/lit/ - Literature

>>6632021
>What SF/F books are you currently reading?
Against a dark background
>What SF/F books have you read this year?
Consider Phlebas
>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?
Banks/Baxter
>Recent purchases?
pic related
>Upcoming releases you're excited for?
The Long Utopia
>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?
Space Opera
>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?
It was all a dream

I was researching the fantasy genre, specifically High and Low fantasy and came across this from wiki.

>Critical interpretations
>Fantasy fiction that acknowledges the real world, low fantasy and portal fantasy, are especially attractive to those who are marginalised by society, particularly female writers[original research?].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_fantasy

So are there really a lot of female writers that do Low fantasy? It's so sad to hear that female writers are at such a disadvantage in society today.

Continuing random conversation from last thread:

Long Sun is the Iliad, Short Sun is the Odyssey.

>>6632068
I especially had never considered Long Sun as similar to the Iliad, though I have seen the Short Sun Odyssey comparisons at least once before. I'll have to give this some thought.

Is Silk the analogue to Achilles? And if so, who would be Agamemnon? If we take the real conflict of the Iliad as between Agamemnon and Achilles, does that also fit in with the narrative of Long Sun?
Have you read The God and His Man? I think one of the goals of Long Sun is similar to that, in that it explores several ways of government and society before settling upon the same crux that Master Malrubius's teachings rest upon: that the only allegiance worth having is to a higher being.

It's been a few years since I've read the Iliad and the Odyssey though so I could be staring this answers right in the face or something. Strangely enough I was planning on rereading the Iliad in a few days, so I might as well just read them both again.

>>6632094
I wouldn't say Achilles vs Agamemnon was the central conflict; it was mainly the 'Rage' of Achilles (His beef with Agamemnon was part of it however) But that was just what Homer used for his commentary of the idea of Heroism and Honour.

>>6632102
As I was writing it I had some doubts over how central it actually is. I suppose I meant more that the heroism/honor conflict could be viewed most succinctly in the differences between the two characters, that they sort of summarize the whole affair in a way that I can't view the conflict of Long Sun through.

I'll probably elaborate some more on it later, after waking up, because I think the different stages that occur throughout the four Long Sun volumes can be matched up at least superficially with many of the usual trappings Wolfe employs.

I spent 10 dollars buying the Kindle version of Starfish just to see its downloadable for free on the author's website. I feel pretty dumb tbh

Cosmerefag reporting in.

>>6631368
>non-genre books
But what about hard sci-fi stories from an established author who has a doctorate in Astrophysics?

>>6632021
>loves fantasy
>lurked in the last 2 threads from beginning to end
>OP starts this thread with leper R Donaldson
Fuck off with that book.

Just finished the dune series
the last 2-3 books were rather underwhelming
I was considering starting the foundation series soon, but might step away from sf/f books for a while and catch up on some essential lit/meme core

Is there anything like it at all? Really dug the whole 'iron-age thousands of years after the end' thing it had going.

Don't really care about plot or action, just want something that elaborates on how societies have developed over time.

>>6632500
I'm a huge fan of Greg Egan, he's written the hardest sci-fi I've ever read. Clockwork Rocket, Schild's Ladder or Incandescence are probably up your alley.

Wikipedia say's he's got a B Science in Mathematics, so take that as you will.

>>6632787
Nothing compares to RW. I got a bit of a fix reading Clockwork Orange and Trainspotting but that was just for the interesting uses of language.

>>6632787
Book of Dave is kinda similar in the vaguest sense.

>>6632814
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth has similar phoentic, "slang"-heavy prose. Just finished it the other day, I'd recommend it even if it's a bit dull at times.

>>6632021
Please switch up the questions each thread OP. The first question is really the only one worth keeping every time.

What's the best modern sci fi you have read? Written in the last ten years as an example.

I went through the picture in the op and most under the modern catagory are still quite old.

>>6633322
Tough one. I'd say probably Windup Girl, it's not the best sci-fi I've ever read but most of the stuff I read is from <1990.

Are the Black Company books any good?

>>6632038
>it was all a dream
Used to read sword-up magazine?

>>6632021
Could anyone recommend me some really hard sci-fi? I like Clarke a lot but I'm looking for something more sciencey

>>6633499
Yeah, I'm trying to find good sci fi that's recent but i'm struggling. Most of it sounds really boring.

>>6632799
I was asking that anon's opinion on authors who fit the criteria I listed. Sorry if it was confusing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_universe

Does anyone know of any fantasy series with elves and dwarves and all that generic shit but told from the perspective of like an elf that isnt one of those fucking tree huggers that hangs out with humans and isn't spewing poetry every second. Or some dwarf that doesn't dig and live in a mine.

>>6633518
Morgan and Gawain up at the round table?

>>6633518
Now Lancelot and Gawain are both fucking my queen?

>>6633714
Death Gate Cycle has elves (and I think dwarves) that don't conform to standard stereotypes but they don't exactly have perspectives in the context that I believe you want.

Regardless, it's a fucking good series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvacG_nhD34

>>6633510
Anyone? I'm thinking about buying them

>>6634529
They're excellent. Get the omnibuses.

So, did i do good /lit/?

>>6634631
eww

What's your favorite sci-fi of the last five years or so? Anything mind-blowing come out? Additions or starts to big series?

>>6634529
save yourself the time, the black company is shit

>>6634631
no

Best adventure/S&S books with a female protagonist?

i just read asimov's Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun and i was wondering if anyone had read the rest of the books in the series? it's just that after reading both those 2 they were essentially the same book and i'd rather go for something different. maybe the original robot shorts?

>>6633518
Under rated post super Nintendo Sega genesis.

>>6632021
Just about to finish up with Bolo!. Once that's out of the way I'm gonna go raid the local bookstore and see if I can find The Fall of Hyperion.

>>6635883
What is bolo? I've heard about an old computer game...

>>6635892
Bolo! is a collection of novellas about the titular Bolos, which are sentient battle tanks.
They're surprisingly heartfelt for stories about giant, futuristic tanks.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/49232-bolo

>none of Peter Watts' works are in the sci fi recommendation list
At the very least Blindsight should be on, if not that and Starfish.

Hey General, what are some fantasy stories where a pretender to the throne of a kingdom has to be kicked off by the rightful heir? I'm sure there are tons, but don't know any titles.

>>6636193
well there's always that series written by that fat man in the suspenders
an amusement of chairs or something i think

>>6636401
Not really what I had in mind. I'm looking for the sort of stories that would've inspired that.

i like books like enders game and lord of the rings
any advice on what i should read next?

>>6633628
Check out the NASA trilogy by Baxter, it can be read in any order. If you like geology start with moonseed.

I really liked dune but am not liking its sequel so far. Should I continue or read something else? If so, what?

>>6633510
Yes, you should read them.

Opinions on Kevin J. Anderson?

Reading Liveship at the moment and just waiting for it to end. It's not bad, but I'm only reading it as a gateway from Farseer to Tawny Man.

