/lit/ - Literature

Going to finally read Ray Garton. His Wikipedia is funny.

>>22441144
first for based Gemmell in this blessed thread

>>22441270
BASED

>>22441144
BLESS'D

https://sfss.space/o2-day-2023-misha-burnett

I'm having trouble getting through this. Mike and Greg are such whiny, unlikeable faggots

200 pages too long. hadrian's a whiny beta bitch. 5/10

has an almost uncanny way of constantly reminding you of wheel of time but at least there's no aes sedai complaining constantly. 6/10

>>22441646
Haven't read it BUT if there's no aes sedai complaining constantly then that means there is also no aes sedai to get spanked constantly and regularly BTFO by asha'chads so maybe you mean 3/10 instead

>>22441655
i'm sorry to say there's no harem nor is there any spanking of uptight women. also, for me, aes sedai lesbomancy and bdsm disciplinary measures do not make up for the pain of having to read egwene chapters so i choose to ignore that when determining score

>>22441664
A fair and reasonable view on the matter. I withdraw my challenge. I haven't read a single Rand-less Egwene chapter since my first readthrough of the series so I forget sometimes how monumentally boring those scenes are.

First for xianxia!

>>22441664
>spanking of uptight women
>Start reading web novel
>Lewd futa protagonist stuck in tight space at the start of a dungeon with an uptight, highly trained, highclass woman (18)
>By the end of the dungeon has her almost completely "trained"
>the minute they go back to town it becomes a harem with the most garbage unlikable 3rd wheel ever conceived
>next dungeon, 1st love interest swaps bodies with the 2nd and the 2nd takes the 1st's bodies virginity on a dildo
WHAT THE FUCK?!

>>22441728
what kind of slop are you reading anon jesus

>>22441734
The 3rd girl is also a furry.

>>22441734
The slop that has captured my attention, my friend, is none other than the intriguing "goyslop." It's a term that represents a unique genre of literature, one that combines whimsy, surrealism, and the extraordinary.

>when you spot another Bakker fan in the news...

Some lessons have to be taught...

>>22441646
it gets better from here stick with it, Caeden and Davian combo is lit , don't

>>22441811
This is the last a skinspy sees as I show my true form.

I'm reposting this from the last thread because it was a ghost town. Do people just not hang out on /sffg/ anymore? I was confused because, instead of talking about books, the thread devolved into talk about youtube asmr whores and autogynephilia. Then the thread ended.

------

So I posted on here several years ago when I first started writing a fantasy trilogy: Chateau Cascade, Affiliation's Call, and Imperium's Conquest. At the time it was just Chateau Cascade. People told me my book sucked, that I'd never finish a trilogy, etc.

Well, fuck you, it's done. Also, you were right, the first book had serious first-time-author problems so I did a second edition of it that is longer and has all its perspective issues fixed.

Anyway, the ebooks are free ("pay what you want") on my website so I'm not really shilling. I would be curious what people here think of them now that they're all done. Pic related.

>>22441944
Is it harem?

>>22441944
well done on completing them but how are you expecting discussion when you've just finished it and no one on the planet has read it
anyway, sffg has been garbage for a long while now, it's not like the old days anymore.

>>22442014
No lol. There is some romance (handled tastefully), but not much. Mostly in the second book

>>22442018
Thanks. And fair point, but I just meant that people didn't really seem to be talking about books much in general (not my books). I don't understand what ASMR hoes and transgenderism have to do with literature

>Ubik reread
>PKD straight up drops the jewish question
hell yeah

Finally got around reading age of madness trilogy. Read only a few chapters, but im not really feeling it, too many girl boss povs right off the start. What the fuck happened to my man joe?

>>22441410
this story contains neither plot nor character development of any kind. in fact, it’s a stretch to even call it a story.

>>22442031
Most posts talking about a book in this general inevitably get shitposted into oblivion. If you try to talk about it a second time you get called a shill. Then we screech about women and bakker for 300 posts and repeat ad infinitum. /sffg/ died in 2016

>>22442089
What a shame... it was a good thread. What a rotten way to die.

>>22441477
basically my complaint also

>>22442104
To add to that anon: Any books outside of the top 10 favored authors/series generally gets shat upon, yes. Any general on this website is doomed to have newfag vomit desecrate the room and seep down the walls.

I just finished reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. Anyone got any good vampire recommendations to follow this with? I've heard of pic related and I'll pick that up soon but beyond these two I don't know of any vampire literature—except for Twilight I suppose, but I'm not interested in that.

Need a rec. Looking for a scifi audiobook space opera series, not written by a woman or in the last twenty years. Bonus points for lewd and silly/fun rather than grimdark and high concept.

>>22442145
>except for Twilight I suppose, but I'm not interested in that.
There's a different version of Twilight called Twilight reimagined and it's basically Twilight except for men, try that one out.

>>22442155
It isn't, really. All it is is Twilight with the genders reversed. The characters don't really change, so the way they act and respond to things doesn't either. Just a bunch men acting like women and vice versa.

>>22442031
Aren't you one of the people who screech incessantly about the transgenders? Maybe you are part of the problem.

>>22442145
It depends on what you liked about Dracula I guess. But I recently read Empire of the Vampire, which I expected to be edgy juvenile trash but it was actually a well written and engaging story. Still very edgy but in a way that works if you like semi-horror novels.

>>22442176
Yeah but I mostly do that on my own time, not when it's offtopic.

>>22441944
I remember those posts, congratulation to actually creating your trilogy, will give it a read soon!

>>22441144
A Princess of the Linear Jungle, Linear City #2 - Paul Di Filippo (2010)

Two hundred years later and twenty million blocks away, another story of the Linear City begins. Merritt Abraham is a twenty-two year old polypolisology [many cities study] (anthropology) student. She wants to attend graduate school, but she can't afford the tuition. If it means getting ahead, she'll eagerly have a sexual and romantic relationship with her academic mentor. Casual sex is fine by her, so she has it with three men and one woman during this. When the opportunity to adventure in Vayavirunga presents itself, she becomes overjoyed. That's the jungle formed from three walled-off boroughs that inexplicably became overgrown three centuries ago. What they find there is far stranger than could be reasonably expected and much more dangerous than they assumed.

The majority of the story is her daily life. The adventure is less than half the story and I believe it to be the lesser half. It's certainly strange, but not in a way that's particularly enjoyable. The writer protagonist of the first book, Diego Patchen, is referenced often, which is rather surprising considering the years passed and the distance. In some ways the word choice is worse this time, as it's mostly invented words or existing words with new meanings. I found it to be less quaint this time. There's less mystery and sense of wonder as well. The characters weren't as enjoyable. There's speculation and some exploration of the specific peculiarities of the setting, but I think they both helped and hindered my enjoyment.

The story is prefaced with an excerpt from The Princess of Mars, which I haven't read so I can't say how much this meant to be referencing that. I feel that the title and cover are both misleading at least in terms of this novella. The titular character is only present for a sixth of its duration, which is scant few pages considering it length, and the cover is a stretch for depicting anything that happens. That's certainly not the Princess of the Linear Jungle, but there are multiple nude women. I find this to be disappointing even though it's still a fitting name and a provocative cover.

As of this writing, which is before my rating of it, this novella has a rating of 3.06. For Goodreads that's a miserably dismal score. However, if you believe a 3 to be decent rating and still worthwhile to read, and considering how inflated the ratings of most books seem to be, at least that's what I choose to believe, then it's entirely appropriate score. Am I simply making excuses for it? Yes. While I have no problem with having read this, I don't think there's really any reason for anyone to read this except for those who greatly enjoyed the first novella of this setting and want more from it, regardless of what it may be. As something in of itself it's definitely lacking in most every way. If there was more in this setting I would still read it regardless though.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>22442145
Carmilla and Fevre Dream.

>>22442180
I liked a lot about it. I knew it was a classic so I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect to personally enjoy it as much as I did. The format was great because of how it allowed the dread to slowly build; I've never been one to be properly scared by horror, but Dracula did have a tension that I liked and I found myself legitimately worried for the characters. I also liked that it was unabashedly religious (likely due to its age and the region it was written in) which not only gave the vampires a concrete weakness—holiness or the sacred—but it also allowed Stoker to draw on a lot of religious imagery that I found really innovative. (e.g. The conversion of one of the characters to vampirism was followed by her having to drink Dracula's blood, which the characters call a baptism of blood but it's really more of an anti-Eucharist if you accept the Real Presence. Ironically, Stoker probably didn't believe in the Real Presence as a Protestant, but the efficacy of the Host as a vampire repellent in the novel made the novel at least sympathetic to non-Protestant strands of Christianity which I think is a strength of it.)
There's also a lot to be said for just vampires as villains, of course. I think there's probably something deep within the human psyche that makes a bloodsucking monster grab our attention and not let go.

>>22442256
Thanks man, I really hope you enjoy it!

>>22442283
>>22441144
THE DAILY POSTING CEASES
August has come to an end and now it's time to look over what I read and wrote.

