/lit/ - Literature

>>8703119
Bro :)

First for Bakker.

Just read The Great Ordeal, it's fucking amazing. Can't wait to read the last book.


Any opinions on Bakker besides the memes?

>>8705405
>not putting /sffg/ in the title

wtf? thanks though.

I have the need to say thanks, but im gonna sage this so I dont bump a redundant thread

I want to read some science fictiom what can I read that isn't shit?

Rules: complex politics and intrigue
Very advanced technology
No dystopian shit
High adventure

>>8705665
Answer me you bakker shills

>>8705740
Mimara will look at her kids and realize they are destined to hell. This will make her go insane because she knows no matter what she does this can't be changed. What comes before determines what comes after, they are trapped in causality.

Anyway, she will look at Kellhus and realize he is not damned, this will also drive her crazy.

Anyway, whatever happens, Mimara will be a complete mess. Wonder what Cnaiur will do, the most damned of all men!

>>8706019
Think Kellhus is gonna find some way to traverse the Outside and literally slay the Gods to avoid damnation? The more I've gotten into the Aspect Emperor the more it seems a major theme is damnation, grasping the will of the Gods and avoiding damnation. Seems the only way out for Kellhus at the moment would be some major metaphysical cataclysm that could change the rules of sin.

How's the farseer trilogy by Hobbs? Kinda new to the genre and it looks neat

Joe Abercrombie's books are pretty good. They are dark/griity fantasy like George Martin's stuff but with a dark humor edge to them.

How does /sffg/ feel about William Hope Hodgeson and his novel House of the Borderlands, would you say it is pure dying Earth or proto? I've often heard that Dying Earth has two names attached to it; Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe, but I think Hodgeson's works echo some of it. Especially in things like Borderlands and The Night Lands.

>started reading Leviathan Wakes
>pretty fun, pulpy sci-fi
But my god. The whole "we switch between two peoples perspectives each chapter" can go fuck itself hard. I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't the worst kind of cliffhanger chapter ending every single fucking time.
>A fuckhueg space battle is just about to start. everything is exiting as fuck, torpedos launched, railguns railed and whatnot
>ok lets go back to Mr. Detective on station going through someones apartment for clues.
Fuck. right. off.

Other than that, I'm enjoying it.

I'm on the Severian fights MAGICMAN to protect Severian part of Sword of the Lictor. Berry fun series.

>>8706079
First two are great, third kinda goes off the deep end but the writing is still top notch. Just finished reading it last week, trying to decide if I should go Liveship traders next or skip right to tawny man

>>8708590
>>8707098
Here is the thread
>>8703119
>>8703119
>>8703119

>>8709491

I just started Chain of Dogs and I hear Coltain is supposed to be based. So far he seems okay.

>>8706079
Good trilogy for a newfag, these were literally the first fantasy books I read after LOTR many years ago.

QUICK. NAME THE FANTASY CLICHE YOU HATE THE MOST.

>>8706280
They're pretty good, but sometimes they like to hit you over the head with their themes.

As an aside, his books caused me to *hate* the Kindle collective highlights feature. You'd be shocked at how much simple conjecture and common sense gets lauded as the most profound thing since Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit.

>>8710083
Coltain is a bitch boy scrub Duikers the real OG

>>8710817
That's actually the impression I'm getting, seeing as Coltain was more impressed with Duiker than Duiker was with Coltain, and he's supposedly just a historian and he's some kind of Attila the Wickan.

>>8710671
Half elves

>>8711789
>>8711004
>>8710817
>>8710685
>>8710671
>>8710241

Two threads can cause mod intervention
>>8703119
>>8703119
>>8703119

>>8711794

Then ditch the thread that doesn't have /sffg/ in the title. This isn't rocket science. This anon posted a better pic, too.

>>8711794
Nah. I use a filter to bump the general to the top of page 0 as long as it has the right keywords in its subject field, that one has no keywords so it didn't get bumped and I'm not gonna dig through the index/catalog to look for it every time I check this board. Next time don't fuck up your thread amigo.

>>8705675
The Commonwealth Saga. I can't recommend it highly enough.

>>8710671
>THE CHOSEN ONE
>THE ONE
>THE SAVIOUR
>THE CHOSEN SAVIOUR

>>8711910
>not using Thread Watcher

>>8711789
Lindybeige has an Interesting opinion to make half elfes halway decent again. Greanted his idea is supposed for RPGs but I think it translates just as well into fiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGFXcTsLJlg

>>8711794
Fuck the other threat then. If you type sffg in the catalog this one comes up, the other doesn't. this one it is.

>>8710671
BIG BAD!
>Ok why does he want to destroy the Land?
>Because he is Evil!!!
>Ok yeah, but what's his gain in destroying all life that exist?
>SO HE CAN RULE THE LAND!!!!
>The dead land? With no one in it? why?
>Because he is so super evil!!!
>Does.. does he need corpses for necromancy?
>no.. He's just evil. Don't you get it? He's evil!
>Does he like.. want to prove a point at least? have some hidden gain? Stock in the "revitalize wastelands" company?
>Dude.. what are you not getting about being evil?
Unimaginative bad guys can fuck right the fuck off. If you have big evil in your story you damn well better make sure that he has some plan beyond his "plan for destruction" and a proper reason where one can go "yeah ok, It's a dick move and needs to be stopped but I can see how you would benefit from doing such a horrible thing"

>>8712728
It's not that different really. Angsty half-elves have been done.

>>8712728
D&D elves are a dead end. They're hardly even fey anymore.

http://saveversusallwands.blogspot.com/2016/06/ten-reasons-why-i-hate-drow.html
>Ideally, all elves should be dangerous, mysterious and somewhat creepy. Creating a new category of elves that are almost defined as such, effectively means that elves in general (all the other elves) will not be dangerous, mysterious and somewhat creepy.

>>8710671
Sexy sorcerers/assassins. The entire sexy male assassin subgenre should be purged with fire, only women and retards read it.

Also elves being oppressed.

