/lit/ - Literature

Nothing beats dinosaurs.

>>9338812
I like dinosaurs.

I just realized that the Trisolaran society in The Three Body Problem is actually a reflection of the ancient Chinese philosophy of Legalism, not just of totalitarianism in general. Pretty cool.

Does anyone else like finding out what authors look like? I find it pretty fascinating.

>>9338859
Is fantasy the genre with the most long haired male authors?

>>9338859
lmao look at him in his fucking autism awareness eights what a gaylord

>>9338859
Clark was cute. CUTE!

>>9338881
His mouth is too small.

9th for eternal Wolfe domination.

Today I read 'Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?' and it was incredible.

>>9338866
If I become a science-fiction writer will I also get digits and my choice of all the 5/10s I could ever want?

anybody got link to waking gods ebook by sylvain neuvel?

>>9338866
Oh, Bakker-kun...

>>9339072
It's on mobilism. Can't post the link cause spam bullshit.

>>9338859
Yeah. So far Scott Lynch is the most fascinating one - if it weren't for breasts I genuinely couldn't tell him apart from Elizabeth Bear.

There was some argument last thread by some idiots claiming female characters should be as strong as men.

Maybe if you're writing shameless bullshit.

>>9339103
What the fuck, they look exactly the same.

>>9339103
Shit that long divorce took a lot out of him including his masculinity

>>9338859
Butcher been hitting the gym.
Also enjoy red rising.rrrrrrreeee fucking chad

>>9339103
He legit looks like he's mid transition

>>9339199
>trying to derail the thread from the beginning
You are a sad person, and have a sad miserable excuse for a life.

>>9339199
Nice b8

>>9339204

>>9339217
Traps get me off.

>>9339211
Keep your biological revisionism attempts out of the thread.

Anyone else reading Craft Sequence? Loved Three Parts Dead, started reading Two Serpents Rise. Really not liking it as much as Three Parts Dead though. The protagonist and the retarded Luddite girl he has the hots for are both really getting on my nerves.

>>9339223
>no graph title, no key labelled points or citation from the article or included study design

>>9339222
I've never understood this. Probably because to me it just sounds like "I can only be attracted to guys when they look like girls" which just seems like someone's stuck in the closet.

There aren't people here who actually think men and women are, on average, physically equal in terms of strength, right? Obviously there are some women who are stronger than many men, but only because they've dedicated their life to training.

>>9339242
Stop responding to him, seriously. Besides, it's not like that graph is the worst part of his argument. It's literally just "I can't read women because -4 STR." It's just ridiculous, as though the true test to be a protagonist is about strength. I just don't see the connection between physical strength and being a protagonist.

>>9339251
Yes, you're correct, I think pretty much everyone here will agree with that. It's just "Women can't be protagonists because they aren't as strong as men" is just a baffling reasoning for anything. Well, that and the guy wants to continually shit up the thread with irrelevant bullshit, and calling everyone Tumblr and saying how they're Feminists.

ANYWAY: Fictional Nazis. Uh... the Thalmor? Can't really think of any others. Maybe the Empire from Star Wars? Honestly, I'm kinda glad I don't see this trope come up very often.

>>9339255
>It's literally just "I can't read women because -4 STR."

Uh, no. I didn't say that. I have made zero posts on this subject besides >>9339223
>>9339199

I am responding to people at the end of last thread who were actually, unironically making the argument that real-life women are as strong as real-life men. Sorry, but that isn't the case, and I won't tolerate politically motivated distortions of reality in my presence.

http://bleng.com/media/wysiwyg/Mathiowetz_Grip_and_Pinch_Strength_Norms.pdf

>>9339269
>It's just "Women can't be protagonists because they aren't as strong as men" is just a baffling reasoning for anything.
No one is making this argument.

>tfw you find the book you were looking for on mobilism, but the links are dead and the uploader has yet to reply to your PM kindly asking for a re-up even though he's been online at least a dozen times since then

>>9339251
There's a biological cost for everything.
↑ cell turnover → ↑ Reactive Oxygen Species → ↑ chance of damaging the cell → ↑ chance of DNA breakage → ↑ chance of a mutation that the immune system misses → ↑ chance of cancer

Overuse of strength can also lead to degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis.

And it's not like it's exactly necessary - there are always drugs if you really want to get the edge over the other 99% of cases and not without side effects. And should the argument lead to 'drugs are cheating' well essentially the compounds are fitting to receptors in your body which means that most of the time they are just synthetic copies of the hormones already in your body.

>>9339292
What's the book?

>>9339293
>What's the book?
In the Days of the Witch-Queens

>>9339298
It's one of them books that aren't available anywhere else curiously.

>>9339293
You aren't going to get muscle cancer from using your muscles. Tearing your muscles does not actually kill any cells.

>>9339305
I know. Can't find that shit anywhere.

>>9339298
Holy shit, if I judged books by their covers...

>>9339313
Yea that cover is shit, but apparently it's a solid, action-packed novella.

>>9339315
Wait, I'm reading the Amazon sample now, and it really does seem like everyone's either a lion or has the head of one. Why do you want to read this? I will say though that the prose is a fuckton better than the last Amazon sample I read, The Name of the Wind. Still laughing my ass off about how terrible that book is. No idea why people like it, it seems like the most boring book ever.

For something different, what are /sffg/'s favourite science-fiction and fantasy movies?

>>9339318
Why would everyone being cat people dissuade me from reading it?

>>9339308
ROS is definitely produced during exercise in response to the muscle fibre damaging, it's a question of whether or not this is actually good or whether it varies in protectivity based on the amount of exercise. Some studies say that small amounts allow the ROS to be used as a chemical modulator which is beneficial, other studies say that excessive exercise can be carcinogenic. I think it's in part because studies are so small and short it's hard for people to figure out whether something is actually good or bad considering the sheer number of other factors that can impact on a person's health, for example food. So perhaps that post paints an exceedingly simple view of ROS that is misleading.

>>9339209
Doesn't Lynch suffer from crippling depression like Lawrence?

>>9338859
I try to avoid knowing anything about the authors, more often than not they tend to be disappointing individuals, pic related.

>>9339351
Rothfuss looks the way I always imagined the pigs looking at the end of animal farm.

>>9339351

I like to know what authors look like but I never, ever look at their personal social media accounts. As soon as I learn an author is some kind of insufferable library or SJW type I can never read their books.

Case in point: Rothfuss

Hello sirs.

Call me a nerd but I've always thought those leather bush hats look extremely comfy...

Does anyone think it's weird that there are no women in The Hobbit?

>>9339373
No, tumblr. We don't.

>>9339365
>insufferable library
???

>>9339373
Rothfuss get out

>>9339373
Nobody cares.

>>9339373
Mind = blown

I'm a fair way into Jack Vance's Emphyrio. His depiction of a fiercely bureaucratic welfare state, composed of guilds of workers forced into hand-working crafts within their specialisation by a smaller class of lords, with machine-working and duplication a capital offense, is deftly done, a good example of world building continuous info dumping.

>>9339498
>without continuous info dumping.

>>9339377
Woops I typed "libtard" and it autocorrected.

>>9339373
They're all homosexual.

>>9339328
>>>/tv/

>>9339365
>As soon as I learn an author is some kind of insufferable library
This has to be the most hilarious autocorrect ever.

>>9339373
LoTR is shit. Why should I care if they are all faggots who reproduce by buggering each other.

>>9338859
I used to.

But witnessing Sanderson made me reconsider things.

>>9339223
>those few women outliers who are above average for males.

>>9339637
Power grip has offered no evolutionary benefit since we left trees. The palmaris longus muscle which improves power grip and wrist flexion in our ancestors is absent in a large percentage of the population is indicative of this.

>>9339662
*which

>>9339662
Well, not entirely. Nine times out of ten, if someone can't open something like a jar or bottle that I can open, that someone is a woman. Small thing, I realize.

>>9337899

About to read The Children of Hurin,
What am I in for?

>>9339778
I liked it. Was pretty epic and tragic.

>>9339498
I really enjoyed that and the puppet show thing.

>>9339313
Not sure if intrigued or appalled.

>>9339703
True.

>>9339313
>just paste a cat head on a human body
No, this will not do! Catgirls should be more animal than woman.

>>9339370
fuck you, they are traditional Australian wear how the fuck are they nerdy?

How should I read Malazan? I'm thinking Book of the Fallen and then Novels and then worry about everything else. Or should I alternate between Book and Novels based on publication date? Or should I throw some of the other books in there somewhere too?