31 Works of Short Fiction Summary
Great: 3
Good: 7
Ok: 15
Bad: 4
Terrible: 1

The Top 4 that I enjoyed are shown as the books of the month on the /sffg/ Goodreads. What I wrote about these 31 can be seen on my account or at the link below, which is long because it's specifically only for those posted in August 2023.

>>/lit/?task=search2&ghost=false&search_text=&search_subject=&search_username=&search_tripcode=sffg&search_email=&search_filename=&search_datefrom=2023-08-01&search_dateto=2023-08-31&search_media_hash=&search_op=all&search_del=no&search_int=dontcare&search_ord=old&search_capcode=all&search_res=post

When I Read The Novellas
July (19)
18, 6 novelettes
20, 2
22, 2
23, 1
25, 2
27, 2
29, 1
30, 1
31, 1

August (12)
5
7
11
14
18
19
20
21, 2
22, 2
26

Various Rambling Follows
The above is an acceptable distribution of ratings. Considering how I picked the novellas I'm surprised it isn't worse. I briefly read more than I finished though, so depending on the reader, they may consider finishing anything that wasn't good to have been a mistake.

However, this was too much to do on a whim. I won't be doing anything daily again. I probably won't do anything that's a lot for rest of the year. I'm glad that I did this, but it interfered more than I thought it would with other stuff I'm doing.

The novella is a fine form, though a lot of authors seem to be writing partial novels rather than self-contained works. Novellas are more viable now due to digital releases and hopefully more will gain visibility. It'd also be nice if a lot of them that were previously only in anthologies or magazines had their own release, though that poses issues as well. Most of my favorites are like that, but for this I tried to read novellas that had their own release.

I enjoy short fiction, though I have difficulty with anything shorter than a short story (7,500 words). I don't recall seeing flash fiction that I like. At the other end I often find books that are many 100s of pages to be terribly bloated, which wouldn't be fixed by separating it into more novels. That would only make the bloat more evident.

I've seen many say they can't enjoy short fiction and the longer it is, the better. I think this is because of fundamentally different reading styles. If it's too short the reader isn't able to develop a personal relationship with the characters. There are those who want a regularly scheduled feed of content. Some want to binge for very long durations without having to look for anything else. Others stick to a single series and really dedicate themselves to its fandom. In that way, the shorter the fiction, the more focused on an idea it has to be, which is probably why science fiction does better than fantasy at shorter lengths.

THE RAMBLING CONCLUDES
Stay tuned for an announcement about September!

>>22442475
no keep posting.

>>22442548
I will keep posting, but it will be back to my usual or slower. So, at most once per thread, depending on thread speed, but probably much less than that.

What do you guys think of Patrick Rothfuss?

>>22442632
His name is grossly anti-semitic.

>>22442632
the world would be healthier if culled of normalfag filth like rothfuss and yourself

Should I give VALIS another shot? It filtered me hard when I was young and in uni, but now I'm 28 and a highly well-read intellectual Man

>>22441477
David Drake is a deep cut quote. They couldn't find anyone else?

>>22442757
David drake is a based autistic boomer

>>22441477
your """reviews""" are SHIT
FUCK OFF

>>22442792
I looked it up and it's actually because they're both part of the SFF world in my home state of North Carolina

>>22442475
based

>>22442805
Lmao he probably don't even read it.

>>22441646
I only got about 200 pages into it before I dropped it to reread Wheel of Time precisely because, like you said, it reminded me of WoT and how much I'd rather be reading that instead.

>>22441664
>also, for me, aes sedai lesbomancy and bdsm disciplinary measures do not make up for the pain of having to read egwene chapters
I've already read the series enough that I can safely skim her chapters, if not skip over most of them.

>>22442632
Who? Oh that old has-been, former author. What's he doing these days? Last I heard he was a professional attention whore.

>>22442632
Did he even finish writing his series? I remember being vaguely entertained by The Name of the Wind in early 2010s, but never heard much about him later on.

>>22442146
The Stainless Steel Rat

>>22441646
I didn't read wheel of time, but it completely failed to grab my attention - despite rather blatant attempt to set high stakes on opening - and it really felt it wasn't really going anywhere - despite good chunk of the "plot" being about two dumbasses travelling.
Does it get more coherent later on? I still got it in my kindle library, might try to go back to it.

Sci-fi recs for a pleb who doesn't really care for colorful prose?
Basically I'd like imaginary tech/engineering documents

>>22442945
I can't stand Peter F Hamilton but he might fit what you're looking for

>>22442945
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Alastair Reynolds
Arthur C Clarke
Asimov
Liu Cixin (translation kills any good prose)

>>22442945
Greg Egan

>>22442945
stephen baxter
robert reed

Any recs for a fantasy book with a guy protagonist with a mild personality? Like he doesn't get irrationally angry, is annoyed by everything or banters too much.

>>22441144
The /sffg/ Goodreads group's theme for September will be Mecha. I haven't read any of the four tentative selections and I don't know if I will, mostly because there's a lot of others that I want to get around to since I spent so much time in July and August with novellas. If you have any suggestions now is the time to let me know. The categorizations may or may not be correct because I haven't looked into thrm all them that much. They're just random possibilities I saw. Also, the group is currently at 750 members.

The four tentative selections for the month are:
United States of Japan
Cry Pilot
Ironclads
Steel Frame

Mecha
Hard Reboot
Iron Widow
Cartwright's Cavaliers
BattleTech
MechWarrior
Gearbreakers
Leviathan
Dreadnought
Dead Mech Walking
August Kitko and the Mecha from Outer Space
The Archive Undying
Sentinel

Power Armor
Armor
All You Need is Kill
Starship Troopers
Warhammer 40k
Servants of War
Northworld

Anthology
Armored

Ice Cream Dragon!

Not sure I'll be continuing with this one.

>>22443120
Brigador novelisation

do most of you sffags download and read with an ereader?

Any recs? I don't want to go kindle, but if it's the best option..

>>22443134
Why did you read it in the first place? The cover and blurb already told me it was shit.

>>22443253
I never read cover blurbs. I just listen to random litrpg books as I work.

>>22443268
You are setting yourself up for failure.

>>22443271
I excel at failure.

/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 Fights with Monsters, Dungeon Crawler Carl

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

>>22443251
I had a kobo until I broke it and couldn't easily get another one, had a paperwhite since (cheapest possible bottom of the range model with IIRC 2gb of storage) and it's been fine, lasted longer and it's hilariously easy to pirate with because you can use amazon.com/sendtokindle and just upload the epubs to yourself without even plugging it into your pc

(when I say lasted longer I broke the kobos by dropping them or stepping on them, the kindle might just be luckier but it seems a bit more durable)

>>22443251
>do most of you sffags download and read with an ereader?
Yes. Sometimes there's a matter of sheer unavailability of actual physical books or exorbitant pricing.

>>22443399
Why didn't you just put them directly on the ereader rather than sending them Amazon? Personally I use Calibre as a library and to send, but my use case is probably different

>>22443251
haven't used a kobo to compare, but just going to second the other anon about a cheap paperwhite.
the screeching about kindle/amazon you see in ereader threads is hilarious, if not outright false info.

I would suggest a model that can be jailbroken if you go kindle, so you can put KOReader on it because it's so much better than kindle default software

>>22441419
Not to mention Assimov is a jew

>>22441477
second book is even worse

>>22443533
A Russian jew no less. It really comes out at the end of his career. Also the Second Foundation are the Jews.

>>22441144
I have read my first scifi book : Bester's Tiger Tiger/The Stars My Destination.
What next: Blindsight or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

>>22441646
anyone read his new book, and is worth a look?

>>22443619
I dropped the author at book two of Licanius, why would I pick up another series?
Do you enjoy reading YA shit books?

>>22443251
for me it's the kindle paperwhite
i've never used the wifi and never had issues otherwise. use it as an ereader and only an ereader

For the first time in years i'm reading a book which is neither fantasy nor science fiction.

>>22443630
What book?

>>22441144
Did we do it Cookbros?

>>22443634
It's a book by a pretentious writer. You wouldn't like it.

>>22441144
First for Hag authors

>>22443638
I'm not asking for a recommendation. I'm wondering what book someone chooses when they go off a years long diet of strictly sff.

>>22443640
Do they write men that I can self insert into?

>>22443651
It's family drama.

>>22443668
I give up. You are dead to me.

>>22443630
Yeah I'm taking a break from SFF too (rereading every Parker book for the 3rd time)

>>22442975
>>22443010
>>22443036
>>22443038
Screencapped and will spend the weekend checking that out thanks frens

>>22443657
Yes, a significant amount of hag authors like to write about kind and slighty autistic young men.

>>22443608
damn, hadrian didn't get better at all? it's still an unnecessary doorstopper?
world and the aliens were kind of interesting

>>22443668
The Thorn Birds?

>>22443619
>>/lit/thread/21635354#p21636452

A couple other members have written about it and everyone who has rated it had given it at least 4 stars.

