/lit/ - Literature

Any good charts of Historical Fic or Alt Hist?

>>6883068
You reading online?

I don't know shit about books

I haven't read a book in years and I am new to /lit/

Is Foundation good or will I get ringed out for thinking thats good I don't know whats 1337 book reading.

What are some good sci-fi novels from the 70s that are like super weird and atmospheric, I heard theres lots of sci-fi from the 70s that just goes super over the top with concepts because they were all on drugs.

>>6883115
torrented

>>6882928
>What SF/F books are you currently reading?
The Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe. Six chapters in, pretty good but would be better if I knew more about the history of that time and Greek mythology.

>Who is your favorite "Incest Couple" of Science Fiction or Fantasy?
Dunno, I can't think of any besides what's in ASOIAF or TBotNS. Rec me some good fantasy with a hot incest couple. Now I'll just have to go with pic related, though it's a trio.

>Which novel gave you your most dirty and shameful boner?
ADWD when it came out in 2011. It was the end of a chapter where Ramsay makes Reek prepare his new wife for him, had a fap before moving on to the next chapter.

>>6883151
Don't stop if you like it, finish it all. It's less nice if you forget stuff

>>6883163
How does he prepare her

>>6882928
>>Which novel gave you your most dirty and shameful boner?
Black Company, when the company come across Darling being raped by Limper's soldiers

I wanted to kill myself tbh I was disgusted.

FUG

>>6883192
Not planning on stopping. Gonna keep reading so long as I'm enjoying it, and if I'm satisfied when I finish, I'll get physical copies for my shelf.

>>6882928
Middle Earth
>can't get enough
Earthsea:
>love
WoT:
>struggling to finish
ASOIAF
>up to date
Malazan:
>not sure whether to pick up book 2
Sanderson
>only read mistborn. Cringed all the way through.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

>>6883276
Yep. I recommend not finishing WoT or Malazan.

>>6883332
I think I've hit the point of no return with WoT. I've read the first 10 books now. Not finishing will probably annoy me just as much as finishing.

>>6883198
With his tongue since he got his penis chopped off. But the act isn't described, it's just the general idea of Ramsay playing with people that appeals to me. It's implied he made his wife get fucked by a dog as well.

>>6883373
Jeez. If you're that far along, I guess there's nothing for it. I'm amazed you fought through the horrible desert of content that is every book between the beginning and end of the series. I've never hated characters and books like I did reading WoT.

At least Sanderson supposedly salvages the last couple of books. You know it's bad when fucking Brandon Sanderson saves your series.

>>6882928

Currently reading Strugatzki collections one by one, I am at "A Billion Years Before The End Of The World" currently. Finally went through "Roadside Picknick" before and both are really nice reads.

Shameful boners are yet to be found in my case, but I guess most people would consider it shameful that I bonered to the thought of fucking Reds mutant daughter while she screams in her inhuman gibberish.

Is there any anon around who is versed in soviet sci-fi? I could kill to find some novel I used to read back when I was a kid. Involved a school for supernatural teachings, kinda ESP related I guess and had creepy robot teachers as a plot-twist.

>>6883138

Foundation is pretty good, but probably a little heavy for a beginner, it sets up a big world and even a big history associated with it.
As for old over the top books, you can do it like me and read soviet sci-fi, which is not optimal if you are not Russian, or you get your hands on some works of Bradbury, which are even older than 70s and have some pretty ridiculous shit in them, beginning at Fahrenheit 451.
Also do not miss other works of Asimov, many of them are criminally underappreciated.

>>6883417
I just really struggle with the 4 pointless POV characters for every important one now. And even the important ones have turned to shit.

>Perrin only talks about Faile
>Nyaeve only talks about Lan and tugs her braid
>Elayne whines about Rand or politics or both
>Nothing ever happens. It seems like the plot only advances when there's a Rand chapter, and those are like gold dust. At least Mat is on the move again now.

>>6883417
>At least Sanderson supposedly salvages the last couple of books.

Absolutely false. The last two books are terrible, leagues below Jordan.

>the horrible desert of content that is every book between the beginning and end of the series.

Bullshit as well. The first 6 books are amazing, especially the 6th. Then it goes down.

You have obviously not read them all and rely on memes for your info. Please refrain from posting on /lit/, ever.

>>6883546
Epic. Why not throw a Reddit in there as well, if you're going all out?

>>6883586
>I'll call him reddit when I get BTFO by him, surely that will save me some face

Please.

>want a new book to read
>goodreads reccs are nothing like the books I enjoy

This is suffering.

>>6883597
>I asserted the things you said were wrong without elaborating, so you got BTFO
>I used the 'you're dependent on memes for opinions' meme, so you got BTFO

So now I'll say you're wrong and a cuck, and you'll be BTFO, huh? Also, I suggested you call me Reddit, not that you were Reddit, you illiterate chucklecuck.

>>6883639
fucking idiot leave and never return

>>6883601
Add some fellas with similair tastes to you then fella

>>6883686

>>6883601
I just have a list of authors I regularly check upon to see if new stuff is out and additionally google for new books in genres like "space opera new 2015" or some shit.

Works for me.

>>6883332
>reading Robert Jordans braid tugging erotic BDSM fantasies

>>6883717
b-but anon, i stopped after the sixth book

i had to stick it out long enough to justify telling my best friend his favorite series was shit

Once it shows up I'll be reading this guaranteed classic next.

>>6883753
kek
>it's like a cross between Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones
is that even a compliment?

>>6883753
Dinosaurs and knights? I... anon I....

>>6883786
>>>/b/
>>>/a/
>>>/c/
>>>/k/

>>>/t/
>>>/o/

>>>/r/
>>>/e/
>>>/d/
>>>/d/
>>>/i/
>>>/t/

>>6883808
>>>/t/
>>>/h/
>>>/i/
>>>/s/

>>>/t/
>>>/b/
>>>/h/

>>6882928

>What SF/F books are you currently reading?

Lock In by John Scalzi. The setting has a lot of holes IMHO and I'm getting a bit of a social justice vibe from it, but let's see how the plot develops.

>What SF/F books are you currently reading?

Pushing Ice by Alistair Reynolds
Linesman by S.K. Dunstall
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

What's the comfiest fantasy book/series/setting?

>>6884018
>What's the comfiest fantasy book/series/setting?
Earthseeeaaaa

I just finished the Ranger's Apprentice series because a friend told me it would be good.

It wasn't.

I don't know why I have to finish a series after starting it, but at least I'm through all 12 now.

I guess I'll go finally start the Shanarra series now.

>>6884212
>Shanarra
Isn't that the tolkien-plagiarising crap?

Why don't we make a goodreads group since the main board one is dead. We could have monthly reads and discuss them in these threads and shit

Really I just have no friends on goodreads and want some with similar tastes

Books I've recently read:

>The Emperor's Blades
Decent book, but still doesn't do anything unique. The main character is pretty fucking stilted and unappealing.

>Earthsea: A Wizard of Earthsea
Very boring. Main character is a complete drag on an otherwise interesting setting.

>The Red Wolf Conspiracy
Not my cup of tea. Still good if you like sailing, I guess.

>The Magicians
Best fantasy book series in a generation.

