/sffg/ - Science Fiction and Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.11377775]

Degenerate Edition
>last degenerate book you read for the year
>how was it
>upcoming degenerate book you plan to read

FANTASY
Selected:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/0935e4cd59/105363.jpg
General:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21328.jpg
Flowchart:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21327.jpg

SCIENCE FICTION
Selected:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21326.jpg
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/b44928ae11/114401.jpg
General:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21332.jpg
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21330.jpg

NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21333.jpg

SF&F author listing with ratings and summaries:
>http://greatsfandf.com/authors-full-list.php

Previous Threads:
>>11368299
>>11361233
>>11354543
>>11347377
>>11340317

[Anonymous No.11377873]

>>11377572
The problem with "rationlist" fiction is that you get characters that might as well be robots or the writer constantly bombarding you with their views on science and how it should work (despite a lot of them knowing little about science to begin with). I don't know why Worm or Twig is on that list because they really don't fit actual rationalist fiction at all outside of "Protagonist isn't dumb for the sake of being dumb"

[Anonymous No.11377928]

Downloads: https://b-ok.xyz/s/?q=the+stars+my+destination

[Anonymous No.11377937]

This is even better than Throne of Glass.

[Anonymous No.11377959]

>>11377775
>77775
That's too bad.

>last degenerate book you read for the year
Mists of Avalon is GRI certified so I guess it counts.
>how was it
Amazing.
>upcoming degenerate book you plan to read
I'm planning to read some more Heinlein before the end of the year. Not sure what specific books yet.

[Anonymous No.11377998]

>>11377937
that's some typesetting gore

[Anonymous No.11378039]

>>11377998
I'm more annoyed at how the author's name moves around slightly because of the artwork when they could have just put it at the bottom. Also how the "NYT Best Seller" blurb is randomly indented left on the second book and then divorced entirely on the fourth.

[Anonymous No.11378045]

>>11377873
Yes, ratfic can be done badly. HPMOR and Mother of Learning often succumb to the flaws that you list, but I don’t think that the others do. Most ratfic doesn’t even involve science or the scientific method.

I hesitated on putting Worm and Twig on there, honestly. I ended up doing it because even if not explicitly ratfic they attempt to reward the reader’s thinking in the same way and Worm, at least, features viewpoint characters that have would not be out of place in ratfic. I did not list Pact because the idea that anyone in that novel is rational is insane.

[Anonymous No.11378109]

>>11377775
>last book
Afterparty by Darryl Gregory which is set in a world filled with designer drugs. The main character is from the Greek island of Lesbos.

>next book
a reread of Synners by Pat Cadigan. She's a feeeemale writer. The book is filled with non-conservative and irreligious characters because it's cyberpunk.

[Anonymous No.11378175]

Can you guys recommend me any good audio books. Preferably something with a party of characters doing cool shit.

[Anonymous No.11378212]

>>11377873
>>11378045
I didn't hear of ratfic as a genre before this discussion begun, but given stated goals it'd be much more important to maintain logical consistency and provide the reader with information necessary to make deductions themselves, rather then obsessing over adherence to scientific method. After all scientific method is merely application of rules of formal logic to scientific disciplines, and even within scientific community adherence to it is hardly rock solid, despite obvious advantages offered by it.

[Anonymous No.11378287]

>>11378109
>irreligious characters are degenerate or uncommon

[Anonymous No.11378346]

>>11378212
>After all scientific method is merely application of rules of formal logic to scientific disciplines
>formal logic
Ehh, no.
And I fail to see how the scientific method would be applied in a work of fiction.

>and even within scientific community adherence to it is hardly rock solid, despite obvious advantages offered by it.

Reproducibility is also very hard in some disciplines.
Falsifiability isn't always possible either.
It's why people make a distinction between hard and soft sciences.

[Anonymous No.11378366]

>>11378346
>I fail to see how the scientific method would be applied in a work of fiction.

Oh boy, I have the !genre for you!

[Anonymous No.11378391]

>>11377775
most degenerate this year was prolly ian mcdonald's luna stuff. was alright.

[somalia No.11378415]

>>11377775

I've just had wind up girl delivered, did you guys read it, and if so like it?

[Anonymous No.11378449]

>>11378346
>Ehh, no.
Yes. Scientific method is at it's core a set of rules and guidelines based on deductive reasoning, and codifying deductive reasoning is what formal logic is all about.
>And I fail to see how the scientific method would be applied in a work of fiction.
Imagine if upon meeting an anomaly Enterprise crew from Star Trek started actually figuring what's the rules of it are trough observation and experimentation, rather then as the so often end up doing stumble trough it at random relying on plot armor to power trough.


>Reproducibility is also very hard in some disciplines.
>Falsifiability isn't always possible either.
This is true.

>It's why people make a distinction between hard and soft sciences.
However, this is often used as an excuse by people with a political agenda to push their worldview unto the scientific world. Where's in truth all sciences are hard, some just face more issues remaining hard when they deal with the need to experimentally prove/disprove their conclusions.

[Anonymous No.11378502]

>>11378449
>Star Trek started actually figuring what's the rules of it are trough observation and experimentation
Which is not what happens in those "rational" fiction novels.
And mostly it just ends up not interesting, like reading wowpedia.

[Anonymous No.11378511]

Name a better novel than The Unholy City
by Charles G. Finney

[Anonymous No.11378542]

>>11378502
>Which is not what happens in those "rational" fiction novels.
Not saying that it is, haven't red any of it as of yet, merely pointed out an easy and obvious example of how scientific method can be used in fictional work.

>And mostly it just ends up not interesting, like reading wowpedia.
I suspect, much like any genre, most of it is garbage and pale imitation of former works in and outside the genre. The niche nature of the genre simply means that in absolute terms very few works will be worth reading.

[Anonymous No.11378560]

Is the "The Expanse" series any good?

[Anonymous No.11378566]

>>11378560
Eh.

[Anonymous No.11378576]

>>11378560
It's one of the best works produced by scifi writers this decade. I'd reccomend giving it a shot to pretty much anyone remotely interested in the genre.

It has it's problems, but they are mostly subjective, meaning I don't know if they'd bug you unless you try it.

[Anonymous No.11378584]

>>11377541
Oh man, I remember that dude from /fit of all places. He posted some overly long facebook post (or was it twatter) asking for advice on how to loose weight... besides exercise and dieting that is.
Apparently moving his fat ass was unscientific.

[Anonymous No.11378645]

>>11378560
Dropped after the first book. Maybe it improved.

[Anonymous No.11378649]

>>11378560
Its a rehash of a lot of sci-fi themes from the 70es, from the intersolar politics, the fictional societies, the technological impact, you name it.
If you are not familiar with novels from that period it's a fun ride. Personally I gave up after the big baddies started testing the Hell goo on one of the largest habitats in the system. There's evil and then there suicidal.

[Anonymous No.11378704]

>>11378584
Current research suggests that some populations (e.g. Jewish people, who have all sorts of fucked up genes) might experience more muscle soreness and pain from exercise than others. He might have had such a problem.

Otherwise, Eliezer’s one of those workaholic people who tries to squeeze maximum producitvity out of his day. I’m not surprised if he views exercising as a waste of time because it’s time that can’t be spent working.

[Anonymous No.11378785]

>>11378704
Nah he was (and probably still is) just another fat fuck looking for an excuse.
Just look at this:
https://www.facebook..
com/yudkowsky/posts/10151804857224228

[Thiskillsthedarkelf No.11378850]

>>11377937
These books suck and I hate that sarah bitch but I have to give her props for such a prolific output.

What's that like, 8 books in 6 years?

[Anonymous No.11378893]

>>11378560
I've only watched the series, and I gotta say the writing is certainly the weakest part of it. Take that as you may.

