/lit/ - Literature

>>22953722
First for death to all progression fatasists!

Friendly reminder that Bakker is KING
>Then the madness fell away. Once again it was the pure thunder of the charge. The strange camaraderie of men bent to a single, fatal purpose. Hummocks, scrub, and the bones of the Vulgar Holy War’s dead rushed beneath. The wind bled through chain links, tousled Thunyeri braids and Tydonni crests. Bright banners slapped against the sky. The heathen, wicked and foul, drew closer, ever closer. One last storm of arrows, these ones almost horizontal to the ground, punching against shield and armour. Some were struck from their saddles. Tongue tips were bitten off in the concussion of the fall. The unhorsed arched across the turf, screamed and swatted at the sky. Wounded mounts danced in frothing circles nearby. The rest thundered on, over grasses, through patches of blooming milkwort waving in the wind. They couched their lances, twenty thousand men draped in great mail hauberks over thick felt, with coifs across their faces and helms that swept down to their cheeks, riding chargers caparisoned in mail or iron plates. The fear dissolved into drunken speed, into the momentum, became so mingled with exhilaration as to be indistinguishable from it. They were addicted to the charge, the Men of the Tusk. Everything focused into the glittering tip of a lance. The target nearer, nearer … The rumble of hooves and drums drowned their kinsmen’s song. They crashed through a thin screen of sumac … Saw eyes whiten in sudden terror. Then impact. The jarring splinter of wood as lances speared through shield, through armour. Suddenly the ground became still and solid beneath them, and the air rang with wails and shouts. Hands drew sword and axe. Everywhere figures grappled and hacked. Horses reared. Blades pitched blood into the sky. And the Kianene fell, undone by their ferocity, crumpling beneath northern hands, dying beneath pale faces and merciless blue eyes. The heathen recoiled from the slaughter—and fled.
KINO

>>22953722
>last book you read
>current book you're reading
>next book you plan to read
Remember to sage, report, and ignore all posts from our residential mentally-addled and unreasonable shitposter!

>>22953722
Nightborn, Coldfire - C. S. Friedman (2023)

This is a strange book. I don't think it stands on its own. It really seems like something only for those who have already read the Coldfire trilogy. I don't believe it's necessary reading for those who have read the Coldfire trilogy though. Probably only the people who need to read it are completionists and those who want to read how the first two weeks or so of colonization went. It doesn't even cover all of what was already included in the trilogy. The Rakh don't make an appearance on-page. I was hoping it would show more of their colonization efforts, because I'd like to read more like that. Instead it mostly focuses on the horror of the unknown and the helpless despair that it creates. I'd describe it as being more horror focused than science fiction or fantasy. To their credit by using the power of science and reasoning they figure out what's going on rather quickly. Unfortunately for them that doesn't really help much at all.

The plot covers from being in orbit to some days after The First/Great Sacrifice. That would seem like the page count is far too much for that. Maybe it is, but it read quickly and I didn't really notice. As for the characters, well, they're there. It's almost entirely told through the perspective of their leader, Leon Case, through daily journal logs. There's 200 colonists to start with and certainly less by the end. I don't really have much to say about them. A few of them of them have flashback scenes to their life on Earth explaining why they decided to join to the seed ship. I didn't care enough about the characters for them to mean much to me though. The main problem with Earth is that there's too many people and not enough opportunities. Every place except for where the seedships are headed have very strict population controls and new positions for anything doesn't open up unless someone dies.

The most troubling issue was that all of it felt insubstantial to me. It really feels like Friedman was just fleshing out the lore for hardcore fans rather than writing an actual novella. That's a nice gesture and one I can appreciate, but the content is lacking for me. Thematically it remains similar to the other books, especially Crown of Shadows.

Dominion, the Tarrant novella that barely qualifies as one, is also included in this book. I've separated it out and it isn't included in my rating for this book. It was rather disappointing and I didn't feel like writing anything for it on its own. I may read more from Friedman, though those 3.5s I gave for each book of the trilogy could've easily have been rounded down.

Rating
Nightborn: 3/5
Dominion: 2/5

Previous books in the series
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Coldfire&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

>>22953801
>Last: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/67711/a-tyrant-sort-of-litrpg-isekai-dragon-mc
Too many witty asides that broke the narrative and different POV chapters ruined it, thats even discounting the feMC aspect.

>Current: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/58643/tenebroum
Playing chapter catch-up and not regretting it.

>Next: Book of The Dead or Sokaiseva either is in chapter backlog and both are good in their own unique way.

Just finished the books of the north. Is it worth it to continue?

>>22953722
Read Piranesi yesterday and it was pretty good, ngl. Was expecting a lot more YA slop but it was pretty interesting. I just wish the book spent a bit more time on what that world actually is

>>22953963
It becomes fantasy poo in loo land afterwards.
I still liked it, but it always felt like an odd choice.

>>22952582
The Del Rey collections.

>>22953722
Read Out of the Silent Planet last week. Enjoyed it a lot and the concept of Earth being a fallen spiritual plane is pretty awesome, imo

>>22953906
>tenebroum
I got kind of bored couple dozen chapters in, it's just the same cycle of people going there and getting killed over and over again

>>22953871
your """reviews""" are SHIT. fuck off

>>22953906
>feMC
Stopped reading there.

Thoughts on Gene Wolfe?

>>22953801
>last
'time of contempt' by Sapkowski.
Just finished it. 3/5

This is worse than 'Blood of Elves' or whatever the first book was.

Less Geralt, less monsters, more politics, more drama.

The first 150 pages could almost be skipped, the last 160ish pages are pretty good.

The action finally picks up and the important stuff happens at that point.

I was certain I was done with the series by 150 pages in, deciding to just enjoy the games and the first book. But I may continue the series, later though. The first half of the book tempered my love of the book series.

>current
'age of surveillance capitalism' and 'the story of philosophy'

Next:
Dune messiah, 2nd hyperion, black company, dying earth compilation?, Shadow & Claw, Neverwhere.

