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23198892 No.23198892 [Reply] [Original]

Space Vikings edition.

>Recommended reading charts (Look here before asking for vague recs)
https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/guIyhAzS
>Archive
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg
>Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg

Previous: >>23186539

>> No.23198929

Read Reverend Insanity

>> No.23198981
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23198981

>>23198929
based

>> No.23198986
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23198986

>> No.23199030
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23199030

>>23198892
Got this recently, took a peek, and guess I'll be reading it next.
>Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years[1] and eighteen distinct human species, of which our own is the first. The book employs a narrative conceit that, under subtle inspiration, the novelist has unknowingly been dictated a channelled text from the last human species.

>> No.23199104
File: 1.22 MB, 884x1596, IMG_3503.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23199104

Read Beyond Apollo

>> No.23199108
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23199108

Read whatever you like.

>> No.23199147

i enjoyed red rising. i don't care if it's an amalgamation of 30 tropes, or that you could recognize that obvious fact, it was great.
so uh.. read red rising

>> No.23199163
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23199163

Books with this vibe? Fantasy special ops. I guess Black Company sort of counts.

>> No.23199164

>>23199030
The movie is great too

>> No.23199172

>>23199163
that sounds cool. is the book any good? have you read any 40k?

>> No.23199176

Books about a hero going on an adventure in a imaginative world and finding love along the way?

>> No.23199189

>>23199172
Sadly it was an RPG campaign setting built for 4e D&D, not a novel.

>> No.23199212

>>23199176
>go on adventure of a lifetime
>become a retarded coomer instead

>> No.23199215

>>23199164
Yeah heard it came out in 2020, so pretty recently. I'll have to check that out then eventually.

>> No.23199242

Nov 2019 - Mar 2024
A Look At The SFF Novels I've Read Since I Founded The /sffg/ Goodreads Group*

Novels: 313
Fantasy: 128
Science Fiction: 164
Science Fantasy: 21
Self-Published: 37
Translated: 17

Authors: 126
Male: 98
Female: 27
Trans: 1 (ftm)
Books read from author
1: 72
10+: 4

Publishers: 78 (inaccurate due to varying by edition)

Years Covered: 1941-2024
21st century: 244
20th century: 69
2020s: 79
2010s: 123
2000s: 42
1990s: 14
1980s: 27
1970s: 11
1960s: 11
1950s: 4
1940s: 2

Top 10 Most Read Authors And Their Average Rating
Sanderson, Brandon (3.2)
Modesitt, L.E. (3.8)
Wight, Will (3.1)
Reynolds, Alastair (2.9)
Abercrombie, Joe (4.2)
Corey, James S.A. (3.9)
Egan, Greg (3.8)
Abraham, Daniel (4.6)
Piper, H. Beam (3.9)
Tanaka, Yoshiki (4.0)

Top 10 Authors By Average Rating With At Least 3 Novels Read From Them
Liu, Ken (5.0)
Abraham, Daniel (4.6)
Bujold, Lois McMaster (4.3)
Weber, David (4.3)
Abercrombie, Joe (4.2)
Dinniman, Matt (4.2)
Wolfe, Gene (4.0)
McLean, Peter (4.0)
Simmons, Dan (4.0)
Staveley, Brian (4.0)

Top 10 Most Read Publishers, Their Average Rating, And The Authors I Read Most From Them
TOR (3.6) [Sanderson, Modesitt]
Orbit (3.6) [Abercrombie, Corey]
Ace (3.5) [Piper, Herbert]
Bantam (3.7) [Simmons, Crowley]
Hidden Gnome (3.1) [Wight]
Harper (3.8) [Bujold, Vaughn]
DAW (3.6) [Friedman]
Haikasoru (4.0) [Tanaka]
Saga Press (4.3) [Ken Liu]
Dandy House (4.2) [Dinniman]

Who Most Decided Whether I'd Read It
Self: 49%
Specific /sffg/ members: 28%
Thread or /sffg/ members in general: 23%

*various exclusions apply and edge cases were omitted

>> No.23199280
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23199280

>>23199163
>Conan, look out!

>> No.23199285

>>23199163
The God In The Bowl, but it doesn't go well.

>> No.23199295

Read my web novel

>> No.23199305
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23199305

Read Bakker.