[Anonymous No.11378910]

>Protagonist is described as dark skinned
>Hates trees and breathtaking geological formations

Is there anything worse

[Anonymous No.11378921]

>>11377937
Sarah I’m going to gouge out one of your eyes and fuck your skull until you finally have an original thought for the first time in your life. Only then will I allow you to die

[Anonymous No.11378946]

>>11378921
She a fatty. Could probably hate fuck her fat ass. And she will probably come back for seconds.

[Anonymous No.11378950]

>>11378560
It's very pulpy though the author throws a bone to the "scifi needs to be hardSF!" crowd every now and then. Some of the latter books like the one about the space colony are pretty middle quality though.

>>11378850
More like 11-12 if you include short story collections and the upcoming releases this year which also includes a Catwoman novel and a 400 page "world guide" for the Throne of Glass stuff.

Like I've been saying, YA genre fiction is the new pulp.

[Anonymous No.11379045]

>>11378946
You want the other eye? I’ll leave it untainted for you

[Anonymous No.11379103]

Anything recent like Three-body problem which story spans a long scope of time with focus on the fictional development of society and technology?

[Anonymous No.11379141]

>>11379103
I got something long for ya ;)

[Anonymous No.11379174]

>>11379141
give me a scope, senpai

[Anonymous No.11379253]

Well I just finished a monster read of Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer (Too Like the Lightning series)

It's fucking good. Anyone else read it? I got some theories and question after finishing Will to Battle (And for this third book, a few complains).

[Anonymous No.11379265]

>>11379253
I read the Wikipedia article and it’s confusing. Can’t tell if she’s all about gender neutrality or she thinks it’s fucking ridiculous

[Anonymous No.11379387]

>>11379265
I've only read the first book due to classes but I think her point is to show that religion and gender are important things and shouldn't be blindly discarded. Like one of the things I liked the least about the first book is how the narrator is going "this person is biologically male but behaves like a mom so I'm referring to them as 'her'" or whatever all the time, which I found annoying but shows how inept and childlike the narrator's view of gender is. And the big reveal is that the world's heads of state are being manipulated by the madame of a brothel using their repressed sexuality to control them. So nothing has really changed from the days of power-brokers meeting in Zurich boardrooms.

Also like, the characters just mention stuff off-hand like how Africa, the middle east and apparently part of America are literal "indian reservations," and there's a part where we find out that India has the same population as China, but China has more seats in the Mitsubishi power bloc. Also they literally recreated a second, idealized Rome as their capital and anybody who knows anything about the Romans (and Palmer is a professor of Renaissance history so she'd be well aware of them) would tell you they're not a very good choice for the capital of your egalitarian utopia.

There's too many little unsettling things in the first book for me to say "the author thinks this future is cool and good."

[Anonymous No.11379430]

>>11377775
By the Sword and The Last Herald-Mage has made a Mercedes Lackey fan out of me. Is there any hope for me /sffg/?

[Anonymous No.11379432]

>>11379387
Nonsense! Romans were utterly egalitarian! Unlike some people I can mention, they enslaved everyone equally!

[Anonymous No.11379587]

>40% through Shades of Grey
I hope the payoff is worth it. I'd drop it if I weren't so invested but my god it feels so needlessly padded.

[Anonymous No.11379697]

>>11378785
Read Scott Alexander's summary of the book The Hungry Brain.

Yud is operating with context that you don't have, to ask a question you only partially understand.

[Anonymous No.11379703]

>>11379265
Her idea is that gender is fucking ridiculous

[Anonymous No.11379722]

>>11378946
Actually, she's not. There are a few pics out there form when she was pregnant, and she is huge, but that's it. That said, she's a pathetic excuse for a writer...

[Anonymous No.11379799]

>>11379103
Count to a Trillion Series by John Charles Wright runs from the 23rd century to the end of the universe.

Xeelee series by Stephen Baxter run from about the late 21st century to end of the universe, including some pocket universes, start with Vacuum Diagrams.

Wright is more fun and has better ideas.

[Anonymous No.11379809]

>>11379253
It reminded me of the Hyperion books in a good way but she needs to adjust her exposition:development ratio.

[Anonymous No.11379817]

Does anyone else read the 1st book in a series and never touch the later ones?

[Anonymous No.11379867]

>>11379817
Wheel of time, sword of Truth, tarot by piers Anthony, others. I'll give a series a chance but I'm picky.

[Anonymous No.11379897]

Who is the greatest character in scifi and why is it Chief Engineer Spalding?

[Anonymous No.11379916]

>>11379897
Where did he graduate from?

[Anonymous No.11379936]

>>11379817
Yes, if I'm told the sequels to a book are complete shite, (Rendezvous With Rama for example) then why bother?

[Anonymous No.11379950]

>>11379916
Don't argue with Spaldings Greatness.

[Anonymous No.11380013]

>>11379387
>her point is to show that religion and gender are important things and shouldn't be blindly discarded
>dude acts like a chick so I’m calling it her
...I’m still confused

[Anonymous No.11380041]

What the hell /lit, you never told me how fucking awesome these books are. I'm on book 2 and I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite SF series.

[Anonymous No.11380049]

>In Sarantium, everything on earth was to be found, from death to heart's desire, men said. He was going, it seemed. Sailing to Sarantium. Walking, actually, for it was too late in the year for a ship, but the old saying spoke of change, not a means of travel.
>Sailing to Sarantium.
I thought this was just a /tv/ joke run into the ground

[Anonymous No.11380189]

Wait so Jack Vance is supposed to be good? I got a Dying Earth compilation from the library and it just reads like some Chinese Xianxia novel that's had better editing.

[Anonymous No.11380246]

>>11380189
He is good, you just don't get him yet. People get wrong-footed when they start with Dying Earth because they expect drama and tragedy and get instead a comedy of manners. But this is what makes Vance so irresistible. If you can recenter yourself, stick with it through the Cugel books with what I've said in mind. If you can't, maybe start with Lyonesse. It's more of an open field so you can maybe appreciate the way he's constantly winking at you more than in the ponderously-titled dying earth.

If that doesn't work then foad.

[Anonymous No.11380255]

>>11380189
skip dying earth, I didn't enjoy it, his other stuff is better
Probably best to start on single book standalones

[Anonymous No.11380326]

What do you think of the sword of Truth novels. So far they are ok but I'm only half way through the first one

[Anonymous No.11380341]

>>11380326
Drop it and run away. It's one of the original milkers, driven largely by Khalin rape fantasies. There was something flowing through the first few that could have been good, but it didn't materialize.

[Anonymous No.11380384]

>>11380326
Not a fantasy book.

[Anonymous No.11380433]

>>11380326
glorified manual for bdsm fetishes.

[thiskillsthedarkelf No.11380467]

>>11380326
It's a book better read as a teenager.

[Anonymous No.11380499]

Super Sales is fucking shit and I can't stop reading it

[Anonymous No.11380545]

>>11380499
congratulations you got pulp addiction. better admit to yourself now that you enjoy reading pulpy stuff.

[Anonymous No.11380654]

>>11380326
The first few are okay-ish, especially if you can just ignore the sexual kinks, but eventually I dropped it on the seventh book. The new characters just didn't have the momentum to keep me reading.

[Anonymous No.11381058]

>>11379253
I'm planning to read it soon, will hopefully have time next month.

[Anonymous No.11381063]

>>11379817
Rama, Ancillary Justice and The Lies of Locke Lamora come to mind.

[Anonymous No.11381071]

>>11381063
Neuromancer too.

[Anonymous No.11381078]

>>11379817
You could honestly just read the first 3/4 even I think. Arlen turns into some bald tattoo freak and the virgin girl gets raped by some random bandits. The jester dude is just straight pointless. Started the second book and it was all about the boring muslim sand people and dropped it 50 pages in. It's funny reading the amazon reviews because everyone's pissed he just drops the MCs from the first one and keeps jumping to new random characters. No idea what the author was thinking

[Anonymous No.11381120]

>>11381078
i couldn't believe how awful the last third of the book was

[Anonymous No.11381138]

>>11379817
I only read the first chapter of books.