I need help picking one of these for my next fiction read. I have to finish the two non-fiction. Will probably take me 1-2 weeks.

>>22954156
What if the feMC looked like pic related?

Had found an interesting title while browsing amazon: Beers and Beards.
Any thoughts on it. Have not read it, just have seen the Immage and read the sinopsis.

>>22954206
>Beers and Beards.

why do you guys hate feMCs?

>>22954184
2nd Hyperion

>>22954246
Because I hate women.

>tfw Wendy gets killed without even talking to Tom

>>22954186
If it's female/faggot/black/jeet I am not reading it

>>22954271
rather than hate I find them to be inconsequential, they are not important, their actions and their entire existence is irrelevant

>>22954328
Dis nigga dead ass bussin fr fr

>>22954000
Books set in the middle east were a trending thing back in the 80s to early 90s, lots of fantasy books were set in not-india, not-egypt etc. Cook was just chasing that money.
>>22954246
I don't

>>22954246
I hate female MC if there's even a hint of non-lesbian romance

>>22954328
so what makes a male MC's action and existence relevant but not females?

>>22954369
Gay

>>22954369
for me it's' incest. If there's a female MC and it's not incest themed, then there's no point in reading it

Anything pseudo-realistic with greater scope, like Bakker or Martin? Maybe Kay?

Rec me some kino that has Dark Sun vibes.

I need a scifi/fantasy series simple vocabulary to practice my english comprehension but good enough story to keep me going
Any suggestions?

>>22954424
A song of ice and fire. I have read it in English and German, it's pretty easy.

t. Ukrainian

>>22954359
Fascinating, anon. From what I remember Glen Cook was making it up as he went along, so this makes sense.

>>22954438
I've tried it and the 8+ POV are hard for me to follow (or care)
But thank you nonetheless.

>>22954409
Dark Sun is unironically a xianxia setting, it's just the PCs aren't a part of it, only the sorcerer kings are

>>22954497
Riyria Revelations is pretty easy in German (I listen to it now), so I think it should be easy in English also.

>>22954224
So, is it any good?

>>22954424

Maybe try something you like that you have read before

Like if you liked HP as a teen nows the time to fund mummy Rowling's crusade against the gays

>>22954424
Books from RPG settings (Forgotten Realms, DragonLance, Warhammer, etc) are usually easy.

>>22954405
Legend and Wailander, by David Gemmell. Others of his Drenai saga are good, but they become more fantastical (though not too much).

>>22954554
Thanks, but I have read it.

What about Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet Series? Or Miles Cameron's The Red Knight?

What's the best discworld book?

>>22954424
Unironically Sanderson, his writing is simple (if you can handle a hard magic system).
Can also pick Gemmell, he has some better works, fairly simple language (some grammar mistake also in earlier works) (actually recomend over Sanderson).

>>22954568
Something from the Ankh-Morpork City Watch series.

Tell me about Robin Hobb's books.

>>22954755
they're high tier for a femoid, but still garbage

>>22954074
>it's just the same cycle of people going there and getting killed over and over again
This is why you will never make it as a lich.

>>22954792

I gotta admit Bakker's The darkness that comes before is so far very good, not perfect but still very good. I will review when I finish the book.

>>22954186
>No anon you don't understand.
She would have to look like this and swear fealty to me.

>>22954801
who's the artist?

>>22954842
she cut

So excited to get into PKD this year. Haven't even seen any of the movies based off his work, so it's going to be a fresh read.

>>22954846
Me.

>>22954184
>Less Geralt, less monsters, more politics, more drama.
you won't like the rest of the series then - it's way more about politics and drama than geralt and monsters
I liked it though

disregard >>22954255, it is universally agreed that only the first hyperion is worth reading
dune messiah is good, neverwhere is shit

>>22954563
>Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet Series
some people praise it, but I dropped it somewhere in the second book
boring characters, nothing ever happens, barely remember what it was about

>>22954405
>Bakker
>pseudo-realistic
u wot m8
try Berserk maybe

>>22954246
9/10 they're just really poorly written

>Look up book on goodreads
>Go to 1 star reviews
>If there's legitimate criticism, it's shit
>If it's just a bunch of fags crying about some -ism, it's good
Using this method I have never encounter a book I didn't enjoy.

>>22953801
>The sword itself
>Before they are hanged
>Last argument of kings
Recommend me a fantasy novel with little to no sex scenes and rape. I just want big swords and adventure : |

>>22954568
I read all the books from Death, Rincewind, and Guards storylines, as well as the first book from the Witches novels.
Read everything from the Death storyline. It's peak Pratchett writing, and I'm convinced he was working on Death novel before his death.
Guards storyline is trash, but the masses say it's good. Drop it if you don't like character introductions - it never gets better.
Rincewind stuff is ok - sometimes good, sometimes goofy, sometimes stupid. I think the TV series was a great format for that kind of story (check the Colour of Magic adaptation, if you haven't seen it already).

>>22955110
>I just want big swords and adventure : |
Then stop reading Epic Fantasy and start reading Sword & Sorcery.

>>22953722
I just finished the first book of the Long Earth Series. It was really good and I liked the concept. I'm interested in seeing where it goes from here. Having said that my next book is going to be March to The Stars as that series is also very good.

>>22955142
Any recommendations?

>>22954755
The farseer trilogy is boring

>>22955165
Conan, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and Kull by Robert E. Howard.
The Zothique stories by Clark Ashton Smith.
Fafrhd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber.
Elric by Michael Moorcock.
Kane by Karl Edward Wagner.
The Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton.
Imaro by Charles Saunders.

>>22955281
Also David Gemmell wouldn't be a bad starting point for Sword & Sorcery if you've only ever read Epic Fantasy; even though 'technically' he wasn't a S&S writer, but was hugely influenced by it.

>Stumbling onto a passage about a book you read in your youth, then as you reminisce instead of focusing on the page, you stumble again into the realization that the MC had the book as a kid and is reminiscing about it
This is a Neal Stephenson Moment
Any other D'Aulaireschads in the room? I highly recommend this for the spawn of any anons here, should any ever exist

>>22955312

Where should I start animorphs?

