about the shape of his feet that he's going to wear wrong size shoes 16 hours a day erryday.

>>21822714
I like it.
Easily my favorite massive fantasy series.

>>21820417
hello fellow man of culture, i just discovered one that you might enjoy
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/64703/dungeons-and-dalliances-harem-litrpg-female-lead

>>21822714
Yes, but it's a story with 200+ main characters and so many information blackspots that it looks like a swiss cheese, and it doesn't give a damn if you can follow along or not.

>>21822714
do you like fantasy stories with an actual plot or do you like a 10,000 character POV historical document of things happening that the characters neither influence nor live to witness the consequences of

>>21822714
Yes, a lot of people say it's hard to follow but i never had that problem, but i'm not an autist obsessed with magic systems and le epic lore.

>>21822816
Anything can be followed easily if the reader has no interest in comprehension.

>All The Skills by Honor Rae

[The Story and Characters]

Arthur is a 12-year-old that lives in a frontier town tilling dragon soil and reclaiming scourge lands for his local Barony. These lands kill dozens each year through sickness but everyone in his village continues... because they must. Shirking his responsibilities and following the Baron's men from the village, he is witness to a dragon attack on a heavily defended carriage. What the dragon and Arthur discover in that carriage is a Legendary Skill Card. To spite the Duke that dragon decides to grant a miserable boy from the wastes this card meant for KINGS.

Arthur returns home with this card in his Heart and learns of Heart Decks. It turns out this Legendary Skill Card is only 1 of a set... As he searches for his father, he learns that just by having this card slotted its improved his health and stamina. Smarter, better, faster, stronger. In the short time before he finds his father he manages to level his Woodcutting and Cooking Skills, becoming aware of proper technique for both as he goes.

Upon finding his father, Calvan reveals that they used to be of the Barony... but his land was taken. Everyone in their foul village on the edge of civilization is a criminal who has taken an oath never to leave or pick up a card again. In the interest of protecting Arthur, he sends him away with a trade caravan and a trusted family friend. Though his time with the caravan is short, he is able to pick up a myriad of new skills including Gambling, Card Shuffling and an awareness of any game he sees being played. The moment he gains a skill, it automatically starts at level 3 making him more than proficient.

Unfortunately this leads him into trouble... and owing a favor to the Second in command for the caravan. After a Scourge Eruption occurs and several demonic monsters nearly destroy the caravan, Arthur and Second are dispatched to check bodies and see if they can get any card shards for their efforts. Arthur's time around these gruff men has led him to pick-up some unsavory habits... like sleight of hand. After being caught trying to steal a card, Second tries to kill him only to ACTIVATE that card. It teleports Arthur to a safe location where he's recovered by a dragon rider and brought to a local hive, a nest where dragons meet their riders and sync their cards.

Arthur enters an orphanage filled with others who aspire to create their own cards and bond with a dragon. Having to hide the fact that he has a Legendary Card AND survive, the boy struggles at first until making some friends and a name for himself at a local restaurant and in the orphanage kitchens.

>>21822714
I had to stop halfway through because I'd completely lost track of it

>>21822962
[The System]

Described as a Deck Building LitRPG and probably one of the most unique and fulfilling methods of delivery. When magical creatures are born, they automatically generate a card. If they are killed these cards can be acquired by humans and slotted in their 'Heart Decks'. These cards become a part of them and grant them Body Skills, Magic Skills or Utility Skills.

Arthur's card is a Utility-based Skill and pays off in massive dividends, as he can use cutting techniques learned from cooking in his combat. As the narrative progresses he seeks card shards, pieces of a card that can be united to form a Common, Uncommon, Rare, etc. cards depending on the quality of the pieces used. The most important part being corner pieces that frame the card and complete it. Certain cards will synergize with others and even a dragon's natural card, allowing both the dragon and rider to develop more complex skills.

[Final Thoughts]

Great system, great story, but just an interesting world so far. There's a few transitions in the story that felt off at first but everything found a steady rhythm in the end. The final act was incredibly rushed and you could remove some earlier scenes to give this act far more weight. I listened to this on audio with Luke Daniels narrating (same dude from Iron Prince) and I can't recommend it. His voice for the dragons is something like Barney the Dinosaur and it hurt to listen to.