I've got three sci-fi books sitting on my shelf after I finish. Which one?
>Canticle for Leibowitz
>The Dispossessed
>Lord of Light

>>6633322
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan (and, if you like it, the next two Kovacs books)
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Also:
>>6635087
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway is one of my favourite novels.

>>6634631
Haven't read Weeks but his shit always looks awfully entry-level to me. Like the kind of thing you would read before even Jordan or Sanderson.

>>6635686
Liked God's War by Kameron Hurley, have yet to read the others in the series.
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman

>>6636193
Most high fantasy novels ever. But specifically:
Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
Lyonesse by Jack Vance had this, I think
The Long Prince Quarter by Daniel Abraham had something along those lines

>>6637097
I preferred Liveships to the Fitz books all up. Good work reading them in order, I read Tawny Man before it and there's a major fucking spoiler in there.

Lord of Light.

>>6637097
Canticle For Leibowitz was a great read

>>6637155
>>6637097

>Farseer Trilogy

Those are those books with the kid named Fitz that has everything bad that could possibly happen to him, happen, right?

I liked the worldbuilding but holy shit when all that awful stuff happened and they got to the third book and he was hit with a double whammy of the magic tea he'd been drinking had completely stunted his magic and the bit where his dog-partner shows up and all his friends stare at him like he's a monster I was just like "holy shit does the author have a fetish for this?"

>What SF/F books are you currently reading

Currently reading The Iron Council by China Mieville. His political interests obviously left a huge mark in his writing with this book. It's alright so far, but no Perdido Street Station or The Scar yet. I'm guessing it'll explode near the end though and rank up there with the rest.

>What SF/F books have you read this year?

Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson
Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire - Andrzej Sapzowski
Abaddon's Gate - James SA Corey
The Last Command - Timothy Zahn
The Lord of the Rings

>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?

Glen Cook for getting me into the Fantasy genre.
Steven Erikson for firmly keeping me there.

>Recent purchases?

Nothing lately, but once I'm finished with Iron Council I'm re-reading The Black Company Chronicles and Books of the South, then getting the last two Black Company omnibuses.

>Upcoming releases you're excited for?

Got nothing so far.

>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?

Military fantasy and non-traditional fantasy.

>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?

Too pleb to answer this.

I never read Sci-Fi, but picked up Snow Crash and am getting it started. I'm really loving the prose. Am I doing it right?

>What SF/F books are you currently reading
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

>What SF/F books have you read this year?
None.

>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?
Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, Joe Abercrombie, GRRM

>Recent purchases?
None.

>Upcoming releases you're excited for?
Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan

>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?
For SF I really like far flung future stuff like The Last Question by Asimov or For A Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny, for fantasy I'm down for anything.

>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

What are the best books by Fritz Leiber? and other similar books with thieves and stuff like that?

Is Mirrorshades worth reading or is it fedoracore?

>>6637358
Never read this but
"Sentences of Death by John Brunner
The Face of Chaos by Lynn Abbey
The Gate of the Flying Knives by Poul Anderson
Shadowspawn by Andrew Offutt
The Price Of Doing Business by Robert Asprin
Blood Brothers by Joe Haldeman
Myrtis by Christine DeWees
The Secret of the Blue Star by Marion Zimmer Bradley"

"Joe Haldeman"


I think you should give it a try

>>6637167
Yep, that one.

>>6637173
Yeah Snow Crash is good stuff.

>>6637358
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

>>6637398
Thanks, i already read it and really liked, dunno if i will read the sequels cause everyone is saying they're not as good as the first and i already have a lot of things to read.

>>6634631
Yes

>>6637402
I read the 2nd and was unimpressed. Well, the stuff in the city was good but the stuff at sea was shit. Heard worse things about the 3rd.

>>6637467
eh, it's a pity, the first one was really funny and i loved all the character and setting.

>>6637484
Eh, you may enjoy the second. As I said there's some great "heist" type stuff in the city half of the book, but there's a whole sea excursion which takes up the middle of the books with two annoying as fuck strong women stereotype characters who did my fucking head in.

>>6633691
Self-bump for you niggas who are interested in recent hard sci-fi, or we could even discuss it for the few of you who have read them.

I'm currently reading Shadow of the Torturer, enjoying it a lot mainly for the atmosphere but was Wolfe by any chance influenced by Meryvyn Peak? The descriptions of the castles, how bleak everything is and how ritual focused people are remind me so much of Gormenghast.

>>6638481
it's possible.

but the descriptions of castles and the rituals all serve another purpose as well.

>>6638481
Wouldn't surprise me if Wolfe had a little bit of Peake in his writing, but far as I can twll his biggest influences are Jack Vance (the setting) Proust (nature of memory) amd Borges(how one interprets myth)

>>6638697
Not that anon but what are the best books by Vance and Borges?

>>6638719

I've only read Labyrinths but I thought it was pretty good, I occasionally re-read some of the stories in there quite often, no idea about Vance, I was interested in buying Tales of the Dying Earth myself.

>>6638719
tales of the dying earth by vance and collected fictions of borges

Would you guys recommend the Dangerous Visions anthology?

>>6639441
yeah it has a lot of good stuff in it

What are some good books around robots?
I want a good book about a robot.

>>6639489
have you read anything by isaac asimov?

>>6640662

I read the first three Foundation books, but I heard the final book is a trainwreck.

>>6638719
Lyonesse by vance and Ficciones by Borges

>>6637155
>read Tawny man first

what the fuck is wrong with you?

>>6641492
This was over a decade ago and I had only just got into fantasy. Hobb was literally my 2nd author I moved onto after Tolkien. I didn't research or get suggestions for books online at that time - I just finished Farseer and saw that Liveships was in the same world but didn't have Fitz, so figured I could move onto Tawny Man. Read the first Tawny Man book then jumped back to Liveships to work out what the fuck I had missed.

Now I am but a broken soul who can do little other than steer today's wayward youth away from the same mistakes I made.

so i've been checking out all kinds of sci-fi and i just can't seem to pick one and go. i just read asimov's I, Robot and a couple of the other robot books and i could keep going with them but i'm more in the mood for something different.
here's what i got so far, some i've checked out and some i just threw in 'cause the title seemed neat.
2312 - Kim Stanley
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller
Accelerando - Charles Stross
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Soldier of the Mist - Gene Wolfe
Tau Zero - Poul Anderson
The Algebraist - Iain M. Banks
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Timescape - Gregory Benford
When HARLIE Was One - David Gerrold

what do you think? anything jump out as interesting? i'm big into AI, machines, study of motives and other philosophical stuff

>>6642002
Try Cherryh and tell us what you think.

What's a good science fiction series with a huge, realized world, interesting characters, and an exciting plot, that is popular enough that I could easily find as an audiobook, since I want this to listen to while I work out?

Is Sanderson good? I know he's popular, but that doesn't always mean good. I was thinking of reading the Stormlight Archive.