>> No.23199319

>>23199295
I've been thinking about using AI to write a novel.

>> No.23199323

>>23199319
Do it, faggot

>> No.23199336

What's the best point in the series to start reading New Spring? I'm re-reading The Eye of the World and I never progressed past book one but I managed to luck out into all the WOT books fairly cheap lately. There seems to be a divide in the fanbase where you can read it chronologically from what I see

>> No.23199418

>>23199319
literally more work than just banging it out yourself without editing

>> No.23199423

>>23199147
The second and third books are much better than the first which I still enjoyed. You just have to get past the first chapter of book 2.
it's a fake out that makes you think you're in for another academy story

>> No.23199426

>>23199242
Neat

>> No.23199429

>>23199163
What about modern day soldiers with modern weaponry in a fantasy setting? Battling orcs, dragons, vampires, zombies, etc.

>> No.23199465

>>23199429
Stargate?

>> No.23199478
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23199478

>>23199429
Gate but good

>> No.23199481
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23199481

>>23199465
No.

>> No.23199486

>>23199481
Details pls?

>> No.23199498

>>23199319
You'll feel unfulfilled. Put in the work, man.

>> No.23199510
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23199510

>>23199486
No. Also this one is more of what you're asking for.

>> No.23199560

>>23199498
>"I'm better at editing than writing."

>> No.23199586

>>23199510
Semper fireball.

>> No.23199592

What are your favourite sffg book titles? Wot has a good couple I like such as A Memory of Light and Towers of Midnight another title I really like is Gardens of the Moon

>> No.23199638

>>23199592
Always loved Our Friends from Frolix 8 for how heavily it leans into being scifi nonsense

>> No.23199782
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23199782

I read a book and didn't like it and now I'm here to rant

>Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros

The book is marketed as a fantasy novel about dragonrider cadets going through brutal training to prepare for war. This is false advertising. It's actually a shitty romance novel with some dragons on the side. I'd say a solid 50% of the wordcount is spent on a love triangle (two guys fighting over the MC) and developing the MC's relationship with the one she eventually picks. The MC spends an obnoxiously long time going in circles: "OMG he's so hot... but he's 'bad for me' [he objectively isn't]... OMG..." This was almost resolved toward the end, but the last chapter or two has the MC angsting about how "I can't trust you any more because you kept secrets from me". Never mind that (1) she fully agrees that the thing he secretly did was the right thing to do, and (2) if the secret had gotten out, he would have been executed on the spot. So I guess this bullshit will carry on into the sequel.

The dragonrider school here is extremely brutal, and most cadets die before graduation. It's the same idea as Naomi Novik's Scholomance series, except there it's much better motivated: about half of all Scholomance students are eaten by demons before graduating, and wizard parents will literally fight wars for the privilege of sending their kids into this deathtrap because it's so much better than the alternative. In Fourth Wing, the Rider's Quadrant is extremely deadly supposedly to weed out the weak. But in practice, this mostly seems to involve cadets dying due to bad luck or other dumb reasons. One cadet snaps another's neck while sparring, after the instructor tells him to stop, and doesn't even get a slap on the wrist. I guess the other guy is "weak" for losing this one random sparring match and therefore deserves to die. The result is that the Quadrant kills off hundreds of the country's best and brightest every year because the people in charge are too stupid to realize that cadets who aren't cut out for dragon riding might still be useful somewhere else.

>> No.23199784

>>23199782
Rant continues

>Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros

The dragons are okay, but don't get much in the way of character development. It's implied that dragons have their own relationships independent of humans, like when X dragon has a rivalry with Y dragon and won't shut up to his rider about how some upcoming contest, but this is never really explored.

The story is also inconsistent in its portrayal of how much dragons care about their riders. Dragons who lose a rider are usually devastated and refuse to take a new one for years or decades, but also, a common cause of death for cadets is that they fall off their dragon and the dragon just doesn't bother to catch them. The MC's dragon is ready to eviscerate anyone who looks at her funny starting from minute one, but on the other hand, when So-and-So gets too close to someone else's dragon and the dragon incinerates him on the spot, it's brushed off as nothing—"yep, this place sure is brutal." What does So-and-So's dragon think about this? Shouldn't he be swearing an eternal dragon vendetta, or at least have some kind of opinion on the matter? The story doesn't go into it at all.

