/lit/ - Literature

>>22073362
Read valdemar

>>22073362
Looks like a female dragon.

I can't read western shit anymore. I could get past the first few chapters of Scorio's sequel because it was just a man getting talked down to by a gaggle of women.

I find it easier to empathize with literal genocidal bugmen than modern western protagonists.

>love interest is complicit in two attempts on the protagonist's life and attempts to rob him
>they walk off into the sunset together
what the fuck Vance

>>22073362
Baker is kang

>>22073362
Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh mmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....................................

>>22073436
Both men and women find the people of opposite sex capable of killing them hot

>>22073418
you only care for what you read and not how it is written. you are a bugman in spirit

>>22073589
Character and story is all that matters. Housekeeping has incredible prose but no story or character.

shallan suddenly bossing everyone around and making bandits and soldiers and slavers into her servants just by acting like jasnah isn't believable at all

>>22073694
Sexist chud. Why are you so intimidated?

>>22073694
Women be nagging. Happy wife happy life.

You want to know the reason why fantasy evolved differently in Japan compared to the western world? Simple. Japan's western fantasy movement was most popularized by table top games. Around that time in the late 70s and the 80s, Japan experienced a science fiction zeitgeist that motivated many writers and mangaka take inspiration directly from fairy tales, and myth of the ancient past instead of early 20th centuries novels. However only western scifi novels were massive in Japan, not fantasy novels. In fact Lord of Ring was underselling in Japan until the movie came out.
They were pretty much more influenced by classical myths and the old DND artists like Frank Frazetta but with a stylized flair, instead of the usual Lotr templates that we have.

>>22073737
And that's why Berserk sucks dick.

>>22073418
Try I am the Fated Villain

/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.

Ohhhhhhhh myyyyyyyy

>>22074009
Make /litrpg/

>/sffg/ hate women writers
>book written by woman releases with half naked woman covering her booba
>/sffg/ want to read it

>>22074009
other anon shit on dissonance and claimed iron prince wasn't actually a litrpg
what do you say to this?

>>22074032
Oh my...

>>22074140
It's a good book. Even sex-repulsed autists like it.

>>22074209
I just find it funny that every time a woman is mentioned /sffg/ become mind broken but as soon as a book has a cover with a half naked woman written by a woman it is fine.

>>22074247
what is funny about that? please explain the irony

>another episode of "/sffg/ is one person"

>>22074254
You don't find it funny that at any other time /sffg/ will be like

>written by a woman? dropped
>reading female authours
>female protagonist. I will not read your book

Booba book cover gets released

>based
>it's a good book
>can't wait to read this

>>22074271
consider the POSSIBILITY that you may be overgeneralizing. or don't, but it's not a great look. you're putting poor thought process or hang-ups on display. it is the funny 4chan thing to do though.

Lovecraft's first poem, written at the age of seven
>"The Poem of Ulysses, or The Odyssey" (1897)
The nighte was darke! O readers, Hark!
And see Ulysses’ fleet!
From trumpets sound back homeward bound
He hopes his spouse to greet.
Long he hath fought, put Troy to naught
And leveled down it’s walls.
But Neptune’s wrath obstructs his path
And into snares he falls.
After a storme that did much harme
He comes upon an isle
Where men do roam, forgetting home,
And lotos doth beguile.
From these mean snares his men he tears
And puts them on the ships.
No leave he grants, and lotos plants
Must no more touch their lips.
And now he comes to Cyclops homes
Foul giants all are they.
Each hath 1 eye, and hard they ply
Great Vulcan to obey.
A cyclop’s cave the wandrers brave
And find much milk & cheese
But as they eat, foul death they meet
For them doth Cyclops seize.
Each livelong day the Cyclops prey
Is two most noble Greeks
Ulysses brave he plans to save
And quick escape he seeks.
By crafty ruse he can confuse
The stupid giant’s mind
Puts out his eye with dreadful cry
And leaves the wrench behind.
Now next he finds the king of winds
Great Aeolus’s home
The windy king to him doth bring
Wind bags to help him roam.
He now remains in fair domains
In Circes palace grand.
His men do change in fashion strange
To beasts at her command.
But Mercury did set him free
From witcheries like this
Unhappy he his men to see
Engaged in swinish bliss.
He drew his sword and spake harsh word
To Circe standing there
“My men set free”, in wrath quoth he
“Thy damage quick repair”!!!
Then all the herd at her brief word
Become like men once more
Her magic beat, she gives all treat
Within her palace door.
And now Ulysses starts in bliss
The Syrens for to pass
No sound his crew’s sharp ears imbues
For they are stop-ped fast.
Now Scylla’s necks menace his decks
Charybdis threats his ships
Six men are lost—O! dreadful cost
But he through danger slips.
At last from waves no ship he saves
But on Calypsos isle
He drifts ashore and more & more
He tarries for a while.
At Jove’s command he’s sent to land
To seek his patient wife,
But his raft breaks, and now he takes
His life from Neptune’s strife.
He quickly lands on Scheria’s strands
And goes unto the king.
He tells his tale, all hold wassail;
An ancient bard doth sing.
Now does he roam unto his home
Where suitors woo his spouse
In beggar’s rags himself he drags
Unknown into his house
His arrows flew at that vile crew
Who sought to win his bride
Now all are killed and he is filled
With great & happy pride.
His swineherd first, then his old nurse
Do recognize him well
Then does he see Penelope
With whom in peace he’ll dwell.
Until black death doth stop his breath
And take him from the earth;
He’ll ne’er roam far from Ithaca,
The island of his birth—

>>22073233
How? It's quite literally only telling you the main themes of the story you're about to read, or at least that's supposed to be the intention with such titles.

>>22074271
>>22074247
>>22074140
>shitposter tries to ruin thread by provoking flamewar
>nobody takes the bait
>he desperately tries to explain himself

>>22074271
Current books with Booba covers are basically all trash because the market has changed. It wasn't like that back when that book got published. They'd just slap a sexy lady on any old book to move copies.

