/sffg/ - Science Fiction and Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.18517127]

Tower of Somnus Edition

Previous Thread:>>18508840

>Recommended reading charts (Look here before asking for vague recs)
https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ

>Archive
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg

>Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg

>A link to the ultimate colossal science fiction and fantasy collection torrent
>>>/t/1023504

>Discord
Never going to be created.

[Anonymous No.18517136]

Wholesome SFW books

[Anonymous No.18517153]

>>18509296
Me on the left

[Anonymous No.18517196]

Sex Books

[Anonymous No.18517203]

Fuck genre fiction

[None !SFFG.n1h7M No.18517207]

Black Stone Heart, The Obsidian Path #1 - Michael R. Fletcher (2020)
This self-published grimdark novel was a group read. Fletcher's debut novel was traditionally published, however all of his subsequent novels, including this one, have been self-published.
Once again I've deceived and disappointed myself from what I thought it'd be about based on how it begins. I have no one other than myself to blame for that. Based on the cover, the synopsis, and the opening, I thought it'd be about an active and exciting protagonist on a possibly grand adventure with an intriguing cast of characters. That's not what this is and now I don't know why I thought it'd be.
What I read instead was a relatively passive protagonist who was both sullen and horny. There's a considerable amount of sex though it isn't described in detail. His primary activities seemed to be introspection, whining, rumination, and above all else, brooding over the concept of evil. There wasn't anything I liked about him, or really any of the characters. He has a goal in mind, so he isn't wandering aimlessly, but it felt like to me that much more ought to have been accomplished over the course of the book. The journey itself was lackluster as well.
There's grimdark edginess that may put readers off, or alternatively be a draw for them, but I found myself mostly indifferent to it. Based on the reactions of others, there is definitely a demographic for this who greatly enjoys it, but apparently I don't find myself within that.
As this is planned to be a dual trilogy, a six book series, I won't be reading the second book and may not read any books from this author again. I'm significantly disappointed. Maybe it'd be worthwhile after reading all the books after however many years it takes for them to release, but I don't have any interest in finding out whether they are.
Rating: 2/5

The /sffg/ GR group, 4 total, rated it 1 of each star, 2 through 5. What a mixed reception.
GR rating: 4.08/5, 4% rated it 2 stars.

[Anonymous No.18517282]

>>18517127
Best books with magic, wizards and sorcerers? No lame magic system stuff real magic

[Anonymous No.18517461]

>>18517127
>Discord
https://discord.com/invite/KWPCM7m

>Book Club Selection
Galactic North
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89188.Galactic_North

> With eight short stories and novellas--including three original to this collection--Galactic North imparts the centuries-spanning events that have produced the dark and turbulent world of Revelation Space.

[Anonymous No.18517514]

>>18517196
Kushiel books? Probably more on the erotic side.

[Anonymous No.18517867]

How do I go full /croaker/mode?

[Anonymous No.18517914]

>>18517867
Start following some instathot and write erotic fanfiction about her

[Anonymous No.18518008]

Anyone got some recommendations for grimdark with a little girl protag?

[Anonymous No.18518030]

>>18518008
Not lit, but Lona RPG has a girl protagonist and is extremely grimdark.

[Anonymous No.18518046]

>>18518030
Fuck off pedo weeb.

[Anonymous No.18518048]

Right now i am reading Michio Kaku - Parallel Worlds. I want to prepare for some hard science fiction.

Recommend me some science fiction that is close to scientifically true and need science/astro crash course to understand or get into.

[Anonymous No.18518060]

>>18517867
he's way too attractive there

[Anonymous No.18518122]

>>18517207
Did you actually like it or are you not using GR ratings (1 is 'did not like it', 2 is 'it was ok').

[Anonymous No.18518182]

>>18518008
There's a lot of that in web fiction since web writers love femMCs and grimdark (thanks worm). I haven't explored the genre much but as an example, this is a story about a 12 year old tossed down a grim as fuck dungeon. She gets mad as hell and starts ripping and tearing to get revenge.
https://lsdell.com/table-of-contents/

[Anonymous No.18518198]

>>18518182
That's some of the shittiest prose I've ever read.
Never recommend something ever again.

[Anonymous No.18518201]

>>18518182
Cool story. I’ll check it out on the weekend when I have the time.

[Anonymous No.18518284]

>>18518198
Web fiction has bad prose as a matter of course. You read it for the surface level plot elements like grimdark and loli heroine. Overall, Taint is better than what you offered, which is nothing.

[Anonymous No.18518292]

>>18518284
Because I fucking asked for something you dumb nigger.

Next time to come with literal garbage. You don't have to respond, I never asked you specifically.

[Anonymous No.18518298]

>>18518292
Next time don't come*

[Anonymous No.18518357]

>>18518292
Oh, I didn't expect someone would be so rude as to shit their pants with rage over someone trying to be helpful. Continue living your unhappy life, friend. I'm sure someone will love you eventually.

[Anonymous No.18518391]

>>18518357
> offer somebody a pile of shit
> "wow, no need to be so ungrateful"

[Anonymous No.18518403]

>>18518391
He gave you the thing you asked for, don't be a cunt.

[Anonymous No.18518412]

>>18518403
You realize that some people have actual standards, right?

[Anonymous No.18518414]

Is the Culture series good?

[Anonymous No.18518428]

>>18518414
No.

[Anonymous No.18518451]

>>18517207
Picked up

[Anonymous No.18518601]

Is there anything else like Throne of Glass out there?
It's by a large margin the best series I've ever read.

[Anonymous No.18518610]

>>18518182
>first person POV

[Anonymous No.18518742]

>>18516723
>>18515670
ok, ok. It all came together. It all got explained. It all makes sense now.
But it wasn't satisfying. The first few chapters of the book were so dramatic and heavy. The last few chapters were a comedy.
The book is structured in reverse. With everything you need to know happening in the first third, and all of the dramatic climaxes happening in the first third. All the intensity in the beggining, all the levity in the end. The ending utterly anti-climatic. Almost like the author realized how difficult advancing the story would be from that point and simply threw in the towel.

I'm sorry guys, but I can't say I liked it. I get the sense that a few of you here like it a lot. And apparently it got some awards, so I expected it to be better. The story was just told in a disjointed way. And it was kind of fascinated with science in a fanboyish way. In a way that was similar with seveneves. Where scientists are lauded so much that they're practically superheroes in the universe.

I haven't read any reviews, but I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that the reason this book got the acclaim, was for the fact that it wrote about the tragedies of Chinese's political conflicts from the perspective of a Chinese author. That probably got all the reviewers feeling super woke for reading this one.

[Anonymous No.18518762]

>>18518742
Congratulations Anon, now you get to read the good book.

[Anonymous No.18518771]

>>18517127
Can someone recommend a fantasy novel featuring a party of likeable characters on an adventure? I was looking into some Dungeons and Dragons novels but most revolve around Drizzt.

Its okay if the books are generic I just want some comfy fantasy with heroes and sexy ladies is that so much to ask for.

[Anonymous No.18518776]

>>18518762
...

[Anonymous No.18518784]

>>18518776
Heh, if it can reassure you, you get some proper dramatic progression in this one.

[Anonymous No.18518789]

>>18518771
another anon in the previous thread recommended me Spiderlight and now that i'm little more than halfway through it is exactly the kind of D&D pulp i was looking for

[Anonymous No.18518792]

>>18518789
is it actually bestiality cuck shit?

[Anonymous No.18518796]

>>18518792
so far no

[Anonymous No.18518801]

>>18518796
but that's what they always do...
they always blindside you with that shit

[Anonymous No.18518808]

>>18518801
you cannot blindside the depraved like that

[Anonymous No.18518814]

>>18518801
it's a cult recruitment tactic, scattering that shit where you least expect it
something something wide net

[Anonymous No.18518828]

>>18518742
I guess you'll never know what you missed by not reading TDF, but I will say its the type of sci-fi I think about a little bit every day since having read it. So to Death's End.