>>9339982
My dude, did you not see the image I posted?

>>9339997
>How should I read Malazan?
By not reading it at all. Don't fall for the meme.

>>9339997
see
>>9339750

>>9339997
You read the first one, then the second, then the third generally speaking.

They're fucking books you idiot, not a jigsaw puzzle.

>>9340018
>>9339750
Oh thanks, for some reason I didn't get the (you). This really raises more questions than it answers though. I can either read Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice, but never both? And after The Bonehunters I can either read Midnight Tides or Reaper's Gale, but if I choose Reaper's Gale I can never read Midnight Tides?

Could you just suggest what you think is the best? Book in the order of publication followed by Novels in the order of publication? Or intertwine them? Or something else?

>>9340034
>You read the first one, then the second, then the third generally speaking.
There are 4 series and two authors you tard.

>They're fucking books you idiot, not a jigsaw puzzle.
Oh, I see you haven't read them.

>>9340046
>There are 4 series and two authors you tard.

Malazan Book of the Fallen is one series. The Malazan series. It has 10 books, you start with the first and read them sequentially until you have read the last. When you finish that, you consider reading the side materials and then decide not to because the series peaked at book 4 and everything after was an enormous slog.

>>9340057
But the diagram says I should read Night of Knives before The Bonehunters, which would suggest that intertwining them is better.

>>9340046
Sorry, I didn't make the diagram, I was just pointing it out to you. No idea on which to read, never heard of this series before.

>>9340062
Yes, your question is literally so retarded someone made a diagram just to fuck with people that ask it.

>oh hey I should read The Wheel of Time series
>14 books
Fuuuck that. If you can't end your story within 3-4 books you might as well not tell it at all.

>>9340062
Are you actually reading the diagram? It says no such thing. It explicitly says that there's a revelation that is given out in both books, so whichever you read second won't be as surprising. You know, if you click on an image here, it gets bigger. And if you click on its filename, it'll get even bigger.

>>9340088
Thanks for your helpfulness. I'm from reddit, and I'd heard this site was full of mean people, but from your responses I can tell that there are a lot of kind people here.

>>9340100
Whether or not this was serious, it made me laugh very hard. OK, I'm just going to transcribe the reading order lists it gives.

>You want to read the main Malazan Book of the Fallen and Novels of the Malazan Empire series, intertwined, but not the short stories?
>GotM >> NoK >> DG >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> tBH >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> SW >> DoD >> OST >> tCG >> BaB >> AsI

>You want to read EVERYTHING from start to end, in the most logical narrative order?
>GotM >> BG >> DG >> tLoLE >> WoBM >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> NoK >> tBH >> tHD >> RG >> RotCG >> TtH >> GoG >> SW >> DoD >> OST >> tCG >> BaB >> AsI >> CPT >> FoD >> FoL >> WiS

>You only want to read the Malazan Book of the Fallen? Then just follow the basic MBotF publishing order (but you may want to heavily consider reading just RotCG before TtH because DoD majorly spoilers something in RotCG).
>GotM >> DG >> MoI >> HoC >> MT >> tBH >> RG >> (RotCG >>) TtH >> DoD >> tCG

>>9340046
>>9340142
By the way, since you're new, I might as well explain this
>Oh thanks, for some reason I didn't get the (you).
Yeah, (you)'s don't cross threads here. They also track by IP address (I think) so if you post in one place using Wi-Fi, then physically move to use a different router, the (you)'s will change.

>>9339703
>"sedentary white first-worlders don't have physical strength so clearly i'm right"
>complains about anecdotal evidence in last thread
>posts it

>>9340246
Not the same guy, not even vaguely interested in the conversation that was going on in the last thread.

>>9340046
>I can either read Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice, but never both? And after The Bonehunters I can either read Midnight Tides or Reaper's Gale, but if I choose Reaper's Gale I can never read Midnight Tides?
What? No no. Look at the legend. Blue lines are plotlines, red lines are spoilers. The books are arranged to show when they happen (far left = beginning, far right = end). Just read the actual text in the pic.

I made it to Toll the Hounds in the main series, then went back and caught up with the novels. I'd rather read the books chronologically, but not Night of Knives before Deadhouse Gates.

Reposting from last thread while the knuckle-draggers and halfwits debate gonads. Ready to read some decent, non-derivative fantasy after just finishing and loving LotR. I have The Worm Ouroboros and The Broken Sword. Any good? Suggestions? I'll probably go with Worm first, but I'm curious about /lit/'s opinions.

>>9340454
The dragonlance chronicles. It's LOTR meets D&D

>>9338859
Yeah, you're right

>>9340454
Didn't get any good suggestions in the last thread? Sorry about that. I actually recommended TNotW to you, and while I can certainly say it isn't what you're looking for (ie, self-proclaimed "intellectual" and complete prick tells you how awesome his "post-modern decontsruction" is, because it's so subversive), but I'm having the time of my life reading this Wordpress just ripping this piece of trash in half.

>>9340506
No worries, I appreciate the suggestion, but I've heard worse about Rothfuss than Sanderson. And while I've done it with films, I've never really consumed a book because it was so entertainingly bad. Might be fun? I'm probably the slowest reader I know though, so I usually drop a book if it hasn't shown anything slightly interesting in the first hundred or so pages. Still, to each their own.

>>9340481
Seems really derivative, but all the same Keith Parkinson did some illustrations for it. That automatically makes it interesting in my book. Might check it out! Where to start my friend?

>>9340624
I haven't read it myself, just following the Wordpress that summarizes most of it and occasionally gives snippets and quotes directly from the text, but I think that would be a really bad idea. It has hundreds of pages of filler. Like, this book is almost 700 pages long, and here's what's happened:
>We learn a bit about Kvothe, mostly just vague hints at his backstory, but the important part is that he's a living legend (at fucking 25 no less). This is the framing device through which nearly every part of the book is told.
>Kvothe talks about his parents, and tells us how he learned about magic and science.
>Kvothe's parents murdered by mysterious people, he lives in the woods for 6 months.
>Travels to a city where he lives as a thief/beggar for 3 years.
>Gets money.
>Leaves to another city and goes to magic school.
>Tries to learn more about the mysterious people who murdered his parents, gets roadblocked every time.
>Gets money.
>Finds a love interest.
>Kills a dragon.
That's pretty much it so far. When I was reading about Kvothe living in the city for 3 years, I was hoping that Kvothe would learn some thief skills, or some sort of knowledge, that would be very useful later down the road, because that's pretty much the only reason why that detour in the plot would be excusable. Guess what, that doesn't happen. It honestly feels like Rothfuss is working from four or five different outlines with different plots and styles. The main plot, I think, is for Kvothe to find the guy who murdered his parents and get justice. But he has to get a stupid book to do it, and the librarian is a cunt and gets him banned from the library. Not making that up, that is the major obstacle for our hero. He then seems to just forget about it up to this point. And the dragon isn't related to anything. This whole thing feels like half-baked fanfiction.

>>9340693
>Travels to a city where he lives as a thief/beggar for 3 years.
You know, I didn't understand this part, It mentioned multiple times sub-par mages often use their magic to keep perishables fresh, why the fuck did Kvothe do this? Why the fuck did he forget he knew how to do shittons of basic magic.

>>9340693
Christ this sounds insufferable. I'll check out that wordpress though, sounds like a fun read. I find of all the Gary Stus/Mary Sues, the ones in fantasy books are the worst.

Any books where an author creates an entire creation myth and legends to follow? Besides the Silmarillion?

>>9340736
Because it's not fun and exciting to write My Life as a Teenage Refrigerator when you can check off the teen thief/assassin box instead

>>9340624
>>9340693
It's also weird because there's this kind of meta-plot that's part of the frame story about legends in history and how they tend to get blown out of proportion. This is part of where Rothfuss tries to deconstruct and/or subvert standard fantasy tropes, but it never gets very far. Look at pic related. This is basically how all of the subversion is done. Kvothe points out that a regular fantasy story he would have done X, he really did Y, but everyone says he did X. Oh wow, so subversive. Oh, you think it's dumb and lazy? You're just not smart enough to get it.

What pisses me off too is that there are so many interesting ways you could've gone about doing this. I actually liked this aspect of the Beowulf movie, where you get the true story of Beowulf, so to say. Unfortunately, not many people really picked up on that, for some reason. I think that would've really been helped by a frame story to outright tell people that the story they're getting isn't supposed to match up to the story they've seen before.