>Crown of Stars series
I got through two books of it. Setting is very good, as are some of the characters. Main two characters are complete garbage. Probably one of the most unappealing male leads in a fantasy book I've ever seen.

>The Way of Kings
Pretty standard Sanderson. I get the feeling that this book seems better than it actually is because Sanderson knows how to write a good story.

>Neverwhere
Another great urban fantasy book. Not as good as The Magicians, but still better than 99% of everything else I've listed so far.

I feel like I'm running out of things to read, /lit/. Maybe I'm being too picky? I don't think wanting to read good coming of age fantasy/science fiction stories is being picky.

>>6884404
I'm down anon.

>>6884407
>Earthsea
>Very boring
> Sanderson knows how to write a good story
I pity you.

>>6884463
Sanderson knows how to keep people interested in a story. His characters are all proactive, morally ambiguous, and act like, you know, people.

Maybe I didn't give A Wizard of Earthsea enough time. I made it through a few chapters before I thought Sparrowhawk was too boring of a character for me. He was turning monk-ish and I hate that in fantasy protagonists. It's almost as bad as being a reluctant hero.

Why don't more writers write proactive protagonists? Characters with motivations and personalities that are more human than "the monk who is reaching enlightenment" or "the swordsman who wishes for peace so he can put down his sword". It's fucking abysmal.

>>6884484
You'll see beyond the veil to SA's real mediocrity if you read Words of Radiance.

>>6883966
How are you liking Pushing Ice?

>>6884407
>I get the feeling that this book seems better than it actually is because Sanderson knows how to write a good story.
He did spend ~10 years worldbuilding and whatnot before Way of Kings was ever published.

Just finished this; it was shit

Now starting God Emperor of Dune

>>6884352
>Isn't that the tolkien-plagiarising crap?
Yes.

Rule of thumb guys, if the Author has Terry anywhere in his name don't read his books.

>>6884407
This pic is so outdated, I have a bunch of shit to add.

>>6883332
>>6883373
>>6883417

WoT gets way too much bad press. I just finished it today and I was pretty fucking impressed. Yes, it's a long, slow read, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it spends a little too long on the human interaction and personality changing stuff. That doesn't ruin the fucking series. It has some of the best background of nations, cultures, and history, and hands down the best explained magic system I've ever seen in fantasy, and most of the scenes are just plain well written.

Just don't be in a damn hurry about it. Sit down with the audiobook and play some Terraria or something... and make that your main source of entertainment for the next half year or so. That's what happened to me.

If I liked WoT, any recommendations for my next fantasy series? ASOIAF and the Dark Tower are my other favorites.

>>6885401
Terry Goodkind isn't half bad, though his writing style feels a little immature and simple to me. I still read his whole Sword of Truth series and enjoyed it.

>>6885410
Glaring lack of Zelazny

Might try Robin Hobb's Farseer series as well

>Stephanie Meyer

really? Isnt that the Twilight bitch? cmon son

Just ordered Django Wexler's "Thousand Names". Hope it's good

>>6885441
That is just what I have, not what I recommend. I usually highlight when recommending. Most of those stuff is shit.

>>6882928
I have to read Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights/Golden Compass for one of my 1st level Uni papers, and going off the lecture slides notes about the world it seems dreadfully boring. Is it actually worth picking up?

if i said pic related would i look incredibly new?

>>6885481
I enjoyed them in seventh grade...

>>6885498
Well I've nothing against Young Adult or Children's books as long as they're entertaining and at least provide something. Hell I read The Giver last year and loved it.

>>6885494
More like incredibly pleb

Inplebible, one could say

It's fate. I came to lit thinking that I wanted to read something sci-fi or fantasy (leaning towards sci-fi because I just finished the Dunk and Egg series). Now this thread is here.

That's all I needed to say.

>>6885519
PHUCK

>>6885419
>WoT
>good

>BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO ON AMAZING ADVENTURES
>I WANT TO FARM SHEEP
>MUH SHEEEEEEEEEEP
>I AM A FARMUR
>BAAAH

Rand ruins the entire fucking series.

>>6885547
Actually, could someone recommend me a good entry-level sci-fi novel to read? I don't know where to start. I'm down with basically everything but I do kind of want something with a really good world. I know it's a dumb request but any comments will be great. Also not too long pls, I'm retarrded.

>>6885557
Sword of Shadows series by JV Jones. It's literally the best thing that will ever get mentioned in a thread like this.

>>6885561
Thanks, but I'm looking for more sci-fi than fantasy right now.

>>6885557
Expanse series

>>6885564
Mote in God's Eye. Spin. Ender's Game if you've never read it.

>>6885553
Made me kek a little. That is Rand, for the first few books. Clearly you didn't read any farther than that. I agree, it frustrated me too, but he grows out of it.

>>6885576
You mean he becomes a completely different character. I've seen excerpts from the later books and in one of them he says he's not even Rand anymore.

You can't just replace the main PoV character midway through your series. That's just sloppy.

>>6885572
This looks bretty good.

>>6885575
I've read ender's game but I'll check out the others

Any good sci-fi space novels with some good amount of sex in it?

>>6885600
Degenerate

>sink another hour into a book thinking it might be good
>it's not

That's it. I'm fucking done. I'm just going to go read The Magicians again.

>>6885583
are you stupid ?

He doesn't get "replaced" at all. One of the important parts of the plot towards the end of the series is that he's doing a shit job handling all the pressure on him, and he starts to try to act hardened to everything, though he's still weak and sensitive on the inside, and the other characters have to help straighten this out. They often complained that he wasn't acting like himself during that time. He gets his shit together in the second-to-last book or so and starts acting normal again... but without the muh sheep bullshit.

>>6885604
>>6885600
Degenerate

>>6885611
Sex is nice when included in a novel :D

>>6885618
I don't think so. I use audiobooks mostly, and it's just goddamn awkward to hear sensual descriptions of women read in a deep older man's voice. I kept cringing when listening to ASOIAF, it was bad.

I prefer books that manage to keep a good balance and keep sex realistic. WoT actually did a good job there. It acknowledges that it's always on peoples' minds, especially young mens', but doesn't take up half the book. Sex scenes are present, but not overdone and not described in too much detail. Homosex and deviant sex is there, but not every other person is either gay or has a weird fetish or likes orgies, it's in much more real proportions to the population (cough, cough, GRRM) . It's not afraid of sex like YA fiction, but it's not detracting from the story either.

>>6885611
Wait, how is The Magicians degenerate? It's a fucking amazing series.

>>6882928
Why is so much epic fantasy complete shit? The Wheel of Time is terrible, The Darkness that Comes Before is as well, Nine Princes in Amber was bad, and The Lies of Locke Lamora is quite possibly the worst thing I've ever read. Based on him saying that The Lies of Locke Lamora is better in many ways than his own books, I'm sure everything Rothfuss has written is complete crap as well. I haven't read Sanderson, Erikson, Abercrombie, or Cook, but they all have enough detractors in a genre where the bar is ridiculously low that I'm willing to bet that they're terrible as well (and the praise they get is often cringeworthy, like people gushing over the magic system in Sanderson's work, a clear indication that they're somewhere on the spectrum). Oh well, at least there's Tolkien.