[Anonymous No.18518877]

>>18518828
I'm still coping with the massive tonal shift near the end. It really felt like some kind of space themed sitcom.
I didn't realize there were sequels before just now. I'll think about it.

[Anonymous No.18518967]

>>18518877
If you mean the development of the sophons, I agree it was a little wacky, but the point was that what they've done is truly horrifying.
Notice how distraught the characters are after learning about this.
It was almost meant to be a playful reveal to a nightmarish scenario, and has huge implications throughout the rest of the story.

[Anonymous No.18519047]

>>18518967
>If you mean the development of the sophons
Yes, that.

[Anonymous No.18519074]

>>18519047
Well the laughs are over for the second book, and the scenario set-up therein is REALLY fucking unfunny for the third book.

[Anonymous No.18519212]

How is pic related?

[Anonymous No.18519350]

>>18518182
>I try to open my eyes and take a look at my surroundings, but my eyelids don’t even twitch. I try to stand up, move my arms and legs, but I don’t have any more success with that. It’s like my brain has been completely cut off from the rest of my body. It’s even worse than the magic that man used, back when he captured me. I could at least blink my eyes, then.

>Ah! Right! Am I an idiot? Nerys! Father! The two of them weren’t at the house when those people came. They should still be fine. They should be looking for me right now. I ran away into the forest, but I didn’t get very far from the house before I was caught, so they should be able to find me quickly.

>A tingle slowly climbs up my limbs, then spreads throughout the rest of my body. It’s probably a hopeful sign that my paralysis is wearing off, but the sensation of it is unbearable. It’s as though millions of tiny insects are crawling inside my body. I’m almost thankful that I still can’t move because otherwise, I would most likely claw my own skin off to try and make it stop.

>I gingerly look around myself, trying to get a measure of the place in which I find myself. I’m standing in a chamber closed on three sides by solid rock walls – although calling it a chamber is a bit too generous; it’s small enough that it might be seen as the dead-end of a wide hallway. The fourth, open side only leads a few meters away before being swallowed up by a darkness even my eyesight cannot pierce through – and I remember Father saying that I have better night vision than even elves and rakshasa.


God damn, I finally understand what Bill Hicks meant. Seeing something this bad makes me feel good.
I feel a lot better about wanting to publish my own work now.

[Anonymous No.18519385]

>>18518742
Don't worry anon I didn't enjoy it much either.

[Anonymous No.18519415]

>>18519350
It could always be worse.

[Anonymous No.18519501]

>>18518182
>>18519350
Move over LitRPGs, now we have LitFPS.
First Person Sanderson.

[Anonymous No.18519504]

>>18518762
First half is shit. Second half is ridiculously based.

>>18519212
I'm about half-way through and really enjoying it. The writing, mostly internal dialogue of the protagonist can be cringe at times, but the plot and science behind it is interesting.

[Anonymous No.18519632]

>>18518122
> Did you actually like it or are you not using GR ratings (1 is 'did not like it', 2 is 'it was ok').
Old but still open /sffg/ poll on the matter.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/203452-what-does-a-2-star-rating-on-goodreads-mean-to-you

Mediocre/Meh/Disappointing: 11 votes 55.0%
Bad/Trash/I didn't like it: 8 votes 40.0%
Ok/Decent/Fine: 1 vote 5.0%
20 total votes

From looking elsewhere, most people ignore GR's "official" scale because it's obviously dumb. A considerable number of people define what their stars mean on their profile, as many have their own idiosyncratic system. It's just how it is. I really don't think those who go by the official scale are in the majority.


>>18518451
Hopefully it goes better for you.

[Anonymous No.18519658]

Three Body Problem is promoted here by the Chinese government as a form of soft power propaganda. These are paid posters.

[Anonymous No.18520062]

Is using The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion on my first read of Lord of the Rings retarded?

[Anonymous No.18520137]

>>18519658
Actually i'm paid by Bakker.

[Anonymous No.18520183]

Check out the editions I got. They were the cheapest ones I could find lol

[Anonymous No.18520211]

>>18520183
That is one extremely gender-confused looking Severian.
I made the mistake of buying this one (since I'd originally borrowed the books from my library), it's the four books in one, but it's absolutely riddled with errors for some reason. It's unreadable. I bought the books again separately afterwards.

[Anonymous No.18520252]

>>18520062
I think you should just let yourself enjoy the story and let the worldbuilding support that.

[Anonymous No.18520328]

>>18518742
>it was kind of fascinated with science in a fanboyish way.
fanboy of... the laws of reality?

[Anonymous No.18520333]

>>18517127
scifi and fantasy should not be linked in one category. It was always a mistake.

[Anonymous No.18520359]

>>18520333
Indeed, we should split the threads and piss off he who does it for free.

[Anonymous No.18520398]

Fuck E William Brown
Fuck Delays
Fuck Pay Pigs
Fuck Pay Walls

[Anonymous No.18520453]

>Book 1
Godamm it I hate cliffhangers. I'm not one for first contact stories but I really enjoyed this one.

[Anonymous No.18520504]

>>18517127
Why is the OP pick not anime (This is a good thing, I was away for some time)

>>18517461
Fuck discord trannies

>>18519212
probably shit

>>18520398
Based

[Anonymous No.18520529]

>>18520504
I TAKE IT BACK ITS WEBNOVEL I TAKE IT BACK I TAKE IT BACK IT SEEMS SFFG IS STILL FUCKED GOOD BYE SEE YOU IN THREE MONTHS

[Anonymous No.18520532]

>>18520529
Out of sheer curiosity, who is this?

[Anonymous No.18520534]

>>18520532
Me :3

[Anonymous No.18520541]

>>18520532
probably one of the few females who have read bakker from start to end

[Anonymous No.18520595]

>>18518789
Yeah, Spiderlight is a good one. The last act is madness.

[Anonymous No.18520608]

>>18517196
Why not pick any novel length piece from Naked Blades?

[Anonymous No.18520632]

>>18520529
Neem?

[Anonymous No.18520688]

Any recs for stories where the main character is exiled from their community/family especially for not having the right power/mindset? Bonus points if there is a darker tone to the community and something feels off

[Anonymous No.18520697]

>>18520328
>fanboy of... the laws of reality?
There's being a science enthusiast. And then there's being a "science!" enthusiast.

[Anonymous No.18520702]

>>18520688
this is not subway

[Anonymous No.18520712]

>>18520529
> girls who read
I wish my gf read bros...

[Anonymous No.18520717]

>>18520702
Good thing I'm not trying to catch a train

[Anonymous No.18520737]

>>18520688
https://www.goodreads.com/series/293481-expert-system

[Anonymous No.18520745]

>>18520717
>Yes I'd like a 500 page book please, dark covers
<What kind of protagonist would you like
>Hmm.. an exiled person who had the wrong mindset
<Very original.. How about the tone of the book?
>Grimdark please
<Any toppings on that?
>I'd like some elves
<Here's your YA sir

[Anonymous No.18520808]

>>18520745
Grimdark with elves and exiles. Is that what the kids are reading these days? I thought it was still weirdly sexual love triangles with suddenly discovered special powers. I apologize if you thought I meant grimdark because I meant more along the lines of the subtle wrongness you get from horror where you can't tell what is wrong but your gut screams that something is.

>>18520737
Interesting blurb, I'll give it a shot. Thank you

[Anonymous No.18520822]

I want some schlock
I'm feeling schlocky
Can anyone recommend me a sci-fi book where the male MC is transported into the future?
preferably not dystopian future, just future stuff
romantic subplot is a plus but not a must

[Anonymous No.18520827]

>>18520808
I dont fucking know, I read all bakker books and now nothing feels good.