>>9340736
>Why the fuck did he forget he knew how to do shittons of basic magic.
Again, it's like four or five different scripts mashed together, and the 3 years in the city was a separate script. But thinking about it some more, I realized that just giving Kvothe amnesia for those 3 years would've answered so many questions and not made him and the author seems like fools. Still an inexcusable plot detour, but still.

>>9340778
Kvothe is the Stuiest Gary Stu you've ever seen, just fucking wait.

This is the beginning of the... commentary? Commentary.
https://ronanwills.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/lets-read-the-name-of-the-wind-an-introduction-of-three-parts/

And this is a tag with all the posts on it.
https://ronanwills.wordpress.com/category/lets-read-tnotw/

>>9340794
Oh, another thing about the deconstruction: Rothfuss only "deconstructs" things that a modern audience would be familiar with, not things that the audience in Kvothe's world would be familiar with. He "subverts" typically detective novel cliches. Here's the problem. The modern detective novel? First one was in the 1840's. Not exactly something you expect to find in Medieval fantasy land. Though considering this seems to be as chronologically fucked up as Naruto, who the fuck knows. Actually, that happens a lot, with Rothfuss shoving in a bunch of science terms that were only invented in the 18th and 19th centuries. I'm honestly amazed he hasn't mentioned quantum physics, since sympathy magic in the book is kinda sorta like entanglement.

>>9340827
Sounds like some shit they'd adapt and put on cable as a goofy way of poking fun at the genre. Surprised he doesn't put monty python references in there for the nerds to giggle at.

>I recognize what he's doing here, he's SOOO self aware!

>>9340861
If it ever gets adapted, I would hope beyond hope that it would be like Starship Troopers, where the people making the adaptation realize how crap the book is, so they make a parody of it.

But it still just kills me, because there is potential here. Well, some. The worldbuilding is probably the least offensive thing about the book, but even then it's full of so much conlang it feels like I'm playing Scrabble with a dyslexic. Good god, never understood the attraction to conlang, I hope I never use it. Outside of some slang relating to things that don't exist for us, but even sci-fi does that.

>>9339199
>>9339223
fuck off

>>9338812
Asteroids

>>9340046
Tours of the Black Clock. Thank me later.

How's the Craft Sequence? "Lawpunk" sounds very appealing to me but I don't know if I should be getting into another n-logy.

i'm going to purchase the lions of al-rassan right this very moment.

>>9341580
AOOOGA
Terrible cover alert!
DIVE
DIVE

>>9341580
>stronk black bushy haired female
wew

>>9341580
Ignore >>9341682 and >>9341690 you could go through the entire book and not even know the protagonist is Black, has literally zero impact on the plot. I thought it was pretty good, "lawpunk" is pretty interesting. I say give it a shot, especially if you're a "new weird" fan.

>>9339224

I'm a big fan of the books myself, and Two Serpents was my least favorite in the series. Caleb and his manic pixie dream girl are the weakest part of Two Serpents and overall he's the worst protagonist in the books. The good thing about the Craft series though is the world and surrounding characters are interesting enough to prop up the books despite a shitty protagonist. In this case the King in Red and mah nigga Temoc kept me going.

>>9341739
Oh right, 4chan. That was supposed to be a klaxon noise or something.
Swap the cover grill with a "white male :^)" and it would would still be bad. I weep for the state of modern book covers.

>>9341580
>>9341739
Oh, also, while I'm only in the second book right now, it doesn't have any solid connections to the first, and it's even set in a different region. The biggest connection right now is that the magic cops are silver instead of black.

>>9341758
>Caleb and his manic pixie dream girl are the weakest part of Two Serpents
Exactly what I thought. Caleb thinks way too much with his dick, and the girl he's into is a Luddite.

>he's the worst protagonist in the books
Good to hear.

>In this case the King in Red and mah nigga Temoc kept me going.
He is awesome.

>>9340794

I'm currently reading the follow-up Let's Read of Wise Man's Fear, since that book was even more of a garbage fire tham the first. Good times.

>>9341811
>garbage fire tham the first
That's what I keep hearing. Have you gotten to the "sex ninjas" yet? I saw them mentioned in the comments a few times, and I'm just dying to get to them.

>>9341780

>I'm only in the second book right now, it doesn't have any solid connections to the first

If I remember correctly, the books are told out of sequence. The events of Two Serpents happen before Three Parts (the hint is in the name or something like that) and characters begin overlapping in subsequent books. I don't know why the author chose to not release them chronologically, really activates my almonds.

>>9341869
I swear the Wardens or whatever are silver now, which I assumed was the result of Three Parts. Am I getting something wrong?

>>9341821

I never even made it to the sex ninjas, I dropped the book as unsalvagable after he sexed the thousand years old elf sex goddess so well she couldn't believe he was a 15 year old virgin, written in prose so terrible and try hard I had to put the book down in embarrassment

I think the killer was that up until that point (and to some extent when he solo'd the bandit instance) there was always a chance that we'd be getting more "exaggerated legend" stuff with Kvothe. It's flimsy but stops his Gary Stuart levels reaching critical mass. Then those two things happen and it's like Rothfuss just gives up any pretense, fully inserts into the character and Kvothe becomes Gary Stu Supreme, literally doing all of the stuff his legends say despite being a character meant to deconstruct the Legendary Hero trope.

I need a book to tide me over until The Winds of Winter. ASOIAF is the only fantasy I've ever read that I liked.

I tried and hated: Malazan, Lord Of The Rings, Way Of Kings, and Kingkiller Chronicle (ugh)

I liked Conan, Elric, and The Dagger and the Coin just ok. But nothings comes close to ASOIAF.

>>9341904

I think it's the other way around, the silver ones are an earlier or different version of the system in Three Parts. Might be wrong though, it's been a while since I read the books

>>9341951
ASOIAF is just as bad as the Kingkiller Chronicles

>>9341975
I enjoy ASOIAF. I love the political intrigue.

>>9341972
Huh, according to Gladstone, you are right on the order. I remember the evil dude from Three Parts messed with the Wardens, but I always thought it was decades ago. Probably just confusing when he changed the Wardens with the God War though. Do the characters start crossing over eventually?

>>9341951

How about some gritty timesinks? The Broken Empire, The Prince of Nothing and The First Law series can get you started.

>>9341988

>Do the characters start crossing over eventually?

Yep. There's a new protag in the next book but there's a few cameos from established characters and after that characters start getting revisited in earnest including a prequel featuring the King in Red and based Temoc

>>9341928
Good god, that's just sad. And this whole apotheosis idea could've been really interesting, but the worst part is always Kvothe. The rest isn't stellar, lord no, but Kvothe fucks everything up.

Like, one small change that could make the story a bit, and I do mean *a bit*, better would for Kvothe to be in his 50's or 60's in the frame story. The jaded, worn out hero, he's seen friends and loved ones die, he failed against the forces of evil, now he waits to die. But then he comes back to kick some ass, maybe mentor some younger heroes. I'd love that. I actually have an idea for a character like that. Old, eyepatch, jaded, last member of the massacre of a sacred order of knights, etc. Still a good guy at heart though.

>>9342007
Good. I was kinda confused when the Three Parts protag didn't show up, her company isn't even mentioned. Didn't even know about the order until you mentioned it.

Just finished A Fire Upon the Deep

It was okay. 3/5. I liked the universe painted, and the zones of thought idea was a novel way to consider galactic geography. I liked the tines world too, pack-mindedness was interesting.

Actual story, meh. Characters pretty dull too, and "Godshatter" just sounds stupid. A book which starts strong but doesn't continue the momentum and more fades away than goes out with a bang.

>>9342049
>Godshatter
What's the meaning and context of this?

>>9340794
>https://ronanwills.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/lets-read-the-name-of-the-wind-an-introduction-of-three-parts/
How can you guys read this and take it seriously? This guy knows fuck all about literature or literary structure, his critiques are amateurish and hypocritical. In the first entry he lambastes Rothfuss for being too cliche and then a few entries later starts roasting him for not being cliche enough. And half of his criticisms are backed by nothing but an assumption that his readership will immediately agree with him, which suggests this is just a rant meant to be read by like-minded people who already hate the series.

I don't even like Name of the Wind really, it's meandering and overwritten and at times obviously self-indulgent. I managed to convey that opinion in a single statement without stretching it over several blog entries full of trite undergraduate-tier observations. But I suppose you won't rate me as highly as this tool because what I said doesn't make you feel smarter for agreeing with me.

>>9342071
Do a breakdown of some of the book then, prove you're better.