[Anonymous No.11381198]

>>11378212
"Rational fiction" is more ideology and smugness wrapped up in narrative than an actual genre with rules and tropes.

If you're writing a story where the main character is a "genius" who solves all of his problems through the power of "science" and "deduction" without ever being bothered by such pesky and irrational things as feelings and emotions, then congratulations, you're a fucking sperg. I mean, congratulations, you're writing "ratfic."

It's basically "I can't write believable human characters because I only possess about 60% of the human emotional range myself," the genre.

[Anonymous No.11381201]

>>11378502
>>Reproducibility is also very hard in some disciplines.
>>Falsifiability isn't always possible either.
>This is true.

No it's not.

If it's not reproducible and it's not falsifiable, it's not fucking science.

[Anonymous No.11381228]

>>11381198
You sure do seem to be an expert on feeling of smug superiority.

[Anonymous No.11381247]

>>11381201
>If it's not reproducible and it's not falsifiable, it's not fucking science.

Some disciplines, economy as an example, deal with systems so complex that they can not be readily influenced for reproducibility. Additionally conclusions in such disciplines require "all else being equal" to produce reliable results, which is flat out impossible, and so falsifiability cannot reliably be ascertained.

This is not to say that there is no way to test these disciplines, merely that it can be very hard to convince the scientific community at large that any given test and/or statement can be seen as evidence.

[Anonymous No.11381278]

Long ago I read a book about a thief who got stuck in a tower with a talking cat, then left it for adventure.

Does anyone here know what this book was called?
Was it any good?

[Anonymous No.11381300]

>>11381278
Sabrina Teenage Witch

[Anonymous No.11381305]

>>11381278

I'm guessing it was The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings. I read it a long time ago and it was okay but not spectacular. Felt like a more condensed version of the Belgariad with more goddess cat waifu. I guess re-read if magical cat girl goddesses are your thing.

[Anonymous No.11381314]

>>11381305
You got it right. I recognized the cover as soon as I saw it.

Maybe I'll get it just to finish it. I almost finished the first book before my brother burned it.

[Anonymous No.11381319]

>>11381314
>my brother burned it

Hold the fucking phone. This needs more details

[Anonymous No.11381322]

>>11381314
>brother burned it
:(

I am sad for you

[Anonymous No.11381356]

>>11381319
He took my ice cream so I hid the memory card for our Playstation 1 and the only way to find it was through a series of riddles. When he finally found the memorycard he found out that I also had deleted his savefile. As a way to get back on me he took the first book he found on my nightstand and threw it in our fireplace.
I'm still surprised that he found us to be even after that.

[Anonymous No.11381357]

>>11381356
Lel. Are you on good terms now?

[Anonymous No.11381362]

>>11381357
Kind of. We only speak to eachother during family gatherings, which happens very rarely, but it's not like we hate eachother. We're just very different people. Both of us are aware that our only relation is that we're brothers and if we met in any other way we would avoid eachother.

[Anonymous No.11381369]

>>11381300
Salem's commentary on everything is gods gift to mankind.

[Anonymous No.11381381]

>>11379387
>religion and gender are important things and shouldn't be blindly discarded
I feel like this gender issue especially is why this book being heralded as the Bible of SJWs etc is woefully discarded, and also why this book had such mixed opinions upon release. Superficially, it's progressive but when you delve deeper and actually examine the plot, it's undoubtedly advancing a more traditional message than you would first expect.

>>11379265
I think she eventually settles on it being ridiculous. Remember, this woman is a historian, she literally has spent her entire time seeing how men run things. There's a pretty diverse cast within the novel but when she starts philoso-wanking it's always to male historical figures.

>>11379809
I agree, especially the most recent book. Jesus Christ who the fuck is Hobbes? I understand this is due to Mycroft's degenerating mental health but good lord it's a tall order to read all this shit. I suppose Ada's just trying to do the 'Unreliable Narrator' thing from The Book but it's still pretty tough to stomach

[Anonymous No.11381439]

>>11381356
Depending on what save file it was I'd say you're about even. He might owe you an ice cream.

[Anonymous No.11381449]

Anyone here into SFF web novels?
This one is good so far: https://twinlamps7.wixsite.com/skysight

I am definitely not the author.

[Thiskillsthedarkelf No.11381464]

>mfw quidan require an account just to watch ads for locked chapters

Literally the scum of the web novel world.

[Anonymous No.11381491]

>>11381449
I'd rather someone posted their OC than shitty web novels desu

[Anonymous No.11381494]

>>11381491
but what if their oc was a shitty web novel

[Anonymous No.11381502]

>>11378175
Blood Meridian.
Memoirs of a Sinner. The audiobook is actually terrifying near the end.

Heinlein has a few books that turned into good audiobooks.
>starship troopers
>have space suit will travel
>the door into summer
>starman jones

The dune prequels (butlerian jihad ones) make some 10/10 audiobooks. Prepare for 140 hours of listening to get through them all though. Listen to things naratted by scott brick with dune, the other guy is kinda bad.

If you're a fan of crichton, there are nice audibooks for micro and andromeda strain. I highly recommend Micro.

Way Station by Clifford Simak has a chad as fuck audiobook.

Elric of Melnibone has a fantastic audiobook. Has some cozy music the entire time, too.

Lord of Light is good.

Chronicles of Amber (yes, all ten of them) have some top tier audiobooks.

I wish I knew some more anon. Quite often with audiobooks, I get triggered within the first five minutes and instantly delete it.

[Anonymous No.11381514]

>>11381502
>>11378175
Dying earth has a good audiobook too, and the botns series (audible versions only) have nice audiobooks, but I think the focus is a bit too chaotic to make full sense of it through narration.
Which is ironic considering that the vehicle of the book is that it is basically a written narration.

[Anonymous No.11381524]

>>11381494
Well in that case...

[Anonymous No.11381557]

>>11381502
>Chronicles of Amber
but whil wheaton does the 2nd half

[Anonymous No.11381560]

>>11378175
hyperion one is pretty good.

[Anonymous No.11381591]

>>11381439
Final Fantasy VII. Final disc.

I've played the game since then and I don't think we're even. There is a lot of work to be done to get there.

[Anonymous No.11381620]

>>11381464
r/qidianunderground

[Anonymous No.11381638]

Russian cover for "Death's End".

[Anonymous No.11381647]

>>11381638
Fuck off. Why do you get nice covers?

[Anonymous No.11381651]

>>11379697
I will do no such thing. When you want to loose weight you do not read or find excuses.
The sad truth is that your idol is an obese pompous ass high on sugar but low on substance.
There are far, far better men you can defend on the Internet anon.

[Anonymous No.11381662]

>>11381651
>loose

[Anonymous No.11381728]

>>11381647
>>11381638
Probably for the same reason that most Western artists are literally photobashing and the russians and chinese are literally the only ones who are still properly illustrating or teaching art (and not that modern bullshit)

[Anonymous No.11381747]

>>11381651
This is why I don't go to gyms.
I would be physically unable to stare at her.
I feel that it is ME being raped.
Working out at home is comfier anyway.

[Anonymous No.11381753]

>>11381591
>he took my ice cream
>time to escalate the shit out of this and destroy dozens of hours of effort he put into a game he enjoys

Yeah, he gets to burn a few more of your books before you're even, tbqh.

[Anonymous No.11381866]

>>11381078
Why do you keep repeating these same exact points over and over every time warded man is brought up? Did you, the class clown (jester), have a chad fuck your Muslim gf before you could?

[Anonymous No.11381892]

>>11380246
Stfu you pussy faggot. He is good because you like him.
Yet I'm sure you're the same faggot that talks down modern books. At least the guy that you replied to read the book so he has first hand experience. You call books shit without reading. Vance is shit and go kys faggot.

[Anonymous No.11381913]

>>11381747
>implying that there's anything wrong with admiring people doing impressive lifts

[Anonymous No.11381917]

>>11381892
>Vance is shit and go kys faggot
Not that anon. You should an hero.

