/lit/ - Literature

>>21897802
Wot's the OP image from?

THE
WINDS
OF
WINTER

W H E N
H
E
N

C'MON GEORGE FRIGGING GET IT TOGETHER

About to read Yukikaze.
>Aliens in Antarctica
>We know what their aircraft look like because aircraft have to follow the laws of aerodynamics, but we don't know what they look like.
Sounds fun.

>>21897814
You'll die first, choom.

>>21897814
One more layer of hilarity must be on top.
Whatever game comes out after Elden Ring must come out first.
And again he has to help write some of the story for that game. God I hope it's Sekiro 2.

Speaking of.
Any ninja or samurai stuff anyone would rec?

I finished this yesterday and didn’t get the chance to post but damn is it kino. Far better than the first. The opening scene, established as a bit of a gimmicky play with pov, is actually the setup to the entire idea of the book, not paid off until the last few pages? I savor that shit. Genuinely did not expect the clearly very dorky chink who wrote this to have that in him. I might just get why this series is so wanked over.
The only issue I have is that this book is so satisfying on its own, I have less motivation to read the next one. I can feel that some of the ‘magic’ will be gone, whatever is pulled. Nonetheless, excited. I love ‘idea soup’ sci-fi, and the 1st one scratched that itch, but the way the dark forest theory was treated in this one is better than all the tech exposition in the entire series.

>>21897896
This entire post is spoilers.
I haven't read that but your post is really interesting to me because: How can humanity do anything after the first book? The unfolded atoms and fucked with our physics apparently. Knowing that the next book gets even more exciting is a strange feeling because I feel like we were left with no recourse in the first book.

Good to know, anon. I'll move it up the reading order.

>>21897806
frank frazetta, death dealer 3

I just finished Roadside Picnic and for the first time in a long time I don't know what to read next.

>>21897923
Didn’t you finish the first book? Humans are bugs, but when have we ever defeated bugs? The sophons fuck with physics research at the atomic level, but can’t really do shit macroscopically. So humanity’s lost whatever instant win switch the centuries before the fleet arrives may have given us, but we can still win while playing without hacks, if we don’t fuck it up. That’s what the book explores- and not at all in the way you’d expect, but also in a way much less gimmicky than a video game and razor wire.

I’m a science fiction guy who usually has a tough time with fantasy, but I decided to give one a go for the first time in a long while and read The Neverending Story, it was great.
Are there any recommended Fantasy Books that actually feel like alien worlds with unique concepts? Tolkien-style fantasy bores me (as well as Arthurian style), but stuff like The Neverending Story or A Wrinkle In Time or Oz/Wonderland I love. I’d be totally down for a book like these that isn’t for kids but I don’t mind if it happens to be, so long as its imaginative and interesting.

>>21894795
thanks ill give it a try

>>21897995
Not this guy but does anyone have any recs for sci-fi that edges on fantasy?
Just finished Raft and thought it was neat.

>>21897995
The Phantom Tollbooth, for one.

>>21898048
Thanks, looks good. Hoping for any more, or even a genre name would be awesome.

>>21898025
Continue with Xeelee, although your take that it "edges on fantasy" is mistaken. It just takes science way out there.

>>21897802
Any good 'progression' fantasy stories?

>>21898081
>your take that it "edges on fantasy" is mistaken. It just takes science way out there.
>straight up building a alternate dimension with the rules of physics changed to accommodate its worldbuilding.

Sanderson is alright.

>>21898231

Why the hell are Harlan Ellison's books so difficult to get nowadays?

>>21898239
Thanks, anon, I legitimately had no idea this was the distinction.

>>21898105
Do you know who the Xeelee are, anon?

T-there really is no other fantasy author like Dunsany, eh? I'll post the question for recommendations once more then I shall give up and accept my fate to read sub-par fantasy for the rest of my days

>>21897995
The Dying Earth by Vance

>>21898310
Thanks, looks nifty.

>>21898239
Yes, that's exactly what I said.

Good fantasy horror? I've already read Between Two Fires

>>21898343
>Between Two Fires
trash

Some of the worst shit I have ever read

I binged in a lot of old '50s~'70s scifi recently, Heinlein, Dick, Clarke, Vonnegut, Lem, and so on, I really dig that period, but maybe I should also read something more recent. Is there anything from the last 20 years that could rival the aforementioned authors?

>>21898467
A good female author is like nothing else, but a bad female author is like experiencing death.

>>21898482
>but a bad female author is like experiencing death.
I'm gonna need some examples.

>>21898482
You mean an author who is female or an author who writes female characters

/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.

>>21898304
Ask a chat bot. I hear they're unironically good at recommending books. Once I get around to reading King of Elfland's Daughter maybe I'll think of a rec but I honestly doubt it.

What books do I read to get good female MCs in fantasy

>>21898564
Wandering Inn

>>21898487
brene browne

>>21898476
skylar hernstrom

>>21897896
I just can't get over the bone-dry english translation and not being able to tell the difference between all the chinese names. It's like they only have 4 syllables to pick from.

>>21898564
90% of the Urban Fantasy genre.

>>21898649
Fuck off with that gay fantasy shit.

>>21898467
He can't write romance.

Library wait list is too long, might just go buy Mistborn and see what all the fuss is about

>>21899221
It's Jrpg in prose, like Belgariad or riftwar

>>21899241
I haven't read either, but have heard about Sandersons prose. Not really going for that, just need some escapism

>>21897802
What are some fantasy stories with interesting takes on necromancy besides the Abhorsen books? Especially if there’s an elemental aspect to it.

>>21899250
It feels like you're just asking mild variants of the exact same question every thread.

Anyone else thought the ending to this was pure kino, almost Bakker-ish? A shame the overall story was lackluster in comparison.

>>21899292
The cover art designers for SF masterworks must one day pay for their crimes

>>21899244
Idk if mistborn is right for you if you want escapism. Its kind of a downer.