>>6885650
No, being that impatient about a book being good is degenerate.

Jesus, slow the fuck down, people. Good books are often slow to get started.

>>6885660
another fucking one?

See >>6885419

Please tell me this: Do you like any epic fantasy that's not fucking Tolkien? And what exactly about his writing makes it so much magically fucking better than the others? What did he do so differently from them? Give me some specifics here

>>6885663
I read pretty quickly, though. I can tell if I'll like a book in the first hundred or so pages.

Ok so I started reading Leviathan Wakes, I'm only about 20 pages in and I like the science fiction bits but I don't like how there are a bunch of "plucky" characters. I kind of want a more antisocial darker sci-fi. Maybe focus on one main character or at least a smaller group of people who are more reserved and don't remind me of Firefly

Recommendations?

>>6885695
Broken angels by Richard k morgan.
Cyberpunk+space opera

>>6884407
Why did you like the magicians?

>>6885781
Because it perfectly captures the feeling of an adult reading fantasy. You have a magical, wonderful world that you touched once in your life, but then after that you never seem to match up with it and as it goes on you realize it's not as great as you were making it out to be when you were younger. The way that Quentin holds onto Fillory like some kind of holy grail is amazing and for some reason it just speaks to me.

Really, The Magicians is a fucking triumph of fantasy. I'm a complete sucker for adult fantasy using YA settings. I don't ever want to lose that feeling that Quentin had when he first saw Fillory.

Your mileage may vary, but to me The Magicians is everything fantasy for adults should be.

is there a dark/demons souls of fantasy literature?

something dark and enigmatic

>>6885557
Just read Revelation Space.
Or Tau Zero. Tau Zero is very short and stand-alone.

the setting to this book is so vibrant. i wish other writers would enliven their scenery and cut out the drab description's.

>>6885801
This for sure. I bought the first one on a whim when it came out, and read it through in a day. For someone of the Harry Potter generation, just entering real adulthood, it hit a whole lot of buttons.

The rest of the series continues to deliver, and the books are solid all the way through, but that first one still grabs me deep inside.

I'm reading Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.

wasn't sure about giving this one a shot, because Fitz's story ended quite well in the previous story, and because the last thing I've read by her (Soldier's Son trilogy) was slow and dull and never really went anywhere. I've never been a fan of the parallel series either, so I skipped the Rainwild stuff, for now.

This book, however, feels like a warm blanket. She takes her sweet time establishing the somewhat mundane life of the main character now that his prime days of intrigue, killing and adventuring is largely over, but she does it in a way that rarely bores me.

I don't know whether it's the writer's age or attachement to the characters she's writing about, but lately she isn't fixated anymore on making her them constantly suffer like in her early books. The Tawny Man trilogy was also dulled in this regard, and was probably better for it. It's not like there isn't conflict or suffering anymore, but her strikes are more focused now, so they come as a surprise rather than being a constant lingering of pain and misery.

>>6885660
I'll vouch for abercrombie, at least up until The Last Argument.
And Cook is alright. He could really stand to go a little lighter on the dialogue and a little, scratch that, a LOT heavier on actually describing what the fuck is happening.

>>6882928
>What SF/F books are you currently reading?
Two of Swords by KJ Parker
>Who is your favorite "Incest Couple" of Science Fiction or Fantasy?
Can't go past Jaime and Cersei tbh.
>Which novel gave you your most dirty and shameful boner?
The Last Werewolf

>>6883276
Try Bakker or Abercrombie or Parker. Or mayhaps even Robin Hobb.

>>6883601
What books do you like and what do you like about them?

>>6885767
>>6885695
Wat?

Read Altered Carbon first, m8. It's the first of the 3 Kovacs books and is also the best.

>>6885807
Wolfe.

>>6886002
Did you read the Rain Wilds books? I couldn't get through them.

>>6886380
no, I haven't

I've read the Livetrade ships saga and that was an immense slog that I don't hope to repeat with another series focusing on the same region. I've read Soldier's Son because it was something new from her, but eventually proved to be pretty lame. Her stories tend to have immense fucking build-up and only near the end of a book or saga do you know if it was worth reading through it.

She seems to be writing on an entire different level when it comes to the Fitz books, however.

>>6886002
>This book, however, feels like a warm blanket.

I felt exactly the same. Although it's a slow-moving book, I didn't mind one bit because it was such a comfortable read and it needed to take its time easing back into Fitz's world and showing that he's actually had the sort of fairly comfortable, undisturbed life he's earned a hundred times over. Also, I like that she took her time and gave Molly a quiet, dignified death at the end of a long life instead of hastily killing her off so Fitz can resume having crazy adventures. Looking forward to the next one coming out next month.

As for Rainwilds, I actually enjoyed that series quite a bit, but I know it's divisive. It doesn't have a particularly epic plot, so again, it totally depends on whether you like the characters and are invested in their own smaller stories, which I was. Soldier's Son is the worst thing she's written, which is a shame as the setting was promising.

>>6883276
Try Deadhouse Gates of the Malazan series, it's the second book. If you don't like this one, do not continue. The 2nd and the 3rd book are the best fantasy books I've read.
The first book is aight but nothing compared to the next.

>>6883899
>I'm getting a bit of a social justice vibe from it

Scalzi is a disgusting leftist

>>6885671
See http://forum.malazanempire.com/topic/21832-hateful-wheel-of-time-review/

The Wheel of Time is crap. In terms of good epic fantasy that isn't Tolkien, The Wizard Knight was good if you want to categorize it that way (though far from Wolfe's best work). I don't have the time to teach you the difference between good writing and bad writing, not that I think you'd pay attention even if I did.

>>6886174
I'm glad you like Abercrombie, but the description of The Blade Itself seems like something Fritz Leiber would have written with tongue firmly in cheek, and reviewers pan him as much as any of the other dreck I listed with what sounds like some fair criticisms. At least his works are mostly trilogies and stand alones, instead of 10 book long and no end in sight series. In any event, thank you for the recommendation and maybe I'll at least read a couple chapters to give him a fair shake.

Man alot of this shit sounds more boring then regular videogames

>>6886790
The Blade Itself is Joe's worst book tbf. His writing improves drastically with each one.

>cows hoof slathered in whipping cream
>grapefruit-tomato salad

Any recommendations for very recent (last 10 years) interstellar exploration sci-fi? I've just read Aurora by KS Robinson (not bad, although very pessimistic) and I'm wondering if others authors also use new data (from Kepler mission and other sources) about exoplanets in their stories.

>>6887072
Planets have such shit names.

Hi everyone.

Please give me an idea of whether I should read Gardens of the Moon.

Sounds interesting...ten books too!

Is it good?

>>6885553
Rand continually tries to convince himself of things that stand in the face of some pretty good evidence.
>"Thom is dead."
>"He might not be de-"
>"Thom is dead!"

>>6887384
>"I'm not your father"
>"Tam is my father!"
For three books.

Recommending Jhereg again. Short but entertaining books.

Need Some audiobook recommendations. I would make my own thread but last time I tried I got the /lit/ fags on my ass. I'm moving soon and it will be an 11 hour drive, so Ill need something to keep me awake.