Dune is a tetralogy

Gross. Please keep your fetishes off /lit/

Since I do most of my reading at work and I have a lot of it coming up in the next couple of weeks I've decided to interrupt my tbr plans and polish off this bad boy. I should be able to finish it by Monday after next.

>>22443729
What did you think of the first trilogy?

>>22443767
I don't "think" about books retard; I read them. Feel free to waste your time "thinking" about pointless shit.

>>22442908
That's because he hasn't published anything in a decade. He's burned out as an author.

>>22443767
It's among the best fantasy I've ever read, and probably some of the best ever written. Pure heroic fantasy through the lens of a true anti-hero, not an edgy 90s anti-hero. Along with some amazing characters and elements that directly inspired the greats of today.

>>22443717
Why are white women so delicious? They truly are the white devil.

>>22443774
After two books? That's a really short wick.

>>22443385
Why the fuck does Azarinth Healer keep getting recommended? It's hot fucking garbage even by the standards of litRPG drivel.

>>22443813
It's just a ritualposter who read 8 books and never changes them. He doesn't speak for sffg.

>>22443120
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

>>22443820
I'm not just referring to sffg - the name keeps showing up and for the life of me I can't understand why.

Is it weird to not like first person POV books? Think about gene wolf books. I find them confusing.
I read the story in a character's POV and I kinda take everything as face value but in reality things are different.

>web novels are shit
>lotr is where it's at
You are either 60+ or <25

>>22443899
It's just lazy writing.
>hurr I'm going to write something that makes perfect sense, but then replace it with plot serving nonsense and say that the character was crazy

>>22443813
I keep seeing it in search options I like, so I will read it after all the xianxia on that site. But the gap between a good and bad healer novel is larger than most.

>japanese novel
>switching from 1st to 3rd person randomly without notice
BASED

>>22443958
Not just that, but switching from a detailed 3rd person, to a curt 1st person, then to a curt 3rd person with no signal.

>>22443935
Worse is when nothing makes sense in the first place and the plot serving nonsense happens.

>>22443899
No, it's not weird. For me it's very dependent on the author. 1st person can either be entirely terrible or the the best for me. It certainly has much more variance than 3rd person. 2nd person is mostly a gimmick to me. As for the face value part, I don't self-insert or identify as the character, so it isn't really an issue.

>>22443935
That isn't what happened at all. If a person time traveled from 2023 BC to 2023 AD they wouldn't describe anything the way we did at all. If the describer lacks context that's just what happens.

>>22443798
There were always signs that he was temperamental. He apparently had a fight with his editor, and wasn't happy about how his second book didn't receive the same effusive praise as his first book. Then Trump happened and he used that as an excuse to not work, pretending like he was protesting by not writing anything while Trump was in office, and consequently everybody just forgot about him.

>>22444066
I've only ever read one novel in 2nd person and it was pretty good.

>>22444162
Nice

>>22443381
This is the first time I've ever come across this thread, so I don't know how slow these generals are but I just want to say The Wandering Inn is fucking trash, it's okay at the start I guess but as you keep reading it turns into immature garbage.

>>22444177
Guy just posts his "recommendations" every single thread as a ritual, most people either have the images filtered or have just ceased to even acknowledge his existence. He's part of the landscape here, like the bakkerfag's shitposts. You just stop seeing it after a while.

>>22444081
>if a
Citation needed, "muh reasoning" isn't a fact.

>>22444184
At least Bakker is sffg related

>>22443381
>>22444177
>>22444184
>>22444204
>cradle
Absolute shit, read MW or DE instead.

>>22444184
Oh, true. I've come across some of those books he's talked about and they've been great, I'm now reading >>22443385
Dissonance and it's okay, bit slow though.
>>22444208
Cradle is another one I read, I liked it, how do you guys find these books?

>>22444216
novelupdates, for shit like cradle goodreads but there isn't anything worth reading there.

>>22444216
And all the litrpg stuff is from royalroad or scribblehub.

>>22443788
The second trilogy is different but worthy. Written by a guy with more to say and not a cash grab. I haven't read the third because the time gap makes me wary, but some day I'll try.

If you like his writing you might also want to try the Gap Cycle, which takes his style in a sci-fi body horror direction. People who like him tend to like it, as it has a lot of the same gut punch intensity.

>>22444177
Same guy here, this also ring true for the He Who Fight Monsters, I think all of them might be the same, good at the start but after a few books the story fucking dies in massive bonfire.

For some reason people here only hype up novels a certain type of novel format, books published one at a time by a major publisher. Oddly it doesn't matter the contents of the book, just that a publisher has enough money to spend on shills online.

>>22444245
It's a very weird format because there has to be some sort of false conclusion at the end of every book in a series. Reading the whole thing is a very stilted experience that thankfully xianxia has evolved away from.

>>22444242
>He Who Fight Monsters
Pretentious title for an illiterate bogan from Hobart.

>>22444242
He Who Fights rallies later on, though. Not saying it's a masterpiece, but the author grows and so does his character. It's refreshing. No I'm not saying he grows into a sage in the desert, but his avatar / mc can look back on his earlier incarnations and smile a bit, like any person.

>>22444249
>19 year old calls multimillionaire author illiterate on an Indonesian basket weaving forum.
You seem jealous of his success, let me guess, you are a communist

>>22444177
>I just want to say The Wandering Inn is fucking trash,
It is trash. That Inn keeper is a shit pacifist. I wished the gobbos raped her.

>>22444216
>Dissonance and it's okay, bit slow though.
It's shit. It was all over the place, then in book two he got thrown into the Shadow Realm Dropped it after book one. People that continued after book one regretted doing so.

>>22444257
I’m 25, published in a magazine I like, and think millionaires should be burned alive.
>communist
No. I am a medievalist, in terms of communes. We should return to the divine right of kings.

>>22444255
Okay, hmm, maybe I just dropped it too soon, I got up to the point where he was just about to turn into a god, but I dropped it there, every time he talked to his friends was so cringeworthy

>but he’s a millionaire!!!
If you can make millions without knowing what a semi colon is for, then that speaks volumes about our cultural and intellectual decline.

>>22444282
What is a semicolon for?

>>22444242
>>22444255
>>22444274
He who fights with monsters is a cash grab now. The books started okay, then the author made three filler books on earth, where nothing of consequence happened. One book would have covered those three. The author just did that shit so Jason can get magic counselling and cry about how hurt he is. Then the author doesn't edit his books properly. There are book recaps in the middle of the fucking book, where the author explains WHAT JUST HAPPENED.
Then there is everyone talking like Jason now, with a bunch of banter, and the author giving detailed info dump HOW EVERYONE IN JASON's FUCKING TEAM FIGHTS AND THEIR FUCKING ABILITY USES AND WHAT LEVEL THERE ABILITIES ARE AT AND WHAT EACH RANK DOES.
It's a money fucking grab right now.

>>22444282
>semi colon
And when was this "semi colon" invented?

>>22444285
To break up complete yet independent clauses. They should break up what should be two different sentences with a full stop. The effect is that you can draw attention to comparisons, contrasts, and similarities. He’s basically using them as a comma, because he’s retarded.

>>22444274
Maybe. I'm not saying you'll like it. I don't even want you to like it. But I read a lot of series where the author climbs up his own butt and that's the end. I don't love the series, I like it and sometimes get a vibe. But it's a rare example where the author climbed out of his own butt. Maybe not entirely (who can) but enough for me to hit the reset button and give him another go.

>>22444266
Haha, wow. I feel like I finally found similar dudes to talk shit with, this is great. How do you think I can get my hands on those books in your pic?

>>22444294
You are retarded, but thanks for regurgitating the most popular definition for me and proving it in front of everyone.
Maybe you can learn something https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semicolon

>>22444292
Phone autocorrect added a space. But look at his writing. It’s overwritten in a bad way:
>He set off at random to explore
This is just redundant. Who explores if they knew where they were going? It could also just be shown through something like “he swivelled for a while, stopped, then took a step towards exploration”
He’s just telling and telling. Exposition is the death of a story opening.

>>22444285
It is a largely superfluous punctuation mark. The ability to use semicolons correctly is similar to the ability to play bagpipes: there is rarely an occasion where it is warranted, and it's good manners not to do so in front of others. So there are mainly two types of people who use semicolons frequently: the confidently wrong, and authors of legal documents, neither of which are good company.

>>22444300
>In the English language, a semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought, such as when restating the preceding idea with a different expression. When a semicolon joins two or more ideas in one sentence, those ideas are then given equal rank.
This is what I was getting at. You are a little thick. He also uses it as a comma with sentence fragments.

>>22444313
>The Period is a pause in quantity or duration double of the Colon; the Colon is double of the Semicolon; and the Semicolon is double of the Comma.
>>22444309
You know nothing.
>exposition is the death of story telling
Exposition is story telling, you just think 10 dollar words aren't exposition for some reason.

>>22444309
>he swivelled for a while, stopped, then took a step towards exploration”
That's all action, it textbook show don't tell. Are you smoking crack?