>>22073737
>>22073743
No
It's because Nips are plagiaristic hacks

>>22074403
berserk way better than that trash, shut the fuck up boomer

>>22074413
Berserk is fucking trash. Fuck off with your cuckold hero the BLACKED Swordsman.

>>22074403
>>22074413
>>22074419

>>22074422
you are supposed to stop reading shortly after the apocalypse. the end of part 1.

>>22074307
"Blood" and "fire" aren't themes, they just set a vague expectation for tone while sounding grandiose.

>>22074446
this. berserk ended with conviction just like hxh ended with election

>>22074546
EXACTLY, i almost used that as an example as well

>>22074577

>>22074413
Berserk is plagiaristic trash

>>22074591
What is intertextuality?
What is homage?
What is artistic license?

>>22074605
Cope
Berserk is plagiarism
It's literally just Elric+Corum+ARmy of darkness
the bad guys are literally just the hellraiser villains
plagiarism 100%

>NOOOOOO YOU CAN'T BE INFLUENCED BY STUFF YOU LIKE NOOOOOOO
basedjack.jpg

anyone else write a fantasy/sci-fi novel and need a cheap editor? i'm free in ten days, but you can get in my queue

>>22074619
Stop defending plagiarism

>>22074623
>cheap
>by which I mean you get what you pay for, I'm only a proofreader

Lol. Lmao, even.

>>22074672
OH NO NO NO

Is there an author like sanderson but good

>>22074709
Tolkien

>>22074009
Dungeon cat carl, unbound, and iron prince is shit.
Fights with monster started to drag shit out for the money, and defiance followed suit.

>>22074672
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasseography

>>22073370
Valdemar reminds me a lot of Harry Potter combined with the Deed of Paksenarrion, except not shit like either of those
There's also something disconcertingly "feminine" about it that's very offputting. Like yeah I know the author's a woman, but the prose and attitude feels like it's something that can only really be appreciated by women or homosexual men. I didn't get that feeling when I read C. Dale Brittain, Lois McMaster Bujold, or Tanith Lee - or for that matter, J.K. Rowling.

>>22073418
You're making the mistake of thinking RI is a representative of eastern fiction, it's not. RI was banned by its own country, it ruined eastern fiction for me as well by opening my eyes to the fact that the vast majority of literature is written by NPCs for NPCs about NPCs through an NPC perspective, and that's why they're so fucking boring and samey. It's like a brief flash of light that exposed the reality that we live in an intellectually dead civilization.

>>22074635
actually i do dialogue punch ups for free

>>22074729
Why is Will Wight's fantasy interpretation of tasseography far more similar to Yoshihiro Togashi's water divination than it is anything in that wikipedia article?

>>22074709
elaborate

>>22074763
thats a weird name, never heard of him

jsut watched the witcher season 2 and i wanna check out the books. don't want to tread the same ground again. is it book 3 i should be starting at?

>>22074672
He also ripped off the "MC finds out he's the only unsouled" plot from BNHA. Just copy Shounen Jump and turn all the mentor figures into women to become a NYT best selling fantasy author.

>>22074788
>and turn all the mentor figures into women
This doesn't apply to Cradle.

>BHA invented "MC doesn't start with powers everyone else has"
go back to your containment general

>>22074712
he hasn't put out a new book in years, but is slacking off hard

>>22073875
not the guy you're replying to.
But i am on ch275 of this.. Kinda forgot about it till I saw your post, I liked the beginning more than where im currently at in the novel. But it has probably been a few months since I was reading last, actually stopped midway through that chapter.
Also read much of reverend insanity(ch742), but likewise feel it has become somewhat less interesting to me.

>>22074788
ignorant weeb

>>22074804
It is by far the most popular example in recent times, and the author already copied one author from the same medium. Furthermore, he didn't just take MC being powerless, he also took MC's powerlessness being freakishly rare and a source of social ostracism, which is much less common.

>>22074831
Butthurt redditor.

>>22074832
Saga Frontier 2

>>22074837
explain why i'd butthurt that you're clueless and wrong about this? i just took the time to spit on you via post. go about your business little boy

>>22074839
>less popular
>less recent
>not part of the medium the author has already copied

>>22074842
You're making garbage posts that contain no argument, clearly indicating butthurt.

>>22074857
ah, well. i don't need an argument. but if you want to argue that MHA invented the trope then have at it

>>22073362
FUCK he is good.

>>22074871
Trying to speak while in contradiction having no intention to discuss is hysteria, AKA butthurt.

>>22074802
Cradle copied Jump too?

>>22074742
This.
After RI, free and uncensored western authors don't feel so free anymore.

Book of dust vol 3 when

anyone else skip these gay interludes between parts in stormlight archive
I dont want to read about some literally who side-side-side-side character's unrelated misfortunes in the middle of things getting interesting in the main story

>>22075017
No. If I'm going to read something I read it all.

>>22074897
you still crying? you were wrong, it happens. you don't have to stay ignorant either. don't worry about it

>>22074880
Insufferable commie.

blood and bone by ian c. esslemont
vivid jungle setting. so good

>>22074933
would you recommend this chinese?? webnovel, then? what's it about?

>>22075056
>still salty an hour later
lol

>>22075075
Guy tries to beat old age an a mythological setting with zero regard for morals whatsoever.

>>22074788
>Protag is said to be weak and starts from a low point
That's practically fucking ubiquitous in a lot of shonen, which Cradle is clearly aping.

>>22074672
>Thing emulating shonen manga/anime is like shonen manga/anime

>>22074782
I mean this with every fibre in my being.
Kill. Yourself. Now.

>>22075103
>ignorant weeb
the words that scarred him

>>22074880
I hate smug faggot libtards so much

>>22075111
sounds interesting. a lack of morals isn't exactly new theme though, in western lit or otherwise. i've read some insane shit.