>>8712728
Select all in pic related please.

>>8712728
>a proper reason where one can go "yeah ok, It's a dick move and needs to be stopped but I can see how you would benefit from doing such a horrible thing"
People do self-destructive things that they won't benefit from all the time.

>>8710671
the "all fantasy after Tolkien is riddled with cliches to the point where it's basically the D&D movie" cliche.

>>8713311
So you think "mwa ha ha I wanna rule the world" is a good motivation?

>>8713316
Why not? Ruling the world means you get all the world's taxes and all the world's manpower. Plus, there's all the prestige that goes along with becoming the god-emperor of fantasyland. It may not be "deep" or "complex", but it's definitely solid.

And really, the idea that a villain must be so deeply troubled with le super deep and sympathetic backstory is a shitty cliche in and of itself.

>>8713316
I didn't even say that, but yes. It's nowhere near a bad motivation, especially when there's limited space to spend on more important things.

>>8713316
Worked for Trump.

>>8713316

"mwahaha" is the only honest reason to rule the world. There isn't a valid reason otherwise; it's simply too much hassle.

>>8706762
Night Land is solidly dying earth, House is arguable.

>>8711944
Hi Sebastian

Enjoying it so far, completely blown away by level of smart bullshit, but what the fuck with Lynch's mommy issues? On one male character there are three females, incredibly capable of handling themselves. Sometimes it feels like I'm reading through femdom fanfiction.

>>8710671
Getting betrayed by your master or best friend.

What are some non-shit Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels with good characters who I can self insert into and escape my shitty life?

>>8713801
Nope, sorry

>>8712857
It's not about angst.Have you even watched the video? it's about making halfraces not "best of both worlds" superpeople. giving them a reason to be disliked by society and some serious flaws other than "oh you are not fully either but really you are better than either"

>>8712923
D&D has some serious flaws anyhow.
>imma use this dagger
>you can't
>why?
>It's not your weapon class
>It's a fucking dagger. You take it and you stick it into people
For fucks sake.

>>8714372
Yes I watched it, and I'm telling you it's been done before.

>>8714404
Nobody claimed it as an entirely new concept. Just something that's more interesting than the "spock" halfelves "Oh he looks exactly like on of theirs and most all his traits are identical but he's a half breed and thus different somehow but not really"

>>8705482
Currently reading The White Luck Warrior. Getting sort of tired of the over-elaborate prose, but the good moments have so far made it worth it.
Also, Tekne supremacy.

>>8714512
For me it goes something like this:

First trilogy is awesome. It is flawed in many ways however it feels personal. You can tell Bakker was passionate about what he wrote. You have many great scenes and moments that you don't get anywhere else also it's very "honest". Bakkker had as many rape,murder,torture etc scenes as he wanted without getting the feeling that the editors fucked him over.

Overall, amazing books, with Cnaiur being a badass , Proyas being a complete narcissist, Kellhus and his past, the emperor...there are many interesting and mysterious things if you are willing to give the series a chance ( and if you like these kinds of books)

Book 4 and 5 felt more subdued. They where better written in some ways and more coherent, it's obvious Bakker spent a lot of time on his craft...still it felt kinda fake. Like he sold out. Even so, if you are a fan of his style and the series there where plenty of interesting things happening. It just didn't pack the same punch as the first time.

Anyway, the Great ordeal is like the comeback. I have read all the books and while I loved them the first trilogy was a lot better in my mind. TGO is like Bakkers redemption ark. I feel like he said fuck it to the editors and others and went full Bakker. There are maybe 2-3 parts in the whole book where "full bakker" was too much but the good parts of the book overshadow those.

I was impressed. TGO hit me hard and it was just so masterfully done. I was afraid that this will be another Malazan where the ending was a major disappointment(still great but after all that hype I expected more).

I am much more optimistic now about the end book. Even so these books are in my top 5 series of all time. If bakker can mirror or even exceed TGO it will take the top spot for sure

>>8710671
>magic sword
>redheaded princesses

>>8705393
If you like that picture, and you liked the way that Clockwork Orange was written, you should read Riddley Walker.

Guys can anyone remember the name of that russian torrent site with an ass load of books?
Library something I think.

>>8710671
>farm boy "hero" still has all of his teeth

>>8710671
>jokes during fight
>sex in medieval environment is something clean and decent

>>8716192
Soldiers horsing around before battle is one of the best underused tropes.

>>8715656
People lose teeth these days mainly because of decay and that is caused by high sugar foods. There was less sugar in medieval times and faux-medieval so that actually makes sense.

What did you guys vote for?
https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-fantasy-books-2016
https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-science-fiction-books-2016

>>8716471
>reading books written in current year

>>8716479
>Implying I read more than one
lol

>>8716479
>reading books in current year

Why are you fags on lit if you don't even read?

I've seen someone else in other thread said he didn't read anything for the year, and someone else say they don't even read.

>>8716510
You seem to have misquoted me anon.

>>8715387
gen.lib.rus.ec?

what's the most fun way you've described laser combat or seen it described?

A sheeting of planes of red from the walls for me, for infantry with lasrifles mounting a large offense from a wall. Or the whamping and the buzz, for a scene involving a more intimate of fire (one char with a sharpshooting rifle and another with just some small piece of junk)

Is this worth reading?

>>8717658
No

>>8717658
This trilogy is his weakest. Read House of Suns or Pushing Ice instead.

>>8717291
When blind men who are controlled by small men who are riding them were fighting the holy warrior virgins got shot by laser artilery in TBotNS,

>>8716711
Danke.

>tfw you;re finally making progress on your science fantasy story but then you realize the plot depends on you using a time travel mechanic that doesn't make sense

fuck!

>>8717921
How can time travel not make sense?

>>8717955
It's not that it doesn't make sense so much as it doesn't line up with my beliefs and the stance the the series. In terms of time travel I only believe in time loops since that's needed for a deterministic universe. However, the main character can see through time, which wouldn't be so bad except that the future changes when she wasn't looking at it.