[Anonymous No.11381921]

>>11381198
>when you read books it's about the emotions you see everyday
I don't read sff for feels, I read sff for ideas/futuristic tech(scifi) and magical/fantastical events (fantasy) being incorporated into human life.

I bet you're the one who shills buried giant, it is after all, a emotionally blackmailing book that tries to manipulate your emotions to make you like it, instead of writing actual fucking fantasy.

[Anonymous No.11381939]

>>11381913
Oh, is she lifting?
OH look at that

[Anonymous No.11381950]

>>11381939
This, I only saw tits.

[Anonymous No.11381977]

>>11381921
This but ironically

[Anonymous No.11381991]

>>11381638
I'm still pissed you memed me into children of earth and sky with your fucking Russian art covers. I'm not reading any book you post anymore. Was planning to read thirteen by morgan after I saw your cover posting, but if children was so utter shit I don't know how much more shit thirteen will be.
Fuck you squat covers anon.

[Anonymous No.11382014]

>>11381917
>liking faeces
Commit sudoku you scat loving freak

[Anonymous No.11382081]

>>11381991
> children of earth and sky
> shit
kys

[thiskillsthedarkelf No.11382098]

>>11381620
Cannot find it, apparently revered insanity is not a popular series.

>mon visage quand

[Anonymous No.11382156]

>>11382014
Absolutely what. End yourself.

[Anonymous No.11382725]

What are you guys reading?
How is it?

[Anonymous No.11382731]

>>11381651
Did we cross over into litfit again?

[Anonymous No.11382757]

>>11381247
>Some disciplines, economy as an example, deal with systems so complex that they can not be readily influenced for reproducibility.
Then they're unscientific.

>>11381921
>I read sff for ideas/futuristic tech(scifi) and magical/fantastical events (fantasy) being incorporated into human life.
Then you might as well read futurist hypotheticals without even the pretension at a narrative stringing them together.

But you don't, because you do read books for the characters even if you're too fucking stupid to realise it.

[Anonymous No.11382858]

>>11382725
The New Weird

[Anonymous No.11382882]

>>11382725
Solar Lottery by PKD. I just started so I don't really have an impression of it yet.

[Anonymous No.11382911]

Anyone here /ourguyinspace/?

[Anonymous No.11382912]

>>11378175
Flowers of Algernon is good.
Most PKD audiobioks are great, at least the onse o have listened to.
List of classics have great audio books, stuff like Moby Dick and Don Quixote.
Gateway, slaughter house 5.

[Anonymous No.11382966]

>>11382911
Container Anon is that you? I haven't seen you in months.
How's the container coming along?

[Anonymous No.11383039]

>>11382966
That's not me unfortunately, sorry
Does he read Perry Rhodan?

[Anonymous No.11383136]

>>11383039
>Does he read Perry Rhodan?
Don't know. He purchased a container and was in the process of turning it into a private library. He got boxes upon boxes of books from a book store closing. Last we talk he hasn't even sorted them all as yet.

[Anonymous No.11383182]

I wasn't that impressed, although it's a decent entry in the "comfy small ship crew" category.

[Anonymous No.11383227]

I just binge read the entire Dark Company series over the last few weeks at work. Any suggestions for similar books to look into?

[Anonymous No.11383372]

>>11381662
Apologies, it was a Freudian slit.

>>11381747
So stare. Why do you think she was filming herself? What do you think were all the guys doing at that moment?

>>11382731
If only.
Anyway let's move on from fat Jews - can anyone recommend me some good military sci-fi? The harder the better and let's say written in the last decade or so (to skip the classics everyone has read by now). Maybe try to avoid the Baen Books while we're at it.
I know this general is currently in the phone book fantasy stage, but maybe someone read something good and fairly new. Oh and I read the Library at Mount Char.

[Anonymous No.11383380]

how is "degenerates" a topic?

[Anonymous No.11383381]

>>11383372
There is no good milsf. All of it is all just mil, wearing SF's skin and pretending that's lingerie.

[Anonymous No.11383385]

>>11383372
>no butt
Jesus. And yall 50% think that is "hawt". Looks like a prepubescent boy in the gym.

[Anonymous No.11383388]

>>11383380
>doesn't know about the gri index

[Anonymous No.11383390]

>>11383380
I guess it implies GRI, and /sffg is all about that.

>>11383381
Can you recommend me some mil with good lingerie in that case?

[Anonymous No.11383397]

>>11383385
>most of /lit/ is fags
huge shock that is

[Anonymous No.11383403]

>>11383385
>yall
I never understood why white Americans act like blacks on the Internet.
Anyway this might be more to your liking - it's all one giant curve.

[Anonymous No.11383414]

>>11383385

What's this obsession with fat girls?

[Anonymous No.11383416]

>>11383403
>>11383414
and here come the Irish

[Anonymous No.11383424]

>>11383416
Maybe you could write a book about this.
I am sure Salon would give you a glowing review.

[Anonymous No.11383488]

>>11383403
>yall
That there's texan

[Anonymous No.11383530]

>>11382911
I want to read them, but I don't want to learn german desu

[Anonymous No.11383533]

book of the new sun

[Anonymous No.11383567]

>>11383533
>it's not on audible
>I don't have time to read any other time than while driving on the job

[Anonymous No.11383587]

>>11383567
How horrible.

[Anonymous No.11383595]

>>11377928
I read this in a day and desu, it was a good ride but nothing ground-breaking.

[Anonymous No.11383648]

>>11383414
>if it isn't a hungry skeleton prepubescent boy with breast implants it's fat
I know america is a pedo culture. You want your women to look as close to boys as possible to stay in the closet.
Faggot.

[Anonymous No.11383705]

>>11383567
You could get it illegally.

[Anonymous No.11383714]

>>11383403
>>11383488
there is nothing black about a white person using the word yall in a texan accent.

t. texfag

[Anonymous No.11383717]

Ive never seen Bobiverse mentioned, is it worth it?

[Anonymous No.11383782]

>>11383717
I just read the synopsis. Sounds kinda retarded desu senpai.

[Anonymous No.11383787]

Any sci-fi books that read like history books?

[Anonymous No.11383806]

>>11383787
was talking with someone who mentioned how the main character(s) escape a theocracy and then accidentally start a new religion, I got curious.

I have audible, I may give it a try

[Anonymous No.11383807]

>>11383717
its kinda awful
#1 biggest issue is that the author didn't know what "volatile" meant

[Anonymous No.11383821]

>>11383807
He uses the word wrong?

[Anonymous No.11383827]

>>11383821
he uses it to mean explosives

[Anonymous No.11383892]

>>11383827
Dictionary say that one of two meanings

[Anonymous No.11383901]

>>11383892
(of a substance) easily evaporated at normal temperatures.

[Anonymous No.11383911]

>>11383901
That be meaning #1
#2 apt to sudden change synonym explosive

[Anonymous No.11383919]

>>11383911
in the context of space magic 3d printers making shit from scratch, you can't be using "volatile" to mean explosives, when it clearly means things like hydrogen, oxygen, co2, ch4, etc

[Anonymous No.11383944]

I've read all three Bobiverse books

>>11383717
afaik the story is unique, so if nothing else youll get an interesting (see: aloof) perspective on a post apocalyptic remnant of humanity story. There is a decent mix of space exploration, humanity surviving on alien planets, and primitive alien handholding. I didnt like the beginning and its nerd culture shit, but it ends pretty fast and is sparse throughout the rest of the book.

>>11383807
>>11383919
considering that the whole point of the main character hating explosives and warheads is how they can blow up unintentionally, the word fits. Yes he is using printers, but he is using printers to make weapons that he will carry on board with him.

[Anonymous No.11383958]

>>11383944
when you are talking chemistry and whatever, you won't use the term "volatile" like that.

[Anonymous No.11383974]

>>11383958
Why be such a pedantic little asshole?

[Anonymous No.11383980]

>>11383974
why wouldn't the author do a little bit of research...