The author does give some motivation for the dragons to bother with all this rider business: the dragons want to defend their nesting grounds, and made a deal with the surrounding human kingdom to supoort that. But this motivation seems a bit disconnected from the behavior of the dragons seen in the story. What exactly are the terms of this human/dragon treaty? Is there an anti-rider faction that has a different idea for defending the vale? I want to read about dragon politics, dammit. Also, it seems like thet humans should have bargained at some point to get the dragons to stop randomly killing cadets and just, you know, point out the ones they don't like so they can be thrown out of the school.

One last example of stupidity, just because it annoys me: a major conflict in the middle part of the book is the MC having trouble staying on her dragon without falling off. Somehow, in the 600 year history of dragonriding in this setting, nobody has thought to put a webbing on the dragon and strap themselves in like in Temeraire. They could even (gasp!) put a second person on the same dragon, who can help repel boarders, which are apparently a real concern.

I was expecting a new take on Dragonriders of Pern, and instead I got this shit. Therefore I am mad.

Oh, by the way, apparently this book is a mega best seller with 999 zillion copies and the sequel is too and Amazon bought the movie rights just 6 months after it came out (no joke).

>> No.23199807

it really is over, isn't it?

>> No.23199821

>>23199782
>>23199784
>being this easily duped by the biggest Romantasy TikTok craze
You aren't the first here to rant about it. You won't be the last. You have no one but yourself to blame for being so easily tricked into reading it and everything you needed to know was so readily available, including from these threads you're posting in. This is on par with going "I thought Twilight was about vampires, not romance!"

>> No.23199862

In less than a year Fourth Wing and its sequel have sold about as much as Game of Thrones, the first book, has sold in roughly 30 years. The present is female.

>> No.23199869

>>23199821
I knew literally nothing about this book until I saw it on the shelf at the bookstore. Usually I have pretty decent luck just buying random shit that sounds cool. But the dust jacket on this one sells it as a fantasy adventure, which is absolutely not the focus of the actual book.

>> No.23199912
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23199912

>>23198892
What does /lit/ think of Lafferty? Just finished picrel and only powered through because it was short and I didn't want to drop 3 books in a row. His style is weird and mildly humorous, but it feels like it was either too archaic or too focused on uninteresting asides to connect with me.

>> No.23199966

>>23199912
Ask >>>/lit/

>> No.23200029
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23200029

Read The Spirit Phone

>> No.23200034
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23200034

/SFFG/ Recommendations:

Read Reverend Insanity, Lord of The Mysteries, Neuromancer, Hyperion, The Prince of Nothing

Also read The Wandering Inn, Between Two Fires, Mother of Learning, Cradle, I Shall Seal the Heavens, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Poppy War.

>> No.23200152
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23200152

/SFFG/ Recommendations: LITRPG Edition

Read Azarinth Healer, Primal Hunter, He Who Fights with Monsters, Dungeon Crawler Carl

Also read System Universe, Dissonance, Defiance of the Fall, Iron Prince

>> No.23200316

>>23200034
>>23200152
i tried a few of your recs and they were awful. you have SHIT taste and i think less of you. thanks for nothing

>> No.23200342

>>23199912
We only read Sword & Sorcery here.

>> No.23200351

>>23199336
New Spring spoils huge amounts of the plot, it's meant to be read last.

>> No.23200375

Rec me sffg with excellent, strategic large scale battles

>> No.23200380

>>23200375
>>23199481

>> No.23200395

Are the Malazan books seriously top tier because it looks a little bit reddit

>> No.23200399

>>23199147
it gets better as it goes on too, the larger scale military stuff in dark age is great

>> No.23200402

Is The Poppy War good

>> No.23200413

>>23200402
>>/lit/thread/20102516#p20103683

>> No.23200422
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23200422

any books like this
>dark sorcerer takes on naive but ambitious girl as apprentice
>girl ignores moral qualms of dark magic because she wants power
>dark mage takes advantage of her and controls her mind and body
>lots of smutty rituals
think Svengali but fantasy setting