>>22075065
Esslemont worked as an archaeologist in Thailand jungles and Central American rainforests. He brought authentic knowledge to the creation of the setting in Blood and Bone, and with all of his novels. Esslemont's books are underrated, even by Malazan fans. The guy co-created the world and isn't merely the authors friend tagging along.

>>22075190
Esslemont suffers from the fact that he isn't half as good of a writer as Erikson.

>>22075115
Aptitude tests are ubiquitous, that specific type of aptitude test is not. Weak to strong is ubiquitous, that specific introduction into weak to strong is not. Damage control as much as you want, people will still make fun of it.

The saddest thing is that even though he copied someone else's homework he still failed the assignment. Togashi's water divination is better, Deku finding out he had no powers was better. At worst it's plagiarism, at best it's retroactively obsolete.

>>22075197
Well Erikson is one of the most talented literary level writers the genre has seen in half a century who is in a class of his own so it's hard to live up to him. Some Malazan fans expect Esslemont to be a living clone of Erikson. Esslemont has his strengths like horror elements, settings, and setpieces. I look at ICE as a quality modern fantasy author who refreshingly doesn't write slop.

What are some books like picrel? Preferably in first person.

I'm 63 chapters deep into The Name of the Wind and it feels like nothing of significance has happened since Kvothe joined the Arcanum. Pls tell me I'm close to the book getting interesting again bros

>>22075189
Fang Yuan is entertaining but the main focus of the story is the world itself, with him mostly serving as a vehicle to experience it. The perspective also periodically shifts to add to this.

>>22075287
>Well Erikson is one of the most talented literary level writers the genre has seen in half a century who is in a class of his own so it's hard to live up to him
AHAHAHAHA
>“Children are dying." Lull nodded. "That's a succinct summary of humankind, I'd say. Who needs tomes and volumes of history? Children are dying. The injustices of the world hide in those three words.”
Malazanfags think this shit is deep and literary and profound
Erikson is a hack

>>22074591
>>22074628
LEL, light novels are just weebslop.

>>22075341
it doesn't and it never gets finished
drop it

any favourite P. K. Dick stories? I really love "The Electric Ant"

>>22075341
Its a slice of life story, whatd you expect

>>22074739
>There's also something disconcertingly "feminine" about it that's very offputting.
Her characters are very emotional and they cry a lot. Lackey's writing is very introspective so you always know how a character feels about every little thing that surrounds them.

>>22073737
Then why did it take so long for Berserk to even get so much as a light novel?

>>22075398
Idk I guess I just expected the Chandrian being a bigger part of the story but the dumbass is banned from the Archives still so he can't read about them/reader can't learn more.
>>22075376
I like his writing style so I wanna finish both novels but I'm just hoping it get a bit more compelling plotwise soon.

>>22074832
>Furthermore, he didn't just take MC being powerless, he also took MC's powerlessness being freakishly rare and a source of social ostracism, which is much less common.
Darksword (1987) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (The duo that wrote dragonlance)

>>22075419
The two books are supposed to build up to the third one where everything big actually happens. But alas, it seems that book is still years, decades away, assuming it ever comes out

>>22075426
>less popular
>less recent
>not the same medium the author already derived from

>>22075392
If you noticed, no one in this thread reads anything besides post-2000 6+ books YA novels and web chink shit. Dark days for sffg

>>22074788
Deku's hero notes are destroyed by his bully, and then Deku saves him from a villain.
Unsouled MC's bully destroys (what he calls) his engraving practice, then MC saves him from a tree monster.

>>22075467
>>less popular
Weis and Hickman were the Sanderson of the 80s, their books where always Best sellers.
Recency bias has done irreparable damage to the fantasy genre. Many such cases!

>>22075491
Does he fucks the bully's mother like Deku does? This is important

>>22075497
Considering Wight is plagiarizing Togashi over Sanderson, you're not making a very compelling argument.

>>22075488
sad :(

>>22075488
I'm pretty sure Chinese people aren't shilling ukraine considering they're in BRICS lmao

>>22075505
You seem angry anon. I just wanted to point out that the trope has existed for a long time.

>arguing with BHAfags

>OH MY SEVEN QUIRKS

>>22074271
Boobas are based. Female protagonists are not.

Want me to explain it again slower?

>>22075369
Just because idiots cherrypick stupid examples to show his writing doesn't change the fact that now that Gene Wolfe is dead Erikson mogs almost every living spec-fic author.

>>22075287
If you don't want to read literary books thats fine, but Erikson being a good author to you doesn't make him good overall. It just means you have very low standards for what constitutes high quality writing.

>>22075369
>THINK OF THE CHILDREEEEEEEN
This is why I read manga.

What happened to John C. Wright? How do you go from writing some of the best space opera to writing christian fantasy garbage?

>>22075287
>Well Erikson is one of the most talented literary level writers the genre has seen in half a century
Got a good kek out of this

>>22075287
>>>22075287
>Bro please I swear. Read the 10000 gorillion pages of the series. I swear it pays off in book 23, bro please
>I swear dude, that one character Turm appears in Toll the Hounds for one sentence and it's totally worth. Bro please

>>22075658

>>22075536
Okay? It doesn't change the fact that Wight's "inspirations" are incredibly transparent.

>>22075369
>Children are dying
says the man who supports the yearly sacrifice of 30 million unborn children to Moloch

For the sake of future discussions about the influence of japanese manga on western literature, I've made an upgraded version.

>>22075633
>boobs = good
>females = bad
This reminds me an awful lot of something...

>>22075694
tranime has stolen 99.9% of all its narrative content from the West in the first place

I've read some 1500 pages of stormlight archive so far and maybe I'm retarded and somehow missed it but I don't think I've seen an explanation for why noble women have to hide one of their hands at all times

>>22075707
Cope

>>22075711
It's literally just "unexplained cultural thing". Non-Alethi people see it as weird too.

>>22075701
I didn't say females are bad, just that they aren't based. Again, I'll explain slower if you want

She is complete.