I could address that with the fact that the entity responsible functions on the laws of quantum physics, but the entire point is that her own path has already been observed so it shouldn't have gone off the rails.

I just read Rendezvous with Rama in one sitting today and really enjoyed it. Should i bother reading the sequels? the reviews dont seem great

/sffg/, I have a character problem. One of my characters comes off as a flamboyant, manic industrialist, but is really a scheming psycho. What do I do with his secretly undead assistant? Make her cold and emotionless, or make her act like she's flirty and trance-like to make her eerie?

>>8705675

Foundation Trilogy

>>8710671

>cliche you hate the most

made up names and languages

>>8714347

Gateway by Pohl lol

>>8717974
I don't think so.

>>8718138
Post more about the role of the character, the tone you want to set about the book, etc. I don't think we have enough info to make a decision that would fit with what you want to do

>>8710671
The enemy gains complete power over the main character, and tries to deceive him and win him over to their side instead of eliminating him then and there

>tfw you can't come up with a decent inbetween adventure from

>>8717969
So stepping between branches of a parallel universe?

>>8718241
Fuck, phone posting.

It was meant to be.
>an inbetween adventure from would be hero meets heroine to they defeat the bad guy at the end.
Essentially I need a second act environmental survival arc that allows the two heroes to grow closer and trust one another.

>>8718220
the basic idea is she's someone he grew up with before she started to realize how fucked up he was at some point she died and he made a pact with an entity to gain the power bring her back, but said power was incomplete, and so she came hollow.

from there the version splits. Either as a zombie she's his thrall, in which case she's an actual threat, or she's not and recognizes he's dangerous, in which case she's secretly helping the person he's deceiving unlock their own powers.

In the former case, the entity who made the pact with him in the first place will aid the protag in her place, knowing that though he's bound by an unseen master to help the industrialist he fears that the pact may have been a mistake (note: this entity is not a demon, more of a neutral spirit)

>>8718251
I like the concepts you're working with. Hope you can manage to finish it.

I would - myself - go with cold and emotionless, ...
but an idea i thought of and liked is that of an otherwise "incomplete" version of her that was brought back. You wouldn't be able to tell this at first, you'd write her like any other minor character, but then as the story progressed, you'd subtly have her repeat the same few phrases and do the exact same actions over and over again, until a character gets a chance to have a one-on-one conversation with her and finds that she's "programmed" to say certain things and do certain things and can't think on her own. Like, she just doesn't respond to a lot of stimuli, and can get caught in infinite feedback loops because she doesn't have the intelligence to act on her own, she only exists to 'Appear' alive and functional to others.

I think if you could pull that off in a gradual and unsettling way it would be a pretty cool reveal. Just a thought. I like the idea of an apologetic spirit caught in a compact with the psycho

>tfw I have so little hope left for any original books that I'm reading little-known sequels to perfectly self-contained stories

I want to get into Moorcrock's stuff but I heard it is heavily bogged down in lore 90% of the time and you'd need to have known about his other heroes to fully enjoy references in other works, all I've got is The Prince in Scarlet Robe trilogy but where would you suggest I start?

>>8716471
I only read one book on the fantasy list so I didn't have much to choose from. Half the titles on there look like Twilight-tier dreck though.

>>8716471
>all this YA shit
>no bakker

Is Red Rising any good?
Is it worth reading?

>>8718813
How is bakker not YA shit?

>>8718838
It's YA.

>>8718813
All Fantasy is YA you mong.

Is an appendix in a fantasy novel a bad sign?

>>8718846
>>8718859

>>8718861
No, most Gene Wolfe books have an appendix

>>8718904
Exactly, his books are shit

>>8718838
It's excellent. The edgy first-person present tense writing style starts to feel natural after a while, and the pacing is way better than it should be.

>>8717658
Yes

>>8718904
>Gene Wolfe

>>8718838
It's YA. The edgy first-person present tense writing style keeps feeling edgy and the cheap backstory motivation of the main character never ceases to be repeated. The pacing is action packed but predictive at times, as when something good happens, something bad does not long after.

>>8718861
No

Is Gene Wolfe YA?

>>8718161

All this talk about YA.

What's a good science fiction book to get for my 14 year old nephew for Christmas?

My sister's raising him on her own and she's a dear but she's just letting him watch tv and play vidya, so I'm feeling obliged to give the kid something interesting to do.

I've considered Ender's Game but afraid he might just join the military. When's a good age to expose to Dune? About 16-17? He loved LotR films enough to read the entire trilogy so he's up to some longer texts.

>YA this
>YA that
Where did this word come from?
What does it mean?

>>8719009
Marketing term to make kids feel better at reading books and adults feel nostalgically comfy.

>>8719009
Young Adult
makes kids feel bigger and adults less small

>>8719018
>>8719023
....So is YA a good thing or a bad thing?

>>8718974
Only The Devil in A Forest

>>8718997
No, Ender's Game. Do it.

He could probably handle Dune though.

>>8719148
Depends whether it was written by a YA or if it was written by and adult for YA.

Harry Potter is an example for the latter.

>>8719148
They are generally less complicated, more bound to formula (aside from the 1% like Sleator that are absolutely bonkers), more prone to first-person and present tense viewpoints, more focused on teenaged protagonists and problems experienced by adolescents. The barrier to entry is much lower so there's more crap, but some genuinely gifted writers like Diana Wynne Jones publish almost exclusively YA.

So the answer is yes.

>>8719009
It's young adult, and it's targeted towards adolescents, not actual adults.

People in these threads call GRI APPROVED books ya, books with people being dismembered ya.

They (sffg) use it as a catch as phrase for things that are "bad".


Also the general is here:
>>8703119
>>8703119
>>8703119

>>8719240
yeah but I didn't put /sffg/ in the title and it's annoying me
just use this thread

Holy shit why are FPA chapters so fucking boring?

>>8719333
So you are admitting it's autism?