>> No.23200430

>>23200422
You have to write it anon

>> No.23200434
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23200434

>>23198892
Good Fantasy and sci-fi

>Berserk
>There Are Superheroes In This Story
>The Reality Dysfunction
>The Murderbot Diaries
>Melody of Mana
>The Dragon Riders of Pern
>Warlock of The Magus World
>Ringworld
>Neuromancer
>12 Miles Below
>A Practical Guide To Sorcery
>Healer of Monsters
>Blame
>Tenebroum
>Sokaiseva
>I Am Not Chaotic Evil
>Violent Solutions


Good Lit-RPG

>Dawn of The Void
>Eight
>Hell Difficulty Tutorial
>The Nailmaker
>Cinnamon Bun
>Book of The Dead
>The Tutorial Is Too Hard
>The Reincarnation of Alysara
>Age of Stone
>Overgeared
>As Good as Dead
>The Warlord
>The Mana Influx
>Red Mage

>> No.23200441

>>23200422
The Winter King. Bonus points for making the wizard (Merlin) black in the adaptation.

>> No.23200459
File: 1.72 MB, 600x341, 13617996452.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23200459

>Start reading new work of fantastical literature
>Chapter 2
>"That is my husband" he said

>> No.23200466

>>23199030
>Eighteenth Men. (Chapters 15–16) The most advanced humans of all, essentially a perfected version of the 17th species. A race of philosophers and artists with a very liberal sexual morality. "Superficially we seem to be not one species but many."
>(One interesting aspect of the Eighteenth Men is that they have a number of different "sub-genders," variants on the basic male and female pattern, with distinctive temperaments.
> This species no longer died naturally, but only by accident, suicide or being killed.

>> No.23200494

>>23200459
If it keeps happening you lose plausible deniability that it wasn't what you were looking for.

>> No.23200520

Are there any Treasure Island-esque adventure books set on an airship? Like a fantasy blimp, or a sailing ship in the skies.

The closest I can think of is the Edge Chronicles series. But I am looking for something a little more adult. The protagonist doesn't have to be a young adult or child, but I'd appreciate some fascination and wonder of the world communicated to the reader.

>> No.23200532

>>23200459
gay marriage is pure fantasy

>> No.23200541

>>23200430
Too busy and AI's memory is too short to make any extended adventures or character growth. I've tried.

>> No.23200546

>>23199305

>decent plot wrapped in endless philosophy
>rape rape rape rape rape
>no real ending and no word from pseud author
>rape rape rape rape rape
>oh and half the series is so ass the publisher dropped it

Who reads this slop? Cook mogs this faggot every day

>> No.23200603
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23200603

Patrick Rothfuss should just kill himself already
Had he released the third book 6 or 7 years ago, he would be now swimming in gold.
But the fat retard decided to stay forever in his post-divorce reddit blanket fort of self pity and onanism, and becomig more and more irrelevant with each passing day

>> No.23200684

I am back after months away from /sffg/. What is the latest news and/or ebin memes

>> No.23200724

>>23200684
bakker reverend insanity

>> No.23200738

>>23200724
right so everything is exactly the same

>> No.23200745

>>23199782
>The dragonrider school here is extremely brutal, and most cadets die before graduation
>But in practice, this mostly seems to involve cadets dying due to bad luck or other dumb reasons. One cadet snaps another's neck while sparring, after the instructor tells him to stop, and doesn't even get a slap on the wrist. I guess the other guy is "weak" for losing this one random sparring match and therefore deserves to die. The result is that the Quadrant kills off hundreds of the country's best and brightest every year because the people in charge are too stupid to realize that cadets who aren't cut out for dragon riding might still be useful somewhere else.

It would be actually pretty interesting to read a more realistic take on the military academy genre where they just focus on turning out loads of 'good enough' grunts assuming they'll get trained up more on the job later.
Would also solve the problem of protagonists already being the best of the best by the time they leave school.

>> No.23200747
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23200747

damn i might be on to a winner with this one

>> No.23200750

>>23200520
Black Leviathan kinda

>> No.23200752

>>23200684
we now have this boring cunt spamming his ai images and unremarkable taste in addition to the other spammers >>23200434

>> No.23200763

There is something I don't understand from the Three Body Problem: why do Trisolarians search for life using a SETI like approach, if with the technology they posses, they can just search for suitable planets that are not populated? Wouldn't that have been easier and more logical?