>>9341989
I'll check em out. I don't care about things being grimdark, but I like complicated political plots and mysteries and new mythologies.

>>9342087
I've been considering doing an analysis of Malazan Book of the Fallen since it's the only fantasy to really interest me in recent years. So perhaps I will do just that. In the first place, looking at series that do things well is a lot more rewarding and informative than just ranting about something you hate.

>>9342071
>a rant meant to be read by like-minded people who already hate the series.

Isn't that why we're here, though?

>>9342142
Sometimes I meet people here who actually enjoy the books they read and we share a little back and forth talking about favorite scenes. Something that never happens in outer /lit/, and which many of /sffg/'s denizens find a strange concept because they're too deep in the /lit/ mentality.

>>9342122
>looking at series that do things well is a lot more rewarding and informative than just ranting about something you hate.
Oh, of course. If it's for information, knowing what to do to tell a good story is far more helpful than knowing what not to do to avoid a bad story. But mocking garbage can still be incredibly entertaining. But yeah, go for it with Malazan. You going to post everything here or on a blog or what?

>>9342163
Then talk about what you like. I'll talk about Blackcollar if you want. Damn, still need to read the last book in that series. Ugh, same with Rogue Squadron... and Leviathan...

>>9339373
>M-muh muh women on an older era of fantasy when society was very different than today
Fuck off reddit

>>9342256
What are some books that only contain men?

Is this an okay place to share some of my stuff and get feedback?

It's just pulpy grimdark adventure, but I like it.

>>9342058
It's a minor plot point, but the author kept saying it and it just kept sounding more and more immature.

I'm a big believer that scifi should be full of garbage made-up words and phrases, I love being thoroughly confused after reading the first page. But some stuff just sounds better than others: see FORCEspace from Hyperion.

>>9342305

hungarianshovelware
@outlook
.com


PDFs and I can pop it on my e-reader

>>9342306
...I can't tell if the second part of your post is serious or sarcasfic.

>>9342305
Actually, yeah, can I post stuff here and you guys can tell me if it's trash? Or is that another thread on /lit/?

>>9342049
I thought it was kinda meandering too. Really liked the interstellar Usenet. Deepness in the Sky had a more cohesive plot.

>>9342305
>>9342362
bring it

who /toolikethelightning/ here?
this series hits all my buttons exactly the right way: overcomplicated plots, hidden motivations, the nature of divinity, categorization systems to sort people into.

>>9342561
Those are some of the ugliest pants I've ever seen.

>>9342564
>who /toolikethelightning/ here?
No judging, just curious due to how you format this: Are you from Reddit?

>>9342564
also the gender fetish stuff, with madame sure, but mostly danae, dominic, and sniper.

>>9342573
no.
it's how general threads get formatted on boards like /toy/, /vg/, /tg/, and /co/

>>9342578
Really? I spend a lot of time on /tg/, never seen it like that before. They usually spell out the whole thing in spaces and use the acronym between slashes, but I've never seen them try to do both at the same time before.

>>9342584
oh. well, if i was from reddit id say r/whatever with no slash at the end.

>>9342564
The other day /lit/ was talking about this, and actually caught my attention

>>9342561
OK, I'll try to make this an elevator pitch.

Fantasy Western. Setting takes place in a North America analog. Main characters are a sheriff and deputy. Members of an order established by a god (very much Abrahamic based). Seven divisions, each named after a different angel and with a different function. Their badges are magical, and they can use them for different things, like communication or healing. Also issued firearms, mostly revolvers with an occasional rifle or shotgun. Mostly used like regular guns with regular bullets, though enchanted bullets exist, and more experienced members tend to have their guns enchanted with unique properties. Anyway, sheriff and deputy go around the frontier to introduce the reader to concepts about the world while foiling threats from hell and beyond.

Wow, my meds are working great, I don't even want to shoot myself after writing all this.

>>9342561

Okay. Here's 1/2 pages containing the climax of a short story I'm working on.

It's not a work of art, but I think my prose is approaching the quality of most mass market novels I read.

>>9342658

2/2

>>9342655
All that is setting. Good setting if you can work it.

k

>>9342655

Sounds cool. Have you read or played anything set in the Deadlands universe? It's a Weird West setting with lots of Abrahamic magics and alternate history.

>>9342662
>>9342658
Eh, the prose doesn't hurt my eyes. The blood dripping thing sticks out to me as odd though, could just be wording. I have to say, just from this, it seems like there's no way for Devan to make it out of this story alive.

>>9342667
Oh, right, prose! Well, this may make me want to put in a gun in my mouth. Er, give me a bit. I haven't actually written anything down yet...

>>9342681
Heard of it only. Probably should give it a read though. Thanks.

>>9340414
>>9340164
>>9340142
Soz boys I went to sleep. I've decided to read in the same order as the Tor reread, which is very similar to the reading order in the picture.

Though I just read that Tor won't be doing rereads anymore. I hope they keep up the rereads that have already been done though.

>>9342658
>>9342662
Give me something resembling an introduction of the characters and might help for diving into the story.

>>9342681
Oh yes, I was about to tell him about another game called Nocturne, even baron Samedi appears there.

>>9342697
You need an adventure, a goal, something alike the lines of a plot arc.

>>9342684

>blood dripping thing sticks out to me as odd
Yeah, I've reworked that sentence a few times. Maybe I should just cut it. The reader will know about Devan's wounds at this point, and I don't want to be too melodramatic about them.

>just from this, it seems like there's no way for Devan to make it out of this story alive
It's been a grim, dark day for him.

>>9342705
I've started a bit of an outline. It would be different investigations that all combine in the end to be relating to the same case. Like, I think the main villains would be this demon-worshiping cult who've been doing all these smaller things to open a hellgate or something, with hinting that there's more going on in the background.

>>9342708
>It's been a grim, dark day for him.
It's just the way Tom reveals part of who Devan is and how they relate. Devan's a good boy and he deserves something better, he used to be a simple technician, it's Tom's fault he's in trouble. It's all these red flags for character death. Like, I'm almost wondering now if his last name is Redshirt. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you, don't go around changing things just because of that.

>>9342700

Yeah, that makes sense.

I'm trying not to spam this thread with tons of my crap, but here's 1/2 of the first two pages since you kindly asked.

>>9342728

2/2

>>9342700
>Oh yes, I was about to tell him about another game called Nocturne, even baron Samedi appears there.
Sounds interesting. I'll give it a look.

>>9342723
Yeah, that is a plot. Hard part to work on but the golden thread after all.

>>9342728
Nice foul language, but I would like to know a little more about the setting and a bit more clearly if possible. What are they doing exactly? What is this job about?

>>9342744
Yeah, this one is worth it.

>>9342757

>Nice foul language
Does it come across as natural? Or am I overdoing it?

>What are they doing exactly? What is this job about?
There's more exposition as the story goes on, but it's basically a space heist from aliens that consider humans disgusting pests.

Is the new Thrawn novel supposed to be any good?

>>9342774
>Does it come across as natural? Or am I overdoing it?
As far as I can tell it depends on you making the other characters do it too. As in, is this a cultural thing or the guy is just a potty mouth. One thing you should fix is this constant reminder of who said what. "He said", "she said", try to explain who said what different.

>There's more exposition as the story goes on, but it's basically a space heist from aliens that consider humans disgusting pests.
My guess your story revolved around this heist. If it takes too long, might want to put a little more emphasis at the beginning that more details will come later, even indirect details like inviting to curiosity for this heist.

>>9342728
>"Fucking Philbert"
>"Don't panic, Devan"
That line alone doesn't make it sound like he's panicking to me. The later descriptions help, but it's just an odd first line.

>kilometers of haze
Eh, this just sounds weird. I'd rather have him say something like "the thick haze that stretched on for kilometers" or something. I dunno, it's just weird. Are we going to talk about feet of fog and yards of dust?

>plastimer
???

>floor to the ceiling
I feel like you should've thrown in an adjective for the ceiling to give readers a better idea of this place. I'm guessing by the huge amount of haze it's very large, but otherwise I'd have no idea how big this is right now.

>plastic forest
Then why not compares the plastimer columns to trees to better help the analogy?

>rough-hewn walls
High walls? Granite walls? Gray walls? Curved walls?

>How was she so calm?
Huh, I wasn't aware she was calm. She's not panicking, but not panicking isn't the same as calm.

>a tinny voice answered.
Eh, I feel like you could add a small piece were we know for sure it's Tom. We don't know these people, anyone could be on these radios.

>The tug landed back at the pad.
Is that significant? I have no clue what this means.

