/lit/ - Literature

Bakker is King

>the end of the world is coming and this character needs to understand a poorly documented past in order to stop it
Mistborn and Stormlight Archive are basically the same story

Hi sisters

>>22062165
It's almost as if Sanderson was derivative and told the same cliche story often found in the fantasy genre.

>>22062165

Sanderson's mania for worldbuilding includes a compulsive need to have it all pay off in the climax. Elantris, Warbreaker, Mistborn, Steelheart, all involve the characters having to uncover the past because the past encompasses why the setting is the way it is, and since the setting is the star of the show and focus of the plot there's a limit to how many different plots can go on.

Saturn's Children, Charles Stross, 2008.

Stross has garnered praise for many of his other novels, notably the short story collection "Accelerando", and I was excited to try one of his works for the first time. However, Saturn's Children did not really impress.

The novel takes place in a future solar system where humans have gone extinct, and their robot creations have picked up the reins of society. I found the setting to be well-detailed and interesting, with several technological aspects being investigated closely, mostly relating to transport (this will be a theme). Unfortunately, the robots themselves have minimal explanation, Stross mainly just establishing a few things about them (chips to transfer memories, regeneration, slave chips) and leaving it at that. For such an interesting setting, it has taken a remarkably boring turn - 90% of robots are still "enslaved" to "aristocrat" robots (former subordinates of humans who were given a large degree of freedom as society crumbled), and these aristocrats are barely discussed.

The characterisation is poor, with only the main character (Freya) being explored in any depth. She is (sigh) a sexbot/courtesan, who was taken out of post-production storage some decades after the human extinction, and therefore never actually got to interact with one (other than in the memories she shares with other sexbots of her line, via aformentioned chips). Instead of looking at this lack of purpose/destruction of it, Stross chooses to make her flip-flop between cynical assassin-type and incredibly horny. She is a somewhat flat character, which leads Stross to rely on other quirky types often, none of whom provide much more than temporary comic relief (intentional or not).

Now, the plot. The novel chronicles Freya essentially larking around the solar system on a mission to bring an artificial chicken egg to a "dark lab" with an end destination of Ceres, of very little actual importance to herself, as she basically only took it up to get herself out of a jam, and because she was very horny for the guy who gave it to her. Stross then describes her gallivanting about from Mercurcy to Venus, Mars, etc etc, focussing about half on what she does on the planets and half on how she's actually getting between them (no FTL, but no requirement to keep a human body safe makes it much easier). Throughout said journey she has uncomfortably-described robot sex with many things including a sentient re-entry capsule, a hotel who fucked her sister in the past, and another robot larping as a human. I definitely found the "transport" segments most interesting, primarily because they allowed for a chance to get to know some side characters and did not feature as much badly written robot sex, with one exception. The ending sucked.

Verdict: 2/5. promising world not explored properly, questionable plot (that seems like just an excuse to do rocket porn), and dull characters.

>>22062288
You seem on a roll for weak books, huh?

>>22062297
nta
note the lack of of a tripcode, you may mean someone else.

>>22062288
Why are non-sexbot robots even designed and programmed to have sex?

>>22062124
bakker fag is back!!
i missed you man ,where were you the last few threads?

>>22062288
checked and ""FUCK OFF"" ((YOUR)) reviews are SHIT... or whatever that fuckin guy says everytime..

I've only read Accelerando by Stross and it was annoying. have a nice day

>>22062288
I tried to read it and I thought the same, or maybe worse. Good work with almost full post. It does seem like stross went "I do love me some rockets, but I've got to give something for those who don't want to have sex with a rocket. Robot sex it is and do away with all the humans. Ugh. I wish I wasn't one."

Anybody read this? It sounds interesting but the (((endorsements))) make me wary.

How is it?

>>22061816

That doesn't mean they are asexual, just incels.

As i understand it, asexuals don't want to have sex. Most adults who have not been intimate with another, isn't from lack of sexual desire.

>>22062615
I read the first book. It was alright. Some cool ideas and scenes. Not much in the way of plot or character. After finishing it I had no desire to keep reading.

>>22062288
your """reviews""" are SHIT
FUCK OFF
>>22062573
fuck off reviewfag

What's the concensus on the Star Wars High Republic books?

>>22059905
Good post but I'm trying to figure out how warranted the optimism is. Compare to fan fiction, which has direct continuity (visible in the terminology) with Star Trek fans mailing out photocopied fanzines in the 70s and people dicking around on UUCP university networks in the 80s. Is it better?
...thinking about it, yeah, it really is better. Most of it is dreck but there's a good amount that I did enjoy and meanwhile I bounce off almost all progression fantasy I try.
But it isn't known for being good.

There was an anon last thread who says he was filtered by The Deep. Yes, his other stuff is worth reading, especially Engine Summer and Little, Big

Also read R A Lafferty for more difficult speculative fiction

>>22062355
well if i were the guy designing robots i'd want everything to be fuckable. just in case, you know?

>>22062118
Are there any books about dragon wife harems or am I going to have write them myself?

Trans rights

>>22063440
>oh, cool, like aliens?
>NO. EUNUCHS
>please get away from me

>>22062712
Definitely for women.

>>22063422
Your wife shall perish.

>>22063550
That's fine I've got hundreds of them lmao
and more on the way

>>22063469
I want to read about eunuchs
What's some essential eunuch SFF

>>22063422
>Are there any books about dragon wife harems or am I going to have write them myself?
You called?

>>22063652
Isn't that more a guy who is a dragon and his wives?

>>22063664
It's a fucking harem novel. He has several wives, among them female dragons.
btw, you can also try picrel, but it's not a harem...

>>22063629
One of the main characters in Mistborn is a eunuch and he literally becomes ______god______ by the end

>>22063422
Actually, Blue Core also counts, although there's no action until late into the story

>>22063685
>snekguy
yeah I can tell this guy loves reptiles

Is there a list of essential classic sci-fi novels that were a influence for a lot of 80s and 90s Sci-fi and mecha anime?

For the last two weeks I have binged down the first two books of Lord of the Mysteries. I am writing down some impressions.

I honestly think it is surprisingly good for something coming along as a chink webnovel. First of all it never gets boring, there story is always progressing, there is no filler aside from the occasional overly specific description of random meals.

The second thing is that most plot points get neatly resolved and there are no cliffhangers that are supposed to keep you roped in.

Sometimes, like most things produced by chinese bugmen, it feels like a cheap knockoff, e.g. the blatant SCP style mystical objects or "tentacles im going insane" from Lovecraft.

I will keep going once I have cooled off a little.

>>22063852
When is the fucking donghua coming out?

>>22062118
the new gold standard of progression fantasy

Please recommend books with original settings and fresh ideas.

>>22064056
harry potter

>>22064056
Dichronauts

>>22062600
>Ugh. I wish I wasn't one.
Lmao
The sad part is I'd consider the next book in the "series" (Neptune's Brood, it's set thousands of years later in another solar system and features zero of the same characters) to even be good and worth a recommend if it DIDN'T rely on you having read the first book to understand a good chunk of it

Stross writes sex badly but I'd still consider Peter F Hamilton to be the worst writer (with regards to sex) in all of SF. He just emanates "lecherous man at the pool" with every description of sex he writes

>>22064056
Helliconia Spring - Brian Aldiss

One of the most unique sci-fi settings I've seen in a long time, and it's explored greatly too.

I write

>>22064117
>all that Jasper Fforde
Is it any good?

>>22064158
Thursday Next is good (it's very funny), Fforde's other stuff is middling at best

>>22063974
this shit aint progression ,it's horror

>protagonist and 1200 people trapped in a base by the sea. while apocaliptique monsters roam the land,warping the landscap and the climat.
>their only way out is an evacuation ship

>an unknown abomination in the sea brainwash people into comiting sucide by throwing themselves in the waves.