>> No.23200779

>>23200603
Who cares about that basedguzzling faggot. His entire personality makes me want to never touch name of the wind

>> No.23200785

>>23200763
aren't they also hiding in the dark forest? that's the only reason i imagine they're not more proactive in searching

>> No.23200797
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23200797

How homosex is Delany's Nevèrÿon cycle? I'm looking at the blurb of the first book on ebay, and it's literally marked as 'Fantasy / Literature / Gay Studies. I don't mind non-straight characters, but not really interested in reading a "queer" novel, if you get me.

>> No.23200798

Whoever recommended Steel Earth to me, you are credit to team.

>> No.23200807

>>23200797
>gay studies
>studies
It's...a fiction book series, right?
How can it be a 'study' but also be fictional?
I'd avoid it, either the author is too retarded to pick the right tags OR it's just propaganda.

>> No.23200814

>>23200807
Do you really think 81 year old Delany is really going on ebay and choosing what category second hand copies of his works get assigned to lol

>> No.23200830
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23200830

>>23200434
>Warlock of the Magus World
Thought this had a cool title, so I looked it up.
>What happens when a scientist from a futuristic world reincarnates in a World of Magic and Knights?
>An awesome MC — that’s what happens!

>> No.23200837

>>23200434
>No Bastard!!
Opinion discarded

>> No.23200839

>>23200830
he's an overpowered edgelord if you want to make it sound even less appealing lol

>> No.23200840

>>23200459
Major or minor character?

>> No.23200845

>>23200839
Is he at least Coldsteel-tier?

>> No.23200859

>>23200779
>aren't they also hiding in the dark forest? that's the only reason i imagine they're not more proactive in searching

That can't be the reason: to search for planet is just scanning the sky, it doesn't require to 'reveal' oneself, no more than scanning radio/tv signals (searching far distant stars is actually listenning to radio waves)

>> No.23201092

>>23200859
They consider themselves so more advanced that it's irrelevant whether it's populated or not. It doesn't really make any difference. If anything, it's a bonus. Once any life is discovered, it's either you or them after all. Coexistence is an impossibility.

>> No.23201106
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23201106

>>23198892
>/sffg/
>No mention of Earthsea
Beyond hopeless

>> No.23201112

>>23201106
it gets mentioned in literally every thread once the guy who counters the spam with decent recommendations turns up

>> No.23201118

>>23201106
>encouraging the same posts to be posted every thread even more than they than already are
Lamentable

>> No.23201209
File: 1.14 MB, 1000x1500, The-Aeronauts-Windlass-cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23201209

>>23200520
Pic related maybe.

>> No.23201228
File: 2.80 MB, 498x280, 1921306678107.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23201228

>>23201209
>book 2

>> No.23201232

>>23201228
I wouldn't know. Never read either book and never will. Why's book 2 so bad?

>> No.23201238

>>23199869
>buying random current year books by women
You got what you deserve.

>> No.23201247

>>23200845
It has a weird feel to it because at each level of power other characters could hypothetically gain the same powers MC gets.
>He just chooses to gain power through being an A-moral edgelord

>> No.23201256
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23201256

>>23201232
The cover is the first warning
>I won't warn you a second time

>> No.23201262

>>23201256
All tradpub slop have those terrible covers.

>> No.23201264

>>23200466
prophetic if that's true.

>> No.23201267

>>23201256
Blame the publishing company, not Butcher.
I dread the day the Dresden File books inevitably get rebranded and republished with godawful covers similar to that one.

>> No.23201268

>>23201264
Minus the "most advanced humans of all."

>> No.23201284

>>23201256
Crossing swords? It must be symbolic for penises! Homosexuality everywhere! PANIC!!!

>> No.23201289

>>23201256
This type of covers is so incredibly ugly. How long until the trend dies?

>> No.23201297

>>23200546
What did Cool write? Is he similar to Bakker?

>> No.23201308

>>23199782
>The book is marketed as [something cool]. This is false advertising. It's actually a shitty romance novel
90% of books written by women

>> No.23201313

>>23200520
I hate to say it, but "A Search for Something" by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw
it's on his old website Fully Ramblomatic if you check the Wayback Machine for circa 2005

>> No.23201486

>>23201308
Is the other 10% accurate/true advertising of being a romance novel?

>> No.23201489

>>23199782
every generation gets their own shitty borderline ya dragon book

>> No.23201524

>>23201486
9% yes and 1% is decently readable

>> No.23201695

>>23200395
It's basically a vehicle for the author's fat fetish.

