/lit/ - Literature

first Meida Gladstone

Why are 40k novels so bad?


Who would you get to write a 40k novel and do them justice?

>>8480204
>>8480236

Why do Spatterlight's ebooks have such shitty covers? I looked up the one for Showboat World and it's clipart quality.

>>8480615
>no "for"
She would be ashamed.

>>8480617
>>8480598
40k and star wars in the same thread, I never get to post this

>>8480598

>>8480617
Some 40k stuff's alright, like the old inquisition trilogy and I enjoyed a few books in the HH series so far.

Anything with "a space marine battle novel" goes directly in the trash though.

>>8480622

I've wondered that myself. Heck, I prefer the plain yellow covers with just the name on them to the artwork I've seen on some of the Spatterlight output.

I would have thought Spatterlight Press could tap the Vance Integral Edition team for some talent but sadly apparently not, given the state of the covers and website. At least the ebooks they've released have been VIE texts.

I posted in the old thread, but didn't realise it was dead.

What's /lit/s thoughts on Alistair Reynolds? I liked his old stuff like Chasm City, Diamond Dogs, and Turquoise Days, but generally think his new stuff about the elephants in space is a bit shit.

>>8480375
Taking a break from the fantasy doorstoppers with some Ron Goulart.

Tried asking this in the old thread bjt didn't get any replies so here goes: what are your favorite short story writers in genre? Also, is there any decent magazine you can get delivered to Europe?

>sffg
>doesn't fulfill your life with real literature
pic related what you nerds wish you could read

>>8480676
>didn't get any replies
you were told to stfu faggot. what part of this you don't understand?

>>8480689

God, it's the lost redditor again. Fuck off, we all know you've nothing of worth to contribute, yourself most of all.

>>8480659
Yeah, the actual content is well-formatted and expertly reproduced.

I just wish the cover for the Tschai/Planet of Adventure ebook didn't look like some Halo fanfiction that was self-published by a fifteen year-old.

>>8480695
theres like 3 guys who replied to you negatively. im one of them. leave the scifi writing to professionals, gaskun junior.

>>8480701
The only reply Reynolds-anon got was a referral to this thread.

>>8480666
>>8480706
nobody here reads, big surprise

>>8480697

Pic related.

>Davy Crockett in Space
>the new novel by Jack Vance
>they stole his coonskin cap
>now it's personal

>>8480706
It was the short story guy we were responding to...
What the fuck you on anon?

>>8480709
Reynolds-anon here, reminds me of /tg/ really, no one actually plays but everyone can tell you why you're a fucking faggot for playing the way you do

>>8480633
People sperg out when they were recommended trash, no?

Is it because the trash I was recommended(baited) and disliked so much that I went out of my way to show my hate, was actually your fav books you can get butthurt?

Are you the only person who gets to say what we should like or dislike?
Are you the monarch for sffg or something?

If I feel like I was baited I have to right to say so.
Women authors anon, anti-dino, girl pedo anon all get a free pass, but let my rage at having wasted weeks reading the shit you guys suggested me kindle, and I'm the bad guy?

>>8480721
And only one guy - the stfu idiot i.e. you - replied negatively.

>>8480666
>Chasm City,
About to read.

>>8480701
I like to think I actually replied fairly positively thank you very much. Stop being a pugnacious prick.

>>8480701
Sci-fi writing? Wtf are you on you fucking retard? I asked a question, nothing about writing. Jfc this shithole has turned worse than fucking r/books

>>8480713
Hell, I think that style is alright

But this.

>>8480764
>i.e. you
I wasn't the original anon that told him to stfu... can't you read?

>>8480689
>you were told to stfu faggot. what part of this you don't understand?

>>8480784
yeah that was me

you can tell a difference between me and him. i dont bother with punctuation

>>8480784
Stfu idiot

Any good hard sciences short stories like Greg Egan, Ken Liu, Ted Chiang?

>>8480775

>Beware the undead leucomorphs

Ironically it fits classic scifi covers where the action depicted has almost nothing to do with the story. No shierls on Tschai, though.

>>8480666
Reynolds seems like he's been on a decline. His newer material is hit and miss (and even the end of the Revelation Space series was mediocre), despite his earlier work being excellent.

>>8480767
good book, probably my favourite book desu

>>8480811
Stfu faggot

>>8480767
boring fest

>>8480825
Maybe he's working through a slogging middle, and approaching his most profound works. He's only 50 you know.

Only one may live

Who do you save?

>>8480898
That isn't hard, Sanderson lives, I can't stand anything he writes but at least he isn't a massive faggot like Rothfuss.

>>8480898
Dang, thin Sanderson has a kind of unconventional attractiveness, how unfortunate

>>8480822
>picture for ants.bmp

>>8480898
Sanderson lives, he doesn't pull his out cock out of a work in progress for 4+ years while occasionally teasing you with it.

>>8480950

Blue board = blue balls, no exception.

Does anyone here subscribe to any magazines?

>>8480968
No, and you shouldn't either, they're all fucking terrible; if your lucky you'll maybe get one readable story per issue.

>>8480962
fuck you, copper

>>8480971
How do you know theyre terrible if you dont subscribe to any?

>>8480968
>subscribe
>printed media
kek

>>8480898
easily sanderson, though i dont care for his fiction

rothfuss is an egregiously insufferable faggot. if anyone tries to save him, ill make sure they share his fate.

>>8480917
makeup and photoshop works wonders. he was never attractive.

>>8480978
you can read without subscribing

Does he have alzheimer's or something?

>>8480982
Dont the print/ebook versions have different shit than the online version?

>ywn congratulate Jemisin on her latest award, pop a shoujo anime DVD in and snuggle up to her milfy body as you both veg out

>>8480811
Hello my good man, good taste t b h. Try the short fiction of Greg Bear and Peter Watts.

Also, do you have a nicely shaped skull? No reason.

>>8481005
would you defend her honor from Vox Day's vile slanders?