>>6642002
I haven't read any of those but I have 2312 and A Canticle on the to-read list, whatever that's worth to ya.

>>6642002
Tau Zero was great in concept, disappointing in execution.

>>6643045
>>6643316
>>6643330
well i started on Tau Zero, read about 20%, saw nothing interesting and dropped it. now i'm about 10% through with The Algebraist and it seems promising, very grand and i like the multiple stories that may or may not be more or less intertwined.

>>6643294
I am really into Sanderson at the moment.

I enjoyed both stormlight archive books. Just be warned he has a lot more of those books planned and he is going to take about 3 or so years in between each book. So it will be a very long time until the story is finished.

I also liked his mistborn series. I am in the process of re reading them and picking out details and foreshadowing i missed the first time around.

All in all, i don't think it will be a waste of time to at least try out Sanderson. Stormlight archive is a fine place to start.

So what is up with Malazan Book of the Fallen?

I started reading the first book and got about halfway through, then one day i just didn't pick it back up again. It seemed like there were 5 or 6 different plots going on at the same time, innumerable characters, and magic that made no sense.

When i started the book i felt like i accidentally started reading halfway through instead of at the beginning. The feeling only got worse as i continued.

I guess i just couldn't be bothered at the time.


I just keep hearing people push this series. Should i give it another go?

>Currently reading:

I guess it's sci-fi:

Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer, last part of the Southern Reach Trilogy.

About halfway through and really enjoying it. In fact, I've enjoyed all of the books so far. Engaging page-turners with the themes worked in intelligently (unknowable truth, paranoia, the effects of death on the living, nobody being trustworthy or stable).

Authority is probably my favorite so far. It's slower than the other two, but I loved the setting and the main character, Control. Just a flawed, regular guy trying to do his best with an extremely shitty situation. Trying to contend with the impossible. I liked that a lot. He reminds me of the protags of the more cynical New Hollywood films.

>Favorite Authors:

Dick, Asimov, Lovecraft. All the old standbys, basically. Also enjoyed the shit out of Ron Curry Jr.s stuff (particularly Everything Matters).

>>6643951
I've heard the first book is a slog and then starting with book 2 it's amazing, but you shouldn't skip book 1 because plot.

>>6643902
Agreed, currently finishing up the second book in the series and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

>>6643951
They're a mixed bag. I read the first four books and while I generally enjoyed them, I have never had an urge to pick up the fifth book and doubt that I will ever continue the series.

>>6643902
Nah he said he's now aiming for one SA book every two years

>>6643330
>>6643347
Tau Zero was pretty good. It was about character development, more than anything.

>>6643139
Revelation Space.

I recently read a book called blood song I loved it

>>6646609
Get book 2, 3 will be out soon
Anthony fucking Ryan.

>>6634631
You burned your money.

Why do people in this thread read so much trash? Or is that just for occasional fun?

>>6648123
it's not really exclusive to the thread, pal

>What SF/F books are you currently reading
Just finished the first Hyperion book (been meaning to read it for ages) and starting the second.

>What SF/F books have you read this year?
This year so far... The Three Body Problem (good first 3/4, wtf last 1/4), The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet (fun I guess), and the two Imperial Radch books out so far (Justice was slow, Sword was much better). Plus Hyperion (intense and meh by turns).

>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?
Ehhh

>Recent purchases?
Kindle copies of what I'm reading, pretty much.

>Upcoming releases you're excited for?
The next Imperial Radch book, I guess. I don't really know what the hell would be a satisfying end to Breq's story, though.

Also, I just read this preview for Locked In... haven't previously been a Scalzi fan but it was damn good: http://www.tor.com/2014/05/13/unlocked-an-oral-history-of-hadens-syndrome-john-scalzi/

>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?
Ehhhh

>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?
I like the one where he's an aardvark

>>6644043
Fuck yes, love the Southern Reach. Not many authors could leave that many question hanging without making me mad.

>>6632021
Eh I'm bored why not.

>>What SF/F books are you currently reading

Reading Dune for the first time. I'm enjoying it immensely, although is it true that only the first 3 books are good considering how it was envisioned as a trilogy?

>>What SF/F books have you read this year?

I read Gardens of Moon. Hated the shit out of it.

>>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?

Dan Simmons.

>>Recent purchases?

Bough the first 5 books of the Wheel of Time from a yard sale for like 10$. Gonna check 'em out after Dune.

>>Upcoming releases you're excited for?

Nothing really, so many shit I need to catch up first.

>>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?

Probably high fantasy.


>>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?

Gonna go vanilla but I'm gonna say "Once and Future King".

>>6648715
>Bough the first 5 books of the Wheel of Time
[tugging intensifies]

>>6643951
>I just keep hearing people push this series. Should i give it another go?

Don't. It's not worth it. To quote myself and another anon from /tg/:

The Malazan series is...difficult. It doesn't hold your hand and explain things, in fact it sometimes feels like Erikson is deliberately concealing things from the reader because he expects you to deduce things from hints he sprinkles through the books.

Let me put it this way: Erikson teaches a writing class where people have to write a story about two guys in a room with a corpse. The trick is that you have to write the story so that you never outright mention the corpse either in description or dialogue.

Nevertheless, the astute reader is supposed to be able to work out that you have placed a corpse you aren't mentioning in the room.

That's pretty much how the entire series is written.

Which is pretty much why I gave up on the series by the time he pulled a THIRD continent out of his ass.

The whole series feels like homework. Like you need to read it 5 times, have detailed maps of the worlds stapled on your walls and taking notes of all the shit that's happening all the while Erikson makes it INCREDIBLY difficult to keep track of shit that's happening on the pages. And on top of that his writing itself feels really dry.

Like for all the shit /tg/ gives Jordan for his braid pulling and fillers at least he hada very fun, descriptive style so that you always feel immersed in the world, while Erikson feels like he's constantly going "What up faggot you want to know about my world, go fuck yourself I ain't telling shit!".

Really don't like that series.

>>6642002
banks in general is fucking brilliant.

whenever i'm lost for something to read on a plane journey or something, i just read one of his culture novels.

only got 2 left though so need to find a new series to fill this important role.

>>6634631
i like the lighbringer series
but the third book is fucking shit, worthless filler
i kid not, it opens with main guy in a prison and ends with him in prison, nothing fucking happened

i hate when authors do this, squeeze in one more book into trilogy for the monies

>>6649547
>three book series turned into a four book series
>NOW a trilogy

>>6634631
>Night Angel
Does this get any good? I read the first 50 pages but just found it silly how edgy the story was trying to be.

>>6649879
First 50 pages are actually only good part of entire triligy
Not even trying to joke here

>>6649787

Yeah well try being a Wheel of Time fan and reading the books as they were coming out.

>hey I have this super simple story that can be wrapped up in 4 to 5 books. I know let's DRAG IT THE FUCK OUT WOO WOOO 20+ BOOKS HERE WE COOOO *huuurgh dead*

Is Book of the New Sun good for new reader?

>>6648889
what's your favorite culture novel?

