/lit/ - Literature

Brandon Sanderson

No Mormons allowed in this thread

>>9651044
...is anime

>>9651064
What a disgusting piece of fan-art.

I am looking for a full on novel that manages to capture a similar atmosphere to the art book and tabletop game, Tales From the Loop. Any ideas?

>>9651064
>blushing
It's actually anime

>>9651044
Is worse than Erikson

Guys, I tried reading the sword of truth and couldn't get past the "thorn that digs into his arm" that he just seems to forget about.

What do?

>>9651122
I'm not sure what you're asking but it makes me think of the drizzt series for dnd.

>>9651216
Great meme senpai

What's a good starting point for P. K. Dick?

>>9651264
The Man in the High Castle

>>9651306
Really? I'm not much of an alt-hist fan.

Here OP. You might find something here.
I know a lot of people liked the books I was recing for months, because I'm seeing people recommend these same books now.

>>9651327
Fair enough. My next suggestion would be The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

>>9651332
Very intriguing sounding novel, thanks I'll check it out.

>>9651264
If you want to start with some of his short stories read Collected Stories Of Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a good place to start with his novels IMO.

>>9651264
I started with Flow My Tears, The Policeman said and that worked for me.

>>9651329
>the state of contemporary fantasy
we're done for

>>9651329
>books from the 70s
>modern
what

>>9651440
Yes. There's a difference between modern and contemporary you know.

When will we be able to artificially make a sun?
How do we go about compressing nothing into a billion heat furnace?

>>9651329
>not including Dune

>>9651534
>compressing nothing
what do you think starts are made of?
literally just blow a big enough balloon and you've got yourself an active star

>>9651440
The chart supposed to be books that a modern person would enjoy. Books that when read wouldn't be dated. A lot of old books can't be enjoyed by modern audiences because they rely on either pop culture references from the past, or use theories that have totally been debunked and reads like some retards wild rants.
A good ageless book doesn't depend on pop culture references or certain things that an be debunked in the future.

It's been three months since I bought Bakker's trilogy, and I'm almost done the Thousandfold Thought.

I'll probably jump into the Aspect Emperor, but I'd like to find something a little less substantial to take up my nightly readings. Is Conan fun, or is there something else more lighthearted you guys would recommend?

Thanks for reading my blog

>>9651544
Because dune is dated. Same reason I didn't include shit of the rings. They are both dated as fuck.

Roadside picnic is a book that is ageless. It was written decades ago and is still enjoyable.
The Russians are probably better novelists than Americlaps if this continues.

>>9651569
Dune is not dated.

>shitty libraries
>torrents are few and far between
I really can't afford paying for every fucking book I read. How do you do it lads

>>9651583
Buy used you fucking nonce.

>>9651569
>>9651571

Why do faux nerds not love Dune but love Star Wars, Tolkien, Whedon and all that crap that falls into that category? I find it odd how Dune and Star Trek are untouched by them, Star Trek TOS even odder considering it should be a modern leftists bible and did what TV shows are doing now decades ago without it feeling forced...Will normies not touch Dune because of Lynch?

>>9651564
>Conan less substantial than Bakker
Conan may be too hard for you anon. I suggest reading some of Ian Brandon Sanderson's works

What's some /sffg/ with well done inter-species relations and diplomacy? If the list is too long, as I suspect, I like things less Tolkien-like (massive) and I don't like multiple view point characters either.

I also like first contact stories.

>>9651593
>tfw watching dune and wondering what could have been

>>9651595
Haha, that was a pretty epic post, friend.

>Not seeing the intrinsic value of the time capsule-like quality of books
No wonder genre fiction isn't taken seriously with an audience like this.

>>9651569
Lord of the Rings isn't dated. If it was then people like Terry Brooks would stop selling yet here he is still selling Shannara novels

>>9651057
I'm Orson Scott Card and am actively posting RN. Try and stop me, bitchboi.

Can someone share Nemesis Games and Babylon's Ashes (expanse 5 & 6)?
Can't find them on libgen and neither amazon nor overdrive make them available in my region as far as I can tell.

>>9651569
>dated
Brainlet

>>9651583
Read the pile of unread books you've accumulated over time. And don't pretend like you don't have one.

>>9651595
>Ian Brandon Sanderson
Come on that's just mean. Sanderson doesn't deserve to be related to CWC like that

>>9651598

I'm just glad the only thing normies know from Dune is the stupid spice meme with the cat rolled up to look like a sandworm, glad they haven't turned it into trash like Game of Thrones or Harry Potter.

I just Re-read 'Sins of Empire,' the fourth Powder Mage book, and I'm still just as pissed as the first time. I feel like there's a thousand threads started and dropped all at the same time- it wanted to have a mystery-like element, but it failed horribly. It wanted to focus more on politics, but the entire time I kept asking myself 'why hasn't this society fallen apart decades ago?' and never delved deep into how anything functions at all. The Secret Police concept was awful and undeveloped. Taniel's resurgence and his motivations essentially murder his character from the first three books all over again. He hated politics, he hated ministers and governments, he had no care as to how or why any of it worked and he just wanted to fuck his teenage voodoo waifu. Now he's an expert spy living a triple life and running a Palo intelligence network to uncover Power Stones? What in the fuck? This is a universe where so much interesting shit can go down and I'm reading the first season of fucking Power Stone.

>>9651614
lowkey this

>>9651614
Is dune worth reading? My only encounter with it so far was the movie and some comic book IIRC

>>9651621
What else did you expect from Sanderson's student?