[Anonymous No.18520860]

>>18520827
have you tried the cuckold category in pornhub? this is the only place that gave me the true bakkerfeel

[Anonymous No.18520866]

>>18520808
>Interesting blurb, I'll give it a shot. Thank you
First entry isn't great, but the world is extremely interesting. MC's accidentally exiled by getting a substance on him that the village typically brands their misfits with, who are then sent out into the wilderness to die. The food on the planet becomes inedible to the branded, and the wildlife stops preying on them, like they're severed from the world.

The sequel is everything the first one should've been and is a great ride from start to finish. They're not very long.

[Anonymous No.18520888]

>>18520860
I doubt you have read bakker, and if you did I think you self inserted into wrong character

[Anonymous No.18520988]

>>18518742
>>18518776
You say you get the feeling that a lot of people like this book a lot. I sort of doubt that. I don't think many people here care at all about Three Body Problem.

Why? Because The Dark Forest and Death's End are the ACTUALLY good books in the series. Those are the ones we loved. Like an anon said last thread, this book is a 130,000 word prologue.

[Anonymous No.18521166]

>>18520988
I enjoyed all three books.

I like how- other than the siphon business- there were really only a couple of small leaps in scientific logic, so it made the first book “feel” very plausible.

It’s not as good as book 3- but they book goes off the sci-fi speculation deep end.
Also I didn’t love how that book progressed in the last third.
It started to cheapen all that happened before IMO.

That all said- as other anons have pointed out- Book 2 is really incredible and one of the best sci-fi books I’ve ever read.

The entire series is worth reading just for that book.

[Anonymous No.18521204]

>>18520988
Death's End gets way too crazy way too fast at the end.

[Anonymous No.18521234]

>>18521204
>>18521166
Though I loved Death's End end to end, I can totally understand why some might not like it. It explodes in scope so fast that the reader gets whiplash. Would have almost rather Liu axed the last third, expanded upon the bunker era, and made the last third its own book. That would cause its own set of problems, but maybe the story wouldn't get so away from itself.

The actual content of the end of the book was still incredible in my opinion. An incredibly imaginative system of sciences that could easily have supported a whole book.

[Anonymous No.18521337]

>>18521234
My main gripe with the last third is how much it cheapens most of the cool concepts introduced in TDF
The whole dark forest theory is scary as fuck, but introducing aliens so advanced that they can turn entire systems in 2D kinda break the theory, they are WAY too powerful to be afraid of mankind's potential, especially since they can monitor us from the moment of discovery
Also i loved the Battle of Darkness/Dark Humanity part of TDF, with the author teasing us about a new, almost alien morality born from the harshness of deep space. And suddenly you hear from them again at the end of the book and they are just regular humans who somehow invented FTL travel during their exodus

[Anonymous No.18521339]

>>18520822

[Anonymous No.18521544]

>>18521234
>>18521337

I agree with both of these sentiments.

I like Deaths End- but it felt really disconnected from the rest of the series.

But yes, there are really brilliant concepts introduced. The 4th dimensional travel was wonderfully done. It’s the first time I ever was able to wrap my head around conceptualizing a higher spatial dimension.

But yes, the last third of the book should’ve been it’s own book. Different series/ same universe type of thing.
It all just escalated so fast and so hard that the terrifying reality of Dark Forest suddenly felt meaningless in comparison.

[Anonymous No.18521654]

>>18520504
>OP pick not anime
>He doesn’t know
I expect nothing less from you cucks.

[Anonymous No.18521798]

Good long sci-fi series? I read wheel of time so length is not an issue

[Anonymous No.18521815]

>>18521798
Probably Expanse or Revelation Space

[Anonymous No.18522563]

>>18517127
What's the most ongoing series you prefer to be reading at the same time?

[Anonymous No.18522651]

>>18522563
I always drop unfinished series. I just forget and stop caring, then re-read from the start when it's done.

[Anonymous No.18522655]

>>18521815
>Expanse
Nah, it goes downhill after Cibola Burn.

[Anonymous No.18522694]

Madness knows no bridle but the knife…

[Anonymous No.18522697]

>>18520062
Not retarded, but definitely a little silly. Just read the books the first time through, enjoy the story and let yourself be confused at some things. Subsequent readthroughs will be much more fulfilling with supplemental material. The guy casually references 3k+ years of history with no explanation, you aren't going to know what he means by every detail straight away. And that's just fine.

[Anonymous No.18522750]

No-God when -- No-God when!...

[Anonymous No.18522829]

Recommend me some books where the male MC gets into a romance with the villainess
I've already read black company

[Anonymous No.18522874]

>>18522750
Maybe in 2030 if we’re lucky.
>Bakker’s philosophical development will be significantly advanced at that point, and the new books will offer us a metaphysics of Eärwa none of us could have ever imagined
Also, read Berserk (manga). I hate litrpg and chinkshit in general, but Berserk is the most Bakkeresque thing I’ve ever seen outside of his own writing (and maybe the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch).

[Anonymous No.18522890]

Not memeing
I really don't like cuckoldry, and brainwashing of any kind

is fantasy really not the genre for me?

[Anonymous No.18522897]

>>18522890
you might find literature in general unaccommodating

[Anonymous No.18522899]

>>18522897
why

[Anonymous No.18522906]

>>18521798
commonwealth saga is technically two books, but they are large. lots of parallel storylines.

[Anonymous No.18522909]

>>18522899
themes of cuckoldry and brainwashing are very common

[Anonymous No.18522910]

>>18522909
it's not fair

[Anonymous No.18522915]

>>18522899
Have you read any works of literature? Kek
>he cucked himself out of reading due to his paranoiac fear of reading about cucks
What a kekold

[Anonymous No.18522942]

is modern fantasy just torture porn?

[Anonymous No.18522954]

>>18520211
>but it's absolutely riddled with errors for some reason
I have a copy of that one, haven't re-read BotNS since finishing it on kindle. I'm not surprised though seeing as they use a cover image from The Third Head of Cerberus.

[Anonymous No.18522958]

>>18520453
Welcome to sci-fi and fantasy every book is part one in the Chronicles of the So and So's Such and Such.

[Anonymous No.18522968]

>>18522942
Now why would you say that?

[Anonymous No.18523000]

>>18522829
Have you tried reading the Black Company again?

[Anonymous No.18523042]

>>18520988
So what you're telling me is, I totally got suckered by the "it gets good after 20 hours" people.

[Anonymous No.18523127]

>>18522874
Did Bakker read Miura? The similarities are insane

[Anonymous No.18523138]

>>18522874
>bakkerfags are also berserkfags
i had my suspicions but this is very enlightening indeed

[Anonymous No.18523304]

>>18520866
Just finished the first book and while it wasn't amazing I'd still say it was pretty good. The world was absolutely fascinating though. Love the more biological technology stuff as well. Starting the second book now

[Anonymous No.18523309]

>>18523138
>fans of grotesque suffering are also fans of grotesque suffering
Who'd have guessed

[Anonymous No.18523554]

/sffg/, does this seem like a cringey thing to include in an otherwise non-capeshit urban fantasy?

>the shy, sheltered girl was born with an abnormally low threshold for what triggers the "hysterical strength reflex"
>this wouldn't be much of a problem if she didn't also have a severe anxiety disorder that gives her crippling panic attacks

[Anonymous No.18523594]

Any Recommendations for good stand-alones and authors who write them?

I’m worn out of giant bloated series.

Chrichton has scratched that itch for me recently but need more.

I’ve heard ok things about Blake Crouch- and I like both of Andy Weirs books (haven’t read Artemis- heard bad things).

[Anonymous No.18523630]

>>18523554
As with all things- it’s not the idea itself, it’s the execution.

