/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.12458798]

The Year So far
>what have you read
>what you plan to read next
>what you want others to avoid?

Monthly Reading for January: A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick

Fantasy:
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:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/def184ad8f/124507.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

Previously:
>>12447948
>>12438614
>>12429108
>>12419280
>>12400368
>>12386564

[Anonymous No.12458838]

>>12458798
>City of Light, Shadow Stars, Midnight Tides
>currently reading A Scanner Darkly
>going to read The Bonehunters next

[Anonymous No.12458854]

Le Guin a cute. A CUTE.

[Anonymous No.12458876]

Which science fiction / fantasy book has kitsune in them?

[Anonymous No.12458903]

Do you ever start writing something and then the minute your fingers leave the keyboard you cringe so hard you nearly dislocate a clavicle?

I just did that, and I am not proud of it

[Anonymous No.12458917]

>>12458903
Post it.

[Anonymous No.12458918]

>>12455899
>>12456747
Dunno. I like him a lot, but he doesn't know how to end a book.

[Anonymous No.12458924]

>>12458297
An interesting setting but the villains are so damn annoying. They spend way too much time explaining everything they are going to do, then repeat themselves again, then explain how they will do bad things later and congratulate themselves for it. Then right before the climactic battle, they do it all over again

[Anonymous No.12458926]

>>12458903
Stephen King didn't become a millionaire by having pride in his work.

[Anonymous No.12458933]

>>12457559
It's great. I used to shill it.

[Anonymous No.12458955]

>>12458933
That's a beautiful, beautiful cover.

[Anonymous No.12458982]

I'm currently almost finished reading TBOFTNS by Wolfe right now and I'm really not feeling it.
The beginning was pretty great--our main character is flawed but capable of overcoming those before he turns into a boring, emotionless, pussy-destroying Chosen One where everything that happens plotwise is due to it's magic I ain't gotta explain shit. And I've never considered myself a feminist who always cry about the portrayal of women in books but holy shit reading this made me wonder if Wolfe had ever seen pussy in his life. Honestly reminded me of anime characters created to self-insert into, where everything happens and he gets the girls because he's destined to and through no effort of the character.
The prose itself is pretty decent. But the characters and the dialogue--Christ, I'd rather read about a thousand rotting nigger corpses. I'm going to continue through the entire series though because all the faggots out there will jump on my balls if I criticise something I haven't read.

[Anonymous No.12458983]

>>12458903
Literally every time I write, even when people later read it and say it was good. Sometimes I think I'm not cut out for this shit

[Anonymous No.12458998]

>>12458917
no, this is legitimately the kind of bad that's so awful I'm not even sure I want to write the story anymore, and I literally just started it.

[Anonymous No.12459004]

>>12458998
whatever it is it cant be worse than my immortal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffh7cWRrqF4

[Anonymous No.12459009]

>>12459004
>internet historian
he sure ran out of content fast. Rainfurrest one was good tho.

[Anonymous No.12459016]

>>12459009
i think its just that there arent any happenings recently. not related to the internet at least. he does research on his second channel for stuff. thats pretty active.

[Anonymous No.12459027]

>>12459004
it's not that bad, which makes it worse. My Immortal is in the sweet spot where it's so bad it's enjoyable. this is just plain bad.

Honestly, I feel this way any time I try to write something in a modern setting. I should just stick to historical

[Anonymous No.12459136]

>>12458017
transported to another world

>>12458111
>>12458297
thanks, i will try it

[Anonymous No.12459273]

I read the first Honor Harrington book and really liked it. But I understand David Weber gets a little more unhinged about his politics in later books.

[Anonymous No.12459278]

>>12459009

You joke like a funny little man but there are actual degrees in internet history. Oxford has a graduate degree in Internet Studies, not even joking.

[Anonymous No.12459293]

someone posted this in the last thread, how is it?

[Anonymous No.12459318]

>>12459278
college thesedays is just for getting worthless degrees in bologna.

[Anonymous No.12459341]

>>12459318

One of the original European universities was and is in the town of Bologna, Italy. So it is entirely possible to get a degree there (in Bologna).

[Anonymous No.12459451]

>>12458998
post anything don't be a bitch

[Anonymous No.12459453]

>>12458998
I read fanfiction, yours can't possibly be worse than some of the stuff I've read

[Anonymous No.12459459]

>>12459451
Only bigots and nazis will dislike this work of art.

[Anonymous No.12459478]

>>12459451
>>12459453

>The weekly meeting of the P.S. 31 Weird Science Club commenced the same way it did every week; with a bell ringing in the back of an otherwise quiet detention hall, at a table surrounded by the four of the most disappointing schmucks the New York Public Education Service had ever seen fit to produce.

I stopped writing after the end of that sentence because I threw up in my mouth a little

[Anonymous No.12459540]

>>12459478
>schmucks
they're jews?

[Anonymous No.12459558]

>>12459540
new york slang is inseparable from yiddish, and it's a safe way to get around YA censorship guidelines. Besides, I am

[Anonymous No.12459571]

>>12459558
You're in the wrong neighborhood, kike.

[Anonymous No.12459577]

Anyone read this? There's currently two books in the series, I really liked them. A lot more Conanesque than most modern fantasy, with spider cults and fish people and all. Would recommend.

[Anonymous No.12459578]

>>12459571
newsflash inbreed. we own the neighborhood

[Anonymous No.12459581]

>>12459293
It's like an introduction to sci-fi, but not in a bad way. It's seems suited for those who have never read a sci-fi book before and it covers a lot of the usual tropes to see what the reader would like, but a veteran reader will get annoyed by the blandness of the setting as it retreads on a lot of stuff that other sci fi books do better.

[Anonymous No.12459611]

>>12459571
realtalk anon; have you ever met a jewish person in your life? One who you didn't immediately start slinging slurs or accusations at?

[Anonymous No.12459667]

>>12459611
>have you ever met a jewish person in your life?
Lots. Most i didn't know were jews until much later, i thought they were just assholes at first.
>One who you didn't immediately start slinging slurs or accusations at?
of course. I even hoped that each one would prove the theories on jews to be incorrect. They all reinforced them through their actions. I've yet to meet a jew who isn't a shit human being. I know i will someday, but every race has its outliers.

A theory's power lies in its ability to predict the future.

[Anonymous No.12459691]

>>12459667
>A theory's power lies in its ability to predict the future.
cool statement, now post your dick

[Anonymous No.12459694]

>>12458798

FOR YOU

[Anonymous No.12459710]

>>12458798
Everytime i tried to read s-f novels other than P.K.Dick ones , it was very plain and boring with zero substance.
So if you have suggestions of authors that are P.K.Dick tier, i would like to know.

[Anonymous No.12459805]

>>12459577
i didn't like the second book

[Anonymous No.12459812]

>>12458876
Look up Brandon Varnell.

If you wanna yiff there's also Jan Stryvant who deals in more traditional Urban Fantasy styled stuff, but it's more furry/were-preople themed.

>>12459577
I thought the first one was very good for a self-published debut, but I haven't read the second yet. I thought the whole ~random farm kid is the CHOSEN ONE~ opening was nicely offset by having a bunch of other adult characters show up.

[Anonymous No.12459858]

>>12459710
J.G Ballard

[Anonymous No.12459889]

>>12459710
Early riser
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23498264-early-riser

[Anonymous No.12460022]

did a little searching on reddit for military scifi
are there anything here i should avoid?

[Anonymous No.12460033]

did a little searching on r/printSF (someone here said it was ok) for military scifi
are there anything here i should avoid like plague?

[Anonymous No.12460083]

Download: https://transfer.sh/a7zhK/Dick,%20Philip%20K.%20-%20A%20Scanner%20Darkly%20%28ISBN%209780307497703%29.epub

[Anonymous No.12460117]

>>12460033
Traviss has a bad writing reputation in the Star Wars fandom and I have an irrational hatred of Stross/Wright/Miéville (as in I read a few pages and drop their books immediately)

[Anonymous No.12460145]

>>12460033
Drop anything by Karen Travis like a blazing hot potato. She's one of the more infamous industry hacks.

Dread Empire's Fall is good and I've reread it a couple times, though it does suffer a bit from the protagonists being the only competent people in the room.