>>22075189
> i've read some insane shit.
many western stories have insane shit in them but hardly ever it is done for actual reasons that actually matter, more often than not it is just some character who is mentally unstable, serial killer, killing because of various urges, in other words gore with little substance, quantity over quality, it's the opposite in RI.
https://files.catbox.moe/kpxf0p.epub

>>22075638
>Muh 100,000,000 year old superhuman wizard who acts like a moody teenager
>Muh gruff US mari- I mean medieval soldier who waxes poetical about basic philosophy
>Basic bitch prose, nothing outstanding
Erikson isn't anything special. At least the likes of Abercrombie have emotive character voices and a punchy writing style. Erikson just appeals to worldbuilding autists that think they're too cool for Sanderson.

>>22075711
Just brandosando weirdness to make Alethi society different

>>22075717
Fucking stupid is what it is just like the whole "men can't read or write" bullshit

>>22075694
>weeaboo child learns that all writing for the last few thousands of years is 'iterative'
>does some nooticing and rigorously attempts to apply it
very cute. try reading some books little nigga

>first Malazan book
>introduces that a woman character is 'pillowy' in context of scrawny guy she's having sex with
>kinda weird, whatever
>subtly drops more and more explicit ways to say she's fat through the next hundred pages
>look up author
>pencil necked Canadian
Fucking dropped. What is it with fantasy authors and shoving their fetishes into their books? No one makes a character fat unless it's to show a character flaw (baron harkonnen, etc.) so that immediately caught my attention. And then the slight of hand, occasionally describing the character 'moving her bulk' and things like that. A normal author making a fat character would just tell us that when the character was introduced. It's like Erikson knows he's shoving his fetish in there, so he does it carefully because he thinks he'll get caught (The wicked flee when none pursueth).

>>22075761
why is that stupid? lol.. like why should i even have to ask? don't be shy

>>22075771

>>22075765
Why is Wight's (((iteration))) worse than the japanese one? Why are his (((iterations))) coming from the exact same place?

>>22075771
>>22075785
Is Erikson the guy who deflected by calling other fantasy authors pedophiles when asked if he has a fat fetish?

>>22075785
I fucking knew it. Absolutely disgusting so glad I dropped this shit.

>>22075790
That wouldn't surprise me.

>>22075790
Of course he would
typical feeder defense of "not obese=looks like a kid"

>>22075799
>>22075798
>>22075790
>>22075785
>>22075771
There's nothing wrong with being a fat fetishist.
There is everything wrong with being a Canadian.

>>22075799
Better not leave him alone with a fat kid.

Where did we get this samefagging Erikson-hating faggot? Why does this thread always have one person minimum sperging the fuck out about something?

>>22075838
Why would it be samefagging? Finding fat people and fat fetishists and canadians contemptible is extremely common.

>>22075838
These last few days have seemed especially autistic

>>22075838
>>22075844
Samefag

>>22075838
I have a feeling it's that same guy who tried forcing the /litrpg/ general. He is an angry autistic gatekeeper who gets set off easily. Erikson is good, that poster is a fag.

>>22075771
>introduces that a woman character is 'pillowy' in context of scrawny guy she's having sex with
>And then the slight of hand, occasionally describing the character 'moving her bulk' and things like that
Holy...based!

How do you reconcile litRPG's aim of emulating a game-like constant ability progression together with written works having a much longer duration than pretty much any RPG campaign?

>>22075856
>a much longer duration than pretty much any RPG campaign
>he hasn't played any campaigns spanning more than a year
lmao

>>22075856
I don't care about magic system, the issue with litrpgs is that they are written like a game script from an actual fucking game

>>22075838
>>22075850
>there's ONE guy ATTACKING my favorite author who happens to be a scrawny FAT FETISHIST just like ME
Is it really that hard to believe there might be a good number of people that find that kind of thing distasteful? I rarely come in these threads, I don't know about whatever argument you had with whatever autist. The whole 'fantasy author that shoves his fetish into his book' thing has been a meme since the 80s at least.

>>22075845
Take your meds please.

>>22075860
So a 52 hour campaign? Whoa.

>>22075870
Was actually meant for >>22075850
Sorry

>>22075856
I don't understand what you're saying here. Games are usually longer than books, what do you mean by
>written works having a much longer duration than pretty much any RPG campaign?
?

>>22075875
You read TWI in 6 hours?

>>22075871
no, I meant in-story
retard

>>22075882
Then that's not what's being asked, retard.

>>22075844
Between this guy and the Rothfuss fanboy who was posting for several threads, I wonder if someone shared us somewhere.
>>22075850
His English isn't as good as the current guy.
>>22075868
Erikson isn't my favorite author but you're as bad as the dude spamming THE Lopen's page of Sanderson's book as a "LOL this author sucks!" example which is true for Brandon for many reasons that could be discussed but shitposters don't discuss. Samefags and newfags have a tendency in talking in a group third person (lots of "we" usage instead of individual opinion).
I don't think Erikson is perfect--I'm the guy who complained often about The Chained God and Tavore being a plot device but this is nonsense.

>>22075882
Ihatelitrpgihatelitrgpsihatelitrpgs

>Someone complains about a book
>Someone else points out that it's a recurring theme
>Someone says they're dropping book
OH HEAVENS SOMEONE SAVE US FROM THIS AUTISM PUHLEAZE

>>22075864
That happens because it's the only thing left making the story litRPG after the mechanics fall apart in the first few dozen chapters.

>litRPGs
More like midRPGs mirite

>>22075886
>Samefags and newfags have a tendency in talking in a group third person (lots of "we" usage instead of individual opinion).
You mean like this guy? >>22075838
I fully support spergposting. Sperg out posts are the apex form of posting on /lit/, the best posts on this board are the ones you can imagine Klaus Kinski doing a deranged reading of.

>>22075929
That guy has a meltdown about how /sffg/ is being invaded every time someone shits on one of his boomer recs.

>>22075920
litrpgs are aimed at low iq zoomers like yourself

>>22075964
Damn bro you came up with that one on your own?