>a hundred meters above us
See what I meant about an adjective for the ceiling before?

>both a shout and a whisper
???

>These are blobs all over the place up here.
Add something that makes them sound threatening. Otherwise you could just make this sound like Tom's a neatfreak. "They're getting closer" "I think they've found me" something like that.

>We'll deal with that when we get there [...]
Nice. Tom is worried and cursing, but Moira doesn't give a fuck.

>boulder
Huh? You made it sound like the only things in this place were these weird white columns, walls, haze, and a ceiling.

>>9342774
>There's more exposition as the story goes on, but it's basically a space heist from aliens that consider humans disgusting pests.
It is? Shit, I thought it was about to go Aliens on us. I really thought Tom was going to find Devan after he got chestburst'd or something. Oh, have you ever read Switchblade Honey? It's a short, one-off comic. Not too memorable, but I think it did a good job on the concept of making the aliens pure assholes with nothing but contempt for humanity.

>>9342787

>One thing you should fix is this constant reminder of who said what. "He said", "she said", try to explain who said what different.
Interesting, I've usually gotten the opposite advice. The fashionable idea I hear from lots of genre or mass-market authors is that trying to be fancy with the presentation of dialogue is usually just distracting. Unless there's something meaningful to add to the conversation, just stick with "said X" and "Y said."

I think I generally agree.

>>9342824
Not him, but with just two speakers, you could do small bits where it's just dialogue with no narration. Another replacement for "said" that I thought was interesting was to not even reference how the character sounded, but to have a character say something then have them do something unrelated to speaking. It still gets across the idea of who said what without actually saying who said what.

>>9342780
Leak never.

>>9342824
Well, it depends on one's particular style to make it work.

Not sure who may have given to you that advice, is a complex subject arranged on personal details from each author, I am not sure it can work for everybody this he/she said.

>>9342757
>Yeah, that is a plot. Hard part to work on but the golden thread after all.
Yeah, basically. Guess I might as well start plugging away at plot points.

>Yeah, this one is worth it.
Oh, the video game Nocturne! After someone mentioned Deadlands, I'd assumed "game" meant tabletop. I've heard and seen a bit of Nocturne (due to being related to Bloodrayne) before, it does look pretty interesting.

>>9342795

I appreciate the detailed post, but... I'm not sure how to respond to some of these. At each point I introduce an element or have a character observe something, you're remarking that you didn't realize the new element or observed thing was there.

Are you saying I need to do more stage-setting before characters act? I'm trying to keep things moving and mixing in exposition as they go.

>both a shout and a whisper
>???

You're right about this one. It's supposed to be whispered harsh and angrily, but my description doesn't get that across. I'll tinker with it.

>These are blobs all over the place up here.
>Add something that makes them sound threatening. Otherwise you could just make this sound like Tom's a neatfreak. "They're getting closer" "I think they've found me" something like that.

Another good point. His line doesn't convey the threat very well.

I bet you pussies can't make a good plot with a robot dinosaur on the moon

>>9342856
I just feel like there are points were it would've helped if you'd said just a bit more. Not too long and overwrought, just small bits, like just using an adjective that might help people get an idea of how high/low the ceiling is.

>>9342804

I haven't read that comic. I'll have to check it out.

>>9342875
>GIS
>"Syfy's High Moon Makes Sharknado Look Like A Serious Docudrama"
wew

Did TUC countdown anon die? He started the countdown a few threads ago at 100 days. Haven't seen him since.

>>9342837

Yeah, maybe I should try that for some of the exchanges where there are just two speakers.

>>9342878

Yeah, I can see that one. Even if I just called it a "high ceiling," it helps keep the imagery congruent when the reader learns that it's a hundred meters up.

I'll add that.

>>9342884
Can't run away from quality

>>9342898
Aw, that one's not nearly as fun. But if I seriously had to make a plot out of this, it would be some Suda 51 level shit.

Cold war between aliens and humans, with aliens continually launching attacks from the Moon. Human soldiers fight the alien war machines, each war crazier and deadlier than the last. Why a robot dinosaur? Because it would make an awesome boss fight, that's why.

>>9342914
Can I have eyes with that bro

>>9341580
>lawpunk

"oh no, it's the sovereign citizens from beyond the stars!"

>>9342697

Don't kill yourself, faggot. Write three pages of radical, fantastical, gritty Western shit and make a thread to share it tomorrow.

>>9342943
One of my favorite scenes was when the woman who worked for the company (can't remember any names, sorry) was looking around at the restaurant and noting some of the people she saw. Including the tentacled horror, whom she agreed to play Bridge with soon.

>>9342949
Uh, OK. Font and spacing?

>>9342949
>>9342971
>Font
Font size, I mean.

>>9342971

Shunn standard. 12 point Courier, double spaced.

W-what's going on in this thread...

>>9343084
The usual

So should i read any of the hugo nomination for best novel and start the inheritance trilogy? second question are they descent books or are they essentially sjw?

>>9343146
>trusting the Poogos
>ever
Come on, anon. You know better.

>>9343146
Death's End (the last book in the Three Body Problem trilogy, of which the first book was a Hugo winner) is definitely not SJW.

It was written by an actual Chinese author who grew up in the aftermath of Mao's retardation so you wouldn't expect it to be anyway. The Chinese political spectrum has traditionally run between Confucianism and Legalism, not conservatism and liberalism, and in fact part of what it does is it discusses how both totalitarianism and freedom, moralism and utilitarianism, all have their place.

It's a good book, though the first book's translation is a little clunky and the main PoV character is practically a cardboard cutout. But the whole thing is definitely worth a read, and offers a perspective on science fiction from a different culture.

>>9343146
This.
I have to know that too. I really am intrigued by the concept of N.K.Jemisin on her fantasy (thing like a morbid world with elements bending from Avatar) and i know too some of her characters are pretty SJW-tier. Like 60 or 70% of the nominees are women so i have to know if this is going to be a : women can do anything/strong/LGBT characters festival.
Also: Geek feminist revolution is a nominee

>>9343146
The Broken Earth and Killing Moon is way better then the Inheritance Trilogy.

Stay away from the Inheritance Trilogy at all costs.

>>9339498

"Emphyrio" and "The Moon Moth" seem to be considered his best stories.

I find his planetary adventures more my cup of tea.

I've just started in on the "Demon Princes" omnibus from jackvance.com and I have counted half a dozen typos in the first few chapters. What the hell, VIE?

>>9338881
>Clark_Ashton_Smith
Jack L. Chalker as his "east coast executor"
neat. Chalker is GOAT

>>9343171
She kills off the gay character at the end of the first book and then pours all her narration into the story of a loli and a complete monster.

I think weeb stuff must have rubbed off on her much more than she realises. Inheritance (straight shota, what looks like futa and incest) and Broken Earth (which seems to be heading off into lolicon territory) isn't exactly the stuff I'd be expecting a SJW to write.

>>9343217
Broken Earth is leading not just to lolicon but a brown loli being tamed by superior white man

>>9343279
I'm pretty sure I've seen that doujinshi somewhere.

>>9343217
>he doesn't know that pedos are now a part of the SJW agenda

>>9343112
Stop them from defiling me sffg.

>>9343360
No, you're going to give real flaws to your main characters, and you're going to like it!

>>9343279

I know what's next on my to read pile haha

>>9343217
What about the setting, the world building, the narrative? is she good enough to get a lot of nominations of Hugo or just they need more women in the awards because "we're in 2017"?

>JEMISIN: Darker Than Black: I don’t know why I like this series. It’s not at all my usual thing… and yet there’s something about the badass, nihilistic, somehow pathetic Contractors that fascinates me.

Nassun (Loli) → Yin (Loli)
Schaffa (Killer) → Hei (Killer)

Coincidence?

Nassun gets a more literal interpretation of Hei/BK-201's powers with transmutation rather than just electricity. Schaffa gets Yin's tracking instead and a creepy smile instead of being completely unable to smile.

And in the Obelisk Gate it's mentioned several times that Nassun does weird fuck stuff with orogene powers. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that she makes the orogenes kill themselves next book.

>>9343188
>I've just started in on the "Demon Princes" omnibus from jackvance.com and I have counted half a dozen typos in the first few chapters. What the hell, VIE?

I take it all back. I didn't have the VIE ebook omnibus edition after all; I do now. Whatever bastard version I had was unreadable.

>>9343402
Just download/torrent/borrow it. We don't live in the stone ages where you have to rely on someone else's opinions to decide on whether you want to read it or not.