>>22444322
>pause
So you're going to link the wikipedia on semicolons and ignore the fucking definition? Pause has nothing to do with grammar. That's just some bullshit a creative writing professor made up to sell to gullible idiots like you.
Action isn't exposition, numb nuts. If you need to be told all intent of characters, then you are dumb.
>>22444330
Action isn't exposition. The original literally told us what the MC was intending to do.

It's pretty simple to understand. Authors follow a style guide maintained institutions they are trying to ingratiate themselves with. This is so work can be read and not misunderstood, and has mostly been standardized.
Since nobody on the internet cares about what some university publishes as their style guide, and it only exists to hold back all possibilities of language it should flatly be rejected for writing outside of these institutions.
The world is not your college class, boy. You can take your grading and go fuck yourself, nobody here follows your arbitrary metrics.

>>22444363
People who are new to writing tend to follow style guides with the fervor of the recently converted, eager to preach the wisdom of Strunk and White or whoever they've pledged their soul to. It's one reason why I avoid writing communities in places like Reddit. It's full of people who think "show don't tell" is some kind of axiomatic truth instead of advice to novices.

>>22444376
kek the writing general on /lit/ has two videos in the OP about "show don't tell", so it's hardly any better.

>>22444363
>>22444376
When I was writing my trilogy I can't begin to tell you the number of retards who repeated "show don't tell" to me. Sometimes this was pretty valid.

But a lot of the time - probably most of the time - it was useless nothing-advice. People just like to say magic phrases like that so that they can feel like they have something to contribute. It's a very "safe" thing to say because people think it's some kind of basic truism. Ayy, I get to look smart AND no one can really call me out on my shit??? RAD!

Anyway -- the style guide thing is part of why I self published. I refuse to be controlled by anyone, least of all some overeducated pseudointellectual editor working at a big publisher.

>>22444363
Okay? But 99.9% of webnovels just use a version of standard grammar without any of the features that (allegedly) allow for good prose.

>>22444344
>So you're going to link the wikipedia on semicolons and ignore the fucking definition?
There were several definitions on that page any you just picked the one that vaguely sounded like yours, but was actually the exact opposite of what you wrote. And you rejected the earlier definition as nonsense. You are retarded, sorry to be the one who had to inform you.

I finally found a copy of State of the Art by Banks. It's even a promotional Not For Sale copy too! Can't wait to dive into it. After this one the only book in the Culture series I will not have read is Hydrogen Sonota.
>>22444230
The Final Chronicles are absolutely worth the read. You want to know what happens right? I will say they're much better on a re-read since you actually know what the fuck is going on.

>>22444406
Well more power to you, since it's rare for a publisher to just back off and let the author publish something with an unconventional style. Rare, but not impossible even in mainstream sci-fi/fantasy, I've seen it happen, and recently.

>>22444406
"Show don't tell" isn't really on the same level as punctuation--one is a stylistic choice--the other is just standard orthography--fucking with punctuation is just annoying

>>22444444
kill yourself, genrefaggot. why did you steal the get?

>>22444416
I said “to connect independent, complete clauses”
Refute that

>>22444444
WASTED GET, FUCK YOU EMDASH NIGGER!

>>22444450
redditor behavior

It's shocking to me that supposedly "creative" writers are so quick to follow standards to the letter without questioning who wrote the standards and definitions and why, did every author come together and agree on them? Was good /sff/ the goal or the sacrifice?
>>22444444
Checked
Yet you managed to pick up > and / without complaint despite there relatively recent (80s and 70s) origin.
>>22444452
Simple, but irrelevant to my post, retard, I'm taking this as a concession.
>>22444294
>To break up complete yet independent clauses.

>>22444464
Jump off a cliff, nigger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk_nbqR19iE

https://harmful.cat-v.org/standards/
‘Mediocrity finds safety in standardization.’

-- Frederick Crane

>>22443613
The protocols of Zion is a conspiracy theory, just like the Lavon affair or USS Liberty attack. Quit spreading these anti Jew lies and send more billions to Zalinski. Hawaii is just full of brown people who don't need your money anyhow.

>>22444266
Unbound is a weird series. I don't hate it, but I rarely find myself intrigued to continue reading after finishing a book. We're like 6 or 7 books in now? And it feels like it took about four books for anything to actually really tangibly happen. Book 2 is a fucking filler arc, which is insane to do as the second fucking thing. Like I get it was a webnovel, so not everything's gonna be great, but you had an ENTIRE book's worth of stuff that doesn't matter.

>>22444330
Show don't tell begets braid tugging.

>>22444486
I read 1 page of WOT and it gave me diarrhea so I shit all over the book and mailed it to the author, killing him instantly. Northing personle

>>22444465
>It's shocking to me that supposedly "creative" writers are so quick to follow standards to the letter without questioning who wrote the standards and definitions and why, did every author come together and agree on them?
Standards are there for the comfort of the reader. English spelling is all fucked up, but no one wants to read shit spelled out phonetically because it looks terrible. There's just some cultural inertia you have to accept.

You could make an argument for a work of fiction that uses its own wacky punctuation or type setting or typefaces or whatever. House of Leaves comes to mind. But the OP example is just a mistake. It's not challenging shit. It's just sloppy editing.

>>22444465
>did every author come together and agree on them
Except every good writer agrees to follow the rules of grammar. But Shirtaloon is not a good writer.

>>22444299
The chart is garbage, I'm pretty sure deliberately so. Like half of them are smut books (though Bruce Sentar's Dao Divinity is at least 'fine'), and it has random shit nobody's heard of alongside some genuinely well-known ones. Mother of Learning's good, the Farmer one was funny enough, Armor was a rushed mess, Randidly Ghosthound is a slog of nothing, Solo Leveling is a story people only know because of the comic that has cool art, the story itself kinda sucks, Beware of Chicken is a parodic thing that I've heard decent things about but I have no idea if it's good, Primal Hunter is... Okay? I can't find myself hating it too much. Defiance of the Fall starts off fine and then rapidly nosedives, Something is parodic in a very on-the-nose way, I didn't mind the cringe too much (except the years late Doge meme), Jake's Magical Market is actually pretty good but it sort of pivots into being an entirely different book halfway in, Tower of Somnus is a neat concept executed with mediocrity, the Marvin Knight books (Zeal of Mind and Flesh + Paladin of the Sword) are also smut books that I enjoyed, but they're very deliberately goofy in a pulp-y sense. And I haven't read the rest of the things on the chart.

did paranoid mage finally end? i got caught up about a chapter or two into the final book a few months back

>>22444492
Then don't read it. There is no such thing as "not following a standard well enough" You either do or you don't.
If you think that the goal of a standard is to provide "comfort" to the reader than you need to define comfort and then explain how OP's example doesn't provide that and how "proper" editing wold fix it.
>>22444509
No true good writer
If your definition of good writer is as shallow and vapid as "follows the most basic standard" then I guess I and the people paying him millions of dollars just disagree.

>>22444518
A necessary part of a good writer isn't a sufficient part of a good writer. If you can't even use the English language in the first place, you cannot build up to good writing. A good writer can be vary, but they all follow necessary grammar out of being literate.

If you can't deal with playful punctuation then literature isn't for you.
It means you would rather read vacuous statements over deep truths just because the former has correct ortography and the later does not.
It's the fear if ambiguity that separates a new reader looking for comfort in form and content from an experienced reader comfortable enough with rules to be able to step out if their domain.

>>22444525
>playful punctuation
There is nothing in Shirtaloon that is playful. His prose does not even have any life to it. It is all him shitting out prose as quickly as possible. He also hates his own universe and begs his readers to let him end the series already. If he were playful with literature, he wouldn't be writing for money.
>ambiguity
There is nothing ambiguous about tacking on a sentence fragment when there should have been a comma. It's just illiteracy because his alma mater is below #400 in the world.

>>22444509
If people aren't scratching their heads wonder what the fuck Shirtaloon is on about, like they would be if they read The Whetstone of Witte or Newton, and I guarantee you they are not, then he already follows the spirit of the standard.
You are just complaining that he doesn't write a certain way without actually giving any argument as how that would improve the work.

>>22444541
The people who read Shirtaloon play video games all day; they are ADHD addled illiterates with about as much intellectual capacity as your average Youtube commenter.
>follows the spirit of the standard
How many people even read him, let alone web novels? It's not even a fraction of all readers in SF. You are delusional. The people who read it are simply stupid.

>>22444548
And yet they can still read and understand shirtaloons writing. Odd: if it really is as bad as you claim his audience would be having trouble, no?
SF is pretty dead, so I would say it is a fairly large portion. You are talking about millions of readers vs books that can barely scrape 5,000 sales in a week.

>>22443619
it's the most embarrassingly formulaic and predictable novel I've ever read. Every few chapters there's a SHOCKING TWIST that was telegraphed ages in advance and makes little sense. Worst example is when a character uses "they" as a pronoun, for no other reason than to try and trick the reader, like she knows she's a character in a novel. (You will still guess "their" identity immediately).