>> No.23201721

Any recommendations for a book where the characters can only defecate on every third Tuesday after the vernal equinox, but every fourth Thursday after the autumnal equinox?

>> No.23201727

I finished the Orthogonal Trilogy by Egan, and did not like how it turned out and ended.
>politics politics politics in a lot of book 2 and most of book 3 during a space setting with everyone in one big generation ship
>main ultimate overarching plot casually resolved in past tense during the last chapter
epic

>> No.23201860

>>23199966
>>23200342
It's SF, if I said Wolfe recommended him do I get any points?

>> No.23201938

>>23201695
Every book's the result of some author's fetish. The question is how tolerable that fetish is to you.

>> No.23202215

>>23201695
What how? Are all the women described as land whales or something?

>> No.23202283

>>23201695
This anon is just shitposting, there's a moderately fat chick in the first one but I'm 5 books in and that's literally it. And I say that as someone who would honestly like more fat chicks

>> No.23202295

>>23200395
I mean it's pretty reddit with the themes of compassion over all and the idea that Erikson tried to make a "sexism-free world" (although there's still plenty of rape, sexual slavery, etc; just powerful women in addition to men), but it's still pretty good stuff. First one is like a 6/10 but books 2 and 3 are top tier as shit

>> No.23202361

>>23198892
Space Viking is a truly SOVLful gigachadkino novel and it deserved the treatment that Star Wars got in the public consciousness. There we go, I said it. Go read it if you haven't already. And if you have, go read the sequels, even if they weren't by Piper himself.

>> No.23202406
File: 118 KB, 676x688, Conan-the-Barbarian-poster.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202406

>>23202361
>Space viking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08JfJCI8Mgc

>> No.23202530

have i been spoiled by good prose? i tried reading one of George RR Martin’s Dying Earth tales and it’s a pale parody of Vance. i’ve heard that apparently martin has good prose, so i don’t know if i’m not reading his best works, or if his prose is good only because the current generation of fantasy writers is below standard.

>> No.23202565

>>23202530
Possibly.
I didn't like a lot of VNs after katawa shoujo set the standard of 'free VN is hours and hours of entertainment'.

>> No.23202575

>>23202565
All is free. How terrible to enjoy something more or less because of its arbitrary cost.

>> No.23202583

>>23202530
I have never been impressed by GRRM's or Le Guin's prose. It's just unfocused and often overly descriptive.
I'd much rather have the poetical CAS stuff, Vance's made-up anthropology or even just straightforward and to the point pulp stuff (including modern webnovel stuff) over what passes for "good prose" in science fiction convention circles.

>> No.23202587

>>23202530
DUDE GEORGE RR MARTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>> No.23202635

>>23202583
Vance is very straightforward, but good. Clark Ashton Smith’s prose might be extremely poetic, but it still gets to the point. They’re both masters of prose economy.

>> No.23202668

>>23202575
Please enter a police station and try to take the drugs from the evidence room because 'all is free'.
Such delusion. Goods have a value based on how much they cost versus the quality they provide.

>> No.23202669
File: 1.05 MB, 939x3291, Screenshot_20230506-074811_Firefox.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202669

>>23202283
Erikson likes 'em big.

>> No.23202685
File: 2.99 MB, 1314x1878, 1709502400648748.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202685

>Bêlit: Conan, do you fear the gods?

>Conan: I would not tread on their shadow. Some gods are strong to harm, others, to aid; at least so say their priests. Mitra of the Hyborians must be a strong god, because his people have builded their cities over the world. But even the Hyborians fear Set. And Bel, god of thieves a good god. When I was a thief in Zamora I learned of him.

>Bêlit: What of your own gods? I have never heard you call on them.

>Conan: Their chief is Crom. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man’s soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?

>Bêlit: But what of the worlds beyond the river of death?

>Conan: There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people. In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray, misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity.

>Bêlit: Life, bad as it is, is better than such a destiny. What do you believe, Conan?

>Conan: I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom’s realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plans and vaulted hall of the Norheimer’s Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stringing wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being this, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.

H-O-L-Y [K] [I] [N] [O]

>> No.23202707

>>23202685
HOLY FUKKEN CONAN EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!

