/lit/ - Literature

>>22579523
ambatukam

>>22579523
I like the feeling/sensation you get when storm is approaching outside.

it's october. what's some good sffg horror?

>>22579476
>Bonus if it has giant amazon bodybuilder barbarians who can crush my skull with their thighs.
Dark Sun Prism Pentad, The Heroes of Phlan and the Ogre giants trilogy. Prism pentad has a strong gladiator mom, phlan has a tall and shy amazonian cleric who becomes a mom in the later books and ogre giants has a half-giant warrior princess who also gets pregnant in the sequels. There where a lot of pregnant women in old D&D books, don't ask me why.

>>22579555
Thanks legend

>>22579562
No problem

R. SCOTT BAKKER - KING

The Great Hunt is so good, bros. I just finisehd chapters 35, 36, and 37. It's the chapters where Rand and the boys(and Verin) visit the stedding to use the way gate, but it's blocked, so they have to use the portal stone.

The friend dynamic is top notch. It's a nice break from the drama. Loial is scared of getting caught and married. Mat is fucking brutal with his comments. He can't stop yammering and saying all the wrong things. We meet the Maidens of the Spear, and have a little funny exchange with the Shienarans. Machin Shin trolls everyone. Verin possibly lies?(Her words are very tricky. I've been analyzing them) And then the portal stone mishap happens. And then pic related.

This book honestly has so many good moments. It's very underrated within the series.

>>22579626
Yeah, The Great Hunt was my favourite Wheel of Time book. Definitely S tier.

Dropped Tigana.

Holy shit, what a waste. Loved the worldbuilding and the prose to a certain extend, but all those constant flashbacks and forced drama killed it. It's almost like a manual on how not to write. I can't even imagine how this crap could be published.

>>22579626
It's definitely up there. Keep an eye on Verin.

>>22579642
>>22579653
The Hurin and Rand Shtick is charming every time. I forget what happens to the guy after this book. I hope he doesn't die or anything bad.

The only thing that I didn't like before, and I don't like now: is Thom losing the girl. It feels really forced. Like she existed only as a plot device.

>>22579682
>Like she existed only as a plot device.
She does, in a literal sense, but it doesn't become relevant truly until the next book. Thom got caught up in Rand's pattern warping, and the Pattern did what it had to do to get Thom where Rand needed him.

Should I start Malazan?

>>22579747
Start with Greeks.

Bakker is king.

>>22579747
No, it's shit. Read basically anything else.

>>22579747
>>22579756
Great posts anons, very original but just started three body problem and i'm wondering when does it gets good? are the witcher books any good? Any books like LOTR?? Only played Witcher 3 and the netflix's series. Just started Eye of the World when does WoT gets good?? Any books like dark souls/berserk/Bloodborne??? Any books like FF/Dragon Quest/Tales of..??!! Any books with N'Wahs?Kvothe is a cuck, will slob Martin ever finish winds of winter??? Abercrombie is Reddit-tier?? Are the dune sequels worth it or should i stop with god emperor of dunc? Should i read the Hyperion sequel???? Did severian fucked his grandma? Is severian a clone? Any books with chinks? Any books like fallout/metro? Any books where the mc gets cucked? Any books where the mc Doesn't get cucked?? Stormlight book 5 when? Will kaladin fuck the fairy?? is the Eisenhorn trilogy a good place to start with W40k??? Or should i watch 4hours YouTube vid about le EPIC lore??? Any books with young petite women? Any books with old thick women? Any books with MANLY men like David Gemmell? Soulcatcher or Lady who is the better waifu? When does malazan gets good?? I didn't finish highschool so i can´t understand Malazan?!?! Any books with chinks??!! When does ASOIAF gets good??!? When does Farseer gets good?? When does lightbringer gets good?? When does codex alera gets good??? When does Lord of The Isles gets good?? Dunsany is king or bakker?? Any books with incest?

Lack of religious themes in stories makes me instantly want to drop the story. Same for religious themes that are too heavy or preachy.

What should I read?

>>22579541
Relic by Lincoln Child and the other guy
There Is No Antimemetics Division

>>22579799
The Broken Sword

>>22579811
>the anus leaf
Toilet paper?

>>22579799
The Curse of Chalion, or the Penric series by Lois McMaster Bujold. Theology (and Faith) is obviously a point of fascination for Bujold and it's front and center in both series.
In Chalion, the Protagonist, Cazaril, returns to his homeland after five years as a galley slave, and is tangled up in ridding the royal line of a curse, at the behest of the Lady of Spring.
In the Penric series, Penric comes across a dying woman on his way to his own wedding, unknown to him, she is a temple sorceress, in possession of a temple demon, which she chooses to pass on to him as she dies. Temple demons are typically only given to trained priests and are overseen directly by the clergy who wish to strip him of the demon. However, the God who governs said demons refuses to take it back, and so Penric must become a Learned Divine.

can someone do some cool AI generated art of the Inverse Fire?

>>22579893
Too busy generating /ss/ pics set in my fav sff worlds

>>22579541
Revival by Stephen King

>>22579893
Do we have an actual description of the chamber. Pic related seems appropriate but idk.

It hurts so much, bros. How could we ever recover?

>>22579976
the best I can remember: it's a portal/gate, that when people look into, they see their own damnation/suffering in Hell

>>22579977
By reading Book of the Short Sun next (I haven't gotten that far yet)

Are there any other kino fantasy novels like Coiling Dragon or Mushoku Tensei that just go through the whole life of a person?

>>22579818
Religious themes, not religion as an aesthetic.

Like Tolkien or Lewis. Or Demon Slayer(manga).

>>22580277
You could look into family sagas. If you mean simply the whole life of a person, there are several, but if you mean in terms of content, then I don't know.

>>22579790
There definitely should be a /sffg/ FAQ in a postebin link or something in case any anons are unironically posting the usual quasi shitpost questions. Would save a lot of useless discussions.

Best Red Rising sequel?

>>22580388
Red Rising 2: Rose Higher

>>22580358
The problem is that those it's meant to help wouldn't open it, or possibly even notice it.

What's our boy reading?

/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.

Good evening gentlemen and Bakkerfag

>>22580478
>>22580486
Looks like you forgot something there buddy

Any recommendations for card game based litrpg?