8/10

>Currently Reading
The Human Emperor by Huangfu Qi

>Currently Listening
Portal to Nova Roma by JR Mathews

>>21822974
>8/10
That high, huh? I'm a little surprised. I liked it well enough but I had my problems with Arthur, well... Not really feeling like his age? It was mollified a bit by that time-skip that happen, but still. Also feels like it's coasting hard on the system itself being interesting, which it CONCEPTUALLY is, but in practice so far we've seen a couple neat tricks, and then also "Arthur just gets a LitRPG skill system" and by the way things are going, the entire set is just a bunch of different types skills that'll, as a set bonus, give him a "full" LitRPG system. Though given we've seen three out of five (the utility one, the body enhancement one in the ending, and that guy who was clearly using a combat skill one), kinda makes me wonder what the others even are. Probably magic and then that final card that in and of itself doesn't do much but make the rest of its set better.
The card stuff in general feels like it should be more interesting than it is, but maybe later books will delve into doing more with it.

>>21822999
Arthur fit as a 12-year-old, just because of his natural method of reacting to things. It was when the time skip occurred that his character took a drop for me, still acting about the same without considering all the experience he would've gained over the last few years if his schedule was as pressing as the author implied. I agree that conceptually the system is interesting and that we've seen very little, but the author has tried to showcase with mixed success. I thought the Dragon Rider with past sight was cool, as was Arthur's trick in the end when he drew from someone else's deck anchor. There's not a lot of big dick showcases (even that duel in the story was weak) but there's definitely potential.

I think Arthur's character and the nature of talking dragons was a full point off for me, the other being a few hiccups in Act transitions. Other than that, I think it was consistently interesting and played around with progression fantasy ideas well. The Storage Space Heist was enjoyable if not short as fuck.

>>21822999
I don't think it's that surprising. That's 4 now that have now read and rated it in sffg. One 5 star, two four stars, and one three star.

Here's the other review that was posted here for those interested.
>>/lit/thread/S21736695#p21742402

>>21822962
>>21822974
>>21823022
your """reviews""" are SHIT
fuck off

>>21822974
is portal to nova roma good? i thought about reading but the description looked good and corny at the same same

What do we think of Brandon Sanderson

>>21823095
The two current ratings are 2 and 5 for it, so it'll be interesting to see what Of 20 thinks.

>>21823100
A solid writer who's consistently just 'pretty good' at best. Does some pretty great moments and characters, but fumbles with pacing and his insistence on making every arc in a book only resolved in the end means you have about fifty lines all held up by nothing but arbitrariness.

>>21823100
The most honest and most accurate answer to that is there's a dominant majority opinion with many dissenters for a variety of reasons.

>>21823095
Enjoyed Jake's Magical Market by the same author (until the last quarter-ish, really), haven't checked out Nova Roma yet. Sounds... Potentially fun.

>>21823106
>>21823108
I'm on the second Mistborn book. It seems to be how the first anon said - feels like I'm reading the book adaptation of a mid 00s JRPG. OK story, one dimensional characters, cool magic but bad pacing. Not sure I'll read much else

I figured out what I hate about The Belgariad. For one, it's every single relationship being written like something out of a bad sitcom - the bumbling, incompetent husband and the cool, calm, collected, eye-rolling wife.
I also hate that everything in the story is predestined, not just because it's predestined but because the characters know everything is predestined and still horrifically punish antagonists for doing things they had to do for the prophecy they're so slavishly obeying to progress. Most of all with the sorcerer at the very end, who gets entombed in rock in the center of the Earth for killing Durnik - even though the memory of Durnik and the emotion over him being dead is the only way Polgara can defeat Torak. And then Durnik comes back to life, not just without consequences but now with the power of sorcery. And the sorcerer they buried in the Earth is totally forgotten about. It rubs me as evil.

>>21823121
Also, any time Garion shows even a hint of a personality Polgara, Belgarath or the voice in his head quickly beat it out of him.

>>21823115
Mistborn 2 is the worst of the trilogy until the Narnia ending of Book 3.

>>21823100
Turned 3 decent ya books into a lifelong career writing really bad ya books. Basically male JK Rowling.

>>21823144
until Spook fucking all the bitches

>>21823106
Wtf a good insightful post on /sffg/? Good post, anon. I'm proud of You.