>> No.23202709

>>23202707
Too bad most sffg books are cuckold shit that can't portray this sort of raw literate testosterone.

>> No.23202710
File: 222 KB, 850x527, angry tomo.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202710

>>23202685
This story really hits hard when he finds her dead.

>> No.23202713

>>23202709
H*CK TO THE YES

>> No.23202717
File: 11 KB, 600x800, 1595196497918.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202717

>H*CK TO THE YES

>> No.23202745
File: 444 KB, 1538x2048, 1620216079295.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202745

>>23202713
>H*CK TO THE YES

>> No.23202803
File: 95 KB, 400x400, disgusting 3.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202803

>>23202713
>

>> No.23202818

>>23202713
>>23202717
>>23202745
>>23202803
How does /sffg/ manage to attract /v/ samefags?

>> No.23202825

I've read a sff book where the protagonist is cuckolded several times and ends with his father impregnating his girlfriend then with dying breaths tells his son to raise his new sister for him.

>> No.23202838
File: 15 KB, 274x329, 1689439010854225.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202838

>>23202825
Exactly how many times he has been cuckolded and how?
Why even bother clinging to sanity at that point? Rape your new "sister" and kill your girlfriend ritualistically.

>> No.23202850
File: 106 KB, 928x960, 1627250074280.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202850

>>23202818
>How does /sffg/ manage to attract /v/ samefags?

>> No.23202870
File: 428 KB, 492x560, virgin mary.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23202870

I've read Patterns of Chaos and Wizard of Anhiritte by Colin Kapp on old scans of sff magazines and liked both very much. Is there a neat place that sorts this stuff by author?

>> No.23202892

Read Latro in the Mist.
Also, what else should I read for that same sort of historical fantasy feeling?

>> No.23202904

>>23202870
Do you mean that it takes apart everything and then organizes it by author to where it becomes the complete collection of an author's works? That usually only exists for the most popular of authors aside from fan efforts. So, no,i don't. Finding a listing of what an author has mostly done isn't difficult though. You can open each entry and see what included it and go from there.
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1169+None

>> No.23203072

What’s the deal with magic in Vance’s Dying Earth? Why does it seem as though spells are forgotten upon use, only for wizards in later stories to turn string into fire with a word, and fling books into the sky instantly? Does this mean these wizards used up a spell slot for these spells? And what’s with the various magical items used?

Are wizards actually just people who use spells without actually understanding them?

>> No.23203079

>>23203072
>Are wizards actually just people who use spells without actually understanding them?
Yes.
>Why does it seem as though spells are forgotten upon use
Because that how it is.

>> No.23203094

>>23203079
I miswrote. I meant that spells are forgotten on use, only for wizards from later stories either ignoring that rule, or the implication being that they memorize a specific spell that they showcase in the stories.

>> No.23203112

>>23203094
>or the implication being that they memorize a specific spell that they showcase in the stories.
There you go.

>> No.23203143

Speaking of spell memorization, what is your favorite spellcast chant? I think that spell chanting is more of a vidya thing but that can be included too for the sake of conversation.

>> No.23203210

>>23202710
Real
https://youtu.be/UpVkvWjRYzk

>> No.23203235
File: 74 KB, 327x500, 164361062766.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23203235

>>23201289
>>23201267
>>23201262
Honestly would not give a shit about the blatant LGBTQI+ signaling if the book wasnt 60% glove slapping 'muh honor must be preserved!' filler.

Here is a homosex cover that is less homosex then that one

>> No.23203296

>>23201489
I read Eragon and Temeraire 15+ years ago, and Fourth Wing just now. What was there in between?

Basically, I want more Dragonriders of Pern, and I'm willing to read shitty YA to get it (as long as it's not TOO shitty)

>> No.23203413

>>23203072
D&D magic system.

>> No.23203532

>>23202685
K I N O rofl (do I fit in yet???)

>> No.23203618

>>23199242
The biggest takeaway from these stats is that I have highly questionable reading priorities that even I don't understand. Presented like this it makes it more comprehensible, if only because I don't think many consider everything they've read each time they read a new book, or even consider whether a pattern has formed.

For example, I read 126 authors, but I only read a single book from 72 (57%) of them. As to be expected, 98 (78%) were men. I'd read very few female authors before this. The one transman author is Yoon Ha Lee who wrote Ninefox Gambit. Some find an author and then proceed to read everything from them then move to another, or alternate with a few. Apparently I'm much more fickle than that. That raises the question, should I read more from less authors? The answer is that it doesn't matter to me so I probably won't in any intentional way.