>>22580520
>card game based litrpg
Wat.
Only thing card based I could suggest is this.
https://mega.nz/folder/WfhhzSxT#IZUbBarxAZUWOB-KKzrQWg

Bakkerfags should explain their love for Bakker and his books.

>>22580532
Looks like deckbuilding is the established term for the subgenre. Litrpg where the system is based around the characters using cards. I saw something about it about a year ago and was wondering if anything good has been done with the concept.

>>22580575
>Dark & biblical aesthetic
>Good prose
>Lots of conflict
>Interesting magic without it seeming video gamey/lame
>Interesting characters/character interactions
>Mysterious world
Its simply top tier.

>>22580575
It's the perfect mix of Tolkien, Dune, and Blood Meridian. There's really nothing else like it in fantasy.

>>22580427
>And then Kellhus did a sweet anime move and totally shredded those nasty badguys with his +10000 super saiyan dunyain katana. And everybody clapped.
—Chapter 8, ‘The Hethantas’

>>22580427
It's funny how just a year ago people were saying AI would never be able to draw hands. It's literally over. I can't imagine the progress even two years from now.

>dumb scifi for dumb people
Hitchhiker's Guide
>dumb scifi for smart people
Foundation
>smart scifi for dumb people
3bp
>smart scifi for smart people
Dune

>>22580698
>smart scifi for dumb people
Firefall. probably why i enjoyed it so much

>>22580705
Idk what that is

>>22580668
If they can stop it from drawing racist images i'm sure they can just stop it from drawing 6 fingers per hand

>>22580706
How new are you?

>>22580713
Racist imagery can be simply stopped at the prompt level. Hands are much more difficult

>>22580358
see >>22580413
and there has been a consistent pattern of "uhh I don't want to read past discussions, I am entitled to a live answer from real people right now" mentality in the past

So I played Starfield. In terms of worldbuilding, I liked the fact that people there do not have any cybernetic implants (apart from this manipulator), etc., there is no posthumanism yet. The fact that there is not one large empire but many decentralized planets. Are there any books that remind you of this? I've already read Icarus Hunt and The Expanse.

>>22580720
Fuck off, Bakkerfag

>>22580727
I think it's just a way to bump the thread so it doesn't fucking die. Can you imagine if only iriginal thoughts were posted? There wouldn't be a general in the first place.

>>22580756
rent fucking free

>>22580771
Okay? Is this supposed to be a negative?

>>22580872
No, why would you think that

>>22579653
>>22579626
I wonder if Robert Jordan has a record of Aes Sedai lies. There's no way he could remember them all in his head. he must have wrote them down somewhere for later reference. I would like to see that. Who lied. How. And for what purpose.

>>22580925
>There's no way he could remember them all in his head.
According to Sanderson he did, or at least tried to. He also had an assistant for the stuff he forgot and to check all the stuff he wrote was consistent.

>>22580771
Guys who only come in here to moan about women get very confused when people actually want to talk/ask questions about books

>>22581053
Stop projecting

>>22580705
Blindsight?

>>22580698
Foundation book 1 is kind of a slog. I do like the "scope" of it. Are book 2 and 3 any better?

I just finished Ender's Game and I cannot believe they pulled the "it was all real" towards the end. And the worst part is that it makes no sense. First of all Ender would have surely noticed the consistency in his available forces across the whole campaign.

Anyway, it is worth reading for a young adult, I guess. Some of the human interactions actually make sense.

THOSE WHO RULE SUPREME ARE NOT LIKE THOS WHO RAGE AND SCREAM

>>22581245
A slog? It's 200 pages.

>>22581297
It's one of the better executed twists in fiction. He thought he was now fighting Mazer and not the computer so of course he expected it to be more realistic and believable.

>>22581297
It's not meant to be realistic or make sense. It's about emotions, allegories, and the twist.

>>22580478
disreccomendation against wandering inn. peak patreonshlop

>>22579626
the first books in the series are so comfy. the last battle approaches but it's not imminent and everyone builds their power

>>22580413
>>22580727
Yeah those might account for like 80% of those posts but i guess not everyone is retarded or pretending to be. Just clueless and it might save some shitposts and time for those lads.

>>22581306
Any good Bakker AI generated art?

>>22581400
I neglected to mention earlier. But chapter 35 is the first time Rand, Mat, and Perrin acknowledge Loial as a friend. They were already acting as friends. But that's the chapter where they say they're friends with Loial. It's very heartwarming. Often, I think of the main boys as a group of 3. But maybe I should start thinking about them as a group of 4.

Life is good.

Hear the glory of the sublime art echo
Deafening the ears of those who rage

>>22581425
Don't use lad unless you are a brit. It makes you look stupid.

What are some postmodern scifi and fantasy book?

Any Malazan readers here?? Are the Ian Esselmont books important for a first time read or should I not bother with them?

>>22581500
Shut your gob cunt

>>22581527
The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J Sawyer
Salvation series by Peter F Hamilton

>>22581527
https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/postmodernism_and_sf

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/12/postmodernism-in-fantasy-an-essay-by-brandon-sanderson/

>>22581565
Better in a first time read than any other, at least night of knives and return of the crimson guard

Do stonewielder if you like the characters in rotg, but tis rotg that has a lot of main plot points that affect the main Malazan series
Night of knives is kinda short but it's good and adds a lot of backstory. If you skip return of the crimson guard tho you will reach a point in the main series where you will be like wtf

Blood and bone is a continuation from stonewielder and then orb scepter throne is a follow-up on events from the Malazan main series in a location left behind.

Assail takes place after the main series
Path to ascendancy is a total prequel but I wouldn't read it until after the main series.

>read the Dying Earth
>first two stories begin with interesting premise, only to have an underwhelming end
>plot of each short story begins to remind me of quests in an RPG game
>realize that DnD literally just had Dying Earth's magic for its first edition
>realize most people who write RPG quests probably grew up playing DnD
Was Vance young when he wrote the Dying Earth, or is this at his peak as a writer? It's very underwhelming. Does the pacing at the end of each story get any better the further I read?