>>8480898
If Rothfuss hadn't decided to pull a GRRM while being insufferable I would have said him, but at this point I no longer care if he finishes his series. So Sanderson.

>>8481031
I don't use twitter, but I'd give her a back rub to help her recuperate.

>>8480988
Doesn't he legitimately have autism?

Either way, Goodkind is great for triggering Reddit.

Why do I feel I'm the only one who likes Catherynne Valente? Her work is a fucking bottomless font of clever ideas, silky prose and beautiful worlds. She does not deserve to be overshadowed by Neil Gaiman (not that he's bad, he's just not on her level)

>>8481068
>autism
maybe. That or alzheimer's, you could fit his new books on 5 pages but the endless repletion not only kills the story but turns it into a chore. can your autism get worse?Its been 10 years since I read his first books and I don't recall it being this bad

>humans within the age range of adolescence years have the ability to become immaterial and pass through objects
>they are used indiscriminately for various purposes including security, assassins, target practice, espionage, secret warfare
>all people grow up to become psychopathic assholes, paranoid fuckups, cold and distant robots
>only ones who don't are actually born and raised to fill various roles in the society and kept away from the "public"
>the world is very beautiful because of this. Things are made to be beautiful and large instead of sturdy or brute because arguably the most important people can pass through everything unhindered
>no such things are blocky fortresses and huge walls and shit. Everything is vast and spacious
>security is based on clever use of angles and optical illusions so that instead of the real world where an assassin would have to get past walls and guards, an assassin would have to solve various mental games and puzzles and it becomes a searching game through vast palaces and labyrinthine corridors.

Do you guys like my setting? I have quite a good story in it, I'm some 30k words done already.
I'm really feeling it.

>>8481132
stop posting faggot

>>8481136
you stop posting faggot

Why do morons like Vox Day campaign so futilely and desperately to shill their garbage? Why don't they start their own terrible award program and keep their shit contained from the decently fine Hugos?

>>8481132
Post a pastebin to either the first chapter or a section you feel is especially strong (or weak if you're worried). I'll read it in the morning so check the thread later. It's an interesting idea.

>>8481031
Why hasn't anyone written a Vox Day/NKJ erotica yet?

>>8480677
It's okay bro. We'll make it bro. Check my challenge bro.

>>8481132
>humans within the age range of adolescence years have the ability to become immaterial and pass through objects
How many scenes of people waking in on each other?
>all people grow up to become psychopathic assholes, paranoid fuckups, cold and distant robots
nah it would all be sex orgies. I mean at first people would be apprehensive but eventually they would give into the new social structure. distant robots happen only when everyone has mind reading. inability to enforce personal space would have different results
>Everything is vast and spacious
Have you looked into psychological effects of that?
>optical illusions
unless there is a pit involved they could just close their eyes and walk. Technology would give them basic suits that can keep them safe (or do they have to be nude to pass objects)
>labyrinthine corridors
people can pass through objects right?
>adolescence
make it so that power goes away once you turn 20 or 25, to make it more YA.

>>8481165
They've moved onto to the Dragons

>>8481132
here is mine (I have a few but this one is new)
>MC is a body jumper
>jumps into evil or suicidal people
>can't stay for long
>sometimes figures out what to do with those people
>to have a sense of identity MC makes an organization called labyrinth and gives himself the title of minotaur.He makes up a ring design which allows his people to know him.
>cops are on his ass because some of his kills are now being connected to the orginization
any ideas? seems bit OP, kind of shit you may give an antagonist that ends up trapped in a soul stone but I like characters that have desires and personal drive to make them into reality instead of waiting for destiny like most protagonists

>>8481184
>my life in the CIA
That looks like a deep book

>>8481211
for you

>>8481165
>>>/reddit/
Back to liberal retard land with you.

>>8481132
I'd read the shit out of that sempai. Post that bitch up when you get the chance.

Are Conan prose stories still being published?

>>8481129
He's just a really really bad writer
Plus he did the same as Frank Miller and went mental after 9/11

Difference being that Miller had some talent to lose

>>8481128
>Why do I feel I'm the only one who likes Catherynne Valente?
Well which of her books do you recommend a new reader starts on?

>>8481128
I dunno senpai, her wikipedia entry wasn't very enticing. You'll need to actually sell us on her. Also, defend this http://io9.gizmodo.com/5293470/palimpsest-explores-a-sexually-transmitted-city

read the Orphans Tales duology. it's a book of fairy-tales inspired by the arabian nights but not based on them. She takes her originality seriously here, and weaves unrelated narratives like a pro. While the first one is merely great, the second one is fucking mindblowing, full of insanely fantastic ideas I could never have though of in my wildest dreams

>>8481655
She's very high-concept, but she has extremely good execution as well. Maybe that's why I like her, since original concepts are a huge thing to me.

That said, if you read The Orphan's Tales or The Melancholy of Mecha Girl, you start to see the kind of weird things going through her head

Spiders who replaced their legs with needles to write caligraphy, Political conspiracies among Jinni royalty, an explanation of Baryogenesis told through greek myths.

These are enough on their own, but her style is what sells it. It is, for lack of a better word, "tender" in the sense that it melts in your mouth, or rather your eyes. It basically reads itself to you, like suddenly you're 6 years old again and you just want one more page

>>8480898
Rothfuss. Why is Name of the Wind so popular when it's so boring? I'm currently on page 155 and we've spent most of the book jerking off over the boring ass world building and how special the main character.

>>8480330
Sorry for the late reply Donkey old bean, I had to drop off to sleep.

I tracked down an English fellow who was hawking his set on a forum. Turns out he had sold it on to a bookseller, but even so, it was still cheaper than any of the secondhand sets I'd seen on eBay before (or after), so I bought it from him.

>>8480622
Spatterlight Press is tapping the talents of the VIE team (you'll see some familiar names over there), but it is, AFAIK, pretty much a volunteer operation(?). The VIE proper also had some art, but it did absolutely nothing for me.