[Anonymous No.11383987]

>>11383980
No amount of research would be enough for pedantic little assholes such as yourself.

[Anonymous No.11383999]

>>11383987
use words properly if you are writing "sci-fi"
Also should refrain from cliches designed to make the story easier like instant communication

[Anonymous No.11384005]

>>11383999
Please refer from autistic outbursts.

[Anonymous No.11384018]

>>11384005
What? Refer from?
In any case, he's right, don't be lazy. Always do your research before you write things or it'll be painfully obvious you're just writing a screenplay

[Anonymous No.11384049]

What are some essential stories by Clark Ashton Smith?

[Anonymous No.11384057]

>>11384018
What did we say about being a pedantic asshole?

[Anonymous No.11384081]

>>11384049
City of the Singing Flame is a good place to start.

[Anonymous No.11384099]

Lanfear is best girl.

[Anonymous No.11384185]

>Syl turned into a spear for Kaladin. When she solidified she split a nearby tree in half.
>"Speak the words, and the trees shall disappear," she said in Kaladin's ear.

[Anonymous No.11384203]

Man do I hate trees....

[Anonymous No.11384225]

>>11384057
That might've been an excuse if we lived in the past century or something, but for fuck's sake. Today we have Google or whatever for that, right?

[Anonymous No.11384235]

>>11383787
legend of the galactic heroes

[Anonymous No.11384277]

>>11383944
>is using printers to make weapons that he will carry on board with him
Hmmm

[Anonymous No.11384295]

>>11384277
Nice digits, what the fuck is this supposed to be?

[Anonymous No.11384310]

>>11382725
Shades of Grey.
A FUCKING SLOG.

[Anonymous No.11384313]

>>11383717
honestly i dropped it because theres too many bobs to keep track of. i dont mind multi pov stories within reason but bobiverse has too fucking many bobs.

[Anonymous No.11384325]

>>11382725
Mort

it's great

[Anonymous No.11384403]

>>11384325
Then you have Reaper Man to look forward to. Everything good in Mort flowers in Reaper Man.

[Anonymous No.11384508]

>>11381381
>Superficially, it's progressive but when you delve deeper and actually examine the plot, it's undoubtedly advancing a more traditional message than you would first expect.

Yeah like I said I think that's her point: It's a "progressive utopia" but the old power structures still remain, humanity is still unequal. It's like how idiots were saying "racism is over now so we don't need to do anything about it" in the 90s and after Obama got elected.

It's like, we look at the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The American revolution might be better called a "war of national liberation" because for the most part the goal was to replace the British government with a local government. The French on the other hand replaced the monarchist government with something entirely new.

>>11383372
>can anyone recommend me some good military sci-fi [...] written in the last decade or so

There isn't much modern milSF that's worth recommending. Most of it is the usual HOOAH FELLOW SPACE MARINES action adventure tripe. I guess there aren't as many literate angry Iraq/Afghanistan vets as there were after Vietnam.

Old Man's War is good but the sequels gradually go blah.

Linda Nagata's The Red and The Last Good Man are good.

David Drake hasn't really gone back to his old pure milSF stuff since the 90s aside from a few Hammer's Slammers short stories. That said I highly recommend his standalone book "Redliners."

Tentative recommendations:
Frontlines by Marko Kloos is a fairly typical series about HR Geiger's version of elephants but it's notable because the main character is a self-described "welfare rat" from the slums and it manages to avoid most of the usual chest-thumping bullshit.

Poor Man's War by Elliot Kay. A even more action focused series where the main character's reward for being the big damn hero is PTSD, dead friends and medals he doesn't care about. Basically it plays everything straight.

>>11383717
Not really. It's a guy narrating a Let's Play of a space 4X game and making Simpsons jokes.

[Anonymous No.11384558]

>>11382725
Left Hand of Darkness, it's good but can get sort of dry, I like Le Guin's project though.

Also peeking through the CCRU Writings which I just got, probably going to read that in conjunction with some Butler and Ballard

[Anonymous No.11384559]

>>11384295
Read it and find out. Space marine loli

[Anonymous No.11384581]

>>11381381
>Remember, this woman is a historian, she literally has spent her entire time seeing how men run things
Mary Beard is also a historian, then she lost her fucking mind

[Anonymous No.11384609]

>>11384581
Roman-Britons were black anon.

[Anonymous No.11384649]

>>11384099
This, very much this.

[Anonymous No.11384663]

>>11384609
oh look it's the "muh romans were white" anglo-saxon fairy tale

[Anonymous No.11384682]

>>11383787
First and last men by Donaldson?

[Anonymous No.11384688]

>>11381198
Hard disagree, fellow reader. This is another one of those flaws of ratfic done bad that is discussed earlier. One of the main problems that ratfic attempts to solve in fiction is when you see a person or group of persons that are supposed to be super competent and reasonable running on nothing but emotion and plot armor. (Think the Belgariad or Sword of Truth) No character ever stops to think if there are better ways to go about solving the problem, which inevitably leads to frustration on the part of the reader.

A ratfic author trying to compensate for this can turn the sperg-o-meter up to 11 on accident, but it’s not integral to the genre at all.

Take Luminosity, for instance. Luminosity is a complete rewrite of all the books in the Twilight series, seeking to make Bella more human and have more agency (instead of the blank doll for readers to project themselves on she was written as). If anything, the emotions of the rewritten Bella are *increased*, not eliminated.

The Northern Caves and Nightfloor, two original works by rat community Nostalgebraist, also deal heavily in emotions.

You’re taking the failure modes within a genre and insisting that it is a universal norm. It’s not.

[Anonymous No.11384689]

>>11384688
Rat community member**

[Anonymous No.11384735]

>>11384688
>complete rewrite of all the books in the Twilight series

Where do people find the motivation for this shit? Holy fuck. How?

[Anonymous No.11384856]

Is there a russian AI shitting up these litrpg books I'm reading? I checked the author's names, they are different but the content seems to spawn from the same intelligence. Also, I can't stop reading them, send help

[Anonymous No.11384860]

>>11384856
Read some Xianxia instead. All the power-building crap with none of the stat-blocks, and a bunch of flowery prose about people's eyes glowing with killing intent and so on.

[Anonymous No.11384864]

>>11384860
but think of the trees!

jk, fuck trees

Recommend me some good Xianxia please

[Anonymous No.11384875]

>>11384860
profound
unfathomable
majestic
ten thousand year old silver green demon soul tree
etc

[Anonymous No.11384879]

>>11384864
Cultivation Chat Group, Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, and A Will Eternal are the only ones I've read and they're apparently some of the better ones.

There's also apparently Pivot of the Sky which is written by a Chinese Ancient Egypt/Sumer fanboy and is apparently pretty good but I haven't tried it.

[Anonymous No.11384881]

>>11384864
Well I am currently reading this "battle through the heavens" and it's pretty ok, I guess
Once you get past the fact that the whole story is an endless stream of fortunate coincidences/occurances.

[Anonymous No.11384890]

>>11384875
>>11384879
>>11384881
Great, now, where would one acquire these titles? epub or mobi would be great.

[Anonymous No.11384896]

>>11384890
wuxiaworld.com

[Anonymous No.11384899]

>>11384896
谢谢

[Anonymous No.11384920]

>>11384890
I use novelupdates to bookmark my place and track them.

[Anonymous No.11384931]

>>11384896
so is there a search feature I'm not finding?
>>11384920
Good to know, thanks

[Anonymous No.11384943]

>>11384277
I am almost willing to read that novel based on the cover alone

[Anonymous No.11385026]

>>11384864
Ignore these two.
>>11384879
>>11384881
They have shit taste, I am a xianxia connoisseur and let me tell you all about it.