>>22955325
first one. i once torrented the entire series and read it as an adult, it didn't hold up but i also didn't realise there was like 50 of those books

>S. Craig Zahler is trying to get published a high fantasy novel
Looks like kino is (hopefully) back on the menu.

>>22953906
You will now recommend rr titles you have enjoyed.

>>22955982
read one of his westerns (A Congregation of Jackals) and it was just OK
curious how he'd handle fantasy

>>22955067
Ah so exactly the same as men

Best depiction of "Immortality" in fantasy? (or scifi if you want)

>>22955982
Based. Love his books.

>>22955997
Your feeble mind is ill prepared for the font of knowledge that are my recommendations.

>>22956358
Tolkien.

>>22956141
>curious how he'd handle fantasy
Even though it's a Western Wraiths of the Broken Land reads like an edgy Gemmell novel. So read it if you want an idea of what a Zahler fantasy might be like (it's also better than Congregation IMO and I enjoyed Congregation).

>>22956369
Still need to read Hug Chickenpenny and Corpus Chrome. I put off reading Hug because it seems like it's really depressing and I don't want to read miseryporn.

>>22956463
>I put off reading Hug
Do it. I cried

>>22956482
I don't want to cry dammit.

>>22954370
They have soul, females are soulless.

>>22956369
>Modern western
Cringe
>>22956456
>reads like an edgy Gemmell novel.
I take it back, picked the fuck up

>>22956496
>I take it back, picked the fuck up
Based.

>mogs your favorite fantasy book

>>22954947
>Bakker
Basically it is the Byzantine Empire/First Crusade history with aliens and magic. Like ASOIAF is the Wars of the Roses history with aliens (white walkers) and magic.

>>22956456
Clay did nothing wrong.

>>22956518
white walkers are alien?

>$24.61 on Thriftbooks
>1 left
fuckin' steal bros.

>>22956511
I liked the movies as a kid (didnt even know it was a book).
Is it similar to the movies?

>>22956529
Maybe. Maybe not. Have you read Martin's "Bitterblooms"? Maybe ASOIAF is science fantasy.

>>22956539
If you liked the movie the novel is reccomended. Ende wrote another book called Momo which is worth reading.

>>22955281
>The Throne of Bones
>"little to no sex and rape"

>>22956518
That comparison is retarded because then you can compare any fantasy to some historical event.
In ASOIAF, the magic is for the most part peripheral to the story, you can take most of it away and most of the plot still works. In Second Apocalypse, the magic and metaphysics that goes along with it is central to the plot, you cannot remove it without everything falling apart. It does have allusions to Christianity and the crusades, but that's mainly just flavor.
So no, I wouldn't call Bakker "realistic".

Has anyone read the fourth wing series? Friend of mine says it’s amazing but they’re a big normie.

>>22956798
It's romantasy series. It's meant for women who want their romance with a bit of fantasy. Basically it's the current Twilight.

>>22956804
Or I guess more recently it's like Sarah J. Maas

Read Malazan

Discovered Clark Ashton Smith today. The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies is going to be my introduction to his works.

>>22956763
>Allusions
found the history let, the first 3 books are basically copypastes of the crusades

Caraskand is antioch
Saubon is Bohemund
Athjearl is Tancred
Shimeh is Jerusalem
The Nansur are the byzantines, the Shriah is the pope. The whole indenture thing is a 1 for 1 from history

>>22957113
Someone reccd this it was dogshit imo

>>22957216
>it was dogshit imo
What didn't you like about it?

>>22956743
it's edgy and funny so it's ok

>>22957308
It just kind of sucked, was like a shitty lovecraft with some dude in some weird temples and the prose read like the dude was just picking random words out of a thesaurus

>>22957216
All those things are just background flavor for the actual story, which is about Kellhus and his jewish tricks, literal salvation and damnation, magic, gods and demons, ancient alien conspiracies, and all that. None of those are anywhere close to realistic. Or did they have skin-spies and sorcerers in the crusades?

>>22957397
>Kellhus and his jewish tricks, literal salvation and damnation, magic, gods and demons, ancient alien conspiracies,
Not really the focus of the first three books, it's mostly about the war between the inrithi and fanim

is the broken empire worth it or not

>>22957002
Malazan to me seems like a bunch of really cool ideas but the constantly shifting cast ruins the whole thing. I makes it feel so half done it aint even funny. Like nigga just stick with one or two pov's and write the fucking story

>>22953871
>>22953906
>>22953986
>>22954184
>>22954369
>>22954374
>>22954571
>>22954755
>>22954842
>>22956482
Great post anons, very original but just started three body problem and i'm wondering when does it gets good? are the witcher books any good? Only played Witcher 3 and the netflix's series. Just started Eye of the World when does WoT get 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?

>>22953789
>>22954114
>>22954405
>>22956518
>>22957216
>>22957397
>>22957435
samefag

I'm planning on writing a fantasy story where the main character is a sheep. (sheep person).

My issue is; I'm unsure of how to present the world around him. If it's a world filled with only humans and sheep are just another intelligence race for some reason, I feel like it would focus too much on being a fish-out-of-water story and may end up with an undercurrent of "humans are... le bad" since I want the sheep culture to be very innocent and sheltered, a bit like hobbits. But at the same time, a setting filled with all manner of weird anthro races or fantasy freaks would be a bit alienating when the main character is already a nonhuman. I'm unsure of what to do with this concept or if it's just dead in the water.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/author-will-wight/animating-cradle-bestselling-fantasy-novels-come-to-life

Just finished it. Was quite slow but also quite cozy. Siri was the boring character I've ever seen holy SHIT

No, Doors of Stone is NOT coming out because YOU helped Orange Man become president again. I've told you before: work on the book WILL resume after he is in PRISON, not before.
Now support my patreon, piggies.

anyone read this?
is it a good casual version of dante's inferno?

anyone got good Bakker art (not that crap they have up on the wiki)?