The Rama Committee arguing and problem solving is far more interesting than Norton and his gang farting around in a giant pringles tube. They're also far, far less of the book. I've read 150 pages but it feels like 300 at least. I'll finish it, but going off this I doubt I'll ever want to pick up 2001.

>>22441144
The reorganization of the mega has been uploaded. It would've been far too much of a hassle to do it on site. I didn't do as much as planned, mostly because I was reading and writing about the novellas I've posted about and I played a game for ~170 hours this month, among other things. Doing this broke the folder link, but it redirects to the main directory so it isn't a problem. There's various other SFF stuff in the /lit/ folder in zBoards as well. The mega is filled with a lot in general, so check it out.

I had planned on adding a lot more stuff for the various boards and updating the charts, but I didn't get around to it for now. Nearly 100% of the uploads for a long time have been from anonymous uploaders. That's possibly resulted in scope creep, but I suppose that's fine. I'm never quite sure what I'm doing with this anyway or what I'd want it to become. If this ever becomes a priority or a major focus of my attention again I'll probably expand it in a lot of ways. Anyone who has ideas about what may look like should let me know, and if you want to do it yourself, that's find by me. As always, feel free to tell me whatever about whatever.

There's surely some similar images that still need to be removed, but since I doubt that I'll get around to doing much with this before the end of the year I figured I may as well upload it now. Apologies to the guy who recommended a similar images detector since I said the one I was using wasn't finding several of them. When I get back around to this I'll be using it. The 20GB capacity does limit it a lot though. I have a 50GB account that I can switch over to if needed, though that has its own issues. We'll see what eventually happens. I do like the idea of having something slightly more curated than the archives.

I'm still considering how much I want to push this across the site, even after all these years, and whether I ought to make something dedicated for it. I have a tripcode for this already, I just haven't been using it much. When I looked at the site-wide archives I've seen this mega has been used in a general on /his/ and on a few other boards, the latter possibly only bring a couple of anons that posted it a lot. The main issue is how much of my time and effort I feel like dedicating to it on a consistent basis. I have no doubt that other megas similar to this exist, because I've seen them, some of which seem to use this partially or wholly, and I have no problem with that. It's not like I personally gathered all of these images individually myself.

The biggest decision for the future is whether I merge everything together rather than having zboards be separate. I don't think I'll be doing a major reorganization again anything soon unless someone provides a compelling reason. It'll probably be mostly filling out what exists. As usual though it's whatever whim comes upon me, so not even I really know. We won't know until whatever happens or doesn't.

>>22444566
>RR gets 6 million hits from USA and only a small portion to Shirtaloon
>20% of the USA reads science fiction alone, which means 66.4 million people
There is no way Shirtaloon is getting even a significant portion of SF readership.
>Odd: if it really is as bad as you claim his audience would be having trouble, no?
They are illiterate and want to read mindless garbage on their phone. It's the contemporary equivalent of pulp fiction, except for the illiterate digital-obsessed masses of the 2020s.
>SF is pretty dead
Source?
>books that can barely scrape 5,000 sales in a week
Except most people still read the biggest names in SF, who sell millions of copies. You are comparing some random author at TOR to some e-celeb, and I have no idea why.

>Not reading the full version

>>22444576
>The Rama Committee arguing and problem solving is far more interesting than Norton and his gang farting around in a giant pringles tube
'His master's voice' by Lem is an entire book of just people arguing.

> I'll finish it, but going off this I doubt I'll ever want to pick up 2001.
FWIW I found 2001 much better than Rama.

>>22444580
>eceleb
There are plenty of authors on royalroad with millions of readers. Yes if you become an industry meme like Martin you will get lots of advertising, but usually there are only 1 or 2 authors like that every decade.

>>22444597
That being said it's painfully obvious that more people have bought his books than have read them.

>>22444475
absolute brainlet take. without standardisation of weights and measures we'd still be using Medieval technology. Mediocrity finds safety in "well this is just how I like to do it, I've always done it this way"

>>22444597
Malazan hasn't been adapted at all, yet sold 3.5 million copies in France once Gardens of the Moon was translated. Cope.

>>22444603
>where would we be without metric
I lol at EU fags.

>>22444604
I never claimed that you need to get an HBO series to be heavily shilled

>>22444613
You are heavily shilling some fat mouth-breather who just sits in his room and hates his own series. Have some self-awareness.

>>22444576
you might like "The Feeling of Power" by Asimov, sadly it's like ten pages

I refuse to read fat authors.

>>22444614
No I am just defending a working class man from an obvious industry plant who thinks people give a fuck if you call shilled works "Dostoevsky-esque" while shitty on real work by an average man.

>>22444604
>Malazan
>1999
Jesus SF is deader than I though.

>>22444619
He isn't working class. He's a millionaire, as you said, who loves to live off your hard earned NEETbux.
You aren't punching up against me, idiot. I'm sorry that you failed in education.

>>22444620
>1999
Yeah and the series is still ongoing with prequels and sequels coming out as we speak, so you can shut the fuck up.

>>22444627
>Published 1 April 1999 – 21 February 2011
Ok. You should edit the wikipedia then. Cause it seems too be over a decade old at this point. Looks like it couldn't compete with webnovels.

>>22444518
>If you think that the goal of a standard is to provide "comfort" to the reader than you need to define comfort and then explain how OP's example doesn't provide that and how "proper" editing wold fix it.
No I don't. You're the one saying weird shit, so the burden of proof is on you.

>Then don't read it.
I won't, Shirtaloon. You can take your ball and go home.

>>22444627
>prequels
And how are they selling. Do you have figures for Kellanved's Reach? No. Then stop acting like it's relevant.

>>22444627
>still ongoing
You are one of those retards who reads The Foundation Sequels and Rama sequels right?

>>22444630
Do you have reading comprehension? You are reading the wikipedia on the "Malazan: The Book of the Fallen," not that the series has ended.
>prequels and sequels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kharkanas_Trilogy
https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Witness_Trilogy

>>22444635
Wait that's not even the same author.
>>22444627
Are you trying to pass your shitty fanfic off as real SF?

>>22444640
>real SF
This whole discussion happened because some retard thought SF was dead and people only read Shirtaloon. He lives in such a digital bubble, he thinks the tiny amount of Patreon paypigs are the entire planet.

>>22444649
SF is dead, no, a series with 20 books, with multiple authors, selling 3 million copies over the course of 3 decades doesn't change that.

Any books like Starfield?

>>22444651
Do you have reading comprehension? Evidently not. I said the first book sold 3 million copies in FRANCE immediately after being translated. The entire amount of copies sold of Malazan would be far more than Shirtaloon's amount of clicks on chapter one of his slop.

>>22444578
Oh, also, let's say that in celebration of the mega there's general amnesty and otherwise a forgiveness, from me to you, and you to me, for whatever reason I may have removed you or you may have left from the /sffg/ Goodreads group. Feel free to rejoin, but try not to answer with something entirely irrelevant.

>>22444654
You are just lying or misinformed, every source says that the series has only sold 3 million copies in total. France has a population of 67 million Do you really think 4.4% of people in France have bought this book?

>>22444658
>every source says
The ones you googled and saw on some Jeet bait website because they paid for SEO? You are dumb.
>France has a population of 67 million Do you really think 4.4% of people in France have bought this book?
Even Philip K Dick said that French people read more science fiction and fantasy than anyone else on the planet. You know nothing about anything beyond American culture.

>>22444658
>>22444662

For the record in 2019 the bestselling book in france was Astérix 38 : La fille de Vercingétorix Jean-Yves Ferri, Didier Conrad with 1,573,700 copies

>>22444668
THE GOAT HAS ARRIVED TO SAVE THIS THREAD

>>22444652
an empty, barren wasteland? The Night Land by Hodgson, except that actually has imagination

>Frau had secured a bottle of the syrup
sff for this feel?

How would you rate each book in your favorite series: syrup-wise
https://files.catbox.moe/dcwbal.jpg

>>22444688
I'd rate it this
https://files.catbox.moe/ywnbaw.jpg

>>22444694
But I will fuck your mother.

>>22444696
Too bad my mother only fucks monstrous abominations from hell

>>22444708
Well then hurry up and make a daughter for me to use already.

>>22444708
>Glen
Immersion destroyed. Dropped.

>>22444714
>wanting characters with names like Woib, Squk, Nriz, Qax, Derelan

>>22444708
What book? I need to coom

>>22444721
>Cnaiür
>Harry Goatleaf
>Tattersail
At least fantasy names don't suck as bad as the word vomit of sci fi names.

>>22444721
Or John, George, Paul, Ringo any name that isn't obviously a virgin.

>>22444731
Literally half the chapters have child/teen rape or descriptions of how sexy an underage girl is.

>>22444714
Having strange feelings from specific combinations of letters? Unwanted advances emanating from symbols arranged in a subjective meaningful order? Simply rub a dime of Ubik within the troublesome spots and, when used as directed, your worries will end!