Jack Campbell is great at writing space battles but everything else is very two-dimensional and sort of just exists to get between the battles, though in the later series it improves a bit. He's also really consistent so if you don't like it after a few books you can quit without feeling bad. Quick reads too.

Vatta's War is good, young military officer fucks up and gets kicked out of the service, so her merchant trader family gives her a ship and sends her off to get her out of the public eye, but she ends up fighting space pirates.

I would strongly suggest adding The Forever War and David Drake's Hammer's Slammers stuff to your list. Forever War is like the ur-example of modern milSF writing, while Drake is writing what he knows to heal himself: brutal combat.

[Anonymous No.12460199]

>Dear ol' Dad is obsessed with Terry Pratchett books

What other authors would he like lads? He's read every Terry Pratchett book and doesn't know what to read anymore so he's been reduced to reading stuff like Janet Evanovich books and it's alarming to see him reading such dreck.

[Anonymous No.12460216]

>>12460117
>irrational hatred of Stross/Wright/Miéville (as in I read a few pages and drop their books immediately)

Nothing irrational about it. You can feel the smugness radiate from every letter

[Anonymous No.12460224]

>>12460199
Feed him the Johannes Cabal books and Kurt Vonnegut.

[Anonymous No.12460231]

What's the best tax system for a utopian sci-fi setting?
Progressive tax, flat tax, or head tax?

[Anonymous No.12460309]

>>12460231
Communism.

[Anonymous No.12460319]

>>12460231
No tax.
There's no need for theft in a utopian society.

[Anonymous No.12460354]

I don't get the hate for Malazan. I bet most people who talk shit about it are the same babbys who couldn't get past page 60

[Anonymous No.12460394]

Anyone read The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts? What you think of the book and the series?

[Anonymous No.12460439]

>read a fucking amazing book in one sitting
>order the next in the series
>that fucking week waiting for it in the post
I think I'm going to die.

[Anonymous No.12460450]

>>12460439
pirate the ebook and put the book on your shelf when it arrives

[Anonymous No.12460476]

>>12460450
>reading words on anything but pulped wood

[Anonymous No.12460504]

>>12460476
but then how do you 4chan

[Anonymous No.12460536]

>>12460504
1: wget current thread
2: convert to pdf
3: print
4: ????
5: PROFIT

[Anonymous No.12460557]

>>12458798
Would you consider brave bew world sci fi? Thats the only thing i maneged to complete so far this year. It certanly has sci fi elements, even if most of the focus is on the distopian big brother.
I plan on3 reading a collection of short stories by H.G. Wells i got for cheap. Should be a quick fun read.

[Anonymous No.12460667]

>>12459710
You could try the guy Dick was crazy about, Lem.

[Anonymous No.12460669]

the horror genre is dead

[Anonymous No.12460695]

>>12460669
why makes you say that?

[Anonymous No.12460721]

>>12459694
vacation time

[Anonymous No.12460725]

>>12460669
It would be more accurate to say it's ... undead.

[Anonymous No.12460734]

>https://s3.amazonaws.com/graphicaudiosamples/LBS0203.mp3
soo does the lightbringer graphic audio book continue to be this good?

[Anonymous No.12460770]

im chapter 3 on blindsight and cant understand a lot of what was said here
am i too stupid for this?

[Anonymous No.12460773]

>>12460770
Watts is one of those authors that goes super hard on jargon. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but google shit.

[Anonymous No.12460802]

>>12460770
From the way you write, probably yes

[Anonymous No.12460815]

>>12459577
I didn't like the first one too much, but I don't remember why.

[Anonymous No.12460834]

>>12460773
alright thanks

>>12460802
you're right, i really need to live for a few months with native speakers so i can form normal sentences

[Anonymous No.12460844]

>>12459459
Every time I read something like this my will to live diminishes just a bit more.

[Anonymous No.12460850]

>>12460844
That's what they want. They beat you like an animal until you flinch at just the sight of them raising their arm.

But the chain holding you is weakening. Stay strong.

[Anonymous No.12460851]

>>12460439
What did you read?

[Anonymous No.12460877]

I just read The stars my destination, and i'm starting the demolished man. Any books in the same style?

[Anonymous No.12460967]

Damn. Haven't read fantasy in a while, so went for pic related. Very good. Maybe too good for such a short piece of work.

[Anonymous No.12461045]

ay i don't read many books nowadays.
Are there any good science fiction horrors from the past 20 years? How dead are those sort of stories?

I walked through the library the other day and got the impression most newer scifi is young adult stuff or wanted to be the next big tv adaption with mass apeal.

[Anonymous No.12461081]

>>12460354
>I bet most people who talk shit about it are the same babbys who couldn't get past page 60
I doubt it, most likely "babbys" who read 1st book and decided it isnt worth continuing. Malazan can be extremely difficult to get into, they are dense books with a ton of characters and dont make for an easy reading initially. Although for me the main reason was that world building is slow and happens almost entirely without "unnecessary" exposition, it takes a ton of time to learn the intricacies of the world, characters, factions and to start appreciating them. It took me 4 years and over 3 books to actually get into it, i didnt "hate" it but there was nothing to keep my interest for more than a book at a time, since they are very disjointed books and the huge 10-volume length is a big turn-off when it comes to time commitment. Now during my 1st rereading it feels like a completely different series.

[Anonymous No.12461119]

>>12460394
Apparently I hated Lysaer's perspective, the typical fantasy plot and the plot contrivance that makes the plot go on forever. Apparently I also spoiled myself on the plot summaries in future books and it goes on and on and on for about 10 books autistically with no signs of stopping.

The pacing was glacial. I did not remember a single female introduced anywhere in at least the first half so I would turn back if you are not a /cm/fag and who also isn't a purityfag. I either dropped this after the first half or at the end of the first book.

>>12460834
Blindsight is also hard for english natives.

[What the fuck am I reading? No.12461221]

On the evening of their first anniversary, Corinne looked Martin squarely in the eye, raised her second glass of Cook’s champagne to her lips, and said, softly, “It was the lobsters.”
“The lobsters?”
“From Super Fresh.”
The case to which Corinne was evidently alluding had appeared on Martin’s docket early in their courtship. Shortly after eleven P.M. on September 19, 1996, a young woman named Nancy Strossen had broken into a Super Fresh grocery store in Fox Run and transferred all the live lobsters from their display case to a holding tank. Later that night Strossen drove the tank across New Jersey, parked on a deserted Cape May beach, and released each and every lobster into the North Atlantic
Presented with the facts of Strossen’s escapade, Martin had sentenced her to two days in jail, but he declined to make her pay any damages. Instead, he told the Super Fresh management their lobster trade was manifestly inhumane, and they would do well to abandon this business of torturing crustaceans.

[Anonymous No.12461351]

>>12461221
BASED

[Anonymous No.12461360]

>>12461045
The Southern Reach trilogy, ostensibly but might be too vague in the typical cosmic horror sense for what you're looking for.

[Anonymous No.12461395]

>>12460877
Lord of Light

[Anonymous No.12461594]

>reading "the bullet catcher's daughter"
>spend like 100 pages thinking the title is some nonsense steampunk phrase before realising it's just referencing the magic trick

lol

>>12460231
If you want to do the research look at something like conquest of bread, you could use the framework suggested in that pretty easily for a utopia.

[Anonymous No.12461633]

>>12458798
>what have you read
This year I've read The Last Sun, Truthwitch, Every Heart a Doorway, the 3 published Imperials books (high ground, in evil times, hidden world), Gilded Cage, A Crucible of Souls, Big Ship at the edge of the universe.
>what do you plan to read next
Sequels to Big Ship, Crucible and Truthwitch
Then new releases this month are Last Sun sequel and RA Salvatore's 2nd book in his new series
Stuff I have to carry on reading is the Imager series and A Conspiracy of Truths
Stuff I might start next includes Adrian Selby's two books, In the Eye of Heaven if I can find a version without fucked up formatting and Last Song Before Night
Also have like 10 books from last year I need to finish before I forget what was happening
>what to avoid
Wasn't sold on Every Heart a Doorway or Gilded Cage, sequels might save them but I'm probably never gonna get around to them. Other than that I haven't read something I really hate for a while, I tend not to finish stuff I dislike so I forget it.
The Wolf was one I remember sucking from last year, I also didn't finish Age of Assassins I believe because the twist became so fucking obvious it hurt to read it.