Ive already listened to all of the Dresden files, everything of Peter Clines, all of the Hyperion series and some others I cant think of off hand. Anyone know of anything good?

>>6886772
Ok, that article is right about a lot of things, I admit. I still enjoyed the series, though. The guy who wrote the article is a little off complaining about the weird sexuality stuff in WoT when he outright says he prefers ASOIAF. And the "pointless complexity" he was talking about never bothered me, I always thought it was interesting.

>>6887709
Well, if you want many, many hours of audiobook the Wheel of Time is good. You need a lot of patience for a slow, descriptive story though.

>>6887072
Already rec'd it once ITT but read the Revelation Space series.

The author has his doctorate in Astrophysics and even used to work at the European Space Agency. Dude knows his shit.

>>6887167
No.

I haven't slept well enough for proper critiquing, but here's this: the story is following multiple viewpoints that you have no context for with fictional names and words introduced every other line that you sometimes get more context for by the end of each book. The dialogue is samey, the writing is bland, the dozens of creatures, places, characters and concepts shoved in mostly get very little establishment, personality or are even fully conveyed, so it's hard to care about what happens concerning them. Even what is given enough to sink in (a few characters) is lacking, probably due to mediocre writing. I never felt strongly about anyone or anything except this one fat sorceress that the chubby-chaser author kept pushing who made every male character around her slobber and got full fanfic Sue treatment. Fuck Tattersail, and fuck the names in those books. I think the worst was 'Silverfox'.

>>6888063
Yep, I've read the first book in the series and Chasm city but got bored at the next one. It's not exactly exploration sci-fi (maybe with the except of Sky's part in Chasm City) and was created before the surge in number of discovered exoplanets. I'm searching for something newer

What are some good scifi books from the last year or two?

>>6884022
only up until the fourth book where it goes full feminist

>>6888436
i only know about The Quantumm Prince, which was discussed a bit in the old thread

>>6888967
Fourth is shit. The author seemed so angry at herself for writing the first 3. The short stories and final book get back on track, even if they can't touch the first 3.

>>6884658
>How are you liking Pushing Ice?

It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

The world building is not very detailed, we get stuff mostly on the ship, but the characters are really interesting and the story itself is terrific.

There are the occasional dark moments in typical Reynolds style.

Have you read any of his other stuff? This leans more toward Revelation Space in atmosphere than the awful and cheerful Blue Remembered Earth novels.

9.5/10 would recommend

>>6885814
Rev Space is not entry level m8

>>6885557
The Expanse is short novels with lots of world building and action, you'll enjoy it. It is FUN above all else.

>>6887725
Im actually in the middle of the series now. Don't want to listen to it. Doesn't seem like a series that you would want to listen to.

>>6889491
>Nyaeve tugged her braid
>Phoaw!
>Woolhead
>Now he DID want to bite someone!

No thanks. Audiobooks would be hell.

The answer to the last two questions would have to be Elena and TC in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I know they're not strictly a couple, but she wanted it bad. That book has had a long-lasting effect on me on the fetish department. Thanks, Stephen.

>>6889038
I finished it last month and greatly enjoyed it. Evidently Reynolds has said that he wants to go back to that universe someday so we could theoretically get a sequel or something. It's not like it would be completely unfounded.

I've read every RS story except for Monkey Suit, Chasm City, the new short story Last Log of the Lacrimosa, and one other I'm forgetting.

>>6889051
I don't know what people consider "entry-level" then. RS got me into hard sci-fi so RS is subjectively entry-level for myself.

Testing

Does anyone have a Dinosaur Lords epub? I want to read shitty garbage now, for some reason.

Does Snow Crash get better?

I'm cringing pretty hard in chapter one

>>6891369
No, the first chapter is the best part of the book.

Any good historyfic set in the early middle ages? Such as Anglo-Saxon England?

>>6891369
The first chapter is intentionally cringe-inducing in a lot of ways. It does get better in my opinion, and though I guess people can disagree on that point, it's a fact that the first chapter differs significantly from all the later chapters. If you don't like the second chapter either, that's when you drop it.

>What SF/F books are you currently reading?
The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller.Almost halfway through and it's been quite enjoyable so far. I'll have to grab the rest of the series when I finish Richard Morgan's "A Land Set for Heros" series

>>6888986

Read that one already, but thanks

I just read the Hobbit and liked it very much.
Next I'll be reading Lord of the Rings.
And for after that I've got Legend from the library also.
Just starting to get into fantasy lit, but I've always played RPGs so it feels familiar.

>fantasy novel
>it has a map

>>6892223
Do you dislike that?
I like it. If the author went and built a whole world, why not use maps to help visualisation for the reader?

>>6892223
I fucking love maps. I'd rather have one than not, though of course the lack of a map is hardly a dealbreaker.

Shitty maps can be a good way to determine how shitty the books will be. Of course even great stories don't usually have perfect maps. For example, Tolkien's square mountains of Mordor look far from natural, as do Gurm's square-shaped continents in asoiaf. But as for Tolkien, he gets massive bonus points from drawing his maps himself.

But I have noticed a correlation between shitty maps and not-so-great books.

Take pic related, from Lawrence's Broken Empire. It's supposed to be Europe in the future. But even though it should be easy to draw from real world model, it still manages to be shit imo.

>all the nations are roughly the same size, no bigger or smaller countries anywhere
>the names are drawn from real world areas where the author knows such names (Normandy, Roma etc) but the rest lack consistency (English names like Red March in southern Europe, weird fantasy names like Mayar)
>In Africa there's just two bigger countries, not relevant so author didn't bother to divide them to small parts like Europe
>didn't even include Finland or the rest of Northern Europe though there's parts of Africa which are not relevant, so fuck this shit
>no mountains or other distinguishable landmarks except where the story takes place

All in all I'd rate the map 1/5. I read the two first parts of the trilogy and they were maybe 1-2/5 from what I remember.

>>6892521
Oh and forgot to add, I just came across this site yesterday and there are some seriously gorgeous maps there. I could just browse them for hours.

http://www.cartographersguild.com/content.php

Also real world maps, especially historical ones, can be awesome as well. I visited Brügge couple years back and just love the city, and recently came across this picture which is an old map of the city. Would hang on my wall, fucking 5/5.

>>6892521
It bothers me that on the map of the "future" everything has an olde-worlde type of name. Did everyone step back in time, or something? Why the hell would Wales be renamed Offa? Why has the sea risen in completely arbitrary places? Why have the Alps relocated by a couple of hundred kilometres?
Yeah you're right that's an awful map.

>>6882928
Hi SF/F-G (or whatever). I've just recently gotten an interest in books, as I hated them when I was younger (except The Hobbit)

I've just started Red Seas Under Red Fire, and enjoy it alot. Seems like you guys like to piss on TNoTW and TLoLL around here, anyone care to explain? Personally I loved those books.

Anyways, any good fantasy recommendations? WoT kind of scares me, with how slow you guys describe it.
Also, I would prefer no assassin MC's, that sounds edgy as shit. Then again, you might be able to convince me otherwise.

Sincerely yours, illiterate pleb.

>>6892538
Can I recommend this book to you? I think you'd enjoy it.