>those who watch the sucide are brainwashed into beliving nothing wrong is going on.

>the abomiantion destroy the ship and devour everyone on it. there will be no evacuation. all hope is lost .

>the protagonist is convinced to leave on land with his small team and a vip.

>he teleport back to the base one day later to see what happened .

>the base is empty,1200 people killed themselves in silence.

Lovecraft would be proud

>>22062118
Where The Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction & Fantasy (2017)
Edited by Lucas K. Law & Derwin Mak

The subtitle is somewhat misleading. Maybe half of these twenty-three stories could reasonably be called SFF. Speculative fiction would be more accurate. All of the stories are Asian influenced. The influences are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Sri Lankan, Indian, and Turkish. Social justice was the focus for several of the stories. Several of the Ok stories were close to being Enjoyable, but I had problems with each of them that were a bit too much.

Spirit of Wine - Tony Pi
A spirit of Wine possess two sworn brothers and causes mischief. Ideogram-play follows.
Meh

The dataSultan of Streets and Stars - Jeremy Szal
A dataSultan (programmer) is hired to steal the newest djinn (AI). Naturally it doesn't go planned.
Meh

Weaving Silk - Amanda Sun
Two children in Tokyo struggle to survive following a catastrophic earthquake.
Meh

Vanilla Rice - Angela Yuriko Smith
A pregnant woman of asian descent in a western country has fully internalized white beauty standards and purchases a chip that will change the phenotype of her daughter so that she will not have to suffer the indignity of not being white.
Blah

Looking Up - S. B. Divya
A woman with a physical disability who has a traumatic past and is estranged from her family has been selected for a one-way mission to Mars. All that's left is telling everyone goodbye then going on her way.
Ok

A Star Is Born - Miki Dare
This is about the interment of Japanese-Canadians. It's about the racism and oppression that non-whites have endured in Canada, whose evils are similar to those of the United States, though overshadowed by the severity of the latter due to population size and factors. I'm not sure what to make of the narrative, mostly as to whether it is what it says it is or not.
Blah

My Left Hand - Ruhan Zhao
A scientist visits a palmreader who warns him of disaster, but what does l matter when there's science to do, and who believes that nonsense anyway, ha ha.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I otherwise would because I don't have sufficient Chinese cultural knowledge to turn what seem to be the implications into definite conclusions.
Meh

DNR - Gabriela Lee
A doctor living in the Philippine Protectorate on Mars spends most of her time on autopsies and extracting the final memories of the deceased from their visual cortex to present to the bereaved.
Ok

A Visitation for the Spirit Festival - Diana Xin
A mother who thought she'd never return to China does so to convince her daughter that her activism is too dangerous. The mother carries with her the ghosts of her past.
Meh

Rose's Arm - D. Jim
In racist steampunk Canada, a teenage girl's mother has died and her father is no longer able to provide due to anti-Japanese sentiment. A white doctor has offered to solve her problems, though his help would come at a great personal cost to her.
Meh

>>22064272
Back to Myan - Regina Kanyu Wang, translated by Shaoyan Hu
Kaya is a refugee saved by the Union. She returns to her desolate homeworld where her merfolk people once lived and discovers the truth, which dispels all the false narratives that were put upon her.
Meh

Meridian - Karin Lowachee
A four year old boy watches his family be killed by space pirates and his station be wrecked. He's picked up by scavengers, but they don't know how to raise such a traumatized child. The years pass by, but the memories don't fade.
Ok

Joseon Fringe - Pamela Q. Fernandes
A historical fantasy about how hangul and much else was developed by King Sejong and Jang Young Sil. It's also about hoping changing the past will fix the present.
Meh

Wintry Hearts of Those Who Rise - Minsoo Kang
The heir to a grand estate seeks an inheritance denied to him by father's second wife through legal maneuvering and deceit. His scholar friend decides to beat her at her own game.
Ok

Udātta Śloka? - Deepak Bharathan
A mythological origin story for a major Hindu deity.
Meh

Crash - Melissa Yuan-Innes
The colonists of the lunar colony escaped Earth and want nothing to do with it. A crashed space vessel threatens to upend their established balance.
Ok

Memoriam - Priya Sridhar
A robotictist has created a replica of his deceased father and everyone is worried for him, scared of what he's done, or both.
Ok

The Observer Effect - E. C. Myers
After a school shooting in California, a disabled Chinese woman wants to know why her co-worker, who is a superhero, didn't do anything about it. Superheroes are common in this world, as are supervillians. Thus ensues a conversation about racism against Asians, the importance of representation, and what it truly means to be a superhero.
Ok

Decision - Joyce Chng
A young woman from a race of mythical spider people who eat humans decides it's time to leave the family nest.
Meh

Moon Halves - Anne Carly Abad
The forests of Barangay Mangangasu are filled with spirits. It's time for the hunting rite to determine a new chieftan.
Ok

The Bridge of Dangerous Longings - Rati Mehrotra
A young girl wants to wants to cross the bridge that no one has survived crossing since it was built. All is shrouded in mist, but the gruesome death that befalls crossers is in full view. Life isn't going so well for her though.
Ok

Old Souls - Fonda Lee
A woman who remembers all of her past lives, seven currently, meets an immortal woman who asks of her a favor.
Ok

The Orphans of Nilaveli - Naru Dames Sundar
Nearly seventy years have passed since the end of the Sri Lankan civil war. Tamils remain discriminated against by the Sinhalese who literally aren't able to see them any longer due to their implants erasing them from sight. Even so, following a catastrophic earthquake two Tamil orphans are adopted by a Sinhalese family. Their lives take drastically different paths.
Ok

>>22064056
Read John Crowley, R A Lafferty, Gene Wolfe, and A A Attanasio

/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.

/SFFG/ Recommendations: LITRPG Edition

Read Azarinth Healer, Primal Hunter, He Who Fight with Monsters, Dungeon Crawler Carl

Also read System Universe, Dissonance, Defiance of the Fall, Iron Prince.

>>22064320
Unbound shouldn't be on there. It's very, very, very derivative, even for litrpg.

>>22064322
>>22064320
Also Iron Prince isn't a LitRPG.

>>22064338
And Luke Chmilenko is a phony Russian. He's actually a leaf.

>>22064396
I mean, sometimes people can just have that kind of last name, you know. Dunno why I'm defending it, Iron Prince was bland as all hell, anyway. 800 pages of fucking nothing interesting happening. How do you write effectively a magic academy story where just nothing goes wrong and it's just a normal school year?

Anybody have any good suggestions for fantasy related twitter accounts that are worth following?

>>22064117
Why does he have garbage left on his shelves?

>>22064407
>>22064396
i don't know his story, but for what it's worth (at least prior to the war) there were more ukranian immigrants in canada than like anywhere else

>>22063440
>person did not lose their job because of X, they lost it because of X but framed according to my satanic religion, chud!

>>22064420
Gemell isn't THAT bad
haha

>>22064315
>>22064320
Avatarfagging is a bannable offense.

I support Starship Troopers fascism in real life. Yes, I know the movie is satire. The book is not but that is neither here nor there.


Fascism is based, service guarantees citizenship, the only good bug is a dead bug

>>22064740
How is Starship Troopers fascist?

>>22064745
>hyper militaristic society
>explicitly eugenic themes strewn throughout the novel
>literal scenes where Heinlein has his author avatars explain how violence has resolved more disputes than anything else

This isn't criticism, Heinlein was right

>>22064733
Cool

Now watch me post my recommendations next thread, and the next after that one, and the nex one, like ive been doing all this time, thanks.