>>9651628
I'd say read the first book and if you like it then continue.

>>9651621
Every time there's a political subplot in Fantasy I groan. Only a few authors can make interesting and enjoyable political plots while the rest have no business even trying

>reading some stuff about Second Apocalypse
is R Scott Bakker a meme? this doesn't sound fun to read at all, seems like everyone and everything in that world is hopelessly doomed and everyone is an unlikable dick.

>Mfw was the first one to notice Brandon Sanderson sounded suspiciously like Ian Brandon Anderson in the last thread

Nice to see it is taking off

>>9651608
but they're ALL SHIT

>>9651639
>the book is bad because the characters are unlikeable
this meme needs to die

>If God is dead then fantasy is His grave.
I’ve spent thirty-five years, now, searching for the secret of meaning, chasing research across disciplines and arguments through millennia. What is it? Why does it seem to be slowly boiling away? My short fiction and nonfiction on the subject have been published in Nature, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, and The Journal of Consciousness Studies. But epic fantasy has always been my primary vehicle. For me, fantasy fiction is the crash site of meaning. Create a world possessing the structure of Biblical Israel or Vedic India or Homeric Greece and it will be called fantastic. Create an alternate, intrinsically meaningful world, and the world will instantly recognize it as especially false. The very shape of meaning now indicates delusion: and this, I think, should give us pause. So I guess you could say that for me, fantasy is a pretty serious thing—something worth pissing people off about! My nutty ambition was to write the only kind of Bible a human could write in this remarkable and blasphemous age—a far different Book of Revelation, more honest to the complicated edges of the world, equally horrific. A textual crypt for the corpse of God. I knew it was crazy, outrageous even, but I had confidence in my ability to make the wreckage interesting. And with The Unholy Consult coming out this summer, the World at last stands revealed, and I feel like there’s so bloody much I can babble on about...
Wow so Bakker knows he's writing a trainwreck of a series

>>9651639
>being such a little fag that you need to "like" your protagonist

>>9651649
Is that from his reddit AMA a while back. If so it filled with gems like this
>Kellhus is the most difficult to write simply because I'm only a tenth as smart as he is, meaning I usually write ten sentences for every sentence appearing on the page.
This how he described his work
>Usually I describe it as Lord of the Rings meets Beyond Good and Evil meets Sin City... or something along those lines.

Is Bakker Jewish?

>>9651659
>>9651647
It's fantasy which means it's just for entertainment so you need at least a few likable characters. For anything other than fantasy I agree with you guys that a book doesn't need likable characters

>>9651647
>>9651659
yeah, I forgot this is /lit/, where people idolize cowards who only use fiction as vehicles to hide their personal views/ideas in. plotting and writing compelling characters are completely secondary.

>>9651670
Bakker is different anon. My novels have depth unlike other fantasy novels

>>9651666
Canadian

How come Gollancz hasn't dropped Rothfuss yet? They probably gave him an advance too.

>>9651679
A character can be compelling while still being a complete shitheel. Ever see Spartacus (Starz)? That show is a goddamn case study for those type of characters.

>>9651679
>>9651670
You don't need to like a protagonist to be interested in what they're going to do. Just because you don't care about their well-being or whether they succeed or not, you still want to see what happens.

You aren't supposed to root for Kellhus, you're supposed to be interested in what the fuck the guy is doing.

>>9651686
even worse

>>9651679
To which works or authors are you alluding?

>>9651695
Your bookfu is shit

>>9651687
Rothfuss announced the 10th anniversary editon of The Name of the Wind a while back

>>9651687

He obviously wants that sweet, sweet faux nerd money that Harry Potter and GOT are raking in. They'll probably drop him if a movie deal doesn't go through or something.

>>9651690
I'm not interested in what Kellhus is up to because I don't like him. He's boring as fuck. I was able to read The Eyes of the Overworld even though I found Cugel annoying. Bakker just can't make good characters

>>9651709
You're retarded. What happens when there's a book from the perspective of someone evil? Someone you absolutely fucking hate? Are you going to close the book because "well, I don't like him, so I better just ignore the whole fucking story."

You're just ignoring a whole slew of protagonists in favor of teenybopper YA "customer is always right" shit.

>>9651702
>Here’s what you can expect to find in the new edition, which will be released in 2017:
>an “extensive” author’s note
>appendices discussing the calendar and the currency systems
>a pronunciation guide
>at least 20 illustrations
>“a better map”
Well he's doing something. No idea why he feels the need to discuss the currency system. Kvothe moaning about his debts was more than enough

>>9651715
>What happens when there's a book from the perspective of someone evil
As long as I like them they're fine by me.
>Someone you absolutely fucking hate
I've never read a fantasy book that made me loath a character so much. If it did I'd be happy since I'd be more invested in the story
>Are you going to close the book because "well, I don't like him, so I better just ignore the whole fucking story."
I only close books when reading about trash like Kellhus. The only thing Kellhus POVs did was make me apathetic.

>>9651716
Now you'll able to delight in knowing exactly how much money Kvothe owes at any given point of the story

>>9651702
there’s a lot of gall in issuing a fancy tenth anniversary version of the first book when he’s spent six bloody years working on the third one

>>9651715
>What happens when there's a book from the perspective of someone evil?
If they're well written I'd probably end up liking them. I'll use WoT as an example since it's easy. I hated every Forsaken except for Ismael/Morridin because unlike the rest he actually lived up to his reputation. The rest of them acted like children which was pathetic

>>9651716
worldbuilding was a mistake

>>9651736
What the fuck did you just say?