Here's how I rank all the big named /sffg/ series i've read off the top of my head

S tier: The Book of New Sun, Gormenghast
A tier: Ice and Fire, Lord of the Rings, Second Apocalypse,
B tier: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. Dying Earth(Jack Vance), Malazan, Dune
C tier: Foundation, Narnia, His Dark Materials, Hitchhikers Guide, Wheel of Time,
D tier: Harry potter, Mistborn
F tier: Inheritance

>>22581669
Lyonesse is considered his best work. DE is more like a literary landmark than a book people actually read.

>>22581691
>no Book of the Long Sun
>no Book of the Short Sun

>>22581631
the sanderson essay is embarrassing, he fundamentally misunderstands what he's supposed to be talking about
>>22581669
If you're reading the Mazirian the Magician 1950 Dying Earth book it's pretty early in his development as a writer.
Lyonesse and the Cugel dying earth stories came later and are more acclaimed too

>>22581691

Forgot Dark Tower it's easily in C tier

>>22579626
If Rand wasn't so whiny in it for such a large swathe of it, I'd probably rate it higher. As is it probably just barely gets into the top half of my rankings for the series.

>>22579523
>pic
I was just going to ask for some extreme weather recs, but it's probably not /sffg/ related at all.

>>22581691
have you read mask of the sorcerer?

>>22581704
No wonder Mazirian the Magician seemed so strange to me. It's an interesting short story, but the part where Mazirian gets whipped to death by a forest seems rushed.

>>22581425
It's wasting time when it's the same copypasted questions thread after thread after thread.

>>22581669
One must imagine Jack Vance as a neophyte to still be coming in to the heritage of works he grew up reading. If you know that he loved to read the Weird Tales and other publications of that era you can see him trying to recapture the magic of James Branch Cabell or Clark Ashton Smith or even Lord Dunsany. He's not quite there yet, he loves the cruel fantastic ending that smacks of Zothique or Lovecraft's Red Hook Horror. But he doesn't quite have the narrative skill to give context to that and make you invest in the characters or the world to the degree that the earlier masters did at their peaks. When he settles on Cugel as a view point of the world he is able to delve deeper into the darkly bizarre side of Dying Earth, similar to how in his other works he realizes that he needs if not a consistent hero then at least a consistent framework for each story rather than the drastically varying levels of each of the first few Dying Earth stories. You go from blooming magician to stray fighter to nobleman to blessed peasant or to a rogue, there's not the anchor that Cugel's solipsism grants us, the reader. Vance learns as he writes and we get to see that throughout his quite lengthy career.

>>22580634
>perfect mix of Tolkien, Dune, and Blood Meridian.
I doubt these mix that well.

>>22581702
>no Book of the Medium Sun

>>22582139
Retard

>rape victim (female) turns to lover
Any fantasy book for this?

>>22580756
>mention totally unrelated book
>anti-bakker autism
As the other anon said, rent fucking free.
what do they say about truth?

>>22581814
Great post.

>>22581691
>MST
I keep seeing this recommended here. Haven't read it because it seemed like generic WoT-tier fantasy, but it comes up so regularly in this general and you ranked it pretty high. Is it really up there with Dying Earth?

This is the best writing i've read all year:

>Lemur made a sound, not loud, that Silk had never heard before (though Silk had already, young as he was, heard so much grief). It was a snuffling, and in it a whine like the cry of a small shaft driven faster and faster-the sound of a drill that has struck a nail, and, impelled by a madman, spins on harder and harder and faster and faster until it smokes, destroying itself by its own boundless, ungovemed energy. Some hours later. Silk would think of that sound and recall the clockwork universe the Outsider had shown him on the Phaesday before in the ballcourt; for it was the sound of that universe dying, or rather of a part of it dying, or rather (he would decide sleepily) of the whole of it dying for someone.

>>22580603
You forgot to mention the gay assrape.

>>22582279
Not that anont but MST is extremely generic, a boy of humble origins (but not really) sets out on a journey to defeat an ancient evil, it's everything you'd expect from a fantasy series. WoT started after it and might have only gotten picked up because of Tad Williams' success.
If you're looking for subversion of fantasy tropes, you're not going to find it here.
I like it.

>>22580581
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/45904/riposte

Has anyone read this? Is it okay for a first Forgotten Realms series? I'm in the mood for some Tieflings

Is this worth getting?
I want to get a library of america book and this seems like a decent deal
I read the first three Earthsea novels and liked them but I haven't read any sci-fi

Fuck you guys for saying this was shit. This was awesome.

>>22582888
YA shit. Grow up.

>>22582888
My problem with this series is that it is practically devoid of descriptions of places, planets, surroundings. For example, it was not explained how people live on Mercury, it was often easy to get lost in the action, in Golden Son someone loses his head at the end and I had no idea why I should care, or maybe I felt forced to feel something. Nothing convinced me to root for Darrow either. It's hard for me to explain it concisely, I felt like I was reading something half-baked.
Read Suneater instead.

QRD on RA Lafferty?

>>22582154
Book of the Retard Sun

>>22582920
>I had no idea why I should care, or maybe I felt forced to feel something. Nothing convinced me to root for _____ either. It's hard for me to explain it concisely, I felt like I was reading something half-baked.
but this perfectly describes Suneater lmao

>>22582279

It's a good read but fairly generic in places I mostly checked it out to see where GRRM lifted material for Ice and Fire but was kind of disappointed it was your standard generic hero's journey type it's worth reading though and I think Williams does some interesting things here and there but I think people will either hate it due to how dated it feels or seeing other tropes just done better in other books they have read jt also doesn't help book one is so painfully slow and takes ages for anything interesting to happen

>>22582982
I disagree. Hadrian isn't the most compelling protagonist ever but he at least has some personality. Darrow's personality is "I was a slave and for some reason I'm better than everyone."

Can someone get me Shadow Slave epub 601+ chapters? last time i asked i only got up to chapter 600, need the rest

>>22583058
>dude sees people thrown off the road and into the abyss
>next line: "all in all he was in good spirit"
unkino, akino, antikino

>>22583069
>a book isn't a movie
astounding perception, newfriend

>>22583074
>misses the point rather than accept he like bug-like writing
as per keikaku or something

>>22583076
wasn't him
don't use newfag buzzwords if you don't want to be treated like a newfag

>>22583083
I've been here a lot longer than you zoomer fr fr nocap

Newfags say the darndest things.

como on bros no need to fight i just want to read shadow slave

>>22583118
I've been here a lot longer than you zoomer fr fr nocap

>>22583118
Just install WebToEpub and do it yourself.