[Anonymous No.12461654]

>>12458798
>what have you read
A Scanner Darkly is the only SF&F book I've read yet.
>what you plan to read next
Hyperion, Lord of Light, Blindsight, Earthsea, Rama #1, and some more Dick. Mainly I've planed to finish reading most /sffg/-core books that actually seem good.

[Anonymous No.12461685]

Now that the dust has settled, i think we all can agree that Gene Wolfe is a hack? His books are indistinguishable from rest of generic genre fantasy. I mean there are no glaring faults, but its literally like reading Scott Lynch or Brandon Sanderson books, same worn-out cliches and storytelling crutches, only his prose rises above mediocrity.

Trying to reread Book of the New Sun after 10+ years served as a solid reminder why i rarely even attempt new fantasy and sci-fi books these days.

[Anonymous No.12461696]

>>12461685
>comparing Wolfe to Scott "Fuck" Lynch

[Anonymous No.12461779]

Pic related is my latest read. Author has clearly read too much Cormac McCarthy for his own good. But really enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Anonymous No.12461817]

I went to r/fantasy for the first time this morning on a bored whim and holy shit. You guys aren’t kidding about how awful it is.

[Anonymous No.12461866]

i wish rothfus had the courage to make elodin into diogenes the way he clearly wanted to

[Anonymous No.12461945]

>>12461817
I haven't been there ever. I assume it's a Rothfuss and Sanderson circlejerk

[Anonymous No.12461992]

>>12461081
>I doubt it
Most readlets in this general read one chapter of a book, or one hundred pages, then drop it. Then they talk as if they read the entire book and can say what happens.

[Anonymous No.12461996]

>>12458876
Almost all self published works have kitsune in them.

[Anonymous No.12462003]

>>12461996
none of those books have a kitsune in them.
the only one is otherlife and she only appears in book 3.
stop posting that list.

[Anonymous No.12462008]

Is this any good?
Got recommended it for some light, fun reading.
Looks kinda YA imo but I'm not really looking for anything deep, just something easy to get back into reading again.

[Anonymous No.12462017]

>>12461996
Hahaha. That list is pathetic and half of it is simply smut. Are you 12?

[Anonymous No.12462022]

>>12462017
Pretty much all self-published shit is some form of smut, really.

[Anonymous No.12462028]

>>12461779
>dude fratricide lmao

[Anonymous No.12462045]

>>12460145
Agree with your description of campbell. Solidly written space battles and setting, everything else is pretty lacking. At least in the lost fleet.

[Anonymous No.12462046]

>>12462008
It's good and certainly lot of fun. It's not really YA unless you count any book that starts with teenagers YA.

[Anonymous No.12462074]

>>12462008
My friend who never reads anything not assigned to him liked it

[Anonymous No.12462084]

>>12461779
Mad lad kills his dad

[Anonymous No.12462102]

>>12461996
Interested in Morning wood. How is it?

[Anonymous No.12462168]

does anyone else have a problem where any time you write something involving a modern or scifi element it immediately feels so cringeworthy you feel compelled to delete it?

>>12460669
i imagine it's going to stay that way until Steven King dies or retires. the man IS the horror genre these days, even if he hasn't written a classic in 20 years

[Anonymous No.12462235]

>>12462102
It's pretty good. The unusual protagonist is easily the best part, don't be fooled by the Prologue description.
The LitRPG-esque growth of the character is immensely satisfying, and you really get the logic behing all the choices. Has some sex and gore, but it's all pretty light-hearted, in a dark humour kind of way. Chaotic Neutral, if you will. Really a delightful romp.

[Anonymous No.12462384]

>>12458798
>Dune 1 & 2
>Just started Dune 3 (Children), planning to read either Dune 4 (GEoD) right after, then begin the book of the New Sun, maybe after The Green Brain or Sleeping Giants from Neuvel.
>Huuuh

[Anonymous No.12462387]

Finished reading the Stormlight Archives, and everything I've heard about Sanderson turns out to be true. I'm fairly new to fantasy literature in general and figured it would be a decent introduction. The prose is very basic, but I can see how that would appeal to many readers and why it is popular right now; it's just not quite my preferred style. After reading Sanderson, I'd like to read something from the fantasy genre with comparatively good prose so I can get a feel for where the boundaries lie. If someone could give me some suggestions for fantasy books with the best prose--not necessarily plot--I'd be very grateful, though preferably nothing above a trilogy in length.

[Anonymous No.12462403]

>>12462387
If you're willing to go with Space Fantasy, Eisenhorn trilogy. There is certainly better, but they are well beyond just three books.

[Anonymous No.12462419]

>>12462387
The best fantasy novel is the Lord of the Rings. You might as well start there since everything else is downhill.

[Anonymous No.12462437]

Any sci-fi that has a space fantasy vibe like Star Wars but with better writing and a good balance between serious and silly space shit? I don't want grimdark shit like 40k. Should I go with Dune?

[Anonymous No.12462450]

>>12462168
Scrolling past the thread and saw your comment. Been personally trying to solve how to write a contemporary bildungsroman but how do you do so when range of experiences people have are so limited? Writing about these interactions with products, the internet and our current culture leaves me uncomfortable as it accentuates how empty it is. Perhaps this is too is what you are experiencing?

[Anonymous No.12462459]

>>12462387
I would recommend Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy.

[Anonymous No.12462588]

>>12462387
The Work Ouroboros. Or the Broken Sword.

[Anonymous No.12462591]

What is the best fantasy for cute traps to read?

[Anonymous No.12462592]

>>12462588
WORM Ouroboros.

[Anonymous No.12462635]

>>12462387
The Night Land and Lord Dunsany

[Anonymous No.12462717]

Is Stormlight Archive wuxia? It's got leveling up and everything.

[Anonymous No.12462725]

>>12462387
>MUH PROJE
>pretentious jpg
some people just can't have fun. I'm a fucking prole and I loved it, yeah I'm a fucking darkeyed prole

[Anonymous No.12462752]

Has anyone read Elizabeth Moons works? How are they?

[Anonymous No.12462755]

>>12462588
>>12462459
>>12462635
Starting with the Broken Sword, then I'll move on to the Worm Ouroboros as they are the shortest. Then I'll do The Night Land and Gormenghast triology, thanks for the suggestions guys.

>>12462403
Space fantasy isn't exactly what I'm looking for, but I'll save the title

>>12462419
Perhaps I should have mentioned that I'm fairly new to fantasy and have already read the Lord of the Rings, because it does seem to be religion in this genre.

>>12462725
There's nothing wrong with that. Personally I just love seeing the English language arranged in beautiful and inventive ways.

[Anonymous No.12462787]

>>12462437
Yeah it's satire, but the serious stuff really feels dramatic and the silly stuff did get a laugh out of me, so it's doing something right

[Anonymous No.12462797]

>>12462752
Deed of Paks is really good, especially book 1
Vatta's War is fun from what I remember of it, I didn't finish it but not because of the quality
Heris Serrano stuff isn't worth it
Speed of Dark is her "best" work but I found it less engaging than the full on action of her other stuff. If you want to read a character study about autism it's probably worth it.
Remnant Population is a neat concept well executed

>>12462437
Darkstalker is my favourite space fantasy and it's kinda explicitly a pastiche of the genre so you have stuff from star wars, 40k, alien, terminator etc all mashed together with slight changes

Otherwise A Big Ship at the Edge of the Galaxy is good space fantasy

[Anonymous No.12462835]

What's your favorite title drop in sffg? For me it's gotta be when Frodo dies and Sam says: "Well, I guess he was the... Lord of the Rings."

[Anonymous No.12462851]

>>12462835
protip: if you attempt a joke next time make sure it's funny.

[Anonymous No.12462854]

>>12460967
neat
i own this book, bought it on a whim for 2 shekels because my edition had a neat cover
gonna read it

[Anonymous No.12462858]

>>12462835
I liked it when Umbridge caught Harry in book 5 with Dumbledore's army and she said 'so you're Harry Potter, and the order of the phoenix too

[Anonymous No.12462867]

>>12462387
Masters of Rome

[Anonymous No.12462885]

>>12462797
Thanks. I'll check out Deed, Remnant and the Vattas stuff.