>>21899250
Would be cool if necromancy was an advanced form of fire magic. Since to aninate the body all you need is electric impulses and what not.

>>21898548
>King of Elfland's Daughter
it's good but not nearly as interesting or engaging the other things i read by him. or maybe i just like the episodic style of Gods of Pegana and The Book of Wonder too much

>>21898564
Tehanu has a good female MC and it's pretty good although the worst in the series

>>21899377
Manv svch cvses

Thoughts on what makes a good female pov character? Why is Ferro in First Law such a bore, but Savine/Vick/Rikke in Age of Madness such a joy?

>>21898564
I don't know, I don't read anything with a female MC. Why would you?

>>21899418
A good female POV character is a good character. There's boring male POV characters too, chances are you simply just treat them as faceless nothing self-inserts in that case though.

>>21899418
I'm only halfway through the first trilogy of First Law right now but I think it's that Ferro doesn't really have agency so far. She's an escaped slave, fucking around in the desert, gets grabbed by Yulwei, handed off to Bayaz, and dragged along on his series of fuck-ups. Everyone else in the party has their own story and reasons for being there except Ferro, she's tossed in as an afterthought.

>>21899539
She's also stuck with a boring vengeance desire.

>‘You’re not frightened enough.’ Gabriel tilted his head. ‘Tell me, when your dark mother and pale mistress, Margot Chastain, First and Last of Her Name, set you this task, did you think she was locking me in here with you, or you in here with me?’
I literally laughed out loud

>Binge Prince of Nothing pretty much nonstop
>Eventually crap out near the end of The Judging Eye and don't touch it for a month or more.
Welp, that's the death knell of a series for me, once I've dropped it like that I'll never be able to pick it up again for the life of me.

Too bad it's been four fucking books and literally NOTHING noteworthy or interesting has happened. Bravo Bakker.

>>21899250
Zothique cycle by Clark Ashton Smith

>>21897814
I honestly think end of this year he might turn in the manuscript given his comments last year.
Would mean it can be published around when House of the Dragon s2 airs which will boost the profit of both considerably

>>21897814
NEVER
E
V
E
R

EVER
V
E
R

malazan

Why was Bayaz such a dickhead? I've not read it for a decade but wasn't he a wanker for three books then exploded?

>>21900124
he's actually a banker which explains quite a bit

>>21899418
>Why is Ferro in First Law such a bore
What she is is another trope deconstruction, in this case that of the 'badass woman', here turned to 11 making her an off-putting, disgusting, anti-social she-beast.

>>21897814
It's actually finished.
So is Dream of Spring.
Dude's waiting till he dies to have it posthumously published so that he doesn't have to deal with all the inevitable whining about how he ended his story.

This is why he's "taking so long," and seemingly unconcerned. He's happy with his story, that he finished, and f*ck the unruly fanbase. The publishers have probably given huge advances, too, so he's already made money from it.

>>21900251
>>>/betterhelp/

>>21900124
He's jewish

>Shivers stop quoting his father and start quoting Black Dow

kino

dream blunt rotation

Over a year ago some anon mentioned a fantasy book about mages or wizards or whatever the book wanted to call them this time and here was the thing that stuck out to me:

Instead of using fire or lightning or any of that stuff they just focused their power on trying to snap the enemy mage's brain stem from the inside and if you didn't want your brain stem snapped you would focus on trying not to get it snapped.
He made it sound like after some time they figured out that this was the fastest and easiest way to kill someone instead of all the fancy parlor trick stuff. They could apparently still weave fire but it was used more of like a distraction like a flame hitting your face making you lose focus on not getting your brain smashed.

Anyone know what book/s this/these are?

>>21900504
no, but it sounds similar to The Mask of the Sorcerer. My favorite shadow money wizard gang book

>>21900496
https://youtu.be/AJRn--5rO3w

>>21897892
Read the works of Futaro Yamada, although I think only one of his works has been translated into English.

>>21900496
>Literally just 2 hours of them sucking sanderlad's mormon dick
Do Goodreads users really?

>>21900515
What about the Shadow Wizard Cunny gang? Books for that feel?

>>21900473
>when Shivers finally snaps in BSC

>>21898304
Have you tried E.R. Eddison?

>>21898343
Anything by Clark Ashton Smith

>>21900532
I JUST SHOVED A NUKE IN MY PU$$Y
WE LOVE CASTING SPELLS

>>21900531
Isn't one of the stormlight books still like top 3 on goodreads?

>>21898564
Jirel of Joiry.
Sword Woman, Blades for France and Mistress of Death by REH.
Paksenarrion.

There's also a lot of chinese ones if you can stomach those like My disciple died yet again which is alright and an endless amount of harlequin-tier schlick in the vein of "I am X ultra-powerful CEO/Demon King/Cultivator edgelord's daughter/wife" stuff like Full Marks Hidden Marriage: Pick Up a Son, Get a Free Husband.
>>21899377
Tehanu is fucking dogshit. Le Guin is already bad and that is some of her worst.

>>21900592
>Paksenarrion.
doesn't she get gang raped at the end and gets some sort of power up as a result? sounds like the average female self insert protagonist

>>21898304
Star of the Unborn
The Story of the Glittering Plain, The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World's End by William Morris
A Voyage to Arcturus, David Lindsay
Biography of the Life of Manuel by James Branch Cabell.
Mabinogion tetralogy, Evangeline Walton.
Beyond the Golden Stair by hannes Bok
Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant
Day of the Minotaur - Thomas Burnett Swann
Rhinegold - Stephan Grundy

just finished this today, thought it was great, though i do wonder how it would've felt to read this in 1992, because the broad tech level is about what we have right now, besides some gizmos.