>>22583129
i tried but im dumb af

anon with all the hardback Wolfe novels: can you post your most up to date shelf bro?

>>22583154

Thoughts about Beware of Chicken?

>>22583156
non-sublime

>>22583167
It was comfy but I dropped it around the tournament arc. I just didn't see any reason to keep reading.

>>22583167
A chill slice of life that's more amusing that rofl funny but it's executed better that any other of its kind.

>>22583167
Comfy. Amusing. A few cringe moments but not bad. I stopped at book 1, because I'm a filthy audiobook listener, and book 2 wasn't out yet. That was probably for the best. I can only imagine it will lose its charm if continued beyond its initial premise. Or if that premise gets stretched out for too long. Now that you reminded me though, I'm probably going to try book 2 and then complain about it when it's not as good as book 1.

>>22583167
Perfectly fine, just haven't had any desire to go back to it after I caught up to publication pace and then stopped.
It's probably not the best version of The Archers but fantasy but they're all similar enough that you don't need to read more than a couple of them.

>>22582888
>This was awesome.
It is. And it only gets better.
Don't listen to the pseuds. It's okay to read fun books with lots of action.

>>22583156
Brittany!

>>22582962
Retard

>>22583269
>Don't listen to the pseuds
This is /sffg/.

>>22583334
Book of the Retard Sun part 2?

>>22583346
Retard

I'm going to start reading Barsoom. Probably only the first 3 novels since that's what I've heard is the most important.

unironically, books with incest?

>>22583468
I've gone this route brother
You better stick with erotica

>>22582950
unfathomably based. (I have only read Fourth Mansions)

>>22583244
>The Archers but fantasy
you mean the BBC Radio soap? you've piqued my interest

>>22583519
I was considering getting The Best Of Lafferty, but those kind of collections usually put me off a tad. The Lovecraft one I got about 6 or 7 years ago was dogshit and missed so many of his best works.

>>22583533
is that the one with a foreword by Kneel Gay Man? I'd pass it up too desu

>>22583526
Yeah but I'm just using it as a shorthand to describe any slice of life story set on a farm.
It's a fairly substantial subgenre but they do get pretty samey.

>>22583542
Perhaps "Emmerdale" would have been a less exciting simile, then

>>22583537
>cult fantasy book
Of course he does the intro. He did one for Lud-in-the-Mist too which I just read, his intro was shit. Also did it for that sci-fi book about the tiny humans living on plant world which was weird as fuck and I cannot recall its name. Both good novel overalls, though.

>>22583556
wait, I take it back, Emmerdale had a lesbian kiss with Jenna Louise Coleman

>>22580517
Convince me this series is not for faggots.

>>22582888
Based series.

>>22583156
That's a man.

>>22582888
isnt communist trash? honest question

>>22583537
Ended up copping it. Fuck NG, I'm getting it for the stories. Seems to have all his major ones, probably a good place to start.
>cover has praise from Bill Hader
>"oh never heard of this author I'll look up what he's written"
>it's literally the Saturday Night Live guy

>>22583668
The first trilogy isn't communist at all, and it doesn't even allude to it. I haven't read the rest. I've never heard anyone describe Red Rising as commie shit.

>>22582888
I'm still extremely put off by the fact it's written by a good looking young guy who has multimillionaire parents. What the fuck was his motivation to write a half dozen sci fi books.

I was scrolling through the nebula/hugo award pages and realized that outside of the three-body problem, I haven't read a single scifi/fantasy book from this decade, and I've barely read more than 5 books from this century. And most of my to-read list is older stuff.

thanks to everyone who contributed to the sci-fi archive, maybe I'll even find something knew that interests me, is available for under $50 in good condition and isn't absolute dogshit

>>22583948
>hugo/nebula
People like to shit on these awards. However I don't think that it's their fault, I just think that modern spec-fiction is really just total dogshit. I'm sure there's some decent short stories out there in some online magazines but they're definitely no getting mainstream attention, nor do I see anybody here recommending them. If anybody does know any new fantasy worth reading, I'd love to get some recs

>>22583948
>I was scrolling through the nebula/hugo award pages
>I haven't read a single scifi/fantasy book from this decade
No wonder. Most of the winners are books written by women and blacks.

>>22583583
Just because there are faggots in the book it doesn't mean it was written for faggots.

>>22584078
I find more interest in webnovels but even those are a kind of schlock that I know is bad but hits some kind of niche interest of mine that I can overlook the flaws.

And yeah I'm black, but holy fuck, I still rolled my eyes when I realized that pretty much every hugo/nebula has gone to a minority or a woman after 2010, and then if you go through the individual nominees there's probably 1 old white guy amongst them. Shit, it bodes well for me if I can actually get my story written, but by that point who's gonna care about the award? But the stories just don't look interesting to me, or seem more about making an unsubtle, seething political statement than telling a story. Take RF Kuang, for example.

>>22583658
>autistic serial killer gets away with everything

>>22584196
except he died twice

>>22583948
THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE
RIGHT HERE THIS BOOK

>>22584204
"This! So much this!"
"The book is so, so good."

>>22584078
>>22584134
People forget that the number of people who vote for those awards is tiny. If you're asking why the winners are not the kind of books you want to read that's because the voter demographic has changed. You're no longer the target audience for sci-fi and fantasy.

>>22584223
How do they determine who votes?

>>22584223
Ban authors who "identify" as a POC, woman, or LGBTQ+. Simple as.

>>22584188
>i'm black

>>22584231
Its differs for each reward. But it can be less than 200 people who decide the best books of the year.

>>22584235
Why don't you suggest that to the award committees and tell us how well that goes.

>>22584223
If the target demographic of spec-lit is shifting, how long until we see dumb revisionists shitting on the classics written by conservatives (ie Lafferty, Wolfe) - it already happened to Tolkien

>>22584246
Please don't cause him to use a forbidden shuckin' technique and tear this thread out by the roots.

>>22580532
These look interesting, where would you recommend starting?

