/lit/ - Literature

What's the best magic academy novel? I don't want to read Harry Potter.

>>22468098
Read harry potter

>>22468098
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novak.
Stay the hell away from Will of the Many by James Islington

WHERE IS OMNISCIENCE WATTS YOU HACK

>>22468086
Last read: The Spirit Phone by Arthur O'Keefe
Current read: The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
Next read: ?

>>22468266
no this sucks ass

it's extremely YA so every possible cool or interesting thing is filtered through the lens of the ultra snarky protagonist who goes "ugh well I guess THAT just happened" through every life and death situation

she's also secretly the coolest and most powerful and smartest wizard ever to live, but she's ostracized because her family isn't rich and influential. omigosh, can you say late stage capitalism much???

god i fucking hate it so much

>Last Read
Lord of the Mysteries. Pure. Unadultered. KINO.
>Currently Reading
Some random litrpgs from royal road. I'm traveling and I couldn't bring my books and I forgot my kindle
>Will Read Next
way of kings. I know the >implications but I want to read an epic fantasy

>>22468321
>she's ostracized because her family isn't rich and influential
her mother is one of the most beloved people in the magical community, she doesn't tell people who she is specifically because she wants to get out from under her mother's shadow. she's ostracised because she literally radiates an aura of pure evil

>>22468321
>the ultra snarky protagonist who goes "ugh well I guess THAT just happened" through every life and death situation
Goddamn I hate these kind of characters. It's even worse when it's an adult doing it.

Any recs for 'soft realism'? I'm bored of cliché hard boiled detective blade runner knock offs or pseudo capeshit derivatives. I guess if the movie Her 2013 was a book. No ya garbage tho plz

From Stephen King's new "novel."
TDS has broken this man beyond reckoning.

>>22468365
What's wrong with authors writing about recent events?

>>22468365
who was the retard who highlighted these passages?? there has to be a more visually appealing method

Anyone read the Cyberpunk 2077 novel that came out last month? Thinking I might start it before the DLC drops in a few weeks.

>>22468460

Go to orbit publishing to read the first chapter for free.

>>22468481
I'm already gonna read it, but I wasn't paying attention to this board when the novel came out so I was curious what some anons here thought of it

/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.

>>22468511
You were the first and only post there will be about it, unless you post about it again.

How many quips can possibly fit into a book holy shit

Any non-Warhammer books about rat catchers?

>>22468098
The Mask of the Sorcerer

>>22468098
stoner

>>22468352
The Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter
Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanislaw Lem
Public Works Trilogy by Matt Ruff

FUCK he is good.

>it's a naomi chapter

Is this good?

First for xianxia. I'm rereading unfathomable senior right now. Very cool and inspiring to see an ESL author go from total writing noob to pro in a single story.

>>22468086
>Last Read
home is the hangman by zelazny. short and small scale but enjoyable to read and has charm like zelazny usually does. good thing to unwind with
>Currently Reading
songs of a dead dreamer. honestly lovely. these days i read for half an hour to an hour before i go to bed (and nap on weekends) and this book is perfect for that. very enjoyable prose that tickles me to no end
>Will Read Next
probably changeling by zelazny. should i read the sequel? even though i really like zelazny i have my limits

>>22469262
English original 'xianxia'

I will never read the mask of the sorcerer no matter how much anons on this general keep reccomending it
I will keep rereading we are all legends because it is an underrated classic

>>22469324
That cover looks comfy

>>22469324
I will read both (˘_˘)

I've finished Consider Phlebas a few days ago, so back to the discussion from a previous thread.
>22448933
You're the liberal interventionist if you believe that, the Culture went to war to safeguard their principles, which they didn't want to force on anybody nor had anything to do with the Idirans' reasons for expansion; the reason was that the Idirans were expanding at such a high rate, and if the issue had been "the warlike empire culture" they would have gone to war with the Homomda (the species that provided the Idirans' with warships.)
>the Culture provoked the war
This is a description so biased it barely warrants a reply, the war came upon because of a reaction of the Culture to the Idirans' expansion, not because the Culture started waging war on just anybody, which is what the Idirans were doing instead.
>22452600
>the Cutlure are liberal interventionists
The difference between liberal interventionism and what the Culture did is that liberal interventionism would dictate military intervention when, for example, democracy is being threatened in a country, and the intervention should come from a democratic nation which holds democracy in such high regard that they'd go to war to make sure any other country would adopt and uphold it.
The Culture didn't care if the Idirans used money, killed each other, enslaved one another and waged war on themselves and others, it went to war because their way of life was being threatened, not in terms of space volume, but ideology.
>inb4 that's the same thing
Clearly not, if it was then the Culture should have waged war on a number of other species, starting from the aforementioned Homomda, which has a culture just about as different from theirs as you can imagine.
>the Gulf War
In the interest of full disclosure, the Gulf War started because public opinion in the US, and less so in the rest of the western world, had been strongly polarized by the deep pocketed Kuwaiti royal family and their deep pocketed close associates, the Nayirah testimony being the foremost piece of evidence, the Bush administration had been been the target of conspicuous lobbying from, again, the Kuwaiti royal family and their associates.
Liberal interventionism was only the (barely necessary) justification.
Even leaving that aside, the US could have lived happily ever after without going to war in the middle east because their influence was already so strong that Iraq wouldn't have mattered even if they had had nukes, and because the invasion of Kuwait had been one of many such conflicts in the middle east, and such conflicts go on to this day with the US not overtly intervening in any of them.
The Culture instead saw their future prospects and way of life actually being threatened by the Idirans' expansion policy, they were facing a much bigger threat than the US did with Iraq.

Oops, I forgot a couple of meme arrows.
>>22448933
>>22452600
>>22469500
>Horza's opinions have nothing to do with where and how he grew up
It's naive to take such proud declarations at face value, Horza's opinions were clearly influenced by where he'd been born and what he was, his whole species had been made for war and if he had wanted to fuck off outside the Idirans' and the Culture's spheres of influence he could have done that quickly and easily, and he would have had spent the rest of his days being less affected by the war than the Culture was being affected by the Idirans' expansion before the war started.
>when Horza talks about life he doesn't literally mean everyone's own lives
That's a fair point, and seeing how the story progressed it became clearer that he really didn't give a shit about anyone's life in particular save for the people who he had grown very attached to, and even then he didn't care all that much.
Then again, what he talks about is not only strongly principled, because he could have easily put himself in a position where none of that would have affected him personally, but also strongly biased, because he had no proof that anything of what the culture was trying to avoid would make anything or anyone better, stronger, safer, happier...
He was reciting speeches about the way he was born into being better with no other justification than the fact that he had been born into it, much in the same way the Idirans were religious.
>this might seem absurd to you
It doesn't seem absurd, I know it to be a perfectly normal phenomenon, though the reason why people hold these convictions lies in the group related cognition that we humans have evolved since we could call ourselves animals, the thing that makes us go "me and mine = good, they and theirs = bad", rather than in facts.
That's not to say that this conviction is always wrong, even in 2023, rather that it's often baseless.
>you might believe that the Culture is objectively superior
That I do.

>>22468327
her mother is beloved in the same way Eckhart Tolle is. zero influence, power, or money, she's considered a charming curiosity and lives isolated in some weird hippy commune outside of any enclave

Are ghost considered fantasy or what?

>>22469569
people read this shit?

>>22469569
needs more Gu

>>22469750
Try it

>>22469808
I did, it's garbage

>>22469812
What chap?

>>22469820
The excerpt above, pure shite

>>22468086
Scott Lynch is going to come back. He got meds.

>>22469852
Read it from the start

Are there any actually gay chinese shill books? Otherwise what's the best recent (fantasy) and completed BL?

>>22469887
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/invisible-dragon/

>>22468997
What can i expect from his books?

>>22469878
You chinaslop posters submit the first page all the time. It's just as shit.

>>22469900
Communism good, capitalism bad (although when I get paid capitalism good)

>>22469500
>This is a description so biased it barely warrants a reply, the war came upon because of a reaction of the Culture to the Idirans' expansion, not because the Culture started waging war on just anybody, which is what the Idirans were doing instead.
The description is from Reasons: The Culture, which is described to have been an extract from an informational pamphlet produced by The Culture on the war. Did you actually read the book...?

>>22469890
>Shoujo Ai
no

What is The Culture...?