From your two paragraphs it sounds like some x-men shit tho

[Anonymous No.18523757]

I'm surprised that this place doesn't have a Webnovel thread. Despite 90% of them being shit, there are a lot of diamonds in the rough.
Do anons here only read published stuff?

[Anonymous No.18523764]

>>18523757
Go shitpost about your weebnovels on /jp/.

[Anonymous No.18523775]

>>18523764
> doesn't know about EN WebNovels
and I thought this place was /lit/, disappointing.

[Anonymous No.18523783]

>>18523775
Nice try, pooh bear.

[Anonymous No.18523870]

>>18523630
the way I intended to execute it was her super strength is only hinted at for most of the story. Initially it's mostly through slapstick gags that have some deniability. Later on she manages to drag an injured person out of a dangerous situation who if the reader wasn't reeling from some major plot twists, they might realize she shouldn't have been able to carry without that hysterical strength. Later she mentions a vague incident where she took a karate class that ended in broken bones. It's only as the story starts nearing the finale that she starts doing things that seem less realistic, culminating in a moment where she throws a piano a the main villain, at which point the scene cuts to her backstory

the problem is this is a setting where people already have powers, but the powers are coming from a completely different source, and hers are fairly strong on top of this, albeit not for combat purposes.

As a character she's kind of weird because I knew from the very beginning I was going to have to create someone with absurdly strong powers like the ones she has, and my challenge was to nerf her while also using her powers to characterize her

[Anonymous No.18523891]

Is there like, a good central resource for learning the basics of what you need to know for worldbuilding comprehensively?
Like enough of the basics regarding economies, governments, how much water a population needs, etc, so you know how enough to realistically make a world that makes sense, or at least break the rules intentionally with scifi/fantasy elements?

[Anonymous No.18524000]

>>18520822

L. Sprague de Camp's "Genus Homo" is a good light read with your criteria, if you like 50s SF.

Also has some interesting speculative evolution. The tiger-sized killer squirrel is actually mildly horrifying.

[Anonymous No.18524015]

>>18520137
Rapes you in your path

[Anonymous No.18524019]

>>18520137
Same, Bakker pays me in blowjobs.

[Anonymous No.18524035]

>>18523594
Read Howard’s Conan stories.

[Anonymous No.18524038]

>>18523891
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATNvOk5rIJA

[Anonymous No.18524112]

>>18523757
More like 99.9% of webnovels are shit. I've literally read every one that wasn't shit at first glance and the majority still turn into garbage.

[Anonymous No.18524178]

>>18524112
If you smell shit everywhere you go, check under your shoe. I mean this sincerely. Seeing value in a work is as much your responsibility as it is the work's responsibility to be good. Thinking everything is shit is almost always a sign someone has given up in seeing value in things, instead choosing to just presume they're bad and look for things to confirm their biases are true.

[Anonymous No.18524316]

>>18524038
He asked for a good source you moron.

>>18524178
Keep coping retard.

[Anonymous No.18524324]

>>18524178
>Seeing value in a work is as much your responsibility
lol, the reader literally has no responsibility to find any value in anything.

[Anonymous No.18524338]

>>18524324
Kant disagrees.
The obvious thing to consider is that this is a philosophical mindset in which you only benefit. When you lazily push all responsibility into the author, and make no attempt to enjoy or appreciate works more, the only one who suffers is you. When you make more effort to enjoy and appreciate works, the only one who benefits is you. This is a purely utilitarian prospect. It objectively increases the number of things you enjoy, and leads to having a better time with your media engagement in general.
This is not in the least some kind of weak-willed defense of authors that demands the reader project good qualities onto a work and basically do the author's work for them. This is a proposition that your mindset when engaging with works will dramatically change your experience with them, which is true, and if you're not a retard, you want to enjoy works when you take the time to read them, so it's good to have accept the responsibility of putting in effort to appreciate and enjoy things. It's that simple. It's entirely to your benefit.

[Anonymous No.18524384]

>>18524338
I'm not going to read that word salad.
Maybe go to some place more friendly to webnovels instead.

[Anonymous No.18524415]

>>18524384
I am continually shocked by the resistance /lit/ shows to reading anything, but I suppose with a low-IQ mindset like yours it's no surprise you would kneel before superior arguments and have nothing but cheap insults in return.

[Anonymous No.18524424]

Why do people read webnovels? There’s enough good to decent SFF out there to last a lifetime, why would you willingly subject yourself to reading tripe like that?

[Anonymous No.18524428]

>>18524424
published SFF*

[Anonymous No.18524431]

>>18524424
power fantasy, wish fulfillment, and niche specialties combined.

[Anonymous No.18524439]

>>18524338
> Kant
opinion discarded

[Anonymous No.18524440]

>>18524415
>>18524338
spence pls

[Anonymous No.18524441]

>>18524431
You forgot the most important reason: Profound retardation.

[Anonymous No.18524445]

>>18524415
We do read, just not your webnovel garbage.

There's so much horrible garbage that somehow manages to get published and you insist on reading dreck that can't even manage that.

[Anonymous No.18524473]

Just finished Neverwhere, which I thought was really good. Is American Gods worth a read, too?

[Anonymous No.18524481]

>>18524473
No ofcourse not.

[Anonymous No.18524499]

>>18524445
I don't care about web novels in particular. No where did I say anything about web novels specifically. I'm just saying, even with web novels, if you start thinking 99.9% of the stuff is shit even while (seemingly) looking for the best looking stuff, then that's probably more reflective of the person's mindset than anything. This is, what, strawman? Missing the point of the argument and just reducing it to "waah don't complain about web novels" because the actual point is too complex to be understood in a single, easily mocked sentence.

[Anonymous No.18524518]

>>18524499
I already said that I won't read your word salad

[Anonymous No.18524539]

>>18524518
>>18524415

[Anonymous No.18524665]

>>18524112
>More like 99.9% of webnovels are shit.
You should thank your lucky starts you can't read Japanese. If you think web novels and fan fiction in general is bad it's my displeasure to inform you that most LNs are even worse. And people get paid for those simply because the market is enormous and publishers are looking for that ONE good LN that can be turned into a franchise. In a twist they've made "being published" utterly irrelevant.

[Anonymous No.18524682]

>>18524665
I doubt the LN-market is worse than webnovels/fanfic because that'd be utterly horrific.
Not that I'm going to check your claims because I know better than to read weebshit.

[Anonymous No.18524754]

>>18524665
That's a pretty myopic and inaccurate view the LN industry. Sasuga baka gaijin.

[Anonymous No.18524917]

>>18524754
unless you understand japanese you're being exposed to a fraction of lns and even then to dodgy translations. it really is that bad and primarily because readers just want to consume whatever panders to them. isekai boom is one of the results where quality literally does not matter as long as it's an isekai story.

[Anonymous No.18524938]

>>18523757
I tried a few years ago to shill The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect but it didn't pass the inherent web-novel bias.

I can see their reasoning, most of them being shit, but lik u say, there are some definite diamonds out there.

[Anonymous No.18525000]

>>18524038
He chunky

[Anonymous No.18525040]

>>18524917
>unless you understand japanese
Luckily I do, which is why I would say that at all. I feel like people are too susceptible to Sturgeon's Law. 90% of everything is shit, don't let that make you ignore the 10% and make retardedly narrow minded observations on a distant culture.

[Anonymous No.18525048]

>>18525040
> Sturgeon's law
This is just fantashit cope to act like other genres are just as bad.
(They aren't)

[Anonymous No.18525080]

>>18523757
/a/ is unironically better place for newer webnovel fiction. /lit/ discusses only the books they have on their bookshelf or the books they heard of as serious. While also discussing yet another sword and sorcery story in yet another medieval setting.