>>8481128
The Orphan's Tales are masterful.

>>8480898
No question save Sanderson and have Rothfuss confined to a plane of reality where his only companionship is the loathsome main character he has created and he is forced to burn his books to keep warm, though he never gets quite warm enough

>What does it mean if the gods can be killed? The first novel in an epic new fantasy series for readers of Brent Weeks, Brandon Sanderson, Peter V. Brett, and Scott Lynch.

Cool book

>>8481128

Female author so worthless

>>8482032
Gods can be killed in multiple mythologies and traditions. In fact, instances where they absolutely can't be killed are much less common, it's just that one of them happens to be the Olympian/Greek tradition, which has become by far the most famous.

>>8480637
CLANGED

>>8480637

That's pretty sexist...

Star Trek > Star Wars

>>8482093
It's also pretty shit art.

>>8481943
They're puerile male fantasy entertainment where the main character is the best at everything and always has the right witticism and girls love him because he's so witty and good at sex that he looses his virginity to a sex godess and she thinks he's awesome at sex.

I'd say he's kinda like Dan Brown for nerds, except Dan Brown can write more than one book in a decade.

>>8482103
NOTW was fine until WMF.
An entire book of magic elf sex and nothing else is the biggest shit I've ever seen anyone take on a series.

>>8481973

Just looked up Orphan's Tales. Is it a loosely connected series of short stories in the vein of Invisible Cities?

>>8482123
I haven't read Invisible Cities, so I can't comment on the similarity. But the two books each have two (IIRC) larger stories, each of which is structured like a Matryoshka doll. That is to say, if the story starts, e.g., with a boy, and the boy meets a bear, then the story might continue with the bear's story, and ever deeper into the nest, until it starts coming back up again in the midway point.

The larger stories are interconnected, but IIRC it only shows in the latter volume.

>>8482166
Sounds pretty neat, I'll check it out

>>8481190
How many scenes of people waking in on each other?
You mean walking? Many, but when they become immaterial they can touch each other because their aura connects. Combat is especially interesting. A series of phasing in and out of material form, wild movements to get to injure the opponent.
>nah it would all be sex orgies. I mean at first people would be apprehensive but eventually they would give into the new social structure. distant robots happen only when everyone has mind reading. inability to enforce personal space would have different results
Oh I know. One of the first scenes is a sex/sick fun scene involving 3 of the protagonists.
What I want to write is edgy fucktards who think they own the whole world, slurry girl assassins, mentally broken victims of years upon childhood years of having done and seen horrible stuff.
I want to have fun with this.
>Have you looked into psychological effects of that? unless there is a pit involved they could just close their eyes and walk. Technology would give them basic suits that can keep them safe (or do they have to be nude to pass objects)
Nope but technology did evolve to suit the needs of the population and security, as well as means to control these hormone-fueled teens with practical invulnerability. I like to think that people are less focused on building blocky, tight, ergonomic confines if a good part of the population (arguably the most important and influential part) can simply waltz up your shit.
Instead they focus on beauty and vastness. Towers are BY FAR the structure type of choices. All great places if the world are characterised by towers, large and majestic. Also elevators. Many fucking elevators.
>people can pass through objects right?
People can pass through everything but that doesn't mean they have a mental minimap of the dungeon. You enter the building, go straight forward, see that everything looks the same, turn back, o shit where am I now, go back again, stumble into a room you've never seen before, turn around only to face 3 bodyguards like yourself. You run, pass through as many walls as you can to break line of sight until eventually you kinda get out of the building.
What now?
>make it so that power goes away once you turn 20 or 25, to make it more YA.
The power lasts to 14-17 years old, in rare cases it lasts more or less. Some of the oldest of these kids during the time of the book are 16. The story is dark though so don't think age means anything if you're forced to do weird shit from the age of 6.

Finished Prince of Thorns trilogy in a day. Felt it was super edgy at first but I liked the direction it moved in. Second book was definitely the best though. Ending to the series felt very rushed, could have used a few more chapters.
Is the second trilogy in the same setting worth it?
>>8480666
Agreed. While Reynolds is one of my all time favourites, I can't find myself giving a shit about his post-Revelation Space setting stuff. Some short stories are great though.
Have you tried Vernor Vinge? I put A Deepness In The Sky on the same level as the best of Reynolds.

>>8482194
Are you Australian?

Okay, Im 50 pages into Malazan book one. Seems aight. Anyone here made it all the way through? How screwed am I.

>>8482268
>Seems aight
>How screwed am I
I don't understand how your points connect to each other.

>>8482261
Why do you ask
Nope, nor am I american or european

I still write and read in english.

>>8482271
Is this going to be a slog? I dropped asoiaf after 2.5 books or something, but that was like 6 years ago and I haven't tried any huge ass series since

>>8482277
The first book is the biggest slog, after that it gets better.

>>8482274
Not him but your English is pretty good, nice

>>8482280

The first book is the best, it starts going downhill after that

Can someone please talk with me about the end of the farseer trilogy by Hobb. I feel so let down by how rushed the end was, characters and story lines just felt like they were trashed. I've never felt so little closure at the end of a fantasy series.

Every character gets a couple of addendum like after thought sentences which don't relate to Fitz at all; Chade forgets about Fitz, Fitz never bothers to seek out Lady patience who is essentially his mother and Hobb introduces the fucking literal who? Character in Fitz's weird orphan son.

I wanted to look into other Hobbs works but this has left me in such a foul mood, if anyone has read her other works, I'd like to know if she fleshes out the world more in them?

>>8482274
I'd only ever heard Australians use "slurry".

>>8482361
Keep reading, your questions will steadily be answered. The Tawny Man trilogy are the next Fitz books after Farseer. You could read the Liveship Traders first because it has a couple of overlapping characters and there are a few nods to it in Tawny Man, but it's not necessary.