>>22468511
I don't read scifi published after 2002 unless it's an stablished author like Gibson, Egan, Kress, Cherryh, Bujold etc.

>>22469925
The Iain M. Banks stuff? It's a highly advanced civilization of hedonists who meddle in other people's business for shits and giggles

>>22469500
>>22469503
>The difference between liberal interventionism and what the Culture did is that liberal interventionism would dictate military intervention when, for example, democracy is being threatened in a country, and the intervention should come from a democratic nation which holds democracy in such high regard that they'd go to war to make sure any other country would adopt and uphold it.
>The Culture didn't care if the Idirans used money, killed each other, enslaved one another and waged war on themselves and others, it went to war because their way of life was being threatened, not in terms of space volume, but ideology.
The justification for their existence - the holier than thou attitude they take on suffering - was at stake, not their literal way of life. The Idirans were not sending in ideological provocateurs.
I'd hate to spoil anything, but the next book has another very clear example of The Culture obliterating and subverting an empire that poses no threat to it because they had the wrong ideals (and I assure you they did care that they were "using money, killing, enslaving, waging war" and so forth, explicitly stated by an SC Mind).
>>22469500
>Clearly not, if it was then the Culture should have waged war on a number of other species, starting from the aforementioned Homomda, which has a culture just about as different from theirs as you can imagine.
The Minds knew they could win against the Idirans, while they had the Homomda categorised as "near-tech" and were not certain of victory. The Culture's war efforts are, as all liberal interventionism is, done for aesthetic and only when their Minds (who Horza rightly says are the true rulers of The Culture, even if they indulge the humans in their penchant for interventionism) determine they are sure of victory.

Back to equivalence: The USA was happy to topple Saddam, Gaddafi, countless uncooperative South American regimes, and yet it hasn't done anything to threaten the leadership of China (the modern equivalent being what the Americans call a near-peer adversary).
>>22469503
>Then again, what he talks about is not only strongly principled, because he could have easily put himself in a position where none of that would have affected him personally, but also strongly biased, because he had no proof that anything of what the culture was trying to avoid would make anything or anyone better, stronger, safer, happier...
Yes, naturally, it's all academic and ideological. The Culture's realm is the statisticising and justification over spreadsheets. Example: in the epilogue, Balveda demands that The Culture only unfreeze her when they can justify the costs of the war to her. They did unfreeze her 500ish years later with a justification, and she found it so unconvincing that she killed herself shortly after.

>>22469925
https://www.goodreads.com/series/49118-culture

>>22469923
"This is a description so biased it barely warrants a reply" was in reference to the contents of >>22452600, and more specifically to the notion that "the Culture provoked the war"; the following was my interpretation of the Culture's reasons for going to war, the correctness of which I have and I will keep arguing for.
The passage explains why the Culture "had to fight": because it was threatened.

>>22469989
It explicitly admits that The Culture went to war for its own peace of mind when there was no threat to them materially from the Idirans. I have no idea what possible bias you could be taking from that.

>>22469989
>the following was my interpretation of the Culture's reasons for going to war, the correctness of which I have and I will keep arguing for.
>The passage explains why the Culture "had to fight": because it was threatened.
The small subsection of the citizenry involved with Contact was appalled by the wanton conquest and destruction being done by the Idirans, and intervened to destroy their empire. I have no interest in arguing how right or wrong (morally) they are, but you would be very silly indeed to not consider that "liberal interventionism".

>>22469944
Oh so they are space americans?

>>22470011
Banks writes The Culture as war on terror era neoconservative evangelical foreign policy mixed with the absolute lowest of the degenerate hedonist left of today, it's a very engaging idea.

>>22470016
Sounds Kino, i will pick it up after i finish Night's Dawn trilogy.

>>22470011
No way. We meddle for money.

What fantasy novels do have JRPG feeling?

>>22470132
You're not going to like it but Eragon follows a jrpg structure, a lot of people point out that the first book is a star wars rip off but really the later books are basically an early FF game down to visiting a dwarf village to get to a elf village, random power up moments, etc

>>22468086
Grimdarkchads... we made it

Novels like Blindsight?

>>22468086
Are any of these books good or are they like, "good"?

>>22470403
Martin and Bakker are undeniably great. I like Lynch. Cukcfuss not so much. Don't know the other two.

>>22470221
New stalker is looking pretty good.

>>22469324
That's a very strange case you're making.
Also I really wish We are all Legends had a hardcover edition

>>22469569
>>22469992

>>22469992
AI can write more natural dialogue than this, man wtf

>>22470467
it's literally machine translated and then either left as is or superficially edited by some ESL eastern euro or SEAnigger

>>22470403
Rothfuss writes really immersive first person POVs but he meanders so much that I can't recommend him to anyone who likes plot driven novel series.

>>22469958
>the justification of their existence was a stake
I'd say it was the justification for their foreign policy that was a stake rather than for their existence, but still, an ideological threat is no less of a threat than a physical threat.
>I'd hate to spoil the following book
Thanks, I'll be back in a week or two after having read it, I'm liking it better than Consider Phlebas already, and there too there's no shortage of brown tomboys who work out topless.
>the Culture only went to war against the Idirans because they know they could win, and not against the Homomda, who they weren't too sure about
I don't think the fact that the Culture would only go to war when they believed they could win goes with the fact that they're liberal interventionists, only people who wage war for entirely principled, possibly following fanatic, religious motives, would go to war "just because".
>the USA were happy to topple Saddam and Gheddafi but didn't do anything against China
I maintain that the US stance of liberal interventionism is lip service, full stop.
There are sizable amounts of oil in Kuwait (for the royal family's use) and Lybia (for the French's use), while China doesn't have nearly as much relative to the effort it would take to appropriate it, and the US could very well win a war with China, the reason they're not going to war against them despite their very own interpretation and application of democracy is that the US' foreign policy isn't liberal interventionism for real.
>spoiler
I didn't think that made a hell of a lot of sense, but the way I interpreted it is Balveda was an experienced woman and an experienced SC agent, and even despite that what she saw and lived through during the events described in Consider Phlebas scarred her deeply, so much so that she started feeling an overbearing guilt about her role in perpetuating unspeakable atrocities, which had to do with there being a war more that with the Culture interfering with other species' evolution and other communities' development.
Not unlike PTSD.
>>22469995
>there was no material threat
See above, or the passage I posted.

I'm going to read God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe soon, I don't know anything about this guy except he's a well liked fantasy artist, and this is his only novel. Has anyone read it?

>>22470553
>Yan
>Yan
>Yan
>Yan
>Yan
>Yuan
>Yan

Reading this is making me feel dizzy.

>>22468086
hey guys i'm not actually gonna read this but what is the response

Is kvothe an incel cuck?

>>22470570
Chinese names are fucking annoying. Have you tried reading romance of the three kingdoms? It's this bullshit a thousand times over

>>22470578
He's an incel chud cuck, i prefer based cucks like the one in kushiel's dart who let's phedre be a hotwife.

>>22470591
Why are americans so obsessed in sharing their wives?

>>22470601
Why shouldn't I share my wife with another man?

>>22470580
I refuse to read anything chinese because the names feel unnatural against the english

>>22470611
Because then you wouldn't know if your children are actually yours

>>22470628
paternity tests exist.

>>22470614
How do you deal Sha'niquas, Le-as, La'quayashas etc in daily life?

>>22470674
by not living in the ghetto

>>22470674
With thinly veiled racism

>>22470694
are you not an American?

>>22470703
no but I do know that the us isn't 10 million square kms of ghetto
consider reading a book sometime

>>22470724
>consider reading a book sometime
Any recommendations?

>>22470737

Why didn't science fiction ever took off in England?

>>22470743
No, thanks.

>>22470591
>A major plot point in the series is that Phedre was born with a need for pain to be a part of the sex act. She can enjoy sex without pain, but at some point the need for pain must be satisfied. Joscelin is unable/unwilling to hurt Phedre because Joscelin follows a god that demands celibacy from his followers and Phedre follows two that absolutely do not, so she needs to look elsewhere. They eventually come to an understanding/agreement that allows her to upon occasion satisfy her needs. although Joscelin remains faithful, Phedre does not, although as time goes by the frequency diminishes.
>The fact that Phedre keeps sleeping with other people doesn't diminish her bond with Joscelin.
Is it Netorase kino?
>Another thing important to mention is a major trigger warning for the 3rd book: Phedre gets very brutally and horrifically raped in the 3rd book (on page) and a large part of the book is about her healing from that
And It's GRI approved

I wish I had a wife who slept with other men

>>22470771
>not being into glittery vampires

>>22470771
robert pattinson is Literally Me now

>>22470776
God reading about women rape makes me so horny

>>22470771
The first time I ever sucked dick it was in a hotel room with twilight playing in the background

>>22470919
How old were you?