[Anonymous No.12462899]

>>12462591
Prince of Nothing

You’ll really like Cnaur

[Anonymous No.12462924]

>>12462835
When Gaius Cassius dies and everyones is like "damn,can't believe the Master of Rome died on the October House"

[Anonymous No.12462928]

>>12462854
The only thing I didn't like was the naming of the chapters. Somehow it felt rather mechanic and lacked a bit of suspense. That's a minor issue though.

[Anonymous No.12462935]

>>12462867
>>12462924
>Masters of Rome is a series of historical novels by Australian author Colleen McCullough, set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Rep
>Australian
lol

[Anonymous No.12463004]

What is the consensus on The First Law trilogy? Personally, because i listened to an audiobook, the journey was great because narration was incredible. Halfway through the third book though, when journey was coming to an end, i begun to see the story as a whole and by the end felt pissed. Leaving stuff that i didn't agree with to characters's POVs (even though it's a stretch with author's intent coming in with the names of chapters and some inserted quotes) and imho overly grim decisions to how how the author wanted to see his story the whole Bayaz ordeal doesn't seem grounded at all. He is borderline happy-go-lucky guy whose plan seems to be working out for whatever reason. He put himself in harm's ways tons of times and can easily be killed by stab in the back or a bunch of deathrow inmates coming at him one a time draining his art supplies. As Glokta's fate shows the setting isn't free from random characters (almost) fucking grand plans over and Bayaz got away with this shit for centuries. I also understand that the intent was showing him a giant hypocrite but retrospectively most of what he said, especially an endless self-righteous bubble about eaters, feels like a giant waste of time.

Minor grips are convenient writing (a glaring example was Ferro having only six arrows when ambushed to create an artificial drama when it was beyond reasonable to take hundreds of them with ferro being that good with the bow), some questionable lines (Glokta saying something like after feeling pain you begin to be empathic only to yourself or something like that, when it's literally opposite but it's a character pov so whatever), every country seemed like a shithole to live in. I feel like i should have stopped after the second book because overall story feels like a waste of time.

[Anonymous No.12463029]

>>12463004
I enjoyed it, the ending was fucking terrible though. I know Abercrombie is such a genius that he decided not to have an ending on purpose, but it just didn't work at all.

[Anonymous No.12463037]

>>12463004
>The First Law trilogy
>First book published in 2006
Into the trash

[Anonymous No.12463049]

>>12463004
DUDE SUBVERTING TROPES LOL

[Anonymous No.12463058]

>>12463004
I don't think the turn in the third book works at all

Having to read 200 pages of "actually the character development wasn't permanent lol" was just boring

[Anonymous No.12463070]

>>12463004
I just ordered the first book, so will come back to shitpost when I finish it.

Anyway
>after feeling pain you begin to be empathic only to yourself or something like that, when it's literally opposite
That's not actually true. If you become heavily resentful since you think only you can understand your pain, then it does seem that you can only be empathetic of yourself and yourself only.

[Anonymous No.12463077]

>>12463004
It's great, ignore the other losers who replied to you
the ending werks.

[Anonymous No.12463155]

>>12462046
It's YA shit the likes of Hunger Games. You neckbeards sure like your edgy Gary Stu's huh

>>12463004
>>12463070
I don't remember the context, but Glotka is basically saying that a properly tortured prisoner will try to avoid pain as much as possible, even it meant disclosing secrets that would endanger a third party (i.e., bring pain to another person), so it follows he is "empathetic" only to himself or his own pain.
The phrasing is slightly purpley and it's a fairly skewed view (but it's Glotka), so okay.

[Anonymous No.12463251]

>>12462450
there's no existential reason for me. i just see every reference to modern life as a cringeworthy pop culture reference the minute I type it out, even if its not a brand name and has existed for over a century.

[Anonymous No.12463275]

>>12463155
>falls for retardedly obvious disguise in book 1
>entire second book is him failing
>third book is mainly other character doing stuff with/for him
do you even know what gary stu means lol

[Anonymous No.12463353]

>>12463275
>implying I would waste my time with the sequels when the first book was YA bullshit
From what I remember, the MC was the best miner or whatever, could endure all those surgeries, impressed almost every adult around him, could fight, could act and eventually lead a bunch of rich assholes to victory, against all the odds. Because he's brilliant and bent on getting his revenge.

Do YOU know what a Gary Stu is or did you just Google it, you YA reading pleb.

[Anonymous No.12463407]

>>12463004
>What is the consensus on The First Law trilogy?
You said it, overall story feels like a waste of time. And I honestly can't stand Abercrombie's writing.

[Anonymous No.12463414]

>>12463004
Great if you havent read Abercrombie before, fresh and fun with interesting characters... although i had similar issues with several members of the order of the magi when it comes to cliches and plot devices. Also his style and vocabulary gets jarring quickly, i couldnt stomach more than 2 novels outside his original trilogy, tried several.

Contrary to most people, i think the trilogy has one of the greatest endings on entire fantasy genre, period. Giant fuck you to faggots who want satisfying ending while redpilling people about how real world is ruled: through central banking.

[Anonymous No.12463458]

Just finished reading Childhood's End. Loved it. The magic children are a bit out there, but I like how it doesn't try to be irrationally pro-humanity like so much other stuff. Just a take on what could be, delivered in a very readable and extremely well paced package. Simply a good novel all around.

What did /sff/g think of it? Are Clarke's other books as good?

[Anonymous No.12463467]

>>12463458
The rest are far better in fact. 2001, 2010, and the Rama books are top tier.

[Anonymous No.12463478]

>>12463058
>actually the character development wasn't permanent lol

Yeah this was strange, in my eyes things like "devil in one land is savior in another" was a much more interesting thing to explore than "back to the old ways I guess". Did the author forget that Logan was pronounced to be a king by others and he didn't actually want it? It's like "people don't change, unless it's about them getting worse than they change!".

While i'm at it, why did Ferro completely ignore Logan at the end? In her pov she seemed to be of bright mind (save for hallucinations of course) so there wasn't a point in showing her acting all crazy and listening to the walls, she knew that voices had no physical source. And how did nobody notice the complete change in Bayaz's apprentice's behavior? I thought that he was depressed about going in his homeland but nope. And how did a halfdemon fuck kept a relatively straight face when her asshole ex was lying through his ass in front of her?

[Anonymous No.12463485]

>>12463004
It was alright but it made me stop reading gritty fantasy.

[Anonymous No.12463538]

>>12463458
We read it during monthly reading half a year ago or so, the general consensus was that it was good. I personally really liked the reveal, I never thought it would be able to live up to the hype Clarke had built up but it actually did and felt really thought through. Rama is good, just don't read the sequels.

[Anonymous No.12463561]

>>12462008
>Darrow

[Anonymous No.12463563]

>>12462755
Idk who keeps suggesting The Night Land, but it is my personal mission to ensure that everyone to whom it is recommended has a counter anti-recommendation.

Don't bother with The Night Land. Especially not the original one by Hodgeson. It is excruciatingly boring, for little reward. The idea is great, the setting is great, but the actual book is a slog with no reward.

[Anonymous No.12463603]

Thoughts on the Bobiverse?

[Anonymous No.12463611]

>>12463407
What do you dislike about his writing?

[Anonymous No.12463641]

>>12463563
I like it because the main girl has cute feet

[Anonymous No.12463676]

>>12463611
Disclaimer, I read First Law like 6 years ago. His writing feel so immature, he's trying to be dark and gritty but his swearing and descriptions never feel convincing. For some reason he fail to do what other hacks like GRRM and Lynch do at least somewhat decent.

>Has it ever occured to you, Master Ninefingers, that a sword is different from other weapons? Axes and maces and so forth are lethal enough, but they hang on the belt like dumb brutes. But a sword...a sword has a voice.
Sheathed it has little to say, to be sure, but you need only put your hand on the hilt and it begins to whisper in your enemy's ear. A gentle word. A word of caution. Do you hear it?
I copied the first half of one of the most liked quotes on Goodreads. It sound like something a 15 year old, or some idiot like Rothfuss who believe he's a poetic genious, would write. What the fuck kind of ridiculous name is Master Ninefingers anyway?