I enjoyed it. Some other anons did as well. Other /sffg/fags hated it.

>>9343403
I wonder how many western sff writers get inspiration from anime/manga.

>>9343448
Don't know, but I'm sure we'll see the number absolutely explode in the coming decades when people who grew up when anime/manga started becoming incredibly popular in the West start becoming writers.

>>9343146
Read the Three Body Problem trilogy (third book is currently a Hugo nominee) if you hate sjw that much. Chinkfiction is guaranteed SJW free.

>>9343434
But.. I'm going to read it man, i'm just asking for some info first to know a little about what I am facing (first time i do that actually). I don't rely on someone else's opinion to completely decide my reads, if i did that i would be reading just Gene Wolfe all the time.

Anyone want to try to write a fantasy short story with me and we'll see where it goes from there? inb4 homosex

>>9343509
>if i did that i would be reading just Gene Wolfe all the time.

Tbh, that wouldn't be all that bad.

>start reading Knight of Nives
>it turns out Esslement was a better writer than Erikson all along

>>9339555
You're not supposed to be able to read Rothfuss because of his writing, not his retarded irl antics.

>>9339595
kino is superior to words

>>9342698
The rereads will be up, but disclosed.

>>9343509
>>9343509
>reading just Gene Wolfe all the time.

This is pretty much what I'm doing, with occasional forays into other authors that are never as satisfying. Wolfe is a good place to be.

Finished Free Live Free a while ago. Not his best, but enjoyable enough.

I didn't really like the time travel. It was too messy and contrived. Though I'll admit I didn't see it coming. I'm glad the editor made him write a timeline, because otherwise I would be completely bewildered. As it is, I feel like I need to go back and figure out a couple of things, like why Proudy went crazy. Did he go in the back door at some point? Or was he working for Kip?


Probably going to read Pandora next.

>>9343842
Disclosed? Do you mean not linked anywhere else on the site?

>>9343861
Kek, disclosed sounded correct but I've got its meaning wrong.

What I meant was that the rereads for Malazan are discontinued (other series continue, apparently), but they will still be up on the site.

>>9343188
Personally, I liked his "A Blue World" Short story, was a thrilling read included in a compilation novel of short stories both fantasy and Sci-fi.

>>9343509
Gene Wolfe actually isn't that dense is how I felt. Anyway if you feel like NKJ just isn't for you I guess books are pretty easy to drop especially because they are so self contained.

>>9343448
It feels like she borrowed either consciously or unconsciously some aspects of the characters and not the setting and then blended it up with some other characterisation and an original region she probably made by researching it and visiting it.

Darker Than Black seems to have the same kind of setting as Roadside Picnic and Sanderson's YA Reckoners basically takes after DTB too in terms of plot.

>>9341951
GRRM was heavily influenced by Tad Williams's Thorn Memory and Sorrow trilogy.

interesting that Chuck Tingle got a hugo nom...

Alien Stripper Boned From Behind By The T-Rex, by Stix Hiscock (self-published)

Was this Vox Day's choice?

Deaths End should win, right?

This mass market volume of Jack Vance short stories is in good shape for an '84 print, and I like the book art, so here you go.

>>9343859
I agree with your Free Live Free critique, it's not that great.
>Probably going to read Pandora next
I don't want to raise your expectations, but I enjoyed that one quite a bit.

>>9343509
>>9343859
>if i did that i would be reading just Gene Wolfe all the time.
When I made this pic I was supposed to put a heart around Wolfe. But I was in a rush to make the OP for a new thread... so it's left unfinished.

>>9343448
I suggest you read this one.

Is the Mistborn trilogy any good, or is it just Stormlight Archives with different powers?

>>9344093
Depends. It's the only one of the finalist novels I've read personally.

>>9344558
I enjoyed and disliked it. Some parts were fresh and I was in a book slump, so I read it. I just wanted to finish everything Sanderson that wasn't the library shit, the schizophrenic, and video game novelizations.

RITHAMIST BOOK 2 WHEN? WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GET TWO SANDERSON BOOKS THIS YEAR
OATSBRINGER AND SOMETHING ELSE.

>>9344558
"Emotionally damaged people become superheroes" is the story Sanderson likes telling. Good thing he's willing to tell it twice a year every year until the heat death of the universe.

>>9344558
Haven't read Stormlight but I liked Mistborn a lot.

The original, that is. The second Mistborn series was just cringy and bad.

>>9344558
I'm reading a critique of it now, which boils down to "It's basically a YA novel marketed for adults." The person writing the critique said he didn't hate it, and that he wouldn't call Mistborn bad, but the entertaining bits are sandwiched between very long mediocre bits. Here's a quote:

>At least [the fights scenes are] full of spectacle. Branderson has devised a magic system for Mistborn that’s quite unique- practitioners swallow and “burn” small quantities of metal to produce various effects- but even here the book can’t help but reveal its true YA nature. Fight scenes are usually long and described in mind-numbing detail, clearly more designed to be cool than economical (or sometimes even comprehensible) while the descriptions of how this metal gives you this power and this one does this and if you use them like so you can do this (explained in detail at least four times for no reason) feel right out of a shounen manga.

>>9344624
It's a recurring thing with Sanderson, magic is always pretty well understood with consistent rules, and it ends up feeling a bit like something out of a vidja or a mango.

At the same time, he's pretty much the best at doing specifically that in the industry right now, so if you like that, great. If you prefer magic as being more opaque he's probably not your guy.

>>9344670
Eh, there are upsides and downsides for both methods. Though honestly, I'm so tired of inconsistent power levels (comic books, mostly, looking at you Doctor Strange and Wiccan) that I prefer the more consistent kind of magic.

>>9344670
I miss the days when magic wasn't a comic book superpower in fantasy.

>>9344759
You think making up rules for magic is what happens in comics? I fucking wish.

Reccomend modern fantasy with comfy pastoral scenes, people travelling, discovering new towns, groups etc. I dont want to read a book which is just half filled with "epic" wars etc.

The Last Wish is a pretty good example of this. A lot of what occurs in those stories could be described as "mundane", which I like.

>>9344789
The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe.

So am I the only one that thinks that Michael Moorcock I'd a huge cunt as a person? I like his stories, but it just seems like he goes out of his way to be condescending?

>>9344759
I think that roleplaying games are to blame for putting magic in some kind of autistic system.

>>9344934
Well, I don't know about Michael Moorcock as a man (and here, my dear fellow, we should recall the scriptures; where it is that we should judge not lest we be judged ourselves) but in any case it seems to me that there is an intriguing inner contradiction about him. He simultaneously exulted in envelope-pushing New Wave science fiction as editor of New Worlds, while writing the most formulaic by-the-numbers dreck and encouraging the mountain of unremarkable fantasy writing which blighted the market of the 1970s.

>>9344991
Well, obviously he wants sci-fi to be new and innovative, and fantasy to be unoriginal and formulaic.

>>9344934
I agree. I enjoy his stories but he's sort of that Alan Moore type of pretentious elitist lefty, especially in his forewords. He often resorts to cliches about 1950s England and how miserable he was. You were a teenager, dude.

Once a thread I feel the need to post that Bakker and the Second Apocalypse saga (now a trilogy and a soon-to-be-completed quartet) are the premium in fantasy fiction at the moment.

IS TRUTH NOT INFINITE?

Name one (1)guy who who could beat Jack Gregory straight up in a fight.

Protip, you cant.

Currently on the 8th book in this series but I'm looking for more like it.

My tastes are very specific, being present day or near future sci fi.

No space opera, no fantasy. No trenchcoat edgrlord Gibson-like cyberpunk. No straight up "military sci-fi".

Looking for things similar to Robert Charles Wilson (Spin)or early Greg Bear (Slant, Moving Mars)

>>9345070

Forgot pic

>>9345004
>Alan Moore type of pretentious elitist lefty
I can't believe how insane Alan Moore's gotten. Especially with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I never liked the series, frankly I think the movie is just OK for a movie but a hundred times better than the books, but I never expected him to turn Harry Potter into a school shooter rapist. Then again, it all makes sense since it seems he's one of those types who sees the only books worth reading are all English and written at least a hundred years ago.

>>9345070
>>9345080
Never heard of the series before. But from your description, maybe Revelation Space?

>>9345116

Isn't "Revelation Space" space opera?

>>9345137
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>>9345070
>No space opera, no fantasy. No trenchcoat edgrlord Gibson-like cyberpunk. No straight up "military sci-fi".
So, what exactly happens in these books of yours? By the sound of it, not a whole lot.