>>22470919
How does it feel to kill the thread with your faggotry?

>>22470919
straightest bakkerfag

>>22470963
Xianxiafag*

>>22470975
??? Outside bl I don't think I've ever seen a gay character in a xianixa.

>>22470756
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_science_fiction

>we will never get a three hundred page coffee table history book about the world of Bakker's Second Apocalypse because it isn't as commercially successful as Game of Thrones.

On the upside, I finally decided to write my own fantasy and it's going well. Loosely based on the Thirty Years War, but with more Renaissance level technology.

The main hook is that magic is based on real world philosophies and esoteric systems. There is Pythagorean numerancy, Aristotlean essence magic, Tarot cards that actually portend things, etc. Maybe I'll put all the Hermetic stuff I've read to good use.

>>22470956
It was a few days before I turned 23, we're still together and we've only been with each other

>>22470957
just make better posts

Does anyone have a recommendation for something like cultivation chat group, but in a xianxia setting instead of modern, but they have a planet/universe wide bulletin board/internet for trading techniques and bounties and missions, and "sect from home".
And maybe the protagonist is reincarnated from earth.

>>22470756
Retard

>>22468098
>What's the best magic academy novel? I don't want to read Harry Potter.
Vita Nostra but if you want more typical magical school then schoolmance
Blood Song and Inda for martial school in magical worlds

If you ever exhaust all the obvious choices and want to read glacially paced webnovels mother of learning, mark of the fool and a practical guide to sorcery are all alright

>>22470756
>Why didn't science fiction ever took off in England?
What, there's english/brit writers who are key members of every generation of scifi writing and a bunch of their more literary authors just wrote scifi but didn't get labeled as such.

What's your favourite fantasy aesthetic

>>22471188
you don't want a book
you want an MMO

>>22471169
>decided to write my own fantasy loosely based on the Thirty Years War, but with more Renaissance level technology. Magic is based on real world philosophies and esoteric systems.There is Pythagorean numerancy, Aristotlean essence magic, Tarot cards
Wow how original!

>>22471169
Really don't get why you'd draw on real history like this.
You have a conflict, technology from like 200 years before it and occult/esoteric bollocks from anywhere from 100-250 years after it.
If you're gonna do that you might as well not draw from history at all.

Haven't been by in a long time, just got to the halfway mark of Reverend Insanity and thought of /sffg/

>>22471406
What are you honest thoughts on fang yuan?

>ads started bypassing ublock
now this is some sloppa kino right here

>>22471434
He's the most Neutral Evil protagonist who ever protagonisted.

>>22468365
He's come a long way from describing a girl with a fat lip to look like a "negroid" in Carrie.

any qrd on scott lynch's gentleman bastards series? particularly the 2nd and 3rd books

>>22471406
You know how we can make this better? What if the author had to fight the author over the infalibility of fang yuan? There is some clear favoritism that heaven's will shouldn't allow, such as him having infinite willpower with the perseverance gu.

Kill this nigga, NOW.

>>22471478
Yeah, the whole justification for a lot of things up to this point is essentially Fang Yuan had authorial advantage. It's addressed in-universe. A VERY clever author would have turned the conflict into man vs author but how would that have actually worked?

>>22471458
>>22471489
works on my machine

>>22471495
>but how would that have actually worked?
should've just made heaven's will into an actual smart thing instead of a glorified antivirus with outdated database of trojans
an angry cloud that gives you goodies was just changed into angry cloud that gives some shit to fuck your crib up (maybe)

>>22471458
I read on my phone when out and I've never bothered to set up ad block on it.
I'm pretty sure in all that time that I've never actually seen an ad on there for something good

>>22471525
just the ads are bad enough

>>22471531
it's funny how well a negative review works, this almost has me wanting to read it just to see if it's that bad

>>22471353
NTA, but this is simply wrong. Hermeticism's influence on intellectual life peaked around the Thirty Years War. You had the Rosicrucian's publishing then, likely out of Bohemia since they stopped after White Mountain. Anhalt was big into hermeticism and it was his esoteric interpretation of events that had him pushing Frederick on at the outset of the revolt. Boheme is writing at this time too.

Mixing eras is fine because authors will invariably do it anyhow by accident. Game of Thrones describes stuff that certainly wouldn't exist before gunpowder, same with the Witcher books.

You just can't make your setting too explicitly set on a historical event or else you'll trigger people's autism unless you follow the events perfectly. But Berserk is a fine example. It's obviously based on the German wars of religion. The art style is heavily reminiscent or Durer, and I mean, look at the opening panels of the Golden Age Arc. Midland = Mittleuropa. Kushans = the Turks. But then it drastically reduces the number of fire arms and brings the style clothing and weaponry back a century or so (except it begins creeping forward in time late in the series it seems).

Just don't go full Bakker and do a legit play by play recreation because no reader is going to follow what the fuck is going on. The Wars of Religion are brutal to follow even from good histories, just too much shit going on.

>>22471537
I only see 5 star reviews in "The Catacomber" it's so over critic bros

Any good fantasy set in antiquity? Particularly the bronze age, pre-Rome?

I feel like this era gets neglected. The Dark Ages too.

>>22471560
I second the question, but for Reinassance era instead

I can only think of the Witcher and Locke Lamorra

>>22471539
You, did you like Edge of Victory: Conquest?

Any fantasy book with deep, well thought characters like the cast from war and piece and les misérables?

>>22471585
peace*

>>22471539
Did 16th century Germany have loli witches tho?

It seems to me so much of Fantasy is Good vs. Evil, Black and White. I enjoyed in A Song of Ice and Fire that events had shades of grey. I also enjoyed Waylander from the Drenai Saga in this way, even if it was a bit less grey.

Do you have any recommendations for more series such as these?

Here is my current to be listened to audiobook collection, rate and hate. I'm just getting into /sffg/. I've moved some to another drive, such as Heinlein Completed works, ASOIAF, NOTW, some other famous works.

>>22471656
>audiobook
grow a pair of balls

>>22471656
might as well read Redemption's Blade by Tchaikovsky too

>Dick novel drops a 'simp'

>>22471672
I read, just not usually fantasy. Audiobooks I use at the gym and on my commute. I've read everything by Murakami this year, I guess Magical Realism is kinda Fantasy.

If I enjoy a book I will buy a paperback and read it even if it is Fantasy. Torrenting audiobooks are a better way to test them out though. So much of Fantasy seems derivative of LOTR, Good vs Evil, Hero's Journey and that's if it's good. If it's a bad book it's about an assassin that finds love and has a tough love mentor etc (although I did love Waylander).

I'm not against reading or spending money on a book, but I do like to keep my reading shelf high quality and low quantity.

>>22471686
I'll check it out. Thanks, Anon.

>>22471656
Decent taste there. If you're looking for literary fantasy Gormenghast is another one people recommend, though I haven't read it myself. I'd also highly recommend reading Beowulf at some point if you haven't already.

>>22471881
>read
You mean heard?

>>22471909

>>22469637
depends on how it’s done. had a vision of a deceased family member that you can’t tell whether it’s in your head or it’s an apparition (not fantasy) hamlet
had a ghost move physical objects (fantasy) casper

>>22468086
J.V Jones should be on this list ?
>The Black Pearl
>The State of the Art
> dunno, maybe A Deepness in the Sky

>>22471478
>>22471495
this is how western authors write, instead of just writing a good and enjoyable story and characters they bring subversion and all other kinds of garbage in, we don't need any of it

>>22471999
>i don't want think i just want self insert wish fulfilment

>>22472017
Yes

>>22472025
This is why genre-fiction will never be taken seriously as literature I'm perfectly fine with that. Fuck the retards trying to push based Tarnsman of Gore writing into Tolstoy territory

>>22472040
transman of gor is literally tolstoy in comparison to the chinkslop the "people" here are reading

>>22472040
The only gatekeepers for what gets counted as "literature" these days is a bunch of ugly fat transbians anyway. Whatever it is they like, I don't want.