>>22584276
Public domain works will be first

Egansisters, how is Diaspora? I really enjoyed Permutation City. pic probably related??

>>22584223
>You're no longer the target audience for sci-fi and fantasy.
I am though. They haven't stopped making the kind of fantasy and sci-fi I like to read, it just doesn't win awards. All this means is the Hugos and Nebulas are pretty much irrelevant to me, and have been for over a decade at this point.

>>22582279
It's extremely influential on a lot of current fantasy authors, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll enjoy reading it. It's very old school heroic fantasy: callow youth becomes a dragon-slaying hero with a magic sword, there's runaway princesses, evil wizards, and prophecies. It's also got elves and an obligatory trek across most of the known world, just to underscore the Tolkien influence.

Tad Williams wrote this series in the late 1980s, going into the 1990s, and it was considered dated even at the time. Consider that in the early 1980s, Glen Cook had already published the first three books of the Black Company. Gene Wolfe had already published the entirety of the Book of the New Sun 5 years before Tad Williams published the Dragonbone Chair. Fantasy had, at that point, already moved on and evolved past the old school tropes that you see in MST, but Tad Williams clearly wasn't done with them and brought them back in a big way.

>>22579626
Great Hunt is where I became addicted to Wheel of Time. Just wait, you haven't even got to the best part of the book yet.

>>22584196
>autistic

>>22582950
the goat

>>22584408
the introduction with the formation of an orphan mind is extremely memorable - pulses traversing virgin ridges and valleys, laying out the early terrain. the description of the orphan slowly learning its navigation interface is equally captivating.

>>22579523
Just finished Sword of the Lictor. Can anyone explain what on urth happened with Baldanders at the end without spoiling the fourth book. Also, can't wait to see what becomes of the claw.

Read Bakker.

>>22584992
He returned to the sea is all. You won't even understand what happened after reading the fourth or fifth book. Like much of wolfe you will only understand after several rereads

>>22584992
Bruh
You are halfway in and already want explanations
Bruh

>>22585128
But why did he come flying in like that? Why did he throw it? Why did he get aggravated? What was his research for? Is he related to Typhon? I have so many questions…
>>22585151
Three-quarters of the way through. I was just wondering why he went batshit all of a sudden.

>get writers block
>start ai-generating random ideas
>get inspired and start writing scenes based on those images

>>22585240
fuck off to some writing thread we don't care

>>22585245
the images were fantasy if that counts

>>22585230
You are not even counting Urth
Bruh
If you care so much about Baldanders Urth has all the answers.

>>22585257
Ah great, more reading. I had heard Urth was optional and not as good.

>>22585271
That's bullshit.

Is it okay to love Sranc women when Kellhus described them as beautiful

>>22585387
>love
you mean rape

>>22584571
I just got into the Egwene captured by Seanchan part of the book. And if there's one thing that the Amazon show did right, is that it showed the struggle Egwene went through. In the book, you're taught the rules of the collar and leash in two scenes. One is immediately after Egwene's capture. Some rules are demonstrated there. But then later, the other half of the rules are just explained in expository dialogue to Min. Whether Egwene can do this or that with the collar. Which captured Aes Sedai she spoke to. Her discovering that she can detect mineral deposits. It's all stuff that happened off-text, and then dumped on the reader all at once in brief exposition. I like that the show actually showed some of it.

What fantasy novels do have kept feeling?

Finishing The Dragon Reborn. Unlike others anons here, I almost dropped the series on the Great Hunt. Rand being a whiny bitch ruined it for me, but I decided I might as well read the next one.
It's amazing. I'm engaged to all story lines and I'm a disappointed every time the pov changes just to get excited all over again.
Rand being completely off screen did wonders for the story.
Matt is great. I feel I missed something regarding his martial abilities, it felt like he decided to pick up the quarterstaff on a whim and it's suddenly a fucking ninja, and he's not even surprised by it. I know he's some general reborn or something but that came out of the left field. Still, he's very fun.
I really like the girls plot too, but since day 1 I'm scratching my head to understand why Nynaeve hates Moiraine that much. I understand why the villagers dislike her in general, but comparing her to Seanchan or Black Ajah is very off-putting

>>22585581
>I really like the girls plot too
jesas

>>22585581
>it felt like he decided to pick up the quarterstaff on a whim and it's suddenly a fucking ninja
Yeah, it's a bit out of nowhere. There's nothing to suggest he's particularly good with the staff before. The narrative tries to cover this by throwing in a line about Mat's dad being highly adept with the quarterstaff and winning the festival at Bel Tine every year. And his dad taught him. But by The Dragon Reborn, it's a little late to mention that all of a sudden.

>I'm scratching my head to understand why Nynaeve hates Moiraine that much
As much as I love Nynaeve. She really is a spiteful bitch who can't admit she's wrong. Her initial idea of Aes Sedai was based on superstitions regarding the one power being inherently evil. Even after being exposed to the truth, she still can't admit that Moiraine made the right decisions. Especially because Moiraine's power supplanted Nynaeve's power. Add to that, she's jealous of Lan's bond to Moiraine.

>>22585271
>I had heard Urth was optional and not as good
you heard from retards

>>22585092
>>22585250
What AI?
>>22585529
Belgariad
Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels

>>22585581
Stop binge reading the same book series, anon. Switch it up a bit or your brain won't be a able to retain the information and you'll forget every major plot point in 6 months.

>>22584364
I only tried a few of them and never got far desu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Magic:_The_Gathering_novels
Here's a list for you to wrap your head around. I personally don't care about MtG anymore, so I don't know what new novels would even be about besides some marvel tier shit with Planeswalkers, probably. Older novels might be worth a read, not sure.

>>22585715
dall-e 3 via bing

>>22585744
Truth shines

>>22585729
NTA but forgetting the entire plot of my favorite books so I can rediscover them again is the dream.

I love Female MCs
I love Girlbosses
I love Chosen Ones
I love Female subversion tropes
I love Girls being able to overcome unsurmountable odds
I love Mary Sues
I love Girl quips talking about crushing testicles

What story?

>>22585910
Lord of the Rings

>>22585910
Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime

>>22585657
Why do you care about motivations of females so much? Story isn't about them, they are just an unnecessary padding.