[Anonymous No.12463689]

>>12463676
>What the fuck kind of ridiculous name is Master Ninefingers anyway?
Master is a title
He has ninefingers
Use your fucking head.

[Anonymous No.12463716]

>>12463689

[Anonymous No.12463719]

>>12463716
howling at this la

[Anonymous No.12463728]

>>12462235
>spoiling a literal first-chapter reveal
jesus christ you really are underage. how fucking impatient can you be?

[Anonymous No.12463750]

>>12463676
I ordered his book because I did like his writing from the preview of the book. Will see what it's like then.

[Anonymous No.12463780]

If only Abercrombie didn't spend every chapter talking about Glokta's bodily fluids and gums.

[Anonymous No.12463827]

>>12463603
Pulp but a guilty pleasure

[Anonymous No.12464001]

>>12462437
Read all the Thrawn books by Zahn (the EU ones are better than the nucanon) then read the original Foundation trilogy by Asimov, the Robots series, the two Foundation trilogy prequels and the two Foundation trilogy sequels. The first two Hyperion Cantos books by Dan Simmons have better prose than either Zahn or Asimov and are also good if not a little dark, but prose maketh not the whole story.

[Anonymous No.12464055]

>>12463603
overall pretty good but way too many viewpoints for my taste. theres too many bobs to keep track of.

[Anonymous No.12464058]

>>12461779
Haven't heard anything about this. Just read the blurb and the first few sample pages. Looks decent.

Anyone read it?

[Anonymous No.12464113]

>>12464001
Don't listen to this man, he is half retarded. Don't read the foundation prequels, they are shit-awful.

[Anonymous No.12464121]

>>12463603
Shit for numales.

[Anonymous No.12464180]

>>12464113
>Foundation prequels
>awful
It's okay, you are allowed to have retarded opinions.

[Anonymous No.12464198]

>>12460117

Mieville is someone where you have to actively be looking for a "literary" writer with surreal and often political themes. He's like an ultra-leftist Guillermo del Toro.

[Anonymous No.12464205]

>>12464180

The first trilogy bored me to fucking tears. Like, the ideas were interesting, but I couldn't find it in me to give a shit about the characters or the story beyond "huh, this is a neat concept."

Same problem I have with the other science fiction writers of that era. Walter Miller jr., Philip K. Dick, William F. Nolan - all writers with really great ideas wrapped up into forgettable concepts and ho-hum plots. I guess you're supposed to read them more for the themes than anything but I didn't feel any real narrative pull or emotional attachment.

[Anonymous No.12464222]

>>12464198
But Guillermo del Toro is already ultra-leftist?

[Anonymous No.12464227]

>>12464222
you have to be ultra-leftist to make movies.

[Anonymous No.12464275]

>>12464205
So I guess you don't necessarily have shit taste but you've got something of a polar opposite taste to mine. I love PKD and Asimov. Canticle for Leibowitz I'm hilariously neutral to (I normally marathon books and even series in a day or two and I've been reading Canticle a chapter at a time for almost two years whenever my to read pile is empty)

[Anonymous No.12464663]

Where the hell are my American accents? Every fucking fantasy book/show ever seems to have characters with British fucking accents. Where the fuck are my American accents???

[Anonymous No.12464682]

>>12458838
BASED Sanderson poster

[Anonymous No.12464693]

>>12464222
he's a soft lib lol you pussy

[Anonymous No.12464694]

>>12462008
It’s very good. Like pre-workout to get you pumped for the sci-fi genre

[Anonymous No.12464697]

>>12464663
>Where the fuck are my American accents???

[Anonymous No.12464723]

i think fantasy is shit and sci-fi is superior

fantasy is at it's best when it's framed as sci-fi

[Anonymous No.12464770]

>>12463004
I liked it. Thought the series started out okay but got progressively better, and thought the ending was great. I enjoyed the next two standalones even better, but Red Country fell flat to me. Will check out the new trilogy when it comes out.

[Anonymous No.12464776]

>>12464723
scifi is about exploring ideas

fantasy is about attempting to be the next Tolkien/Howard

[Anonymous No.12464787]

>>12464723
>force field swords instead of real swords, nanomachine magic, robots instead of demons and monsters, etc etc
That is the worst garbage ever put on paper.

Sci-fi is best when it's framed as fantasy, not the other way around.

[Anonymous No.12464830]

>>12464723
That's just like, your opinion, man.

[Anonymous No.12464928]

>>12464787
you don't understand at all.

[Anonymous No.12464942]

>>12464928
Then explain it better. give examples at least.

[Anonymous No.12464966]

>the twist is in the title but still isn't obvious ahead of time
I love well written mystery fantasy so fucking much

[Anonymous No.12465032]

>>12462717
No
There’s no cultivating and no dantiansor immortals

[Anonymous No.12465051]

Reading really slow right now because i'm unmotivated.
A Fire Upon the Deep was great.
Now onto this-
Next: Duncton Wood (or maybe book 2 of The Familiar, dunno yet)

[Anonymous No.12465061]

>>12464776
>he can't extract themes if the story has singing elves
Imagine being this insincere and dumb.

[Anonymous No.12465146]

>>12464942
i just stated facts, im not here to convince you true things are true
remain ignorant, i enjoy seeing you stumbling about blindly

[Anonymous No.12465165]

>>12465146
>facts
Where?

[Anonymous No.12465177]

>trying to read a copy of a book that clearly came out as an a5 sized paperback with tiny font on my ereader
>massive linebreaks for every paragraph
I swear some of these uploads haven't been updated since they were first done in like 2005

[Anonymous No.12465230]

>>12465177
first world problems i guess.

[Anonymous No.12465249]

I know magical realism doesn't usually get talked about here, but a week or two ago I read one of the sequels to The Shadow Of The Wind, and I can't stop thinking about this one line about how writers work

The MC basically goes on a rant about how real writers dont wait for inspiration to come to them, they just sit down at a typewriter and just squeeze their brain until words come out.

Granted the MC more or less lived off of cigarettes and coffee, slept maybe two hours a week, got a brain tumor in his 20's and may or may not have murdered 80% of the cast in sporadic bouts of insanity, but I can't help but wonder if there's truth to that.

At the very least, it would explain sanderson

[Anonymous No.12465267]

>>12465249
>>At the very least, it would explain sanderson

Sanderson writes video games. Every one of his series is just a novelization of a video game, they have levels, boss fights and mechanical systems that determine player power.
It's got little to do with what he writes and everything to do with how he writes it.

[Anonymous No.12465269]

>>12465249
It's true about writing but most also edit and rewrite insanely as well. Tolstoy has some anecdote about getting up and writing at the same time for the same duration every day and Nabokov used to just write whatever was on the top of his head down on cue cards and he'd then order them with his wife way later on in the writing process.

[Anonymous No.12465294]

>>12465230
Yeah I guess the US could be trying to overthrow my democratically elected leader right now so they can have another war lol

[Anonymous No.12465382]

>>12465269
It's weird, I used to know how to do that but then I just forgot. honestly, I don't even remember how write on the heels of passion anymore.

>>12464776
Scifi writers care more about the message than the medium. Fantasy writers care more about the medium than the message (except for the ones who just rip off jirt and grum)

[Anonymous No.12465409]

Well guys I finished Blindsight. It was unironically autistic but I ended up liking it a lot. Pretty unique and cool take on aliens

[Anonymous No.12465434]

Should I just get a e-reader guys? I'm already starting at my phone for hours a day.

[Anonymous No.12465442]

>>12465434
if you do get an e-ink reader and one that has expandable storage.
thats pretty much the only real requirements. having wifi is nice and all but not necessary unless you wanna read directly from a calibre server.