>Warlock of the Magus World
Is how I got into xinaxia and it's finished, it has a more western setting so it's a better introduction to the systems of xianxia, but don't let it fool you because the whole powerlevel structure is the same as the rest.
>Reverend Insanity
Is great, the main character is basically what would happen if an antagonist from any other xianxia actually used his brains and it's great fun seeing him disregard bitches and acquire power.
>Emperor's Domination
Is about 90% pure fluff about how amazing the mc and all his bitches are, and it's way over the top in a genre that's over the top already. And there's 1500 chapters out, even if a chapter of that is only about a page or two of an average book.
>Way of the Devil
Is a somewhat unique setting if you look at it at first appearance but in practice it ends up working the same way as everything else, but the MC is basically a mafia boss that takes on ghosts that cause problems for the civilians, and he's a huge bald man which is unique too.

These I consider to be the best mainly on the basis that every one of main characters can carry an entire novel by themselves, the side content and the world is interesting, but

>A Will Eternal
I've only read like 500 chapters and the joke gimmick tends to wear a little thin, but what really makes it worse is that the fluff is trash.
Usually when you it comes to leveling up in xianxia you get lots of fluff about the Dao, but in A Will Eternal it's literally just collect 5 ultra special items and you level up in the most perfect way possible.
It's a disgrace to the author's previous work which will it too ended up being shit after 700 chapters at least it held on.
>I Shall Seal the Heavens
This I think has a great start, and up to where he first ascends it's very entertaining, but afterwards the author obviously loses direction and just becomes worse and worse until a war arc comes and everything turns to shit.

I haven't read Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, and I've only read a little bit of Cultivation Chat Group.
And Battle Through the Heavens is literally fast food trash in a genre that is already fast food trash.

Just ask in the thread if you want more, I've read like two hundred of these things.
Death can't come for me soon enough.

[Anonymous No.11385041]

t. expert on chinese pulp literature

lul

[Anonymous No.11385115]

>>11384864
library of heavens path
emperors domination
coiling dragon
desolate era

[Anonymous No.11385126]

Do you guys remember the name of a certain book when an event happens, and after that point of discrepancy weirder and weirder things start to happen? I think I remember there was a kid playing with some kind of creature instead of a dog, and something big from space approaching Earth

[Anonymous No.11385172]

More like these? Almost finished the second book. I need audiobooks for my paper route, I've gone through pretty much all the podcasts and radio shows I'm interested in.

I'm aware of wild wastes and finished the first book but I find it way too tame, same goes for supersales on superheroes or whatever. I just want lewd audiobooks with the level of lewdness of everybody loves large chests.

[Anonymous No.11385173]

>>11385172
forgot pic

[Anonymous No.11385184]

>>11385172
https://www.amazon.com/Gun-Meister-Online-Adult-Uncensored-ebook/dp/B07B3YDX7P
has an audiobook narrated by a women

[Anonymous No.11385195]

>>11385184
>https://www.amazon.com/Gun-Meister-Online-Adult-Uncensored-ebook/dp/B07B3YDX7P
Awesome! Is it superlewd? Downloading now

[Anonymous No.11385198]

>>11385195
it is very lewd.

[Anonymous No.11385209]

>>11385172
https://www.goodreads.com/series/114921
incredibly lewd and degenrate.
warning features NTR.

[Anonymous No.11385216]

>>11385172
>for my paper route
What lvl of underage b& is this?

[Anonymous No.11385225]

>>11385209
Shit dude, I listened to the first book, not sure why I dropped it. Large chests did it for me, it had the perfect mix of lewd and violence.

>>11385216
In college, you really think kids do paper routes? Boomer b& when?

[Anonymous No.11385228]

>>11385225
betcha its another one of those 16 year old boomers.... they are a cancer ruining this site..

[Anonymous No.11385280]

>>11384235
How's the 2018 series?

[Anonymous No.11385342]

Been on an elder scrolls 4 bender recently and im craving something similar. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Anonymous No.11385426]

>>11385225
>you really think kids do paper routes
Yes. Isn't that what you Americlaps do? I grew up watching Americlap kids deliver paper on tv in the 80s.

[Anonymous No.11385654]

>>11385426
Old near retirement age cheap and a trundler deliver mine. Afternoon paper though so he has from 11-5 to do the rounds in time.

[Anonymous No.11385669]

>>11385426
gerfag here i did paper routes when i was like 14 for the post office. they always hire teens for news papers and advertisements. its pretty common in most of yurop though. i dont think its an amerilard only thing.

[Anonymous No.11385733]

>>11385426
That's a kind of quaint, idealistic image that doesn't pertain to reality, at least not anymore. My local paper was delivered by someone driving a car.

[Anonymous No.11385814]

>>11385426
A Brit expatriate who was at least in his 30s delivered our paper in his car

[Anonymous No.11385816]

>>11385342
Play Morrowind. That's where the series peaked in storytelling.

[Anonymous No.11385821]

The Aiel are OP.

[Anonymous No.11385823]

>>11385041
No bully.
>>11385342
https://www.imperial-library.info/

[Anonymous No.11385825]

Fatman is giving reading recs again.
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/06/26/readingislit-grrm-books
I guess I'll finally have to get on to Lord of Light.

[Anonymous No.11385827]

>>11384663
Looks white to me.

[Anonymous No.11385848]

Are there any novels that feature an interesting magic system while NOT reading like someone's capeshit/shonen anime script?

[Anonymous No.11385866]

>>11385848
>feature an interesting magic system while NOT reading like someone's capeshit/shonen anime script?

Sanderson, for all the memes about the man, is great at constucting plausible magic systems, if you can tolerate his masturbatory kudzu plot and dubious characters. I'd recommend to look which of his works sounds more like your thing and giving it a shot.

[Anonymous No.11385896]

>>11385866
Was partly thinking of him with the shonen anime part, I dropped Mistborn halfway through the second book because I grew tired of the constant, needlessly fancy overdescribed fight scenes.

[Anonymous No.11385898]

>>11385848
Strange&Norrell

[Anonymous No.11385960]

>>11385896
>I grew tired of the constant, needlessly fancy overdescribed fight scenes

Literally the entire point of Sandman.

[Anonymous No.11385982]

>>11385848
i liked it in traitor son with the memory palaces and whatnot

[Anonymous No.11385995]

>>11379587
>those names
>poo
>cum
>lel
>kek
>thot
>meh

[Anonymous No.11386011]

>>11384099
>>11384649
>blocks your path

[Anonymous No.11386015]

>>11385280
the only series in English I believe

[Anonymous No.11386020]

>I'm going to cut away from the middle of the plot to have 5 chapters regarding several characters that won't be relevant for several books.

[Anonymous No.11386033]

>>11386020
Game of Thrones?

[Anonymous No.11386114]

>>11385823
Thanks, but I'm looking for something similar, not just more elder scrolls. I've read either books already and am reading elric right now too. But I want something for when I'm done with that

[Anonymous No.11386147]

>>11385026
Did anyone convert these novels to epub? Am I supposed to download each chapter and then join them in calibre?

[Anonymous No.11386163]

>>11386147
someone in the last general posted a crhome and firefox addon that can just take all the chapters and download them automatically to convert to epub.

https://github.com/dteviot/WebToEpub

[Anonymous No.11386176]

>>11386163
Great stuff, thanks

[Anonymous No.11386190]

>The Demon Princes - a magnum opus by Jack Vance
>Malagate the Woe: a superior being to humankind who is far stronger, has a higher IQ and who has gone to great lengths to hide his own identity immediately declares that he is said criminal the instant the protag asks
>the protag wants to kill him and has been training all his life to murder this guy and has been studying in seclusion all his life to master all the shounen arts to be the very best there ever was
>Malagate the Retarded decides to do a Naruto run, trips, falls in some mud and dies

I just finished playing a literal who JRPG (Bravely Second) and it had a far better plot. Looks like Dying Earth was a bit of a fluke for this writer.

[Anonymous No.11386200]

>>11385126
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, maybe.

[Anonymous No.11386254]

>>11386190
>Demon Princes
>magnum opus
Nani the fuck are you talking about my weeaboo friend.