>>22064733
It's a spambot.

>22064770
imagine being this dumb
just stop posting here and go read a book
maybe stud something about bots since u so paranoic about it

>same anon posting the same recommendations for months
>people still waste time arguing with him every now and then
>newfags talking about bannable offense despite nothing happening in years

at this point i will just side with him, prob will post some charts as well just to piss off the newfags

>>22062124
How do faggots like this not eventually tire of memeing the exact same shit day in and day out for literally several years straight?

>>22064117
I read a walk to aldebaran and his time war story, aldebaran was pretty decent but the other one was the very definition of "mid" I guess.

>>22064416
I heard about this one guy where he larps like he lives in a world where the sun suddenly disappeared and he documents his day to day life in said world, more analog horror than anything else but it's all I can think of.

Starting to get a bit more into space opera and sci fi. Was looking for recommendations for series that are just fun space adventures. Pretty much just some bros on a spaceship going on fun adventures or saving the galaxy.

>>22064740
YOU would be the type to be continuously whipped and too much of a degenerate fatass to ever obtain citizenship in the first place.

Prove me wrong.

>>22064272
>>22064276
your """reviews""" are SHIT
fuck off

>>22064953
Actual mental illness
>>22064975
there aren't any, Star Wars cornered the genre and everybody else stopped trying, I wish I was memeing but the total amount of genuine published space opera science fiction literature that isn't Star Wars can be counted on two hands, and that's counting separate novel entries within franchises
(I am disregarding Planetary Romances and Dune from the "Space Opera" subgenre)
>>22064740
there is nothing whatsoever, within either the novel or the movie franchise, that bears any resemblance to fascism as an ideology or historical fascist states, with the sole exception of the Hugo Boss outfits at the end of the movie
Verhoeven's "uh actually it was a satire on fascism! yeah, that's the ticket!" was a galaxy-sized cope after the movie bombed and nobody took it seriously, the same way Tommy Wiseau damage controlled The Room as an intentionally bad ironic comedy

>>22062124
Thank God your back, I just finished the series and was avoiding these threads for fear of spoilers and I came back and no one was Bakker posting anymore I was so disappointed.

Predictions for No God anyone?
Mine: SPOILERS
Achamean and Mimara will sneak back into Golgotterath after the No God blows somewhere else and they'll find salty boi with his two demon heads, which Achamean will take in an attempt to discover just what the fuck went down in there. He will discover that one head is Kellhus, who had that head ready as a soul repository just in case. Achamean will keep Kellhus head to advise him for the rest of the series. Possibly at the end Kellhus head on a pole is installed as the new immortal god emperor of the three seas.

>>22064953
mental deficiency

>>22065084
>Predictions for No God
Yeah, it never gets published.

>>22064975
Crashlander by Larry Niven
Babel-17
Voyage of the Space Beagle
Tau Zero

>>22065089
Tbh its a fine ending as is, you can read it as everyone there died and it's fucking over and its simply the most metal ending of all time

>>22065097
>you can read it as everyone there died and it's fucking over and its simply the most metal ending of all time
peak goyslop opinion

>>22065097
I crapped out after The Judging Eye, why should I pick up The White Luck Warrior?

>>22065123
It has a dragon?

>>22065125
Ugh...

Give me recs that have pic related vibes.

>>22065216
No.

>>22063734
Stuff from the golden age like Slan, Voyage of the Space Beagle, Lensman, paradox men, childhood's end, more than human, The Stars My Destination,Cordwainer Smith (he invented space catgirls), Heinlein, Asimov, Edmond Hamilton etc
>>22064056
Viriconium
Books of the Raksura
>>22064291
Based Attanasio poster

>>22065130
It has elf meth?

>>22065241
So?

>>22065243
God you suck

>>22065250
You haven't really listed anything THAT interesting, scrub. REALLY? Your first point is "it has a dragon"? WOW, A FANTASY STORY WITH A DRAGON!?

The fuck outta here.

Finally got to bootleg hogwarts in Name of the Wind, shit seems pretty cool, reminds me alot of Ranoa from Mushoku Tensei

>>22065278
>Reminds me of Ching Chong Ding Dong from Nip Dip Fibbity Bip
Shut the FUCK up, WEEB.

>>22064973
What’s his twitter handle?

>>22065301
TheSunVanished I think

>>22063974
ehhhhhhhhhh it was ok

>>22064320
Please make /litrpg/

>>22065236
Touche'

>>22065602
Maybe I'll read this once I'm done with Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage, shame it will never get an ending though

Hello anons, I came here to recommend Piranesi to you. Its gifacomfy and very nice :) read it now.

>>22065622
Consider this, how many great stories have been ruined by crappy ending? I kniw it's not true, but I wouldn't be surprised if the whole banning thing was fake and author stopped releasing because he didn't have good enough ending. It's better to have a good story with no ending (90% is there anyway) than a story that has been ruined by bad ending.

>>22065647
Already have, it's pretty good.

>>22065653
Based. Any recommendations on similar stuff? It felt a lot like a Borges story but as a real novel in the beginning if that makes sense?

>>22064740
>>22064751
>>22064745
I still remember watching Star Troopers as a kid and seeing that military shoower scene. And you know what I thought at that moment? No, it wasn't 'Oh, tits!'. It was 'Huh, so people of both genders can just shower together without anyone being weird? Why aren't we doing it everywhere? That's perfect! Can we really get there in the future?'.

Only years later after I'd become an adult I understood how liberal fantasy and science fiction of 90s/00s skewed my world-view and gave me inappropriate expectations. I thought people respected freedom, wanted equality and the good of all society. I'm still resentful for how SFF malformed me in my formational years, giving me abstract ideas and romantic values no one actually gives shit about.

>>22065748
well, for what it’s worth, my girlfriend from 1994 is in the shower scene from verhoeven’s “starship troopers” and i am now gay, so do the math

>>22065748
for what it’s worth, my girlfriend from 1994 gets her tits out in the shower scene in verhoeven’s “starship troopers” and i am now gay

not because she got her tits out, but because barack obama blew craig robinson

>>22062118
FUCK he is good.

>>22065002
not the reviewer but ill take actual contributions over some retard lashing out because he can’t articulate himself. retard

Title: Battle Mage Farmer: Domestication
Author: Seth Ring

[Plot]
John Sutton retires. He'd had enough of war and battles and killing. Summoned to this magical world full of strife, he'd been fighting ever since, trying to delay the magical apocalypse. As one of the last surviving Mages John follows the Quests granted to him by a weird, taciturn System. Now he's retiring, hoping to find some peace...and maybe find a way to save the world.

[Review]
Not often do I find a story this conflicting to judge. The plot is obviously partially ripped-off from Beware of Chicken, although much better planned and with the author's original take on pseudo-Slice of Farming Life fantasy. The story is well-written, characters are actual characters even if not very deep aside from the protagonist. It's not a haphazard webnovel but an actual book, with proper execution.

Its most positive quality - aside of interesting plot and captivating magical farming life - is the portrayal of the OP protagonist. I must applaud the author for writing a typical OP protagonist while at the same time creating believable reasons for him hiding and trying the best he can to stop using his magic. You scarcely see this amount of tension in LitRPGs. At the same time the progression elements are here, with he protagonist growing stronger, albeit in breath of his abilities, not power. Mostly, he just progresses mentally from the years of combat. I wouldn't call it an authentic portrayal of PTSD but it gets the job done.

The weirdest thing about the series (I'm reading the third book now) is that it's partially a romance. Yes, a LitRPG romance, in 25% of its focus I'd say, and not done horribly at that. It's generic, slow, a bit cute, but the way it's written almost made me think the story's written by a woman. Stoic male with extreme powers that's calmed down by a down-to-earth cute typical woman? Who of course has some uncommon abilities of her own? That's a typical female fantasy story right there. The rest of the story points against the author being a woman, not to mention the writing track record. Still weird, though.