>>22585962
I don't know. I care because I do. No real explanation for it. I believe they're integral to the story.

>>22585910
The Witches of Eileanan
The Banished and the Damned
The Wayfarer Redemption

>>22585910 If you want to consume webnovel slop then Rend or Menschenjaeger are decent. Menschenjaeger is particularly good because the mc is a muscle mummy who gets a androgynous catboy bf. Rend is a superhero story where the mc just wants to "girl boss" murder instead of helping people.

>>22584722
Just read Slow Tuesday Night, my first Lafferty story. Slightly underwhelmed, sorry to say. What is your favourite short story by him?

>be Dalinar
>use Adolin to corner Sadeas and issue a duel to the death against him
>it backfires due to Kaladin challenging Amaram
>Adolin kills Sadeas later
>mope around claiming the moral high ground and saying he wanted Sadeas alive and by his side to face the Desolation together
what gives? He spent the entirety of book 2 plotting to kill Sadeas through the duels and claims he didn't want Sadeas dead in book 3?

>>22584364
The only good mtg books are the Urza block which is called Artifacts Cycle, the first 4 books are worth reading with the last 5th is optional.

>>22585581
>Matt is great. I feel I missed something regarding his martial abilities, it felt like he decided to pick up the quarterstaff on a whim and it's suddenly a fucking ninja
It's briefly mentioned in the first book, but I think Jordan glossed over it because he took it as a given that people would expect anyone from the a Not!English medieval village to be competent with both Longbows and Quarterstaves simply based on historical context, as they were the go-to weaponry of the peasantry that Emmonds Field is based off of. In a similar fashion, all three of the main trio are excellent Archers, but it's only ever really relevant in one scene for Perrin, I don't think Rand ever picks up a bow after the first book.

That being said, one of my biggest criticisms of the series is that Mat's characterization in the first two books is undercooked. I don't think Jordan really knew what direction he was going to go with Mat at first. The first time I read the series, I was fully expecting Mat to end up turning coat and becoming a villain, which would have probably made me drop the series outright. Glad it didn't happen. Mat is a fan favorite for a reason, and he completely steals the show after book 6, right up until nearly the end.

>I really like the girls plot too, but since day 1 I'm scratching my head to understand why Nynaeve hates Moiraine that much
Because Nynaeve has always been the healer, and Moiraine came along and is a "better" healer than her, so she's butthurt about it. Nynaeve desperately needs a dicking early in the series and she stop being a bitch when she finally gets one.

Started reading Star Maker today. I'm only about 10% in but I love it already. The science is a bit off but I can forgive that considering it was written before we'd ever been in space.

>>22585742
The most recent novels are War of the Spark which everybody hated, and the Wildered Quest which was fine. Also the Ikoria one, Sundered Bonds, which was 'decent' but also weirdly at-odds with the set itself. Think they've stopped making books again after making one real bad one and two just meh ones.

I just read the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. It was shit. Hated the writing and the story dragged on for too long. Why did I finish this trash?
What do I read now? Recommend me some non-shit fantasy.

Should I skip the first malazan book and just start with the second one? I've heard the first book is pretty weak.

>>22586738
Shut the fuck up

Titus Groan is so good oh my God. Jesus Christ it's so good. No wonder everyone goes on about it. It's so twisty and quirky. It's exactly what I love. Also Fuchsia is the superior goth girly from the mid 1940s, Wednesday could never.
>>22581691
I've never read BotNS, but I did read Latro, and while it was fun...it wasn't amazing. I think I'm a lot harsher than you; I'd never put GRRM in A tier, for example. I'd put Earthsea in A tier though.

>>22585910
Kill the Queen is a bottom of the barrel perfect girl power fantasy like this and I actually enjoyed it

>>22581691
Looking at this and I'm realising that I didn't like almost any of the big epic fantasy series enough to finish them

>>22586272
Ok, pill me on this gibberish.

>>22586805
The entire concept of an epic doorstopper series is so fundamentally flawed that it would be impossible to write a good one IMO.

>>22586742
Answer the question you nigger

I hate women and I want to read about them being raped

thinking about ordering it once I pass an upcoming exam as a reward, do you think it is going to be good???

>>22585271
Urth isn't
>as good
Imo. But it's still pretty fuckin good.
However, I'm about to start In Green's Jungle and so far it still seems optional. That could change in the last two books, who knows.

>>22579653
Just finished The Great Hunt, and I didn't notice her do anything. The only odd thing that stuck out, was near the end, when she's drawing in the dirt, and muttering to herself. Apparently trying to work out a plan. Rand notices her drawing a wheel. Then when she starts devising the plan, she scratches the picture out and starts anew. Counting the people who would pursue Fain, she ticks them off in a odd way. Each tick connecting to a center. Until she counts 5 people, making 5 ticks, and then circles it off. Rand notices that it looks just like the wheel she was drawing before the plan was decided.

Then, some sparse dialogue and shuffling as people prepare to go do their things. Rand looks back at the drawing of the wheel, and only 4 ticks remain, making it appear like a broken wheel. Rand notices Verin looking back at him. And then he tells himself that he's seeing fancies. He thinks, "she can't do anything if she isn't there."

I don't know what he meant by that. I don't know what significance he saw in the wheel, or Verin's look. That whole exchange was weird because I plain don't understand it. It could mean something. It could mean nothing.

>>22586729
I wanted to read the books that cover the Ice Age block, Coldsnap, but never got around to it.
I frankly don't care about theme park era MtG, only about Dominaria, but also not Urza and his stuff either.

>>22587027
that scene was about her figuring out the plan before they talked about it, ticking off one to indicate she expected (or knew?) one of them was going to die.
dunno if its bigger than that

>>22587027
>>22579653
oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I assume the one tick of the wheel that was broken was Ingtar. Because as he reveals later, he was a dark friend. He was the only dark one of the planned group.(Rand, Perrin, Mat, Hurin, and Ingtar) So I guess Verin broke a piece of the wheel because she knows Ingtar is a dark friend. And maybe the wheel thing was a very subtle clue to Rand that he wasn't picking up on. But then again, it's not stated who rubbed out the one tick. Maybe it was just the result of people shuffling around?