Any one read the Baccano books here? Liked the anime.

>>8482471
J-E translations are the worst thing you can do to yourself. If you want to read JP books learn the language or don't bother at all.

Why is Bakker so fascinated with rape and cucking ? I get it, you use them a few times to get the point across...but after a while we realize the world sucks ,we don't need a rape every 10 pages to remind us over and over again...

>>8482518
why do some people jerk off to rape or cuck porn all the time? it's just what some people are in to

>>8482518
He's writing for reddit senpai, rape and cuckolding is the deep 'n edgy shit swallow enough for them to understand.

How much of the animated series does the first book cover?

>>8481128
I replied to your post in the last thread. Are you going to post this in every thread now?

>>8482518
Because he is a shitty writer?

>>8482039
Hi misogynist anon.

>>8482688
stfu faggot

>>8482697
>stfu
Fucking newshit.

>>8482697
>being this new
Fresh off the redshit boat I see, and trying to fit in too.

Here's a pro-tip to actually fitting in... actually read books and not meme about reading them.

>>8482709
>actually read books
kek
I bet you didn't even try to read DFW, Pynchon or Gaddis

>>8482606
It ends with the little boy being crowned emperor.

The book begins with the history of the galaxy, though -- material that the OVAs don't cover until Julian goes to Earth and binges on the History Channel.

>>8482744
Then might as well get it for the lore background.
The OVA is great,but I want to see the source material too.
Thank you for the anwser btw

>>8482701
>>8482709
>Hi! I'm from Reddit

>>8482753
>stfu
You fucked up retard.

>>8482758
>I've been here all Winter!

>>8482760
>stfu
>stfu
>stfu
>capitalising Winter
Nice backtracking you delusional faggot.
>>>/out/

>>8482765
>Brrr, It's Coming

>>8482767
Have you ever considered going to a mental asylum?

It looks like It's only downwards from here for the thread, so I'm going to contribute even further with a question.

Do you think the decline in SF&F sales is a response to a decreasing popularity of left-wing politics in Europe?

>>8482798
I think decline in sales can be attributed to the ever increasing technological advances that the youth now has acces to.
And YA blowing up.
But I'm no expert on the subject.More of a laic,really.

>>8482798
Also Publishers are further inflating their volume sales by reducing sales price often weeks after publishing; Ready Player One's paperback is still only $4 brand new despite the film on the horizon.

>>8482815
Not like it's worth even 4 dollars.

>>8482798
>Do you think the decline in SF&F sales is a response to a decreasing popularity of left-wing politics in Europe?

Do you have any proof for such a decline? Fantasy is booming thanks to GRRM and YA - science fiction was #5 in book sales 2015: http://www.statista.com/statistics/201404/types-of-books-that-american-adults-read/

>>8482826
Traditional publishers are quite literally collapsing, they're experiencing a exodus, while incredibly popular authors like Martin are still selling a lot, semipopular authors like Scalzi are being outsold by authors like Rolf Nelson.

It gets worse when you read stuff like

>For 2014 Adult Fantasy, PW reported 7,526,000 sales, which is down 13% from the 2013 number.

Holy fuck.

>>8482701
>>8482709
What part of STFU FAGGOTS do you fags not understand?

>>8482798
Oh no you don't fagget.

>>8480677
>keeping an online count of how many books you've read

I think you should reevaluate your life decisions and read for yourself.

>It's a one fourth of the book it's about pushing a retarded nigger on a sandy beach chapter.

Fuckin hell Stephen King is such a fucking hack. I remember liking Misery but this Dark Tower shit is so dull

>>8482967
Whats wrong with keeping a list of what you've read?

>>8482967
If they had an offline index I would use it, but all i have to do is:
>Search book, read blurb, like it?
>Add it to list, read book, really like it?
>High rating, get more suggestions of same type of book.

It's that easy, your kindle doesn't do that, it still haw to access the goodread api index (Amazon owns goodreads if you don't know ) to give you your blurbs.(if you can do that shit on the kindle).

>>8482919
STFU FAGGOT

>>8482967
Scared that the cia knows you have a penchant for dead babies, farts and women underwear?

>>8483005
>trying to make this a meme

If this catches on it shows that sffg is filled with underage b&(they post about potter and WoT already), instead of the one or two underage shitposters we always suspected we had.

>>8482093

>>8483029
COCK magazine Lol

>>8482986
his kind of autism is good, any other kind is bad apparently

what online mags do you dipshits read?

>tfw not discussion about tachyon lances or even particle beams
Step it up, senpai.

>>8483191
>pay 15 dollars a month to basically have a second job, and have 0 fun
>lowest retention rate of any mmo

That's what your picture screams anon

>>8483202
Nah, it's just some Swedish company which develops games for autists.

>>8483240
It's Iceland I believe but you're right about the autists part


But the only person I ever met who played it was a finance major, maybe it's fun for them? He wasn't autistic, he was also President of our Honor Society

I want something with a good story that will keep me entertained throughout, not really in the mood for a big amount of world-building

any recs?

>>8483861
A Darker Shade of Magic.

>>8481973

Oh hey, is "Lurulu" not in the VIE?

>mad jelly bruh
>bookcase should be dark stain to contrast with that bitchin' set

>Didn't write last night
>dont even want to write tonight

aaaand just like that I'm off the wagon.

again

I didn't even get past the introduction...

Maybe I should give up on writing as a hobby. I don't have the follow-through needed to accomplish anything that takes more than three sittings of work unless something is physically compelling me to make progress. Writing groups aren't an option since they have no power over me. I can just leave and never come back and my life doesn't change at all

>>8484222
Why don't you try the Sanderson technique of forcing yourself to write a minimum amount every day, even if it's trash or just stream of consciousness.

>>8484231
because the only one making me write is me.

If I don't write nothing happens. I don't get violently ill. I don't fail a class. I don't get fired from my job. I don't struggle to pay bills. There's no pressure to actually do anything.