>King Arthur has 5 nephews
>Good-wayne, Good-Harry, Good-Eric, Another-Good-wayne, and Murder
>Murder is evil and kills Arthur
Really, Chrétien de Troyes?

>>22956763
>the magic and metaphysics that goes along with it is central to the plot,
1. You can find metaphysics and philosophy in real life.

2. Magic isn't central to the plot. Basically it just balances Inchoroi's powers, that's all.

Kind of got annoyed with Gardens of the Moon and raced through to the end. Should I still continue onto Deadhouse Gates

>>22957988
Nah, you got filtered and don't deserve the Chain of Doges

>>22954424

The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Read this sample on Amazon to see if it's right for you: https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-3-Book-Bundle-Empire-Second-ebook/dp/B09KZ8SNS6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12IOB2OBE7NCH&keywords=Foundation+Trilogy&qid=1705516114&sprefix=foundation+trilogy%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1&asin=B09KZ8SNS6&revisionId=d47e9191&format=1&depth=1

I would appreciate if a Krautanon would recommend a similarly easy german title.

>>22957991
is this some reverse psychology

>>22957611
Can't tell if this is satire or not. That's how little faith I have in Doors of Stone coming out

>>22958108
>That's how little faith I have in Doors of Stone coming out
who gives a shit anyway, the books are genuinely garbage. even reddit hates them now

how come there are numerous good fantasy series with 6+ books, but scifi ones usually suck after book 1?
also what are your favourite historical fiction series? theres a huge crossover

>>22958137
>favourite historical fiction
Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell series
Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle
Ken Follet's Kingsbridge

>>22958137
I'm a big fan of biblical fiction, you know novelizations of bible stories or early Christians, especially those with great attention paid to historical detail

Way of Choices had its ups and downs but this "Everyone sieges the Empress" arc really sucks.

>>22956511
Spoil it for me, what is the never-ending actually refer to? History repeats, all stories are one story kind of thing?

>>22953801
So I've added Monolith to my list of current reads, the second book of the Heaven's Laws series. I'm 22% in and it has been nothing but plot buildup and SoL. To its credit, this is the only xianxia I've read with SoL between two cultivators considering MC met and married his waifu in the first book. This is the same book where femMC got unraped.
The plot plans to have the two main characters travel to the ~Northern Continent~, with a completely different culture, in order to erase a lot of maleMC's naivety and partake in the ~Divine Flying Tiger Clan~'s trial. I have close to 9 hours left to go. It's a lot of content to read at least.

>>22957465
>oh my gawd, le niggers are gonna rape civilization, save us white man
>white man

>>22957611
>There its done.
Now get writing you fat lazy misinformed fuck!

>>22957855
Nominative determinism is real

>>22958579
hands too big
Fix it. Also has muscle in his left bicep, make it flab

>>22958514
spoiler-lite: it's about a book called neverending story, which acts like a peeking window to another world. This world is ruled by immortal child queen (or something like that) and it undergoes kalpa-like cycles of rebirth. During the end of the cycle it needs to feast on human imagination or it will sowly get disintegrated. The protagonist is a bullied kid. He nicks this book from an old man and hides in school attic to skip classes (and read the book). That book begins with the end of a cycle, where the land starts to disapper. The inhabitants have no idea why and they send ambassadors to the (literal) center of the world to ask the immortal queen for help. The immortal queen says that she needs a new name. She calls upon a super hunter Atreus (protagonist of the book), gives him a symbol of her power (picrel), and tasks him to find the one who can name her. A lot of adventures happen, where Atreus goes from sage to sage to ask for help. All the while he is being hunted by a spawn of the apocalypse, who wants to usher the end of the world. At some point Atreus fucks up and falls under a curse of depression. He is about to kys, when he gets rescued by a luck dragon, who becomes his companion. A lot of stuff happens and the protagonist of the book that we are reading slowly comes to realization that there is more to the book he's reading. Eventually Atreus, the luck dragon, and all the characters, but the queen are disintegrated. Then it's revealed that the point of Atreus' quest was simply to entice the reader (true protagoinst) with adventures, so that the reader gets invested in the book and can name the immortal queen. 2 picoseconds before the world gets completely nuked, the protagonist gives the queen a new name. At that moment he gets isekai'd into the world of the neverending story and meets the queen floating in the void. The queen tells him that a new world is about to get created through the readers fantasy, and that she grants him infinite wishes. End of part 1 of the book. Part 2. The protagonist brings back to life all the characters he loved, and he starts living a high life. What protagonist doesn't know, however, is that he was secretly put under a curse that the more wishes he uses, the more he forgets of his original world. What's more, through an orchestrated accident, an agent of evil tags along, whose sole task is to encourage wish usage, because once the protagonist forgets his home, he won't be able to return home, and he won't be able to make more wishes. A lot of adventures happen and eventually protagonist gets arrogant and they split up with Atreus, who tried to prevent protagonist from spending wishes. What happens next? Read the book. It's aimed at kids, but better late than never amirite?

>reading a Shallan chapter
How does he manage to make them more boring than Kaladin's constant soul-destroying slavery in the bridge brigade is beyond me

I'm about to order TOR hardcovers of all the Stormlight books just because I can't get the same style UK cover for TWoK anymore and it's the only one I don't have in hardcover and I want them to match

>>22958606
Sorry to disappoint anon but that's not my gen and would take me way to much effort to replicate.
>try sending this one to Rothfuss the doufuss instead.

>>22954921
Loved "Do Androids dream of electric sheep", but burned myself with many of his other novels.

>>22958735
he cute

>>22958820
The short stories are great though.

Valis *pukes*.

Why doesn't fantasy have this vibe anymore?

>>22959145
And which fantasy books had a pastoral vibe?

>>22959174

you probably don't remember cause you're underage but there was a time when nearly all fantasy that came out was accused of being a tolkien ripoff and everyone was sick and tired of "this vibe"

>>22958262
Not historical by any means, but I came across this series a while back. Haven't read it but has good reviews. Its about civilisation before the flood.