>>21897896
I felt the same way after the second book, took me a month to pick up the third one but I assure you it is worth it. It's definately the weakest out of the three, but still interesting in its own right, the cool ideas are still there its just that, atleast for me, the story itself is a bit meh and the main charachter is weird. Also I presume there are things lost in translation/are cultural chinese things, because some scenes dont feel quite right like the tea ceremony stuff.
Also his short story "Mountain" is super cute check it out

Another brick in the wall of the "windowpane prose" argument
>https://bstaveley.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/william-faulkners-unknown-epic-fantasy/

>>21900532
If my epic fantasy series ever gets published (it won't), the antagonists of the third book are a cabal of aristocratic occultist secretly manipulating the empire they govern with influence and propaganda, including musical propaganda. Literally a shadow wizard money gang who loves casting spells and sponsors songs as a shadow government.

>>21900504
That's basically how wizards duel in Eragon/the Inheritance Cycle. That series basically shows the logical conclusion of being able to do nearly anything with magic.

>>21898467
This reads like a sub of the latest CalArts sloptoon.

>>21898467
>Adolin, I don't want to fuck your best friend, my split personality does
What was Sando thinking?

>>21898467
Did this go through a reputable publisher? If so, I feel heartened at my prospects.

>>21901055
"Reputable" publishers have been institutionally captured by aged old hags who think that's what fantasy should be.

>>21901055
it has millions of 1200 page hardcopies with multiple pages of colored art. It is by far the highest selling epic fantasy series of this decade. the modern wheel of time.

>>21901084
Oh. I see.

>most mainstream fantasy works, written by men or women, has absolutely godawful romance subplots
>even romance fantasy novels like pic related are slop and shat out and only appeal to the most boring female fantasies possible (MUH STRONG EDGELORD BADBOY)
Name one good romance in fantasy novels. This isn't a challenge, it's a plea for help.

>>21901084
>the modern wheel of time.
Why didn't you just say it's shit from the get go?

>>21901084
>the modern wheel of time.
impossible, there are no bitchy hot older women in Stormlight

Sanderson is based for telling his fans that Jasnah Kholin is straight

>>21901117
I've only read the first book but there's fucking uuuuh Gavillar's wife that I forgot the name of. She seemed to fit that.

>>21901098
>Name one good romance in fantasy novels. This isn't a challenge, it's a plea for help.
Just kys

>>21901128
Navani is opposite of bitchy she is the wholesome mom who heckin keeps everyone together with love.

>>21901117
I haven't read the Wheel of Time but apperently there's a whole trope in that series about female villains getting like, sold into sex slavery or turned into slaves or something like that?
Did someone make that up or is that an actual thing that happens?

>>21901148
It's not a trope but magical binding collars do exist in the story. There's no sex slavery but some of the villainous characters do use them on several of the heroes and make them slaves, and they get their comeuppance at the end when they themselves are collared (by other bad people).

In terms of fantasy, what do you recommend that's more akin to an adult setting? It seems like every bit of fantasy recommended out there is aimed at YA so it's hard to know if there's anything of value outside of this realm.

>>21901234
I feel like a lot of 'Adult' fantasy tries too hard to be edgy that it goes right back into being juvenile. That does include things like ASOIF and The Witcher (though I do concede they have good worldbuilding)

>>21901234
Pulp author stuff.

>>21900496
Dude weed

Jamie deserved better.

I'm reading BotNS from my uni library right now, but I want to have a physical copy of it. Tor's 3 volume set (Shadow-Claw/Sword-Citadel/Urth) looks good but it looks hard as fuck to actually find a copy of it online?

>>21900966
They say that until they "discover" Poe for themselves.
You just can't force kids to like it, you can't force them to like anything. If you do, you'll do the opposite.
It took me 20 more years to try Treasure Island and the Great Gatsby again, surprise, they're good.
As faggy and new age as it sounds, high school is just trauma and shit.
No, novels shouldn't be written like delicate flowers, I doubt anybody could keep picking meaningful words for that long, but poetry is fine.
Because the opposite are trash writers that shit out shit, like King.
>>21900997
It may very well have been that. I'll have to read them. I'm interested in seeing if they had any ability to capture any of Harry Potter's thunder back in the day because that's what it was billed as.

>>21899221
It's shit in the mid 90s JRPG sense, and I think it's fun

>>21901098
It's not so much romance but the mystery surrounding Aramis' possible multiple ladies in The Three Musketeers is funny. Especially when contrasted against Porthos.

Just finished. Overall I enjoyed it but it really felt like Simmons was pulling bullshit out of thin air at then end.
Also, are we just supposed to forget that Ousters torture and mutilate captured Hegemony civilians? Because that kind of made it hard to think of them as the "incontrovertible good guys" they were being pushed as at the end.

>>21901955
The original Hyperion has some pretentiousness, but is good despite it.
The sequels are just shoveled out to cash in on it, over explain everything in the process, and are generic genre schlock by the end.
They will be hammered over your head as nigh-angelic good guy pacifist nature-harmonic superbeings if you continue with the series.

>>21902059
A friend just flat-out told me to not read Endymion/Rise. So I looked up what happens in them and boy am I glad I took his advice.

>>21901955
>>21902059
>>21902082
Why can't they just make it good?
I understand you're at odds with the mystery itself when you try to explain it because of all of the "What the hell is this thing and why is it here?" but I'm gonna read the other 3 regardless.

>>21901816
Would have made reddit crash

>>21901890
>As faggy and new age as it sounds
Then dont fucking say it retard. Not to mention its wrong.

Being a teenager is trauma, highschool is the only thing keeping you from gang banging on the streets.

>>21901816
Too kino for this world.

>>21902171
Oh, I realized I didn't finish my thought with that sentence.
I meant to say something about homeschooling and how public school sucks but you're right. It didn't need to be said. I think everyone who has ever visited 4chan gets the point about government services.

>>21902257
>I think everyone who has ever visited 4chan gets the point about government services
Basado subarashi desu

>>21898415
i liked it.