>>6650454
No.

>>6650454
New read of scifi, or just a new reader in general?

I guess this is the right thread to ask...

I want to start reading Discworld. What are the best ones to purchase to start with?

>>6650650
Guards Guards Guards

>>6650646
Latter

>>6650650

Start from the beginning!

>>6650454
>>6650719
No.

>>6632054
I think it was more common in the US during the height of the civil rights movement. Outside of that context I can't say whether that statement is true or not, though.

>>6650752
What if I've been reading for 23 years, and read quite a bit of sci-fi as a kid, but haven't read a lot lately aside from college coursework (I'm still a student because of some medical shit I won't go into; it's handled now)?

>>6650788
Have you read Borges? Are you familiar with Plato's theory of forms? Have you read jack Vance? The Bible? South American mythology? Are you well versed in the trappings and cliches of both fantasy and science fiction, especially works written before 1965?

I'm overselling it to an extent. There's a lot to The Book of the New Sun, but most of it is hidden beneath a fairly accessible narrative. But it's still not really a good place to start, even if you've read for as long as you have.

>>6650788
Then yeah, go ahead.

>>6650810
>Borges?
No.
>forms?
Yes.
>Vance?
No.
>The Bible?
Yes.
>South American mythology?
Very little.
>trappings and cliches
A bit.
>>6650906
Kay.

>>6650933
Yeah, you'll just miss a few allusions, no big deal.

WHAT ARE THE BEST MILITARY SCI-FI BOOKS?

PREFERABLY ONES WITH POWER ARMOR

>>6650933
Eh, you'll probably be fine then. As I said, the superficial story is really engaging so many of the finer points are completely missed on the first reading. And it does need to be read several times to fully understand a lot of it. So go ahead.

>>6651004
Haven't really read many. Age of Zeus by James Lovegrove is kinda fun.

>>6650719
Its advanced.

>>6650810
One doesn't need to completely understand it to enjoy the surface story.

Other stuff referenced:
Moby Dick
Frankenstein
King Arthur

>>6651069
Yeah that's why I said I was overstating it. I think a lot of the enjoyment comes from knowing what's being referenced where but the story itself is also really captivating and interesting.

I had forgotten completely about the reference to Frankenstein. That was a good part.

Stephen Donaldson's only real claim to fame is the fact that the only protagonist people even remember him writing was shown as a rapist early on in the book

Just started the wheel of time a couple days ago. Normally I don't read alot of high fantasy, but found the first five books at a thrift store. So I decided to buy the first one to see if it's any good. A day later I'm 500 pages in and had to run back to the store to get the other four.

I tried reading the Lord of the rings but could never get through it. I never cared one bit for any of the characters. It's the total opposite for the wheel of time.

I know in the later books has a lot of filler and drags a bit. What book does that start?

>>6651203
after book 5 or so it drags on and on. it gets better after sanderson picks it up. i have no clue how, but sanderson actually managed to give the series a decent ending and tied up almost all of the loose ends and storylines out there.

im glad i read the entire series but in the middle there it really drags. get ready for a lot glares, braid pulling, and skirt smoothing.

>>6651203
>A day later I'm 500 pages in and had to run back to the store to get the other four.
I like to imagine that you literally did run there.
>I know in the later books has a lot of filler and drags a bit. What book does that start?
Probably around number 6.

>>6651402
Honestly if I had to I probably would have. I stayed up most of the night reading. It was like I was a kid getting into a new book. That's hard to come by after reading so many different series over the years.

>>6651004
Anything by Aaron Dembski-Bowden with the exception of Emperor's Gift which was awful.

Dan Abnett's Iron Snake Trilogy is enjoyable.

The Old Classic is Starship Troopers, but I personally never cared for.

I enjoy Nick Kyme's Salamander series but that's a personal preference.

>>6651004
Helsreach by Aaron Dembeski Bowen

>>6636567
What did you like about them?
>Enders Game - non-retaded Mil-SF

The Forever War
The Mote In God's Eye

>The Lord of the Rings - Epic Fantasy

The Worm Ourobouros
Lyonesse

>>6650650
>>6650732

DON'T start with the begging. The prose wasn't very good until Pratchet god hold of his own style and developted it. I started with Mort myself and I had no problem in either follow it or loving the shit out of it.

>>6651203

The series becomes borderline unreadable from book 6 till book 11.

Crossroad to Twilight is infamous for the fact that it literally 800 pages of absolutely fucking nothing happening and "something might happen in the next book so stay tuned".

If you can force youself to slog though it you'll do fine, but if you start to get bored just read the wiki or something or get the audio books until you get though the bullshit period and into the final 4 books which are pretty good.

>>6651892
I say start with guards guards and then only read the watch books, because they are the best.

>>6651899
I seem to recall a book that covered only like 3 days and fuck all happened apart from Rand teleporting around talking to people.

>>6636809
>Dune sequels
Drop it if you can't finish it. You either like them or you don't, and they won't get better.

Try Lord of Light or The Dispossessed.

>>6637041
He's a hack.

>>6637173
Yes, but be warned that Stephenson is probably the worst professional author around at writing endings.

>>6637369
It's worth it. Very 80s, but in a good way.

>>6639441
Yes. Try to avoid the SF Masterworks if you can (you might not if you want a physical copy), they used some weird cheap lamination method for the cover that peeled off immediately and the binding sucks for a trade paperback.

>>6643139
Dune

>>6651944

Is it true that Dune was meant as a trilogy and that all books after the third one is just asspulls?

>>6651944
>He's a hack.

Elaborate?

>>6651988
It's absolutely true.

>>6651999

So if I liked the first two books, do I read the third one and call it quits, or is it worth reading them till the end?

>>6652026
If you liked the first two you'll like them all cause it's all the same escapist garbage tbh

>>6650454
its not good, period
its one of those titles you should only reach for if you already read everything else and have nothing to do

>>6650650
only the books about the guards and moist are worth your time, rest can be easily skipped
oh and dont read them in order, some are really, really fucking bad

>>6651924

Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart, Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams could've EASILY been one book.

That's almost 5000 pages worth of fucking nothing that could've easily been one 1000 pages book. Fuck COT has SO LITTLE story it could've been ONE CHAPTER of a book.

I keep saying it, but WOT need a re-write. The first 5 books are good but everything after can easily be condensed into 2 books without losing any of the important story detail and end up with a much more enjoyable series in the end.

>>6651004
Armor by John Steakley.

>>6652026
Try God emperor as well, it's as good as the first three, in my opinion.

Heretics and chapterhouse aren't any good.

Started reading this recently. I'm really digging her writing style.

>>6652511
Forgot my pic.