>>6892547
I love Scott Lynch too but sometimes he gets a little too melodramatic, pretty excited for the next book.

As far as recommendations though, A Song of Ice and Fire is a pretty good starterpack on its own, alternatively you can try R Scott Bakker's stuff. His stories are pretty interesting and consistent in quality

>>6892544
>Did everyone step back in time, or something?

Well yeah the books have a medieval type setting, but then there's shit like old parking halls and you're supposed to go like "holy shit, it's the future!"

>Why has the sea risen in completely arbitrary places?
I'd say lack of research and knowledge by the author, which does obviously show from the map.

Also this link shows well some bad clichés of fantasy maps
http://fantastiquecollective.tumblr.com/post/16471468082/the-bigass-things-i-hate-in-fantasy-maps-post

>>6892538
Pretty cool

>>6892554
Good recommend

>>6892562
I've actually read the two first ASOIAF, and while I've enjoyed them, I've been spoiled pretty much everything that happens because of teh internetz + spoiling friends.

I'll check out R Scott Bakkers stuff though, thanks!

>>6892554
Yes, yes you can. There's a bunch of Eco's books on my parents bookshelf I've been meaning to pick up for like ten years, but never get it done. I could start with that and if I like it move on to those.

>>6892565
>http://fantastiquecollective.tumblr.com/post/16471468082/the-bigass-things-i-hate-in-fantasy-maps-post

That post would be alot more helpful if the author showed examples of good fantasy maps. And in Tolkien's world the landscape quite literally was handcrafted by the gods (multiple times over), so its consistent with the story he's telling.

freeshrugs.jpeg

>>6892547
>Seems like you guys like to piss on TNoTW and TLoLL around here, anyone care to explain?

I love both of those, but they suffer from the same problem which is awful sequels. TLoLL should have just been a single novel, and Wise Man's Fear was like awful fanfiction by some horny teenage boy.

>>6892584
The Book of Legendary Lands is non-fiction, Eco's known for his fiction which is probably what your parents have. I would highly recommend his fiction too, but it doesn't follow that if you like the fiction you'll like the non-fiction and vice-versa, but do give both a go. I just thought this one might appeal to you for obvious reasons.

>>6892597
Really? I enjoy Red Seas so far (even though I'm like a fifth in), and I did enjoy Wise Man's Fear, up until Felurian was introduced and I dropped it. Should probably finish it some day..

>>6892602
Ah right, only just googled what's that book about anyway. Just recognized the name and thought great, I'll read it. But that does seem cool.

>>6892538
Michael Stackpole has a trilogy about cartographers ("Age of Discovery"). Thing is, I've no idea if it's good or not, or even to what extent cartography is included.

>>6892604
>I enjoy Red Seas so far (even though I'm like a fifth in)
Well it doesn't get any better, oh no. I thought the start was good, but everything goes to shit and it turn into a borefest soon enough.

>up until Felurian was introduced and I dropped it
I still don't know what was the editor thinking not getting that shit cut. Or Rothfuss writing it in the first place.

>>6892629
Sounds like a risky "recommendation" then, but I'll add it in my backlog and look it up later when I'm down with my current book.

>>6892521
>I read the two first parts of the trilogy and they were maybe 1-2/5 from what I remember.

Good job on exposing your shit taste

>>6892544
Its the earth hundreds of years after being fucked over by nuclear destruction set back to medieval technology levels

>>6892665
I get that, but it wouldn't roll-back everyone's vocabularies too.

>>6892547
Rothfuss and Lynch are two of the biggest self-admitted beta SJWs to ever exist

it really shouldn't be a surprise that they're hated on 4chan

>>6892680
>Rothfuss and Lynch are two of the biggest self-admitted beta SJWs to ever exist

Fucking Sabetha is a monument to this shit, its sad.

>>6892693
So is Denna. Oh are the scenes with her in the last book whenever the fat lazy fuck gets around to it going to be cringey as fuck

I'm not some sort of gamergater and while some of the shit Ive seen on tumblr makes me think humanity is a mistake, I'm typically indifferent to the SJW drama bullshit that so many on /v/ get so worked up about. If Rothfuss wants to make a ass of himself pandering to those people at conventions with idiotic comments about how the Hobbit is "creepy" and Lynch wants to spout feminazi stuff on his twitter...well I dont really give a shit, its up to them what they do.

I draw the line though at them letting it influence their work, and both of them CLEARLY have and I have no respect for that kind of shit. It's only gonna get worse as time goes on, and it's a shame because each of their first novels were pretty damn good and the series have obviously suffered once they started using them as a platform for their political views

>>6892763
Sounds like an analogy to the current video games industry. Atleast if you ask /v/.

>>6891635
I don't know, maybe check out The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ichiguro?

I didn't like it much though. It was a bit too pretentious for me.

>>6882935
>>6891635
I made this once. I've since met people with better knowledge of historical fiction (here), but I've not bothered to make any changes.

>>6892629
I once read a series where the author was an actual cartographer. Was pretty cool stuff. Nigga drew his own maps.

>>6892223
Maps r kewl.

>>6892223
I hope you never come across a book with illustrations. Seeing pictures and prose in the same volume might be to much for you to handle.

Any good books similar in comedy style to the Discworld series? Read everything and i'm just about to finish Raising Steam, kind of sad that it's all over and nothing will ever be added to it again.

What went wrong?

>>6882928
Currently started reading Ursula Le Guin, I am so psyched to read more. I've also been reading The Song of Roland, I know it's not technically fantasy but... it's hard to not read it as fantasy. Does anyone else reading old epics with the same suspension of belief they read fantasy?

Shameful Boner:
Half of Bran's chapters in Game of Thrones... the actor's growing up hot, so leaving me to imagine all his scenes always made them dirty.

>>6885426
>Terry Goodkind isn't half bad, though his writing style feels a little immature and simple to me. I still read his whole Sword of Truth series and enjoyed it.

You might also enjoy sticking the knives in your eyes until the pain stops by McPhuken Kilurselv

>>6885410
What you think of Skulduggery Pleasant?

I find the books way better than I think I should.

I've gone through Forever War, Armor and Starship Troopers. Someone also recommended Old Man's War.

Anything else in that vein of Sci-Fi War/Power Armor lit or have I tapped out all the good stuff?

>>6895362
The 40k and halo books

>>6895408
For someone who liked Forever War and Old Man's War those might be too advanced.

>>6895362
The most obvious choice would be "Armor" by John Steakley, a note of caution though, that book sucks shit

The Second Apocalypse Saga, by R. Scott Bakker. A trilogy of trilogies.
Draws heavily from real world history, myth, theology, philosophy, Tolkien (LOTR), Herbert (DUNE), and Howard (CONAN).
First trilogy is the Prince of Nothing and consists of The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought. Can be read as a standalone trilogy but if it captures your interest it goes deeper.
The second trilogy is called The Aspect Emperor and consists of The Judging Eye, The White-Luck Warrior, and The Unholy Consult ( / The Great Ordeal? ). The third book has been written and submitted to publishers, yet remains unpublished.
The Third Trilogy's name has yet to be announced.
This is currently the only fantasy / sci fi series that can hold my interest and constant anticipation.