>>9651041
Just read The Dread Empire' Fall series and HOLY SHIT.

Everything about is PERFECT. No one has done a "earth gets conquered, humanity fuck no " plot so well. The aliens are aliens doing alien stuff, instead of just humans with fake foreheads.

DAMN.

>Book 3 will not be longer than The Wise Man’s Fear.
>Will book 3 will be the last in the series?
>Yes and no. Book 3 closes this arc of story. Book 3 will not be the final book set in this world. Big distinction there!
NOOOOOOOOO
>Think of any series that was wrapped up. Think of The Lord of the Rings, which has a pretty solid ending: Was everything wrapped up at the end of the third book of Lord of the Rings? No. That’s what happens in any sort of realistic world, in any sort of realistic story with realistic characters. There was some good closure in that book, but what happened with Aragorn, and Minas Tirith, and now that he was back? […] And what about Sam and his kids? What really happened to the Grey Havens? Did Frodo every bounce back from that? What did Gandalf talk to Tom Bombadil about? There’s a ton of unanswered questions—so yeah, that’s actually the mark of a good story, and so I won’t be answering everything, but the truth is, you don’t want me to. You might think you want me to, but you don’t. And even if you really do, I still won’t. Just because it’s impossible.
>but what happened with Aragorn, and Minas Tirith
He had a revolutionary tax policy
>Will book 3 make readers cry?
>Depends on if you’re an easy crier. But I kinda hope to hit you hard emotionally; that’s my job.
>My fear is, what is the larger effect of my book on the world and on the minds of the people who take the time to consume it? Am I contributing in a positive way to the overall kind of collective consciousness of people in the world? I worry about that.
Don't worry Rothfuss no one takes your series seriously

I'll just post the link
http://www.tor.com/2017/02/03/patrick-rothfuss-kingkiller-chronicle-book-3-update/

>>9651621
The book happens 10 years after the first trilogy, so it's obvious Taniel would not be the same person. Of course, is that development happened on screen, it would be a lot better. Also, I feel like there are a lot of things that this book sets up that will be explored in the next one, in terms of how Taniel became the Red Hand. Also, also, you can't just have another three books where it's just Taniel loading two bullets into his gun, and shooting two dudes, or one dude twice, repeated over 600 pages.

I resent having imaginary technology or magic systems explained to me

>>9651798
Anon did you know that if you consume iron and pewter together the strength buff you get from iron lasts longer

>>9651569
You haven't read Dune, have you?

>>9651628
The first one is pretty much a must-read. If you like the parts about Dune's ecological transformation, the Fremen society and the philosophical musings about Paul's gift, you can also read the rest of the Frank Herbert books. Don't touch anything by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert though.

>>9651776
>only put out two books and a novella
>already hailed as the savior of fantasy and has TV and movie rights
>gets to run around and do random events/go to cons instead of working

The man is a genius. how does keep getting away with it?

>>9651804
I was more referring to how authors try to scientifically or philosophically justify why their ships move faster than light and their characters shoot fire from their fingers.

>>9651815
That's just autism at work

>>9651593
That's because faux nerds don't actually like to read anything more complex than Harry Potter and the Star Wars Expanded Universe books. Tolkien gets a pass because of the success of the movies, though most of the faux nerds still say bullshit like
>tom bombadil is the worst thing since hitler
>why are the boring poems longer than battle descriptions?
>too many named characters omg who is celeborn?

Alright /ssfg/ post a passage that made you drop a book
>Right now, it was time for food. Lift shoved herself forward on her knees and used her awesomeness to Slick her legs. She slid across the floor and grabbed the corner leg of the food table. Her momentum smoothly pivoted her around and behind it. She crouched down, the tablecloth neatly hiding her from the people at the room’s center, and unSlicked her legs.

>>9651822
>tfw some people actually hate the songs in the Hobbit

>>9651815
it's more of a protection against deus ex machina/asspulls than anything. when you have some understanding of an unknown system, then a character uses that system in a way that the reader didn't think of to get out of a sticky situation, it makes the character seem clever instead of seeming like the hand of the author saved them at the last minute.

though it should never be explained to the reader in a textbook sort of way, but better that than an asspull.

>>9651798
I resent having them redressed so often.

If you need to chant to use a spell then the mc being able to cast silent spells with no hand movements is fucking gay.

>>9651569
I didn't even enjoy Dune but I think it's a good entry to space opera, if not all of scifi

>>9651041
Anything similar to this? Something based on historical events, but adds some fantasy elements.

>>9651846
I hate that too. If want the protagonist to be above the rest just give them a useful power.

>>9651861
aSoIaF except it's pretty shit

>>9651861
Latro in the Mist I suppose

>>9651840
Thought this was porn for a moment

Implying Brandon Sanderson isn't another one of Chris-Chan's personas and Chris isn't just pulling this whole tomgirl facade so that people won't suspect he is Brandon Sanderson

Are there any good sf/f based on video games or their lore?

>>9651976
No.

>>9651806
>Don't touch anything by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert though.
so just first six books?

>>9651596
Nobody? Those I've read were all in the sci-fi realm and placed very little focus on different species, their world and their culture. I was thinking about some Quest based book, where the heroes travel through several places dominated by different species.

>>9652045
The Foundation by Asimov maybe? Not that there are different species per se, but civilizations rather.

>>9651206
Isn't that ash?