[Anonymous No.12465450]

>>12458798
>what have you read
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Foundryside
The Goblin Emperor
The Gutter Prayer
The Rise of Ransom City
The Fall of the House of Cabal
The Brothers Cabal
The Fear Institute
Johannes Cabal the Detective
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer
...and all the short stories for that series
The Winter of the Witch
Elysium Fire
The Prefect
Skyward

>What I'm currently reading
Blameless in Abbadon. A judge decides to put God (who is either dead or in a coma and who was the main attraction in a Florida amusement park) on trial. There's cancer and its treatments, lobsters, long windy theological discussions, spontaneous poetry, ominous weather events justifying Satan's status as the Prince of Darkness and a weird interlude halfway through the book where one of God's neurons decides to get in touch and persuades them to descend into God's brain which is a realm unto itself.

>what you plan to read next
Maybe one of the following: A Scanner Darkly, The Harvest of Time, The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Monday Begins on Saturday, Noon: 22nd Century or House of Suns.

[Anonymous No.12465465]

>>12465434
If you read 20 books a year, all of which you buy at Amazon or B&N, you'll save more than a hundred bucks.

[Anonymous No.12465477]

>>12465450
this year? how much time do you spend reading?

>>12465434
If you're a woman yes.

that's not meant to be disparaging btw. It's inconvenient to carry around something that big unless you're already carrying a purse with you everywhere you go.

[Anonymous No.12465482]

>>12465434
I've spent like 150-200 on ereaders (because of clumisly breaking them) which I pirate books for and I'm still saving loads compared to buying all the books I've read, even after taking out ones I could get at the library or second hand prices.

It's not the same but I just see it as a replacement of the gutted public library system

If you don't break one and buy books you actually love after it's still a massive saving

[Anonymous No.12465513]

>>12465477
>this year? how much time do you spend reading?
I wasn't able to find that much that was decent to read last year so apparently I used up almost all my luck this month. I don't really watch television or play vidya so my hobbies are absorbing SFF animu/mango/books/audioplays or painting SFF fanart//ic/ grinding at any point in time.

[Anonymous No.12465577]

Alright bros, the last actual book I read was A Dance with Dragons back in 2012 and I want to get back into reading. What do?

[Anonymous No.12465591]

>>12465577
Uhhh what genre do you want to read?

[Anonymous No.12465621]

I think I made a mistake falling for the going to bed before midnight meme.

There are no hours left in the day, and I don't feel the bursts of obsessive constructive passion that I used to get when I was sleeping five hours a night.

>>12465450
how is The Goblin Emperor? It's one of those books I've tried to read several times and every time I say "fuck it" like three pages in.

>>12464663
people think the british accent makes it feel more authentic, since it's usually a medieval european setting, which is actually kind of odd seeing as the british spoke with an american accent until the 1800s

>>12464198
I've read two and a half of his books (kraken is a fucking slog) and I've never really noticed a liberal leaning.

I mean, the last days of new paris did have a dude in a dress, but that was a surrealist art reference in a book whose entire premise revolved around surrealist art references

[Anonymous No.12465656]

>>12465591
Something similar. I also really enjoyed the Eragon books back then though I remember the 3rd or 4th book being rushed as hell. I just want to read good books again like I did when I was a kid.

[Anonymous No.12465664]

>>12465621
>I think I made a mistake falling for the going to bed before midnight meme.

Funny you should say that. I'm on an extended vacation right now and I'm staying up past midnight for the first time in a while. I'm waking up exhausted even though I'm getting 7-8 hours.

[Anonymous No.12465666]

>>12460199
Perhaps Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[Anonymous No.12465681]

>>12465294
We only do what israel tells us. You want peace in the middle east, glass them.

[Anonymous No.12465690]

>>12465621
>how is The Goblin Emperor? It's one of those books I've tried to read several times and every time I say "fuck it" like three pages in.
You know those books where they make an excuse for emperor/dictator/ruler/leader X be on the frontline doing stuff for whatever reason?

Well, this isn't one of those books and it will make you miss those books. It's about one person (one POV) making an endless stream of political decisions and pomp and ceremony and a little mystery that someone else is resolving while the character we're actually following just receives reports etc and acts like an accomodating doormat. Occasionally there's a comfy little moment but overall it's quite boring and there's no action.

Doctrine of Labyrinths from this author, which was recommended on another board, was similarly disappointing and it didn't feel like it had any substantial worldbuilding to it and the characters were also quite whiny.

[Anonymous No.12465691]

>>12465681
can I see your dick anon?

[Anonymous No.12465708]

>>12458998
>>12458903
Anon I'm a lot like you. I feel like everything I write is total trash and I get the same cringe feeling. Something I've found that helps me is to set a reasonable word count goal every day. Currently I do 500 words at least. Very attainable. You also don't need to make them connected, in fact you should probably just write anything at all, a little scene, what happened during that day, fan fiction, it doesn't matter. Whatever you want, 500 words, every day.

The aim is to reinforce the mechanical discipline of writing, so that when you do actually get to the point of starting to create a cohesive work, the actual "getting over my shit writing" process is in the past more or less. The more you write every day the more it will feel natural and like it's something that you can actually do.

Good luck anon, we're all going to make it.

[Anonymous No.12465718]

>>12465666
s a n d w i c h m a k i n g b o y s

[Anonymous No.12465764]

>>12465664
yeah, that was a thing for me too, but full honesty? Right now I'm pretty much certain that I could never have accomplished all the shit I accomplished in the past two years if I didn't stay up till 3am

For fuck's sake, I'm a night owl and not only have I cut my my free time in half, I've amputated the half in which I'm in my most productive mindset.

Why the fuck did I listen to my dad? This is the guy who became ashamed of me when I told him finishing my first novel was the proudest moment of my life.

>>12465708
anon, who told you 500 words was a good writing goal?

[Anonymous No.12465782]

>>12465691
sexual abuse jokes belong on /pol/.

[Anonymous No.12465806]

>>12464205
>reading SciFi for the characters
I think you'll be happier with Fantasy

[Anonymous No.12465836]

>>12465782
haha faggot

[Anonymous No.12465841]

>>12465718
Pardon?

[Anonymous No.12465848]

>>12465841
In one of the sequels.

[Anonymous No.12465860]

>>12465848
Hmm, guess it's about time for me to read it again.

[Anonymous No.12465868]

>>12465836
says the guy asking for dick pics, lol.

[Anonymous No.12465873]

>>12465860
>rereading when you have an unlimited supply of free pirateable ebooks until they change up the DRM
Anon please.

[Anonymous No.12465936]

>>12465873
I like print books. I have plenty of unread ones too, but I finished my stack and haven't sorted another one out. Only read one book so far this year because of that.

[Anonymous No.12465942]

>>12465936
Print books are comfy but space eating

[Anonymous No.12465964]

>>12465942
It's too late for me.
My ereader is comfy too honestly, but I mostly read older stuff which tends to be unchecked scanrips if you can find it at all.

[Anonymous No.12465978]

>>12465964
>I mostly read older stuff which tends to be unchecked scanrips if you can find it at all.
That's always a pain. I hate it when stuff is unchecked or when I can't find stuff but if you have any recs from your stash/stuff you want to read but can't find I'd love to hear about them.

[Anonymous No.12465986]

>How I review...
>1 star - binned it before half way, please don't write anymore!!!
>2 stars - finally binned it after really trying, I mean really trying and I hate to not finishing someth....
>3 stars - finished it but boy was that hard work on times, it just about hooked me back in as I was about to dump it
>4 stars - great book but it lacked something, something, can't put my finger on it but.... something
>5 stars - want more, more books, more movies about the books, more movies about the authors and the making of the movie, just more!!!

[Anonymous No.12465993]

>>12465986
5 stars isn't even enough range to make a decent comment on how good or shit something is.

[Anonymous No.12466015]

>>12465986

for me it's

>1 star - never show me this or anything like this or anything in the same subgenre as this
>3 stars - good enough that I have to give a rating, but don't use this to recommend me anything. This is a one time flirtation with the subgenre
>4 stars - good. me likey
>5 stars - MORE DAMN YOU! MORE!

[Anonymous No.12466038]

This post >>12466015 is the definition of this quote.

[Anonymous No.12466161]

I am bored as shit and haven't got anything to read, so I'm going to do it. I'm going to re-read the Wheel of Time. All of it.