>>21823173
Thanks stepdad

>>21823030
Ohh, very cool to see others adopting the format. I've been trying to condense my shit when not reviewing personal requests. Might try his method of brass tax on the system...

>>21823080
Thanks, babe. 14 books to go until I've got 20 cultivation novels and 20 litRPGs.

>>21823095
I'm only about 3 chapters in and the perspective is definitely interesting but the character's voice is almost too authentically analytic for an AI transitioning to a human body. Over-detailing even the nuances to demonstrate this analytical mind. If the author somehow writes the MC becoming more human over time, I'll shit myself because if done right it would be incredible.

>>21823173
It's a pretty basic opinion, I think. I could go into more thorough detail, but there's honestly not a lot to ACTUALLY say? Is he a remarkable writer? Only in terms of output, I'd say (and the consistency of said output, it's not throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks, it's all generally in the same ballpark of quality).
He's at his best when he's actually constrained, because his best work is Emperor's Soul and that's a short story (or a novella I forget which) set largely in one room with like four or five major characters.
Cosmere isn't necessarily a bad concept, but it's one thing to say "these are all linked in a multiverse" and have some cameos here and there, it's another thing to have a broad story about said multiverse that you just kind of won't 'get' unless you read every one of them. Sanderson doesn't know what a "self-contained" story is.
I haven't read Tress or Lost Metal, admittedly, so I haven't kept up-to-date with his work, but his recent stuff also did seem to kind of falter because of having to factor in the Cosmere or just sort of clearly not as concisely planned-out as some of his other stories (Rhythm of War just reeks of him not knowing what to do with Kaladin and Shallan's character arcs so they just retread old ground, meanwhile Adolin's got some cool shit going on).

>>21823187
>If the author somehow writes the MC becoming more human over time
Honestly that's half an idea I actually had to write involving a robot-protagonist LitRPG who slowly grows from a barely-aware machine running on its programming to becoming a true person. Might read Nova Roma to see if that inspires me on that front though they make it a point the protagonist there is already a fully sentient AI, yeah?

>>21823187
It's brass tacks, not tax.

That article about Sanderson and all the butthurt in the "community" has shed some light on how dumb these manchildren are when it comes to critical thinking and how uncultured they truly are.
>no no, you can't meet someone then write poorly about them
So thank you, Jason whatever, for the laughs.

Some Youtuber's voice was actually quivering while defending Sanderson, lmao

>>21823204
This original reading jaunt started as research for my own writings, just like most people here. Give it a try, tell me what you think of the book. I usually wrap these audiobooks in around 4 days.

>>21823216
Holy shit, you're right. My bad.

>>21821821
Bridge of Birds

>>21823220
I'll give it a try, but I'm currently (for some reason) reading the Spellheart series by Marvin Knight, which is... A harem LitRPG cultivation... Thing. I liked the Paladin series by the same guy, but this one feels a bit more meandering, whereas the Paladin stuff was kind of aping pulp in a way. Maybe it gets better, but there's a whole lot of "protagonist just kind of gets his shit kicked in in every important fight".

I really ought to have been collecting the reviews posted in this thread, but I wrongly assumed they would be mad accessible elsewhere, or at least more easily here. I still could do that though and maybe I will sometime.

Are there any rapes or attempted rapes in any Sanderson books?
https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2018/03/03/rape-in-tolkiens-middle-earth-part-i/

>>21823239
Sanderson is probably one of the most sexless fantasy writers outside of YA. There's like one innuendo and that's from Hoid trying to be funny. He even mentioned a story where his editor asked him "Hey, so, are Vin and Elend sleeping together?" and he said "...Yeah, but I'm not really gonna bring it up because it doesn't matter too much".

>>21823243
>"...Yeah, but I'm not really gonna bring it up because it doesn't matter too much"
based anti-coomer

>>21823100
>What if I suck the supernatural and mystery completely out of magic and write basically YA for adults?

>>21823249
>based anti-coomer
It's funny because he finished WoT and Robert Jordan was a certified coomer

>>21823121
you sound like the sort of person who doesn't like star wars except for empire strikes back

>>21823239
He wrote a cuckolding novella. There's attempted sexual assault in Warbreaker. There's various stuff but I don't remember where from at the moment.