>>6895520
seconding, shit is crack

>>6895474
Read it. I liked it, shame he died working on the sequel.

>>6895520
I tried reading The Darkness that comes before. The writing is good but Bakker seems to be really impressed with how intelligent he is and sometimes forgets to tell a coherent story. He also comes off as a complete prick in interviews.

>>6895977
kek I know exactly what you mean, the story is pretty fun though, especially once things are set up and it gets moving

Is Dune intellectual or just fun? Sorry I'm tired.

>>6895996
I found it somewhat cerebral at times but it was still a fun Space Opera at its core.

>>6896246
Can I get away with just watching the Lynch movie?

>>6896264
Havent seen the Lynch movie myself but from whay I've heard it makes no sense if you havent read the book and is mediocre to bad. Book is a great read, just do it!

What are the best Fantasy novels involving Atlantis that don't go full conspiracy/New Age?

>>6895996
It's mostly just fun that tries to be analytical but can come off as confusing. Things get REALLY cerebral when you get to God Emperor, but I found it nearly impossible to follow what the God Emperor was saying. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but it seemed really esoteric.

>>6884022
plot was meh-tier though. Fantastic fucking worldbuilding though.

>>6885557
Pandora Star.

Did anyone else enjoy Commonwealth Saga (Peter F. Hamilton) as much as I did? Some of the best Sci Fi I've read (not the best though).
> Haven't started Dreaming Void, no spoilers

>>6895520
>Draws heavily from real world history, myth, theology, philosophy

How many authors other than Wolfe have actually pulled this off?

>>6895362
All You Need is Kill, it's manga but it's part of the 5% of manga that isn't shit. Edge of Tomorrow(?) was based off of it.

>>6883899
He is Rothfuss tier leftist and writer, stay the fuck away

Just wanted to say that I started reading this yesterday and think its great. I haven't been grabbed by a sci fi novel in some time.

Can people reccomend more "bio-punk" novels?

>>6896586
Anything classified as x-punk as a selling point is garbage.

>>6896604
Nice opinion.

>>6896586
Is it about a girl who gets really wound up?

>>6892547
Lies was really good. The romance with those pirate girls in Red Seas was cringe worthy.

>>6895216
I did like how the author got the "virgin is going to want to fuck again after his first time" bit right.

Anyone read this series?
It's on sale, should i get it or is it still not worth my money?

>>6892547

I like Red Seas, but I feel you can already see the cracks beginning to show in the series, and the third book is an absolute mess. I think many people in these threads agree that TLoLL is actually a pretty good fantasy novel, but it should have been a standalone. I liked Locke when he was a likeable idiot savant of crime pulling off these crazy heists with an equally likeable supporting cast, but I don't think he works as the hero of a huge epic fantasy series. The story is getting too strained and drawn-out and suffering from meandering side plots and weird revelations that feel pasted on. Lynch is planning something stupid like fourteen books in this universe, and I think he's bitten off more than he can chew for a new author, which is a shame because TLoLL really was a good debut.

>>6882928
Reading Memories of Ice right now. A little beyond the half and the shit is really hitting the fan right now. The book is really good and the whole series is finally getting a concrete direction with reveal of Crippled God, Quick Ben and how Warren magic actually works. Really like it and will continue to read it.

>>6897327
Forgot to add that it's weird how the alliance army is full of absolutely amazing, quirky and hilarious characters yet Paran, the captain of Bridgeburners, is incredibly boring.

>>6882928
Finished Fool's Quest ARC by Robin Hobb.

>>6897197
I've heard it is very "YA". Take that as you will.

>>6898323
You fuck. How did you like it?

>>6898323
Aaand it's time for me to gtfo this thread

I'm ~20 pages from finishing Fool's Assassin and it's been really pleasing thus far, though I fear it will end with a cliffhanger or some shit, because some ominous mentions have been dropped that kind of hint that shit's about to hit the fan

Anyone else read/reading the Powder Mage trilogy? Just about finished the first book and I've enjoyed it quite a bit, particularly the magic system. Its not super complex but its nicely varied.

Thus far there have been the powder mages (most of the main characters are such), which are similar to Mistborns allomancers but in place of metals, they snort gunpowder. Can do things like ignite gunpowder, redirect the energy from said ignition and curve bullets/give them more oomph and they also get an increase to their physical attributes like sight and strength.

Then there's the privileged which are basically like your traditional mage. They can also give up these powers to become a magebreaker, which is being able to nullify a privileged's magic (not sure if it applies to powder mages too).

And finally they have the knacked, which are people born with random, single abilities like a perfect memory or being able to go without sleep.

The ending may well be shit but I reckon I'll be reading the second book.

>>6898477
Oh and there's also like lesser known sorceries from the other kingdoms, but the books not covered them hugely. One of them seems to make use of things like voodoo dolls and bodily materials. I expect more of these will be revealed/looked upon in the other books.

>>6898356
I thought it was one of the strongest entries in Fitz's story yet.
>>6898469
I won't post any spoilers so don't worry.

>>6888261
That said, if you get through it, the from the second book on the Malazan series is fucking brilliant.

Anyone read Philip K. Dick's Ubik?
Is it worth the read?

Does James Clavell's Japan series hold up?

>>6898531
It's an enjoyable read, the characters aren't wholly there, and some stuff seems kinda redundant, but it's a cool story

>>6898666
What do you mean by "aren't wholly there"?

also, consider those trips checked, brother.

Are the Outlander series any good?

>>6898487
Yeah, powder mage is pretty all right. Oh whole lot of "oh man we have a big problem oh look here's the perfect solution at the exact moment we needed it with literally no build up," but that lessens by the end of the series. Still worth a read.

>>6898477
I picked it up only knowing it was in a Napoleonic setting

Quarter the way through I was wondering why the fuck I was reading a Video Game.

>>6898672
They feel really insubstantial, and with many if the side characters, nonexistant

>>6885660
>>6886772
>>6885660

>>6885419

The women are the worst part of WoT. And that's for a few different reasons.

1. Egwene and Elaine are horrible cunts that get way too much page time. Egwene is much worse though because at least Elaine was born to power and the personality that came along with it, while Egwene came from humble beginnings and succeeded for no fucking reason (make her the Amrilin Seat? Fucking what? Then she is successful because ???)
2. The sheer amount of secondary and tertiary Ae Sedai characters is so confusing after a certain point. Mostly because they have barely any character differences, except for their dress colors, to tell them apart.
3. So much nagging, so much exasperation with men that are doing their best. And hardly anything comes back the other way.

That being said, I still enjoyed the series.

>>6883138
just start with ender's game by orison scott card (not 70s)
then check out these 70s books
forever war by haldeman
ringworld larry niven
gateway by Pohl
then if you want something that is a lot denser(?) Dune by Frank Herbert published in 65

>>6897197
haven't read it but its pretty much YA, watched and read multiple reviews to see if my sister might like it but from what I can gather it's chick lit version of night angel trilogy, except worse. The main chick is already the best assasin in the world at the start of the book, but forgets to ever act like it or show it. if you're 16-20 and a girl that doesn't read much maybe you'll like it

>>6897327

Memories of Ice was my first, and my favorite. Perhaps I'm biased, but it definitely was better than the two before it. Midnight tides was great, but in a very different way. Either way, Memories of Ice marks the end of how that series is written. Hope you enjoy completely different lands and magic, because that's all that's left.