>>9652088
doesnt even have the cap so

>>9652022
Pretty much, yes. And it's a good recommendation. Those other books truly are cash-in-garbage in the closest sense of the term.
If you still want to find out what happens in them, read the wiki articles after you're done with the original Frank Herbert books and be done with it.

>>9652045
Try the Retief series by Keith Laumer and on an off-chance, try Lem's Cyberiad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jame_Retief
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cyberiad

>>9652164
well if it's not by the original author it's essentially fan fiction, why would I care about that

I might just finally read dune this time around, I've been putting it off for years now. It will probably be a nice change of style from Blindsight which I just started.

>>9652176
Dune might seem a little trope-heavy during your first read. You should keep in mind that when it was published, it was pretty groundbreaking.

>>9652191
yeah I get it I suppose
others emulated it, not the other way around

>>9652200
Also Herbert's style is a bit peculiar sometimes, he likes to let some characters exclaim "aaaaaaaaaaaaaah"s when they realize something, like Baron Harkonnen.

>>9652022
Just keep in mind that Heretics of Dune starts a trilogy that was supposed to wrap up the series, but Frank died before he wrote Dune 7.

>>9651659
>implying Akka is not a likeable character who did literally nothing wrong

>>9651041
can anyone recommend a book with really nice descriptions.
Something that paints a good picture
I've been reading some books but I find so many authors just throw it to the side.

>>9651638
example?

>>9651638
This, I honestly prefer much more straightforward adventure stories with political shit just left to implication.

>>9652968
Hyperion

I just finished reading Thrawn by Zahn, the new one. I am really hoping Thrawn's continued 'plans' are not an attempt to stop that force that is seeking to harm his homeworld. I also really hope that force isn't the fucking Vong.

>>9651687
The advance is a sunk cost; if they drop him, they'll never get a return on their investment. If he eventually produces something even halfway decent, they'll probably make it back, which can't even be said about the average author.

The real question is why publishers continue to make huge advances/contracts with relatively inexperienced authors to produce gigantic series.

>>9651534
You can't, remember what happened to the great Dr. Otto Octavius?

>>9651709
>I can't deal with flawed protagonists and villains who are essentially right

You sound like a one of them good ol' faggots, son.

>>9651332
I'm nearing the end.

It's a good book, thanks for suggesting it. I've been reading mostly modern harder sf so it's nice to return to older stuff.

All Dick's stuff this weird? I like it but man it's freaky as hell. This drug stuff really resonates with me too, I recently got out of the ket life and if you told me Dick was a druggy I'd probably believe you, he writes it well.

Good rec anyway

Hey OP try the Captain Future pastiche that Allan Steele has just published

How to go about getting not-shit editions of genre fiction books? Anything printed in the last twenty years has fucking garbage cover art.

>>9653224
>Buying books

>>9653169
Dick had a big fascination with subjective experience, sensory perception and etc.
Of the Big Three, Dick is probably the least concerned with "hard" explanatory Sci-Fi.

>>9653229
Who are you quoting?

>>9651583
Bibliotik and #bookz cover all my book needs. Diversify your bonds, nigga.

>>9651583
Myanonamouse, Bibliotik, libgen, mobilism, ebooks on IRChighway and vk cover all my needs and all my illgotten library cards.

plus on redacted people buy the books I want to read in exchange for bounty

>>9653166
Let's be honest here Bakker is the faggot. He's way too obsessed with manipulation, submission etc., probably got molested as a kid or something

>>9651226
I actually read the Dark Elf Trilogy it was alright, but Tales From the Loop is basically slav kids taking down fuckhuge robots.

>projecting this hard

>>9653294
Never saw this pic b4 cosmerefag.

>>9653230
I'm going to read Do Androids next, then maybe Ubik.

I've done a little reading up on Dick himself, interesting guy. What's a good book which shows/explains his breakdown or revaltion in the 70s? VALIS?

>>9653436
Yeah the VALIS books, though they're very uneven and incomplete. You'd probably like Ubik as well.

>>9653436
VALIS is where I began with PKD. Hoo boy

>>9651730
>I've never read a fantasy book that made me loath a character so much.
Then you haven't done much reading. Try this book.

>>9653461
>female author

>>9653471
>this garbage meme again

>>9651805
>if you don't like what I like, you haven't read it
I did read it. Some parts were good, but the overall book by the end was dated. Maybe if I read it as a 13 year old kid like you did last year I would like it too.

>>9653504
>implying you know how to read

>>9653479
It's not a meme if it's the truth. Good female authors are outliers

>mfw encountering Gene Wolfe for the first time

Why is game of thrones garbage, besides that people like it? I genuinely would like to know.

>>9653518
>Good female authors are outliers
This is true
>Good male authors are outliers
Also true

>>9653518
And most male authors are Rothfuss, Sanderson, Scalzi, Pierce Brown, Scott Lynch or other retards.

The Jack Vances, Strugatskys, Vonneguts and PKDs are incredibly rare and this is reinforced by the fact that I haven't found a single good modern book written after the 2000s worthy of becoming a classic.

>>9653514
Oh boy you caught me.

>>9653531
So stop being butthurt.

>>9653523
I saw Gene Wolfe at a grocery store in Illinois a few weeks ago. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, and that he was a huge influence in I becoming an author, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

>>9653543
?

>>9653538
I miss Lamb Chop T.T

>>9653530
1000 point of view characters, leans heavily on sex and violence to show that it's "grim and realistic".