>>22472043
When did this chinkslop trend even begin, I don't remember ever seeing any of this shit 2-3 years ago

>>22468098
>What's the best magic academy novel?
Picrel.
> I don't want to read Harry Potter.
Out of jest. I've read Chrestomanci, Discworld, The Wheel of Time and even some Star Wars EU novels, and I think they handle the magic school trope better than JK ever could.

>>22472196
2014-15 is when it really came to the west imo.

Give me some non chink modern bl

>>22472232
gay?

>>22472246
Doesn't bl inherently imply it's gay?

>>22472259
it has to be gay. it has to be submission. two men wanting to discuss french books

Hi, I don't frequent this general a lot. I've only recently got back into reading fantasy.

But I'm noticing that every series, no matter how well written some of them are, every series has some major flaw that stops it from being a 10/10.

Is there any series that you feel is truly a genuine perfect series, because I've read a fair chunk of all the ones that everyone says are the GOATs, and they do almost nothing for me. I genuinely think the great fantasy series has yet to be written. We are still in our trial and error phase, despite the fact people think we are in a fantasy golden age.

Some series focus too much on "le strict magic system" and the story is boring or non-existent. And some series have the opposite, that are gritty and realistic and you forget you're even reading fantasy. Some either have one main character (which is boring as fuck) or way too many that it is impossible to keep track of them all.
And that's not even getting to how most of them are not-so-subtly shoehorning in leftist ideologies and symbolism into their stories in the last decade.

So again, what is the absolute best series that I need to commit myself to? The only one I've read in its entirety was ASOIAF like 10 years ago.

>>22472277
no

>>22472277

Also, to elaborate on this, what is a fantasy series that is dialogue-heavy and "nothing happens"? I really like slow stories for some reason, and oddly, action bores me to tears. I zone out when a battle or a fight is being described, but I am glued to the page when I hear great dialogue or great internal monologue and prose.

>>22472277
unironically Prince of Nothing and sequels by R Scott Bakker. if you've already read it, what didn't you like about it?

>>22472286
>dialogue-heavy and "nothing happens"
idk probably Patricia McKillip

>>22472322
I've only attempted the super-popular ones like Wheel of Time, Malazan, Stormlight, stuff like that.

I've heard of Bakker but I didn't think he was considered near the top but I will try it. I saw very quickly that philosophy factors heavily in it, which seems to be an interesting concept.

>>22472351
>Malazan
>super popular
Nigga what

>>22468586
I see you haven't read Kaiju Preservation Society. PHM seems tame in comparison.

>>22469900
great settings with meh stories

>>22472372
Among genre fans, not something you recommend to casual readers.

>>22472372
If you google "epic fantasy series" it's literally usually the 3rd or 4th mentioned.

>>22472409
Okay, but is it figuratively usually?

>>22472277
Reverend Insanity is what you are looking for

There's been like two posters ever in this thread who I've seen actually talking about reading the books after asking for recommendations

>>22468266
> Stay the hell away from Will of the Many by James Islington
Seconding this. What a fucking slog. Not even satisfying as a standalone, everything is preamble.

>>22470442
After plenty of trying and being dissapointed i don't read anything this general shills
Read BOTNS and it was a good read but not to the level people say it is, read bakker and it was good but not to the level people say it is, etc etc
Then I discover we are all legends, seeing the tiny amount of attention it has received, read it and am blown away and it's a book mentioned like once in this general before i started dicussing it.

>>22472922
>We Are All Legends is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writer Darrell Schweitzer featuring his sword and sorcery hero Sir Julian
>collection of fantasy short stories

>>22471656
Bakker is evil vs evil vs evil though.

>>22471312
What other books have this? I'm interested.

Bakker has sorcerery based on philosophy but it's very shallow and basically summed up in a few paragraphs of dialogue in the third book.

I don't know Thirty Years War fantasy outside of Monarchies of God and Neal Stephenson. Renaissance is a bit more common, but high Middle Ages is the born.

I guess ASOIAF magically jumps from High Middle Ages to the Renaissance with the Free Cities.

>>22472964
>Bakker has sorcerery based on philosophy but it's very shallow and basically summed up in a few paragraphs of dialogue in the third book.

And I don't mean it isn't cool. It's like "their magic depends on their metaphysics," and then you have some obvious Platonism in the abstractions of the Gnosis, analogies to natural phenomena in the anagogics, and romantic spirit in the psuche. But that's all we get, like very rough outlines.

And magic is somehow tied to semantics, but this never made full sense to me because all speech is tied to semantics.

>>22469866
hope they worked

>>22472993
It's hard to use real systems because they're invariably tied up in religion and don't make sense outside contexts like the Trinity, the Tree of Life/Tanakh, etc. But if you are too close on paralleling a real world religion then the religious get butthurt and see it as blasphemy or fedoras get pissed that they're being shown real religion.

You probably could have a cool book that is set in our world except Christian saints explicitly work real magics, rabbis really can create golems, etc., but it'd be really hard to avoid offending people's sensibilities.

Like, you definetly can't have the Jews stealing blessed communion wafers to bleed them for their magical rights, or using the blood of Christian children for their tabernacles, although this is the real medieval view— Jews doing their blood magic whenever they aren't busy poisoning wells.

Probably also can't have the female protagonist get saved from being burned at the stake by degenerate Protestants by having the Virgin Mary teleport in and slaughter an entire company of guards with her vorpral blade hands. Or Albagensian Gnostics revealing that the God of Genesis is the demiurge Yaldaboath who gang raped Eve with his Archons, resulting in the birth of Cain, the father of all monsters, Grendel, etc...

>>22472232
You'll have more luck on reddit friendo

>>22468086
lets say you were reading a graphic novel more on the novel end than the comic/manga end, or even just reading a book

how would you view learning the history of the in canon pre story events in a history class setting? would you prefer it to be written more naturally as ingrained in the story and not reading about the character sitting in a history class?

>>22473064
That's just historical fiction. What better explains the shocking victory of the Crusaders at Antioch better than Saint George and the Apostles showing up on the Turk flank to lead a cavalry charge? It's either that or Prestor John.

>>22473076
The history class analogy sucks, if you want to just data dump the history up front then go ahead. Realize you then have to stick to that or go back and modify it as you continue the rest of the story. Also it can be a slog for your readers as you’re going to be making them read a spark notes of the setting’s history book. One of the good parts of world building through character interaction is that they will not know everything so you can progress the story and fill in the blanks as you go, and if necessary make stuff up on the fly.

>>22472277
Check out Warhawk’s Amnesty sounds like it’s right up your alley.

>>22473120
in technicality, it is a literal data dump, I think the quick 4 or 5 picture page or 2 written page explanation wont be that bad

yeah, I know the outline sucks, rioting is gay, publisher wont accept, might incite, blah blah

>>22473076
You can do it with dialogue and fill exposition in with short chunks of characters remembering past events.

You can see this in lots of books. Game of Thrones is a good example. It has an exciting horror hook to start off where things are mentioned but not explained. But then the first few POV characters stop to remember things often and you get a few paragraphs of exposition, up to a page or two, interspersed with the story.

You don't do multiple exposition dumps. You can do more if a character is recalling a story that is both exposition and a sort of story itself.

Same with descriptions. A few paragraphs is good. Over a page is too much.

>>22473128
It doesn’t sound like rioting as much and more like a mass demonstration with access restriction. I’d use rioting more as a means of action or demonstration of commitment/violence. It’s hard to demonstrate the class as it seems your future allows people to just mass upload knowledge if they want to know something.

>>22473132
well, theres 2000 years of galactic history to go over, its like asking a grandpa to retell you the times of the roman empire up to world war 1, so using other characters to remember past events is mostly a no go, and the past 80 years are mostly growing economic dissatisfaction and discovery of a second alien species who are secretive but agree to an alliance with human

basically, nothing historic in the average human lifespan, other than two sentient species, and the second alien species history so far is "we do not want to answer any questions, but put us in your council, you can trust us"
>>22473146
currently in the outline it sounds like that, but think fires, car tipping, thievery, etc. all the negative aspects of a movement in its early days, eventually turns in to striking, hacking, and exposing videos of insider conspiracy against the rioters, much more peaceful in terms of destroying physical things.

>>22471353
Well my thoughts were: "what if the geography of Italy were different and the Reformation had been more successful there?"