>>9345116

"The Second Ship" is the crashed space ship that these kids come across and keep hidden.

The first ship being the one that crashed 50 years ago and is being held at Area 51.

>>9345166
Taken from GoodReads

>For sixty years, the National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, has been investigating the powerful technologies of a damaged alien ship, an effort dubbed the Rho Project. Now, the American government is ready to share the Rho Project discoveries with the world. But as the world scrambles to adopt the alien technologies, three high schoolers make another shocking discovery: hidden inside a cave in the New Mexico wilderness lies another alien ship. As the friends explore the second ship, they begin to unravel a decades-long secret involving an extraterrestrial war, government cover-ups, and secret experimentation using alien technology on humans. A battle has begun, and the secrets of the second ship may be the key to humanity's last chance for survival.

Dude, this sounds like YA copy/paste. Sell me on it.

Anybody read Orbital Cloud by Taiyo Fujii?

>>9345158

I know it sounds very narrow but there is actually a lot of room for good stories in between those boundaries.

Take "Spin" for insurance. Which is one of my favorite books of all time. It's set in present day. Where one night while everybody is just going about their own business, all the stars just go out in the sky. Needless to say people lose their shit.

It's all scientific, not fantasy. And it's present day.

>>9345203

>for instance

For instance

Fucking autocorrect.

>>9345192
>The global war on terror has a new front—the very edge of outer space.
Coming this summer! In a world...

>In the year 2020, Kazumi Kimura, proprietor of shooting star forecast website Meteor News, notices some orbiting space debris moving suspiciously. Rumors spread online that the debris is actually an orbital weapon targeting the International Space Station. Halfway across the world, at NORAD, Staff Sergeant Darryl Freeman begins his investigation of the debris. At the same time, billionaire entrepreneur Ronnie Smark and his journalist daughter prepare to check in to an orbital hotel as part of a stunt promoting private space tourism. Then Kazumi receives highly sensitive information from a source claiming to be an Iranian scientist. And so begins an unprecedented international battle against space-based terror that will soon involve the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NORAD, and the CIA.
Wait, are there actual aliens in this thing, or what? Honestly, most of this sounds like a rehash of Armageddon, and I fucking hate Armageddon.

>>9345203
>Where one night while everybody is just going about their own business, all the stars just go out in the sky. Needless to say people lose their shit.
What's the plot? What actually happens? Does it turn out that the Earth is being contained in a sphere or something? I hope it's not like Left Behind, where it's just "Oh, this thing happened! Now let's spend most of our time reacting to the thing that happened!"

>>9338859
WHERE IS PEACE TALKS YOU FUCKER
I DON'T CARE FOR STEAMPUNK SASSY CATS WHO SHITTALK LIKE A REDSHIT FAG

PEACE TALKS NOW!!!

>>9344759
>magic just happens guys
>you can't or shouldn't be able to shape it because I said so
>my opinions and nostalgia is more vital than yours
>placate my every whim

>>9345224
>STEAMPUNK SASSY CATS
Mrrrr?

>>9345176

The first three books tread close to YA territory only because the protags are in their teens.

The "Jack Gregory" i mentioned is CIA sent to investigate. The story deals with things like covert assassins, the NSA, nano tech. But it's also more character driven than about the tech, which is what I like.

I also have a nose like a bloodhound for cheese. If a story is corny or cheesy at all I will drop it like a fucking hot rock, and while the cliff notes my sound like it, the story is actually really well done.

>>9345218

Yes, but there is a reason for it, and it is explained in the book

>>9345247
Does it utilize any landmarks, or is NM just a wasteland backdrop?

>>9345232
Damn you got triggered hard.

>All this activity
This just proves that this board, more so sffg is infested with redshitors. They ran at the sight of fitlit, but once they saw it was "just a prank brah" they have returned in droves.

>>9345247
Eh, might give it a try then. Maybe.

>>9345254
Ha, knew it!

>>9345270
Maybe we still have some guests from /fit/. Outer /lit/ appears to have a few hanging around.

>>9345261

It's present day regular everyday U.S. Not post apocalyptic or alternate history.

>>9345271

That's the only thing you will be able to predict though.

Spin is such an all time classic it's a shame the follow up books aren't as good as the first.

>>9345306
>That's the only thing you will be able to predict though.
Well, I'll give it a shot. Earth sealed by aliens, who either want to protect them because the universe is dying or there's some other threat, or the aliens are evil and they're doing it for nefarious purposes. Bonus points if the aliens are actually evil but pretend to be good.

>>9345327


Not gonna spoil it. I'm fucking autistic level when it comes to spoilers in any story.

>>9345240
It's not anthropomorphic cats, catfag. It's real cats that don't get a dicking from anyone. It's how reddittypes act towards cats like the are the owner and ruler of the home in book form.

If I was feeding something and it behaved like how I see some of the cats behave towards Americlaps, I would have drowned it. I see cats attacking people and they are laughing like "owh, Mr Buttons is grumpy wumpy". Well that is the book. "Cats being lazy and you worshipping and feeding them: The Novel. Also included ships that run on magic wind!!!"
Fuck Americlaps.

GOOGLE HAS INVADED LITTTT

>>9345284
I used wasteland as a sarcastic derogatory term, much like I hear people refer to NM. My question was how much effort was given to NM as a setting.

>>9345349
Well thank you for the consideration, but I just read the Wikipedia page. So, the membrane was put up by good aliens (didn't see robot aliens though) to help Earth. Since it's the first in a series, I still might get around to reading it one day. My backlog of books to read is already filled up. Two Serpents Rise, Black Company, The Bacta War, and Revelation Space. I think I'm forgetting something. Oh, Night Train to Rigel. Then Black Dagger Brotherhood later, maybe. Lover Unbound next? Ugh, Vishous is annoying with his magic shit. I want to just skip to Lover Mine and Lover at Last, but I'll probably be totally lost if I do.

>>9345357
Oh right, I think you told me this already. Now I'm sad again.

>>9345396

The only thing of New Mexico I know is what I've seen in Breaking Bad so I wouldn't really know if the portrayal was accurate or not.

>>9345433
That's why I mentioned landmarks. Does it mostly take place in NM? Do they travel to places like Roswell, White Sands Missile Range, the Very Large Array, Carlsbad Caverns, the Trinity Site? Or do they mainly present it as "Desert with military bases lol"?

>>9345357

>>9345487

It was like eight books ago but iirc the first one takes place mostly around the NM but after that the story goes all over the world.

As far as famous landmarks go they don't teally have anything to do with the story so there aren't any scenes of anybody hanging off New Mexico's equivalent of the statue of Liberty. It's the first book is mostly city suburbs and government research facilities.

The other books travel as far as you can go though.

>>9345510
So, are the books any good? I can't decipher the other anon's angry yelling.

But anyway, Steampunk. Yeah, a lot of us hate it, because it's just sticking cogs on shit and nothing else. But it's just so weird how incredibly popular it's become. And is it in decline now, are people getting tired of it yet? Personally, I'd like to see more Dieselpunk stuff.

>>9345510
>>9345575
Oh shit, one more question: Dresden Files, good books, or overrated garbage?

>>9345552
Ah, okay. Thanks.

>>9345004
I rather like Alan Moore, though. Mostly because I get the logic he operates on and his dislike of the industry. Moorcock just seems childish about his dickishness.

How good is Malazan? Should I delve into this autistic master piece of 2 million words?

>>9345097
Harry Potter is pretty mediocre, though. The fanbases is also the same kind of awkward and sad like the Star Wars fanbase.

>>9345097
FISH
RAPE

>>9345607

I'm also trying to find a good 'full' series in the "alien invasion" sub genre because that fits into my narrow criteria.

The "Fear" saga (Fear the Sky) came so..so..fucking close but dropped the ball so fucking hard in the third book in the series after the first two books were 5/5 stars.

I would definitely appreciate a good present day alien invasion series.

Any good modern cyberpunk?

>have an idea for a fantasy story/setting
>but really want to write about a character who doesnt fit into it
which do i drop /lit/

>>9345746
The conflict and tension between a character and their setting is meat and potatoes of genre writing senpai,

>>9345270
Wait until it's summer. I don't mind telling you that I'm tumescent in anticipation.

>>9345746

Go with the great character or great story concept.

A setting is just a setting.