>>8484262
Why do you write then?

>>8484310
to tell a story

>>8484222
Have you tried mornings?

>>8484377
I have a 9 am job

>>8484424
That's the point. You get up an hour early and that's all there is to do with the time.

>>8484443
besides going back to sleep. or reading. boredom doesn't motivate me. pressure does

>>8484461
Make promises you know you can't keep to people you don't want to disappoint.

>>8484461
Write a fanfiction and publish a chapter every three days.

>>8484502
It doesn't even need to be a fanfiction.

Any public web novel with a public schedule.

Although a public schedule didn't help GRRM. Maybe anon should give up.

>>8484475
you don't seem to be getting this. It can't be pressure that comes from me. Nobody is going to care if I say I'm going to write and then don't.

Something needs to be on the line, and the person who decided what happens can't be me, because then I can just decide "fuck it"

Like, if there was a service I could subscribe to where I have a councilor who shows up to me house once a week and if I don't have X number of pages done they kick me in the dick, that would be ideal.

>>8484533
He wouldn't be writing as many words as GRRM probably.

The only problem with public publishing is that revision/editing plots on the fly is more difficult.

>>8484534

>if I don't have X number of pages done they kick me in the dick

>>8484461
Set a weekly (or daily or monthly) goal. Every time you fail to meet that goal, donate a set amount of money (it can be a lump sum, or proportional to your failure) to a charity.

>>8484534
If you can get people to care about your fiction you'll have no shortage of annoying individuals begging for more chapters.

>>8484534
>your mother's disappointment in you isn't enough motivation

>>8484631
once again, that's self-enforced

>>8484658
my mom is already disappointed in me because of my rampant anger issues

>>8484640
I actually have a pretty popular tumblr account (popular enough that one of my posts has 40k notes) but the one time I posted writing that wasn't a fan theory barely 10 people read it.

I don't think I'm going to get a following any time soon, but maybe tumblr just isn't the place to get readers for something that isn't a fanfic

Is Fiasko as good as Solaris?

>>8484716
>maybe tumblr just isn't the place to get readers for something that isn't a fanfic

Of course not. Books are no longer what they used to be. Since the inception of the internet there has been a meteoric rise in the amount of media that individuals can consume from fanfic and pirateable books around (deDRMing is as simple as importing an overdrive book into calibre) and a dearth of readers to sort all the wheat from all the chaf.

The only works that actually attract a meteoric number of readers are fanfic because there is an existing fanbase that actively searches for it and spreads by word of mouth whereas with original fiction you compete for the attention with every single other author especially those who are already promoting themselves or have an existing fanbase.

I also doubt that most modern readers are of a particularly philosophical or deep bent so anything which isn't Sanderson tier is unlikely to hold their attention for long.

>>8482984
That was pretty bad desu. I'm about to start reading the third book and hopefully it gets better, 'cause I really like the first one.

>>8484716
Tumblr sets up a lot of young artists for disappointment. It pretends to be this social networking/blogging site for aspiring artists but it's really just a hangout for obsessive fandoms. If you contribute to a fandom you can expect to see your work get a shitload of response, if you don't contribute to a fandom it's like posting your artwork anywhere else on the internet.

Part of this is because of the way Tumblr's shitty sharing and tagging system works. You might be mistakenly believing all those people visited your tumblr page to read your posts, but they almost certainly didn't. What probably happened is some aggregator blog for the fandom found your posts and added them to their daily update, then the thousands of followers of that blog saw them and read them via the aggregator. The aggregator doesn't see your non-Fandom related posts because it only browses fandom-related tags.

This is how tumblr works. People don't really hunt for stuff or follow individual content creators most of the time, they just follow huge aggregators who do regular batches of content they found on various tags that they people are interested in.

>tfw female author uses stripper pseudonym

>>8484813
honestly, I wish there was a better site for this sort of thing. Non-anonymous, a following system, not fandom-oriented.

Maybe there's a subreddit for this, but if there is it's not a popular one

>>8482361
She comes back to the series later. There's a new trilogy started already, but unfinished.

>>8484797
The first one is an outlier. The second is the one that really sets the tone for the series, and the quality just goes downhill.

>>8484879
Seconding this.

>>8480672
>doorstoppers

Define please? I'm relatively new here.

>>8484896
It means a physically large book. One that could hold open a door.

>>8484896
Fat books.
I'm currently reading Malazan.

>>8484900
>>8484902

Like Stephen Kings IT and Under the Dome.

Gotcha. I need to start Malazan, soon (tm)

Currently reading Mote in Gods Eye and some Lovecraft.

>>8484896
Then maybe you don't realize it's unnecessary to fill in the Name field.

>>8484918

I did not put that in there? How the hell. Pokemon Roots. ok, GG 4chan making me look stupid.

>>8484262
Write about how there is nothing to write about and how no one is forcing you.

Hey /sffg/ I've never really read any scifi aside from some YA stuff from when I was a teen but I've been wanting to get into it. Is Ender's Game a good place to start. My friend recommended it to me. Is it any good? I hear a lot that only the first book is any good; is that true? Why?

Pic unrelated

>>8484461
If you don't write imma BLACK your mom and you will have a black brother to follow you around.

>>8485039
Enders Game will only bring heartache. This is what you really need :3

>>8485059
But is it good?

>>8485039
It's nae bad, though I actually prefer the novella version of it from Unacccompanied Sonata before it became a full book. Either way it occupies a weird borderline between YA and adult SF, so it's a good one to ease you in.

>>8485059
'fraid I've never gotten around to reading it, though I have enjoyed some of Heinlein's juveniles. Can only parrot opinions already shared here, which echo your stated experience.

Are there any vampires novels that take place in a fantasy setting with swords and magic? Pic related.

>>8485069
Thank (you) friend

How does Clarke's 2001 compare to the movie?
Would I enjoy it considering most of my SF experience is with PKD?