[Anonymous No.11386263]

>>11384864
I forgot about this earlier, after Warlock of the Magus World, I think the best option would be Desolate Era, since it's also finished, it's long, and really well paced, which is rare.
It has no real bad arcs unlike I Shall Seal the Heavens which is usually recommended.
And the fact that it's in an actual Chinese setting is the best part, since it introduces you to it, the MC is really good, and that the ever present bane of xianxia, the fucking harems don't exist is amazing.

[Anonymous No.11386303]

>>11386190
Jack Vance is trash buddy. He openly admitted that he wrote for money.

[Anonymous No.11386310]

>>11385866
Fuck you. Sanderson is as anime as you could get.

[Anonymous No.11386311]

>>11385866
>plausible

[Anonymous No.11386315]

>>11386310
>>11386311
Everyone's a critic.

[Anonymous No.11386436]

>>11383648
I like how no one can refute anon because he speaks the truth. They just pretend like they didn't see the post. All the classics with waifish girls, and slender stick figures. All Americans that want stick insects girlfriends are gay pedos.

[Anonymous No.11386449]

>>11386303
Authors actually do this? I'm gutted.

[Anonymous No.11386451]

>>11386436
No one cares commie

[Anonymous No.11386458]

>Authors who don't put all their books on their website for free

[Anonymous No.11386462]

Where do people find these russian litrpgs?
I know where I can find chinese, and I know royalroad has some english authors but I don't know if the russians have their own site.
Seems like practicing on some webnovels would be nice since I doubt the writing is very complex.

[Anonymous No.11386481]

>>11386462
Not into it myself, but a quick google search in russian revealed the following site http://litrpg.ru/best_books_litrpg not sure it's what you are after since it's just a list not the books themselves, but it's a place to start your quest from.

[Anonymous No.11386485]

>>11386436

[Anonymous No.11386486]

>>11386200
Seems really interesting, but it wasn't that one
I believe it was set in modern times and maybe about a soldier coming back from Iraq?

[Anonymous No.11386510]

Why the fuck didn't anybody warn me that Zelaney's Amber stuff is just Isekai?

[Anonymous No.11386659]

What are some series with NTR in them? Asking for a friend haha

[Anonymous No.11386728]

>>11386510
Did you know that the One Ring is a horcrux?

[Anonymous No.11386742]

>>11386485
>>>/lgbt/

[Anonymous No.11386767]

>>11382725
Surprisingly good. Better written than I anticipated.

[Anonymous No.11386777]

>>11386510
So why is Amber considered so great? Read the first one and found it very disappointing. The plot feels like a sequence of random events, there's no weight to them and no coherent narrative. The tone is all over the place. Every single character is an unlikeable sociopath. Does it get better in the rest of the series or I'm just too much of a pleb to understand its hidden sublime greatness. (loved Lord of Light btw, so it's not like I hate Zelazny in general).

[Anonymous No.11386782]

>>11377959
>Mists of Avalon is GRI certified so I guess it counts.
Is it good? It's been on my maybe-read list for a while.

[Anonymous No.11386794]

>>11386728
Mother fucker. That's a thought I'll never get that out of my mind now.

[Anonymous No.11386894]

>>11384508
Thank you for the recommendations.
I kinda gave up on Scalzi after the series turned almost imperceptibly into space opera.
Kloos'es Combat Air Controller in spaaaace was really derivative, an issue shared with the most contemporary military sci-fi. The genre just can't seem to move from killing space hajis.
I never could get into Drakes writing.
I'll definitely check out the rest.

If you have the time, look up Germline by T.C. McCarthy.
The book is refreshingly brutal.

[Anonymous No.11386897]

>>11386742

[Anonymous No.11386912]

>>11386897
>there are people that don't like gays

[Anonymous No.11386923]

>>11386912
>gays
>liked
Heh.

[Anonymous No.11386941]

>>11386923
wat

[Anonymous No.11386963]

>>11386897
ima need a source

[Anonymous No.11386970]

Rumors of Harlan Ellison's death circulating.

[Anonymous No.11386976]

>>11386894
>The genre just can't seem to move from killing space hajis.

There was one series I read a while back, "Angel in the Whirlwind" by Christopher G. Nuttall, where it starts off with a "the bad guys are every religious fundamentalist from earth" tone but by the final book their homeworld turns out to just be Literally Space Baghdad and the religion is Space Turbo Wahhabism.

There's a old one, "A small colonial war" which is about Finnish mercenaries putting down a Boer revolt on a space colony. Kinda obscure but it's different.

>I never could get into Drakes writing.

Yeah his style is different from a lot of other authors. More direct and economical.

Another one I just thought of is the Spiral Wars series, but it's really more of a space opera where everybody is also in the military. Though on the upside it does deal with berserker AIs that aren't the usual "beep boop kill all organics" stereotype.

[Anonymous No.11386988]

>>11386970
rip
https://twitter.com/mcvalada/status/1012406845758062592

[Anonymous No.11387018]

>>11385825
Good recommendations desu

[Anonymous No.11387023]

>>11386988
>>11386970
;_; fuck

[Anonymous No.11387096]

>>11386976
I think that's just the usual lack of (or maybe being afraid of) originality endemic to genre fiction. You have a whole galaxy of aliens to kill and in most of the cases they end up being blue skinned goat fuckers with head ridges or something. Even with those self imposed limitations, it's so rare we get a Generation Kill in space. Instead we get the space version of those retarded Marine Corps commercials.

>Spiral Wars
If you are in the mood for "beep boop kill all organics" stereotype you can always try Berserker by Fred Saberhagen.

[Anonymous No.11387111]

>>11386777
There will be some reveals of what actually happened in book 1. If you don't like the writing voice and set up then I'm not sure the rest would convince you.

Book 1 is named after Machiavelli's The Prince. Personally, I liked the Amber books because of the scheming and maneuvering for power. Book 1 seems random because Corwin has been out of the scene and doesn't know wtf is going on but the others have been plotting and working away. Most of the series is Corwin figuring out what's happened but with more shit happening that he has to also get to the truth of. They do tie together and wanting to find the answers kept me going.

>>11386782
Halfway through Mists of Avalon at 400+ pages, I'd had enough. I hated the main character and a bunch of the other characters. otoh I really liked Hild by Nicola Griffith and will reread it before book 2 comes out.

[Anonymous No.11387114]

>>11386988
RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EddX9hnhDS4

[Anonymous No.11387124]

RIP.

[Anonymous No.11387138]

Reminder Harlan Ellison ruined sci-fi.

[Anonymous No.11387163]

>>11387138

[Anonymous No.11387191]

>>11386988
Last Dangerous Visions might finally see print now.

>>11387023
He'd been sick for awhile. Everyone knew it was coming. Death comes for all of us.

>>11387138
>I'll take the bait.
How?

[Anonymous No.11387202]

>>11386782
I'd absolutely recommend it. The book nail the feeling of magic and mysticism, it's about as far from Sandersons brand of "rational" magic systems that you can get. Unlike the other anon I really enjoyed the characters, despite the big cast they all feel unique and they are really well written. But they make mistakes and behave like assholes so I can understand why someone would dislike them.

[Anonymous No.11387249]

>>11387202
>The book nail the feeling of magic and mysticism, it's about as far from Sandersons brand of "rational" magic systems that you can get

Most people who like Sanders's take on magic don't dislike mysticism and curiosity offered by a less well defined magic system, rather they dislike that authors who don't properly define their magic systems are prone to contradict themselves, which shatters suspension of disbelief, and are far more likely to use magic based deus ex machina as a plot device, which is just hack writing.

I don't get why people who sneer at Sanders in particular and well defined magical systems in general find it so hard to comprehend. Tho I should add that when author spends the first chapter defining his magic system it's plain stupid, part of the fun of a well though out magic system is ability of reader and sometimes even characters to divine it trough inference. And when an author does that it's just plain bad writing that ruins pace and mystery, not a fault with the magic system itself.