>>22959187
and now we are sick and tired of subversion vibe

>>22959207
just because something is different doesn't mean it's "subversive"

>>22959232
Work on your reading comprehension, you retarded faggot.

>>22959201
I am fond of these "prehistoric" fantasies like Conan's Hyboria or Kull's Atlantis, but they never hit quite as hard as if they're at least putting on the literary conceit that they're connected to "real" history - for example, something like Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle, which, while very explicitly fantastical, is also intended to correspond to the historiography of the Flood account in Biblical and Sumerian records, especially by virtue of the fact that it tricks you into thinking it's a fantasy world before revealing the main character's name is Noah halfway through the novel

Why is this gobbo looking so thicc?

What went so right?

>GRRM
>Rothfuss
>Butler
>Sanderson
>Miura
I will never start another unfinished fantasy series

What do you guys think about The Way of Shadows? I just got the book several days ago

>>22959534
Weeks is a literal fucking hack in the truest sense of the word, not the way the term gets abused in these threads
I read all the way through Night Angel only for its ending to be absolutely bullshit, picked up Lightbringer hoping he'd managed to somehow improve years later only for the last book to be pure Christian moralising autism with a literal deus ex machina and the single biggest waste of worldbuilding and buildup I've ever read in a fantasy novel

>>22959533
why even start any of those hacks in the first place? You played yourself

>>22959533
Berserk is the best media by any of these authors.

>>22959539
Damn.. I havent read the way of shadows yet, currently reading another book that is not fantasy. I just got into this genre recently and the only book that I read previously is prince of thorns. Cant say that I liked that book though.
Tell me anon, is grimdark genrenreally worth to be pursuing or not?

>>22959554
I wouldn't call it grimdark, the series ending is literally every main character including some who died holding hands in a circle and singing a song to save the world

Give me a QRD on Abercrombie

>this is the best the American Tolkien can do

>>22958137
>also what are your favourite historical fiction series?
The Flashman Papers, easily.

>>22959533
not really fair to group Sanderson with that bunch considering he reguarly publishes books

>>22959623
Sanderson is 50 and fat, he'll die without finishing the cosmere books as the biggest example of sunk cost in fiction

Been looking for some cool copies of this for a long time. Finally found them.

Do they still sell the kino covers anywhere? I don't want Wheel of Prime cover ads on my bookshelf

>>22959667
he'll be fine

>>22959562
Lmao what the fuck

>Gormenghast
>Gene Wolfe
If you feel for these pseud traps, you should be ashamed of yourself.

>>22959681
>cool copies
>paperback
lmao

>>22959517
this reminds me of post series sasuke naruto for some reaosn

>>22959724
Normally I'd agree with you but old paperbacks like this just have something that newer ones don't. These copies even have full page illustrations. I'll definitely get hardbacks someday, but I found those in the wild and I love the covers.

>>22958523
I thought this particular interaction was funny. It caught me off-guard. The context is your typical cultivator fucking others to ascend but woman instead of man.

>>22958661
Bridge brigade was the best part of that book tho

trying to remember the name of what I think was a fantasy series
its protagonist was a racist antisemite that was obsessed with the byzantine empire and I'm pretty sure one of the books had byzantium in the title

>>22960085
>its protagonist was a racist antisemite
Go on.

>>22960085
I would like to know the as well so I can self insert as the protagonist

>>22959533
Replace Sanderson with Lynch

>>22959572
You have to be realistic about these things.

>>22960085
oy vey

>>22960085
The Pyat Quartet tetralogy by Michael MoorCOCK, The first book is called Byzantium Endures

>>22959572
Reddit incarnate

>>22960085
>and I'm pretty sure one of the books had byzantium in the title
Then find it, asshole.

>>22953722

>>22959627

>>22958525
If only the counter truth was science fiction

how does this general feel about Harry Potter?

>>22960355
It's alright.

>Spank this upstart bitch and cripple her cultivation
I can't believe my pope is this based..

>>22959145
Martin has this vibe, when he writes about open spaces.

>>22960392
I wish we had mirror universe GRRM who writes stories about noble knights and finishes his books.

>>22959145
Tad Williams maybe also. Old writers are able to write as yet.

when I am writing how do I resist the urge to make my heroine a slut?

>>22960426
why are you being anti-progressive chud?

>>22960355
Didn't deserve to get this popular, but decent for what it is. It's a shame that she decided to make the series more "mature" without sewing the plotholes, though

Terry Pratchett is better than Wolfe and Tolkien

>>22960398
Dunk&Egg

>>22959572
His entire shtick is
>must subvert all the tropes

>>22957611
>implying he can write anything good at this point

>>22959572
>writes great characters
>cant worldbuild for shit
Also, the general story is pretty much whatever, his 2nd trilogy almost dropped the fantasy part

>>22960165
English translation is pretty dry. Really, the best thing in Vampire Hunter D is the setting which is a melting pot of everything that somehow works.

I just finished reading Stormlight Archive. It was mid. Definitely peaked at book two. The story feels way too formulaic, and depowering Kaladin every single time until the very end is retarded. Adolin was pretty cool, though, even if he decided to stick his dick in crazy. Sanderson also clearly sipped a bit too much woke Koolaid, and it shows. Also, also, so much fucking filler. Also, Shallan is an insufferable cunt throughout. The thing Sanderson does with villains repenting and becoming "good guys" is way too preachy, unsatisfying, and unearned. Also, his self-insert is not as good a character as he thinks he is.
Overall: if I want to read an epic story with a big ensemble cast about mentally ill people given superpowers, set to the backdrop of an apocalypse, with way too many lines dedicated to arthropods, I will just read Worm instead.

>>22957554
I'm scared they'll ruin it.

>>22956798

Wifey and I are reading it, here are my thoughts so far.

Main character is horny AF and keeps commenting on every male's body features. If this was a guy, every girl would be bashing this book.

Cliched love triangle of "chad who doesnt give AF so that gets me more horny for him" vs virgin "I love you but I have to follow the rules" that dries her out faster than dragon fire.