>>21898564
What even is a "good female MC"? And how is it different from a good male MC?

>>21902400
The difference is that when one critiques a bad male mc, its just critiqing the mc. Because a male mc is simply an mc.

A female mc on the other hand IS a female mc. No female mc is written perchance to be female.
No author is thinking up a book and naturally concludes their mc to be female.

The point of a female mc is to be a female.
The point of a male mc is to be an mc.

>>21902400
Whenever someone says that in this general they usually mean one that acts like a man.

is mistborn good?

>>21902424
I thought it was funny in The Freeze-Frame Revolution that the MC is female because it's mentioned like half way through the book. Otherwise they just call each other by their last names or nicknames or names, as you would in real life.
But just as there is every Private Johnson, he has a mother named Something Johnson.

Kinda made me stop reading for a minute and replay the book in my head so far with a new model.

>>21902445
It's ok. I like the first book the most, the second book the least and dislike the ending to the third. Never read beyond that.

>>21902459
>and dislike the ending to the third.
Filtered

>>21902463
I can't take any "the world is destroyed but everything is reset" ending seriously.

>>21902467
>but everything is reset
Except yknow... everyone being fucking dead and the evil god being defeated for good.

Is it my impression or did Will just ctrc+c Viego League of Legends Arc to make Dreadgod?

>Ruined king
>controled people with Crowns above head

>>21902474
In English, doc?

>>21900603
Great recs, anon. Thanks.
It's funny how Lin Carter writes the intro to half of these when they have been republished.

Does anybody have a George MacDonald omnibus that they'd recommend? Only interested in his fantasy stuff

>>21902424
We're really doing "there are two genders: one is male and the other is political" joke but unironic, huh.

>>21901098
Alveric and the King of Elfland's Daughter.

>>21902643
I have this old two-for-one edition of Phantastes and Lilith in a paperback from the 1960s. A lot of those old fantasy authors are out of print and, since they're in the public domain, have a ton of knockoff shitty quality versions on Amazon; so you have to either a) shell out more money than you're comfortable with to get an older, dog-eared edition from Ebay, or b) take your chances with the print-on-demand shit on Amazon and hope the book you receive is somewhat readable. Thankfully some big publishers, like Penguin and Oxford, have made portable editions of some of these authors but those paperbacks are still expensive. I'd love to start our own /sffg/ print on demand press and format and make nice little editions of these older less-read authors (something along the lines of NYRB classics and its paperbacks, but for old forgotten fantasy authors); its something I've been thinking about for awhile

But to answer your question, Penguin has pic rel, which is probably your best bet. It doesn't have Phantastes or Lilith, so you'll have to buy those separately. Your only other option, like I said, is print-on-demand shit on Amazon. At least if we started our own press we could post the results here and we'd know how big the books are, what typeface is used, how the inside layout is, etc. It would be fun.

Solo Leveling fanfiction. Modern world, rifts to dungeons, tiered hunters, shadow summoning dead enemies...except everyone can level up.

>>21902806
kindle unlimited always show this to me but the cover is just too cringe, cant take it seriously

>>21901826
Ain't no way you looked very hard. I found copies in like 10 seconds.

>>21902817
I guess. The real cringe is its shameless copying. If you were ever tempted, the original Solo Leveling has more character and its Korean-isms add extra flavor so read that instead.

>>21902831
already finished solo leveling like 2-3x, but only the manhwa

>>21902649
Hey, im not the one who made it this way. Im just telling it like it is.
Ignoring it doesnt mean it doesnt exist, unfortunately.

>>21901098
>A [thing] of [things] and [things]
i hate this book naming trend so much

anyway to answer your questions I found wax and the autistic noblewoman in mistborn 2 kinda cute

>>21898564
Realm of the elderlings

>>21902872
>A Thread of Coping and Seething

>>21901955
Is Dan Simmons jewish?

I blazed through 8/9 of the Expanse series about a year and a half ago. I made the mistake of getting attached to the show and season 5 totally demoralized me. Part of me wants to finish the series but even the books were starting to get a little contrived. Is leviathan Falls worth it from this point? Do I just need to get the show out of my mind altogether?

>>21902474
Wouldn't be the first book I've read that blatantly ripped off League of Legends. Infinite Realm is the other one, and it's a lot more blatant. There's an Aspect of True Death that has the backstory of originally being one being that split itself into two, one is a woman, the other's a wolf, the woman is serene and the wolf's a hunter, it's absurdly blatantly just Kindred. I'm pretty sure there's a paragraph that is like 80% the same as that original blurb about Kindred. Though it's a stretch to call that bit an exact rip, because "thing called a King that controls people with an obvious symbol" isn't exactly super-specific.

>>21902960
As far as I'm concerned the show ended at season 3 and was never brought back by Amazon. Season 4 is still somewhat salvageable but 5 and especially 6 are just so bad it's hard to believe
Books 7,8, 9 are great imo, especially after the trash fire that is book 6

verdict on this?

Would you guys recommend Foundation from Asimov to someone who didnt really read any sci-fi before?

>>21902960
Leviathan falls really wraps the whole thing together with a nice bow and even puts a cherry on top. Seriously the epilogue alone is worth reading the entire series for.

But yeah after you finish leviathan falls, go about forgetting the IP exists.

>>21903087
Only the first book

>>21903052
>>21903099
Thanks, friends. I'm catching up on the events of 7 and 8 right now.

>>21903019
true, but he already posted playing league in one of his social media, so im pretty sure he knows about viego

>>21903172
I mean, fair. Even then, it's hardly a whole-cloth rip. References are a thing, after all.

>>21903087
Yes, the whole trilogy. But beyond that it gets dicey.

>>21903188
oh yeah, not saying like its bad, i kinda liked, was just curious if he really got the idea from league and viego

>>21903087
No. Asimov is bad and overrated. His only merit is to have had somewhat original ideas very early in SF history.