>>8719338
Cause they aren't 100% Yang and Schenkopp, the only two really interesting people in the Alliance. The good thing about Reinhard is that his faction has all kinds of cool people in it.

>>8718997
If he's anything like my little brother he's probably convinced that he just doesn't like reading and it will take a lot of work to find something he can get interested in. You might have to accept he may not like whatever genres you do. Give him a wide variety of things to read and see if something catches his interests.

>>8719148
It's a mixed bag like everything else in fiction. YA is generally stereotyped as being among the most banal forms of fiction, and the fact that YA books tend to focus on teenage protagonists and plots about rebelling against authority don't really help.

>>8716400
http://www.wayneoralsurgery.com/blog/what-was-dental-health-like-in-the-middle-ages/
>Medieval people used sugar as a seasoning or used the natural sugars in fruit or honey, which they used sparingly. Most people ate a diet high in calcium from dairy and also ate vegetables and cereals, very similar to the diet dentists today would recommend.

>Archaeological studies show that an average of 20 percent of teeth showed decay. In some early 20th century populations, up to 90 percent of teeth showed decay, probably in part to the increased sugar consumption once sugar was imported from tropics.

>How did medieval people brush their teeth? They would rub their teeth and gums with a rough linen. Recipes have been discovered for pastes and powders they might have applied to the cloth to clean and whiten teeth, as well as to freshen breath. Some pastes were made from ground sage mixed with salt crystals. Others included powdered charcoal from rosemary stems or a crushed pepper, mint, and rock salt. Most pastes included both an abrasive and a scented herb or spice.

>Medieval people even had their own version of Scope! Typically, the mouth washes were made from herbs and spices steeped in wine or vinegar. Mint, marjoram, and cinnamon were popular. People also chewed on fennel seeds, parsley, and cloves.

>>8715316
What was the best part of TGO?

Sorweel?
Whale mothers?
Telefragging?

So long as men are deceived, there will be crimes.

Anyone have a DL link for Anvil of Ice?

>>8719778
This, author fucked up.

Yang can't carry the whole faction.

>>8718856
>>8718951
>Red Rising
>YA

Stop this stupid fucking meme.

>>8720699
And he didn't, which is why he lost and Reinhard's side won. Having a ton of talented, interesting people on your team > being the greatest military genius in history.

>>8720737
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15839976-red-rising
look to the right

>>8720737
You're in denial.

>>8720737
>>8720745
>Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing
That's all I needed to read of the synopsis. That's YA as fuck.

>>8717658
No, it falls apart in the second book

>>8718838
I enjoyed it, currently reading The leviathan wakes, and am really enjoying it, it reminds me of the good old pulpy-sf and space operas i love so much, but see so rarely these days

>>8718863
Anon, the point of a fedora pic is to make the person look ugly. That doggo is actually pulling it off.

What's the worst piece of sci-fi technology which took itself seriously you've ever read?

I might have to go with the farcasters from Hyperion. If you just ignore the word "Planck" it's literally not explained at all. Don't get me wrong I love Hyperion but a bit of backstory or history beyond "here it is, love AI" instead of just pseudo science. I know it's science fantasy but it still bugged me.

>gay friend recommends I read some fantasy novel with lesbians
>it's okay, generic fantasy, girl runs away to be a squire for a lady knight, but the girl is secretly a necromancer
>go to goodreads a few months later and find that the author got outed as a apparent child molester, /after/ I've recommended it to somebody else

welp, hope they never google anything about the book

>>8721826
Could be worse, MZB for instance.
>tfw it's MZB

which do you prefer /sffg/?
>emotionless showgirl or really slutty showgirl
>demon looks like a firefly that blinks in morse code (note: the protein that makes fireflies glow is called luciferase), or demon looks like a harmless, bumbling pigeon

>>8721961
Slutty showgirl. Hard enough world-weary strippers in my fiction. And the pigeon demon sounds pretty interesting.

>>8722005
I'm still iffy on the slutty showgirl since she's an already zany showman's lovely assistant, plus sexualization makes it "feel" worse when I write it (despite the fact that it actually makes sense for her to act slutty towards the female characters), but I'm glad at least someone agreed on the pigeon

>>8722047
Even within that "slutty" designation there are lots of directions you can go. Is she acting slutty because she's told to, or because she wants to? Is it just a stage persona or does she really enjoy doing it? Think about how she feels about herself off stage. Ashamed? Pragmatic?

>>8720891
It's a deconstruction of the YA genere.

>>8721391
>I know it's science fantasy
>not explained at all
>bugged me
That's not how you read science fantasy.

>>8722057
She's slutty because she's a corpse who was reanimated as a hollow imitation of herself by a guy who lusted after her. Naturally she's only slutty towards women because he secretly wants to watch.

Incidentally, the demon who gave the guy the ability to do so was the pigeon, and it was that action that made the demon realize he had made a very big mistake

>>8720891
>all that gri
>ya book

>>8721947
It's not MZB.

But in retrospect it adds another aspect to the knight getting specifically indicated as being "a decade older" than the MC.

>tfw you realize they might send you a copy with a different cover even though you specifically selected paperback
>tfw band 3 is already bigger than 1 and 2, so now it's going to look even worse on your shelf because you might have 3x paperback and 1x hardback


SEND HELP

>>8722667

>>8722669

>>8722692
>GRI approved

What does GRI stand for?

Besides, I'm not sure there is much incest to be found in the Red Knight series (yet).

>>8722699
Gay-Rape-Incest iirc

>>8722073
Sounds like literally every fantasy novel I've ever read.

>>8713976

If that's annoying you already, you won't make it through the third book, because that's when he goes full reddit.

>muh romance
>muh comparatively ultra clumsy male protag trying to catch up with the smart woman of his dreams
>muh romantic interest tricking him at every turn and him still sucking up to her

jesus fucking christ, I almost felt 2nd hand embarassment for the sheer amount of BETA he injected the main character with.

i can't speak for the 4th book in the series (if it's even out yet), but if you're getting tired of le super strong females everywhere trope already, then book 3 is going to be a struggle.