[Anonymous No.18525090]

Wish there was a site that lets you search filter books by trope

[Anonymous No.18525112]

>>18524445
what a logically retarded statement
You present getting published as such a low bar, and then use it as a quality standard to hold other works to.
>Mainstream Hollywood studios only make dumb bullshit movies!
>wtf I aint watching some indie trash, it couldn't even get picked up by a major studio!

[Anonymous No.18525120]

>>18525090
All big booksites are fucking shit compared to mangaupdates or MAL. (Same goes for movies too)

There's isfdb but inactive and incomplete, very few people tag.
Goodreads is useless and has a non-functional search.

[Anonymous No.18525125]

>>18525112
A ton of indie movies get picked up by small but decent publishers.

Same goes for novels, there are a ton of publishers from big to tiny.
If you can't get your novel published, it's irredeemable garbage.

Look at some of the webnovel shit that's been linked in the past, even Sanderson looks like a prose magician next to them.

[Anonymous No.18525135]

>>18525125
>it's irredeemable garbage
or maybe it's an actual experimental piece of art?
it's like the flood of indie games
sure 99% of them are derivative asset flips and/or coom games, but there are some actual artists doing real creative work, and their output is worth consuming for that purpose alone even if you don't even up liking it.
Same goes for any indie medium outside the mainstream.

[Anonymous No.18525148]

>>18525125
Would you even want to be picked up by a majority of publishers? I mean, a small print or a filler part of some compilation is what awaits those indie books. And with transfer of publishing rights, they are stuck there.

[Anonymous No.18525166]

>>18525135
>experimental piece of art
Last Exit to Brooklyn got published.
PLenty of other transgressive works have no trouble getting published.
Splatterpunk gets published.

Besides the fact that none of those webnovels are experimental or pieces of art. They're all derivative trash.

> sure 99% of them are derivative asset flips and/or coom games, but there are some actual artists doing real creative work

The difference is that when I sort for new games on Steamspy I can sort through all releases and judge everything with only 30-45 minutes per week.
There aren't that many games released, and yea 99% being trash is fairly accurate. But a quick look doesn't take a lot of time.

I'm not going to wade through the shit that's webnovels and fanfic.
There's way too much being released, and the quantity/quality ratio is even worse than it is for indiegames somehow.

[Anonymous No.18525238]

>>18520183

That is a pretty shit-looking cover for what is otherwise such a great work of science-fantasy.

[Anonymous No.18525258]

>>18518412
He’s got a point; I don’t even read FanFiction this badly written.

[Anonymous No.18525266]

>>18520532
>>18520541
Implying that’s a woman.

Do not reply to tranny posts; sage tranny posts

[Anonymous No.18525279]

>>18523000
Checked. Black company is so ridiculously comfy.

[Anonymous No.18525310]

>>18525279
The child rape not so much. But it's a good book.

[Anonymous No.18525346]

books where the male MC gets his love interest cucked away by the villain?

[Anonymous No.18525495]

>>18525346
It would be more interesting to see books where the MC cucks the villain and steals the villain's woman. Anyone know anything like that?

[Anonymous No.18525497]

>>18525346

[Anonymous No.18525513]

>>18525497
that's fucked

[Anonymous No.18525514]

>>18525495
You know what would be even more interesting
if the MCjust fucks the villain instead

[Anonymous No.18525586]

>>18525514
Just like my Chinese cartoons.

[Anonymous No.18525603]

>>18525514
Even more interesting would be the setting's self-proclaimed Messiah using his mind tricks to sodomize one of his most devout and loyal follower.

[Anonymous No.18525685]

>>18525603
Does it trouble you?

[Anonymous No.18525691]

>>18525346
im writing one

[Anonymous No.18525749]

>>18525685
I think you've been troubled enough for the both of us anon.

[Anonymous No.18525913]

Ive been looking for books with twists to fill my Attack on Titan and Game of Thrones itch. But I don't really like outright thriller books. I was suggested to look into sci fi and fantasy. Is the Red Rising series good for emotional twists? If not, what books would you guys suggest when it comes to emotional / jaw dropping twists?

[Anonymous No.18525934]

>>18525913
>Red Rising series
YA garbage.
Read Iron Dragon's Daughter by Swanwick.

Some people hate it because it starts like a YA novel but turns bleak really quickly.

[Anonymous No.18525938]

>>18525934
I don't care, life isn't just bleak and darkness
being edgy and torturing your characters doesn't make your literature better

[Anonymous No.18525943]

>>18525934
Didn't realize it was YA. I usually read adult lit fic so thanks for letting me know. Is the one you suggested have emotional twists? Im not big into twists for twists sake, but I like ones like AoT where there's an emotional betrayal involved and everything previous is immediatley recontextualized, along with a new heavy truth the protagonist has to accept.

[Anonymous No.18525963]

>>18525913
>i want books with twists
doesnt that defeat the purpose

[Anonymous No.18525971]

>>18525963
That's true, but I want to research effective twists so I can improve my own twist writing. I've read a lot of murder mystery and thriller and I want to expand to twists in non-thriller/mystery genre books so I can see how people integrate them more naturally in stories focused on something much larger in scope

[Anonymous No.18525981]

>>18518414
Yes. Start with "Inversions", you will have no fucking clue what is going on, just like all the people who have to deal with the Culture agents.

[Anonymous No.18525987]

Finally gotten to the last book of the wheel of time.
I wonder how many people failed to reach end due to the near intolerable section of books 7 to 10.
They're honestly so bad looking back.
Comfy start, that develops into an interesting premise then an absolute flatline of shit you don't care about until the series finally perks up because it's finally ending and because it's ending, events and things actually have to start happening again.

[Anonymous No.18526001]

>>18525987
You're very welcome, anon

[Anonymous No.18526002]

>>18521798
>Good long sci-fi series?
The Deathstalker series by Simon Green. Its not hard scifi, its basically baroque fantasy scifi. Very entertaining though.

[Anonymous No.18526019]

>>18525913
Red Rising is honestly not that bad even though I found the first book very clumsy, the rest of the series was good though. It has a very 'turn your brain off and enjoy the explosions' feel, the series does have a lot of twists I guess but they are all delivered to the reader in the same way, the author intentionally avoids talking/mentioning/showing a certain thing only to hit you over the head with it later on. He does this in a rinse and repeat fashion as well but I didn't mind it.

[Anonymous No.18526020]

recommend me some sci fi books
no world ending threats, no grand danger
just a merry band of space travelers travelling from space station to planets to space stations solving small personal problems

[Anonymous No.18526032]

>>18526020
Hyperion

[Anonymous No.18526036]

>>18526032
May I have another recommendation?

[Anonymous No.18526041]

>>18525938
Off to r/yalit with you.

>>18525943
I'd say if you're a frequent reader of adult lit fic the themes won't be much of a surprise to you. It subverted a lot of expectations people had of fantasy, and is quite a bit bleaker in tone than most novels in its genre.
There's definitely betrayal involved but it's not really done in a thriller/mystery kind of way.

I guess Iron Dragon's Daughter is not really what you're currently looking for after all.

I'll try to think of something that fits better...

[Anonymous No.18526077]

>>18526019
I see. Thanks for the heads up anon

>>18526041
Thank you anon!

[Anonymous No.18526080]

>>18526041
Red Rising is an odd one, there are somethings I really like about it and I'll occasionally go back and read certain chapters/sections I like. But then there are also parts that I find a bit cringe even for me, I almost never recommend it because of this.

[Anonymous No.18526104]

>reading Knights of Dark Renown
>the mad kings sorcerers summons a pack of bestial demons straight from Hell to crush the rebel heroes hiding in the forest
>its winter so a vast majority of the demons freeze to death in a -40c blizzard or fall into the river when they break the ice
idk why I found that hilarious, the idea that not even the forces of Hell itself could beat mother nature or that if all Hell broke loose it couldnt invade Russia during the winter

[Anonymous No.18526131]

>>18526077
I'm an idiot.