>>21903172
Playing league doesn't mean you know jack shit about the lore. I played thousands of games before I quit a few years ago and could only tell you the very basics about anything besides the game mechanics.

>>21903223
I miss when the lore was just
>this is he, he is him
But now its all
>BEHOLD!!! QUEEN CUNTFART OF THE QUIVERING ISLES!!!!!! ASCENDANT DEITY OF THE BITCHFOLK, LOCKED IN ETERNAL STRUGGLE WITH THE VILE KINGDOM OF PRINCE PHILIP!!!!!!
Oh and shes a sassy egirl for some reason

>>21903194
I mean you could probably just ask him. I dunno how receptive he is to questions on Twitter or whatever, but hey.

Favorite story elements you enjoy in a Generational Ship? Least favorite?

I, for one, adore the passing of time turning the descendants of haughty scientists into spear wielding primitives.

>>21900049
That's some good copium. Though, this is the year where I last give him a chance. 2024 I'm gonna try and wash ASOIAF from my brain

>>21901098
Memory, Sorrow & Thorn starts out pretty good until... that thing happens. So I guess I can't find any

Jon Snow and Ygritte's love story is pretty wholesome, in a way.

>>21898467
What the fuck. This gave me hope for getting published, actually, so thank you anon

>>21897802
Anons, what was that book where on the cover there was a man on a horse watching in the distant a "kind of" monolithic building. The poster said, iirc, that was better than wolfe and/or vance, maybe it was post apocalyptic fantasy and i remember i compare that to hawkmoon series

I'm trying to power through this but the way the characters talk is making me cringe every single page. I dont think I can last much longer

>>21903061
Starts out really good in the real world but once it gets into Empis it gets very weird. Once it turns into the hunger games in the prison it just goes into "why?" territory. Overall pretty entertaining but as always, King kinda lets the story run off from him. If he had just stuck to the plotline of a boy and his dog, I think it would've been much better

>>21901098
The Once and Future King

>>21903562
>Starts out really good in the real world
you actually liked the 1/3 of the book being solshit?

>>21902424
Touch grass.

>>21900603
>Thomas Burnett Swann, a writer whose works have been compared with the marvel-packed sagas of J.R.R. Tolkien, the sweeping adventure-tales of Mary Renault, and the sheer story-telling magic of Jack Vance and Edgar Rice Burroughs
Thanks for the rec my NIGGA

>>21903814
holy.
I wonder what the ratio of muscle to fat is in those arms.

>>21904441
That's my wife. Don't talk about her.

>>21902956
He's probably Catholic as many good sci fi and fantasy writers are.

Did the sword and sorcery genre peaked with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser?
Nothing comes close before or after IMO.

>>21902660
Great post, thanks anon. If you started your own dinosaur fantasy publishing business I would support it

>>21904616
F&GM is top tier, but Kane is ever so slightly better

pick one

>>21904719
They really need to reprint this shit. The shitty paperbacks are like a hundred bucks on eBay currently

>>21902643
>>21902660
I recommend the Broadview Press editions of these MacDonald's books. They're like Norton Critical Editions if you're familiar with those.
https://broadviewpress.com/product/the-princess-and-the-goblin-and-other-fairy-tales/#tab-table-of-contents
https://broadviewpress.com/product/at-the-back-of-the-north-wind/#tab-table-of-contents

>>21902630
I personally don't like most of Carter novels but he was a superb editor and one of the key persons back in then that made his life's work be about preserving pulp and less known works.
>>21904427
You're welcome.

>>21902660
Which fantasy authors are in the public domain? I only know of Eddison, Burroughs, and Dunsany

>>21904476
>Hotwife
Ftfy

>>21904755
Just buy the hardcover night shade editions for $400, bro

>>21897802
The Captain, The Last Horizon #1 - Will Wight (2023)

I dropped this at 15% and skimmed the rest. Usually I don't write about what I drop, though exceptions are made now and again. Based on my previous reading of Wight's works and how I felt about them I knew that it was unlikely that I would enjoy reading this. It's definitely a situation of where it's me, not you. If this had been released in my early teen years it's likely that I would've ignored its myriad problems and have been enraptured by its kaleidoscopic and frenetic action.

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for me to feel engaged in the slightest with this space fantasy pop-culture slurry that doesn't seem to ever cohere into something more than a jumbled assortment of tropes. If you can allow yourself to be wow'ed by the over-the-top antics and need nothing more than that, then you may well greatly enjoy reading this. There isn't meaningful characterization, plot, ideas, progression, worldbuilding, or much of anything else, and for some that is likely irrelevant. Everything happens because it was written to happen and that's all that matters.

Almost immediately after the story begins the protagonist has become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, which is not uncommon for superhero comics or isekai light novels. I feel this sort of presentation usually precludes any sort of narrative tension and deeper involvement, for me personally anyway. One way to sidestep that is for the overpowered protagonist to be relegated to the periphery and an essemble of side characters become the majority of the narrative. One Punch Man is the only work that I've seen do that well though. Varic is an embarrassment to the similarly named Varric of Dragon Age.

I won't be reading more from this series and it's rather doubtful that I will read anything else from Wight other than the final Cradle book. His self-publishe works have a substantial audience, though for the most part that doesn't include me. I didn't like this at all, but I'm not recommending against reading it. If it seems like something you'd like it, then it may well be. You'll have to try for yourself. If you don't think you would, then you almost certainly won't.

>>21904988
Surprised you didn't finish it. I didn't love it exactly, but I found it pretty good overall. The main thing is it's not really about 'power', so Varic being powerful doesn't really mean much, especially because it's made pretty clear that even 6 lifetimes worth of magic ability doesn't actually mean much in the scope of the various apocalyptic threats the galaxy's facing. He's basically a glorified railcannon for the most part.