What I dislike the most is the writing style. It's competent, even good most of the times, but the author is incapable of showing-not-telling. If you see a character having an emotional reaction or realization, you will get an entire paragraph detailing what's happening in their head, point by point. Ugh. That's the opposite of dramatic writing, even if all the other elements are good.

All in all, I judge it a good LitRPG & Progression Fantasy series so far. Not ground-breaking or particularly interesting, but it's very much a typical fantasy book you can buy in a shop and enjoy to relax, just its LitRPG equivalent.

Rating: 6.75/10

>>22064056
Reverend Insanity.

>>22065648
Based on his next story sucking dick I worry that even if/when he comes back to finish i the ending will be shit anyway. I don't know how since at this point even "and then fang yuan killed everyone and became god" would be at least a 7/10 resolution and even the vaguest attempt at wrapping things up with an exposition dump would be 8/10.
He'd have to pull some Attack on Titan level shit to ruin it.

>>22062124
How do these three words cause /sffg/ so much asshurt

>Collected Fictions by Borges
>Hothouse by Aldiss
>Aspects by Ford
>The Mars Trilogy by Burroughs
Which of my new stack should I read?

>>22065772
so handsome

>>22066012
Hothouse

>>22065772
>every author you like is a facist

>>22066044
He really is.

>>22065856
>6.75
Book on is the best in the series and it's a 4/10 at best.

>>22064975
>Starting to get a bit more into space opera and sci fi. Was looking for recommendations for series that are just fun space adventures. Pretty much just some bros on a spaceship going on fun adventures or saving the galaxy.
John Blake Chronicles for some hypercock harem space opera.

>>22065856
your """reviews""" are SHIT
fuck off

>>22065809
>actual contributions
>some spastic saying "meh" is a contributive and constructive review
fuck off retard

>>22066012
Read Aspects and let me know how it is. I like Ford's other works

>>22062288
>>22064272
>>22065856
3 in 1 thread already? Amazing. Maybe there will be even more to come.

>>22066448
>>22066475
think he wrote a little more than that. or are you you offended by not seeing the red ign hexagon around a number? dumb faggot.
everyone would rather have his shit reviews in the thread than a whiney, useless idiot.
just leave

>>22066492
Eh, it's been common for many thread since I've strated reviewing. The fourth review Anon has been silent for a while, I wonder what's going on with him.

Holy fuck the dresden files sucks. I'm just trying to listen to an audiobook during walks and shit but the dresden files are so fucking lame. I guess I'll try the Bakker guy you losers are always talking about because at least there is rape and stuff

>>22065657
I haven't found anything similar, no.

>>22066501
>think he wrote a little more than that. or are you you offended by not seeing the red ign hexagon around a number? dumb faggot.
Project more reviewfag
He reads swill and writes swill
>everyone would rather have his shit reviews in the thread than a whiney, useless idiot.
Not really
Most people in this thread either don't care or dislike the shitty reviewfags that shill themselves here
It's quite funny that 6 words can inflame the tempers of reviewfags like yourself. i live in your heads rent free. nobody wants to see your shitty reviews and hack opinions. saying something is "meh" doesn't count as a review
your """reviews""" are shit
fuck off
simple as

>>22066657
seethe

>>22066556
iirc every dresden fans (and the author himself) advices to start with 3 or 4th book.

>>22066657
You've never answered what your preferred books would be.

>>22066672
your """reviews""" are shit
fuck off
>>22066718
I'd prefer if you didn't read shitrpg swill/chinkshit

>newfags arguing with newfags

>>22066729
That's still a negative and it's been for 100% of anything anyone writes about for many months. Maybe a year. Is there anything you like at all?

>>22066745
>Is there anything you like at all?
Yeah
Plenty of fantasy
Not chinkshit litrpg trash
And when the reviewfags who pollute these threads do read good fantasy they say stupid shit like complain that pulp stories written in the 40s and 50s are pulpy and not full length novels
stupid
retarded
reviewfags

>>22066689
Hmm okay maybe I will

>>/lit/thread/S20871092#p20873524
This may be the first one. Coming up on a year soon.

>>/lit?task=search&search_text=%22your%20reviews%20are%20shit%22

>>22066762
>>22066772
I really do live in reviewfags heads rent free
And i like how you choose to seethe at my relatively innocuous posts but not at bakkerfag or read /sffg/ recomendations fag or reverand instanity fag or the other spastics who pollute this general

>>22066754
You say the same about the ones written in the 40s and 50s as well that didn't say that about them. Why not just admit the truth that you will do it to anything?

>>22066803
Have you considered it may be because you're the only one who responds and can be easily baited and provoked?

>>22066811
>Why not just admit the truth that you will do it to anything?
Why not stop reading litrpg swill?
Reviewfags reviews offer nothing. i read reviews to get a new perspective of something or to learn something, somebody saying "meh" or giving a plot summary and saying sometihng is ok is not a good review
just fuck off
>>22066815
because i make reviewfags seethe

>>22066828
If you would, provide an example review you like. It can be from anywhere.

>>22066844
>If you would, provide an example review you like.
anything by Armond White

>>22066850
He's a movie reviewer. I guess it should've been expected.

>>22066862
>provide an example review you like. It can be from anywhere.
cope

>>22066828
I've never found a litterpeegee I liked but "good plot, okay characters, tropey but thoughtful about it, bunch of romance, mediocre style" seems helpful to decide whether something is for you
Essays that use the work as a springboard are a lovely genre but they're not the only reviews that have any value I don't think

>>22066862
Anon, be careful. He's seethed and coped, and if he dilates, you'll get hit with the newfag triforce and sent to the shadow realm.

>>22066871
I didn't say of anything. That you only think of movies and tv is on you. If you don't like anyone who writes about books you should've simply said so.

>>22066850
>Picks the guy who may be the most popular troll in reviewing
You made the best choice for your own style of posting.

>>22066882
No
I don't read reviews for fantasy novels
why are you so dedicated to replying to me and seething when bakkerfag and /sffg/ reccomendations fag are far more annoying?
>>22066875
shitrpgs are trash
swill
>>22066878
mad reviewfag

See >>22066875

>>22066900
Because they're no fun, unlike you.

>>22062118
Babelchads, how are we feeling about Bancrofts gigacomfy Babel-series? I really enjoyed it and I am looking for more books with that same sense of weird magic and comf. Excited for Bancrofts new book this autumn

>>22066912
Because you know i'm right

>>22066803
>but not at bakkerfag or read /sffg/ recomendations fag or reverand instanity fag

bc they all based

>>22066950
Because they're fags

>>22066803
>>22066900
bakkerfag and /sffg/ reccomendations fag or reverand instanity fag dont start shit like you do and you know it

>>22062118
any books where the male protag has a romantic relationship with a female dragon? (not harem)

>>22066974
Wandering Inn

>>22066971
I don't start shit unless a reviewfags posts their swill in the thread
bakkerfag and the other faggots on here post their shit incessantly
bakkerfag keeps shilling bakker on other boards as well

>>22066974
Can he also be a dragon?

>>22066974
>>22063685

>>22066978
>>22067003
when I said "books" I meant "actually published in hard copy", not internet erotic literature

>>22067000
no, that's cringe, I only support HMOFA

>>22067000
unless I haven't reached that part yet I think the anon is trolling you because the protag is female and the dragon is androgynous and can appear however they want to, but in this case a male.

>>22067160
I don't know what book you're talking about, but the book I'm talking about is basically The Vampire Lestat but with dragons. I think it's called The Dragon DeLasangre or some shit. It wasn't good but the main character absolutely is a dragon.