>>8722699
It says what it is right on the fucking seal... and the whole point of the negation sign is because it is NOT gri approved.

>>8722739
my apologies then, I cant handle the advanced memetics on this board

I'm looking for some low fantasy where I can basically read about the progression of the main character throughout his whole life.

Preferably watching them go from being spineless/timid to more brave.

Any ideas?

>>8722928
Harry Potter by J/K rowling

>>8722942
plz

>>8716192
>everyone was filthy during the middle ages

this is the meme right here

>>8721826
OK, but what's the title of the book?

>>8722928
Not really low-fantasy, but Grossmans the Magicians trilogy.

Military is not bad Anon, especially comparing to being NEET.

>>8717658
I liked it a lot, some of the other books aren't as strong.

>>8723135
"lesbian necromancer" means it's probably Dragonoak.

Is Elantris any good?

>>8724096
no

>>8724100
Why?

>>8724108
It's twee.

Neal Stephenson . Super smart scifi.

>>8724316
Tons of facts, not always that smart. And not always that scifi, Baroque Cycle is actually low fantasy.

I am intensely envious of Stephenson and hope to emulate him, though.

What to use these on?

It's that time again.

t itch.tv/patrickrothfuss
This guy is such a colossal faggot holy shit. WMF being awful makes more sense now that I see what a huge cuck he is

>>8724375
Your phone? Or an mp3 player.
I used to use different sandisk over the years, but seeing as sandisk stopped making mp3 players, i have an audiobook app now.

I did some searching last night and saw sony has a 64gb mp3 player with bluetooth and sdcard slot for 300bucks. Thinking of getting it.

Anyone else here read Malazan Book of The Fallen? Currently finishing up Memories of Ice and loving the series

>>8724501
Gets mentioned fairly often. At least 2 anons are currently in Dust of Dreams.

>>8724501
It's something I want to read one day but that day is not now. Gotta clear other backlogged stuff first

>>8724377
Is Hounded actually any good? I read the first few pages and it was entirely exposition, which never bodes well for overall quality.

>>8724521
It's a troll chart of books to avoid, so of course not.

>>8724518
My father read it that's how I got into it. Whenever you decide to read it it'll be so worth it. The books are godly.

Just about finished with The Black Company series by Glen Cook.

I enjoy it, it's entertaining and quite dark. However, the there is no clear and defined set of rules as well as limits on the magic which is a bit of a downer. Luckily it ism't really about the magic but about the characters and their stories. Many of the characters are seemingly ordinary, caught in an extraordinary world.

>Adolin had no choice- the shitspren flew all around him. Which meant he had shat in his shardplate. Shallan turned a bright red and covered her nose with her safehand.

Seriously Sanderson?

>>8724521
I was on a Dresden files crash for a couple months, those books helped secure me a fix. If you liked Dresden Files, you would probably like Iron Druid.

They first few books were great. The puns and current pop culture references were enjoyable, the explanation of how all gods and religions exists was a nice touch. I also really loved how he took he took natural plants and made them into complex prescription drugs... BUT HE NEVER USES IT AGAIN AFTERWARDS

>>8724523
>I don't even read
>I'm just here to meme
>listen to me
>"what books I think are better?"
>list the four books you see the 30+ year olds regular post
>don't read charts guys they are trolls
>books read in 2016: 0

>>8724569
>shitspren
What do they look like? That shit emoji?

>>8724096
Yes, its cute.

>>8724375
History lectures
Books too plebby to waste time reading

>>8718949
lol'd

>>8718997
Honestly for this day and age Dune would probably be quite dry for a 14 year old.
Maybe Revelation Space.

For any Anon who speaks Polish, or one of the languages the book has been translated to (which I'm afraid don't include English), and for some reason hasn't gotten around to reading it yet, I strongly recommend picking up Van Troff's Cylinder by Janusz A. Zajdel. I've just finished it and I was amazed. I liked Limes Inferior very much when I read it some time ago, but it cannot even compare.

>>8705675
Hyperion/Endymion
The Revelation Space cycle
Perhaps the Xeelee Sequence

>>8724501
I'm currently on Chain of Dogs. I posted earlier in this thread. Coltain is a lot more based than I gave him credit for initially.

>>8725057
>Chain of Dogs
Whoops meant Deadhouse Gates

>>8725059
He is super based especially given the circumstances.

For real though, question to Malazan readers, why does anybody obey Laseen? She's a cunt that everybody seems to hate and her only real way to enforce her will is through the Claw, and even in the ranks of the Claw there are traitors who hate her guts. How did she imagine taking over the empire would work when it was largely a cult of personality built around the founding emperor? Nobody gives a shit about Laseen, they just don't wanna get shanked by the Claw.

>>8711944
I started this as per your recommendation and it's fantastic!

read Worm you fucking idiots.

>>8725207
Whats it about kinda anon

>>8725174
Sounds like a generic tinpot dictator who lasts a few years/decades until the fear runs out and they get couped.

>>8725251
He typed it a lot more simplified than it actually is. Her character isn't that one dimensional.

>>8725213
its a sci-fi take on super heroes with really well thought-out powers and a great world and plot. Honestly everything I want non-literary fiction to be.

>>8725278
forgot to mention its free because its a web serial, dont judge it without reading it, it's great

>>8725284
can you get it in book form? im interested now.

>>8725174
Because she was the only thing keeping the empire running after dancer and kel. She got rid of the top dogs, so everyone fell in line.

But she doesn't have the charisma to keep it up, which kind of is dealt with in later books.

>>8705675
Favorite method for Apocalypse:
Seveneves - Neal Stephenson

Best supervillan power:
Foundation Trilogy

Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset was complex with lots of weird sex. Politically and morally charged

Can't recommend Stephenson enough though. If you like hacking: Cryptonomicon or Reamde. Anathem was fantastic - super brainy.