>>22075920
I don't think midwits are synonymous with pseudointellectuals, but I may be wrong

>>22075908
it happens because the 'authors' literally imagine and describe a computer rpg game from one scene to another, the presence (or lack of it) of magic system, numbers etc are completely irrelevant. The so called litrpg authors often have not had read a single book in their lives (except compulsary secondrary school reading) and just write dumb game scripts

>>22076038
>>22076038
>it happens because the 'authors' literally imagine and describe a computer rpg game from one scene to another
That's impossible, it can't be called a game when they abandon the game mechanics.

erikson fanboys are going schizophrenic and trying to push 10 different posters as 1 guy because people are making fun of his fat fetish and the fact that he called other authors pedophiles for describing women not as tubs of lard but as "willowy"

>flip to /sffg/
>another "everyone who disagrees with me is the same person" episode
tired of reruns

>>22076063
Next week is a Troi episode

Why do you guys spend so much time arguing here instead of reading good books?

>Gives Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight 1 star out of 5
Based Emily!

Any modern sci-fi with a voice like Ayn Rand?

>>22076076
Okay prose, boring content.

>>22076076
Wolfe is unmatched, towering, reigning supreme.

>>22076043
what do you mean by game mechanics? a game might not have any scifi or fantasy mechanics (litrpg numbers) but the story telling and dialogues might still be written like a script for a game.

>>22076121
In most games the core of the experience is the play, which depends on the mechanics, not the script. The exceptions are only really called games due to language dilution, and are frequently referred to as "movies", "visual novels", and "walking simulators".

>>22076093
i'm sure there are. try something from neal stephenson

>>22073362
anyone read John Gwynne? Don't usually read fantasy but giving The Shadow of the Gods a shot and it's enjoyable albeit with a simplistic prose.

>>22076114
you say this ironically to ape the bakkerfag but it's actually true, he is literally operating on a level of CHIM we can only aspire to, there has never been an author with more depth to his work, certainly not in this genre

i'm literally the only person in the world who is waiting for the book of dust vol 3.

>>22076076
I've already read that book.

>>22076183
>there has never been an author with more depth to his work, certainly not in this genre
Yes there is
Dunsany

>>22076180
I read his first series (The Faithful and the Fallen) and it was extremely mediocre at best. maybe he got better

>>22076210
the shadow of the Gods is book 1 of the bloodsworn trilogy, he's currently writing the third book. I will probably read the entire thing but there isn't anything special about the first book & I'm about 60% through

>>22076135
yes, the core experience is gameplay and the script and dialog is secondary, that works in games, clearly the litrpg authors didn't get the memo, their writing still has not evolved past the game script and game tier dialogs.

Anyone got any recommendations for acid fuelled pseudointellectual fantasy for tool fans other than Elric?
Also, how come noir and horror were so great in the 30s but sci-fi and fantasy were pretty shit then?

/sffg/'s thoughts on the Battletech novels?

>>22076214
>isn't anything special about the first book & I'm about 60% through
yeah, nothing changed then holy kek
you just described Malice to a T, including the up-to-percent of the book where nothing fucking happens.

maybe he improved in other areas, I see it's his 3rd series now

>>22076218
In that case they can't be imagining a computer game as they're writing. At best they're imagining a plot for a computer game. If they imagined an actual game they'd have no choice but to confront the fact that the mechanics make no sense and there's no coherent gameplay formula.

Any good?

>>22076254
yeah no fucking shit retard
a vanishingly tiny minority of hyper-autists expect a litrpg's system to be an actual game system

>>22076251
oh, never even thought about it. im curious as well.
have been playing mw5 + mwo lately, too. even battletech (roguetech) not too long before that.

>>22076210
I avoided this because the main guy who shilled it in these threads told me that like 80-90% of the series is the protagonists being hounded to the brink of destruction by an overwhelmingly superior bad guy force until the heroes finally get a win at the last second and the series ends and I fucking HATE that shit
I hated it when Tad Williams did it in Osten Ard and I'll never read such a series ever again if I can at all avoid it

>>22076252
in Shadow of the Gods he writes each chapter in a different perspective of each character. Chapter 1 being character A, chapter 2 Character B etc. It's decently interesting in that regard but the way the chapters end almost feel juvenile to me. It's certainly not bad or poorly written, but it's quite simple in prose & the plot is somewhat scattered so far since it's from multiple different perspectives of characters who are at different points in the story. I'd say it's probably worth checking out if you're interested, but I have not read anything else by him.

>>22076227
>Also, how come noir and horror were so great in the 30s but sci-fi and fantasy were pretty shit then?
What are you talking about?
How are R E Howard and Clark ashton smith and Lovecraft shit?

>>22076258
>female author
what do you think?

>>22076254
but they are, the writing of most litrpgs reflects that. The opening scene, the next scene talks to npc, another scene protagonist goes to forest/dungeon etc to hunt some monsters (10 chapters for that), mc then goes back to town to sell loot, meets girl at the shop, teams, ups, expect literal computer game dialog here with premise that girl suddenly took a liking to mc, they go to dungeon again, hunt (another 10 chapters), another game tier dialog, repeat, there are obviously little to no plot twists. I have seen at least 3 or 4 such litprg novels with slight variations

>>22076285
They're outliers. I don't think he's wrong. If you read random stories out of old pulps sff is the cringiest. It might be because it's easier to fail with this genre while with a detective story you just need to color inside the lines and you're doing okay.

Little Blue reigns supreme

>>22076183
It started ironically, but it is also true.

>>22076099
In the novels Wolfe was exploring a concept of grace that Kierkegaard worked on in his "knight of infinite faith" in "Fear and Trembling." He made it an adventure, coming of age, and advice to not only teens becoming men, but young men, cementing their responsibilities as men. A handbook on how to become wise, venerable, and respected. The prose is touching here, the character respects MC so much that failure and disappointment is in himself and that is because he failed what amounts to a god.

I think you can read a bit into a few scenes and see that Wolfe was attempting to decompress lessons he learned in Korea. I fully believe the tunnel where Sir Able goes apeshit was a vague hint at what Wolfe witnessed, or possibly participated in there.