>>22444733
>not liking names such as RedBlue Purpleone, Headface Maxroom, Dioxide Carrot, or Srreeexcchhgejkn

>>22444741
I want to coom, not vomit.

>>22444757
I thought this was a Loli thread.

>>22444741
I'll be the judge of that.

I really thought you Bakkerfags/anti-Bakkerfags were exaggerating. Nope, child rape right at the start. I honestly think that if there's going to be more rape than a modded bethesda game, this is going to be hard to take seriously.
The tactical rock-paper-scissors of mages vs chorae seems cool. Achamian seems like a likable PoV character. Cnaiur almost makes me think of a Warrior of Chaos. I'm hoping and looking forward to shit really going off the rails.
.

>>22444741
I'ma need a prequel with uncle bob.

>>22444765
>child rape
Offscreen, undescribed.

Anyone read Tolkien's edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? Is it good/interesting? What about the other poems in his translation?

>>22444741
Takes place in stinson beach
UOH
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8978302,-122.6397379,3a,17.4y,12.47h,84.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ss_SzMxsEcwkK0etg3GVy7w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

>>22444782
>sir gaywin
>tolkien
Did this faggot do any but write? Why the fuck am I constantly hearing about random shit that he wrote. Do me a favor faggot, get some taste and write your own books and share them here; thanks.

>>22444786
>Did this faggot do any but write?
He was a professor at Oxford. What else did you think professors did but read and write? Lol

>>22444741
>>22444759
First 2 chapters that had sandy nothing happens, not even a description of her looks. Her name doesn't appear again until chapter 5.
Stop trying to make me read your shit I won't believe you unless you give a page number or a quote.

>>22444808
>nothing happens
You have to read the Roy chapters for most of it. This is Chapter Two.
1/3

>>22444782
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is easy enough to read in Middle English (two or three months of dedicated study is enough) that I really wouldn't recommend reading it in translation. It's absolutely astounding in its original language, and updating it to Modern English takes away from it even more than updating Shakespeare from Early Modern English to Modern English does. Also, learning Middle English doesn't just open up a few poems, it opens up an incredibly large corpus of beautiful works that never really get discussed today, similar to how people like William Gilmore Simms (Edgar Allan Poe's favorite author) is completely forgotten now, but really his stuff his just breath-taking.

I hope this video sparks your interest in Middle English and I can rope another anon into learning it. It's such a great language. All of these things which Tolkien took inspiration from are leagues, leagues better than anything he ever wrote himself. That's not to say I don't like Tolkien, but there's no contest, really. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_deJVM4JOzw&

>>22444817

>>22444820

KINO
I
N
O

>>22444817
Without wasting my time any further
So sandy and the mom are running away from roy. And roy goes insane and kills a guy and rapes a girl then gets arrested/killed by the police who were called a 5 minute ago. This makes no sense.

>>22444834
He doesn't get caught in the whole book. I don't think you understood what you read.

>>22444819
As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm for the subject, and really respect you and anyone else who has the drive to learn a new language (or at least another version of a language) for entertainment and self fulfillment, I believe this would be beyond my personal interests and time allowance for the moment.
Do keep on the Middle English proselytizing grindset though, I may pick it up one day if I have the time and find enough works that interest me to push me past the tipping point If you tell me learning Middle English would let me read Le Morte d'Arthur it'd be fucking dope

>>22444842
That's the point. It makes no sense.

>he soaped her chest, her belly.
Good enough for me anyhow.

>>22444846
>then gets arrested/killed by the police who were called a 5 minute ago
This never happened.
Plenty of serial rapist murderers go on sprees for years, especially in the 70s and 80s when this was written.

>>22444852
They usually didn't make tons of noise in an apartment complex and have the cops called on them beforehand.

>>22444855
The cops aren't called. The mother hangs up the phone because he has the daughter at knifepoint. I really don't understand where you're getting this from. He stays at the house for a whole night, because no one knows he did it.
>an apartment complex
You are misreading. That's the part when Jud knocks on the door of a man with white hair.

>>22444855
Also they don't have ninja moms who fight the villain after getting stabbed in the gut 2 minutes earlier.

>>22444858
No you are misreading
>Roy started towards him. The man slammed the door. Roy heard the rattle of a guard
chain.
>Okay, the guy’s probably dialling right now.
>It’d take the cops a few minutes to get here. He decided to use those minutes.
>Bracing himself against the wall opposite Apartment 10, he threw himself forward. The
heel of his upraised shoe caught the door close to the knob. With a crash, the door shot open.
Then he walks down an alley and breaks into another house

>>22444867
Remind me the last time the cops started knocking on every house door within a mile vicinity of one attempted break and enter.

>>22444877
Remind me why the mom didn't dial 911 while roy was in the bath, and instead challenged him to a knife duel?

>>22444880
Or why she couldn't dial 911 in the time it took roy to sprint across the house and grab the daughter and make the threat?

>>22444880
I'm sure if your daughter was about to have a BWC shoved into her pussy, that you'd be in the next room on the phone.
Anyway, here is the best girl in the book.

>>22444892
Does anything happen in chapter 5-8?

>>22444894
>The girl’s going to get herself raped, Donna thought.
Other than foreshadowing

There is no place for rape in fiction.

>>22444892
>Into his mind came the fat, black face of General Field Marshal and Emperor for Life Euphrates D. Kenyata
Is this what you like to think about when you masturbate you SICK FUCK.

>>22444894
Chapter Six: mention of monsters raping little boys' buttholes during a Beast House tour
Chapter Seven: pic related
Chapter Eight: Sexual torture of an adult woman, his old sister-in-law
Every chapter has some mention of sex, but I think the most sex scenes are towards the end. Joni gets raped in about four scenes (bathtub, campsite, beach, hotel room), but she's described in most Roy chapters and other rape is alluded to.

>>22444922
>Sexual torture
You lie, I just read that and nothing happens.

>>22444926
He knifes her butt (not bakker's knife) and then chapter ten he is driving to go find Sandy and Donna

>>22444926
Read on. It's mentioned he rapes her until she's dead.

>>22444930
No. It's just a mcdonalds ad.

>>22444940
You'll miss the best bit.

>>22444947
I'm on chapter 11

>>22444843
Le Morte d'Arthur would be much easier to learn to read than Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It was written further south, closer to London, nearly 100 years later, so the language used is much closer to what you might see in the KJV or Shakespeare. I might even go so far as to say it wouldn't be worth learning Middle English with it as your primary motivation, because it is so similar. The best comparison would be Chaucer, which is who most people use as their introduction to Middle English, if not Julian of Norwich. Contrast this with the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight who was writing from further north where the language was more influenced by other Germanic languages. This is all assuming you don't already know German or some Scandinavian language, though.

Compare Le Morte d'Arthur:
>It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon, when
>he was king of all England, and so reigned,
>that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall
>that held war against him long time. And
>the duke was called the duke of Tintagil. And
>so by means King Uther sent for this duke, charging him
>to bring his wife with him, for she was called a fair lady,
>and a passing wise, and her name was called Igraine.

>HIt befel in the dayes of Vther pendragon when
>he was kynge of all Englond / and so regned
>that there was a myȝty duke in Cornewaill
>that helde warre ageynst hym long tyme / And
>the duke was called the duke of Tyntagil / and
>so by meanes kynge Vther send for this duk / chargyng hym
>to brynge his wyf with hym / for she was called a fair lady /
>and a passynge wyse / and her name was called Igrayne

With Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
>After Crystenmasse com þe crabbed lentoun,
>Þat fraystez flesch wyth þe fysche and fode more symple;
>Bot þenne þe weder of þe worlde wyth wynter hit þrepez,
>Colde clengez adoun, cloudez vplyften,
>Schyre schedez þe rayn in schowrez ful warme,
>Fallez vpon fayre flat, flowrez þere schewen,
>Boþe groundez and þe greuez grene ar her wedez,
>Bryddez busken to bylde, and bremlych syngen
>For solace of þe softe somer þat sues þerafter
>bi bonk;

>After Christmas comes shrivelling Lent
>that tries the body with fish and dry bread.
>Then the earth’s weather weakens the winter:
>the cold shrinks underground, the clouds draw up
>higher.
>The bright rain falls in warming showers,
>straight on to the ground so that flowers appear.
>Both meadows and fields are covered in green;
>birds hurry to build and sing with excitement
>out of joy at the summer that follows so sweetly
>all over the hills.

>>22444950
And there is literal hag sex in my eyes rn . WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU. Give a tw atleast.

>>22444954
Hags will tie you up and rape you one day. They need your potent sperm.

>>22444958
>‘Keeping warm. What are you doing out of bed?’
>‘You were gone.’
>‘Just for a few minutes.’ She looked at Jud.
Classic.

>>22444959
The best bit about the Judonna relationship is the epilogue... because of how Donna changes.

>>22444963
Roy just called Jodi his wife *flush*

>>22444968
Oh shit it's joni.