Read Snow Crash if you want a short book to start with. BEST FIGHT SCENE EVER

>>8713272
As a retarded woman I take offense!

>>8724377

This triggers me. Why don't people understand what an anti-hero is? Frodo is a fucking anti-hero, because a) he's a weak little faggot, and b) he doesn't want to do the adventure shit.

An unlikable protagonist is NOT a goddamn anti-hero.

>Next misborn never
>Next stormlight never

>>8725487
i always thought anti-heros where morally in a grey area. there's no doubt frodo has good intentions so i dont think he's an anti hero.

>>8725408
you could but the author is planning to publish it eventually so there isn't a proper book out yet. There are probably pdfs floating around somewhere though. I just read it online.

>write short SF story for competition, think it's pretty decent
>get a notice I didn't make it

Oh well. Anybody know any places that take short sci-fi submissions, like magazines or whatever? I wasted time on this so I might as well see if I can get it published elsewhere.

>>8725487
Anti hero is like the villain doing a good deed.

You rape and bugger multiples over decades, but you save the world from destruction... anti-hero

Any good fantasy released in the past couple of months?
>tfw waiting on sequels
ree

>>8725741

>>8725741
>>tfw waiting on sequels

The worst

Started reading Dune...Are the sequels any good?

>>8725817

They don't exist.
Don't think they do, because they don't.

>>8725817

Dune anime when?

>>8725820
That's a shame, really enjoying this

Has ol' Franky boy written anything good other than Dune?

>>8725824
Souls-style Dune open world-esc game when

>>8705675
A Deepness in the Sky.

>>8725612
He can't trust his friends, barely even trusts Sam, buggers off and almost gets eaten by spiders, almost gets eaten by orcs, has to get physically dragged to the Cracks of Doom, then he decides to take the Ring for himself.

>>8725697
http://semiprozine.org/semiprozine-directory/
Also you can put it in a pastebin for us

>>8725965

Sweet, man, thanks this is what I need.

I'd rather tinker with the story more first. It's kind of an old-school SF story about a man and his robot exploring space and how their behaviors influence each other. I figure maybe I just got the wrong competition theme.

Which sci-fi author has the best technobabble?
I can't decide between Peter F. Hamilton and Stephen Baxter.

>>8725741
The latest Rivers of London was good, and the new lightbringer came out last month if you're into edgy shit.

>Quantum Thief trilogy weaves mystery, fantasy, horror into a transhuman milieu
>ends with something really big that everyone involved in completely understands
What a crock. There should have been something overwhelming. The archetypal gods thing had no power at all even compared to what we knew about the Oortians. It would have been at least ten times better just for letting them seem to be real gods and not lol memetic life.

>>8724377
>The Red Knight
>shit

The only thing shit here is your opinion.

>>8725982
Or maybe you are one of those who turns their nose up at other people's likes, so karma came and told you were tastes were shit.

>>8726108
Fuck you and fuck the reddit boat you came in on.

I bet you were the fagget that meme'd me into reading it earlier this year.

>>8726149

Well it's kinda the same thing in practice. They like it, or they don't, that's all that matters.

>>8726153
>says the guy that unironically reads Sanderson and Weeks, reddits favorite authors

>>8718997
Enders game is a good choice, cause 14 is the prime time to enjoy it
Dune, conversely, gets better as you get older
I'd recommend spin, the mote in gods eye, forever war, and fire upon the deep
Those are all good books for youngsters

>>8718997

The Night Angel trilogy

>>8726172
Forever War yes, but not Spin. That book is a slog.

>>8726212
A rewarding slog, don't get me wrong. It's a great book.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

>>8726053
Watts does some good stuff, if a little abstract

>>8705393
Dancer's Lament is getting really high ratings on Goodreads, does it live up to the hype?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25480364-dancer-s-lament

How is The Knight by Gene Wolfe? I ask because it appears to be one of his lowest rated novels, but I have a hard time believing the masses for obvious reasons. Does it hold up well compared to his other works? Does it read a little easier?

Unfortunately, a lot of my reading is done while at work where I'm surrounded by distractions so it's harder for me to absorb denser writings.

>>8725612
You're right, of course. Ignore that guy.

>>8725817
I liked the first two sequels. In the fourth book things started to unravel for me.

Don't read the Brian Herbert stuff.

>>8726460
It's great. It's a layered book that many people miss by reading it too straight. If you've read other Wolfe you'll see what's going on.

It and its sequel are best considered just one book

>>8726167
But i never went to / used redshit. How would I know their favorite?

Weeks and Sanderson were both recommended to me here (lit) in 2012.

>>8718997
Give him the GRI APPROVAL basics.

You said he plays games, do you know if he is /v/? He is probably into traps.

>>8726339
Freudian slips, Freudian slips everywhere.

>>8726460
its one of his better books

desu though everything Wolfe wrote is golden

>>8726596
HAH! I love it when samefags get caught so gloriously.

Hola guys. I know nothing about science fiction other than the mainstream ones (Star wars etc) and I rarely even read. A while ago I read the classic "The hitchhikcer's guide to the galaxy" and I really really loved it. I was wondering if you could recommend another science fiction book that involves space travel? I know that that would probably be every science fiction book ever but you know... Cheers

>>8726837
By the way, I just purchased "Nova" by Samuel R. Delany because of a discription on a book site. Is it good?

>>8726837
You could try Leviathan Wakes from the Expanse series.

>tfw you finally go back to your roots and rediscover what inspired you about your favorite work
>only to find that all those things are absent from the thing you've been working on the entire time and can't be inserted without shredding your progress

Why can none of the "Weird" authors (Meiville, Vandermeer, Harrison etc) write a single interesting character to save their lives?

>>8727537
weird fiction isn't about characters, its about aesthetic

>>8705393
The things we call Tolkien inspired aren't even really Tolkien inspired. They're written by people who were inspired by people, who were inspired by people, who were inspired by D&D's who were inspired by Tolkien.