Stations of the Tide by Swanwick probably fits perfectly, I think.

[Anonymous No.18526147]

>>18526131
Looked up the premise. Looks neat. Wonder why it doesn't have many ratings and is 3.7 (although these days a book 4.2+ rating is suspicious)

[Anonymous No.18526221]

>>18526147
Swanwick is mostly known to older readers of SFF, most of the older authors don't have a lot of ratings.
Non-series writers tend to have less ratings either way I've noticed.

>is 3.7
Lit fic doesn't tend to have the highest ratings either.
Ton of classics like Naked Lunch that don't even manage a 3.6. Score is more a measure of how easy a read a book is.

I've learned to ignore gr ratings and only look at reviewers I respect.

[Anonymous No.18526260]

>>18526221
Yeah ironically some of my least enioyed books are 4.0+. Thanks, I'll check this book out.

[Anonymous No.18526279]

>>18520359
this board is slow enough and I read both so I don't mind, honestly. I just mean that culturally they shouldn't be linked. Any bookstore will stay "sci fi and fantasy" as one category. It makes no sense. One is about knights and dragons and wizards and the other is about spaceships and robots and shit.

[Anonymous No.18526311]

>>18526279
Cause besides their colours and suits they're the exact same.

Same plot structure, same cliches, same tropes just a different shell.
Obviously some sci-fi is clearly different (Philip K Dick) but Star Wars is just fantasy.

[Anonymous No.18526336]

Does anyone have an epub of the Bill Johnston translation of Stanisław Lem‘s Solaris?

[Anonymous No.18526337]

>>18525913
Don't remind me of Attack on Titan, it's too soon...
That was the worst ending of all time, I'm not even exaggerating.

[Anonymous No.18526382]

>>18525913
The first law series by Joe Abercrombie.

Red rising is fine if you like game of thrones and attack on titan, people in this board like to seem smart by hating on popular things

[Anonymous No.18526392]

>>18526104
Gemmell is pretty good but he always puts weird shit in his books, like how the protagonist of Morningstar gets cucked by the world's main character.

[Anonymous No.18526406]

>>18526020
>No world ending threats, no grand danger
That makes it a bit tough. You'll find the most of that either in the old classic sci fi novels but there are some more moderns ones where the focus is less on the plot and more on the characters. The classics focus a lot more on problem solving and ideas.

Old classic Sci Fi:
Dragon's Egg
Tau Zero
I, Robot
Caves of Steel/Naked Sun/Robots of Dawn
Rendezvous With Rama
Hitchhiker's Guide

Modern Character focus:
Murderbot Diaries
Bobiverse
The Martian
Project Hail Mary (This is a new one and I haven't read it. Heard good things about it but it seems to be about as good as The Martian)

[Anonymous No.18526407]

>>18526337
Sneed. Could have been better but was pretty good desu

[Anonymous No.18526410]

>>18526406
not as an iron rule, it's just that it gets a little bit tiring when every book you read the gang encounters problems that somehow only they can solve and the world would end if they don't
you kind of get desensitized

[Anonymous No.18526428]

Science fiction sports?

[Anonymous No.18526458]

>>18526410
Well, all of these I give my recommendation for, and most of them have some aspect of problem solving or exploration for you.

Since you're asking for broad recommendations I'll hazard a guess and say you don't know much about sci fi as a whole. In that case I'd recommend looking into the older classics before reading a bunch of modern stuff. There's a lot more transformers-tier brain rot in nuSci-Fi than there is in the Sci-Fi of ye olden times, but go too far back and all you have is pulp garbage.

Sci Fi is generally a lot shorter than fantasy, and is much more often standalone and not serialized, meaning it's easy to finish a large spread of "the good ones" compared to the mega-series that's become so common in fantasy.

I could give a list twice as big as the one I gave you.

[Anonymous No.18526472]

>>18526458
yeah, haven't read a lot in the past, trying to rectify that
if you have a list of recommendations I'll take it
I'm always down for more recommendations

[Anonymous No.18526510]

This shit was way too long and the payoff wasn't worth it

[Anonymous No.18526511]

>>18525987
>I wonder how many people failed to reach end due to the near intolerable section of books 7 to 10.
I made it to book 9 before quitting. This was in the early 2000s though, so the last book released at that time was book 10.

[Anonymous No.18526516]

>>18526511
>This was in the early 2000s though, so the last book released at that time was book 10.
That is to say, that if I had read it now instead, then I probably would have pushed through since I would know I'd get to the actual ending before long.

[Anonymous No.18526532]

>>18526472
Old classics:
Asimov: I, Robot; Foundation series, the Robot trilogy, Pebble in the Sky, The Gods Themselves. (I, Robot singlehandedly got me into reading non-YA back in 2016 and I've been reading Sci-Fi ever since)
Arthur C. Clarke: 2001 A Space Odyssey (and its sequels, haven't read them), Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama (NOT its sequels)
Dune and its sequels (Only the 6 written by Frank, ignore the ones written by his son Brian)
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion. There's 2 more after that but they're fairly disconnected and suck.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The complete edition)
Tau Zero
Dragon's Egg

Newer books:
Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest (my fav. Sci Fi book of all time), and Death's End
Bobiverse
Murderbot Diaries
The Martian
Annihilation

On my TBR but I'm sure they're good:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Neuromancer
Ender's Game
The Expanse
Stranger in a Strange Land
Ball Lightning
Solaris
Roadside Picnic
Armor
Doomsday Book
Downbelow Station
1984
Farenheit 451
Brave New World

>>18526510
To each their own I guess

[Anonymous No.18526539]

>>18526532
>Farenheit 451
I'll never understand why americans thought this book was even worth reading

[Anonymous No.18526552]

>>18526539
I've yet to get into any sort of dystopian story. Can you tell me why it's not worth reading?

[Anonymous No.18526583]

>>18526552
it's extremely surface level
reads like an old man ranting against the future, crying about how television is going to replace books and arguments boiling down to literally TV bad, reads more like a strawman argument more than an exploration of a dystopian future.
I'm a pretty shit critic, but honestly it just feels very shallow and hastily written

[Anonymous No.18526624]

>>18526583
I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 in middle school, and thinking it was lame. I didn't read Something Wicked This Way Comes until recently but I should have read it then, because I would have realised I was wasting my time and now it's too late to have a childhood.

[Anonymous No.18526826]

>>18526392
yeah theres a lot of cuckshit in this novel alone, I dont really mind but it stands out

[Anonymous No.18526883]

>>18518414
Yes. The first book is a bit different from the remaining (since it's from the POV of an outsider) and it gets some flack, but the series overall is fucking great, many fun characters, tech and themes. People usually suggest that you start with Player of Games as "test" to see if you will enjoy, I did so and it was true, but maybe you wanna follow the timeline and start with the first (Consider Phlebas), just don't give up because people say is not good (I actually liked it, but it was a gut punch).

[Anonymous No.18526890]

yall really need to start including author names by the title

[Anonymous No.18526892]

Can you guys recommend me some single-volume fantasy that's good?

I started reading Malazan last year and enjoyed it enough to read the series. But I'm on the final book now and honestly am completely lost and tired of it. Pretty much all the characters from the first half or dead or forgotten and the final book jumps around so much I don't even care anymore. I don't think I could handle another long series any time soon.

[Anonymous No.18526901]

>>18526826
I don't remember any cuckshit in Dark Renown. Do you mean how the coward knight Lancelot expy is into the vampire lady Arthur's wife expy?

[Anonymous No.18526915]

Started listening to the audiobook of Urth of the New Sun in bed last night, was extremely comfy. I've read it before but I think a lot of it went over my head, more so than Book of the New Sun.