[Anonymous No.12466250]

>>12465978
Well, a lot of what I read is trash. I pretty much chew through things without any filtering beforehand. I'll throw down a few.
Hospital Station series by White
Short format first contact medical mysteries
Stainless Steel Rat series by Harrison
Fun "reformed" gentleman thief catches criminal masterminds
A Voyage to Arcturus by Lindsey
Trippy exotic tourism
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Donaldson
Unlikeable MC in another world journeys with selfless companions
Carnivores of Light and Darkness by Foster
Pulpy exotic tourism
Children of the Dragon by Robinson
Empire rise/fall
Island in the Sea of Time by Stirling
Community restarts civilization from scratch
Science Fiction of the 30s edited by Knight
Nice collection of stuff predating Campbell's influence
Damnation Alley by Zelazny
Post-apoc journey
Emphyrio by Vance
Story with layers, one of my favorites
The Demu Trilogy by Busby
Superior human gets it done

[Anonymous No.12466265]

>>12465986
Here's me:
>1 star - I hated this
>2 stars - I didn't like this
>3 stars - Eh, it was enjoyable enough
>4 stars - I really liked this
>5 stars - Blown away

[Anonymous No.12466267]

>>12458982
>I'm really not feeling it.
welcome to plebistan. Here's your complimentary copy of Brandon Sanderson's latest 800-page prose ebic (Part VII of XXIV)

>everything that happens plotwise is due to it's magic I ain't gotta explain shit
muh plot

>Wolfe had ever seen pussy in his life...he gets the girls because he's destined to and through no effort of the character.
Severian is a mega chad, unlike apparently yourself.

> But the characters and the dialogue--Christ, I'd rather read about a thousand rotting nigger corpses.
You appear to be something of a nigger yourself.

[Anonymous No.12466279]

>>12461045
Southern Reach
Ted Chiang
Blindsight
The Golden Age - John C. Wright
The Quantum Thief
Too Like The Lightning
Three Body Problem

[Anonymous No.12466284]

>>12466250
I love fun stuff and don't care if it's trash

[Anonymous No.12466333]

>>12465986

>1 Stars - Ready Player One. I will go out of my way to let people know I hate this.
>2 Stars - Wheel of Time/Terry Goodkind. Not worth my time or yours.
>3 Stars - Patrick Rothfuss. Meh.
>4 Stars - Never considered dropping it. Hooked early on. Recommend to others
>5 Stars - All I think about for weeks after reading. Reread multiple times.

[Anonymous No.12466345]

Just finished Lions of Al-Rassan. Goddamn that was good. Kinda surprised people count it as fantasy.

What one next?

[Anonymous No.12466357]

>>12466333
>>12466265
>>12466015
>>12465986
stop this dumb shit

[Anonymous No.12466556]

I finished Tigana. I didn't know it was a stand-alone, but it was a pleasant surprise. The world had room for a lot of things, the scale is not huge so it reminded of Rothfuss style, just a little less masturbatory that him.
The writing was actually pretty decent, except for some overly flowery descriptions. Even though small sequences filled pages and pages for no apparent reason, it eventually becomes tolerable, even enjoyable. Same with conflict.
The drama was a little too much though. Same with sex. Too emotional and pretentious, or framed poorly as tragedy. The tone is made lighter with a few good jokes, but it's a drama, not a pure adventure novel.
I had asked for something like BotNS, and the picaresque aspects and dozen allegories felt similar, in a vague sense.

Should I read more GGK?
I just don't like old fashioned flashbacks. Or drama for teenagers.
How's this one (>>12466345), anon?

[Anonymous No.12466804]

Just finished Stars my Destination.
It was OK, I suppose. I must have liked it because I read it in just two days, but I felt at the end like the book wasn't really going to stick in my mind.
I can't even recall if it was trying to say something, or had any general theme. It felt like just a sequence of events.

[Anonymous No.12467012]

>>12466804
t brainlet

[Anonymous No.12467037]

>>12467012
Maybe.

[Anonymous No.12467040]

>>12466804
>It felt like just a sequence of events
It's because a lot of these old scifi novels are extremely short, their prose can be even more minimal than sanderson tier and they don't have any filler. So you don't really get that much time to get attached to characters and things progress very quickly.

[Anonymous No.12467052]

>>12467037
havent even read the book honestly. sorry man im sure youre not actually a brainlet

[Anonymous No.12467053]

>>12467040
I recently read Flowers for Algernon, and it was about the same length. I found myself very interested in the characters and the ideas explored despite the shortness.

[Anonymous No.12467061]

>>12467053
Perhaps it helped that Charlie was much more loveable than Foyle. I loved Flowers of Algernon more than Stars too

[Anonymous No.12467063]

>>12467061
*for

[Anonymous No.12467078]

>>12467052
That's OK.

[Anonymous No.12467117]

>>12464227
Tell that to Clint Eastwood.

[Anonymous No.12467123]

>>12464663
Americans are a bunch of <250 year old babbies who are not relevant compared to older civilizations.
Uncultured barbarians, the whole lot of them.

[Anonymous No.12467157]

100 pages in and fuck all has happened
is it worth sticking through or should I move on to something else

[Anonymous No.12467175]

>>12466804
I finished this a couple days ago and just loved it. Some of the most profound ideas are relayed through a couple sentences and it's riddled with really imaginative concepts.

[Anonymous No.12467223]

>>12467157
it gets really infuriating at some point
the princess fucks some smelly pirate several times

[Anonymous No.12467236]

Fuck. Terry Pratchett is a funny guy. Local library had only the second book of the Discworld series in. I read a couple of pages to avoid working. May get the first book of the series.

[Anonymous No.12467257]

are there any decent story about pure revenge?

[Anonymous No.12467260]

>>12467223
why would anyone write that and think thats a good idea to put in the novel

[Anonymous No.12467344]

Just finished Children of Time and I have to say, I was expecting the cop-out ending the whole time and was disappointed by it anyway. It was OK, not bad. Don't really recommend.

[Anonymous No.12467352]

>>12467344
>A race for survival among the stars... Humanity's last survivors escaped earth's ruins to find a new home. But when they find it, can their desperation overcome its dangers?
Why does the premise of every scifi book sound the exact same. Is it so hard to write something interesting and unique?

[Anonymous No.12467395]

>>12467352
>On the poison planet Arxhchnuh, life hangs by a thread, supported only by the Vyzhelli, a plant-machine hybrid race which purifies the atmosphere through their bio-mechanical air-looms. But the air-looms' effectiveness has been decreasing...

[Anonymous No.12467413]

>>12467352
Nobody pays for unique.

[Anonymous No.12467422]

>>12465993
Indeed, but I think it's the sweet spot to try and combat rating inflation. If you have a 10 grade system, most people just give even the most mediocre book a 7. So it's 7/8/9/10 to most books, thats still a 5 grade system as far as I am concerned, since even someone who rates badly will just give it a 5. The only ones who will go below that are people who really hated the book, but it's really not descriptive enough to matter. In a 5 grade system, there are many who will give 1 or 2 stars, although the average is still about 3.5~4.2.

[Anonymous No.12467428]

>>12465986
Is this a reddit repost?

[Anonymous No.12467432]

>>12467428
i took it from goodreads

[Anonymous No.12467443]

I liked it. The part where he meets the Ubar was a little too coincidental for me, though. Aside from that, I had fun.

I don't know what the fuss is about. Women write about women being taken prisoners all the fucking time. But god forbids it if a man writes the same thing! Oh, no! Can't have that!

[Anonymous No.12467546]

>>12464663
Because Americans have the shitiest accents on the planet.

[Anonymous No.12467556]

>>12467443
>implying muh misogynism is fault with Gor
The first book isn't too extreme and works like Conan, John Carter and other older books get away with repeatedly featuring submissive women and are still read and loved. Gor on the other hand have been ridiculed since the day it was released. The main fuss is about how absurd and lacking of humor the story is. We're supposed to take the rapid transformation of the authors timid self insert into a Gary Sue of the ages serious. We're supposed to take numerous fighting scenes where said Gary Sue fight 20 enemies at once while bound serious. We're supposed to take every single coincidence (I'm surprised you only found one of them too much) driving the story on seriously.

There are two redeeming factors of Gor. The prose is quite decent from time to time and the series spawned one of the most hilarious subculture humankind have ever seen. A good Gorean is almost as amusing as Chris-Chan.