>>22076282
>juvenile to me. It's certainly not bad or poorly written
a lot of the writing in his first series felt that way in general, not just the endings.
juvenille or amateur, not sure which is more appropriate. maybe both

same feeling I got from whatever author of The Expanse duo wrote the Holden chapters

>>22076328
I wonder if that has to do with why Wolfe so often glosses over battle scenes with a lacuna and only talks about them after the fact

>>22076332
I hate that space Jon Snow so much

>>22076318
read cradle!

>>22076264
God forbid the writing of litrpgs conform to the name of the genre.

>>22076302
>another scene protagonist goes to forest/dungeon etc to hunt some monsters (10 chapters for that)
Bullshit, no author can write 10 straight chapters of gameplay style monster hunting without it degrading into some kind of scripted action-adventure sequence. You meant either a 2 chapter vaguely described hunting montage with status menus or the aforementioned action-adventure sequence, followed by 10 chapters of le hecking worldbuilding and/or encountering some kind of plot device.

>>22076341
Wtf holden is a great MC

>>22073694
Shallan is the worst character in a novel who's author is awful at writing characters.

>>22076361
Some of them do.
They're not the ones that got popular for a reason.

>>22076361
>Bullshit, no author can write 10 straight chapters
primal hunter comes to mind

>>22076305
Anyone who hasn't read it before will probably like this story about the appeal of 30s detective pulps
https://crimereads.com/the-philosopher-and-the-detectives-ludwig-wittgensteins-enduring-passion-for-hardboiled-fiction/

>>22076379
>In 1948, [Wittgenstein] contrasts his favorite “mag” with the Oxford philosophical journal Mind: “Your mags are wonderful. How people can read Mind if they could read Street & Smith beats me. If philosophy has anything to do with wisdom there’s certainly not a grain of that in Mind, & quite often a grain in the detective stories.”

>>22076361
>God forbid the writing of litrpgs conform to the name of the genre.
litrpg should be more than a theme just like space opera or time travel or cyberpunk in sci fi, no more that, it should still be written with quality story telling, quality character, and world building in mind

>>22076388
>litrpg should be more than a theme
*should be NO more than a theme

>>22076408
>>22076388
litrpgs SHOULD NOT EXIST

Litrpg is just isekai for westfags, both are equally cancer.

>>22076414
portal fantasy already exists as an established genre within western literature without being degenerated by litrpg faggotry

>>22076414
litrpg and isekai are separate tags
and are often paired together
you are retarded

>>22076414
both are fine, MC from modern world gets transported to some fantasy world is a good premise ruined by absolute trash authors who entire literary knowledge and experience is reading dialog lines in video games

so this is the litrpg general or what?

>>22076414
Litrpg is much worse because, as you said, it's for westoids.

>>22076423
A subgenre of SFF is being discussed in the SFF general.

>>22076423
Contemporary SFF is litshit and pozzshit

>>22076426
it belongs in
>>>/qst/

>>22076388
Okay, but as a theme it's still not being applied decently. Fantasy with menus an RPG does not make.

>>22076434
I'd argue there's some standouts (Dungeon Crawler Carl, mainly), but fair enough. It's a fairly 'infant' subgenre in the wider world, however, so that means it's got room to evolve. Russian LitRPGs tend to be a bit higher quality because they've been doing this a while, for example.

>>22076371
I'll check it out, MC better not be a cuck because I've been recommended 2 different novels where MC is a cuck by this general already.

>>22076414
This is not correct. Litrpg serves the need for orderliness itself, not merely a revaluation that puts the mc on top.

>>22076444
His backstory involved him walking in on his girlfriend cheating but in-story he's basically entirely on the "don't care about women" train after the first book.

>>22076446
Why are authors like this?

just finished my 3rd re-read of ASOIAF. i'm fucking ready

>>22076452
I was warned about something in Path of Ascension involving cheating but it's never come up at all. Maybe it was just removed for the published version, but the protag of that gets with a girl, they're reluctant to move their relationship to a physical level because they're basically thinking "that's a threshold of no return and that might screw things up as an adventuring pair" but then they just kinda just bone eventually and it's like "Well what were we worried about, this is nice". It's weird, the progression, sometimes.

>>22076452
Because he needs to contrast the guy who wasn't succeeding in the world before with the guy who was in the world that came after. Why are you so sensitive about it?

>>22076452
Cheap way to make MC pathetic and need to get stronger is my guess. Cuck MCs are extremely common in western progression fantasy.

>>22076461
Pretty sure it's the guy who makes up his own definition of cuck and spams it constantly any time mom allows him on the computer.

>>22076461
I don't think very many people think "weird sexual subplots" when using the term "RPG".

>>22076470
Pretty sure you're off your meds again.

>>22076467
And in this story in particular, he needs to start with a problematic relationship with the cat. We wouldn't get this if his loving, devoted gf had just died.

>>22076475
To be fair there's a ton of weird sexual subplots in modern WRPGs.

>>22076475
What an exercise in point-missing this comment is. It is not cuck fetishism or a sexual subplot. His gf cheated. It has nothing to do with rpgs.

>>22076480
That sounds like DCC not Primal Hunter.

>>22076480
That's DCC. Primal Hunter has basically no relationships with anybody because Jake seems to be actually autistic and doesn't know how to or care to talk to people. I dunno, I haven't caught up in a bit, maybe he's got people he talks to now besides that fucking bird.

>>22076490
>It has nothing to do with rpgs.
That's exactly why it doesn't have much of a place in a litRPG. Starting off with MC getting cheated on is less RPG and more "indie hipster steam refund bait".

>>22076492
>>22076494
Wow. I guess I can't keep my cuck MCs straight. Somewhere I lost the thread. But the treatment was even lighter in Primal Hunter. The other guy got the girl because mc was just a dork in the real world and didn't find himself until after.