>Questions to consider
>>What SF/F books are you currently reading
Nemesis games by SA corvey. It's OK I guess.
>>What SF/F books have you read this year?
All the laundry files by Charles stross
The eshaton series by Charles stross
Rapture of the nerds
Book of the new sun
Illium/olympos
Revelation space series
Against a dark background by Ian m banks
A bunch of culture novels by Ian m banks
Seveneves by Neal stephenson
>>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?
William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Alistair Reynolds, heinlein, and gene wolfe
>>Recent purchases?
Nemesis games, seveneves, the star fraction
>>Upcoming releases you're excited for?
The end of all things by John scalzi. Sometime in august. It's in the old man's war universe.
>>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?
New space opera, cyberpunk, and hard space fiction. Three way tie.
>>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?
Dude what. I really liked the once and future king. Haven't read into them beyond that.
>>6632021

>>6646603
>revelation space
My nigga. Alistair Reynolds is in my opinion the best writer of the new space opera. I mean the man used to work for the ESA for crying out loud. Revelation space is god tier, pushing ice is good, house of suns is meh, and terminal world is great in a pulpy kind of way. Just read slow bullets and it was mediocre.
His new series about the space Africans is garbage. Still going to buy it though. God I wish he'd get back to the RS universe.
May sky Hausmann bless you my friend.

I read the zones of thought series (by Vernon vinge) a while ago and I fucking loved it. Children of the sky was a bore tho. Anyone know if he is planning on writing any more in the series?

>>6632038
Against a dark background is my favorite Ian m banks novel. And consider phlebas is tied with use of weapons for my favorite culture novel.
>next Novel you should read is use of weapons by IMB

>>6632787
Try a deepness in the sky by Vernon vinge. It's more space opera than anything but it focuses on the development and decline of cultures over time.

>>6636781
Thanks anon!

>>6652861
I'm very slowly reading Pushing Ice right now.

I wish he'd get back to RS, too. He's said in his FAQ that he would like to but it's been almost a decade since his last RS novel.

Just bought this on Amazon

Is it good?

>Doing Couch to 5k
>listening to Stormlight Archive while I run

You guys, we can get /fit/ and indulge in our nerdy shit at the same time.

Is Prince of Thorns worth a read?

>>6632021
>recommendations
>pictureforants.jpg

why?

>>6653684
yes, but dont take it seriously

>>6653710
They're large for me. I think it's on your end

>>6653710
you know, your mouse pointer turns into a magnifying glass for a reason

>>6652871
Vinge has said he wants to (thus probably is) writing two more novels in that universe.

Anyone got a link to epub/mobi version of Joe Abercrombie's Half the World?

>>6635943
He's pretty good at descriptive prose but completely clueless when dialogue and characters are concerned. He makes a good setting and then pisses it away. He's also a weak plotter, the ending to Starfish is laughable.

>>6653043
Great book. He's said that he wants to return to that universe as well, and there's plenty of room for sequels at the end of the book, but RS is by far is best book. I hope he cranks out a dozen more novels before he croaks.

I saw the trailer. Not sure why download and start reading, i'm at 15%~, pretty ok so far, more like survivalist guide than sci-fi I guess. I'm not usually the type of the guy who read this kind of shit but it is enjoyable how ''light'' it is.

>>6632021
>filename

>>6632021
Are those charts for ants?

Also, why does it seem like modern fantasy is moving away from young protagonists? Old protagonists make me feel like I've been dropped into the middle of a story already going on.

>What SF/F books are you currently reading
Reading Pandora's Star and His Magesty's Dragon.

>What SF/F books have you read this year?
Spin and The Ocean at the End of the Lane

>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?
J. V. Jones, Neil Gaiman, and Lev Grossman

>Recent purchases?
Pandora's Star

>Upcoming releases you're excited for?
The next Sword of Shadows book, whenever Jones stops being a cunt and finishes it.

>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?
Low fantasy

>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?
Ancient Aliens

>>6654965
we've already answered this
the charts are not for ants, your mouse becomes a magnifying glass for a reason

Can someone point me towards a book that's like either of the following?

>urban fantasy/sci-fi with intricate mythology (must not take place in a traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy world)
or
>a blend of quantum physics and fantasy where the author clearly knows a reasonable amount about both

bonus points if the setting is noir because I'm genre fiction trash

>>6655357
for urban fantasy i guess perdido street station is good enough

i have no idea about which noir has 'intricate mythology'

I finished the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and thought it was pretty good, but I didn't read any of the other stuff besides the 10 main books. Should I just start with Night of Knives or is there a recommended order?

So like, other than Dune what are some Sci-Fi series set in universes similar to Star Wars (more elements of Fantasy and the Mystical and less of a focus on technology)

>>6655734
C.S. Lewis's the space trilogy is full of the mystical and magic, fantasy without technology. the only criteria is doesnt meet is a big universe full of planets, it's got the solar system at best, and if you don't like christian undertones, you won't like it

>>6655748
I'm not an antitheist so thats fine.

>>6650658
Actually that's the one I've just read. I loved it, but I love dragons too.

>>6651892
Well I got The Colour of Magic too so I guess I'll continue with it now. Maybe it won't be as good as Guards but at least I know it's not the best.

>>6652084
Which ones are really bad? I purchased Colour of Magic, Guards Guards, Wyrd Sisters and Raising Steam (and then I found out it's the last one, lol).

>>6651994
He's a technically competent but unimaginative professional author who makes a living churning out large quantities of formulaic mediocre-to-bad novels.

Maybe some of his stuff is decent, but frankly the incompetence of his Star Wars tie-in novels put me off of him when I was in junior high, his Dune "sequels" are universally derided by anyone that knows how to read, and my time is too valuable to me to go searching for quartz in a pile of KJA's dreck.

>>6654730
I needa read dat book now

>>6655734
Try Vance. Demon Princes and Dying Earth.

>>6655357
I don't know shit about quantum physics so I can't really help you with that.

For the first two, I guess The Book of the New Sun and Richard Morgan's A Land Fit For Heroes may suffice, but maybe not. Both are a bit of a blend of sci-fi and fantasy in that they are set mega far in the future.

>>6655562
Haven't read them but usually for any series going with the order in which they're published is for the best.

>What SF/F books are you currently reading

Just finished The Liar's Key an hour ago so I have to choose my next one now. Honestly I have a itch to read some more Murakami next but theres a lot of SFF waiting as well. I'll probably do Ender's Game next. Besides that The Black Company has been waiting forever on my shelf and I should probably read a few of the Dune sequels before I forget too much

>What SF/F books have you read this year?

Dune, Elantris, The Great Book of Amber, Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, The Autumn Republic, The Liar's Key

>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?

Zelazny, Mark Lawrence, Peter S Beagle

Small list but I haven't read multiple books of many authors honestly. GRRM and Rothruss are both faggots (well, GRRM is just lazy I suppose) and my feelings on their series soured over the years, Scott Lynch could easily go the same way as those two, Abercrombie is good but I don't exactly love him, Hobb I don't really care for outside of the Fitz books. Some others like Grossman aren't worth mentioning

I still haven't tackled some giants like Asimov and LeGuin, and I've been too intimidated to start Wolfe so there's hope I find a new favorite in there. Sanderson as well I have a feeling might become a favorite

>Upcoming releases you're excited for?