>>22066940
What makes these books good? I ordered the first

>>22064272
Why do you read these themed anthologies? I read that the people who submit to these don't even really want to restrict themselves to these themes but are just trying to make money with writing, so it's going to be devoid of artistic merit.

>>22067296
That isn't how it works and that isn't what they're doing. If you mean this one specifically, it's because I wanted one more for the monthly theme I put. I enjoyed the previous one much more.

>>22067340
How does it work?

>>22067363
It depends. If it's an original anthology the editors solicit writers to write a story for them. There's very little money involved in short fiction in general. Usually it's more relatively known short fiction writers because then they can pretend there's a chance they break even. Open submissions are for some magazines, mostly not the entirely professional ones. That short fiction publications don't accept new writers is a constant complaint. If it's for anything else it's either a vanity publication or a scam. If it's a reprint anthology the editors license the rights to use the story. The themes are usually followed well. My contention with this one is that's misnamed. That's not the fault of the writers.

>>22065772
Unironically he is, I've only read The City & The City and Embassytown and both were fantastic, especially Embassytown. Got Perdido Street Station coming up next.

>>22065278
What do you think so far, Anon? I like his prose. He does go over the top flowery sometimes, but it's mostly good.

>>22062118
Someone should probably add this to the Mega, since the charts are shit and don't discuss edition differences.

>>22062124
Truth Shines, mashallah

>>22067541
fuck, I have the lovecraft complete fiction book and you're telling me it may NOT be complete? Disgusting.

>>22067561
He wrote 24 stories that definitely won’t be in that edition. Sometimes, they leave out other stories too.

>>22067541
This looks like a Joshi fanboy infographic that may be entirely biased. Not that that really matters. I added it to the unsorted folder for now. Maybe eventually I'll get around to being more active with it again but that seems increasingly unlikely. If someone else wants access, let me know.

As a reminder, the mega upload link is https://mega.nz/megadrop/mcId0tMu0xM
The wiki can be edited by anyone though.

>>22065772
>>22066044

>>22067541
Klinger's The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft is also approved by Joshi.

>>22067484
I'm enjoying it so far, was a bit bored in the early sections since it felt somewhat directionless but once Kvothe started telling his tale, particularly the Chandrian meeting and all of Tarbean, I started to really get into it. I'm not usually someone who reads 1st person POV often but the way its written makes it very easy to read chapter after chapter without feeling the need to stop for a bit. I really liked the religious stories about Tehlu and the origin of Haliax from the Tarbean section, very interested in learning more about that sort of stuff in this universe, especially since I saw them mention Doors of Stone and I saw thats the title for the unreleased book 3.

>>22066492
I am allowed to write the reviews, am I not?

>>22067657
This is a good thing.

>>22067657
>>22067727
fuck off

>>22067261
So first of all the prose is really great, especially given that thats not something fantasy novels usually have going for them. Second the characters are the right balance between real deep personalities and fun clichés. Especially the MC feels like a "real" person but for all others motives and behavior make sense. The world building is creative and I have never read anything in a similar setting and Im a sucker for those weird, creative ideas for a world. And finally the overall vibe is super comfy. It feels like a fun and creative adventure novel at its worst points and like Kafka if Kafka was less nightmarish at its best points. For me the whole thing had a weird dreamy taste to it that I really enjoyed. And its a page turner. In the end the world is a bit underutilized and it has some deus ex machina moments but still, Id call it a slightly flawed but very enjoyable masterpiece.
>>22067449
Based. Just keep in mind that Perdido is part 1 of his craziest fantasy epos and it can feel convoluted. He is just a very creative guy and thats not always a great thing. I enjoyed it a lot still. If you dont like it Id say still go for Kraken. Its my favorite book by Mieville

>>22067740
I'm convinced you're the fag who goes on about Dying Earth shit and webnovel generals. Do you even have a job?

>>22067873
>I'm convinced you're the fag who goes on about Dying Earth shit
????
ive only read BOTNS (the first book, not the sequels) and zothique
both are good
>Do you even have a job?
Do you?
Why not spend the amount of time you spend reading shitty books and """reviewing""" them on doing something constructive with your life

>>22067927
I'm not the reviewfag. I work up to 30 hours a week on a casual basis. Other time is spent writing a story every week and sending it to big magazines on top of reading every day. I'm just sick of you guys saying the same shit. It's like looking at kids go "yeh it is" and "nah uh" over and over.

I only made this because I had to stop going to my writing group because some guy keeps saying the same memes over and over. Sorry to vent, babes, but it's annoying that science fiction got so mainstream you have to hear idiots talk about it without reading it.

>>22067935
>you guys
it's been one dude this whole time sperging out about people discussing the books they read and compulsively responding to each and every one of them

>>22067935
>I'm just sick of you guys saying the same shit.
I'm just sick of reviewfags pushing their shitrpg swill and crying about pulp stories not being epic fantasy novels
simple as
>>22067961
funny how you focus on me and not on bakkerfag and others
really strange
reviewfags are really neurotic

Sheesh /sffg/ is awfully pedantic today

>>22068001
yeah reviewfags really get mad for some reason
neurotic, mentally ill people
very strange

>>22066689
I disagree.

Tolkien vs Dunsany
Who is better?

>>22067940
I guess I'm on the writing group guy's side.
>It was purposefully decadent and stylistic for emotional effect
Yeah, no shit it's on purpose. That doesn't mean it's good. I think he's alright, not quite my taste, but this is a non-argument.
>but he hates on white trash in Beyond the Wall of Sleep
"The people who live in those mountains are mentally deficient because of their degenerate breeding" is not anti-racist, what are you on about?
There's also a very straightforward xenophobic/anti-miscegenist reading of The Shadow over Innsmouth that you're ignoring.
>Shoggoths in Shadow Over Innsmouth
This is as good as it gets:
>This was the dream in which I saw a shoggoth for the first time, and the sight set me awake in a frenzy of screaming. That morning the mirror definitely told me I had acquired the Innsmouth look.
So I thought you were thinking of At the Mountains of Madness, I remembered a little detail in that, yet:
>It was a terrible, indescribable thing, vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.
It literally says it's le indescribable.

>can't into incest
>made cousin instead
>made the fathers of the cousins to be twins so they look like siblings
I guess is clever, unfortunately that would not save this peace of literature
why women like to date stoners?

>>22068034
not the anon you're replying to
but you're wrong
>Yeah, no shit it's on purpose. That doesn't mean it's good. I think he's alright, not quite my taste, but this is a non-argument.
it is good
>"West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut. There are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight. On the gentler slopes there are farms, ancient and rocky, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old New England secrets in the lee of great ledges; but these are all vacant now, the wide chimneys crumbling and the shingled sides bulging perilously beneath low gambrel roofs".
Lovecraft was a good writer, at least for the pulp milieu he was writing in
>There's also a very straightforward xenophobic/anti-miscegenist reading of The Shadow over Innsmouth that you're ignoring.
Lovecraft saw anglo saxons as superior but that was normal in american society. he respected native americans, the chinese, the japanese, etc.
he hated blacks which is something everybody did at the time
>It literally says it's le indescribable.
No it doesn't
Lovecraft describes it as a shapeless monster shaped out of bubbles with eyes appearing and reapparing all over its body
And do you think all monsters in horror fiction should be described to the last detail?
There has to be a sense of mystery and unexplainedness

>>22068058
>at least for the pulp milieu he was writing in
Sounds like you broadly agree with the opinion I expressed in the post.
>he hated blacks which is something everybody did at the time
So you agree that he did a heckin racism like the redditors say.
You'd be correct that most people were racist back then. But he really thought about this stuff, developed it, wrote long letters to friends about his exotic neighbors. It wasn't just a thoughtless attitude osmosed from his environment. To say he was a product of his time with nothing more going on would be doing the man a disservice.
All of this is besides the point though. The image says that Beyond the Wall of Sleep is a counterexample to his racism. Would you defend that statement?
>No it doesn't
It uses the word "indescribable". It's right there. First sentence, fifth word.
>And do you think all monsters in horror fiction should be described to the last detail?
No? I said nothing of the sort.