>>9345769
he could fit in the setting but doesnt have a place in the story no matter how i try to force him in

>>9345772
y-you think i can make something great? uguu
the setting is a forgotten apocalypse kind of deal and the story is finding out about it
nothing revolutionary but it's the story i wanna tell
the character is a dude who may or may not fuck a lion i dunno
i really liked the throwaway mention of the beast tamers in BotNS and wanted to write about that sort of guild, but it doesnt mesh with the story i already want to do
ree

>>9345797

>the setting is a forgotten apocalypse kind of deal and the story is finding out about it

Sounds like Horizon Zero Dawn

>>9345647
>Harry Potter is pretty mediocre, though.
It is, definitely. The worldbuilding is interesting at times, but it really doesn't make sense as a whole, and it's blindingly obvious that Rowling was just writing everything on the fly. But the way Moore uses it in LXG isn't really a critique, it just feels like an old man yelling at the new kids to get off his lawn and constantly talking about the good old days when everything was perfect and magical and wonderful. I like some of Moore's stuff too, I absolutely love his run on Supreme. But he's just turned into a bitter old man now. I'm sorry Moore, things change, get used to it.

>>9345710
That was beyond awful. I will speak in his defense that he wrote it quite a while ago when he needed the money, but still, it's absolute trash.

>>9345825
im actually still playing that game, did not expect it to be so long and had to take a break around level 28
impressive amount of content
but no my thing would not have any futuristic tech sort of stuff, it would all just be magic and gods (despite my BotNS shoutout)

>>9345846
Not him, but I'd recommend Horizon's cousin, Breath of the Wild.

holy fuck my dick and my heart

>>9345834
As someone who has lived with bitterness for years, I don't hold it against him. At least he is being productive.

>>9345858
>At least he is being productive.
Ugh, don't remind me. Shit, I should get on that fantasy western I was talking about yesterday.

>>9345854
i have a wii u but i've heard the framerate issues are bad enough on the Switch as it is so i'm a bit too worried about getting the even laggier one
also i cant write the next million dollar movie deal getting novel if im playing all these open world games
(though some of the crossdressing link and bird dude porn that game has produced is really good so maybe i owe it to nintendo to check it out at this point)

>>9338774
Is he any good?

>>9345871
Got the Switch version (pre-ordered), and it runs absolutely fine most of the time, though there are noticeable stutters in places. Amazing game though, but it does have its flaws. I really hope Nintendo keeps with this formula in the future, and keeps refining it. I for one would really like to see this open-world structure combined with the larger, more elaborate dungeons of the other 3D Zelda games, especially getting unique items for puzzle-solving. Shiekah slate is cool and all, but I really missed finding a cool item halfway through the dungeon that you'd have to use to solve the other half and beat the boss. Oh, and indestructible weapons available somehow, at least through an upgrade process or something.

>crossdressing link
That was one of the most hilarious sequences in video games I've ever seen. The banana ninjas were pretty good too.

>>9345867
We all should. That's why I respect Alan. He does what he wants to do and he sets out to do it.

>>9345904
That's something I see in Richard Garriott too, and it's always something I've admired.
>Wow, I really like D&D and LotR. Time to make a video game that includes all the stuff I love about them!
>Wow, I really like making video games. Time to make my own original series of video games!
>That was cool. Time to make one of the first MMORPGs ever!
>Eh, getting tired of fantasy. Time to make a military sci-fi MMO with shooter gameplay!
>Earth's boring. Time to go to space!

>>9345731

It's not exactly new but read Slant by Greg Bear.

Fair warning though it's a fairly dense read and not for beginners, as it doesn't hold your hand explaining things. I've read it at least twice.

>>9345856
Tried to read this. Dropped after seemingly every new character who showed up was gay. Not a homophobe, but seemed off to me.

>>9346154
I think you read a different book duder

>>9346169
Hmm maybe. Is Tigana really that good?

>reading The Crippled God
>the end of a character's plotline, so I google the character for no reason
>enter the forums, don't care that it reads SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS because I knew what happened to the character
>OP revealed the end of other characters' plotlines

why do I do this to myself

>read Revelation Space by Reynolds
>it's basically Mass Effect

>read Chasm City
>it's basically Metal Gear Solid 5

>>9346178
>tyrant wizards
>political intrigue
>sexy times
>roaming the land to right what was wronged
I enjoyed it

>>9345585
I think they are good. They started slow but once they got into their stride they hasn't slowed down yet. The Author gave an introduction about how everyone says books 1-3 is a slog. But I enjoyed all three so [free shug.jpg]

But as ever, my opinion is just one of the many subjective points you will receive on this board.
Remember nothing is objective when it comes to literature, be it genre or high.

>>9345769
>Wait until it's summer. I don't mind telling you that I'm tumescent in anticipation.
>le summer meme
I discovered BotNS on a summer evening. It has since become my favorite book series. Summer /sffg/ is comfy as fuck dude.

>>9346355
>BotNS
What is this?

>>9346430
the GOAT

>>9346430
book of the new sun by gene wolfe
hybrid sci-fi/fantasy, mostly fantasy flavored
a lot of plebs get buttmad about it because gaiman liked it and praised it, and then they tried to read it and it was too ephemeral for their brains

>>9346452
>>9346471
Glad I asked. First Google result was "Books on the Nightstand."

>Gaiman
He's alright, though I'm not as impressed with him as I used to be. Has anyone read American Gods? What did you think? I've read about it, and it just seems really underwhelming. I'm kind of tired of seeing gods being written in modern fantasy as just a person with a superpower.

FYI the company that makes the Witcher games just copyrighted the word "cyberpunk."

We're living in the uh, computerpunk future.

>>9346699
Giddyap console cowboy. I'll check your dubs if you check my sweet deck.

>>9346699
Just read an article about this. From what I gather, it really just sounds like CD Projekt Red would only be able to effectively sue someone if they tried to make a game that used "Cyberpunk" in the title that was more than just a description or adjective (ie. Valhalla: A Cyberpunk Adventure would probably be fine). It really just seems like something they're obligated to do since the people who had the Cyberpunk series before them did the same thing. But I'm not a legal expert, so who knows.

This is the article I'm pulling this from:

http://archive.is/9JWYJ

>>9346773
This is completely irrelevant, I know, but I do think the article talking about Mass Effect Andromeda going to Steam Early Access to be highly amusing, and quite indicative of its quality, or lack thereof.

>>9346496

>American Gods

I really like some of Gaiman's works but this is not one of them. I honestly don't know why it gets fellated so much - maybe because people think that the premise is unique (it's not). However that said I actually think the god stuff is the strongest thing about the novel, the side stories featuring them in particular. The main thrust of the plot is pretty mediocre in comparison, a bland protagonist with little agency slowly plodding to a plot resolution while you wish the book was focusing on other, more interesting characters.

Take with a grain of salt though, people seem to love this book so maybe I'm missing something.

>>9345070
>Moving Mars

I have a paperback of this somewhere. As I recall, it's soft on science and long on wind and politics. Maybe The Expanse series? Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series certainly fits the bill for politics but pretends to more hard science.

>>9346793
>Take with a grain of salt though, people seem to love this book so maybe I'm missing something.
Probably not. I mean, earlier in the thread we were talking about The Name of the Wind, a book some people hold in the same regard as ASoFaI and LotR. And remember we live in the same universe were 50 Shades and Twilight are massively popular, enough to get their own movies, plural. Popular opinion means fuck-all in reality.

>>9346836
>were
Yuck, meant to say "where"

>>9346836
>>9346839

True, popularity is absolutely no measure of quality. To be fair to Gaiman though, he is worlds above Rothfuss, let alone 50 shades author etc. Even overrated American Gods is an okay book, just mediocre considering its subject matter and author. I actually think Gaiman's strength is short stories and comics , he's just not very good at novels and American Gods suffers from that.

Hey maybe you guys can help me out with something, I asked in a previous thread but didn't get many responses.

I read this short story in my high school Literature of the Strange and Mysterious class. it's about this girl who runs a bookshop, a bogart is also living there and helping her out, but she doesn't know. One day she goes online and clicks on a malicious link, which causes a pixie to come out of her computer and terrorize her, because magical creatures have adapted to living in the internet. The bogart helps her get the pixie out but reveals himself to her, which means he contracts this desire all bogarts have to leave when they are discovered. The book ends with him resisting this desire and staying with her.

I believe it may be part of a series because the main character mentions an understanding of magic and references other characters. Can anyone help me find this?

>>9346207
>it's basically Mass Effect
Like one of the good ones?

Well, if no one else is gonna do it.
NEW THREAD >>9347103
NEW THREAD >>9347103
NEW THREAD >>9347103