Basically, what if you had something like the German religious wars but with a weaker central authority, and a stronger position of free companies ala Italy in the two centuries prior.

There were contingencies of this happening we can imagine in history. The Reformation almost broke out several times before it actually did.

I find the Italy of the 13-1400s more interesting than the muddle of Germany, except for the theological elements of the later conflict. Warfare there was quite interesting due to the geography and technology, which made heavy horse not so dominant, and the proliferation of mercenaries, which at times were forces on to themselves, the most powerful armies in the region. The Thirty Years War had plenty of mercenaries but they stayed far more under the control of the larger coalitions.

>>22472220
This is what "critics" do they wait for something to get super popular then they say, it just like this thing that I gave 10/10 2 decades ago, but without anything that made it interesting or appealing to a wider audience. And then they suck themselves off. In a just world anyone who fancies themselves a "critic" would be thrown from a helicopter.

>>22473146
oh, and in terms of schooling, there is a reason they still exist and have active usage, somewhat more like a "medical watch facility" though

>>22473042
Reddit ruined an entire generation of writers.

/sffg/ bros, how do I get more people to read the fantasy novels that I wrote?

>>22468098
Chateau Cascade

>>22473344
just keep writing until it turns into a 5000 chapter behemoth

>>22473352
I already wrote three novels in the series and I'm not writing any more until I make five million dollars or get bored

>>22473344
show us

>>22471539
Witcher III's first area where everything is ruined by the war is inspired by this too. Feudal wars, obviously with some notable exceptions, actually tended to be a good deal less deadly than antiquity. The land and infrastructure for cultivation, along with the people bound to the land, was the main asset of the day and you didn't want to destroy it. Good armor and the ransom system also meant relatively low battlefield deaths.

The image of medieval war as total Eastern Front tier destruction is more an echo of the early-modern period, roughly post 1453 or 1492.

It wasn't until then that Europe began embarking on wars with comically high fatality rates. The Church had often been a check on looting and rape, if only because it owned a ton of lands that people could flee too, although they also did pressure soldiers not to be too brutal. That has fallen apart and we get religious autism fueling total slaughter that has been mostly reserved for the Crusades and Jews before.

The European Wars of religion were actually a good deal more deadly than the World Wars. The Thirty Years War killed 2.4 times the share of the German population as both World Wars combined. The Huegnot War in France killed 14 timed the share of its population as WWI, which was itself catastrophic.Only breeding like rabbits staved off collapse from that level of bloodletting.

>>22473359
write a new novel so people get interested in your other novels

>>22473348
>by Ridgeman, Dusty
>Independently published
>"A chateau, a castle"
I think I'll pass.

>>22473344
Are you posting on royalroad or scribblehub?

>>22473205
What?

>>22471909
I read Murakami and I listened to it. Whats wrong with Audiobooks? Its a different thing, its not better or worse.

You think you are better than people who read and listen to audiobooks? You are more pure somehow?

>>22473544
Calm down, buddy.

>>22473544
Not gonna make a qualitative judgment but it's undeniable that your neurons are getting engaged in a different way when you actually read vs when listening to something

>>22473544
Why are audiobook listeners always so childishly insecure? They missuse a word, someone corrects their dumbass mistake and immediately there's a defensive and delusional screed about everyone judging and thinking they're inferior or something retarded

Trying to remember the name of a book that I got rec'd here a while back, read it and liked it. Its an dark short story anthology. First story is of a man who's son gets magicked into being a tree after he elopes with a girl, and he gets burned at the stake made of his son. Longest sections are interconnected stories about corpse eating coomer ghouls in an old city, condition is contagious. In one a guy inherits a condition which turns him into a ghoul. One is about a ghoul researcher(who gets killed). Theres more but don't want this to be too long, there should be only one book with these premises. The author never wrote much else, and I've only ever heard about it here. A little edgy but good. Thanks

>>22473600
Really? It seems the other way around. Like people expect they should get some sort of badge for reading, and that any other medium represents a chest for unlocking the "achievements."

Although, this sentiment seems more common around literature, less for genre fiction.

>"You can't possibly retain it!"
Is funny, as if you can't train yourself to get better at retaining both what you read and listen to. Due to my work, I listen to a ton of academic philosophy and biology papers using speech to text. I retain this from listening while driving through Manhattan traffic. Obviously, I have to go back for quotes, but I recall where the quotes are well enough. I've even learned to use the annoying parts where the stupid thing reads the doi number as a short break to think things through that have been presented.

I assume blind people get very good at this.

>>22473042
Jesus, what disorder causes this?

>>22473715
>>"You can't possibly retain it!"
Lmfao nobody said this. I guess you just feel like soapboxing right now, or you're absolutely delusional.

>>22473793
None. People can express sentiment and have different emotional states at different times as according to the current context without a having disorder.

Lovin' this book. I getting burn'd out in fantasy and am really appreciating Jsck Campbell's Dauntless.

Kinda reminds me if Methuselah's Children a little.

>>22473933
Are you drunk?

>>22472277
Why do you limit yourself to series?

From a purely statistical standpoint it is much harder to write multiple 10/10 books than just one. That is exactly the reason why I usually only read the first. There are really few book series that maintain their excellent quality.

>>22473969
Its simple, but I like it. Why don't you like it?

>>22473933
Sometimes I just want mil sci-fi where the protagonist has the biggest dick in the setting and everyone who argues against them isn't just wrong, but morally wrong as well. The Lost Fleet adds a fun wrinkle in that things fall apart because humanity was reduced to brute force a long time ago, and having to protect support ships during an extended campaign makes it so that you're not just dominating the enemy straight over and over.

>>22473933
Stark's War by the same author was cool too but they have awful cover art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjiIBFSHuQI
When can we expect these people to develop a fremen-style superwarrior culture?

>>22473993
do you have some standalone recs?

might end it all lads

>>22474290
don't. AI is just beginning

>>22474290
Give me your book collection

>>22474290
Not allowed, faggot. Go read a book and tell us how shit it was.

>>22473715
Thanks for proving the point, that you losers are so damn insecure you need to start imagining thing to pretend to be victims.
The greatest irony with insecure professional projectionists like you is that you would 100% get super upset if the books you're listening to used language as imprecisely as you do, trying to equate listening to reading, despite them factually being entirely different physical activities.
>tommy started reading his favorite book, all the while doing dishes at the same
If you heard a line like this, you'd be wondering what fuck is going on? is he reading or not? Does he have extra arms or something?
Words have meaning. This is so people can effectively communicate to each other ideas and concepts. When you start to undermine the meaning of words, communication becomes harder, and suddenly your precious audiobooks are a confusing mess of nonsense.

>>22474261
Very broad question. So you get a broad and random answer.

Conan
Mother of Leaning
Anathem

>>22468086
any good trapped in a vrmmo stories?

>>22474465
Sword Art Online
You asked.

>>22469917
>t. Hasnt read any
>>22469900
Hypercreative worlds with mid stories and great prose

>>22474473
i just finished the anime after having not watched it for years but I don't want to start from the beginning reading it, I want western vrmmo but all western stories the character can leave and enter at any time, there are no stakes, very fake and gay, and a good half are also very gay in the gay way, ughhh, westoids...

>>22469917
Capitalism and markets aren't the same thing.

>>22474261
https://www.asstr.xyz/files/Authors/Bernd_Lauert/
Mixed scifi and fantasy sometimes both in the same story.

>>22474465
legendary mechanic
it's chinkshit tho

>>22474483
The only chinkshit I've read is Reverend Insanity, because I like evil MC's and works banned by the CCP. I don't know if I can muster up the energy to be interested in other chinkshit.

>>22474465
yes it's called kill yourself

>>22474500
no need to be hostile

>>22474503
yes there is

>>22474504
why, I'll admit it's trashy but so was half of the wheel of time series read when I was a teenager is has anyone even wrote patrician tier kino like BotNS in the last 20 years?

>>22474489
Read Lord of Mysteries.

Trashy? How so? I'm writing a citybuilding xianxia that takes place in the 10,000 year interstial between spirit realm and dao realm where the mc routinely ages his body down, shapeshifts and finds a lg to court for the next 10 years before he takes her to the palace and gives her a clone or lets her cultivate. Repeat, literally, 1000 times.

>>22474473
>good
>sao
Pick one.

>>22474552
What's bad about it?