>>22068111
So if someone hates aspects of every race, they are still a white supremacist? That's fucking stupid.

>>22068118
You're the first one to say "white supremacist". Did you read the image?

>>22068121
I made the image. Take a basic definition of racism from OED:
>the belief that some races of people are better than others, or a general belief about a whole group of people based only on their race
Lovecraft cosmicism makes racism fairly redundant, and he hated aspects of white people, so he wasn't an Aryanist on the level of Hitler, who is an archetypical racist.

>>22068111
if lovecraft was such a le racist then why was he an orientalist who LARPed as an arab as a kid?
>. . . how many dream-Arabs have the Arabian Nights bred! I ought to know, since at the age of 5 I was one of them! I had not then encountered Graeco-Roman myth, but found in Lang’s Arabian Nights a gateway to glittering vistas of wonder and freedom. It was then that I invented for myself the name of Abdul Alhazred, and made my mother take me to all the Oriental curio shops and fit me up an Arabian corner in my room.
He was an Anglo supremacist, which was pretty common at the time. Anglo saxon supremacisim was everywhere, lovecraft wasn't at all strange for believing that anglos were the master race and being disgusted at swarthy italians in the US.
The klan thought the same, and they had millions of members throughout the US
>The image says that Beyond the Wall of Sleep is a counterexample to his racism. Would you defend that statement?
Yes
Lovecraft would have thought more highly of a high class japanese person than a white trash anglo
>It uses the word "indescribable". It's right there. First sentence, fifth word.
And?
We can get a good idea of what it looks like by what lovecraft writes directly after

Would I like The Day of the Triffids if I'm into Lovecraftian monsters?

>>22068128
I think that definition clearly applies despite his cosmicism.
I don't think he was literally Hitler.

>>22068131
Orientalism is extremely compatible with certain kinds of racism.
I'm aware of his Abdul LARP. There are some more spicy Arab opinions in the picture I attached to that post.
>lovecraft wasn't at all strange for believing that anglos were the master race and being disgusted at swarthy italians in the US
No, he was unusual for another reason. I already wrote it in my last post, go re-read it if you have to.
>Lovecraft would have thought more highly of a high class japanese person than a white trash anglo
Lots of racists agree with that today!
The story describes the white trash as a degenerate sub-race. It's classical racist thinking.
You seem to think that racism is one single monolithic ideology, specifically cartoon white supremacy. That's just not how it works. Having strong opinions about which races have which traits and calling people mongrels is very straightforward racism. Racism is about thinking in terms of races. Which ol' Howard was fond of doing.
>And?
If Lovecraft says that his monster is..... le indescribable! and then a redditor says that Lovecraft's monster is...... le indescribable! then the redditor has at least a glimmer of a point. It doesn't help for the image to quote a story where the monster isn't described at all.

>>22068159
>No, he was unusual for another reason. I already wrote it in my last post, go re-read it if you have to.
No he wasn't
Race science was extremely common in lovecraft's day
Give one racial opinion of lovecraft's that was unusual, kooky and extremely out there
There isn't one
he was a racist anglo saxon supremacist
big deal
>The story describes the white trash as a degenerate sub-race. It's classical racist thinking.
Yeah, lovecraft was racist
but his opinions weren't strange or out of the norm
When did i ever deny that lovecraft wasn't racist?
He was, but his racial opnions were completely normal and par for the course back then. which is why lovecraft could have long conversations with howard over mail about racial stock and nordic groups and degenerate
because it was fine and dandy back then
>where the monster isn't described at all.
He literally is described
A formless monster made out of bubbles with temporary eyes

>>22068279
>Give one racial opinion of lovecraft's that was unusual, kooky and extremely out there
Talking about Greek-Turkish mongrels is at least a little kooky. That was in the picture I posted earlier.
Point is that he had strongly developed thoughts and opinions about races and that this did influence his writing. It wasn't incidental background racism.
>When did i ever deny that lovecraft wasn't racist?
The image half-heartedly argued against it.
>which is why lovecraft could have long conversations with howard over mail about racial stock and nordic groups and degenerate
Howard was also a kooky racist but doesn't have Lovecraft's reputation for whatever reason. I have nevertheless seen people call him specifically out as even worse than Lovecraft.
IIRC Lovecraft had other friends with whom he didn't dare discuss that stuff.
>He literally is described
But not in Shadow Over Innsmouth, which the image cites as containing described shoggoths. The image does not cite At the Mountains of Madness.

any fantasy adventure book that involve a messed up amalgam party of adventurers (like paladin, cowboy, magical girl...) and that IS NOT a litrpg?

>>22068326
Live A Live

>>22068403
Book, anon. This isn't /v/.

>>22068477
half the shit in this thread could barely be called books too

>>22068486
kek

Just finished Mother of Learning: ARC 4, pretty comfy, really good, just wished there was more, would like to see Zorian and Zach getting famous and everyone knowing how strong they are

what are the chances of MOL 2?

Hello friends,
I just finished reading The Forever War and I liked it well enough. Should I read Forever Free or skip it?

>>22062712
vey quick read. overall a fun narration. still not sure who won in the end.

>>22068781
>would like to see Zorian and Zach getting famous and everyone knowing how strong they are
>what are the chances of MOL 2?
This was the stated impetous behind Menocht Loop and we saw how well that went

Has anyone here read the Dominions of Irth trilogy by A. A. Attanasio?

>>22068924
>>22068781

>MOL 2: Even Loopier

>>22068937
>Dominions of Irth

No, but I desperately want to know if it has the Vancian spirit to it like I've been told.

>>22068786
Have you read Forever Peace (book 2)?

>>22062124
I STILL BELIEVE

>>22068924
>and we saw how well that went

i didnt saw shit homiee

the epilogue was good, he shouldve left the spider eggs out if he didnt plan to write more

>>22068974
I thought Forever Free was the direct sequel and Forever Peace was like a spinoff type thing?

>>22068477
You are right but Live A Live IS rpg-kino.

>>22068786
No, Forever War's ending is perfect

>>22068970
who da fuck said that. I need to know too

Anyone got some good urban fantasy recs?

>>22069255
library at mount char
is it at or of

>>22069255
Nightside by Simon Green, is like Dresden but actually good

>>22069259
>woman protag
Snore

>>22068786
It's quite a different book, it won't ruin forever war for you but as another anon said the ending is perfect as is
>>22068974
It's entirely unrelated to forever war, no need to read it (although it is good)

>>22064320
>He Who Fights with Monsters
Mid at best, I bet you'd recommend people wandering in too wouldn't you.

>>22066053
Is Hothouse a dying earth novel?

>>22068781
>what are the chances of MOL 2
up there with winds of winter and doors of stone

>>22069505
No, it's post-apocalyptic and the earth is pretty much alive, humanity is the one who does the dying.

The Dream Archipelago, Christopher Priest, 1999

This is a collection of about seven short stories set in Priest's "islands" universe, first introduced in "The Affirmation", which I have not read, and further expanded on in 2011 in "The Islanders". The stories are not overly long, most could easily be read in about half an hour.