>>22587041
If she knew Ingtar was a dark friend, then it's possible she was at the meeting during the beginning of the book. How could she know someone would die? Maybe she expected Mat to expire?

Is the saga of recluce series any good?

>>22579653
book 3 spoilers
Verin is definitely up to something, giving the ring to Egwene right before the accepted test is waaay too convenient.
That said, I'd completely believe if she was just up to Brown shenanigans and wanted to see what would happen and push Egwene harder, exactly like she said she wanted to.

>>22587053
It's comfy.

>>22587053
I hate the pseudoscifi authors inject into their fantasy. Like bakker

Just started Malazan...
What am I in for my /lit/bros?

shall not be responding to such obvious bait

>>22587053
Some of them are good but the magic never really got my interest, probably why Magi'i of Cyador is my favourite series within the series because that's just about a military guy.
I do like the way Modesitt writes with as much onomatopoeia as possible but Imager was more my pace than Recluce

>>22587239
It's truly a great post, but...

>>22586775
Latro isn’t amazing the way BotNS is.

>>22587358
What does that mean

>>22586877
consider changing your attitude to not caring about women instead of hating them

>>22587442
consider changing your attitude to loving women instead of not caring about them

>>22586738
No. When Malazan fans say it’s shit, it’s because it’s a step down compared to the other stuff that was written like a decade later. That said, Gardens is still pretty good, and sets shit up for the second/third to the point where you’ll be confused as fuck without it

>>22587550
That's dumb.

>>22587661
Not him but letting woman rent free onnyour mind is as pathetic as being a simp.

>>22580388
Lightbringer right up until they kill Atlas.

>>22586807
It's the world of Thomas the Tank Engine.

>>22582803
I try a couple of times but really wouldn't gett into it. Most of the sundering was like that with a few exceptions.

>>22587934
That's exactly why I suggested not caring about them at all

Based of Gene Wolfe to sneak a reference to Islam into Long Sun. Hope this makes some Jew reading this seethe.

>>22588135
Why would they? Christianity, Islam, and Mormonism was born of the long-nose desert tribe.

>>22588162
>If x is true, then so is y
The state of your logical skills. Christianity was Jewish in its inception, yes. It doesn't follow that Islam is. Semitic, sure. But not Jewish.

>>22588135
The entirety of the Long Sun is a reference to ancient religions.

>>22588175
Anon, they many of the old testament patriarchs as holy figures in Islam

Is Elric the Job of fantasy? What a clown, christ.

>>22579626
>the chapters where Rand and the boys(and Verin) visit the stedding to use the way gate, but it's blocked, so they have to use the portal stone.
It always bothered me how Rand and the others supposedly experienced thousands of lifetimes in parallel worlds because of the portalstone yet it has no bearing on their character aside from momentary trauma that's forgotten by the next page.

>>22586255
There's a lot of issues with Oathbringer "resetting" key characters' arcs. Dalinar and Kaladin in particular feel like they had their character arcs rewound by a full book, and you have to tediously sit through them re-learning the same lessons they already learned.

>Apologies in advance for this not being content. Next chapter is soon. In the meantime, I am here to spam the shit out of you because the new Kickstarter is LIVE, and we are selling two different hardcover versions of book one. A regular fancy hardcover and a limited opalescent foil version that will be signed and numbered! The book features new, exclusive cover art of Carl and Donut VS the Rage Elemental from Scott Wegener. If we manage to fund, we'll also be adding a ton of stretch goals along the way, possibly including new, additional art for the interior and a bunch of other fancy things like colored edges, a ribbon. Maybe I can get the book to literally suck your dick, etc. We'll see.
tfw no Samantha head to suck my dick

this general complains so much that authors are getting too edgy, but is there a single series or standalone that actually ends in a satisfying evil way? because i feel usually almost all edgy authors are fedora-tippers that do bleak nobody winds endings or bittersweet ones
where is the total evil victory end? where is the wc3 frozen throne equivalent?

>>22585805
Redditor mindset

>>22588204
I'm Muslim, you don't need to teach me my religion. Yes I know we revere the Abrahamic patriarchs, that doesn't make Islam a religion founded by Jews.

>>22588377
>I'm muslim

>>22588394
Are you going to cry?

>>22588135
This is so bad. This is what wolfetards were parading?

>>22580575
He wrote some legitimately pretty fun stuff where cool and unexpected things happen, when managed to keep himself from fapping to BLACK SEED for five minutes.

>>22583361
Retard of the Average Sun

>>22584408
Disapora is the best thing that Egan ever wrote desu.

>>22584139
There are literally no faggots in those books, none whatsoever. Wait, actually, there's one but he's a villain

>>22583583
It's based actually

>>22585230
>But why did he come flying in like that?
>Why did he get aggravated?
He realized that the Hierodules never even cared about him and he's a literal side character. The future has already decided that he and the Old Sun have no place in it.

>Why did he throw it?
Literally just to spit Sev because he is very very upset at the moment and wants to hurt him in at least some way.

>What was his research for?
For living forever, learning more and becoming more powerful.

>Is he related to Typhon?
Most probably not at all.

>>22585271
Urth is alright, even if worse than the BotNS.

>>22588544
*just to spite

>>22588521
Retard

Any scifi books where the main villain is from Israel??

>>22588669
My Diary: More truth than fiction

>>22588669
>>22588844

>>22588921
I look like that but i don't say this

>>22588253
Well, the lives were like dreams. So once they left, those memories began to fade. However, they did all take something away.
The biggest takeaway, is that Rand realizes that in all the ways he ever lived, he never fought for the dark. That's why in the end of the book, he's so sure that Ba'alzamon lies. And says that line about
>“I will never serve you, Father of Lies. In a thousand lives, I never have. I know that. I’m sure of it. Come. It is time to die.”
Rand struggles with being the dragon reborn, all the way to the final battle. He doesn't even admit it to himself until after the battle and he's recovered. But he knows for certain he would never serve the dark.

When Perrin recovers from the portal stone, he comments to Rand that
>“We don’t have many choices really, do we, Rand? Whatever happens, whatever we do, some things are almost always the same.”
Perrin is thinking about the wolves. Suggesting that no matter what he did in other lives, the wolves were always part of it. Perrin didn't deny his identity as much as Rand did, but he did feel a deep shame about it. But I believe the portal stone let him know that there's no escaping his blood. And the sentiment resonated with Rand. In all of Rand's lives, there was no escaping the fact that he could channel, and there was no escaping Ba'alzamon.