The setting is pretty cool, but probably stolen from other books. Also slightly retarded premise "we send all our best kids to dragon academy where 60% die in the first month". Makes perfect sense and it provides cheap tension of the threat of death constantly happening around you and getting used to it.

Amazon will eventually make it a series, it'll probably be good and hopping on bandwagon of loving it, hating it or being neutral are your choices.

>>22961125
>Cradle
>possible to ruin it
Thanks anon i needed a chuckle.
The joke will end up being on us though when it gets over-funded like the year of sandershite was.

>>22961125
It's okay. When Cradle is ruined, Will will say, "apologies", and fans like you will eat it up no matter what :DDDDD

>>22957554
>those designs
God damn, know i finally see why everyone calls it anime in book form

>>22961246
>>22961286
What filtered you?

>>22961296
>>>/v/

I finished the darkness that comes before. It wasn't as dark as I thought it would be. For me, dark fantasy needs to have more archaic language, characters have stranger motivations, and there has to be emotional weight to the rape, necrophilia, torture etc. in the darkness that comes before, the cruelty is so common and doled out so frequently it gets a bit boring. The philosophical references to Nietszche and Wittgenstein also broke my immersion. A lot of the names are too similar for a novel that doesn't really explain what is going on: Conphas, Conriya, Shriah, Shimeh etc.

I'll keep the reading the series.

>>22961399
More character related cruelty happens later on in the series. Seeing characters you wouldn't expect get totally broken by circumstance is something Bakker does quite well.

The names are pretty fucked; Bakker does love his umlauts and ancient-sounding names. Imo, the problem is he spells them with regards to what is phonetically satisfying, which can make them pretty ugly to actually read.

>>22957550
Please respond.

>>22960609
That's every grimderp writer.

>>22961466

>>22957550
>>22961466
Depends on the type of story you're going for anon.
My first thought as a grimderp is that there used to be more animal races but humans got rid of them. Sheep were allowed to stay due to how utterly pathetic they are.

>>22960784
There were three silences. The first belonged to the bedsprings that were not creaking. The second to Kvothe's oneitis, who wasn't groaning in ecstacy and the third silence belonged to Kvothe, sitting in his cuck chair, with no bull to cheer on.

I have seen other anons reading the Wheel of Time recently and it prompted me to re-read the series. Currently on book 5.
It's genuinely impressive how much stuff Robert Jordan crams into the first book that would never make sense unless you re-read in several books later, stuff that would be completely missed by a first time reader, it wouldn't even stand out as an odd thing, just a passing word or mention or bit of monologue that is suddenly thrown into a whole new light if you've read the rest of the series already.
There's definitely some flaws, I think Mat having so much of his characterization overwhelming by the dagger plot left him heavily under served until book 3. But at the same time there's some subtle touches that still let his character shine through, like how even at the worst of being infected by the very essence of suspicion and paranoia that turned an entire city against itself, he never stops trusting Rand.
Jordan is also very, very good at characterizing side characters and tying their plots into the primary plot. He has multiple PoV characters yet manages to avoid most of the issues associated with that, at least earlier in the series. Bayle Domon for example is a fantastic side character. A Bayle Domon chapter never feels like it's dragging you away from the main plot and slowing down the pacing.

It's odd that Elayne and Nynaeve become so obnoxious later on, they're a bit naive and overconfident early in the series, but it seems they slowly get flanderized as it goes on. Nynaeve at least makes a comeback, but Elayne always remains a bit of a ninny.

I also enjoy how Jordan gives even the least relevant side characters their own distinct voice. Even the Lugarder innkeeper in the boonies of Cairhien that shows up in a single chapter of the second book is memorable, with her own voice and idiosyncrasies.

I've legitimately enjoyed re-reading these books so far/10.

>>22961551
Yeah it's a good series all things considered

>>22961296
>Here's your Linden bro

>>22961551
>>22961560
nothing but great posts itt

>>22961551
currently halfway thru the first book
does it get better? it feels very YA-ey and simple so far

>>22961578
At least read The Great Hunt to decide whether the series is for you or not.

How would you mesh logic with magic when you can’t exactly separate the two to begin with?

I just came across >>22961577 and I am a bit annoyed with myself for not seeing it sooner.

>>22961578
First books feels like a copy of lotr, until it takes a sudden turn and rushes towards a somewhat confusing ending. Book 2 is where it starts doing its own thing.

>>22961599
tldr

>Women have no wisdom to bestow, no blessings to bear, no offerings of help, no serious talk to be had.
Post your favorite Bakker passages about women.

>>22961648
What's funny is Bakker is a typical leftshit Canadian faggot, but he doesn't project his own political or personal beliefs into his novels (except for not-Christianity being a fake religion and not-Islam being the 'true' religion which is typical with these liberal queers), but women and his fellow leftshits act like he is projecting his beliefs into the novels with lines like that because that's what THEY would do if they were writers.

>>22961540
P-patrick, is that you? Damn, you still got it

>>22961743
The red that's with it with the white tips that puts the mountain there which I climb.

Why are there no good books about druids or nature magic?

>>22961929
Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell has druids, but it's not ABOUT druids. The Bard series by Ken Taylor probably has some druids as well.

>the gods only exist/have power because mortals worship them
come up with a different interpretation of religion apart from "hierarchy" PLEASE!

>>22962042
See thats the trouble, im in the mood to read about trees and tree dudes and nature wizards but the only books that even touch on the concept are mostly icky slogs through medieval politics and fags in armor with the occasional reference. Its like these fuckwits can't fill a book with actual adventure, exploration or magic without 90% of it being king/queen/princess/noble/merchant drama "who gunna rule" I don't give a fuck God damnit give me trees, I listen to enya

/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.

>>22962135
How on earth could someone who read Prince of Nothing and Hyperion even tolerate Reverend Insanity.

/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.

>>22961929
I actually wrote some short stories about a brother and sister not!Celtic druid duo driving out dark spirits and invaders with the intent of filling this hole in fantasy with a novel one day. Of course, I failed to follow up and deliver. I hope someone else does it eventually since druidism is really cool imo

Robert Jordan was into femdom, right?