>>9653530
Everything in >>9653581 and all the hype. Hype makes everything worse.

>>9653566
This is the general that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started posting in it, not knowing what it was, and they will keep on posting in it forever just because.. This is the general that never ends...

>Mistborn finished in 2011
>Chris became a tranny that year after Bob died

What is Ian Brandon Sanderson's endgame here?

>>9653593
Can you explain who the everloving fuck Chris is?

>>9653586
Thanks anon

>>9653595
Get lost newfag.

Is The Expanse worth getting into?

>>9653613
Sure thing Kevin

>>9653614
Yes, it is. I'm on book 5. The first 3 are good, the 4th is all right, this one is breddy guud.

>>9653536
>I haven't found a single good modern book written after the 2000s worthy of becoming a classic.
>in a fantasy thread

>>9653621
Thanks. How does it compare to Banks and Reynolds?

Not sure what to read right now. Is N.K. Jemisin any good? Might give her a try, I guess.

>>9653633
They're good if you only read the Broken Earth books.

>>9653630
>Banks
The physics is harder than the Culture, with a few exceptions, and economically it's not a post-scarcity society. This affects a lot of things. Banks' stories don't follow a single set of characters in a linear set of events in anything like the way that Coreys' do.
>Reynolds
Harder science than Reynolds, less overtly Lovecraftian. I think Reynolds is better at prose but Corey is good at conveying action in a way that Reynolds doesn't do. Corey's characters are more compelling than Reynolds', even if Belters aren't quite as badass as Ultras and the Rocinante isn't as badass as the Nostalgia for Infinity.
Revelation Space and The Expanse are in some sense both stories about high-stakes archaeological digs that get interrupted again and again by political intrigue in fragile societies.
I think Reynolds might be a better writer than Banks, but Corey has a better eye for sociology and psychology than either of them, and writes almost exclusively characters that are recognizably human, which is unique among the 3 writers.

>>9653649
Isn't the Expanse written by two people sharing the same pseudonym?

>>9653616
He said Chris, not Vince. Canada stop, you're embarrassing yourself.

>>9653669
Yes, it is. I'm not going to write out their names in each case. I can't remember them, anyway.

>>9653671
When isn't it?

>>9653633
Broken Earth is pretty good, her earlier work is shit.

>>9652968
>Something that paints a good picture
Start reading Jack Vance. No other /sffg/ writer does it better IMO.

>>9653671
Sure thing Kevin

>>9653169
Glad you liked it. You should move onto Do Androids next. Also great.

>>9653743
It wasn't me Vince. What are you reading btw?

Jesus fuck. Is all fantasy anime these days?
I just finished Red Sister and it was literal anime. It even included the friendship meme.

>>9654043
Considering we have 2 full generations that have grown up on anime I'm not surprised.

Is malazan a meme?

Hi, I come from the outside of this general. Can you recommend me The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings? Thanks anyway.

>>9654043
Not all of it. Some of it is grimdork edginess too.

>>9651041
If you want harder(hard/soft) sf try schilds ladder Greg Egan

>>9654148
Why don't you stay out?

>>9653536
>I haven't found a single good modern book written after the 2000s worthy of becoming a classic.
Sf or fantasy?

Recently I've played the shit out of Dishonored and Thief. So give me something steampunky but dark and on emphasis on the city, duck the characters give the the spirit of depraved steampunk metropolis.

>>9654338
Perdido Street Station

>>9652968
Seconding Jack Vance. He's incredible. Not even by /sffg/ standards, by /lit/ standards he's a great prose stylist.

>>9654374
Is there anything else except China?

>>9653530
Excessive focus on plot, glacial narrative progress, padded prose, etc

>praises self reliance and individualism
>exalts those who sacrifice themselves for others
What did Heinlein mean by this?

>>9653545
This always make me smile, especially when used with improbable people.

Is Shadow of the Torturer really considered sci-fi?
Seems more like a fantasy book so far to me, about one hundred pages in.
Not criticising it or anything, the prose is wonderful.

>>9654516
Today's western society is exactly the opposite.
>people rely on social welfare, ie they are dependent on outside help and not self reliant at all
>they are all about muh feelings
>muh rights to being a fat, uneducated, useless piece of shit
>don't contribute to anything

Looks like it doesn't work very well, does it. On the other hand, consider
>well rounded strengths to be an independently functional individual
>still has some kind of expertise in order to be useful to society
>believes in something greater than him, would give his life for his family, motherland, species, whatever
That's the very definition of the alpha male and you know it. That's not the very definition of the alpha male, just a prime example. And not even that, because the alpha male is actually an evolutionary concept that doesn't have much in common with the personality traits that plebs associate with him

>>9654393
When I see you post about Vance or Wolfe, I imagine a fat neckbeard manchild with acne sweating profusely, while breathing shallowly and raspily through his mouth, and typing away furiously on his keyboard with Cheetos encrusted fingers, as he spreads his obsession that is "classic books".
Why do I always imagine this when you type? Why do you always give off a vibe that you have to convince these people or die?

>>9651329
Eyyy I like the Django in there, thousand names was pretty great, I know it's a bit niche but the really military structure its all around is awesome.

Painted man was... Okay... The rape as a character growth point and a plot point with the girls mother was a bit... Off putting. the whole book seemed to take a weird turn after that.

Black prism was alright too, its magic was original which is always fun, though it got a bit wonky in how they would use it.

>>9654696
Black Prism borrowed from Shades of Grey by Fforde, and Warbreaker by Sanderson.