Does this goofy schlock count as science fiction?

>>21904752
>Tfw no cute napan gf that could kill you in one kick

>>21904752
t'lan imass

books featuring large breasted brown skinned women?

>>21904988
your """reviews""" are SHIT
FUCK OFF

>>21901991
>mfw Norm loved REH

>>21905068
I'm not surprised that I didn't, but that's only because I drop the majority of books I try to read very early on. This was an exception because of the author and that it was a new book. I would've finished if it had some relevant external motivation to do so. Maybe I would've simply in different circumstances. I simply didn't find myself caring about anyone or anything about it, which is among the quickest way for me to drop something. Why that was the case is something that would take a lot of writing to explicate. I'm glad that you enjoyed it and I hope the series does well for Wight.

Depending on whether I feel it's worthwhile I may be writing more of these later in the year when I make a serious attempt at trying to read other self-published of various types again. Maybe "Of 20", he joined the Goodreads group with a different name then changed it to that, will have his current stuff by then. It may end up that I don't do much with it though.

>>21905164
That seems like something that would be better suited to a visual medium.

>>21905200
>will have his current stuff by then
Done/finished/completed that is

>>21904755
Checked. And yep I think I paid $65 for four or five Kane novels. Well worth it, they are just prime sword and sorcery

>>21904752
Are the dinosaurs on the far right sexually compatible with humans?

>>21905117
*nopan

>>21905397
Floridaman has been arrested for sex with regular alligators IRL, so I assume so.

>>21905397
It's probably possible since they're sentient

>>21898025
Inversions by Iain Banks
(you don't have to be familiar with the Culture series to read this one, it 99% takes place on a single backwater planet)

Found a copy of Non-stop today by Aldiss, can't wait to dig into it.

>>21905418
>Aldiss
Helliconia is a great trilogy.

>>21905418
>Non-stop today by Aldiss
absolute kino

book covers like this are absolute peak
does anyone have fantasy recs that match this vibe

anyone have that one goodreads review of Darkness That Comes Before

>>21905574
nope

>>21903436
I like the descendants deciding they aren't happy with how their ancestors decided things would be run and staging a revolution.

tumbs of atuan is so fucking good

>>21905526
I couldn't finish the story about the couple getting older while their daughter got younger

>>21905191
Based

Thoughts on his taste?

>>21905741
he's basically me

>>21903814
>no argument

>>21905741
shit

>>21897814
Someone will whip it up using chatgpt before he publishes it

>>21897995
>>21898322
Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories are incredible stories as well. They're the predecessor of Dying Earth but has a Dark Fantasy bent mixed with early sword and sorcery.

I keep hearing how the 60s + 70s were the golden age of Sword & Sorcery. Is there any truth to this? Any recommendations from that era?

>>21905741
Good taste. Raymond E Feist's Riftwar Saga is comfy fantasy and doesnt get recommended enough.

>>21904616
>Did the sword and sorcery genre peaked with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser?
Definitely not. DESU most of their stories kinda suck.

>>21906123
It does get recommended, especially the first book Magician. But they also say after the original trilogy his books suck, and that the Empire trilogy mostly written by Janny Wurts is even better.

Is Imperial Radch tranny propaganda?

>>21906083
For me, the golden was back when Robert E Howard was still alive, but the 60s, 70s and 80s were also amazing decades for Sword and Sorcery, here's some of the best ones in my opinion:
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber
Elric of Melnibone (and other Moorcock characters like Corum, Hawkmoon and Erekose)
Karl Edward Wagner's Kane
Imaro by Charles R Saunders

>>21906143
Not really. Everyone has a defined sex you just don't know what it is. It's fucking annoying to read.

>>21906153
Just started it and everyone is she/her with masculine features. It really irks me and makes me regret I broke the rule about female writers.

>>21906166
Unreliable narrator. The android can't tell the sexes apart or what feminine / masculine looks like. It's an idea that probably sounded good in the authors head but it pissed me off for the entire book. There is a lot to like in the book but I never got over that stylistic choice.

>>21906166
>everyone is she/her with masculine features.

>>21906174
fetish

>>21906142
Honestly, ive read the whole Riftwar Cycle, there are some bad moments and the prose is nothing special, but its a fun read and Feist has a good imagination. If you like the first trilogy, id recommend reading the rest, all the books are relatively the same quality. Having read other books by Wurts, the Empire trilogy feels more Feist than Wurts.

>>21905191
Just reminds me that I need to read more.
You learn a lot from people who pour their brain into a book.
You could probably wholesale copy personalities and make an amalgamation for yourself just like that one copypasta from /tv/ where a guy introduced his autistic cousin to Frasier and his cousin started acting like Frasier (saying shit like "good man!" and what-have-you) and was actually in social clubs and shit.

>>21905821
seethe
>>21906142
Krondor's Sons, Riftwar Legacy and Serpentwar are good,

>>21906261
>births nothing but stillborns

>>21906310
adoption exist

>>21906261
gross

>>21906314
pure kino

>>21906193
>the Empire trilogy feels more Feist than Wurts
I thought the opposite. The worldbuilding was Feist but everything else was Wurts. He could never write characters, especially women.

>>21906261
>>21906314
>tfw no stronk gf

>>21898535
>Mother of Learning
Finally read this one. Was surprisingly well-executed but I really dislike the very premise, very existential dread-inducing to me.

>>21906314
>b- but i can just adopt!
The absolute state of women

>>21903814
She's larping

I really REALLY like Stormlight Archive.
Kaladin is kino.
Taravangian is kino.

>>21901816
>>21902187
Azor Ahai has to willingly sacrifice the one he loves most, and Jaime was not born amidst salt and smoke, even if we take his mother dying in childbirth to be a bleeding star. He deeply admires Brienne for getting kicked and slammed and still managing to actually be everything that Jaime failed to be, but it doesn't seem like he actually loves her the way that is implied with the prophesy. Also a dragon connection is needed, and the most Jaime can get is the possibility of him and Cersei being Aerys' bastards, which is not enough.