>>21823243
>>21823249
It definitely becones a hindrence when hes writing adult relationships. Like i get dancing around it with younger characters but hes got men and women in their 30s acting like school children, its tiring.

>>21823100
I tried listening to The Way of Kings audio book while playing vidya (since I didn't want to waste time reading it). After several hours, I knew there was nothing there for me so I dropped it.

>>21823204
>robot-protagonist LitRPG who slowly grows from a barely-aware machine running on its programming to becoming a true person
That's Zima Blue in reverse

>>21823279
I kinda liked the sexlessness of his books. It's slightly less cringy than Game of Thrones tier sex scenes anyway

>>21823267
I only like the prequels.

>>21823279
>>21823315
I'm sure the Mormons would eviscerate him if he wrote sex scenes

>>21823327
I wish Mormons could decide whether they're cringe or based and stick to it.

>>21818625
Okay, I have to hear more about this please.

>>21819654
Never heard of it. What makes the elemental magic so interesting? And what about the other magics?

>>21823100
A milquetoast writer with mass appeal. His books are basically the MCU of fantasy books.

>On x1 speed the Zach character sheet chapter is 20 minutes long
Infinite Realm audiobookfags, is this true? My friend has been telling me all about it and I didn't even consider it but I know when I read on my Kindle, I am mindlessly skipping 14-20 pages whenever any major character's sheet is posted.

>>21823315
Its not the sexlessness thats the problem, its the fact that the characters themselves are somehow oblivious of sex. They literally dont act like mating age homo sapiens.
>inb4 theyre recreations of humans
Die

>>21823452
Why do you read it then?

I've read clark ashton smith and jack vance short stories, but now I want a novel to read. any recs for similar writing style? In particular good characters/dialog.

>>21823481
I'm a "mating age human" and I don't think of sex 24/7. Many such cases

>>21823533
Do enjoy spouting a fallacy for no fucking reason?
Who said anything about 24/7?
Shit yourself, you are an insult.

>>21818859
We might be better off if it were relocated to >>>/sci/

>>21823481
Not everyone is sex obsessed new yorker

>>21823572
Its actually kind of crazy that at least two people read
"Literally never think of sex"
And in their brains, think
"Well should they always think of sex?"

What the fuck are your brains????

>>21823555
>>21823588
Calm down. You're the one getting upset that there isn't sex in a young adult series, Coomer

>>21823588
Do you write for Wired lmao

>>21823595
>point out a writers quirk
>upset
The real question is why youre so defensive over it. What precicely about it strikes which specifix nerve for you.

>>21823606
The fact that you're upset that there's no sex in a series that wouldn't benefit from having them

>>21823609
>them
It

>>21823609
Hmmm, nope?
I said
>>21823481
>Its not the sexlessness thats the problem

At this point however i am actually upset by you making shit up in your head despite my literal words to the contrary being right fucking there for you to see.
Stop doing that.

>>21823615
Calm down, woman. Not everyone wants sex scenes in their shitty fantasy, no matter what you're trying to say

>>21823623
Lmao so you default back to the initial bullshit after being shut down...

By mister bones own hand

>>21823525
When you hens are done clucking, I still have my question here

>>21823636
We got it the first time, you're a coomer

>>21823639

>>21823656
See >>21823481

>>21823662
See >>21823656

>>21823688
See >>21823662

>>21823658

>>21821110
>If you accept that limitation, your best bet is to look at the Poetic and Prose Eddas for Norse mythology

Problem is, correct if I'm being wrong, that the eddas are skaldic poetry and therefore more literature than a source material. So as other anon said:
>>21821166
>the Greeks changed their entire pantheon after Hesiod, which is a lot like basing your entire knowledge of Christianity off of Dante's Inferno

a podcast on the matter: https://askhistorians.libsyn.com/askhistorians-podcast-episode-193-the-norse-religion-with-steelcan909

>>21823525
Read Vance's space opera novels then
Emphyrio
Cadwall chronicles
Demon princes
Ports of call and lurulu
Big planet
Planet of adventure

If you want something in a similar vein with melancholy and good characterisation, read the 1000 world stories by grrm
Dying of the light
Windhaven
Tuf voyaging

>>21823707
>which is a lot like basing your entire knowledge of Christianity off of Dante's Inferno
To be fair, much modern christianities conceptualizations are ripped straight from dante.