>>9654715
I had no idea actually, that's good to know, It was mostly just new to me.

>>9653798
Why so paranoid anon? Canada isn't hiding under every rock. Except the part of the world that it is.

>two weeks until Bakkerposting returns

>>9654819
Good. Cuckoldry and GRI are the pivots for all good works

I really, really enjoy Jack Vance.

>>9651264
Hard to go wrong. I liked martian time slip and Dr bloodmoney.

>>9651716
>the pointless world-building edition
The world-building was already poorly thought out, why would I want to learn more it?

Rothfuss really is incredible, the man has somehow managed to completely fail at writing a good book, and yet is wildly successful. From what I've heard the thing he puts the most time into is sentence level stuff, and that he will pour over each line until he has it perfectly poignant and poetic. Of course, he manages to fail at that as well.

>The Eye of the World
>Name of the Wind

Which one? Gonna board a plane in a little while and the book store in the terminal has both of these. Which one is more intriguing?

Are there any good fantasy stories set in a republic, or a theocracy, or anything else that isn't a hereditary monarchy? Sick of succession wars and royal palaces.

>>9654146
No its really good.

>>9655331
You're in for a ride.

>>9655429
Which one though??

>>9655223
This would explain Mr Rothfuss' slow writing if he is poring over each sentence, rather than banging out functional drafts and then editing for vocabulary and grammar.

>>9655339
I read a fairly obscure novel, Robert Silverberg's At Winter's End, which felt like a breathe of fresh air. It's about a tribe of furry humanoids who emerge from their cocoon on Earth after a 700,000 year ice age. The book's all about how the tribe acclimate to life on the surface as they try and find an ancient city. Even within Robert Silverberg's bibliography this is a lesser known novel, but the way it combines exotic exploration and character growth within a closely knit tribe was well done.

>>9654646
It's sci fi disguised as fantasy

>>9655223
>From what I've heard the thing he puts the most time into is sentence level stuff, and that he will pour over each line until he has it perfectly poignant and poetic. Of course, he manages to fail at that as well.
So you're saying his writing process is the same as wannabe writers who is just starting out?
All I can say then is, follow your dreams lads. If he can make it then you can too. Don't let your dreams be memes.

>>9654393
>>9653739
>>9653046
will check them out, thanks guys

Do you actually write down your backlog or just keep it in your head?

Chink shit incoming.

>reading warlock of the magus world
>slow updates are sloe
>check out a suggested work
>It's called magus world
>It's a much shittier story which seems like fanfiction
>it was wrotten and abandoned before warlock of the magus world
>mfw I get to witness an authors progression first hand

I honestly like a story where the mc wizard student isn't just kaiboshing dark lords on day one.

>>9653614
Dont get your hopes up too high. All the ideas and concepts felt like watered down versions from better books. Additionally the dialogue and world building are really lacking and make the books read like literal soap opera. The books also dont challenge reader at all and personally i didnt find some of the characters very 'genuine'. I gave up with the series halfway through the second book. The writing wasnt bad and there wasnt anything terribly wrong with it, the books just felt boring and uninspiring to me.

>>9655767
>muh AI chip
No need to announce to everyone that you like garbage.

>>9655751
I read peoples reccs here, occasional bibliographic searches, ads in books, stuff I see at the bookstore, and titles I've already purchased. All this info is ground up into that mush I like to call my brain which sometimes suggests my next book. I guess that means I keep it in my head. Eventually I would like to get organized and really attack some themes or authors, but this works too.

>>9651329
>Ubik
Oh man, I had to lie down for about an hour after I finished that book just to try to process what was real and what wasn't.
It didn't help much.

>>9654694
Probably for the same reason I imagine a colossal faggot when I read your posts.

>>9656180
Yeah it definitely needs a final take, the authors next piece of work should be pretty amazing.

>>9653436
Try The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick

>The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick is a non-fiction book containing the published selections of a journal kept by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, documenting and exploring his religious and visionary experiences. Dick's wealth of knowledge on the subjects of philosophy, religion, and science inform the work throughout.

>>9655751
List on evernote. I use a random number generator to decide what's next, unless something in particular jumps out at me.

>>9654338
>>9654397
City of Saints and Madmen
Veniss Underground

>>9655751
We have goodreads for a reason. Faggot

Dick-hungry anon here

really enjoyed Do Androids Dream. It had a tight, more focused narrative than Planer Eldritch and while the ending didn't leave me as confused its left me with more to think about.

I might just be imaging this theme, but does Mercer (and by extension the love of animals) represent empathy? Is it the androids distain for empathy which they can't possess which motivates them so furiously against Mercer and the animals? And what was the meaning of the three surviving Androids conversation in J.R.s apartment? How did they know about the Mercer illusion, did it relate to their experience on Mars? Is Dick creating an antagonistic relationship between the organic empathic (humans/Earth/Mercer) and the inorganic distainful (Androids)?

>>9656382
That sounds really interesting actually, I'll definitely read that later on, thanks.

>>9656782
Search male:tomgirl on sadpanda.

>>9656799
Am I gay if I find that attractive? 10 years on 4chan has ruined me.

>>9656934
Yep. Might as well start sucking cock you prancing lala homo man

>>9654694
Or peake?

>>9656782
>dick-hungry anon
redundant, desu senpai

how does some supermax convict manage to get the ear of the rulers of the planet?

the gri in this book is wack

>>9654694
If anybody here takes /sffg/ too seriously it's you.