Priest's world is intriguingly grounded - the titular neutral Dream Archipelago separates the warlike states of the north from the southern continent that is their battleground, and as such is constantly filled with soldiers and troopships drifting through, yet there is rarely an unfamiliar weapon in their hands, or ideology in their minds - i.e., Catholicism exists in the universe. We see the islands from many perspectives - a wounded soldier, a rich early retiree, an expat - but notably all of them come from the northern continent, oft creating alienation from the islands and their cultures. My favourite setting was the gothic-tinged island of Seevl in "The Miraculous Cairn".

I would not consider the world to be the main attraction of the book - that would be the plots. They feature a variety of aspects - mystery, frustration at a foreign landscape, charged sexuality, reckonings with identity, and so on. I don't really want to spoil any of them, but I will give you a taste of one, "The Cremation", if you wish: A recent émigré travels from his new home in the islands to attend a funeral where he knows not a single person on another, unfamiliar jungle island. He is put on edge by the unwelcoming atmosphere - the guests all speak in the local patois amongst themselves, and the servants seem insistent to prevent him from leaving - so when a woman beckons him down a path into the nearby jungle, he immediately follows - yet this only leads him to greater confusion. I will warn you that the first story (The Negation) is a little weak, so if you're iffy on the book I would start with one of the later ones.

I found the writing style to be of high quality, using capable symbolism and description and curating the reader's mood to match the story. "The Miraculous Cairn" and "The Watched" are the best for this. Characters' retreats to moments of introspection are well-placed and serve to heighten the mood, alongside descriptions of landscapes and scenery.

If you're looking for a break from hard spacey SF, I would absolutely give "The Dream Archipelago" a go. The stories are engaging, mixing war, identity, and mystery, resulting in a great read. Some criticisms include somewhat similar main characters (as one reviewer points out, most are bitter young men), and a few stories being a bit weaker than the others, but since you don't have to read them all (they are kind of linked but not very) I don't think the book should be put down too harshly for this.

Verdict: 4/5. I enjoyed the book and if you're like me (dislike overreliance on setpieces and worlds) you may too.

>>22063974
Just re read this and caught up after not reading for over a year and it's still great, I would say the current arc is the best after Forgotten Shore arc. I wish there were 1000 more chapters to read since this shit can easily go on for as long as the author has the passion to keep writing, I just hope it getting super popular doesn't influence him too much.
Would rank this among my favourites like Super Dimension Wizard and Kingdom's Bloodline, but those are chinese and no longer translated while SS is native english which is nice

>>22065772
>>22066118
>>22067449
>>22067627
>>22069745
If Tolkien is the wen on the arse of fantasy literature, then Miéville is the dilated gaping axe wound of necrosis on weird literature.

>>22069757
What a gay take

>>22069902
Miéville is PISSED OFF that women aren't listened to.

>>22069519
>up there with winds of winter and doors of stone

sadge

what's the origin of Chud fantasy?

I want to read the oldest versions of it

>>22070006
maybe this in a mix of this Greek myth...

>>22070009
...and this one

>>22070009
>>22070012
mixed together in the play Peace by Aristophanes, but as a parody

>>22070009

>>22070012

>>22070012

>>22070009

Any fantasy about a beta uprising?

>>22067627
Is there a single "booktuber" that reviews fantasy that isn't just YA/Sanderson type bullshit? I feel like a reviewer covering classic stuff like Vance, Dunsany, Peake is an untapped market

>>22070037
nice cock

just want to die lads

Just got done reading Hothouse. Any other books similar to Caves of Qud?

>>22069576
your """reviews""" are shit
FUCK OFF

>>22070239
Isn't caves of qud majorly inspired by Dying Earth? even though like >>22069532 said Hothouse is not the same

>>22070139
Your best bet is looking for boomer youtubers
TheLibraryLadder
Bookpilled
Outlaw BookSeller

>>22070430
Bookpilled isnt a boomer

>>22070479
He probably means boomer in the way that late 2010s newfags think boomer means someone over 30.

>>22070139
>>22070430
Guess I am going to have to step in and make youtube videos. I own the shelf that saved sffg so I think it's my duty to do so.

Still making my way through Lord of Light so are we meant to hate Sam/Siddhartha or is he meant to be the good guy? I can sort of see why people would consider him the good guy for wanting to bring the gift of the Gods to mortals, and why the other Gods would be extremely pissed with his decision to wage war against them but I can sort of see parralels with Prometheus and Satan's rebellion from Paradise Lost here and there in his character a little.

>>22070562
Go ahead and post links here.

New thread WHEN?

>>22070767
nigga we're 40 posts away from bump limit

What's something good to read on Kindle Unlimited?
>agnostic on scifi vs fantasy, just want "good"
>even for braincandy, closer to asimov than david webber, but I'm not a hard scifi purist
>high magic fantasy>low magic
>magical systems are cool and all, but I want a fun story, not a convenient excuse to just worldbuild
>perfectly fine with hero's journey
>schools are ok, but thin ice
>fine with chosen one
>really fine with most tropes that bookstagram/booktube/booktok shit on

>>22070018
Kek, he looks like the coomer

how does discos supposed to look in the night land by william hope?
is pic related the way I imagine it looks?

>>22071022
Honestly, Cradle. Doesn't have a chosen one or school, very high magic (Chinese fantasy-inspired, mainly), I guess it's pretty Hero's Journey-esque.

Anyone felt all the books after book one is just the author milking the series?

>>22071158
The glacial slowdown of progression was weird. So much shit happens in the first book, and then the next two are like "this is entirely just one big event". Like I don't fucking care about this one planet, it's never gonna matter again, because that's the point of the series' scale, a lot of things just kind of exist to be there in the story and then functionally cease to matter, can they do some interesting stuff now.
I like the characters enough to give it a few more chances, but honestly if it continues to just go nowhere fast I'm gonna be disappointed.

>Ascension by Nicholas Binge
>Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig
>The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
>Brandon Sanderson's covid novels
is anything else of note in SFF coming out this year?

>>22071126
cool, thanks. Will give it a shot.

YA has made fantasy terrible for finding anything new.

>>22071178
That's entirely a question of what "of note" means and even more so, for whom? Why not just ask if there's anything anyone is looking forward to this year?

>>22071209
It really hasn't. Most are clearly labeled as YA or adult. It's very easy to tell the difference in general.

i'm a scifi (& fantasy) noob; but i've really enjoyed modern series like kingkiller, malazan and stormlight. what would the (epic) scifi equivalent to these 3 be? roughly 90s-00s and later. ideally less 'cinematic' than stormlight archive.

>>22071209
Well, Cradle IS fairly YA, but you didn't really stipulate. It's not exactly high literature, but it's clearly not trying to be. It's playing very well with the tropes it knows it's using.

''He was Zorian Kazinski, third son of a minor merchant family from Cirin, accidental time traveler, and quite possibly the most powerful human mind mage in all of Altazia…

…and he had won.''

>>22064979
Except I wouldn't be.

>>22071366
The Expanse is alright, except book 6

Somebody get a new thread going

>>22071476
We wait until page 10, 310+ replies. You're just here to spam Bakker shit or Cradle.

>>22071366
get better taste please

>>22071382
the ending was rushed as hell

>>22068781
Nah, the whole finale was pretty great. There is no need for a continuation.

But I would not complain if the author tries his hand at something different.

>>22071476
Anon we're nowhere near bump limit, what's got your panties in a twist?

>>22071521
He has something he needs to say at the start of the thread so it's seen by everyone.

When, long ago, the gods created Earth
In Jove's fair image Man was shap'd at birth.
The beasts for lesser parts were next design'd;
Yet were they too remote from humankind.
To fill the gap, and join the rest to man,
Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan.
A beast they wrought, a semi-human worm,
Fill'd it with sloth, and call'd the thing a GURM.