Someone on reddit claimed that Marion Zimmer Bradley raped or molested her children

Is there any verification on this?

If manga are welcome here (and yeah I know this isn't /a/) I'd honestly consider Hayao Miyazaki's 7 volume manga of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind to be a great work of fantasy.

>>6900382
Agreed.

Michael Moorcock's Corum books apparently got a recent reprint. Anyone read these?

Tried to get through the Elric saga and it was fun at first but became too rambling and disjointed halfway through the original six books of the series

How many girls in /sffg/?

>>6900581

There are better ways to find a girlfriend, bro

>>6900372

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abuse

>>6900737

Her biography should be called The Daughter Fingerer

For the next thread there should be an august releases thread

>>6898477

Just read the summary. The main character is based on Robespierre?

How much longer will I have to wait for the next book?

>>6901348

The first book was not super amazing as many people said it was, but it was a mildly enjoyable read, especially for the occasional shock value moment

However, I'd rather not read a book that has socratic debates going on in the middle of a sex scene or a battle scene in a way that kills the mood

>>6901367

I bet you like Brent Weeks.

>>6901367
>However, I'd rather not read a book that has socratic debates going on in the middle of a sex scene or a battle scene in a way that kills the mood

kek where did this ever happen

>>6901348
Bakker has reported that the fan campaign has apparently started the gears turning again within the publisher. Soooo... Maybe 6-12 months?

TSA is GOAT.

>>6901381
>Reading White Luck Warrior
>that scene with Cleric at the Gate of that fortress

the fucking feels

>>6901374

More of an Alan Campbell and C.S. Friedman fan

Deepgate Codex and Coldfire trilogy are top tier fantasy both.

>>6901388
To the coffers boys!

>>6901396
No one who likes Coldfire can be a terrible person (even though Coldfire has symptoms of travelogue, and one part of the ending was a bit...).

While I don't think TDtCB is the best book in the series, it's close enough, so your opinion may remain constant as (if) you go on.

Have you read CSF's other stuff by the way? Her SF is pretty good. I haven't read This Alien Shore yet, though.

>>6901446

The first book was fun, imaginative science fantasy pulp and I enjoyed the stylistic quirk that might annoy some people of the prefix "neo-" being affixed to nearly everything. The rakh were probably one of my favorite animal-people races in fiction.

Picked up the first book of the Magister series but haven't read it all the way through.

>>6886772
I sense some good points but the whole thing is written so meme-y that I can't take it seriously
>SATANS TITS

>>6900737
Wow.

Would feel so weird if I'd read and liked any of her books, but I haven't.

>>6901381
I'd say 12 months minimum tbh.

>>6901396
Deepgate was decent - had some cool ideas - but I never read the third book as it got panned in reviews.

Thoughts and opinions on Le guin's Hainish Cycle?

Anyone know sci-fi's about Atlantis ?

>>6902235
Her early works are Leigh Brackett-esque planetary romance
Her later works are srs bsns literary speculative fiction

Non-Tolkien Fantasy
The Worm Ouroboros - E.R. Eddison 1922
The King of Elflands Daughter - Lord Dunsany (srsly the man was a Baron) 1924
Conan the Barbarian - Robert E. Howard 1932
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser - Fritz Leiber 1934
Jirel of Joiry - C.L. Moore 1934
The Mabinogion - Evangeline Walton 1936
The Broken Sword & Three Hearts and Three Lions - Poul Anderson 1950 & 1955
The Dying Earth - Jack Vance 1950
>all the key works that have greatly influenced and shaped fantasy fiction, dungeons and dragons, and the general perception of fantasy were written BEFORE LotR and mostly by Americans too lel
A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. LeGuin 1968
Amber series - Roger Zelazny 1970
Viriconium - M. John Harrison 1971
The Drawing of the Dark, The Anubis Gates, Declare - Tim Powers 1979, 1983, 2001
Little, Big - John Crowley 1981
Memes - Gene Wolfe, 1980s
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983 (to the best of my knowledge everything else she ever did was shlocky Baen-tier crap its weird how really good and literate this is)

>>6902294
>The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley 1983
You sick fuck.

>>6902341
what?

>>6902294
>memes, Gene Wolfe
Top kek
Also I haven't seen his influence almost anywhere, mind pointing to a few?

>>6902344
see
>>6900737

Personally I don't care, I haven't read The Mists of Avalon yet but someday I will. I also sometimes listen to a Lostprophets album I got as a christmas present from my brother about 10 years ago. Of course I condemn child molesters and baby rapers, but I separate art from its creators and enjoy it for what it is. I don't think it's even possible to actually suddenly dislike something you liked before, like a book or music, just because you hear something bad about people related to it. Just doesn't work like that. You can choose to not read or listen something as a protest, but not really change your opinion on it if you already have one formed.

Anyone know some sci-fi that revolves around the lives of people from other planet and worlds and it describes their own environment and society but from their own perspective and not from a human perspective?

>>6892604
>>6892630

What was it about Felurian's part you didn't like? The learning kung fu sex moves?

On the whole I liked the Fae scenes. Especially the Cthaeh.

>>6903335
going into some mysterious realm was one of the better parts of the book tbh

well fuck

>>6903403

I liked his whole trip away from University/Imre. Although parts of it dragged a bit like Kvothe dealing with the Maer's illness and searching for the bandits.

But yeah I enjoyed WMF but didn't think it was quite at the same level as NotW. That's not meant to be a terrible indictment though. It's wasn't anywhere near the drop off from Blood Song->Tower Lord for instance.

>>6903246
you can find a lot of that in Asimov's The Gods Themselves

>>6898323

Think much will change from ARC version to full release? Wondering about getting the ARC

>>6903425
Don't worry bro, /lit/ has all the memes you could ever need

>>6896337
>>6886767

How are his earlier works (e.g. Old Man’s War) ? I dislike his politics but like his writing style.

>>6903758

How about something that doesn't tie the story with some human non-sense that's happening on earth and is 100% stricly confined to their own planet issues?

>>6901962

I just liked its concepts aesthetically, for having something like the odd mishmash of technologies, magics, etc that you might find in the early Final Fantasy video games

>>6903993
Old man's war is pretty good but it devolves into muh military is evil pretty quickly.
the MC betrays the human race and military and sides with the alien version of the UN, despite the colonial union being on the verge of total victory. Muhlticulturalism and diplomacy 4evr basically

>>6904031
don't think i've ever seen that. maybe a kind well read anon will enlighten us.

>>6904482

That's OK then, I don't mind "muh military is evil" as much as "check your privilege" bullshit. Lock In is kind of about the latter.

>>6895357
Too "kiddie" for me.

I liked the Ancients, the powers and the other things they did, but how they "win the day", just comes across as kid literature(which it is). It's just that I can't stomach as much of those nowadays like I used to.

Read like 2-3 books then dropped the series.

Just finished this trilogy, and it's one of the most awesome sci-fi stories I've ever read. I'm just kind of at a loss as to what exactly happened in the end. If anyone could shed some light on this, I'll give you all my upvotes.