>>22962149
Seemed like he preferred lezdom

>>22962149
Only girl on girl femdom. He was a true man of taste.

>>22962148
Maybe I too will attempt this and probably also fail to follow through as well.

The comfiest world in fantasy?

I think it's Westeros (it's a continent, but anyway): you can propose 1000 people "choose on the map, where you would like to be a lord", and they choose 1000 different places. Someone likes Southern beaches (and there is Dorne), someone likes spring and summer storms, someone likes a forest steppe (Riverlands), mountains, lonely Northern atmosphere, etc, and Martin describes all these places in a very comfy and atmospheric way.

do Sanderson books have any cuckshit?

>>22962160
Did you skip everything about Ebou Dar?

Rec me kino that has pic related vibes.

>>22962194
CHADinar cucks his nephew and dead brother to marry their mom/widow

>>22962194
Yes. Kaladin gets cucked twice (actually dodged two immense bullets)

>>22961564
I cultivate for she

>>22962216
He will smash Veil in book 5 mark my words.

>>22962258
>Veil
Anon, I...

>>22958148

>>22962258
He's so obviously gonna get with Leshwi next book

how did Rothfuss become so famous when all he did was publish 2 mid-tier books?

>>22962490
He has a pretty good literary style (good prose) and nowadays man-children like the Marty Sue trope.

>>22962135
>Reverend Insanity = Literally about an a-moral bugman killing/consooming/cultivating
>Lord of The Mysteries = Hard to into asian steampunk with potion based class acquisition, achievement and crafting progression with un-lockable magical items and sekret tarot organizations because it wasn't already confusing enough.
>Neuromancer = Decent cyberspunk i'm putting together a team novel
>Hyperion = Interplanetary high tech trooning
>The Prince of Nothing = Bakker is for fags and fags are for Bakker.
>The Wandering Inn = Stay at home moms power fantasy with a main character whos most prominent power is complaining while being a pacifist.
>Between Two Fires = Heaven Vs hell but in medieval FRANCE!
>Mother of Learning = Time loop and like all of the subgenre goes literally nowhere over and over again, has a decent magic system that some find mediocre and a main characters sister that is annoying as fuck.
>Cradle = Every second novel is a dud in the series with a birdbath of a main character. Only decent thing is the fights that get stale real quick because it does not take long to realize they are all ill conceived magical games of uno.
>I Shall Seal the Heavens = Proto xianxia at its worst, MC gets kidnapped into strong but lowly down on its luck sect. Queue haughty young masters, saving face and swilling ginseng infused tiger penis soup by the gallon.
>A Song of Ice and Fire = Fantastical medieval degeneracy where the characters who should live die and the characters who should die live. Also author is too busy getting fat and old to finish the series.
>The Poppy War = Fem-C gets accepted to 20th century china-esque martial academy and gets looked down upon while struggling to overcome amidst pseudo researched equally vintage china political bullshit.

>>22962138
it's bait

>>22962139
>Azarinth Healer = Starts good but fizzles hard midway. Author also makes the main character a low key lesbian because they clearly have no idea what to do with their love life.
>Primal Hunter = MC+background is so impossibly nonsensical that he's not even cannon in his own setting.
>He Who Fights with Monsters = every character that isnt the MC is just there to be amazed at how smart Jason is while he tells them shit they already know before reminding them (incorrectly i might add) that 'Oh you have no idea".
>Dungeon Crawler Carl = The MC's sidekick (A cat named 'Princess Donut') is so much smarter than Carl (the MC) that every scene the two are in is eye-gougingly painful. This would not be so much of a problem if such scenes did not constitute the majority of the series.
>System Universe = After the initial premise is established it turns into how to pander to followers at a snails pace AKA; 'Filler McFiller Face - The Excessively Extended Sleep Inducing Saga'.
>Dissonance = MC gets god fucked more then once as he goes about becoming a man/bear/goat/pig/axolotl hybrid who also has many super sekret identities.
>Defiance of the Fall = Brain dead MC with very-much-just-barely opposed kingdom building with a wafer thin cultivation system
>Iron Prince = edgy school setting with even edgier MC who has lightning powers and no discernible challenges what so ever.

>>22962629
makes The Eye of Argon look like Ulysses

Any sff books with this feel?

>>22962707
That's gross, anon.

>>22962218
We She Lindon!

>>22961564
>>22962763
I need books with cute brown waifus...

>>22962861
but when someone suggests one you just bitch and cry about jews

>>22962873
Nice try, rabbi.

>>22962873
disingenuous post

>>22962873
eh? i'm not bakkerfag i'm "i think female authors are bassed" fag

>>22962958
ew

>Cradle anime adapting each novel in a single episode
Wut surely they're at least the length of 3-4 episodes. Even if it was 100% funded it'd be a mistake. Unless they're an hour long?

>>22963094
>each novel in a single episode
That's what filterfag was defending? Yikes.

I just wanna read some Fantasy kino that feels like I'm listening to some Black Metal kino.
Is that too much to ask for?

>>22963147
Unironically Bakker
The Broken Sword
Kane (and most S&S)
start with The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth by Dunsany, bitch.

>>22963163
All wrong.

What magic academy story actually makes clever use of magic?

>>22954184
>'time of contempt' by Sapkowski.
>Just finished it. 3/5
>This is worse than 'Blood of Elves' or whatever the first book was.
The rest of the series doesn't get better
The two best Witcher books are the first two (The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny) which are collections of short stories.

>>22963339
well, point me in the right direction bitch

>>22963500
try here.
>>22957501

>>22963459
none yet
wait for Sanderson to write one

>>22963500
There aren't any. I guess I'll have to write them.

Does ISSTH ever get better? Currently on chapter 103 and it's not doing much for me.

>>22963662
it gets better every chapter, take a shot every time meng hao finds a new father figure if you want to get blissfully drunk

>>22963500
>>22963660
There are collections by DMR Books with stories written by actual Metal musicians. The quality is all over the place as you'd expect from amateur writers.