When, long ago, Tolkien made Middle-Earth
In noble image hope wast shap'd at birth.
The orcs for lesser parts were next design'd;
Yet were they too remote from elfinkind.
To bridge fantasy with reality,
Morals were shown to be formality.
So grimdark came, villainously blacker,
With murder-rape, to be penned by BAKKER.

come on
need a new thread

>>22070562
Do it.

>>22071657
you forgot all the gay sex

Anyone else get extreme secondhand embarrassment whenever Kvothe tries to woo women or act chivalrous? Like, I swear I can feel Rothfuss' fedora tipping through the page.

>>22071762
I save myself the aggravation by avoiding bad authors like that altogether.

>>22071762
What is wrong with your brain that you feel embarrassed because you read something a character in a book did?

>>22071821
Do you have autism?

>>22071824
I'm not the one that can't separate fiction from reality in this situation.

>>22071828
I'll take that as a yes.

>>22071828
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief

>>22071832
Make of it what you will.
I'm not autistic, but I am schizoid.

>>22071821
embarrassed bc the dialogue comes off sounding like a white knight redditor stereotype and more than a few times i found my self laughing at him because of it, like for example Kvothe walking in on Ambrose fondling Fela in the archives

>>22071828
>I'm not the one that can't separate fiction from reality
>But I am a schizoid
wut

>>22071840
Okay. Well it's very normal to ask art to pull you along with it rather than sitting outside of it and saying this is fake and gay.

>>22071868
the head honcho of the Cuckshit Defense Force literally posted a picture of his meds a while ago
probably him

>>22071868
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizoid_personality_disorder

>>22071488
like? don't be shy..

>>22071875
nah, I'm the one who posted meds. I'm at work (mommy's firm gave me a comfy job) and I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Bakker reigns supreme.

>>22071868
>>22071875
Schizoid isn't schizophrenic you retards.

>>22071874
Embarrassment is a personal emotion. Why would it be appropriate to feel embarrassed by something that doesn't involve you or reflect back on you negatively?

Anyone want to read my review?

>>22072000
You don't feel secondhand embarrassment when someone in your company behaves in a cringy way?

>>22072000
why do you think SECONDHAND was specified retard-kun?

>>22071894
what is this--
>is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships,[9] a tendency toward a solitary or sheltered life style, secretiveness, emotional coldness, detachment, and apathy. Affected individuals may be unable to form intimate attachments to others and simultaneously possess a rich and elaborate but exclusively internal fantasy world.[10][11] Other associated features include stilted speech, a lack of deriving enjoyment from most activities, feeling as though one is an "observer" rather than a participant in life, an inability to tolerate emotional expectations of others, apparent indifference when praised or criticized
wtf literally me... shit

>>22072021
Schizoids avoid people because they'd rather live in their own world. I'm similar. I hate people. I only suffer them when I need food, sex, or to tell them about my jokes or stories.

I'm fed up of ongoing series, recommend me the best sff books that are standalone, no sequel or prequel bullshit

>>22072029
The Broken Sword
Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath (standalone, but does have linked stories and mythos, but still very good on its own)

>>22072029
The Icarus Hunt.

>tries to rip off lotr
>fails
lmao

>>22072029
The Mask of the Sorcerer by Darrell Schweitzer
both Engine Summer and The Deep by John Crowley
Past Master by R A Lafferty
Lord of Light by Zelazny
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
The Circus of Dr. Lao by C G Finney

>>22072029
tau zero is a stand alone sci story about people trapped on an ever accelerating space ship

>>22072060
>sci fi
People are literally swimming inside the ship's fools during interstellar travel. It's fucking retarded.

>>22072064
pools*

>>22072029
Three Hearts and Three Lions - Poul Anderson
The Drawing of the Dark - Tim Powers
Count Scar - C. Dale Brittain
Minerva Wakes - Holly Lisle
The Spirit Ring - Lois McMaster Bujold
Urshurak - Jerry Nichols and the Brothers Hildebrandt

>>22072056
it sold well and Brooks has a very successful career, can't really call Shannara a failure

>>22072029
>>22072072
oh I forgot scifi, there's also The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, Dream Thief by Stephen Lawhead, and Frozen Hell (aka Who Goes There) by John W. Campbell

>>22072073
I don't think that's what the anon meant lol

>>22072021
No, I don't. Because other people's actions don't actually reflect back to me. That's beside the point though because we aren't talking about the actions of a companion. We're talking about the events of a fictional character in a novel. Secondhand embarrassment when it comes to the actions of a companion is still retarded but at least there's some reasonable connection.

>>22072022
I never denied that secondhand embarrassment is a thing. I said it's retarded to feel it because of something you read in a book.

>>22072054
blurb sounds cool

I finished The Ascendency War, the second book of the Art of War Trilogy, and liked it a great deal. I'm quickly devouring the series. Second book is better than the first, with the new POV characters being more enjoyable for the most part. Definitely am excited to give Empire of the Wolf a read after I finish the series.

>>22072148
It's genre-playful in the embrace and extend style not a deconstruct style. Star Wars universe but not. Han and Chewie but not. There are some twists and turns and sometimes you say oh come on. But curiously I've read it a few times and knowing ahead doesn't hurt. Not a masterpiece, but living in a world were guys earned their lunch money telling this kind of story wouldn't be the worst thing.

Has anyone read this yet?

Omg omg omg omg it heckin came

is fractal noise by paolini good? goodreads is up its ass because apparently the cover art used AI or something lol

the preview makes it seem like its got some cool big dumb object vibes (exploring an alien hole in the ground) but im suspicious it isnt a flaky cornball character drama thats just set in an interesting environment thts not the focus

>>22072896
>>22072900
Get the AI ranni to read these

>>22065084

>>22065089

>>22065260
Said Dragon is part homage to Smaug from the Hobbit, part give-no-fucks, life weary, alien originating, OG God King of Dragons. It speaks in AWESOME ALL CAPS directly into other characters' minds like some eldritch horror, uncaring of what damage it does to mortals' sanity, and is also probably impossible to kill. It's one of the best depictions of a Dragon you'll read tbqh
The Great Ordeal has one of the best fantasy fiction battles I've ever read too, where the protagonist army prepares by going insane with blood and rape lust, as a side effect of their now Sranc only diet, and a literal nuke is set off during said most epic battle. It's fuckin beautiful bro

>>22072028
You kinda remind me of that paedophile bard from the prologue of the Darkness That Comes Before

>>22072955
I am Dunyain, child.

>True Martial World
>still carrying the momentum from Ancient Phoenix Clan
>Lin Ming constantly finding lucky chances and trolling everybody
Right now he's nearing the end of his Ninefall (perfect maximum amount of Layered Heavens clouds, of course) tribulation and the Elders are bouncing from wanting him dead to being shitter-shattered and shocked that he keeps persevering. His spear evolved into a Spirit Artifact and I laughed. It never stops.

i haven't read much xianxia/cultivation series, but do they all have giant planets/worlds or intergalactic travel? with a clear power scaling to literal gods? or are some more grounded?

what are some aspects that are mostly universal to the genre?

>>22073056
xianxia is cultivation/ascension to godhood by definition

>>22072723
>Of PeePee and PooPoo
>The X and the Y Book One
No thanks.

>>22072723
I hate that style of title, it's so pretentious.

>The X of Y and Z: The A before the B of C

New bread
>>22073362
>>22073362

>>22064056
>original settings
Sudanna, Sudanna
Seventh Tower

>>22067961
I know for a fact its at least two people, since I fucking hate the empty air reviews as well. It's basically just rewording the blurb and saying aspects of the novel are "good" or "interesting" without describing why that is. It says quite literally nothing far more often than not.