>>22474549
This how I like to imagine how the cultivators who haven't improved in thousands of years "cultivate"

>>22474553
Nothing. Anon doesn't actually read, so he doesn't know that the LNs are actually pretty damn good.

Xianxia?
Trashy?

Only foolish frogs in a well who have eyes but cannot see the swan meat atop Mt. Tai think that.

Behold, true litkino, Road of the Rottweiler:

>“Father,” he unknowingly lied, “allow me to master the dark ones as my weapons.”

>The man scratched his dense beard. “You cannot, my heart. It’s forbidden by our founders.”

>“But, I really want to bind the dark powers to do my bidding, father.”

>“No, our constitution forbids it. Look. “ He took out a book that was stashed closed to his heart , under his several layers of clothing, and cleared his throat. “ ‘Henceforth, and by the love of any deity you may think of or even that luscious rabbit that tries to seduce me at night, the Gromera clan shall be forbidden from owning slaves. They are too mentally stifled to be superior to anyone. In addendum to that, enslaving them shall be considered animal cruelty and punished by two slaps on the wrist.’” He quoted the supreme law of the land, that by which all clans would abide.

>“Father, I want my weapon to be a bunch of tanned big men with strong arms and stronger melanosomes. This is my fate, and I shall master it.”

>“Son, no.”

>“I want to master the Road of the dark ones, or, as others call them, the N— “ and so the supposed father did the one thing worth writing about in his life and bitchslapped his wife’s son.

>>22474567
>the LNs are actually pretty damn good.

>>22474636
mushoku tensei LN is high t pulp chudcore and i love it

I bought the two books in the Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss. What am I in for? I know it's never going to get an ending.

>No woke shit
>4 chad pirates
>Only master race

>>22474661
sounds based what's the catch

>>22474651
amazing
i didn't know words could give you eye cancer

>>22474689
It's still completely socialist, just with le hecking based fascist aesthetics.

You are a fucktard/ fake boomer if you think mushoku tensei is "pulp"

>>22474727
I don't care what arbitrary genres you assign it, it's just isekai haremfag shit

>>22474735
You simply aren't well read. Even the best pulp like Argosy is miles below modern LNs by any metric, artistic value, popularity, even creativity if you can believe it.

>>22474746
b-b-b-but old thing good, new thing bad!

>>22474727
I'm a zoomer I consider anything below "real" literature as pulp and I don't think it's inaccurate to say that LN's have fulfilled the role that things like conan did a 100 years ago, and unless I'm mistaken even wheel of time was considered pulpy which I think mushoku tensei is better than. Also I am very susceptible to shaming btw and I have also never read any actual pulp so you're probably right.

>>22474553
>>22474567
lol.

>>22474748
By that definition LOTR is pulp

>>22474757
LOTR is real literature I don't care what that although based nigga borges says about it not being literature fr fr

>>22474759
But even the original pulp conan was ahead of LOTR in almost every aspect, and perhaps tied or a little under the epic aspect.

>>22474779
but le ebin reddit tolkien!

>>22474779
i wouldn't know since I've never read conan but my impression is that lotr is better

>>22469262
>unfathomable senior
Zhang Dong is the protagonists name. He is in yellow face throughout the story.
>>22474779
Re: pulp
I think the closest thing we have to pulp right now are web novel serials. But even that isn't 1-1 cause pulp was usually a bit more episodic.

You nerds and virgins better be watching UFC 293:Adesanya vs Strickland right now.

wrestling is for plebians

>>22474805
I have no idea what any of these words mean.

>>22474816
I figured Nerd and Virgin would be very relatable for most anons here

>>22474651
>high t pulp chudcore and i love it
This garbage is unredeemable
>woe is me, my peepee doesn't get hard

>>22474651
I liked vols 1-12 but everything after vol12 was complete garbage, I read until vol19 and it made me hate modern asian fantasy and how shallow asian wish-fulfilment fantasies are, I think it made me hate their mentality overall

>>22474836
I'll assume you are quoting yourself on that last line? You rate a novel series that is about children for the first few books as bad because it doesn't get you hard through your ED?

>>22474844
Ikr you would have to have some pretty sick pedophillic urges to continue reading a series about literal children for so long hopping for wish fulfillment
>>22474843

This shit is unreadable in epub format

>>22474853
Epub is just html/css which can display that just fine. Whoever made the file is just retarded.

>>22474852
I have no problem with japs writing about their peodphilic urges, my problem is how entitled and self-centred they are and it shines through their made very well because they lack any kind of sense of humility and modesty
you can practically see at some points where author just sucks his own dick

>>22474867
So you are "fine with" pedophilla, but your hallucinations of autofellatio are over the line?

>>22474651
Peak cuck core you mean
That cursed elf girl should've died long ago, now she's ruining a poor guy's life

>>22474722
So... Nazi Germany?

>>22474855
Actually it's even more than that, according to the w3c standard, an epub reader must support among other things
GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, WEBP
MPG, MP4, OGG
css
ttf, otf, woff, woff2
xhtml+xml, javascript
There is no excuse for not getting at the very least a scrolling view of picrel from 853

>>22474875
I am not "fine with" pedophilia I just don't care about it that much in fictional media
POTUS is a literal pedophilia and nobody gives a fuck about that, why should it concern anybody what few words on paper construct if political figure heads of big nations like America can get away with child molestation and rape or child trafficking in russia and ukraine?

Imagine this. You're 7 inches deep in a CENSORED year old. Thoughts?

>>22474933
A-As an Idea for a novel?

>>22474944
A what now?

>>22474933
a sixty year old lady?

>>22474843
I read all of MT and I think I agree with your critique, what specifically made you not like it's wish fulfillment in the later volumes?

>>22474986
Gross

>>22474852
Anyone who complains about MT and it's protagonist is a filthy FEMOID

>>22474986
In the body of a toddler? Salacious.

>>22474994
VERY rude

>>22474986
Ngl I totally would

Which would you read a novel about?
>6 body 60 mind
>60 body 6 mind

>>22475035
I wouldn't read a litrpg

>>22475035
2 obv
sexy milf body without hag mind.

>>22475035
a 6 year old boy banging a 60 year old lady, they could be blood related or not.

>He flew into the air, his sword glistering in the sun as he zoomed
>around the area already feeling better after he left that village and was now alone.
Powerful

>>22469245
I read it years ago as a teenager, I remember liking it. I had shit taste as a kid though, so who knows.

Did anyone else want to fuck Saphira from Eragon after she hatched?

>>22474993
the way he got his money out of thin air from dragon god, the way how girls just accepted being in a harem with no conflict despite having radically different personalities, the way every character turned retarded whenever rudeus was in proximity, the alternative timeline where he went on a killing and raping spree, some characters appear at very convenient moments when MC is faced with an actual difficult situation, the return to the forest volume was bad filler other than returning the half animal waifu back, the special room with a doll that had magic circuits for his "plot" armour later on, the way he challenged dragon god and got spared made no sense, there are tons of other shit that I didn't like but cba listing more

>>22475088
I was a freshman in highschool when that first book came out and even though it was a library book I must have glued at least 4 dozen pages together around those chapters.

>Harems are for cucks
>Fang Yuan's constant setbacks are great
>The random chapters about miscellaneous NPCs are actually great for showing how people in the world exist outside the bubble of the MC.
I just wish I could remember Chinese names.

>>22474986
Any good hag harem o mighty haglover?

>>22475078
what book?
I could think of a million ways to rewrite that better

With a whoosh and a breeze as mighty as the gods may have it, he glided far into the air, his own power sending him at a steady, yet quick pace. the wind around him spiraling in a beautiful display of his unorthodoxed, magickal practice.
Further he strayed from the village he called home, but so dreaded to remain in. As the distance grew, the weight of dread easing from his mind. Finally alone from all of the people he wished he could have never known.

>>22475155
>Harems are for cucks
?

>>22475102
>>22475088
What's wrong with you guys?

>>22475204
im glad you're unpublished

>>22475212
your offspring inherits female's submissive genes and then good bye future generations

>>22475216
>a very limited two lines of dialog poorly written that could be majorly improved, considering they seem to have importance to the story or character
>quickly pull something better, even if still bad, out of my ass
>"uh ackshually your shit at writing, dont write"

anon, you do realized the lines I'm responding to ARE published, that piece of shit got published and my lines with no guidance aren't part of a written piece of work I'm writing, aren't in the genre of book I'm writing about, and all in all are a foreign concept I don't enjoy writing about?