[Anonymous No.18526923]

>>18526890
Authors don't matter, only the content of the book matters. We are anon.

[Anonymous No.18526955]

>>18526892
> Can you guys recommend me some single-volume fantasy that's good?
This is considerably more difficult than you may realize.

[Anonymous No.18526973]

>>18526955
I'm aware. I'm just so sick of everything being an 'epic' series

[Anonymous No.18526982]

>>18526923
problem is that if it's a simple title, more often than not, search engine will return more than a single book sharing the same name

[Anonymous No.18526983]

>>18526892
>>18526104
Although, Gemmell is notorious for rushing his endings.

[Anonymous No.18526999]

>>18526890
>yall

[Anonymous No.18527000]

>>18526890
Or you could learn to use google.

[Anonymous No.18527008]

>>18526892
War of the Flowers by Tad Williams is a nice stand alone novel.

[Anonymous No.18527014]

>>18526892
it'll either be a fairly big volume, or the world has to be rather derivative

[Anonymous No.18527031]

Any of you use e-readers?
What contributes to the varying file sizes of epubs?
sometimes I see 9mb files, and I'm confused on whether I should download the biggest one, the smallest one, or just somewhere in the middle.

[Anonymous No.18527036]

>>18526279
Most modern SF is only distinguishable from Fantasy by superficial elements, and even then the line is blurred as often as it is distinct.

[Anonymous No.18527076]

>>18527031
Pictures, anon. A single .jpg of a book's cover is the difference between a 500KB e-book and a 3MB e-book.

[Anonymous No.18527109]

>>18527076
oh
so if I download the biggest ones, maybe the cover would be higher res?

[Anonymous No.18527113]

>>18526901
the scene where the king ordered all the nobles to wifeswap and fuck or die. I guess its not real cuckshit but yknow thats still weird. Also just in general like the guys wife who was raped to death while he was at work. Like they didnt neeeeed to do that, they had an entire subplot reason for being able to freely kill people. And they could've kept the same reasoning still when they threw him in jail.

[Anonymous No.18527197]

>>18526915
Why is Gene Wolfe the Pringles Man?

[Anonymous No.18527273]

>>18527197
He developed the machine that makes Pringles chips.

[Anonymous No.18527342]

>>18523870
sounds like it belongs in the trash

[Anonymous No.18527474]

>>18526532
>To each their own I guess
Did you like it?
Personally I just thought there was a lot of "glue". The part about the pseudotulpa girl was weird and stilted. And all the murder attempts after Luo gets unfrozen are some looney toons shit.

I admit the "curse" lost a bit of its strength mostly because I got spoiled, but it's stil a good concept.

[Anonymous No.18527684]

>>18526510
The payoff was absolutely perfect.

[Anonymous No.18527706]

>>18527684
See above. I was being unfair honestly.

[Anonymous No.18527736]

>>18527706
I see
Well i can understand your point if you got spoiled, i had no fucking idea what the curse could be and i was on the edge of my seat during the reveal.

[Anonymous No.18527766]

>>18527197
>he didn't know that the Pringles mascot is in homage to Gene Wolfe's mustache

[Anonymous No.18527808]

>>18520822
>Can anyone recommend me a sci-fi book where the male MC is transported into the future?
>romantic subplot is a plus but not a must
classic isekai

[Anonymous No.18527864]

>>18525913
Mistborn: The Final Empire. (will satisfy your AoT love for edgy teenagers zooming over city towers)

Sharp Objects (but that's thriller )

[Anonymous No.18527882]

>>18527474
If you read the rest of the post, you'd see that it's probably my favorite SF book I've ever read.

I too thought the tulpa was silly, along with Ji's whole mail order waifu thing. It felt like a necessary machination by the author in order to get Luo Ji to do much of anything.

The reason I liked it so much was in the ideas, and the ideas were fucking brilliant.

The wallfacer program, while quite unrealistic, I thought was brilliantly handled and made sense in this world. SF is the genre of idea exploration and I think this idea was explored very well.
I loved the moral arguments the book raised. It makes you seriously consider literal thought control and nuclear kamikaze swarms as legitimate military strategies.
The "looney toons" killer virus I thought was mostly a demonstration how deeply the internet and electricity penetrated every aspect of life in the future.
The battle of darkness and "post-earth" morality was one of my favorite parts of the book, even though it was just a side story. Is was in hindsight a clear microcosm of Dark Forest Theory as a whole.
I liked how space travel was realistic, with real considerations for gravity and acceleration, with spaceships that were designed with that in mind. The spaceships were also very unique compared to what you usually see in SF media.
Reading the teardrop attack was gut-wrenching because I had an objective view of what was happening, yet nothing could be done about it. The length of the pages long description of the battle makes it even more painful since it seems to drag on for so long. This happens a couple times to even greater extents in Death's End

Apologies for rambling. I'm not good at being concise

[Anonymous No.18528027]

>>18520529
name?

[Anonymous No.18528131]

What was your favourite 70s/80s fantasy? I grew up with my father's library waiting in a lone room in the house and read so damn much from Lem, Clarke, Foster and Feist. Pic related is my favourite series ever, even read the two late sequels from the 90s

[Anonymous No.18528196]

>>18524938
Does it even count? It's just a short story that didn't get published. The webnovel faggot just wants to talk about his special club Japanese exclusives or break down why they're poorly translated.

[Anonymous No.18528212]

>>18528131
Why does that cover have me thinking of Kvothe from name of the wind?

[Anonymous No.18528221]

>>18519350
8/10 almost fell for it.

[Anonymous No.18528228]

>>18525266
this, that pic is very obviously a teenage boy wearing a bra.

[Anonymous No.18528260]

>>18528131
Tanith Lee's Birthgrave.

[Anonymous No.18528289]

Upload your blog already, Bakker.

What the actual fuck. We just want to know if you're alive man.

Do I have to post a picture of my cock here with a time-stamp for you to say something? For fucks sake.

Honestly though, we hope that you are doing well.

[Anonymous No.18528298]

>>18517127
Is the Martian actually good?

[Anonymous No.18528308]

>>18528298
It's alright if you enjoy crude science fiction films based on realistic human space exploration.

[Anonymous No.18528339]

>>18528131
I liked Spellsinger until they isekai'd the second earthling to set up a love triangle between the mc, her, and the shortstack not-human.

[Anonymous No.18528345]

How do I know if I'm visualizing something incorrectly? SFF is too much for me.

[Anonymous No.18528381]

>>18528345
your subjective experience of a book is just as valid as whoever decided to make art about it or even the author itself. You shouldn't be expected to catch and incorporate every detail of a description just as the author intended. If I have a mental image of a character set in my head, but then the book contradicts that, I ignore it, and I'm fine with that.

[Anonymous No.18528392]

>>18523870
I like the premise now that you put it that you’ve explained more.

I think the key is how subtlety you can foreshadow. Also how her powers fit in relative to the world. Ideally they are unique but not in an overly powered way.

[Anonymous No.18528395]

Does the Southern Reach trilogy get better after the first book? Annihilation is mind numbing.

[Anonymous No.18528421]

>>18526510
You just don’t like sci-fi anon

[Anonymous No.18528422]

>>18528381
>If I have a mental image of a character set in my head, but then the book contradicts that, I ignore it, and I'm fine with that.
This is how Frodo ended up being African American in my version of LotR.

[Anonymous No.18528439]

>>18528345
A lot of writers have talked about this, and some of the better ones I know elect not to repeatedly re-describe the appearance of characters because no matter what you do, readers will develop their own mental image for how a character looks. Writing is fundamentally not a precise and universal art due to the very nature of language, with everyone having their private conception of words and sense, so any writer trying to stick to hard-line images and bemoaning anyone who gets the wrong picture in their head will surely go insane.