Here is a question, does anyone have an example of Tolkienesque Fantasy outside of Tolkien? Whenever I hear Tolkienesque Fantasy mentioned, it is usually in reference to some modern, D&D-derived high fantasy schlock that is similar to Tolkien only on a very crude and superficial level.

>>8727577
What do you think distinguishes Tolkien from his supposed imitators?

>>8727537
>implying the Lovers weren't good

>finally give in to the magic systems meme
>start reading WoK
>magic swords, teleportation
>the king is such a massive retard he leaves around sources of magical energy for the assassin to use

This is literally Bleach : The Book

>>8718997
Ender's Game, Podkayne of Mars, Starship Troopers.

For Fantasy:
Lloyd Alexander's High King.

Is Orphans of Chaos bookino?

>>8727690
>bookino
what?

>>8727690
Nah, it's nowhere near as good as Golden Age.

>>8727696
/tv/ meme

>>8727699
It's better by default because it has a hot protag that I want to fuck.

I have a question? Is there a category for my sci-fi, there is FTL travel (alcubieere drive) and also alien species (which are actually alien, one of my species has a four-gendered system). But, everything else is realistic. What do I call this /lit/

>>8727724
copy pasta scifi

>>8727726
This isn't a copypasta. This is real. My world is still in the early stages of being created. So is my book.

>>8727703
That's not how quality works senpai

>>8727577
>does anyone have an example of Tolkienesque Fantasy outside of Tolkien?
R. E. Eddison comes to mind.
Some Gene Wolfe stuff.

>>8727739
For me that makes it higher quality since it is so rare and just more fun to read about. Not like the rest of the book is bad

>>8727577
>does anyone have an example of Tolkienesque Fantasy outside of Tolkien?
The Wheel of Time.

Gonna start a new audio book for my drive to work. Anathem or Leviathan Wakes?

>>8727537
Their more interested in pushing their agenda through dialogue. Mieville is terrible for this.

>Watching this Patrick Rothfuss Writing Q&A livestream
>The guy literally fancies himself the next Tolkien
Jesus

>>8724566
My all-time favorite series, right here.

>>8727647
>get told that Sanderson writes western anime
>complain when you get western anime

Why didn't you listen?

>>8725487

yeah, you're the one who actually doesn't know what an anti-hero is. google is your friend.

>>8727771

well, leviathan wakes wasn't very good. so by default, anathem?

i liked snowcrash and diamond age, but seveneves wasn't very good. cryptonomicon was meh. stevensen needs to get over his preachy political/social shit, or at least learn to do it more subtly.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/5d233f/what_is_best_series_currently_being_written/

What does /sffg/ think?

>>8727634
The themes, cultural motifs, and philosophy underlying his mythos.

>>8727751
Yeah, you've got fantasy writers like Eddison and Lewis who come out of the same cultural milieu and write about similar things. But they all seem very distinct from each other. I know Gene Wolf's works often have similar themes as Tolkien, but they seem very different. Which ones did you have in mind?

>>8727766
They are both strongly influenced by their Christian faith, but Robert Jordan's modern American protestant christianity is very different from Tolkien's pre-Vatican II catholicism, and it shows in their work. Maybe, I'm just being picky.

>>8727951
Why do they have a compulsive need to finish a series? who didn't drop Kingkiller after The Wise Man's Fear?

Guys I'm in a constant dilemma. Physical copies are so nice but ereader copies are free. What do you guys do?

>>8727997
Depends on how much I think I'm going to like the book. Hyped for it, physical. Just random for fun, Kindle. Also most series go on Kindle. I prefer to buy stand alone books.

>>8727997
Buy local used.

Neal Asher is a very undervalued modern British scifi author. I rate him very highly indeed, up with Iain M Banks imo.

>>8726838
>Samuel R. Delany
>reading anything by him

>>8727893
I liked seveneves and snow crash. Anathem it is. Thanks.

>>8727647
>people knew that stormlight could be used for assassination

>>8727734
>>8727724
Read the undying mercenaries

>>8728034
I shill neal asher and bv larson all the time.

>>8727537
Probably because good character writing requires clearly defined stakes and motivations, which clashes with the aesthetic of vagueness and mystery.

Can you recommend me scifi books with horror elements? I really liked Blindsight and Ship of Fools.

>>8728187
Hull Zero Three. The Puppet Masters. Forever War.

>>8728204

>The Puppet Masters

Read the other two but I'm going to check this one out. Didn't like Hull Zero Three very much for some reason.

Things I hate in modern scifi are Mary Sue characters, children (unless they die), child prodigies, plot armor and completely unnecessary love stories.

Last two novels I read were Baxters Manifold: Time and Space and god damn those just dragged on and were filled with completely unnecessary filler chapters made just to make the book longer. Jesus Christ I shoot myself if I have to read another description of horny neantherdals swollen vulva.

Do you know the Samurai Lensman?

>>8727997
Digital to read the book once as a test-drive, physical copy only for the ones that deserve it. That way my shekels only go to support the writers I like.

>>8727997
buy physical.
this>>8728030 if you can. although we have one used bookstore and it almost never has what i want.

>>8726837
>restaurant at the end of the universe
>the other 3 sequels.

>>8727997

Why would you pay for books when you can get them for free

Would like some opinions on where to stop with Orson Scott Card's Ender Series, should I just read up to Xenocide and quit it there? Because there are so many books in the series and I don't want them all but would rather have the smaller, more succinct series of what Card wanted to convey

Which of the Elric books are worth reading?

>>8728035
>Not reading essential poo poo pee pee core literature.

>>8728960
>geralt of striperia

>>8728941
Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead are all you need to read.

>>8727647
I'm not gonna deny Sanderson is anime as fuck, but you're way off base with this complaint. Nobody knew that Stormlight could be used this way, in fact Szeth points out he's probably the first person to use such abilities in thousands of years. The fight scenes have a very anime flavor, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg. The characters haven't even started powering up.