>>22076434
of course it's not, but it shouldn't be too hard,

>>22076444
it's terrible, his solo adventure and progression is fine but when he meets other people it changes into some sort Walking dead or Lost dynamic, with people in small group fighting for things like leadership etc, its laughable, mc has no motivation to do anything, he basically reacts 100% of the time

>>22076490
While the cucking in DCC certainly wasn't at all fetishistic, the sheer amount of antagonism MC receives from the setting over it was really odd. It was not just some trivial background detail.

>>22076470
Are we really going to do this again? Last time I accidentally ruined the rest of the thread and half of the next one by mentioning the wrong book at the wrong time.

>>22076511
>mc has no motivation to do anything, he basically reacts 100% of the time
You could not have chosen a better statement to kill my interest in the series. Protagonists with zero agency are the absolute worst. Sounds like the very typical case of the author running out of RPG progression ideas and spinning off into a different genre.

>>22076539
Nothing you can do to prevent shitposters from shitposting.

>>22076452
I don't imagine fantasy writers have very successful sex lives.

>>22076567
Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson

>>22076523
Really? It doesn't feel like it comes up all that much. Donut brings it up specifically because she's a spiteful cat that doesn't know how to be honest with Carl. It's vaguely brought up by the news stuff and the corporation because they're specifically trying to find ways to get him to crack.

>>22076616
He is right in a way - the system picks at it because it's designed to stir shit up and Donut picks at it for sort of the same reason. It's not just a background detail, it is a running gag. I never cringed about it though because it's played for comedy not morality.

I don't deny this trope can be cringe like in that Rothfus quote.

>>22076616
Carl wanting to keep Donut for himself and Donut thinking they'll reunite with girlfriend again deeper in the dungeon resembles a child's role in a messy divorce. The girlfriend not really caring about Donut is like a wife that doesn't really love the child but wants to keep it anyway out of spite. The harassment Carl gets from the aliens is the public humiliation of being cheated on. Carl puts up a tough front but the story is about the guy's emotional baggage about as much as it is about fighting monsters.

>>22076627
Carl himself also just barely registers his ex-GF as a THING. He's too focused on other things, and to him, that relationship's utterly fucked anyway so why should he care about it any more?

>>22076633
Sure, it's about Carl's emotional state, but... She doesn't really factor into it. He's upset about it, and he lets that out fairly well when he finally gets to meet her again, but she is just not in his mind most of the time.

>>22076641
>>22076637
It doesn't matter that he doesn't focus on it. The shared betrayal bonds him and the cat together, through a 70s sitcom gnosis. It's more integral than a throwaway.

>DCC 6 completed
:O

>>22076656
Yeah, fair, I get what you mean. It's integral, and it kicks off Carl's mindset, but it's clearly not more than basically an impetus for Carl and Donut's characterisations rather than as this overarching thing I've seen some people here say it is. She matters to the plot in the sense that she's Donut's 'shitty mom', but beyond that she's a non-entity.

>>22076251
Pulpkino until Endgame by Loren L. Coleman which is also a great jumping off point. After that ymmv.

>>22076641
He deals with being cucked pretty well all things considered, but it doesn't really change the fact that there's a long lasting underlying theme in the story of the guy dealing with being cucked. In fact the character interactions and the allusions in the dungeon's composition paint an interesting psychological portrait overall, but it's nonetheless far from being a pure dungeon crawler litRPG fantasy due to these elements. By the time classes and race changes are introduced the game mechanics seem to have fallen to the wayside for the usual loop of character interactions and action sequences.

>>22076685
>Cuck cuck cuck
You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means. A cuck is somebody who's being cheated on and continues to willfully stay with the person. Carl was unknowingly being cheated on, and the moment he found out he put her out of his life entirely as best he could.
But, yeah, it's moreso using LitRPG elements solely to highlight the farce of the whole Crawl, and contrast that with the genuine, very real emotions of the Crawlers, particularly Carl.

>>22076688
>A cuck is somebody who's being cheated on and continues to willfully stay with the person.
No, it's just somebody who's being cheated on.

>>22076688
Is this your first time interacting with that particular newfag? He will spam the entirety of the next thread about how Carl is a cuck because he said so.

>Dungeon Cuck Carl
>Primal Cuck

why LITRPG authors like to do this man? every mc is a cuck nowdays

>>22076688
Why did you do it man.

>>22076688
>>22076691
>You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means. A cuck is somebody who's being cheated on
Why are you so interested in policing people's use of this particular, extremely common term?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/cuckold
>a man whose wife deceives him by having a sexual relationship with another man
Deceives, not "is deceiving", or whatever other cope shit you're trying to push. Carl is a cuckold.

>>22076691
meds please

>>22076706
Stop pls, he will get some wasoru link from some thread 5 months ago and will start acting like is the same anon, then he will proceed to call everyone here schizo

follow the rules, dont talk about Carl being a cuck or half this thread population will have severe meltie

>>22076712
It's been relatively reasonable to this point.

>>22076715
see >>22076691

he will pull the trigger anytime now, beware of the dungeon cuck carl defender

>>22076712
I don't mind leaving the topic at that in either case. The point is only that DCC is an okay fantasy series with psychological elements, but not a very good litRPG.

coworker lent me this book
Thought it was a little slow, but after reading Neuromancer and Accelerando, this is a way better and comfy read. Also Friday is cute lol.

>>22076733
Not him but I think the fantasy aspect could be great. I'm genuinely interested in seeing how the overall plot plays out, especially the clusterfuck that will be Floor 9 and Larracos; and the ultimate conclusion because we know it ain't running all 18 floors.

>>22076749
I bought that book for the booba and remember nothing else about it, aside from a vague feeling of mediocrity.

>>22076749
does she cuck anybody?

>>22076755
in the setting there are polyamorous relationships, its depicted realistically because Friday gets kicked out of her house by one the spiteful women, basically showing that polyamory doesnt work

>>22076696
come home western man

Dungeon Chad Carl?