>>9655439
Yes

>>9651682
Underrated kek

>4 chapters into Schild's Ladder
I wish I had the mathematical and physics knowledge to understand what the fuck is going on.

>>9654393
>>9653739
Any specific ones? he has like 100 books

>>9657082
That thing has a more manly chin than I.

>>9657112
>implying there is any
>shills are going crazy trying to market this book to sffg

How far has text readers come over the last decade? In 2008 there was a guy in demonoid who took epubs and converted them to audiobooks. They weren't too bad sounding, I'm thinking that technology is supposed to be even better today. A lot of books I want to read don't have audiobooks, and finding time to read with my eyes is increasingly hard as an ex member of the NEET club.

>>9657512
Tales of the Dying Earth (Sequels are also good; Cugel the Clever, Cugel's Saga and Rhialto the Magnificent)
Lyonesse

>>9656782
>Dick-hungry anon here
ehehe
But honestly since you seem to like him. Just read all of it. Some of his short stories are pretty good too. Faith of Our Fathers and Cadbury, The Beaver Who Lacked really activated my almonds desu.

Any recs for short stories? Just finished Aspect Emperor in time for TUC and wanted something light

>>9657112
>how does some supermax convict manage to get the ear of the rulers of the planet?
After being mindfucked in the brain by JEDD. Mycroft a best.

>the gri in this book is wack
>tfw when I started reading it and I thought it was going to be a boring philosophical worldbuilding book
What an unexpected finding in the haystack

>>9657595
I fucking apologised alright
Maybe it just is a good book, you'd know if you actually read anything and didn't just shitpost all day

GIVE COMFY SCI-FI BOOKS

>>9657512
The Dying Earth books
The Demon Princes
The Languages of Pao
To Live Forever aka "Clarges", a name I hate
Lyonesse, although read later unless you're an EPIC FANTASY guy
Little Big Planet
The Dragon Masters
The Last Castle

>>9658309
The End of Eternity. You'll thank me later.

>>9658306
>implying TLtL isn't a good book
It's a fucking good book.
>tfw STILL trying to find a new book

>>9658327
I'm struggling here to get my hands on Seven Surrenders
Not on the UK Kindle store until July and the copy I ordered from the States two weeks ago hasnt made an appearance. Any idea where I can grab it online?

>>9658357
Would you like me to upload mine for ya?

>>9658361
Ah hell partner, that'd be swell

>>9658366
https://transfer.sh/13EOC1/Seven%20Surrenders--A%20Novel%20-%20Ada%20Palmer.epub
Font removed to make it less cancerous, if you want the retail I also have that.

Also I have a copy of this if you want it.

>>9658369
A thousand thanks, friend.

>>9658435
I have Will on hold also if this library card doesn't get suspended. I'm second in line, though, so it will probably leak first, I'll let you know if it leaks somewhere other than Mobilism. For mobilism you can just set up an alert on page monitor so you get notif'd if someone uploads it.

What SF book activated your almonds the most?

>>9658484
'Swastika Night' by Katherine Burdekin. The true bogpill on WW2 is that Hitler was simultaneously right and wrong and that by refusing to embrace competitive tribalism we're destroying ourselves.

I go through an, on average, 300 page book once a week. Is that normal?

>>9658641
Yes, it's normal to fully live your life by reading fantasy and not having any real experiences.

>>9658309
>tfw a tranny has a bigger dick than you
>tfw even though on hormones it's dick gets harder than yours
Will an hero soon.

>>9658484
Started on the Witcher with the Last Wish.
The comfyness levels are through the roof.

>>9658641
That's about what I do, since I have plenty of time to read on my commute.
Of course, I'm reading Malazan Book of the Fallen right now, so its more like a book every three weeks now. Holy hell was Erikson payed by the word or something.

>>9658435
is this Prince of Nothing?

>>9658676
He like Sanderson had a story to tell. Unlike Sanderson he actually stuck with his books, instead of doing a bunch of side projects which are pushing back his 10 books.

>>9658741
The link is Palmer's Seven Surrenders.

>>9658676
>Holy hell was Erikson payed by the word or something.
Well he was signed on a 10-book contract for the publishing of the first one. I don't really mind him having his characters contemplate life and existence, tho.

>>9658662
Jordan Peterson.
You got nothing to lose and only things to gain.

>>9658813
>being this new
>not reading sffg core books
He was talking about the picture, and the cat getting cucked.

Any books with povs out of eternity and/or immortality.
Or do I have to write it myself?

>>9657582
yeah
I found >her< on culturepals, but couldn't muster the impetus to actually chat with >her<

>>9658676
Some of them feel longer than necessary but I'd say like 80% of it is necessary.

>>9658926
I know I have many things to gain by killing myself.
Release from mortal pain, no more peer pressure, chads can't steal my crushes who put me in the friendzone.

>>9658936
Please write English. I'm not interrupting what you are saying.

>>9658950
Faggot.

>>9658935
The cat is not cucked but dead

>>9658990
An hero'd?

>>9656799
>sadpanda

>>9658990
how do you know?

>>9653545
This one is right next to the Madara one for me. Seeing Pringlesman do this would make my year. Someone needs to make a Madara pasta for Severian or Baldanders or something.

>>9658153
From These Ashes by Fredric Brown. It's mostly sci-fi but with some fantasy mixed in. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122549.From_These_Ashes

You know you made it as an author when your novels are available in audiobook format.
>tfw no Vox Day audiobooks about principals spanking students
>tfw no throne of bones audiobooks
They probably shit.