I have Blood Song and the two Django Wrexler books that I won in a giveaway (The Thousand Names and the other I forgot the name of) sitting waiting for the final books to be released so I can read each series in one go. Both are being released early next month so I suppose I'm excited about that. Hyped for The Thorn of Emberlain late this year. I wouldn't say I'm "excited" for Robin Hobb's next one but more anxious and hopeful it's not as bad/disappointing as Fool's Assassin was

>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?

Most of what I've read falls into high/epic fantasy I suppose although I don't exactly seek it. I've enjoyed the small amount of military fantasy I've read quite a bit

I started reading The Martian and it's a fairly surprising case of plot taking over the prose completely. It reads like a book written by popular science youtuber that's done some research into biotech. I can imagine his daily vlogs getting slew of upboats on ribbit science boards.

>>6657292
Black Company has excellent first book, two next books are very good and then a more noticeable fall in quality and concept. Wolfe is the only great author that ever wrote fantasy. Not much to be intimidated about. Ender's Game is a smart book and if you know how Dota works you might find some interesting parallels in game design.

Books similar to this?

(Ah, where can i get this edition?)

I'm looking for a fantasy novel
But i don't want any of that knights and honor stuff, like LotR and ASOIAF
Basically something that doesn't remind me of the medieval era

Any good ideas?

>>6657551
Similar style:
Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy
The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan
The Grim Company by Luke Scrull
The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas
The Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes

Stories about two buddies who are rogues/thieves that get caught up in deadly adventures? Try Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stuff.

>>6657750
Yeah loads. Can you be more precise?

>>6657897
For example urban fantasy, where it's a modern setting but there just happens to be a monster or something
Could also be something from like the tribal ages, but not between medieval and industrial revolution or futuristic

Also, i like monsters, especially if they've taken inspiration from real-life myths or something

If you have something about a wendigo, or a goatman, or some other mad shit, i guess that would be cool

>trying to come up with names for a fantasy novel

Seriously just kill me now.

>>6657971
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan is really good.

What about historic stuff that's not euro-centric? Daniel Fox's Books of Stone and Water are based on feudal China and are underrated as tits.

>>6657897
Thanks a lot m8

>>6633628

Go and read you some Larry Niven.

hey m8s, where does Islands in The Net place as far as cyberpunk literature go? Is it more Snow Crash or Necromancer?

>>6655357
As far as urban fantasy goes Kraken by China Meiville's pretty good; Egyptian labour unions, squid death cults, cockney assassins and some other weird shit all intermingling in London. Meiville's prose is a bit obnoxious tho imo, it tries too hard to be pulpy and weird in a lot of places.

Maybe Nine Prices of Amber or Hyperion for you second request? Can't really think of anything like it though.

>>6654709
How is it? Premise sounds decent but I've heard iffy things about it.

>>6652880
Cheers bro, I'll have to add it to my list then.

>>6658016
No probs. Small disclaimer, I wouldn't necessarily recommend any of those books outside of Abercrombie and Morgan, although I haven't read Tome of the Undergates yet. They're just all written in that same modern, gritty, sometimes comedic style as Lynch with lots of fighting and swearing and fucking.

>>6658004
>>6657971
Also maybe China Mieville's Perdido Street Station for a story with monsters in a non-medieval setting.

>>6650520

Not the first guy you were talking to, but these days its Surface Detail. It used to be Use of Weapons, the one I'm pretty sure most would agree is the best, but Surface Detail is just a little bit more fun.

>>6658041
ah, (always me), what book of the Sword series from Leiber should i read?
They're standalone so i dont know if it's worth reading all of them

>>6658004
>>6658041
What kind of era does Last Werewolf look like?

Non-euro i guess is alright, might even accept some early 1900s of america

What's Perdido Street Station and Stone and Water about?

>What SF/F books are you currently reading?

None, my reading habits are not SF/F exclusive.

>What SF/F books have you read this year?

Creatura, The Stars My Destination, A Search for the King.

>Who are your favorite SF/F authors?

Asimov, Banks, Zelazny, Tolkien, Anthony.

>Recent purchases?

Creatura, The Stars My Destination, A Search for the King.

>Upcoming releases you're excited for?

None. I'm pretty much all after market or used.

>What is your favorite subgenre of SF/F?

Post-apocalypse.

>What are your favorite interpretations of the Arthurian Legends?

Twain's.

>>6658103
basically world of darkness with flashbacks to romanticism.

perdido street station is about a city, genetic ingeneering, 'weird' fiction and hamfisted marxist views on how best to run a society.

>>6658099
I haven't read them but The First Book of Lankhmar is probably a good place to start.

>>6658103
Last Werewolf is modern day. It's urban fantasy/horror.

Perdido Street Station is mainly about a scientist, his insectoid girlfriend and his birdman warrior best mate who unwittingly create some nightmare-moths that they then need to try and figure out how to catch and destroy. Best part of this book and the sequels is the world building. There's some interesting as fuck ideas in there.

Stone and Water is, plot wise, fairly standard fantasy fare about a deposed Emperor and a cast of characters such as fisher girl who becomes the Emperor's concubine, a slave boy who befriends a dragon and a village kid who accidentally becomes super powered. It's mainly memorable for it's gorgeous prose and Chinese (rather than European) inspiration, and also it does dragons better than most fantasy books I've read.

>>6658025
>>>6654709
>How is it? Premise sounds decent but I've heard iffy things about it.
It is ok, I don't really have knowledge about science to know if the shit he does to survive is possible or just magic, but most seems very plausible. The tone is good, I'm 25% and sometimes there are some cringeworthy passages.

Seems like the write is driving the story sometimes instead of the story going on in his natural way. I'm not a english pro, since it is my second nature so I can't really say much about the prose, but I didn't find anything that made me want to vomit so far.

>>6658020
Thanks, will do
Ringworld a good start?

How do the Revelation Space sequels compare to the first book?

I thought RS was fine but I wasn't too enthralled. The writing and specifically imagery was good and memorable, but the actual plot felt very weak and thin to me. I was hoping/expecting something more "epic" - do the other books deliver on that? Worth reading y/n?

>>6658046
okay thanks

>>6658099
they're all worth reading, i think, but start with swords and deviltry if you can find it

What's the general consensus on ASOIAF?

I'm curious about trying it since it's popular but I don't normally read long series, trilogy at most. I keep hearing how the last two books are really bad so i'm hesitant to invest.

>>6658934
they're alright if you like a large amount of chapters that go nowhere, lots of pointless shock value deaths, and generally poor writing
/lit/ used to like the series until the show came out, if that's of any interest

Any recommendations for an average reader trying to into space scfi?

>>6658934
first three (four) books are really good genre fiction. i'd also suggest reading grrm's short stories.

after that he lost interest/talent/focus and now it reads like a slashfic. he ruined most of the characters by inadvertently making them of feeble mind.

>>6659024
Hyperion

>>6659003
Well, I can't say you've interested me.