How's my book's intro, guys?

The clouds were gathering fast—the waters were troubled—and the approaching tumult and disquiet of all things in Wormwood, clearly indicated the coming of that strife, so soon to overcast the scene—so long to keep it darkened—so deeply to empurple it with blood.

>>22475018
Rudeus is simply a shit character and a godawful person

>>22475234
it's not published it's some royal road slop

>>22475212
Harems are the ultimate form of cuckoldry. Think about it rationally. The purpose of a woman in a man's life is to provide him with children, be a life partner, to care for his estate when he's out, etc. You may think that having a harem means more children means more good but you'd be absolutely wrong. Having multiple wives only means each mother/child is a rival competing for his resources. Fights WILL break out and they may even kill his children, destroy what he's built. Look no further than the dying days of the Ottoman Empire to see what I mean, the Emperors were slaves to their harems and had to constantly murder their own family just to stay ahead. A man who chases after many women is also a massive simp, he can't live without more women, he's like an addict. It's pathetic. There's also the inherent inequality of the relationship. A man with a woman who is 95% as good as him has a great wife he can rely on who is a junior partner who can be trusted. But a man with multiple women? If they're even close to him in value that means they can team up against his interests, you don't want to be the man with only 10% equity in your partnership. On the other hand, why does a chad have pathetic women who even if he's got a harem of them they can't match up with him?

>>22475254
None of that strikes at the meaning of "cuckold", though.

>>22475254
spiritually homsexual post

>>22475241
well, thats good to know at least.
>>22475236
the lines could be replaced simply with commas, hook is completely bland, needs more emotional and vibrant language.

could be more like
>The land we once knew dimmed in the coming darkness of clouds, the once calm waters raging along the shore, our vibrant town now cast in silence and rubble, destruction tearing down what we loved and held dear. This was once our home, now drenched in the ivory of blood. This was Wormwood.
more emotionally rich and attention grabbing language

>>22475267
his image is pretty based though ngl

>>22475265
A cuck is a man whose interests play second-fiddle to women's

>>22475303
words just mean whatever now
you're a carpenter (that means faggot btw)

>>22475303
No it doesn't.

>>22475310
>the cowfish
lol

>>22475303
Why do we have so many weirdos man

>>22475310
Yes it does.

>>22474465
Otherland - Tad Williams

>>22468098
try Red Rising if you’re willing to do sci-if and not strictly magic

>>22468098
harry potter is based though it's a masterclass on effective storytelling

>>22475494
It's a children's book

>>22475465
Seconding this. It's a goofy premise but it's a fun ride and the books get significantly better on the second one so you're starting a decent length series (7 books, 6 written) if you like them.

>>22475155
Fang Yuan is an easy name to remember, you can forget all others.

>>22475657
For me I can also remember Hei Lou Lan. I like the old guy too but I can never remember his name.

>>22475494
>harry potter is based
JK is a closeted FTM Troon anon, nothing out of that head will ever based.
>masterclass on effective storytelling
No, I've read it, it's literally as bad as High Guardian Spice, you ain't fooling anybody.

>>22475330
Weirdos are everywhere. There's less cost to being one here though.

uhh can someone get me Shadow Slave epub?

>>22475720
>JK is a closeted FTM Troon anon
dont.

>>22475816
https://annas-archive.org/search?index=&q=Shadow+Slave&sort=

>>22475841
thanks

>>22472964
>What other books have this?
The Dragon Waiting
The Deep by John Crowley
Both standalone books. Both are better than most multi book series. Stop reading and or writing series

>>22473704
The only ghoul short story collection I know of is The Throne of Bones.

>>22468098
Next your going to ask for the best battle tournament series?
Magic school, battle torments and military conscription are the three pillars of shitty fantasy writing. And then there's harem, you should ask for harem suggestions next because clearly you are a man of class and culture.

Now please die in a fire.

>>22475501
yes

>>22475720
if you don't see why it's a storytelling marvel then you're just kind of stupid sorry. almost no adventury media gets that popular (even just as popular as the first book was, before all the franchise stuff) without romance being there to carry it. there's a reason it won

>>22476110
>battle torments

Just finished the Salvation Sequence and jesus fucking CHRIST. What an insane quality drop from the pure unfiltered kino of Pandora's Star or Nights Dawn series. Is there some fucking gigakike at the publishing agency forcing political garbage and shit writing into modern sci fi? Poseidens wake also suffered from this, hard to believe that shit was from the same writer as Revelation Space.

Who actually writes space operas? After reading sci-fi and fantasy all my life, recently I read Night's Dawn and Commonwealth saga by Hamilton and something just clicked for me. "Oh. So this is space opera". I wouldn't say they're the best sci-fi books I've ever read, but they're the only ones I've read that I'd properly call Space Opera. With very well fleshed out, moderately optimistic interestellar societies, big cast of likeable characters, good action and epic plots. Usually with sci-fi it's not quite like that. It's either smaller in scale, follows less characters, more grimdark, attempts to be realistic, dedicated to high-minded concepts, etc. These books are just good space stories on a grand scale.

When I go to wikipedia it counts stuff like Ender's game and Starship Troopers as space operas. Am I retarded for thinking of space opera as something different or are they?

>>22476180
revelation space is alastair reynolds, not hamilton

every book you read will become more pozzed as its publication date approaches current year.
see: first law sequel series where you can't read for more than 10 pages without abercrombie commenting on how a woman is better than men at something

>>22476184
>Tucker defined space opera as the science fiction equivalent: A "hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn".
The term was originally meant as a pejorative.

>>22476191
Well I don't mind

>>22476188
>revelation space is alastair reynolds, not hamilton

I know, that's why I compared it to poseidens wake, his most modern series?...

>every book you read will become more pozzed as its publication date approaches current year

Yeah, seems like it... grim...

>>22476180
My thoughts exactly. I even paid money for the first salvation book on amazon then about an hour later I asked for a refund and deleted it off my kindle

>>22476206
oh, i must have zoned out

What the fuck is a Gu?

>>22476290
Chinese pokemon

>>22476290
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Poisons
I don't speak chinese but I feel like there must be some etymological link between this and gu. Anyway it's just what Gu Zhen Ren decided to call his pokemon

>>22476180
surprised to hear that about hamilton. he was never a chud nor an essjaydubya but he had some serious coomer male gaze shit in night's dawn and EXTREMELY PROBLEMATIC by today's standards aspects like how the federation colonized worlds with populations from a single ethnic group because they found out diversity causes strife and conflict. they even had a diverse planet shown to be a shithole.
i guess it's true that 90s liberals are fascists by today's standards.

>>22476324
Yeah his latest series included an uber rich man who would only let you get into his utopian space colonies if you would transmaxx yourself and your kids genes in perpetuity. Then in the the far future when they realised that was a mistake and bred warrior commandos with distinct sexes again it turns out that the females were super intelligent geniuses and the males were just muscle.

>>22476341
>an uber rich man who would only let you get into his utopian space colonies if you would transmaxx yourself and your kids genes in perpetuity
as the villain yeah? that sounds like hamilton is still pretty edgy

>>22476345
>as the villain yeah?

Literally the ultimate good guy martyr in the series....

>>22476348
ХAХAХAХAХAХAХAХA

If you're going to read progression fantasy just read Chinese stuff, it's way better than westoid shit.

>>22475204
Dropped.

>>22475241
>>22475280
https://www.patreon.com/kuropon
Seethe.

You are so blinded by flowery prose that you destroyed plot and genre conventions. There aren't "the gods" in a xianxia, and nobody uses "Magicks" they use technique, of which sword dance (flying sword technique) is the most popular across the genre.
If you were even lightly familiar with xianxia you would know that there is no chance in hell that a cultivator who can fly with a sword is FROM a village; yet, of course, since you are blinded by the tiny worlds of western fantasy you think that "the village" must refer to the protagonists home village. Laughable at best.
You are only blinded to this extent because you brazenly plagiarize others without thinking. Work on writing away from the internet for for 9 months out of the next 5 years and you may see some improvement, and above all READ XIANXIA.

>>22476383
Is there a character stronger than Madara Uchiha?