>>22444968
>>22444970
She sometimes warms up to him but acts tsundere~~

>>22444784
Set that to 2017, better stuff there

>>22444974
Oh shit I forgot about dates. Screw lit
>>22444971
Your novel is shit, if roy kills this 6' 2" guy I'm dropping it.

>>22444819
The best scholarly edition is by Tolkien and Gordon

>>22444988
Richard Laymon died 22 years ago lol
I just like splatterpunk

>>22442145
Salem's Lot was good, just read it a few days ago actually.

>>22444988
‘He’s thirty-five, about six-foot-two. Very strong, or he always used to be. He weighed
about two-ten.’
Roy is also 6'2" . Undropped.

>>22444947
stop spamming your garbage degen coom lit nigger no one gives a fuck

Funny how these books seem random as fuck. It might be cheaper than buying individually though.
https://bookgrocer.com/collections/secondhand-book-boxes/products/secondhand-fantasy-bargain-book-box-dsh194

>>22445045
It's better than everything else posted here.

If you like Laymon, but want more cunny and a smigd less splatter check out bernd_lauret on asstr.

Roy is a tard, he already has joni thighs wrapped around his head. He almost deserves it if he gets shot trying to rape his exwife and daughter

We did it /sffg/. Lilith Saintcrow is now officially a part of THE BEST SF.

>>22445098
>Lilith Saintcrow
What is her best work? What is her most cunny work?

Plot becomes completely incomprehensible after the epilogue of the first book the second and third make no sense at all. And of course no sex scenes with Sandy and Joni is never heard from again.

Was Scalzi always like this? I feel that most people his age just became very vocal only after they realised they could sell their books to Twitter drones.

>>22445331
>Was Scalzi always like this?
A braindead shitlib? Yes, and he made it very obvious in his writing as well.

An e-celeb is interviewing Brian Sibley (the dude behind the BBC's LotR radiodrama, and The Fall of Númenor) atm.

https://www.youtube.com/live/xj4xE8-O5OY?si=ESyEvnF-NsKgiQeY

>>22445362
Maybe I'm paranoid but his wikipedia said he only wrote for money, so I thought he was a cynic trying to sell books to the only demographic that buys new books: fat liberal white women.

Why are Americans so obsessed with rape?

>>22445419
Because it's illegal here.
>captcha WHAT4

>>22445419
It's forbidden yet widespread. Obviously a very strong sexual fantasy for most people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_fantasy

>>22445382
Kaiju Preservation Society definitely reads like him pandering and checking things off to get noticed by current publishing industry.

>>22445098
>Lilith Saintcrow
looks like a sexual degenerate. god, I hope she is.

>>22445427
I noticed that in the second paragraph:
>Qanisha Williams
It even sounds like him saying a racist's idea of a black woman's name.
It's a shame because I want to read kaiju fiction without this shitty attempt at sarcasm/slang. The fistbump would have been something he saw in a Pixar animation for kids, I'm guessing.

>>22445436
You just know...

>>22445474
I read that page and it looks very interesting so I downloaded it, thanks for the recommendation, mate.

>>22445474
I see it wasn't a recommendation, still looks like an interesting book.

>>22445474
Reading Fiction is a children's hobby retard.

>>22445520
Except most kids don't even have a vocabulary of anything beyond high frequency words. 95% of books will be too hard for them.

>>22445526
Delusional

>>22445526
I read The Lord of the Rings in second grade. Didn't understand shit about it, but I did finish.

>>22445528
Our brains simply cannot learn that many words so quickly. Add to the fact that kids aren't going to remember unusual words that you'd only find in text and not in TV/everyday speech.
By the time you're no longer a child, at 13, you know 20,000ish words out of the millions we have. Not many books will be interesting to children (considering most of them know only several to a dozen thousand).

>>22445552
at 13 if you read regularly you know well over 70,000 words and you can easily lookup any word in a dictionary if it's even relevant to the book. Most likely it isn't. You reek of ESL.

>>22445562
>well over 70,000 words
Anecdotal evidence trumps linguists again.
>lookup any word in a dictionary
Except your memory and language acquisition isn't perfect. Most people forget a word they never see again.
>if it's even relevant to the book. Most likely it isn't.
Most children only know words from watching TV and talking/listening to people. When are they going to know most of the words inside a novel?

>>22445569
Your own graph estimates 39,000 which is well above 99% of SF.
>They forget it
And? They won't forget the meaning of the passage.

None of your drivel changes that fact that the majority of SF readers are children. Even for books with 3 dollar words.

>>22445569
>Most children only know words from watching TV and talking/listening to people.
Your study is obviously for written English words. Not nigger babble.

>>22445574
You said "reading Fiction" lol. How the fuck is a kid going to know the words inside the Count of Monte Cristo or Gravity's Rainbow?
>estimates 39,000
Do you know what those bars mean? The average is the middle of the bar, not the top of it.
>They won't forget the meaning of the passage.
If I go read French with only a 13 year old's proficiency, I'll understand the "meaning" of Les Mis despite not knowing what the words are?
>None of your drivel changes that fact that the majority of SF readers are children. Even for books with 3 dollar words.
You said "fiction" to begin with. I don't really care about arguing over your favourite type of writing versus mine, nigger.

>>22445591
Jesus you are retarded. ESL begone.

>>22445577
There is no way you knew words from reading as a kid. You first learn words from hearing them from your parents. Just because you're affected doesn't change this.

>>22445597
OK you are trolling. Nice to know.

>woman author
>writes about how patriarchy is bad and all that

>>22445599
I'm really not. There is no fucking way you learned how to say "mommy" from reading it, retard. No one learns words from reading until they're no longer a child.
>>22445596
https://my.vocabularysize.com
It says I have above native level for word families known.

>>22445611
You are arguing with a strawman. The vast majority of words any educated person knows are learned from reading. Reading increases vocabulary much more than any other task; this has been proven again and again. Learning your first thousand words over the course of 5 years doesn't change that.

The English version of that test was obviously written by an ESL. The fact that you didn't immediately spot this proves that you too are ESL.

>>22445611
Lost at the question that confused a microphone for a megaphone.

>>22445626
Paul Nation isn't ESL. He's a highly respected linguist in vocabulary and pedagogy.

>>22445631
Among ESLs perhaps.
see >>22445629

>>22445636
>Among ESLs perhaps.
I'm beginning to think you don't even know what an ESL is. Someone doesn't magically stop being smart because they spoke another language before English.

>>22445645
No you obviously had that problem before you learned English

>>22445649
The first witty response was "only children read fiction" then it went down to "well, of course reading makes you learn the most words"
How the fuck do adults have the most vocabulary if they aren't reading the books supposedly for children?

>>22445655
You are incoherent, try again.

>>22445661
Over half of all book sales are fiction. Do you think children are buying those all?

>>22445665
Parents and government employees are buying them for children, yes.

>>22445670
Too bad children can't understand most fiction books ever written.

>>22445673
Neither can any person. Again, you have no point.

>>22445693
>Neither can any person.
Then how is fiction for children if most people don't understand fiction?

>>22445701
How can I read your posts, if they make no sense?

>>22445733
I don't know why you jumped into the argument if you weren't the faggot who said >>22445520
>Reading Fiction is a children's hobby retard.
I have only been arguing about this one post. If you're just here because you're bored, you can kindly go to any other board that tailors to retards who don't read fiction like godly literati in our /sffg/ salon.

>>22445740
Reading Fiction is a children's hobby, retard.

>>22445745
I’m sure trolling and “milking duh lulz” is the past time of only distinguished, mature gentlemen such as yourself.

>>22445752
Put down the book and get a job, bum!

>>22445757
Anon’s so busy working and investing in his portfolio, that he actually gains money and experience misleading people about his intentions on 4chan.

>>22445761
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_fiction_authors
You have to go pretty far down the list to find someone who would be out of place in an elementary or middle school classroom.

>>22445766
>top of the list
>William Shakespeare
Ah yes, the 10 year olds famously gather every lunch time to do their favourite hobby: recite a soliloquy in Early Modern English iambic pentameter...

>>22445766
And if you restricted it to the last 50 years (where >99% of fiction has been written) you would have none.

>>22445776
>>22445766
First you argued it was a "children's hobby"
Now you're saying reading is done at schools
Something tells me you really didn't like English class

>>22445781
Did you not having reading time in school?

>>22445784
>reading time
We had relaxation time and we'd often have to read to another. I read on my own too, mainly Tashi and Terry Pratchett. It doesn't mean I understood most of what I read. I wouldn't have known any words outside of the ones I'd already heard used often enough to learn.
Kids know only high frequency words. Most books will have words they have not seen nor head before.
Therefore, reading cannot be seen as a "children's hobby" because they don't even understand most books, let alone get the full story from even a normal book like Fellowship of the Ring.

>>22445775
Yes, children in England did this when Shakespeare was popular ~450 years ago. Is enduring popularity is a forced meme by conservatives.
>>22445798
Like every post you have made thus far your Therefore clearly doesn't hold up to any scrutiny. You haven't even defined "understand" and are literally projecting your incompetence to everyone else.