>>21823289
That was an interesting story, not sure I get it though, but maybe that's the point.

>>21823714
Hey thanks my man,solid recs

>>21823733
No problem *kiss*

>https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_the_Batman_franchise

I just want comfy books

>>21823733
No worries man, one short story that I would also recommend from grrm's 1000 is the lonely songs of Lauren dorr, one of his best works

>>21823707
I like listening to podcasts on stuff like this but man was this weak.
>So uhh basically we don't know anything
>Except yt ppl bad just gotta throw that in so I don't get cancelled

>>21822714
It's above average, but that's about it.

He spends a lot of time skipping continents/PoV(s) with each book, which is rather annoying.

I stopped reading on book 5 or 6 when I quickly found out the entire book was a flashback.

>>21822974
I'm surprised you liked it enough to give it 8/10. It's well-written (for self-pub), but I the author struggles with squeezing the potential out the world and sytem he'd created. Honestly, it's more of a cliche fantasy story than a usual LitRPG, you could take out Cards and add some more common magic system without compromising the story.

As I said in my review, it's not bad, but I have a feeling book 2 will show whether the author can maintain the quality. Insofar as I read book 2's published chapters...the author has a real plot in mind, but he doesn't quite manages to stitch everything up. Amusingly, 'All the Skills' is more of a reverse-LitRPG - good story and characters with a System that drags behind. Typically, the genre has problems with plots and characters, so it's a weird case. I assume Honor Rae is just a decent Author that wrote the story in LitRPG style due to good community. Seriously, as a young author why would you try getting into the traditional community when LitRPG are fresh, hot and the bar there is so low?

I maintain my 6.75/10 rating, but I'd be more than happy if the story became one of the classics of the genre.

>>21823402
>Okay, I have to hear more about this please.
I'm not that much into BtDEM to remember it, but the author has made a chapter where he explains it:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/36299/beneath-the-dragoneye-moons/chapter/583066/interlude-the-magic-elements-explained

>>21822098
The absolute sneering contempt this guy has for Sanderson for literally just being a well-adjusted guy instead of some burnt out druggie or "i write to process the trauma of being diddled" type is hilarious.

>>21824044
>>21822098
I don't understand. I'm really out of the loop, but is that satire?

>>21820505
man goes for a hike
finds himself on an earth where humans never evolved, there is a different dominant, intelligent species that's about to enter a sort of industrial revolution.
Man is increasingly alienated by the different species & society, while simultaneously an a highly valuable asset since he's got a basic understanding of technology that's hundreds of years more advanced.

>>21824049
SF tech writer visits Sanderson in Utah for what is presumably supposed to be a hit piece, finds out he's literally just some dude and there's no material, gets insecure about himself and spends an entire article talking about Sanderson, Mormonism, his friends, family and fans and SFF in general in the most backhanded way possible. In the end he never arrives at any meaningful point, just meanders and insults everyone involved.

>>21824065
Meh, making fun of Sando for his books is one thing, but trying to go after him ad hominem is cringe as fuck. He looks like a really nice guy.

We need a Bakker themed thread sometime.

>>21824079
Truth shines, friend.

>>21822098
>>21824044
>>21824065
It's hilarious how Brando Sando is so mediocre and typical that he doesn't even have decency of being a schizo or weird person. He just writes average fantasy schlock that clueless retards cosnider to be masterpieces, that's all.

The worst angle you can look at him is him being so Mormonic he is unsure about gay people, but even then liberal mainstream subsumed him to the point he wrote a post where he said he's conflicted about that.

I hate Brando Sando writing as much as anyone here, but there really isn't anything special to the guy.

>>21824086
He's the Chick-fil-a of fantasy. He's conservative, but not enough for people to stop "eating" his books. He's competent enough to sell a lot and has a good branding (the Cosmere) he caters to normies, he doesn't take risks, he writes and pumps out new books extremely fast. MCU of fantasy, really, but not woke.

Going after him for his mormonism/conservative views is actually pathetic. They have nothing else on the guy. He's just your regular american family guy.