If that was the direction, it would suit better to have Cersei take the place of Nissa Nissa.

Let us know how you feel after finishing the second book

>>21906143
>Is Imperial Radch tranny propaganda?
No, but it is basically sci-fi-ish slice of life that tries to pass for political intrigue. There are lots of nice and enjoyable things but nothing actually happens. It sometimes seems like something happened, but it's just a short-lived impression.

>>21906416
The tv show barely reference azorahai. Jamie would have still worked, and much better than Arya stabbing the Night king.

>>21906439
>expectation status: SUBVERTED

Anyone read anything close to Phantasy Star?
Failing high technology.
Planet is dying.
Monsters about.
Perhaps needing to fight with swords and shit now even though you have computers and the occasional space ship.

>>21906173
> The android can't tell the sexes apart or what feminine / masculine looks like.
Nope, that's a cultural thing in the Radch - Seivarden and other human characters do it too.

I honestly didn't mind it, is weird in a decadent way, and it's outright stated repeatedly that Radchai is an extremely decadent society. For author's fetishes, the ones for naval officers, uniforms and romance intertwined with military hierarchy in general seem much more prominent - think she could have a navy dad or something.

>>21906439
>The tv show
Ah. Sorry, I assumed that anon talked books. When did we actually stop pretending that the show doesn't exist?

>>21906444
As soon as TWOW releases we can safely pretend the tv show doesn't exist. Until then it's the closest we have to the series' canon ending.

Meanwhile, I'm halfway through the Sword of Lictor, in my first reading of BotNS.

The series is very enjoyable, but I also feel quite certain in proclaiming it to be the ultimate Pseud Fantasy as well.

>>21906443
>Failing high technology.
>Planet is dying.
>Monsters about.
>Perhaps needing to fight with swords and shit now even though you have computers and the occasional space ship.
There's literally a whole genre that's all about this, see pic related.

>>21906464
Well how about that!

>>21906347
The weakest part of the Empire Trilogy is the strong women vibes.

need a crew based sci fi adventure that meets the following:

>sense of adventure
>central mystery
>decent characters
>not too much cringe irreverant humor
>not too much detail autism
>male author
>released in the past 10 years or so

>>21906597
The book i wrote

>>21906598
Thanks

>>21906597
Infinite by Jeremy Robinson. Disclaimer: ending may induce rage, crew part may vary.

>>21900496
Has anyone read Philip Chase's book? Is it good?

>>21904752
I'm a Jaghut man myself

>>21906614
>book 1 of 13

th-thanks anon

>>21906123
>>21906142
>>21906193
Redpill me on Riftwar

>>21906688
They're unrelated.

Why didn't you barstards tell me out much fun Mistborn era 1 is? God damn you

>>21906747
We did

>>21906747
Ahaha, what a story, anon! Now give me your bones.

>>21906747
Remember to not listen to faggots and read Secret History the second you finish Hero of Ages

>>21906798
What is the Secret History?

>>21906803
Novella about Kelsier's afterlife adventures

I want to buy a set of the complete Conan the barbarian stories but I need some help. Should I go for the three Del Ray paperbacks or the large single-volume black leather cover edition (pic rel)? Both of them will be about the same price

>>21906193
>>21906261
>>21906347
>>21906579
>>21906691
Read from Magician, through the Serpentwar tetralogy, then the conclave of shadows trilogy is just his take on count of monte cristo and it starts going a bit downhill/repetitive from there onwards.

For Empire, I think it's far more Feist than Wurts, but I've only read her cycle of fire trilogy, and i found it hard to get through, Empire is a treat.

>>21906811
>Kelsier's afterlife
.... I-I'm only on 17 chapter into book 1

>>21904752
>pick one
thelomen toblakai. i'm a sucker for karsa orlong and am reading the first book in the new trilogy, "the god is not willing." good shit, seems way more reigned in/edited than malazan botf

>>21906843
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA sorry :/

>>21906843
The only reason to read secret history is for a primer on brandon sandersons expanded universe.
Its pure setup and no payoff, read it when the cosmere is finished.

>>21906857
>when the cosmere is finished.
Anon none of us will be alive in 2096.

>>21906861
kek

>>21906819
if they're the same price get the single volume, looks kino

>>21898239
I dont believe this. I view it as meaning everything is all right. Short for all is right in the world. Inflection on the voice would make a difference. If all is right with something how would it be barely making standards.

>>21906857
I was hoping Secret History would give me a feel-good ending with a happy comfy Vin+Kelsier reunion but then she was kinda mean to him and it just made me sadder
>>21906843 For the love of christ DO NOT read that spoiler

>>21906819
>the large single-volume black leather cover edition (pic rel)?
If that's the faux leather cover one you should be aware it has a weak glued spine. Doesn't go well with 925 pages.

>>21906876
I'll leave the thread for tonight :]

>>21906873

>>21897802
Oh my...

>>21906902
>tasteful erotic fantasy

>>21906873
>"Satisfactory" means that something is barely meeting the standard, not that it provides satisfaction.
>"Terrible" means that something is bad, not that it inspires terror.
>"Awesome" means something that something is good, not that it inspires awe.
>"Pedestrian" means that something is typical and unoriginal, not that it walks on the sidewalk with two legs.
>"Patrician" means that something has elite, distinctive quality, no that it relates to fatherhood.
And so Anon was once again filtered by the English language.

>>21901098
Lyonesse

>>21906902
Pure unadulterated kino. If you want to know the difference between smut and erotica, read this.