>>22076706
carl wasn't married

>>22076750
This might be a matter of preference, but I don't like when fantasy mixes in earthly elements. I think of fantasy as a setting in which you're forced to adapt to an unusual set of circumstances, issues, and values, because an earthly perspective has little relevance. DCC reads more like a guy took a shitload of acid and hallucinated himself battling through a construct of all his life problems, its fantastical but very earthly. The monsters are based on demographics he doesn't like, the human enemies are victims or tools of a system he doesn't like, the whole alien hypercapitalist empire truman show aspect that he has no choice but to participate in clearly is some form of social commentary, his bad breakup followed him into the dungeon, and so forth.

That aside, the sloppy implementation of the game mechanics is what I would call the main tangible fault in the story. It probably would have been better if he'd toned down or erased the game elements from the start since they weren't maintained that well in the long term.

>>22076180
I gave up on shadow. Reading150 pages with nothing going on bored me. I also didn't understand any of the fantasy terms he introduced

I never read Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation.
Am I missing out on much?

>>22076832
Yes because it takes time away from watching g witch

>>22076706
it wasn't a common term, at all. not until like 10 years ago when it was used exclusively to refer to the fetish. if you're going to get technical w/ ye olde english, the nigga still wasn't married. check and mate (you won't ever). new faggot (homosexual, not bundle of sticks)

>>22076838
Ok boomer, but why are you talking about 10+ years old definitions not <5 year old definitions that anyone who doesn't live under a rock uses? Enjoy getting mad every time Carl's brought up on /sffg/ and then inevitably called a cuck for however many years it takes for the term to rotate out of casual usage. Lmao.

>>22076706
I have a mild suspicion that website's definitions need to be taken with a grain of salt.

>>22076882
I never imagined I'd see such a passive aggressive dictionary entry. Wild.

>>22076774
>come home western man
>posts chinkshit by chink author with chink aesthetics
if you wanted proof that the CCP funds propaganda on 4chan, that's it

>>22076925
>can't be CCP funded since it's banned by CCP
Reverend Insanity wins again.

>>22076856
i guess i shouldn't argue with the expert

>>22076928
>>can't be CCP funded since it's banned by CCP

What they push in their own people and what they push on other nations is different.

>>22076882
i thought that definition was "soi"?

>>22076933
>>22076925 seems to think otherwise.

>>22076882
is this real life? jesus

>>22076934
Neither soi nor cuck have an inherent political connotation, though an argument for correlations can be made. Apparently the booty-blasted liberal arts major who edited that article's never heard the term "cuckservative".

>>22076456
Me too bro, I finished a reread about a week ago. Been thinking about reading the Dunk and Egg novellas and Fire and Blood soon.

>>22076882
Bleak.

>>22076837
Speaking of which, a novel adaptation by Yuya Takayama is being serialized in Gundam Ace.

Now that I think of it, how come the original 0079 trilogy of novels are still the only Gundam novels ever localized?

>>22076933
It was banned and removed from English qidian site too

>>22076983
>小説 機動戦士ガンダム 水星の魔女
Just went and read the first two chapters. Looks like it's gonna be a pretty fun read. Thanks.

>>22074819
You can try Zhu Xian as well if you like antiheroes but it's mostly about characters and plot.

>>22077041
You're welcome, anon.

>>22075838
His books suck ass

>>22077062
why

>>22075392
'I hope I shall arrive soon'

>>22077049
ill check it out, at the very least it'll sit on my plan to read list. always open to more chinese xianxia/wuxia

>>22077147
are you offended by 'shall'? please give me something less cryptic you useless FUCK. i challenge you. and i'm not asking for baby's first 'NOOTICING (therefore) book is bad'.

>>22077190
Check this list, I'm highly recommend Everlasting Immortal Firmament.
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/49140/

>>22075805
Would be a funny edit if his own face distorted as he stirs.

Backlogging the last 10 hours is cancerous. Nothing but shallow trolling about litrpgs or yet another cuck discourse.
And to think people dare to complain about harem reviews.

>>22074032
>>22073531
I read this in George Takei's voice.

>>22074140
I don't hate women or women authors. But I won't be reading this, because the overview says it's alt history involving the bible. That's lame.

>>22077532
>alt history involving the bible
I love women so much it's unreal but I also hate religion and the bible so much it's unreal.

>>22076690
>>22076706
Well since the thread is practically dead already, I'll throw my 2 cents in: Being a cuck, is being cheated on *publicly*. When everyone in your social circle knows your wife is unfaithful.

If you're cheated on, and maybe 1 or 2 people find out, and you immediately put a stop to it, then you're not a cuck. Just a poor victim of cheating. But when you're cheated on for a prolonged period of time, and your friends, and work mates, and family all know what's happening, THEN you're a cuck. How you feel about it personally doesn't really matter. Maybe you like it, maybe you don't, maybe you're completely ignorant of it, maybe you have an inkling. None of that matters. The only thing that matters, is your very publicly being cheated on, and you haven't done anything about it.

This often involves children. As when the children you're helping raise don't look like you, then people will know you were cucked. But children are not necessary to get cucked.

>>22077568
literally wife going behind your back and cheating on you makes you cuck regardless if other people know about it or not

Are there any other progression systems on par with LOTM or RI?

Is Terry Dowling worth reading? Seems like a poor Vance imitation.

>>22077623
Douluo Dalu?

>>22077677
lol trash

>>22077678
I have Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive for you.

>>22077623
Tales of Herding Gods is fun

>>22077699
for what reason would I read Sanderson?

I have seen enough screencaps of his work, though technically he does not write litrpg or isekai but his characters talk and act like 21st century american lgbt teenagers transported into medieval world.

make thread

Sorry if this is a bit of a weird question, I'm just not sure what other place to ask this.

I used to love the original Neverending Story movie as a kid. Even today it's still one of my favorite childhood movies, and I was wondering if the book from Michael Ende is worth checking out. I heard that the story gets a lot darker and actually carries on the events of the movie.

new thread... :(

>>22077943
>>22077943
>>22077943
>>22077943