>>22445802
>Yes, children in England did this when Shakespeare was popular ~450 years ago.
They wouldn't have read it though! Because children in England wouldn't be buying the Folios! Best they'd get was watching the play, which is like watching a movie. Again, kids learn through speaking/watching/hearing.
>incompetence
Tell me why reading is a "children's hobby" when kids do not even know what mid to low frequency words mean?

>>22445810
Because it is an activity that the majority of whose participants are children, where the majority works don't need extensive vocabulary to grok.
Cherrypicking hundred year old books doesn't change this fact.

You agree that children can understand Shakespeare the play, but not when it's written? That makes no sense; neither children nor adults can read Shakespeare without learning the meaning of the words, and plenty of children and a minority of adults whose hobby is reading Shakespeare don't and will never understand all of it, this doesn't change the fact that their hobby is reading Shakespeare.

>>22445829
>not when it's written
Reading words is a skill acquired when you are about 4. You have already learned how to hear and speak words 2 years before that. Have you given this any thought? Of course reading is a skill that doesn't even get "good" until you are past being a little child. If you're reading from ages 4 to 10, it's mostly really easy shit like kid's books and comics. 11-13 is when you can read proper novels, but they won't make any sense.
>their hobby
I didn't even say children can't enjoy reading, just that they are too retarded to fully appreciate it and even read widely. Some numbnuts retard said reading fiction is for kids, despite the fact the great sum of books ever written do not make sense to kids.

>>22445841
Wrong
1) 8-9 year old have already moved past your ESL hangup with words and care more about the meaning of each passage and will use a dictionary if they need it
2) Ask any adult/child on the street when they last read a fiction book, the child will say yesterday the adult would say when they where in middle school.

The main problem is that YOU are retard and your shallow attempts at reading as a neglected child are projecting. There are already 13 year old publishing fiction let alone understanding it.

>>22445851
olds*
were*
are a*
olds*
I will stop responding now because your retardation has ruined my typing.

>>22445851
>the meaning of each passage
You can't do that without knowing what words mean, especially to take away things like style, tone, characterisation, perspective, and all the other techniques of writing. I'm beginning to think you are projecting and really do not have an extensive English vocabulary, so you go off some bullshit "vibe" or "intuition" about the "meaning of the passage" where you insert your own interpretation onto the text made of words you don't understand.
>when they where
>b-buh you're the ESL
This must be a troll.
>already 13 year old publishing fiction
It's all shit.

Jesus fucking Christ.

>>22445950
It's already past bump limit. Who cares?

I'm spraying Ubik all over this thread and nothing is happening!!

>>22445966
I've been spraying over threads for years and nothing is happening

Novel where a 1 year old baby reincarnates as a newborn, then when it turns 2 it reincarnates again, and so on. Xianxia with western magic system starting world

>>22445569
It's so weird seeing people try to use scientific data to excuse themselves from being poor at studying. Absolutely anything to avoid admitting you've still got areas to improve in your target language, I suppose.

I FUCKING LOVE 11 BAKING CHAPTERS IN THE MIDDLE OF A DUNGEONEERING SESSION

>>22446057
FROM SIDE CHARACTERS HALF OF WHOSE NAMES DON'T SHOW UP LATER IN THE NOVEL AND THE OTHER HALF ONLY ONCE.

>>22446045
So you're now contradicting the vast sum of what we have recorded of language acquisition, because it doesn't live up to your idea of "study"? It's ironic because the guy I am talking about, Paul Nation, advocates for intensive reading. But he isn't so fucking stupid as to think a kid can pick up any novel discussed on /lit/ at length, like Gravity's Rainbow, Infinite Jest, or even some meme like Bakker.

>>22446066
>kid can pick up any novel discussed on /lit/ at length, like Gravity's Rainbow, Infinite JestNeither can adults, it's called studying. If you actually read any of these novels you would know you need to research their topics. You seem to believe that everybody is as shallow with their hobbies as you.

>>22446079
>Neither can adults
What? Then why are only adults reading it? No child on the planet knows what Pynchon is getting at when he brings up Orphism's relation to Gnosticism. Lol. Why are you insisting that kids can magically study when they barely even know algebra yet?
>research their topics
Before, the person said you just ignore the words you don't know and "take in the meaning". Now you have to research the topics, on top of the words. O.K. What kid is going to know how to research David Lynch's experimental art short films when he reads Infinite Jest?

>>22446096
>Pynchon is getting at when he brings up Orphism's relation to Gnosticism. Lol.
Neither does Pynchon as last I checked he isn't a historian, priest nor theologian. Random niggers reading in bullshit to popular novels happens all the time, it doesn't mean you "understand" it on a deep level it just means you like wasting your time.

>>22446120
>as last I checked he isn't a historian, priest nor theologian.
None of those "professions" even agree on how to approach questions. They're also made up.

>>22446120
And if a novel does have some sort of hidden meaning, both children and adults will understand it exactly when the critic explains it to them.

Novels for this feel
>“Hmph. I don’t believe you. You’re a perverted pig women. You got hit on purpose just you could show off to everyone how much you like getting hit.”
>“That’s not true, forgive me, I’m Ellis’s pig woman. I’ll apologize as many time as it takes, so forgive me.”
>“Hm, I won’t. Instead, I’ll do this.”

>>22446131
Why are you even responding to yourself, nigger? I'm almost certain you don't read; no one who reads would have this weird impression that you have this perfect, linear progress if you just "study" as a kid. You're just thinking up non-arguments a priori.
We have reading levels for a reason. You just don't have the humility to suggest that you were once a retarded child like the rest of us, who could barely even understand anything. But it's because you're trying so hard to avoid this deep insecurity that you, yes, you, are still a big fat gay baby who bawls into the night and understands nothing of this ephemeral darkness.

>>22446148
>projection
I know you are retarded because you pretend to have spent weeks studying Gravity's Rainbow pulling out, coincidentally, the exact same meaning as the Wikipedia article, meanwhile you can't even read a simple graph.

>>22446157
>spent weeks studying Gravity's Rainbow
Where did I say that? Sounds like you’re making up something again. You have a tendency to just fill in shit with your own bullshit.
You obviously enjoy arguing about nothing. You said fiction is for children. Now you’re skimming Wikipedia to own me about fiction books you don’t like.
What is wrong with you? Go outside.

Did we get crosslinked on /v/ last night?

>>22446175
I don’t know, but it’s weird he keeps changing the style of trolling. Maybe it’s like an interrogation technique.

>>22446181
Nobody here is trolling or being trolled; this is raw shitposting.

>>22446043
Bump if only the last sentence.

>>22446186
>world has a """system"""
Dropped.

>>22446194
>novel gets nominated for a hugo award, or makes nytbs
Dropped.

Next thread should be MILF themed

>>22446205
>MILF
Were you dropped on the head?

>>22446207
No but I did try to grab my mother’s tits when she was asleep. I was about 8.

>>22446216
I'm sorry that happened to you.

>>22446219
Why?
Some of us are just born to love our mothers more than others.

>>22446227
>born
You were most likely raped or exposed to pornography before that and blocked out the traumatic memory

Holy shit Bakkerbros.. I kneel...

>>22446233
>most likely raped
This is actually a meme. Most perverts weren’t raped first. Even if I like Loli, I wouldn’t blame it on seeing Newgrounds hentai games as a kid. Some people are just born lustful.
My friend and I used to masturbate to porn together, back to back, in his room. We would have been 11 or 12. I think you’re just doubting that us perverts exist. And we’re amongst you. And there’s nothing you can do to stop us. And we were born to sin.

>>22446253
>He spat blood
Xi xan xalready xee xee xianxia xinfluence.

>read book of my wife's son
>everything else feels like trash in comparison
feels bad man

Holy shit. That guy got owned.

>>22446205
This.

>>22445631
His test is also full of terms particularly only to British English, and very particular interpretations of a few of them. More than once I encountered a word which I know for a fact had no correct definition listed, or else the definition meant something else in British English.

It's very common for ESLs to learn Received Pronunciation rather than American English, so I'm siding with the people calling this an ESL test.

Brittany!

Any recs for funny fantasy books?
The only requirement is that it should be a standalone book, not a series

>>22446515
>not a series
Fuck you, read Lyonesse. Definitely the funniest fantasy books I've read. I wouldn't call them comedies although Vance is intentionally being humorous in the parts which will make you laugh.

>>22446227
>Some of us are just born to love our mothers more than others.
Any fantasy mc who loves his mom a lot? Doesn't need to have incest just the two of them being really close

If your mother doesn't love you then you have never experienced unconditional love from a woman and I feel genuine pity for the anons who do not have this in any capacity.

>>22446524
3 books ain't that much, I'll take a look. Thank you!

>>22446540
Your mother loves me every night

>>22446740
>>22446740
>>22446740
new

>>22444152
Dont forget he scammed people promising to release a chapter from DoS if they reached donation benchmarks to his charity