>>21906819

the single volume leather black cover with gold is beautiful and manly as fuck

if you don't own one you are a faggot. The size is not an issue, read all stories (in the bathroom) and it was comfortable to read it in my hands, that being said I have big, strong manly hands

>>21906982
>"Meeting the standard" means that something is appraised as equal or better than the established minimal threshold of the metric in question, not that it it a typical representative of the group in question, nor that it is undergoing a rendezvous with a military banner of some kind, nor that it is making an acquaintance with someone who has taken a firm stance.

sanderson can't into prose but his shit is fun to read
wont apologize for enjoying his books

>>21907045
Youll be apologizing when you get to the end of oathbringer

>>21906597
Blindsight. But it was released a little over 10 years ago and has
>cringe humor
>some detail autism

>>21907045
How can people read things if the prose is bad? That is the most important part. Just watch an anime. This is why we can't have nice things

>>21907408
This desu. I often find myself wondering why I don't just drop the book and read a wikipedia summary of its plot if the prose is trash. The only time I wouldn't do that is if I'm reading to study the genre because I want to write something in that genre.

>>21907408
I personally am somebody who tends to care more about what is written rather than how it's written, though I have my standards even then. Sanderson's prose is honestly probably the lower limit, it's not offensive or anything, it's just 'there'.

>>21907408
I don't get it either. I read books almost entirely for the prose style. The actual content barely matters to me.

Also wtf is that retarded clip from. There's so much wrong with it unless it's a comedy.

>>21907441
> I read books almost entirely for the prose style. The actual content barely matters to me.
Why on earth would you gravitate to sff then?

>>21907441
Probably The Walking Dead

>>21907467
Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley count as SFF, so are you going to deny they weren't effulgent with Romantic ecstasies of poesy and prose?

>>21907501
Im going to effulgent all over your basic bitch face if you dont fuck off

>>21907517
What's even the point of arguing over SFF and "literary fiction"? They're just marketing categories they put in book stores, and they only sell literary fiction because it's free domain. You think you have the authority to ignore an economy?

>>21907467
I meant within the context of sff the actual content doesn't matter. I have a general preference for sff over other genres.

>>21907525
Nobody is making that argument...

>>21907408
>>21907441
Faggots

>>21907408
I read for the prose and content. The content matters a lot but the prose is the vehicle that will convey everything. It needs to be good, it has to be good.

I saw posts gushing over Thomas Covenent not long ago, but how are Donaldson's other books?

>>21898535
>The Wandering Inn, Mother of Learning
Speaking of webnovels, should I read Worm? I hear it brought up all the time in webnovel recommendations, but also some people are very split on it. Should I give it a chance, sffg? I hear it's super fucking long. What are your thoughts on it?

>>21907632
I've only read the first Covenant trilogy, but I've never heard anything bad about anything Donaldson has written except for the last 4 Covenant books. The Gap Cycle is universally lauded as fast as I've seen.

>>21907421
>I often find myself wondering why I don't just drop the book and read a wikipedia summary of its plot if the prose is trash
Just listen to the audiobook on 3x speed bro.

>>21907658
Please read ORV so i can talk to you about it, nobody here wants to talk about it

>>21907731
Is it the Omniscient Reader Viewpoint thingie I found in about 10 seconds of googling? I'm not usually into gookshit, but sure, pitch it to me. Maybe I'll give it a try.

>>21904752
I was gonna read Mazalan but when I learned it had all of these goofy ass races I just couldn’t take it seriously

>>21907716
How many words/minute is that? I read (genre fiction) around 500wpm so if its less, it's not worth it.

I am 200 pages into the first Stormlight Archives book

Am liking it so far :)
Reminds me of my Japanese shonen animes

>>21907750
It starts off as a standard gookshit "oh my god the worlds ending and i have special powers now for some reason" and then slowly devolves into an absurdist hyper meta commentary on parasocial fixation.

Its really hard to describe because it jumps from one batshit thing to the next.

The entire story is being written by the characters from the end of the book to try and save the mcs life, theres this whole thing about forgotten characters becoming outer gods who threaten the continuity of the story if they are present.

Its fucking insane and i wish i could accurately describe how batshit it gets.

Outrageously meta is the only way i can think to put it.

>>21907868
Audiobook on 3x speed is around 400wpm

>>21897802
I need a fantasy book/series with the following requirements:

>slice of life type of plot of an apprentice or squire keeping and running a medieval monastery
>intrigue, hints of magic/occultism
>catacombs and dead people are somewhat part of the plot, not extremely necessary

I'm having trouble finding something similar in this genre so anything that's similar is welcome

>>21907868

>>21908065
500wpm for genre fiction is not speedreading lol.

>>21908046
The book im writing

>>21908067
It really is

>>21908067
You are just glancing at the words. I'm sure when you finish the book you can't even hold a proper discussion, or might argue with someone that what they are talking about wasn't in the book, because you sped past it.

>>21908067
lol

new thread?

>>21897896
The most fictional part of the book is Venezuela being an example of anything but what not to do.

I want to read Clark Ashton Smith works, should I just read the "The Collected Fantasies" series or are there better collections?

Found the meme phrase in Tom Shippey's book.

>>21906819
Seeing that helmet made me think.
If the aliens come and they have horns and are shredded, it's over, pussy bar is closed forever.
Now I want to read some schlock where that's exactly what the alien invasion is. It turns out they're hot and women don't want men anymore.

>>21908485
What's the rest of that sentence?
You've got me wondering how there can be a word before "what" and words after "this".

>>21908068
Interesting. What's it about?

>>21908648
The full sentence is
>He disguises himself as an ordinary person, but is revealed at the end as King of Faërie, to whom the Queen sends her cryptic message, ‘The time has come. Let him choose.’ Alf/Prentice, Smith/Prentice: what did Tolkien mean by this (for him) novel double duality?

>>21908393
Hippocampus Press do a few nice and affordable paperbacks. I have the Averoigne and Zothique omnibuses. Otherwise, there is the Penguin Classic collection that is very common.