[Anonymous No.11387251]

>>11387138
He was personally obnoxious, but his New Wave allegiance was less obviously motivated by butthurt and resentment compared to someone like Moorcock, and he was a better writer.

[Anonymous No.11387255]

any recs for books that will introduce me to new sex stuff? the more mind expanding the better

[Anonymous No.11387271]

>>11387255
https://www.amazon.com/Ass-Goblins-Auschwitz-Cameron-Pierce/dp/1933929936

[Anonymous No.11387279]

>>11386462
mobilism

[Anonymous No.11387315]

>>11387271
Hopes were for less comical recs but ill bounce through a few random chapters and paragraphs and see if its up to snuff

[Anonymous No.11387497]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37795470-the-deathless
Anyone read this yet? Sounds decent enough.

[Anonymous No.11387616]

>Le Guin
>Now Ellison

Will Wolfe hold out?

[Anonymous No.11387621]

>>11387616
He too, will pass.

[Anonymous No.11387623]

>>11387096
Or if not that then they're space bugs or the not-Zerg, a bunch of generic, almost always insectoid, sub-sentients happy to walk straight into the hero's gun barrels. And in both cases there's a good chance they'll also be a thinly veiled metaphor for communism or the democratic party because milSF writers generally have all the nuance of a canned ham slamming into a keyboard.

One of the things I liked about the later Lost Fleet books, despite how generic they are, is that the only friendly aliens humanity meets are some horrific spiders with wolf heads.

>Saberhagen

Yeah I love the Berserker series, but I find the whole "kill everything" concept to be very simplistic too.

>>11387138
He also sexually assaulted a woman and then got really mad when she didn't accept a "sorry you were offended by my actions" "apology."

[Anonymous No.11387631]

>>11387623
Forgot my image.

[Anonymous No.11387632]

>>11387616
>>11387621

Is there any SF classic writer left alive beside Gene now?

[Anonymous No.11387648]

>>11387616
>>11387621
NO

HE MUST FINISH LATRO

[Anonymous No.11387673]

>>11387648
He already has. Someone will find Latro on Urth floating in space 5 aeons in the future

[Anonymous No.11387678]

>>11387632
Cherryh is still pumping out books.

[Anonymous No.11387688]

>>11387678
She's good but she ain't no Harlan or Ursula. I'm struggling, is anyone beside her and Gene even around anymore?

[Anonymous No.11387692]

>>11387623
I think people miss a lot of decent to good contemporary Milsf because it drowns in a sea of garbage. Even the trite evil commies can be done decently well. Blood on the Stars series comes to mind, tho I couldn't get into it myself because of my own political views, I found writing of the part I did read decently passable. Tho it did drop the pretense and just went with Cold War IN SPACE! narrative.

That being said if you are interested in some particular type of story I could give you a few pointers depending on what you are looking for.

[Anonymous No.11387721]

>>11387688
Looks like Niven is still around. Don't think he's writing too much though.

[Anonymous No.11387755]

>>11381078
This book was great until he became an adult, which is odd for this type of shit.

[Anonymous No.11387765]

>>11386011
>ELAYNE IS YOUR WOMAN STOP LOOKING AT OTHER WOMEN WHO DARE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SPEAK WORDS TO A MEMBER OF THE OTHER GENDER - the character

[Anonymous No.11387768]

>>11387721
Oh, looks like he had 2 collabs in progress with Pournelle...

[Anonymous No.11387801]

>>11387632
Besides Wolfe, Robert Silverberg might be the best who remains. He's a classic SF writer for me, anyway.

[Anonymous No.11387856]

Finished Before the Storm by Christie Golden. Made me want to read War Crimes again but I decided to listen to the audio book. Her writing never changes.

I started reading Three Hearts and Three Lions. I am about half way done. Just got to Chapter 14 and they are hunting a werewolf. Great book. I love the writing style.

I think when I finish this book I am gonna read the 'Book Club' book. It seems intriguing.

[Anonymous No.11387912]

>>11387856
Damn man, some of those warcraft books are underrated. I have arthas and chronicles of war trilogy and they were great

[Anonymous No.11388016]

>>11387692
Yeah if you've got any suggestions for decent contemporary stuff go ahead and post 'em. I'm always looking for inoffensive stuff to kill time with.

[Anonymous No.11388050]

>>11381991
Why didn't you like children of the earth and sky?

[Anonymous No.11388064]

>>11386988
>https://twitter.com/mcvalada/status/1012406845758062592
F

[Anonymous No.11388077]

>>11388064
Who

[Anonymous No.11388088]

>>11381638
D a n k

[Anonymous No.11388132]

>>11380041
Book 2 is by far the best book. 3 is boring, and 4 is mmmmokay.

[Anonymous No.11388156]

Any fantasy with a cute, wholesome, heterosexual romance played entirely straight? Preferably with lots of gooey feelings.

[Anonymous No.11388172]

>>11388156
wtf, thats gay

[Anonymous No.11388177]

>>11388156
http://www.evilangelvideo.com/video/5658/rocco-s-perfect-slaves-11/

[Anonymous No.11388181]

>>11388016
Well, I read a lot of contemporary milsf of various levels of offensiveness, I read a few books of Lost fleet but ultimately dropped it because I found it uninspired. I mention this as a benchmark to what I find "bad" fiction to be. Few contemporary books I enjoyed:

>Spiral Wars by Joel Shepherd
Pros: Good characters. A surprisingly interesting take on AI wars. Unusual human society: the first scene is a celebration of xenocide, the fleet is seen as supreme authority on everything. There's a tongue in cheek discussion with an alien about how they are afraid that their own fleet will become like human fleet if isn't held in check by the "state department". Despite this none of it is played for laughs and almost nobody is presented as hero or villain other than individual members of organisations, and even they usually have a halfway decent motives for what they are up to.
Cons: One ship saves the universe kinda plot, tho it's justified within the story and relies on that ships leadership ability to find allies and avoid capture. Can't think of any other major flaws but that's probably because it's been a while since I red it.

>The Terran Fleet Command Saga by Tori Harris
Pros: A well thought out sequence of events portraying first contact situation with a highly advanced species. Interesting space combat relying on development of tech and strategies to counter opponents. Overall good cohesion of plot elements.
Cons: A bit simple, and characters are a bit cliche. There's an abrupt plot twist that changes the way Humans interact with other civilisations. Cat people. Book 5. To elaborate on this last point, book five feels like something snapped and author stopped taking his own story seriously, yet at the same time decided to preach his politics to the audience.

>Hayden War Cycle by Evan Currie
Pros: One of the few Humanity vs Alien Empire stories that play out in a believable fashion rather then endless exercise in utilisation of "Humans are Special" trope. Spec ops being portrayed more like spec ops rather then marines with gadgets. Interesting contrast of human vs alien tech.
Cons: Too preachy. I'm sometimes not sure what it preaches exactly, but it does it too much regardless, especially in later books. Later books also feel like the series is outstaying it welcome and there's a major drop in overall quality. The MC can be seen as a bit of a mary sue I guess, tho as someone sensitive to that sort of thing I didn't find it particularly bothersome as her competence is restricted to her area of expertise.

Could throw in a few more like Undying Mercenaries (Pulp), Tales of The Terran Republic(Really fucking preachy, nice aliens tho) and The Singularity Trap (From the guy who wrote "we are bob", much better than that series).

[Anonymous No.11388213]

>>11388156
The Belgariad

>>11388077
>I'll bite
Everyone should read some Harlan Ellison short stories. He was really great, a giant. He didn't write novels but tons of short stories, tv, and essays. James Cameron stole a lot of The Terminator and had to pay shekels and give credit to Ellison.

[Anonymous No.11388453]

>>11383567
It is on audible. It could merely be not licensed to be sold in your country.

In any case, pirate the audible ones. They're on soulseek.

https://www.audible.com.au/series?asin=B00FS2PVUY

[Anonymous No.11388526]

New Thread
>>11388525
>>11388525
>>11388525