For Ingtar, he realized that try as he might to reach salvation(through the horn), he never made it.
> “Rand, when Verin brought us here with the Portal Stone, I—I lived other lives. Sometimes I held the Horn, but I never sounded it. I tried to escape what I’d become, but I never did. Always there was something else required of me, always something worse than the last, until I was.... "
The stone helped him come to the realization that the horn isn't the way. Which Hurin had been telling him. A couple times throughout the adventure, Ingtar would exclaim how he "must" have the horn. And Hurin would interject that talking of must isn't the way.

>>22588253
>>22589112
Finally, Mat and his loud mouth. Mat who is always blurting out the wrong thing. Mat who is pulling away from Rand, you can see their relationship fraying. Mat and Rand seem to have the most contention between them. When he wakes up, he says
>“Rand, I’d never tell anyone about—about you. I wouldn’t betray you. You have to believe that!”
And then Rand thinks
>"He must have told someone, or he wouldn’t be so anxious about it. He could not hold it against him. Those had been other Mats, not this one"
Mat learned a very simple lesson: Never betray Rand. As much as he hates the one power. As much as he hates Aes Sedai. As much as he wants to get away from it all. He can never betray Rand.

>>22588307
Anything that goes in there melts

>>22581722
It's called cli-fi

>>22583468
G A M E
O F
T H R O N E S

>>22583948
I've read ~500 novels from this century and a lot more that isn't novels. Almost a hundred of those are from this decade.

>>22584231
The Hugo awards cost $50 to vote for.

>>22588377
I kill mudslimes early game in dragon quest

>>22589275
Her nussy not her mouth. But I'm going to melt in her mouth.

>>22585729
Retaining entertainment is overrated

>>22589316
Is that supposed to be nose or neck hole?

i posted in another thread, but I'm looking for this fantasy book where the cover seems to be set in the Byzantine era, and this princess/queen was wearing this white dress and being held hostage by a bunch of soldiers. I think it was part of the Dragonlance series or something similar, but I cannot find it again.
Can someone help?

>>22588669
Probably in the fiction of various Middle Eastern countries.

>>22589328
neck.

What are the best books not to read?

>>22588273
That's how life goes. Very realistic depiction.

>>22589355
No it doesn't

>>22589441
You never learn that you should leave. You constantly relapse and keep coming back.

>>22581297
>the consistency in his available forces across the whole campaign.

You must have misunderstood something here.

The buggers control a large area of space, all the starships fly at near light speed. The earliest ships were sent the farthest, to the core of the bugger worlds. Later, newer starships were sent to closer worlds.

So when he starts playing he has the biggest fleets of newest ships. And as things progress Rackham gives him progressively fewer, older ships untell the final battle where he has only the oldest ships in the fleet.

How is there a consistency in availably forces across the whole campaign, either I'm not understanding what your saying or you're not understanding what the book was saying.

Keep in mind his mental health is detreating due to the queen trying and failing to connect with him spiritually.

>>22583058
How does someone like this shit? I struggled and read it for 200 chapters and it’s absolute garbage. Claiming to be hecking loner and crazy, then vomiting from seeing a corpse, while everyone else is fine. It reads like it’s written by s 12 year old.

>>22581297
>School of the smartest children on earth
>All the children except for ender act like absolute fuckwits
What a hack. Card cannot write a clever antagonist.

>>22586879
Could be interesting
Could be shit
I might order a new copy cover of Hydrogen Sonata cause I can't find it physically anywhere. Probably a good idea to re-read Consider Phlebas again since it was the first Culture book I read and it's been a while. Out of all his SF books I still haven't read Feersum Engin, i'm kind of scared of wading through all the scottish brogue shit but looks like it doesn't take up too much of the book.
If you order it let us know what it's like.
Oh, I'm reading the first book of Moorcock's 'Dancers at the End of Time'. Good so far

>Gonna live long enough to see Stormlight Archive come to an end
This is the kind of stuff that makes me eat healthier, do regular exercise and stress less. The future is bright

>>22584494
>I am though
no you're not
People in this thread might read books but they don't fucking buy them

Need reccs for sci-fi or fantasy novels with extremely unique and otherworldly settings. Just read Rendezvous with Rama and was captivated by it.

>>22590376
The Vorrh

Give me your best non-spherical world of fantasy. Worlds that are flat or rings or trees or anything? I am tired of "the world is a sphere in the void" bogstandard boringness.
Yes, I've already read the silmarillion.

>>22590387
Discworld :)

>>22590392
Well, i should have foreseen this but no, already read plenty of that too, not just the Rincewind books.

>>22590387
The world of Elric is this kind of island in a sea of chaos whose borders are expanded whenever a champion reaches its edge and challenges chaos' dominion, which suddenly births new lands with their own kingdoms and history as if they've always existed.

What's an example of very generic but also very good fantasy?

wtf? i like cradle but why would they give him 1M? just because?

>>22590755
cradle is by-far the most popular self-pub sff series. his fans are absolutely rabid

>>22590722
Dragonbone Chair maybe?
It's not really my subgenre but I can't think of anything else that doesn't at least do something interesting like Feist with his portal between worlds
>>22590755
You're basically just buying the books, if you look at the page 700k of the 1m is for spending $150 on limited editions of all 3 books. Still a ridiculous ripoff but that's just your normal fan milking product

>>22590755
No one have him 1M. A lot of people gave him a few tens of dollars so they could get nice hardcover editions of books they like. I've never read Cradle but even I can appreciate that sentiment.

>>22590774
The average amount given is over $200.

>>22590755
I swear if Will Wight pulled the right strings, he could easily make a full fledged anime of Cradle. He just needs the connections.

>>22589441
If you think character arcs is a thing in real life then you are 14 years old tops.

“History has no plot, and kings do not follow character arcs." - Ken Kiu

>>22590975
Shakespeare got so many plays out of this not being correct.
Like if nothing else it absolutely does not apply to richard iii

Migrate, burn you.
>>22591004
>>22591004
>>22591004