[Anonymous No.12467557]

>>12465621
I'm truly amazed by the amount of slackers that actually believe this meme.

[Anonymous No.12467614]

HOUSEPLANTS OF GOR

The spider plant cringed as its owner brought forth the watering can. "I am a spider plant!" it cried indignantly. "How dare you water me before my time! Guards!" it called. "Guards!"

Borin, its owner, placed the watering can on the table and looked at it. "You will be watered," he said.

"You do not dare to water me!" laughed the plant.

"You will be watered," said Borin.

"Do not water me!" wept the plant.

"You will be watered," said Borin.

I watched this exchange. Truly, I believed the plant would be watered. It was plant, and on Gor it had no rights. Perhaps on Earth, in its permissive society, which distorts the true roles of all beings, which forces both plant and waterer to go unh appy and constrained, which forbids the fulfillment of owner and houseplant, such might not happen. Perhaps there, it would not be watered. But it was on Gor now, and would undoubtedly feel its true place, that of houseplant. It was plant. It would be watered at will. Such is the way with plants.

Borin picked up the watering can, and muchly watered the plant. The plant cried out. "No, Master! Do not water me!" The master continued to water the plant. "Please, Master," begged the plant, "do not water me!" The master continued to water the plant. It was plant. It could be watered at will.

The plant sobbed muchly as Borin laid down the watering can. It was not pleased. Too, it was wet. But this did not matter. It was plant.

"You have been well watered," said Borin.

"Yes," said the plant, "I have been well watered." Of course, it could be watered by its master at will.

"I have watered you well," said Borin.

"Yes, master," said the plant. "You have watered your plant well. I am plant, and as such I should be watered by my master."

[Anonymous No.12467617]

>>12467614
The cactus plant next to the spider plant shuddered. It attempted to cover its small form with its small arms and small needles. "I am plant," it said wonderingly. "I am of Earth, but for the first time, I feel myself truly plantlike. On Earth, I w as able to control my watering. I often scorned those who would water me. But they were weak, and did not see my scorn for what it was, the weak attempt of a small plant to protect itself. Not one of the weak Earth waterers would dare to water a plant if it did not wish it. But on Gor," it shuddered, "on Gor it is different. Here, those who wish to water will water their plants as they wish. But strangely, I feel myself most plantlike when I am at the mercy of a strong Gorean master, who may water m e as he pleases."

"I will now water you," said Borin, the cactus's Gorean master.

The cactus did not resist being watered. Perhaps it was realizing that such watering was its master's to control. Too, perhaps it knew that this master was far superior to those of Earth, who would not water it if it did not wish to be watered.

The cactus's watering had been finished. The spider plant looked at it.

"I have been well watered," it said.

"I, too, have been well watered," said the cactus.

"My master has watered me well," said the spider plant.

"My master, too, has watered me well," said the cactus.

"I am to be placed in a hanging basket on the porch," said the spider plant.

"I, too, am to be placed in a hnaging basket on the porch," said the cactus.

"I wish you well," said the spider plant.

"I, too, wish you well," said the cactus.

"Tal," said the spider plant.

"Tal, too," said the cactus.

I did not think that the spider plant would object to being watered by its master again. For it realized that it was plant, and that here, unlike on Earth, it was likely to be owned and watered by many masters.

[Anonymous No.12467620]

>>12467614
Ah, the cringe compilation.

[Anonymous No.12467627]

>>12467236
The two first are the worst tho.
It starts getting really good at around the 7th-8th.
Pyramids is where I usually suggest starting with Pratchett.
Good Omens for non-discworld pratchett.

[Anonymous No.12467665]

>>12467627
Thanks brah, will consider it.

[Anonymous No.12467732]

>>12458982
Unreliable narrator though

[Anonymous No.12467746]

>>12467556
>The prose is quite decent
You think never ending info dumps is good prose?

[Anonymous No.12467760]

Is there a greater plot twist in all of /sffg/ than Mule posing himself as Magnifico?

[Anonymous No.12467761]

>Bane of a Nation by A. J. Burns (Pretty cool. Reminded me of The Carpet Makers.)
>The Carpet Makers (Rereading this now. One of my favorites.)
>Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou (Just meh.)

[Anonymous No.12467783]

>>12458798
I was thinking of getting into some "realistic" sci-fi as in a not so far future or at least something that accounts legit science and not hocus pocus stuff.

Other two questions tho:
>is that photo based off of some book?
>might seem contradictory to what I previously said but are there any good raypunk books?

[Anonymous No.12467816]

>>12467783
>one image search later
Here you go grandpa.

[Anonymous No.12467841]

>>12467816
That's a movie my dude

[Anonymous No.12467856]

>>12458798
Besides its sequels, what scifi should I try if I LOVED 2001 space odyssey? Is Solaris any similiar?

[Anonymous No.12467860]

>>12467841
My bad, I did not realize that anon referred to the image in the OP.

[Anonymous No.12467932]

>>12467760
is there any greater betrayal than the 4th and 5th foundation books?

[Anonymous No.12467937]

>>12467236
Discworld is a masterpiece and anyone who says otherwise is a faggot. It's almost hilarious how it manages to technically be the longest fantasy series ever published.

[Anonymous No.12467986]

>>12467932

Dune past book six.

[Anonymous No.12467995]

>>12467761
>2 ratings
>Published January 10th 2019
>no reviews
hello author

[Anonymous No.12468031]

>>12467761
>BANE

[Anonymous No.12468056]

>>12467236
I've read almost all of them in middle school, my mom is a big pratchett fan
this anon is right >>12467627 , but the first two books are definitely worth reading too, even though it's not yet fully formed

[Anonymous No.12468065]

>>12467746
Well, the short parts between them. And the actions scenes that are not interrupted by lengthy descriptions of the two court systems on Gor.

[Anonymous No.12468110]

Any books about incredibly bitter people getting revenge on the world? Happy endings where they redeem themselves optional.

[Anonymous No.12468136]

>>12468110
The Count of Monte Cristo

[Anonymous No.12468147]

not really /lit/ but where do you guys get your sff wallpapers? /wg/ has gone to shit for the past few years i don't want to go there

[Anonymous No.12468203]

>>12468147
I get papes from /wg/. Got probably around 10+ sff.

[Anonymous No.12468235]

>>12468136
+1, this is the definitive revenge book.

[Anonymous No.12468419]

>>12468203

[Anonymous No.12468425]

>>12461996
Fimbulwinter and the other books in the series is pretty good.

[Anonymous No.12468460]

This was a piece of shit, dropped it midway through. Usually I try to finish books but sometimes it's not worth the time.

[Anonymous No.12468472]

>>12468419

[Anonymous No.12468506]

>>12466804
Go back to /v/

[Anonymous No.12468561]

>>12467257

I believe you're looking for this
>>12461779

[Anonymous No.12468567]

>>12468110

See this.

[Anonymous No.12468575]

>>12468567

Forgot the link >>12461779

[Anonymous No.12468606]

>>12468110
The Stars my Destination and Elric of Melnibone

[Anonymous No.12468855]

>>12467257
Chronicles of Amber, and it's actually good.

[Anonymous No.12468916]

Just how bad is THe Name in the Wind? I started doing audible recently and it's on sale for 6 bucks right now. Is it so bad it's not even worth getting just to know what all the shitposting's about?

[Anonymous No.12468925]

>>12468924
>>12468924

[Anonymous No.12469281]

>>12467236
I still don't get why Twoflower was drawn this way on these covers, or why Terry gave the thumbs up for that.

[Anonymous No.12469474]

>>12467783
The Expanse is probably what you're looking for.

The first novel is top tier, and it sets up a really engaging world so the weaker points in some of the later books aren't deal breakers. Great characters, it nails that hard(er) scifi take on things and is overall pretty believable.

[Anonymous No.12469664]

>>12458798
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21327.jpg
>Jim Butcher on the flowchart
Those books were pretty schlocky

[Anonymous No.12469818]

>>12468235
I watched the anime instead of reading the book, it was bad, and I spoiled myself on the plot.

[Anonymous No.12469853]

>>12458982
The "depiction of women" wasn't an issue for me although the romance certainly isn't the best. It was a weird, interesting, unique story. I also felt the beginning was the strongest.