>>21824044
>sanderson
>well adjusted
Uh...

>>21824095
No see, chick-fil-a has manners. Dio brando leaves you feeling like you just got cursed out by a homeless man.

>>21824122
he cute

>>21824136
He's fat so no

>>21824138

>>21824095
>just your regular american family guy
>that has millions he "tithes" to an organized religious organization that routinely abuses and torments people

>>21824554
anon are you confusing mormonism for scientology?

>>21823100
Great worldbuilding and decent plots and characters held back by high school tier prose. Still fun to read

>>21824592
His prose is one thing, but his characters are worse than that. He's creative, but that doesn't seem to help him as much as it should.

Hot take: Someone who lacks in prose quality simply cannot write good characters.

What even is litrpg
Is it like a "choose your own adventure" book but with rpg mechanics like...leveling up as you read? Do you like "play" as the protagonist and every now and then you get to decide what happens? Help me understand

i like brando sando because he's just a normie nerd who likes to imagine worlds and write a lot and isn't a smug pretentious cunt about it
his books may be mediocre but there's nothing wrong with the guy
i would even say he's wholesome

>>21824611
keyed

>>21824606
no you just self insert and live out your high school chuuni fantasies vicariously through the protagonist

>>21824611
My day was neither ruined nor improved after reading this post.

>>21822746
>Her body.
>Something had changed.
>Something between her legs. Something was there, that hadn’t been, before.
>What?
>For the second time, Natalie’s brain blanked out.
>She pulled on her waistband and looked down. The fabric to her pants didn’t yield much, only letting Natalie pull a few inches out, and it was dark inside the moonlit church, but it was enough to identify the problem. To … discern the invader.
>The piece of biology that had definitely not been there before.
>She had a cock.
>A dick. Tucked into her underwear. It sat there, soft and wrinkly and … dick-like.
Nigga fuck off with this shit lmao

>>21822746
>>21824639
I don't quite mind Futa if it's good written, but yeah, the fic should be tagged with it, the other Anon is right. I assumed the story will be a based lesbain harem, and Futa isn't quite that.

>>21824643
The author mentions it, anon posted a screencap, I just didn't bother to read it lol

>finish book
>forget mostly everything that happened
what the fuck

>>21824668
You simply read it too fast anon. You treated it like you're back in college cramming for a test the next day. You have to slow it down and savor it if you want it to stick with you

>>21824668
It must have been unremarkable desu
I personally remember the overall plot of almost ALL books I've read in my life, which seems to be the only sector my memory works whatsoever, but characters and names of things still escape me. Only the plot matters, anyway.

>>21824683
Anon I limit myself 2 chapters a day. 1 chapter after lunch and the other after dinner.
>>21824686
Fair enough

>>21824668
Me but I simply read too much to remember everything I touch in detail.

>>21822746
>via her class
I NEED to know what the class is, I'm wracking my brain and can't think of any rpg class that would necessitate having a cock

>>21824747
Trapper

>>21824668
Why even read desu?

>>21824760
to make time move faster

>>21824747
A paladin of lust, says so in like the 3rd or 4th chapter

Ok so litrpg is just character development and growth being replaced by explicit stats then?

>>21824668
I am very guilty of this - my memory is terrible. unironically, when I'm done reading a book I write a very high level plot and thematic summary of it.

>>21824911
Do you find that just writing this summary helps retain what you read or do you have to consult the summary to jog your memory?

>>21824904
Not really. It's just numbers being put to a character's abilities. Sometimes it's tied into character development, sometimes it replaces it, sometimes it's just a 'thing'.

>>21824558
Nta but mormonism has its fair share of scandals. Its less an issue because theyre more decentralized than scientology, so you cant paint all mormons with the same brush. But their sexual scandals are at least on par with the christian average.

>>21824943
I'd say both. I've read books, forgot about em, heard folks here and elsewhere mention the books - tried to remember what they were about, and then consulted my quick summary, and as soon as I do that I get a whole flood of memories about the book.

>>21824606
How many times are you going to paste this question in? For what purpose?

>>21825003
003
>>21825033
033
>>21825333
333

>>21825358

>>21825333
It's literally the first time I ask about it mate.

sanderson's attempt to make wayne talk like some british guy is kinda cringe desu