Also, any other hard sci-fi you can recommend? Preferably from authors who actually have some sort of understanding of science -- authors who don't just write fantasy and call the magic science.

>>6897340
Trust me, nigga, Paran gets very interesting later on. Like... Epicenter of the universe interesting.

>>6892521
Lawrence is a redditor (Literally. He spends like half his waking hours whining about piracy on /r/fantasy) and has zero plans for his books. He just sits down and starts writing; and it shows imo. His stories lack direction and everything is resolved by deus ex machina.

>>6904816
Greg Egan will certainly pander to your scientific sensibilities, Sir.

>>6904816

I read the first one and really enjoyed it. The second one though started confusing me. It's just 2complex4me I guess. That series in particular you really needed to reread the previous novel before tackling the next one. At least when they were coming out.

>>6904816
>I read all 3 over the course of 3 days.
That sounds like a sensible way to do it. I'll re-read them when I have time. I'm not sure what else I can say to contribute usefully.

>>6905082
What exactly confused you? The story? The techno-babble?

>>6905110

All the coined vocabulary. I read the first book right after it came out. By the time the second book came out I had forgotten what everything meant. I should have reread book one prior to reading book two. But eh, I didn't care about the series enough. Someday I'll probably read all three back to back and it'll make a lot more sense.

>>6904872
>He spends like half his waking hours whining about piracy on /r/fantasy
Oh man, I lurk there sometimes and I see him get BTFO when he tries to argue about shit all the time. The dude is a fucking retard, I don't get why he's so popular.

>>6904872

Is that the guy whose fantasy novels are all over the top Christian tracts or am I thinking of someone else?

>>6905374

If you were on the shadowmarch forums back in the day you might remember Tad Williams wasting much of his valuable writing time arguing with conservatives on the internet

>>6903103

Thomas Malory was reputedly a serial rapist yet Le Morte D'Arthur is one of the best literary works of its time

Marquis de Sade is infamous for his acts of rape and sexual torture yet his philosophy and fiction still deserve appreciation

>>6901962

Have you read Alan Campbell's Gravedigger Chronicles books as well?

>>6905702
no Sade is shit tbh

Does this count as fantasy? Maybe urban fantasy?

Regardless, it's a fucking excellent book.

>>6905858

It's most often marketed and sold as horror, but imo supernatural horror is basically a subgenre of fantasy

>>6905863
I don't think it's really fair to call it horror, though. Not with the extreme focus on the characters. That's a hallmark of fantasy.

>>6905868

Dark fantasy, then.

The "horror" genre label is often applied to dark fantasy that has typical horror trappings like vampires but isn't written as trashy True Blood style "urban fantasy" or "dark fantasy" pulp

>>6904899
>>6904816

>scientific sensibilities

does your fedora still fit?

>>6904872
>everything is resolved by deus ex machina.

Give 5 examples

>>6905898
Why the fuck do people on /lit/ hate Science so much?

>>6905374
>Get's btfo

Huh? I stopped coming to /r/fantasy because I'd continously engage him in debates and everyone (Including him) would pile downvotes and shitposts on me. Daring to question his fucking retarded views was utterly haram.

>>6905678
No. You're thinking of Brandon Sanderson. Brandon is a mormon, but he's actually a really awesome guy -- and this is coming from an atheist.

>>6905898
Kill yourself.

>>6906180
It's been a while since I read the first book. This is what I remember:

1. The waterfall thing that drowns the fire guy
2. That haunted house thing in the woods
3. The memory box
4. The falling rocks he uses he crush the army

>>6905891
Dark fantasy is usually used to describe stuff like Scott Bakker's and Steven Erikson's.

>>6903801
Probably not much.

Hey guys, can you recommend some fantasy books that focus on characters? I don't really like reading about epic wars, epic adventures and all this stuff, but I would love to read a book in a fantasy setting about people just living their lives, trying to make ends meet etc. Only thing I've read close to this idea was Little Big. If there aren't such novels, I would appreciate recs of something with complex, mature characters which act like human beings.

>>6906658
Jane Austen

I'm about to start with the first book the Book of the new Sun


Anything i should specificly be aware about in the storyline or plot before commencing reading?

>>6906680
Just read it

>>6906658
It sounds like you secretly want to read any kind of run-of-the-mill contemporary fiction but somehow ended up here

>>6904031

Anyone?


I'm very bored with all this human perspective crap given on the Sci-Fi world.

Does anyone know a book with "aliens" (conventional term) that tells of their own stories, their own experiences and their own world? Without getting tied in with planet earth or some magic humans that ended up on their planet?

>>6906689
That's pretty much correct.
It's just that reading Little Big made me think it would be nice to have more fantasy novels with characters that aren't completely aware of living in a fantasy world.

Maybe I'll read Sense and Sensibility after all.

>>6906702
>more fantasy novels with characters that aren't completely aware of living in a fantasy world.

What does this even mean

>>6906719


It means people who don't really understand their world they live in and arn't aware of it's "magical" capabilities

t. not him

>>6906743
But what if the world includes magic and they merely accept it as part of the everyday? It's only ever fantastical relative to the reader.

>>6906747
Well, it could be that there is a specific character from a specific social class from said world, that isn't really bothering much to be aware of understand the magical concepts of the society he lives in.

Kind of like a hobbo that isn't really preocupied with knowing about economics, finance and politics. Because he isn't exposed to this world where it effects him, and thus isn't aware of it.

I think this is what the anon wanted to suggest

>>6906658

Robin Hobb does pretty character-focused low fantasy. The scale of the plots varies, but generally the focus is on a few people of limited power/means who don't get to live a grand, epic story in which they singlehandedly overthrow the evil wizard and his army and become king of all the magical realms, etc. There are plots (more in the Fitz novels, less in something like Rainwilds which is essentially just about a bunch of societal misfits and some sickly babby dragons trying to get by), but they're fairly low key and move slowly. They're very comfy reads, you may have seen us wittering on about how great the last book really was because we really enjoyed 7383837 pages of Fitz tutting softly over that year's potato harvest and wondering if his elderly wife has dementia. Which probably makes it sound terrible, but I think a lot of people genuinely liked it.

>>6905374
Writers should not get involved in shitfights on internet forums, it just makes them look like shit every time.

>>6905716
No. Have you?

>>6906208

Scientistic rhetoric is used to mock those who believe in God by pretentious know it alls who are still unemployed and edgy years after their teens

>>6906363
Yeah Sanderson is pretty cool dude. He used to lurk atheist forums in order to get ideas regarding how to write Jasnah, despite being religious. I can get behind that.

>>6904816
See
>>6888063

Polite sage for double post.

NEW THREAD

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>>6904816
>Just finished this trilogy, and it's one of the most awesome sci-fi stories I've ever read

Hell yeah

> I'm just kind of at a loss as to what exactly happened in the end. If anyone could shed some light on this, I'll give you all my upvotes.

You mean the end of the third book? It's been a while but the way I remember it Mieli sings to the Kaminari jewel which accepts her, thus creating a new universe without Sobornost in which Saturn (together with the whole Zoku and moved Earth civilization) gets pulled.

NEW

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