>>8485059
>the one random white guy on a rap album cover

>>8485087
Carpe Jugulum's Pratchett and so comedy but it fits

If you want pulp there's a bunch of warhammer fantasy ones that are fun (Ulrika, Von Carstein trilogy)

Not quite magic but 33AD is Vamps vs Jesus which is incredibly fun

Ascendant Kingdoms seems to be an ideal fit but I haven't read it and it's got like a billion books in the series

Holy shit, I'm enjoying The Eye of the World, but Jordan can't do flashbacks for shit. What a massive clusterfuck.

>>8485213
Reminder that people largely agree that the first books are the strongest part of WoT

Have fun :3

>>8485221
I am having fun

>>8480598
Are there any books with a collective of short fantasy stories?

Sort of like H.P. Lovecaft: The Complete Fiction

Painted/Warded man sequels are a bit shit

author clearly had an idea for one book and got told to stretch it

>>8485221
No they don't, the first book is one of the weakest because it tries to be generic for too long.

>>8485087
An oldie but a goodie. Not too swordy though

>>8485302

>>8485221
>the first books
>plural

His information is correct. It's been a couple of decades for me but where Rand defeats Ishmael? Baalzamon? in Book 3 is really the best point to abandon the series. There is a book or two after that are still worth reading but there won't be anywhere near the same closure that you would get by reading "The Dragon Reborn" and pretending that was the end of the series.

>>8485328
It's not correct because the first book is mediocre at best. Books 2-5 are the best in the series.

>>8485328
>>8485322

Pay this no attention. Newfag trying to learn how to reference other people's coments

>>8485337

Two through 5 or 14 are the "first books" by any definition. Please tone down the autism. You misread what he wrote: accept it and move on.

>>8485341
I've been here since 2009 you fucking summerfag.

>>8485349

He was testing the function.

>>8485342
"First books" clearly implies it covers the first book (as well as others), which is incorrect.

>>8485341
>>8485353
Please have my most sincere apologies.

>>8485238
Westermead is a collection of fantasy short stories by Scott Thomas. It is fantastic and blends very well the author's bend for horror too. If you like HPL I'd advise checking Thomas' works more in vein with weird fiction for example The Sea of Ash and his ghost stories collections.

Also in the weird fiction vein but mixed much more with fantasy are Clark Ashton Smith's cycles in Averoigne, Hyperborea and Zothique. The first has stories set in a fictional french province around the middle ages, the second has an antediluvian continent mass as its setting and the last one has stories taking place in the far future as the sun dies.The Averoigne cycle is the closest to typical fantasy with the whole European feeling but even then Smith infuses his stories with a healthy dose of horror and weirdness.

>>8481810
>>8481657
You've picked my interest and I really like fairy tales/whimsical fantasy so I will try Orphan Tales right after finishing the Wee Free Men and The Night Land, both of which I'm enjoying a heck of a lot.

>>8483975
They put it in with "Ports of Call". From Cosmopolis 57 (basically the VIE newsletter): "Lurulu, of course, is no more and no less than the second half of a book called Ports of Call. The latter, unlike Lyonesse or The Cadwal Chronicles, was never intended to appear in parts. [...] The VIE, disdaining such accidents of circumstance, will put Ports of Call and Lurulu between the covers of one book, VIE volume #43, and call it Ports of Call, perfecting the presentation of this notable work."

>>8485373

Aha, that does make sense. Thanks.

>>8485322
I read that series a while back and found it enjoyable. The Pern-style "space colonists got fucked up by magic" felt pretty refreshing with a better author than McCaffery behind it, and compared to the usual bland fantasy settings.

Anything else by Friedman that's worth reading?

>>8485379
Don't read the Magister Trilogy you're in for a big disappointment (I mean it's still good but it's much more edgy juvenile/YA in tone and has significantly worse prose). I haven't read Friedman's other novels but I have them in store for a rainy day.

>>8485379
(not the Anon you're responding to)

I liked In Conquest Born and The Madness Season. Magister trilogy was passable. It had promise, but I didn't think it delivered.

>>8485039
>I hear a lot that only the first book is any good; is that true? Why?
The first book is child soldier military SF, while the later books aren't like that at all and have a more moralistic tone, so there are bound to be some people who like the first one and don't like the later ones.

The later books are more similar to other space opera type sci-fi, so I actually prefer them in some ways. Ender's Game is still a classic, though.

Can anybody recommend me some good sci-fi stories where robots and widespread AI play an important role but that don't devolve into singularity BS or Robot revolts? Something like the Culture or Stanisław Lem's short stories. Preferably space opera, I like cyberpunk but that's not what I'm looking for right now.

just finished book 3 of prince of nothing. pretty good. does it get better or worse from there?

>>8485591
if you liked it so far you'll like the rest

>>8480625
Does anyone have the batshit crazy 40k/star wars and I think star trek fan fiction?

>>8485511
Hyperion

>>8485511
Have you read the Asimov robot novels/stories?

>>8485511
Neal Asher, start with shadow of the Scorpion then move on from there.

>>8485213
What are you talking about?

Christ the sffgs are utter shit

>>8486203
>utter

No shit

>>8480898
I'm 3/4 the way through Words of Radiance right now and digging it. Read The Final Empire between these stormlight books and dug it, will probably continue that series once I'm done

Rothfuss had me on The Name of the Wind but The Wise Man's Fear was such a pile of shit I can't understand how it's even nearly as high rated as the first. In my knowledge that book is the best example of how a repetitive rhythm to plot events can literally kill you.

On the other hand it sometimes becomes clear in Sanderson's work that he's poor at one-on-one social encounters, or just likes writing awkward characters for some reason. His flow breaks apart in those situations, that's ne of my major gripes. I'd easily choose him to live anyway cause he actually puts a shitton of work into his writing--even if he fails at some point the man knows how to use effort well. Good guy.