Guess i'll just stick to my shorter books.

>>6659071
I'll check out his shorter stories but I don't really want to read 3-4 long fantasy books if he fucks it up, thanks.

>>6657551
>lock lamora
>first book
Lock is successful but naive thief with strong morals who steals to punish the rich corrupt ruling class, yet even he will risk his life rather to see them die
>second book
Lock is psychopath mass murderer, assassin warrior and a pirate, responsible for deaths of hundreds of people and personally ordering pirate assaults on innocent people for fun
>third book
Lock back to normal, lets pretend nothing ever happened
no wait, hes the CHOSEN ONE

Seriously, was there any series where the protagonist goes 180 in span of a day for no reason at all other than the plot demanding it?
Its as if the author decided he wants to write a book about pirates mid way into the second book, but was too lazy to start a new series.

Then again the whole series is shit, hands down the biggest contender to "wasted potential award" i ever read. Such a strong start into such a fucking shitty ending into god fuck awful sequel.

Can I get some recommendations here? Loved Sharpe and Gaunts Ghosts, first couple Black Company books.

Really prefer musket lines and such, but decently realistic portrayel of strategy and logistics from the perspective of officers I guess is the point. Dick ass mercs is always fun too.

>>6654469
Mind telling me what made the ending laughable?

>>6660582
Sure, it's pretty much YA shit, but the Powder Mage books were a fun read.

Howdy, /lit/. Anyone got news on the next Kingkiller book? Fucking Rothfuss, I'm so excited for it, but at the same time I hope he doesn't put some stupid 75 page sex scene in there again.

>>6661472
is there really a 75 page sex scene in one of his books?

>>6661662
It's pretty shit, but yes.

>>6654672
It would be fantastic to get more books regarding Greenfly.

>>6661662
Lol something like that. There are multiple lengthy segments of complete and utter filth in that series.

>>6661703
What else was shit besides the sex? Tarbean was too fucking long, but I'm a pleb so I'm not sure what else was bad.

>>6661716
>Oh Denna~
>Let me spend what feels like one-fourth of an entire FUCKING NOVEL to hunt and slay this dragon so you'll smile at me :))))
>let me help this special snowflake homeless bitch out for no raisin
>while I spend nine hundred pages in each book wondering how I'm going to afford Hogwarts this year!
>everything going right for him no matter the situation because 10 LUK
I'd like to stop typing now.

>>6661734
Thanks for educating me anon. Is my taste just so shit that I didn't even notice? How do I git less pleb?

>>6661696
>>6661703
wow that sounds awful

>>6661744
Read better books. Unfortunately, you sometimes have to read books before finding out how shitty they are but your taste will grow and increase with time.

>>6661472
Why would you still care about it?

Rothfuss has outed himself to being a total faggot, and this isnt just >hurr sjw boogeyman he's actually a giant faggot and somehow even lazier than GRRM

The books aren't even that good once you read more in the genre and realize how much of an annoying Gary Stu Kvothe is and how the second book was 500,000 words of fucking filler

just checkin' in to say that rothfuss is, in fact, Real Bad as a writer even by the laughably low standards of mainstream epic fantasy

anyway, props to you crazy fucking nerdlords for keeping this shit alive. sincerely, that's really impressive.

>>6661472
>next Kingkiller book
I honestly gave up on the series.
The second one was such a fucking blunder i just dont see any way to recover from it, its obvious he had no fucking idea where to go,, he had nothing planned except the beginning

And having half the fucking book about Kvothe having sex with different people felt like a slap in the face. Write your fucking erotic fiction somewhere else Rothfuss you cunt.

>>6662089
>how much of an annoying Gary Stu Kvothe is
>didnt play on his guitar for a years since small kid
yey im such musician even animals crie ;_;
>1 year at Hogwarts
yey im the best wizard in the world
>2 months training in sword fight
yey im the best warrior in the world
>a virgin
yey im the best lover in the world, im such a sex machine i seduced a god

...
Its honestly taking the piss.
Why i get he can be an amazing musician and talented wizard.
Having him be a fucking prodigy in every thing he touches seem more like self parody than anything to be taken seriously.
On that matter a female warrior society who are always have sex with everybody is just taking the piss. You want me to believe they fight and train while pregnant and dont have 90% infant and mother mortality rate? Seriously, ether write porn or fantasy.

What are the top five most important things to get right when writing a fantasy novel?

>>6662866
The world should be only backdrop to what you want to talk about
Don't do infodumps
The rest is like for any other novel

>>6662298
>porn isn't fantasy

>>6662298
>what is unreliable narrator

>>6662866
1. The spelling. If you start spelling stuff wrong you're fucked.
2. Series length. You need a minimum of 3 books but preferably at least 10.
3. A cool sounding title. If you can't think of one, ____ Of _____ always works (just use two badass words to fill in the blanks eg. Blood of Swords or something).
4. Make sure to include a romantic interest for your main character.
5. Remember, worldbuilding is more important than characters or plot. Build your world first, spend at least a year doing it before starting on the actual novel itself. If your world isn't believable, you aren't believable.

>>6663158

Anon are you...being facetious?

>>6663166
No, he's, like, 100% serious like.

P.S. http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/aspergers-syndrome/, please, please get yourself checked.

>>6663013
He isn't an unreliable narrator, there is nothing to point to that outside of the whole story being so moronic the only way to rationalize it is say the narrator is unreliable.

>>6662298
I lucked out and had sex for an hour and 45 minutes the first time I had sex. She came three times. I had trouble getting off because I was nervous and was a natural at oral. It's less impressive when you add that in.

It's also way easier to seduce a girl than to get a date. I want a relationship but I often end up just making out with girls who don't want anything serious.

>>6663208
the writer said so himself. jesus fuck.

>>6662866
world mechanics
avoid maps
avoid lore exposition
compelling characters
avoid tyrions
read first book of black company to see how it's done
read wizard of earthsea to see how to deal with magic
be a great writer like wolfe

>>6663521
>avoid tyrions

Explain this one

>>6663532
also see glokta in abercrombie's schlock
'tyrion' is a character that seemingly breaks the mold - anti hero that is also severely disadvantaged yet obtains reader's sympathy throug inner monologue, is cunning versus more fortunate simpletons, an occasional rapscallion and enough well-off to be able to indulge in outsider fantasies of a reader who slobbers over the concept while proclaiming novel's boldness and uncanny qualities. a self-insert neckbeard (not necessarily for writer himself; martin's self-insert is that suet-bellied braavosi merchant and abercrombie is just an imitator lacking his own voice).

i apologize for sounding like tvtropes retards. 'tyrion' is too vague. but i think it's becoming a trend. everyone's gotta have their malicious cripple with a heart of gold.

>>6663387
>I lucked out and had sex for an hour and 45 minutes the first time I had sex.
things that never happened for 200$ you say?
listen you twat, even if you have no feeling in your dick there is no way you would have enough strength to go for 45minutes first time
hell, i have problems to keep up that long and im cut as fuck
and natural at oral? what are you, the national oral sex champion to know that?