[Anonymous No.18528441]

>>18526532
Enders game and Neuromancer are essential. I would recommend at least Speaker for the Dead as well.

Dark Forest is also my favorite sci-fi novel of all time- so I make those recs fairly confidently you will enjoy them.

[Anonymous No.18528446]

>>18525266
>Being afraid of cock

We accept your defeat.

[Anonymous No.18528481]

>>18526973
Discworld is a “series” but all the books are stand-alones. So it’s not a bloated epic arc like you are talking about.

Warbreaker by Sanderson is a good standalone fantasy. Elantris is meh but it’s standalone as well.

If you are willing to go outside fantasy- sci-fi and techy novels have a lot more.

I’m reading through Michael Chrichton right now. Highly recommend.

[Anonymous No.18528490]

>>18528439
Writers should definitely put at least a little effort into providing a clear image of their worlds, even if they're relatively similar to our own. I'm fine with bare-bones imagery of humanoid characters. For instance, the few Asimov books I've read have had piss poor imagery. I don't think he described the moon base in the Gods Themselves at all.

[Anonymous No.18528499]

>>18528392
so, her actual powers fit pretty cleanly into the story. She's basically an illusionist who can make her illusions real if she has enough power to work with. The super strength doesn't fit in as well, but considering the three other main characters are a multi-disciplinary genius, a prodigy hacker/thief and a guy with a magic mcguffin bound to him I'm feeling more confident as long as I tone her down in other areas

[Anonymous No.18528511]

>>18528298
Yes. It’s not “serious lit” but it’s fun, tight sci-fi that doesn’t try to be more than it is. And it’s a complete story, not trying to set up 18 more books.

[Anonymous No.18528541]

>>18527736
I think I would have had a slight idea since I read a fair bit about Fermi's paradox when I was younger. It's still really cool. I just went in thinking it would be used more prominently in the middle section of the plot.
>>18527882
Yeah I just saw that, lol.
>It felt like a necessary machination by the author in order to get Luo Ji to do much of anything.
Probably also to show th extent of his selfishness. But yeah, it's about ideas, not people. I still think it could have been handled more elegantly and less like a chinese drama.

Wallfacers were a great idea (I do think the name sound a little silly lel). Top notch stuff. The loony toons feel was more about how chill Da Shi and Luo seemed to be. I would expect them to be a bit more freaked out about it.
>Is was in hindsight a clear microcosm of Dark Forest Theory as a whole
They said so pretty explicitly, yeah. Also Zhang Beihai had a fantastic arc. Really great character. Really glad the battle of darkness didn't end up with lol everybody died.
>>18528421
It's true that this is my first (commited) foray into the genre. Despite a handful of gripes, I still really enjoyed myself with the books. I plan to finish the series.

I do want to ask though, is Death's End of similar quality as its predecessors?

[Anonymous No.18528572]

>>18528490
ASSimov is a hack.

[Anonymous No.18528579]

>>18528541
Deaths End is mixed for me. It’s way way different.

On its own, it’s really good.

As a continuation of the series? I’m more torn.
It is for awhile and then… the last third goes completely fucking wild.

For me it cheapens the first two needlessly.
I don’t think the author needed to go to extent and lengths he did regarding time and scope.

Also there were a ton of cool ideas and concepts hinted at but not explored. So simultaneously it overwhelmed while also left me feeling like it was lacking.

Without spoiling anything- yes I think it’s worth reading, and it has some of the coolest sci-fi moments I’ve ever seen.

But it’s way less tight from a “plot” perspective.

[Anonymous No.18528597]

>>18528499
I like the idea of “super strength” - traditionally a boring and op power- being relegated to useless in this world.

And then she has a particular quirk/trait that makes it useful. Or something like that.

Regardless sounds cool anon.

[Anonymous No.18528720]

>>18528579
this 100%. Even being slightly lower quality and looser than TDF still makes it one of the most creative and enjoyable books I've ever read.

[Anonymous No.18528750]

anyone else gonna pick up The Nature of Middle Earth when it releases? It's the only middle earth book I'm missing.

[Anonymous No.18528825]

are classical sci-fi worth reading?

[Anonymous No.18528840]

>>18528825
What do you mean? Those are the only ones worth your time.

[Anonymous No.18528842]

>>18528825
>>18526532

[Anonymous No.18528853]

>>18528840
All my favorites are less than 20 years olds.

[Anonymous No.18528856]

>>18528853
me too

[Anonymous No.18528857]

>>18528853
You clearly haven't read a lot of classics then, and it shows.

[Anonymous No.18528872]

>>18528857
The classics are overblown.

[Anonymous No.18528874]

>>18528825
Abso-fucking-lutely, my dear lad. Check out Stanislaw with no doubts, but Olaf Stapledon first.

[Anonymous No.18528883]

>>18528856
What is the dog doing on the bed?
pomf?

[Anonymous No.18528887]

>>18528872
pulps are the true classics

[Anonymous No.18528889]

>>18528887
Not for /sffg/

[Anonymous No.18528913]

>>18528541
Death's End is enjoyable and worth reading but personally I'd have preferred if it ended with TDF, or maybe went off in a different direction. DE has a few really cool ideas but it was a little too over the top overall.

[Anonymous No.18528962]

>>18528857
Based on what?

[Anonymous No.18528964]

>>18528962
Probably one some stupid reason.

[Anonymous No.18528990]

>>18528962
Don't derail other people's posts.

[Anonymous No.18528997]

>>18528395
>Annihilation is mind numbing.
It really is. It's a shit take on Roadside Picnic, and I hear the sequels are somehow even worse. I bet the film adaptation is drastically different. VanderMeer is on my avoid list.

[Anonymous No.18529006]

What are some books that almost never leave the POV of the MC and explores the world through his eyes

[Anonymous No.18529010]

>>18529006
Boring ones.

[Anonymous No.18529012]

>>18529006
First person point of view books.

[Anonymous No.18529025]

>>18529006
Can't you use google?

[Anonymous No.18529030]

>>18529025
no

[Anonymous No.18529033]

New thread
>>18529031

[Anonymous No.18529035]

>>18529030
Ah, I see. you're retarded and can barely function.

[Anonymous No.18529041]

>>18529035
your insults slide ride off me like piss in a waterfall

[Anonymous No.18529055]

>>18528997
different or not the film is still shit and got mogged hard by the nic cage color out of space movie

[Anonymous No.18529067]

>>18525266
You have clearly never seen breasts.

[Anonymous No.18529164]

>>18529055
You it's gonna be shit if Nic Cage is attached to the movie.

[Anonymous No.18529198]

>>18529025
I mean you can't exactly type "third-person limited scifi/fantasy books" into google and get anything remotely exhaustive. I really wish there there was some database of novel where you could reliably search and sort entries according to text-relevant tags. It's weird to me that something like VNDB is so far ahead in that regard.

[Anonymous No.18529206]

>>18529198
the more I think about it
the ore this seems like an opportunity for a very profitable website

[Anonymous No.18529245]

>>18529206
Possibly. There's obviously a market; like a quarter of the posts in these threads are just people asking for recommendations for books with particular cliches. If I can go to one website and easily get a complete list of every visual novel with high sexual content featuring a male protagonist and transfer student female heroine that lasts over 10 hours, I don't see why there can't be one just as granular for books.

[Anonymous No.18529310]

>New thread is dead due to bakkercucks
Why are they like this?

[Anonymous No.18529523]

>>18526511
>>18526516
I only managed to get to the end because I eventually would just read the chapter summaries for parts I didn't like.

[Anonymous No.18530258]

>>18526892
Try reading some pre-Tolkien stuff like Lord Dunsany's books or Lud-in-the-Mist