>>22963681
You read cheesily.

I keep coming across Daemon by Dabiel Suarez in recommendations whenever I search for post/cyberpunk and near future scifi.
Anybody read it?
Also any recommendations for those?

>>22963680
Well, alright. I'll try another 100 before I drop it.

>>22963687
>Dabiel Suarez
I read this as "by Sabriel"

>>22963693
Sabriel probably mogs the male MC of that book :)

>>22963684
All reading is cheesy.

>>22963687
Never heard of but I might after this goodreads review

>>22963729
I hate women so much.
>SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED TO FEMALE CHARACTER SO THAT MEANS BOOK IS BAD

>the male mc roofying and gang raping women is... le good!

>>22963742
>using holes for what they were made for is...le bad!

>>22963735
as opposed to the chuds who frequent this board?
>THERE IS A FEMALE CHARACTER SO THAT MEANS THE BOOK IS BAD

>>22956492
You sound like an edgy pseud. If you got off the internet and spoke to real people every now and then, your delusion would be dispelled rather quickly.

>>22956763
I thought you were going to say it's retarded because ASOIAF is nothing like the War of the Roses but ok.

>>22957550
Have you seen the movie Lamb? Maybe you can try and have your MC be familiar with humans but still half a stranger to their way of living, beliefs, etc, while being estranged from its fellow sheep as well. It's kind of cliche though.

>>22963833
name fifteen exsmples

I like Greg Egan and Ted Chiang. Who else writes similar scifi that ties into more alternate reality, math, philosophy stuff instead of space travel space opera stuff

>>22963917
There are more than 15 in this thread alone

>>22963979
prove it

>>22963974
Xeelee sequence has a lot of related content relevant to your interests. But nobody wants to read it (beyond a novel or two here and there) despite it having like 20 short stories to pick and choose from, on top of several novels.

>>22963974
>Xeelee sequence
>"The overarching plot of the Xeelee Sequence involves an intergalactic war between humanity and the Xeele"

i'm good but thanks

>>22964055
There are many stories that don't even involve the Xeelee whatsoever; entire plots around interaction with other species or even within-humanity only, like the five short stories set on a gravitically-altered and massively time-dilated Earth. You could look up synopses to see what you might like, instead of writing off the universe in its entirety.

>>22963839
frequent women talker to here. They are soulless

>>22963839
I speak to real people and women irl everyday. Women they are soulless.

Bakker bros, is Akka gay?
>Keeps talking about how he loved Inrau and Proyas.
>Attracted by Esmi's "boyish thighs"
>Tells her it's a pity she's not a man after fucking her (probably in the ass too)

>>22964377
He's bisexual, he remembers having sex with a fellow mandate initiate.

>>22963981
He can't kek

Finished picrel tonight. Wasn't at all like I was expecting, initially because I thought the woman was going to be the villain and not the protagonist, and that the reader would see Woldercan.
Fairly different to Wolfe's other novels, in that I don't think the ones I've read had their plot threads resolved by 'blowing them up' so to speak.
But damn if he doesn't know how to write people. What a bittersweet ending.
The only thing I really didn't like was how Gideon Chase disappears from the story. There is so much in this little world he built that is only alluded to. The guy was such a master, in his late period writing these breezy novels with so much seeming ease.
Far from my favourite of his though.

>>22964547
I liked pic related more myself, but you have some good points.

>>22964547

>>22964550
This fuckin guy man

>>22964395
No he isnt. Sexual experimentation during younger years is normal. As a fully formed adult he is straight.

>>22963833
Nice try, Straw Man.

>>22963147
The prologue of "A dance with dragons" reminds me of bloody Northern woods.

The night was rank with the smell of man.
The warg stopped beneath a tree and sniffed, his grey-brown fur dappled by shadow. A sigh of piney wind brought the man-scent to him, over fainter smells that spoke of fox and hare, seal and stag, even wolf. Those were man-smells too, the warg knew; the stink of old skins, dead and sour, near drowned beneath the stronger scents of smoke and blood and rot. Only man stripped the skins from other beasts and wore their hides and hair.
Wargs have no fear of man, as wolves do. Hate and hunger coiled in his belly, and he gave a low growl, calling to his one-eyed brother, to his small sly sister. As he raced through the trees, his packmates followed hard on his heels. They had caught the scent as well. As he ran, he saw through their eyes too and glimpsed himself ahead. The breath of the pack puffed warm and white from long grey jaws. Ice had frozen between their paws, hard as stone, but the hunt was on now, the prey ahead. Flesh, the warg thought, meat...

Bakker games on a PS4pro.

>>22964695
another angle

>>22964696
closer look at the bookshelf

>>22964660
gay

>>22964695
>>22964696
>>22964700
Cozy place. Can I come over?

>>22964696
Where is a door? Here?

>>22964745
its a staircase behind that couch

>>22964752
What is this for?

>>22964762

>>22962114
>the gods gain power from worship/belief
>the gods were constructed by ancient mortals
>the gods are aliens
>the gods are just regular people
>the gods are a computer
>the gods are just wielders of advanced technology

>>22964913
How about:
>reality is being dreamt by a cosmic intelligence
Or
>Reality is like a petry dish experiment by god, trying to create a being equal to itself/separated from its own consciousness

>>22962209
There's a space crusade in Endymion, but it's only in the background.

>>22963662
His books involve a general trend of getting a bit better but also being so long that general exhaustion of interest will outpace the improvement.

Unironically how do you undergo a hard reset back to standard fantasy morals after hundreds of chapters of autistic chink perseverance, cynicism and cold blooded decisions in Reverend Insanity?

>>22965013
>reality is being dreamt by a cosmic intelligence
we elder scrolls now

Anyone read the Priory of the Orange tree? I like the art on the cover.

>>22965235
take a shower and touch grass

>>22965566
>>22965566
The consensus is that most find it to be very boring, even many of the women who it was intended for.

>>22965235
It's no good brother bug
>You're here forever

New!
>>22965678
>>22965678
>>22965678