>It's also way easier to seduce a girl than to get a date.
the fuck does this even mean, if you do seduce a girl its pretty likely she is interested in you, and if she wants a quick fuck then you didnt seduce shit, any hot guy would do

bottom line the problem isnt him not cumming in 10 seconds or anything, thats not what mean, the problem is him being such an amazing lover he seduced an ancient being with more experience than 10 whore houses combined
come on, most young guys have no fucking clue how a pussy looks or works if they dont watch porn every day, and back then there was no porn

>>6664286
>Insecurity, the post (2015)

>>6664291
how is my post insecure, if anything its angry seeing how in defense of this craptastic book i get a guy bragging and obviously over coloring his own sexual experiences
since fuck logical arguments, right?
stop projecting if you feel insecure for what ever reason

>>6664286
He means its easier to have a one night stand than find a good girl to date.

>>6664328
yeah i get what his second part mean, but how it relates to anything at all and especially the book is another thing entirely
also its not true, its not easier to fuck someone than to get a date
setting up a date is easy, especially today with all the social media we have, but bedding a chick is not, you need at lest half decent looks and some game to pick up a girl even at a party

then again there are those fucking raves and hard parties where you can once in a while spot a chick so fucking wasted she will do anything, but that isnt exactly a reliable way to find a fuck buddy, is it now?

Bump

Best Star Wars tie ins?

Has anyone ever read The Night Angel Trilogy and do you think it's worth checking out?

>>6665660
lol

BumpiNo

>>6663516
The writer is a retard. Things he says are irrelevant if there is no textual evidence. And since it reads like a fan fiction of a teenage boy I doubt he has the mental capacity to pull anything worthwhile.

>>6665660

Thrawn Trilogy?

Can the person who makes the next thread add new questions to the OP? I only used the Arthurian question since that was the edition of thread 2

>>6668042
>The writer is a retard. Things he says are irrelevant if there is no textual evidence.
Rly? "Death of le author"? In my /lit/? Looks like the retard here is you.

>>6668042
>things writer says are irrelevant

and I thought rothfuss was a cultural marxist

I've always had this idea of writing my fantasy story as an in-universe non-fiction history book, would this be too gimmicky? Has it been done before?

>>6668332
What isn't in the novel itself is irrelevant.
>>6668332
What is cultural Marxism anyway? And I agree that death of the author is shit and we can look at things knowing about the author (for example Rothfuss is a writer who hasn't read any actual literature in decades and thus we can doubt his claims about whatever deep themes and literally devices he failed to implement properly). That doesn't mean anything he says about his novel is actually true.

>>6668262
I said this before.

Only question that should stay is what are you currently reading.

>>6668415
I think GRRM recently beat you to it with The World of Ice & Fire.

Worth reading?

I just got my first proposal rejection for my novel.

I guess it was useful going for their criteria anyway, helped me figure out how I'm trying to pitch it.

Onto the next agent.

>>6651004
Neal Asher Books
And
BV Larson Undying Mercenaries series

anyone here read Ancillary Sword? i just finished Ancillary Justice having gone back after dropping it and reading A Mote in God's Eye, Old Man's War and a couple of Asimov's robot books between and it turned out to be alright. i'm kinda interested in how it all turns out but also worried.

>>6649943
Plz go to your DFW, Joyce and translation threads.

This is a fantasy General not the pretentious General (where you try to sound as patrician as possible)

>>6668528
>what is cultural marxism

start with school of resentment
read two opening chapters to western canon
if you must, read up on structuralism and post-structuralism

>>6668528
I agree about Rothfuss being a shit writer, but I think it's fairly obvious he's pushing Kvothe as an unreliable narrator. Of course due to his shit writing Kvothe sounds ludicrous, not subtle like Severian. And you know the sweaty-bearded retard jerks off to Kvothe and m'ladies.

>>6669473
*bloom's western canon

>>6668878
yep

>>6668168
They're okay but haven't aged well.

>>6665660
Bounty Hunter Wars, Episode III novelisation (the only post-facto novelisation I've ever seen successfully redeem a film)

>>6632054

>Madeleine L'Engle
>Ursula K. Le Guin
>Michelle Sagara
>Celia S. Friedman
>J.K. Rowling
>Robin Hobb

They seem to have no problem writing high fantasy.

>>6670411
just ignore him

>>6669477
He may be pushing it, but he isn't pulling it off. At least not in any meaningful way.

What're the best erotic Fantasy books?

>>6671334

Lord Foul's Bane

So should someone make a new thread or what?

I read some stuff relating to war against the Chtorr lately, good stuff, the creator said he was almost done with A Method for Madness in a few weeks *knocks on wood* tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

>>6672134
i mean i guess

>>6672134
When the thread reaches 300

What's /sf&f/ opinion on this?

Recently finished this. It's about a girl whose whole family and village is slaughtered by her grandfather, and she is sent to track him down and bring him to justice.

It's a very different read to most fantasy. Very dark, violent, not much humour - all reflective of the main character. It's told in an unreliable first person narrator style, it's very fragmented and often jumps back and forth in time. Reminds me in some ways of Wolfe both in that narration and in terms of the writing style (I hate saying that as Wolfe's name is so often invoked here, but he's the closest comparison). The world building and cultures presented also have some inventiveness, they're not your standard medieval fantasy fare. A re-read will definitely be needed to get the most out of it. Will definitely read more by this chap.

>>6673535

Does she kill him?

Anything by Brandon Sanderson that is worth reading/checking out?

>>6673872
Nothing

>>6673535
now I have to try it out

you do sound like western indie video game dev pitching his kickstarter though with that namedropping

>>6673535
got a link to epub/mobi?

>>6653125
That's a cool cover

How do I into Vorkosigan saga? There seems to be a contingent tat recommends just reading in publication order and another that says to read them in their internal chronological order.

>>6673158
I like it a lot, its fun like the broken empire series

>>6673535
Basically a retarded version of Swanwick?
Noice

>>6673543
Yes.

>>6673946
Thanks, that's what I was going for.

>>6673951
No, sorry, I have the actual paperback.

>>6674093
If in doubt, publication order.

Different questions for the start of the next thread please. Thanks!

>>6674217
What is the best Swanwick novel?

Just started a booktube trying to get into fantasy.
Shameless self-promotion, I know, but I really want to do good, and would like some criticism.
Anybody?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS4bBzr3BYo

>>6674960
Just started watching anon.
You're really awkward in a good way.
Will let you know what I think.

>>6674960
Not bad, you seem to be reading a script too much so you're not looking directly at the camera, that's always been a pet peeve of mine.

>>6674976
I actually don't have a script and was just looking at the viewfinder of the camera.
Thanks though, I'll not do that next time.

>>6674986
I guess it just looks like you're reading because of your eye line being slightly to the side.

>>6674960
I like it anon, i'm going to subscribe

NEW!!!!!!!!

>>6675112