Pic related pretty ok female mc

>>8480598
I'm lookin to add one to this list in the coming months, any weathered veteran protips for cliche avoidance//what the industry/genre is looking for right now other than what's obvious in sanderson/anthony ryan/maybe even shit like j.k. rowling's work

>>8486337
Neo-cyberpunk

>yfw esmenet is some 5.4/10 slag, bakker banged irl

>>8486368

>>8486345
fuck that, sales for cyberpunk are gonna crash and burn after this new bladerunner flick comes out and gets 0/10 reviews

>>8486422
more like a cyberpunk revival with the Netflix tv show and probably a Johnny Mnemonic 2

>>8486433
all I'm sayin is, hobbit book sales definitely weren't at their peak while peter jackson was fucking murdering them onscreen. at least it's been a year or so since that fiasco, I'm lookin to make give medieval fantasy another reputable chapter

>>8486450
>I'm lookin to make give medieval fantasy another reputable chapter
Do we really need that?

Let it die!

>>8486479
medieval fantasy makes my dick hard don't kinkshame

>>8486492
>50 Shades of Slay

>>8486312
I kind of liked Vin, but Elend was absolutely terrible and Mistborn would have been much better without the awkward romance subplot.

>>8486494

Is pic related really good?

His "silkpunk" cycle (The Grace of Kings, The Wall of Storms) seems pretty interesting.

>>8486498
agreed, Sanderson is bad at that without sounding goofy. to be honest 9/10 female mc's in fantasy or otherwise suffer from gross romances/you must choose one boy or the other romances. sando kinda just wrote himself into a trap. the rest was good though, will get my hands on the sequel soon

>>8486312

That's not what Vin looks like
I have a very clear image in my head what she looks like and that is not her

>>8486569
not my problem that's the trilogy cover art

>>8486581

the cover art is wrong

>>8486569
we dont care faggot

>>8485511
The Cassandra Kresnov series by Joel Shepherd is about a robot soldier that runs away to try and find out what's like to be a human.

>>8486591

i do

>>8486591
i do desu

>>8485511
Revelation Space has some AI characters, although they are AI's based on the lives/brain patterns of now-dead people.

Also by Alastair Reynolds, his Poseidon's Children trilogy has AI characters and they have a bigger impact on the story, and the world in the book. There's no singularity I remember and no robot revolts. Main characters are still human and they deal with other sci-fi topics as well, including trans-humanism and space exploration and exploitation. But the AI's are ever present.

I loved Stephen Baxter as a young teen. Should I give Proxima a try or will I destroy all my nostalgia by reading him as an adult?

>>8486842
It's shit. Always the same space ideas and a lot of sex and rape

>>8486872
Same as ever then.

>>8486498
>but Zane was absolutely terrible

FTFY

>>8486312
Just drop Mistborn on the 1st book. The second one was painful to read.

>>8485213
Were there even any flashbacks in Eye of the World? I don't recall any.

>>8487063
Oh wait you mean that weird thing where the chapter starts with them in the wagon, then it goes back and explains how they got there? Yeah that was kinda disorienting and no clue why he did that chapter that way. That's literally the only time he does something like that, so I think his editor told him that non-Chronological events aren't his strong suit and he should just keep it linear.

>>8487063
After White bridge when Rand and Mat are on the road and receive the scarves

Are there any modern redpilled sci-fi books around?

I basically mean "redpilled" in its narrow meaning concerning gender relationship. Books where main protagonist(s) (not the antagonist) doesn't behave towards women in accordance with traditional chivalrious/modern SJW standards. For example, destroys his ex in divorce and holds custody of children by all means necessary (there's such character in the Expanse novels - Naomi's ex - but he's "villain"), resorts to violence when his SO/kid behaves shitty and dangerous (I was unable to keep reading and watching The Strain as that pussy Eph utterly fails to beat some sense into Zach even when his behaviour puts people in jeopardy), bares no holds in combat against women, refuses to provide and protect (not his) women and children for free etc. Redpill in political sense is fine too - are there novels with xenophobic, social-darwinistic, pro-gun protagonists whose views seem justified?

I mean, I just started reading Blind Lake by Robert Wilson. But then I looked up the plot synopsis in Wiki and... WTF??? Main character abandons his life of fucking cute waitresses to white-knight for a single mom with an assburger crotchfruit against her ex? How much more cucked could a plot be? I can barely tolerate the Expanse as Holden actually self-identifies as a white knight (Rocinante being an obvious reference) and his behaviour evokes facepalms quite often. Watts' Firefall series is OK because there's almost no gender play there. Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovach, though prone to sudden fits of charity, at least behaves cool most of the time (though it becomes worse in 3rd book with all that self-pity and whining).

So, any suggestions?

>>8482606
Does anyone have a PDF btw?
Pls respond

>>8487204
Are you eligible for an audible free trial?

You may be able to get the audiobook for free.

>>8482080
>rabbit.png

>>8487159
Do you consider John Ringo to be a Redpill relevant author?

The first title I thought of is Live Free or Die by John Ringo. And it's plot involves a guy conducting economics with alien invaders.

Check Baen library for his works.

>>8487159
>

>>8487336
best post in this thread

>>8484744
It's different. More space opera and action, less feels (there are some mind games, but cold and calculative). I liked it. Should probably re-read Solaris, too.

Sanderson's dialogue should be a crime.

>>8487629
his action scenes and narration surrounding drama are at times amazing, I get hyped the fuck up at many points due to it. but yeah, his dialogue is often trash. the unbroken paragraphs of individuals just dropping plot dumps and monotonously trying to come to decisions when alone often make me want to put his work down. I feel like he excels with controlling dialogue in large groups of people--the initial planning scene in Mistborn with all the major characters reminded me of the ocean's 11 movies and made me smile when I read it. any less than four people in one room usually sucks when reading his work, though.

also what's his deal with making socially jarring / almost fetish-ally awkward characters? Shallan in the stormlight archive has some rad ass scenes but whenever she opens her mouth I want to get out a notebook and immediately rewrite what I see.