>>9658962
Bitch please
You're in bellow of the beast.
Life is suffering.
By the end you'll lose everything eitherway.
So you have only things to gain up to and until then.
Existence is better than nothingness.
You don't kys cause your temporary wound hurts.
We all experience peer pressure, faggot.

Need something new?
Give me a disposable email or regular address and I'll send you the first three books in a space opera series I wrote. I held a giveaway promotion over the weekend and The trio monopolized the top three spots in the genre for a day on Amazon and broke top 50 in the science fiction and adventure columns. If you like it, I get a review. If not, you paid nothing.

>>9659172
You sound like you're a dollar fifty short of being a two dollar faggot.

What a shitty /sff/

>>9659812
where's yours then, dipshit

Really wish people would stop shitting on Sanderson

>>9659843
Why do you care bro? 4chan doesn't like anything that's popular.

>>9659843
Fine, stormlight archive is entertaining except for most of shallans parts. The padding is way less obnoxious as in his other books because it generally gets used in a few chapters.

>>9659870
>The padding
what are you referring to anon
>not same fag

>>9659843
Really wish Sanderson would stop shitting on words.

>>9659908
yes

>>9659891
>Fucking babsk
>Lift is fine cause darkness
>most of the ghostbloods in radiance
>spen observation

Baroque Cycle worth getting into?

>>9659946
Depends on how much you like Stephenson.

Fantasy book with "fast" pace?
And that doesn't explain every fucking thing that iss to come in the following 4 pages, with "introductory exposition".
Like actually having good dialogue and short descriptive prose.

>>9660115
People will shit on me, but Mistborn might be your thing.

>>9660140
I hear Sanderson is a thesaurus wanker; no comprehension of words and their actual meaning.

>>9660166
Funny that. I remember reading the first WoT book he wrote, I think it was the first, and noticing he didn't seem to have the largest vocabulary. He used a few words so many times that it really started getting annoying. Tempest for one. A tempest of this and tempest of that. Everything intense, emotions or otherwise, was preferably described as a tempest.

>a heritage of stars
not the best book. can't recommend it

Any series where the magic is more like /x/ occult stuff (dangerous rituals, sacrifice, forbidden knowledge, deals with entities)?

>subscribing to audible
>only one book for free per month
LMAO WHAT THE FUCK AM I PAYING 15 BUCKS FOR THEN FUCKING JEWS

>>9660198
I read some review, it said he spends pages describing relatively irrelevant shit about something.

I've noticed; as I read, that I get an image of something within the first 2 "descriptive sentences", and the holistic image I get remains no matter what the author writes further on. Sure I can add Moss or rust.
But fuck your two pages.

>>9660234
why though

>>9660140
>In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more?

Sounds pretty fucking gay, desu.

>>9660313
>But fuck your two pages.
What?

>>9660327
just bland really. no interesting characters, no interesting setting. or rather, the setting was not used to its full potential. underwhelming resolution.

>>9660313
Sounds like GRRM.

>>9660331
To authors who spend two pages describing everything about nothing.
Sure great if it's a holistic image about a whole city/village/battle/great event.
But I don't care about every detail about a character's ugly green clothes with knitted pattern layered above the gay ass JEWellery that hangs around his ankles and left wrist; flamboyantly they're were waving, as Gaymie was hopping 'round the deserted streets; in the deserted village; across the deserted desert; beyond the frozen wastes of Posing Pseuds. All because Gaymie was the greatest protagonist to ever hop the world, only he can cross this path and slay the great dragon Xuldrim (the greatest dragon ever, the threatens the whole world!); that destroyed this place once called Vestdale-shireport.

>>9659658
About tree fiddy

>>9658484
Age of Myth

>>9659843
>Lift summoned her awesomeness
It's hard not to make fun of him

>>9660266
Lyonesse is sort of like that

>>9659908
I feel like that is very accurate

>>9660266
Conan the Barbarian

>>9658936
God-Emperor of Dune

Gene Wolfe writes pretentious, overwrought garbage.

>>9659176
Gaskun? Ding Ding

y/n

So started reading The Fifth Season by Jemisin and can't get past the first couple of sentences.

> Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things. First, a personal ending. There is a thing she will think over and over in the days to come as she imagines how her son died and tries to make sense of something so innately senseless.

This is some real garbage, some real trite prose here. Considering how authors tend to polish the beginning more, I can't even fathom how bad the rest is. She really did win the Hugo solely based on being a black feeeemale, didn't she? Fucking hell.

red flags
>female protag
>female author
>author with a chinese name

>>9660827
>putting things in broad categories
>gay greentext memes

>>9660834
chinese woman detected

>>9660816
fuck the belt

>>9660827
>chinese name

Did you forget to tag my Jemisin post? Jemisin's black, btw, and Jemisin doesn't really sound chinese tbf.

>>9660286
you're paying for a $3 book to be read to you by another jew

>>9660166
>no comprehension of words and their actual meaning.
reading wok I was taken back a few times saying to myself
"that's not what that means" lol

NEW THREAD

>>9661015
>>9661015
>>9661015
>>9661015
>>9661015

My irl name is Kane

Anyone else here /sffname/

>>9660821
>let me judge a book by the first sentence I got from Amazon preview
>I don't even have the book, I just read this sentence to say I read the book, so when people rightfully call me out I have a strawman

>>9659908
>Malazan is the same type of thing as Solar Cycle
the autist is at it again I see