And I'm not talking about Edo Tensei Uchiha Madara. No, I'm not talking about Gedou Rinne Tensei Uchiha Madara. Hell, I'm not talking about Juubi Jinchuuriki Gedou Rinne Tensei Uchiha Madara either. I'm talking about Kono Yo no Kyuseishu Futarime no Rikudo Juubi Jinchuuriki Gedou Rinne Tensei Uchiha Madara with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan (which is capable of Enton Amaterasu, Izanagi, Izanami and the Tsyukuyomi Genjutsu), his two original Rinnegan (which grant him Chikushodo, Shurado, Tendo, Ningendo, Jigokudo, Gakido, Gedo, Bansho Ten'in, Chibaku Tensei, Shinra Tensei, Tengai Shinsei and Banbutsu Sozo) capable of using Katon, Futon, Raiton, Doton, Suiton, Mokuton, Ranton, Inton, Yoton and even Onmyoton Jutsu, equipped with his Gunbai(capable of using Uchihagaeshi) and a Shakujo because he is a master in kenjutsu and taijutsu, a perfect Susano'o (that can use Yasaka no Magatama ), control of both the Juubi and the Gedou Mazou, with Hashirama Senju's DNA and face implanted on his chest, his four Rinbo Hengoku Clones guarding him and nine Gudodama floating behind him AFTER he absorbed Senjutsu from the First Hokage, entered Rikudo Senjutsu Mode, cast Mugen Tsukuyomi on everybody and used Shin: Jukai Kotan so he can use their Chakra while they are under Genjutsu. I'm Talking about sagemode sage of the six paths Juubi Jinchuuriki Gedou Rinne Tensei Uchiha Madara with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, Rinnegan, Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, and Geass doujutsus, equipped with Shining Trapezohedron while casting Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann as his Susanoo, controlling the Gold Experience Requiem stand, able to tap into the speedforce, wearing the Kamen Rider Black RX suit and Gedou Mazou, with Hashirama Senju's DNA implanted in him so he has mokuton kekkei genkai and can perform yin yang release ninjutsu while being an expert in kenjutsu and taijutsu.

>>22476383
based

>>22476383
Chinkslop garbage kys

>>22476392
Just letting you know that your perception of fantasy is myopic.
Would you respect a western chef that couldn't make dumplings?
Would you cook eastern food with western technique and expect it to taste good?
Why settle for less from authors if their job is so much easier?

>>22476414
>Would you respect a western chef that couldn't make dumplings?
my favorite chef can't even make a grilled cheese sandwich

>>22476414
Cool cooking analogies bro. Still not reading your chinkslop.

>>22476426
Learn to read it and you fentian meridian will open and cure your ED

>>22476428
Ching chong bing bong huuuu dao shurrrrr

>500 year old cultivator beating up school kids for their lunch money
lmao

>>22476414
>Would you respect a western chef that couldn't make dumplings?
I'm not convinced anyone knows what dumplings are.

>>22476441
馄饨 then you autist.

>>22476414
>Would you respect a western chef that couldn't make dumplings?
i don't get it. yeah i would. would you respect a chinese chef that couldn't make french fries? don't tell me you'd answer "no" to that question

>>22476386
In Japan Madara is the strongest but in China they have their own heroes.
In the west there hardly exists any strong charactere because most have whiteknighted themselves to death or died of tranny aids.

>>22476414
>Would you respect a western chef that couldn't make dumplings?

Sure, if it's not something they have practiced. Although I expect a good chef of any school could still manage to follow simple directions to steam meat inside a pastry.

>Would you cook eastern food with western technique and expect it to taste good?

Pray tell, what are these unique eastern cooking techniques?

>Why settle for less from authors if their job is so much easier?

ESL non sequitur.

>>22476448
in the west we have sylvester stallone, batman, adolf hitler, arnold schwarzeneger, thor, etc.

>>22476447
No. I would not respect a Chinese chef that couldn't make french fries, especially considering that deep frying is a common Chinese cooking technique.
>>22476449
>Although I expect a good chef of any school could still manage to follow simple directions to steam meat inside a pastry.
Concession accepted.
>>22476449
>Pray tell, what are these unique eastern cooking techniques?
Not going to spoonfeed you gualio. Start with the fact that they don't even use the same style of main knife or pan.

>>22476433
Based
try writing something like that in western lit without r*ddit crowd going into total mental meltdown and suiciding

>>22476454
Kill yourself dog eater

>>22476450
These are all semitic (anti)heroes, they aren't truly western.

Fuck I really wish Gaiman would write more Sherlock Holmes stories
I am literally obsessed

>>22476449
>Pray tell, what are these unique eastern cooking techniques?
/ck/ here, while i think that anon (and everyone who reads chinkslop) is a cancer on this general, chinese food definitely has its own unique techniques. cooking on a wok necessitates it. you need dexterity and knowledge of what's going on to cook on a wok. temperature control, cooking times, etc. then there's things like how they make sauces, techniques like peking duck, etc, tenderizing meat with baking soda, etc. they even have a special way to stir the ground meat for dumplings which provides a desired texture. stirring in the other direction would destroy protein chains.

>>22476454
fries are not just simple deep fried potatoes, to get a good fry you need to fry it twice at different temperatures. thanks for letting me know you're clueless though, i suspected but i wasn't sure

>>22476454
>Not going to spoonfeed you gualio. Start with the fact that they don't even use the same style of main knife or pan.
How exactly using a different kind of knife is going to affect the final dish?

>>22476414
I wouldn't disrespect a cook who didn't want to make a shit sandwich.

>>22476471
chopping with a clever requires a different technique from using a chef's knife

>>22476476
yes, but the final result is still the same

>>22476468
>cooking on a wok necessitates it. you need dexterity and knowledge of what's going on to cook on a wok, temperature control, cooking times, etc

Yes, this is totally different from the many varieties of large European frying pans.

>then there's things like how they make sauces, techniques like peking duck, etc, tenderizing meat with baking soda, etc

Europeans don't know how to make delicious sauces or tenderise meat, ok.

>they even have a special way to stir the ground meat for dumplings which provides a desired texture. stirring in the other direction would destroy protein chains.

Nice chink pseudo science nigger

>>22476468
>to get a good fry you need to fry it twice at different temperatures.
LOL no. And from your description of chinese cooking it seems you have learned how to cook from youtube. LMAO

>>22476477
well maybe, but it's still a unique aspect of the cuisine
there are certain ways in which a cleaver is more suited to chinese coooking because it allows for easy chopping through bones but in general you're right.

>>22476480
>Yes, this is totally different from the many varieties of large European frying pans.
well yes it's different. chinese gas burners go up to insane heats and a wok provides a different temperature profile because of its shape. by moving food around to different areas of the pan, you change the way it cooks
https://bossthekitchen.com/how-hot-wok-to-stir-fry/
>Europeans don't know how to make delicious sauces or tenderise meat, ok.
i was referring to fermented sauces like onions sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce. the effort that goes into them is insane. when european cuisine talks about sauces, they refer to french style cooked sauces. european equivalents to chinese sauces would be worcestershire sauce which is another underrated food item. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/3546/what-are-the-5-mother-sauces.html

>Nice chink pseudo science nigger
it's not. western cuisine also has its own methods to prevent the breakdown of protein chains and preserve the desired texture of ground meat. it's most often applied to burgers
https://www.tastingtable.com/1243931/overmix-burger-meat/
https://www.rd.com/article/one-thing-should-never-do-to-your-hamburgers/

please understand, i'm not putting down western cuisine, i think western cuisine is king in terms of variety, techniques, cooking methods and flavor. but eastern cuisine definitely has unique aspects which are worthy of respect. you asserted that it doesn't.

>>22476494
>chinkslop cancer gets btfo and starts shitposting to save face

>>22476501
Retard. The best french fries are made from a bag where they have already chopped and fried them for you.

>>22476506
i happen to agree, but that's still a second fry
with your dumpling analogy i assumed you meant "make them from scratch", since everyone can cook frozen dumplings so i applied the same logic to fries

>>22473704
>>22476085
it is indeed The Throne of Bones
recently read it also

>>22475816
Shadow Slave is kinda garbage though, be warned

>>22476184
It can be both, it can have epic sprawling plots likee Uplift Saga, the Sten Chronicles or the Gap Cycle and it can also be about two dudes talking in a spaceship for 200 hundred pages like foundation.

>>22476658
It was pretty okay until the time skip and then it just started pissing me off