>>8487629
>“Well, no, I suppose not.” He smiled again—the thick, toothy smile of a merchant trying to put someone at ease. “I can see you are a woman of discriminating taste.”
>“I am,” Shallan said, voice firm though her heart fluttered. Was she destined to get into an argument with everyone she met? “I do like my meals prepared very carefully, as my palate is quite delicate.”
>“Pardon. I meant that you have discriminating taste in books.”
>“I’ve never eaten one, actually.”
>“Brightness, I believe you are having sport with me.”
>“Not yet I’m not. I haven’t even really begun.”

>>8487682
>He paused again. She was probably supposed to ask what happened next.
>"What if you need to poop?" she asked instead.
>"Well, I put my back to the chasm and laid about me with my sword, intending to... Wait. What did you say?"
>"Poop," Shallan said. "You're out there on the battlefield, encased in metal like a crab in its shell. What do you do if nature calls?"
>"I... er..." Adolin frowned at her. "That is not something any woman has ever asked me before."
>"Yay for originality!" Shallan said, though she blushed as she said it.

What the fuck was he thinking? Adolin goes full into his scat fetish after that, not even romantically. Did an agent think that was okay? Am I actually reading a YA novel?

>>8487578
Thanks. I'll try to read it after Cyberiada

>>8487096
Yeah I just recalled that weird a-chronological chapter after I posted that.

>>8486502
bumping the question

>>8485822
Only Fanfic I've ever read was a very well written (and beloved by the community) series of Supreme Commander stories

>>8480598
what are some good science-fiction book collections, magazines or similar ?

I just want to read some handpicked novels, novellas, short-stories

>>8488209
>magazines
Le Belial

>>8481165
Almost took the bait, nice try Scalzi.

What does /lit/ think of The Expanse books? Just finished Leviathan Wakes and am now into Calibans War, shit is pretty aight and comfy.

>>8488340
Wrong thread, this is /sffg/ not /lit/, we hold very different views.

>>8486502
>>8488035

I read it. It's a mixed bag. His historical stories are pretty good, the sci fi and alternate history are almost entirely shit, and the two fantasy stories in the mix are among the greatest things I ever read. The earned its awards the hard way

over all, (7±3)/10 but if you're a /pol/tard don't even bother (with anything really. certainly not breathing.)

>>8488370
>the titular story earned its awards the hard way
fuck my repeated reorganization of text

>>8488365
Sorry, so what does /sffg/ think of it?

>tfw /pol/ was btfo
feels good man

>>8488340
Good, Abraham's pretty good at anything he writes and his worst tenancies are reigned in by it being a two author project.

Really like scifi like expanse that isn't jumping across the entire universe

someone mind explaining to me or linking me sources on what makes Book of The New Sun so highly regarded? I'm about ~180 pages into Shadow of the Torturer, and its decent, but I must be missing something because I've heard this book described as arguably the best scifi book ever written.

Help me enjoy it more brothers

>>8488465
Summon the wolfefag, Aram senpai.

If he didn't pull a dfw because he didn't win a hugo he might be able to help you.

If not, finish the book, it's slow but I enjoyed it. If you didn't enjoy the book drop it. Don't force yourself to like anything to please people.

>>8488465
it's an incredibly good and tricky postmodern novel that just happens to be science fantasy

>>8488465
its not even sci-fi

>>8488533
>

>>8487682
Is that when she meets the slavers?

>>8488539
ye

>>8488539
It's the boat dude who drops her off IIRC

>>8487159
>modern sff where the protags arent progressives and the women cant do everything just as well as a man
There's no book like that senpai. If you find some let me know, though.
Historical fiction can be pretty redpilled though. Paranormal romance too, ironically, although they're really awful in all other aspects so I wouldnt recommend it.

It's pretty fucking funny that you two are using "redpilled" to mean "conforms to one narrow world view". Did you even watch the fucking scene from the matrix with the pills?

>>8488556
Redpill means retarded /pol/shit

>>8488518
yea, i dont hate it. I think its decent so i dont mind continuing.

>>8488531
Some parts have me like "who are these people, why are we here, what even is this". Like the part when Severian and Aglia go into the Greenhouse with the space-time distortion to find the flower for the showdown, theres a scene where they find this woodenhut with 3 people in inside it and some dialogue ensues.
Theres actually lots of scenes and characters introduced that dont seem to have any bearing on anything other than "this happened too btw".

>>8488556
That's what makes it hilarious. People who use redpill as a term are so far up their ass they they believe they're one of the chosen few to have knowledge of the world everyone else is unaware of.

>>8488365
But this is /lit/

Warded Man is fucking odd

It's from the pov of the Main character but his parents keep being referred to by their first names

I don't think "oh steve is such a cunt" if I'm angry at my dad

>>8488654
it just keeps getting more odd. that series went in a way different direction than I expected.

>>8488340
It's a pretty good series on the pulpy/adventure side of the spectrum. Cibola Burn is the "least" of the series due to (IMO) feeling like it was a final act to the previous book that had a "adventures of a star trek away team" stapled onto it to flesh it out into a full book.

>>8487224
Nah,I want to read.
I tried audiobooks,but I couldn't keep up with the story.

Halfway through Princess of Mars. Nice palate cleanser from more modern stuff.

>>8488567
Maybe not "unaware of", more like "in denial of".

Flashback by Simmons looks politically redpilled. Good guys Texans who come to the rescue in the end don't look quite "progressive" with their corporal and capital punishments and border war against Mexico.

>>8488654
Talking about his mom triggers him and his dad ploughing some fresh slightly used young pussy when his wife wasn't even dead yet didn't help in making himself look better in his son's eyes.

Wait till the GRI, then you see odd.

NEW THREAD

>>8488853
>>8488853
>>8488853

NEW THREAD