>>8725487
>Frodo is a fucking anti-hero
Yeah no. Antiheroes lack traditional heroic characteristics despite carrying out the role of a hero. Frodo has all the noble sentiments one would expect of an epic fantasy protagonist: he's pure of heart, compassionate, brave, etc. You say he's weak, and that's true, yet he still steps up and fights when he has to. Classic hero.

An antihero is somebody that doesn't have these kinds of heroic attributes yet still carries out the role of hero. The most famous literary example is probably Don Quixote, the bumbling knight errant. A good moderate example from contemporary culture is Han Solo: he's an arrogant, selfish smuggler who was only interested in money, yet still ended up coming around and being a hero in the end. Plus she shot Greedo first.

>>8728966
Fuck hogg wnd fuck dhalgren.

>>8729311
>shot first Lucas mehmey
>/tv/fag
Take your fag wars and fuck off.

Are there any SFF works where brothers and sisters actually like and care for each other in a healthy way. As opposed to the way everything I've known does it, where they're either hating and backstabbing or litterally fucking each other?

>>8728941
Xenocide/Children of the Mind are longer but explain more. Ender's Shadow is meh, the Shadow books are pretty bad, and the prequels are absolutely rotten.

>>8729458
It's a lot more common to have siblings at all in YA. Diana Wynne Jones has a pretty good handle on what it's like to live with one.

>>8729458
Dresden Files? They only meet partway through the series, but from then on they have a pretty good relationship

>>8729597
His half sisters wanted the dick
Lol

>>8728715
read

>>8728045
>>8729289

>The King's own armor that made him nigh unkillable was Stormlight-powered

>and yet somehow, the suspicion that the magic light that protects you from all damage MIGHT also be used as a weapon never even crossed his mind

>in fact, let's use it for interior fucking decoration!

>>8729849
They're actually having a sort of Enlightenment going on with figuring out how to use stormlight and gemstones. For a long time they only used it for light and to regenerate their magic relic armor.

I mean, what's an assassin going to do with it? Recharge his broken armor really slowly while they watch? They had no idea you could use it to reverse gravity.

Just finished the Wheel of Time. Great series, Brandon Sanderson definitely brought some pep back to the series. Not sure what to do now. People are suggesting Malazan but I don't think I want to start another long series.

Wot gets a lot of shit on this board but Fuck it was enjoyable.

>>8730034
The Buried Giant, stand alone book.

>>8730040
What's it about?

>>8730034
Death Gate. It's a series but only seven books and they're all half the length of WoT volumes. It's some more naturalistic high fantasy, has elves and dwarves and dragons. The story's about how this race of superhumans divided the Earth into different realms based on the four elements but they screwed up big time, and another race of opposite superhumans is trying to take over the whole business and get revenge. Solid and enjoyable.

>>8725817
Read God Emperor of Dune, though you may be a bit lost so I would say just read all the next books until Heretics of Dune.

God Emperor of Dune is a feels abound one. Though, my favorite.

"Are you, you personally, ready for AI?"

Any near future fiction, 2030-40s, dealing with the prospect of inorganic intelligence?

>>8730189
Radio Freefall.

>>8730213
Wtf did you write this anon? doesn't even have a wikipedia page

>>8730222
Why are you overreacting? It's near future, 2030-40s, dealing with the prospect of inorganic intelligence whether or not some nerd summarized it in Wikipedo. Get out more, go to a library or something. baka

>>8729849
>and yet somehow, the suspicion that the magic light that protects you from all damage MIGHT also be used as a weapon never even crossed his mind
You should really read more before you try to critique this series, you're starting to sound stupid. That shardplate is ancient, thousands of years old, as are most artifacts powered by stormlight. They can at best repair or maybe modify existing artifacts, they have no idea how they actually work because the art of surgebinding (people absorbing and manipulating stormlight) has been lost for thousands of years, to the extent that only a tiny handful of scholars are even aware of the term and what it entails.

So yes, it's perfectly reasonable for the king not to assume people could absorb stormlight because nobody had done so for thousands of years. Just like how people were utterly baffled by Szeth's ability to defy gravity and fly, you think they should have prepared for that too? Something they considered impossible?

>>8730034
WoT is one of my favorite series, love coming back to it now and then. If you want something shorter maybe try one of Tad Williams' series, they're never longer than 4 books. For classic epic fantasy there's his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy/tetrology (last book is split in most editions). It's kinda slow going to start but it's got fantastic world building and mythology, which is what Williams does best. I think his best series is Shadowmarch, but starting there might make it hard to get into the rest of his stuff.

>>8730260

I get your meaning but what I'm trying to say is, if you know this "thing" powers your armor then you also know that it has magical properties, right? And if it can be used to defend it stands to reason it can also be used to attack.

It's like, you have uranium-powered nuclear plants, and even without knowing how they work you wouldn't put an uranium lamp in your house, because you can understand that enormous source of energy = potential to be extremely dangerous and NOT to be used frivolously

But you're right, I should still read more.

>>8730249
chillax relax I was just surprised to have a recommendation which wasn't so well known. if anything I'm appreciative you've given me something off the rader

>>8730304
>if you know this "thing" powers your armor then you also know that it has magical properties, right?
No that's you thinking that because we don't have stormlight here in our world. To them stormlight is a naturally occurring source of energy. It's always existed and they've long assumed how it can be used. It's like electricity to them. For thousands of years they've understood that stormlight powers artifacts and can be stored in precious gems. People absorbing stormlight was not part of their understanding of it as an energy source. It's like one day you saw somebody absorbing electricity through a socket and then used the energy to fly and then murdered the president with all these crazy powers he got from the electricity he absorbed. Would you ridicule the people guarding the president for not being prepared for such an "obvious" application of an abundant power source like electricity? People used to do it all the time thousands of years ago, we just forgot how.

Basically you need to adjust your thinking and realize this world has different standards for what is normal.

>>8730334

Ok now I get it, I was being stupid. The electricity analogy got me back on track, so thanks. This was bugging me no end.

>>8705393

>>8730368
>>8730368
>>8730368
New Thread.