I didn't intend for Sanderson to become my most read author, it's simply that I had only previously read Mistborn when it was first published, and he had become surprisingly popular in the intervening years. One thing led to another due to the discussions in the threads and I ended up reading a lot more than I expected. That's only because there's so many and they're so easy to read, if not that good overall. The same goes for Wight. Would if I had read Cradle if it weren't for its consistent promotion? I don't know. Would I have tried to have read any Alastair Reynolds novel again if it weren't for a specific /sffg/ member? I don't know, and I don't know why I felt the need to keep reading, and probably still will.

What I've rated highest goes to show how little I like a lot relative to everything I've read, which is rather disappointing. I'd prefer to have greatly enjoyed much more from many more authors, but it doesn't seem that'll ever be the case.

I've never paid much attention to publishers, though it's surprising to me how many publishers I seem to have only read a single book from. The top 10 there account for 68% of the books I read of the 78 publishers.

Lastly, the 49% of books chosen by me is a matter of definition. I included the entire series if I wasn't the one who entirely decided to read the first book. It seems the total number of books from that from all the contests, polls, requests, monthly books, thread recs, and much else added up over time. A lot of the worst books I read during this time came from doing this, but there were far more that made it very worthwhile. There were several /sffg/ Goodreads profiles and activity that I used for ideas of what I could read. Most of the time it failed and I dropped the book quickly, though that was because I was often picking stuff outside of what I'd normally read out of curiosity. It'd probably be best to focus on what I'd most likely enjoy, but I don't seem to be able to do that. In retrospect it would've been neat if I had listed why I had read each book that I did rather than only rarely having done so.

TL;DR: blog

>> No.23203650
File: 106 KB, 647x1000, 1689764662735604.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23203650

>>23198892
If you guys are looking for something to scratch your Howard/Lovecraft itch, this book scratched mine.
>Anthony finds all his enemies again, one after the other. He even recognizes some whom he had altogether forgotten; before killing them he outrages them. He disembowels—he severs throats—he fells as in a slaughter house—he hales old men by the beard, crushes children, smites the wounded. And vengeance is taken upon luxury, those who do not know how to read tear up books; others smash and deface the statues, paintings, furniture, caskets,—a thousand dainty things the use of which they do not know, and which simply for that reason exasperate them. At intervals they pause, out of breath, in the work of destruction; then they recommence.
>The inhabitants moan in the courtyards where they have sought refuge. The women raise their tearful eyes and lift their naked arms to heaven. In hope of moving the Solitaries they embrace their knees; the men cast them off and fling them down, and the blood gushes to the ceilings, falls back upon the walls like sheets of rain, streams from the trunks of decapitated corpses, fills the aqueducts, forms huge red pools upon the ground.
>Anthony is up to his knees in it. He wades in it; he sucks up the bloodspray on his lips; he is thrilled with joy as he feels it upon his limbs, under his hair-tunic which is soaked through with it.

>> No.23203888
File: 180 KB, 902x1200, 1637302235612.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23203888

>>23203532
>K I N O rofl (do I fit in yet???)

>> No.23203915

>>23203888
Nice numbers

>> No.23203926
File: 66 KB, 647x1000, 1033.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23203926

Read picrel after anon's rec, it was a fun trash but nowhere as edgy as the reviews promised. The absolute worst thing to happen in the book is MC getting sodomized and dismembered which feels irrelevant in a world where you respawn after dying

>> No.23203947

Vernor Vinge has died.

>> No.23203959
File: 109 KB, 1024x1024, _91022577-732a-4173-a526-ddf8b4c900fb.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23203959

what spell is this?

>> No.23203999

>>23201297
hes likely talking about glen cook who wrote the black company

>> No.23204046

>>23200546
meanwhile half of the black company is so bad the publisher should have dropped it..

>> No.23204105

>>23203947
Wikipedia lists him as dying yesterday but I can't find a single other shred of evidence for this (they don't provide a source)

>> No.23204110

How do you write sci fi and fantasy that doesn’t just boil down to a banal series of events? I just went to see End of Evangelion in theater and it’s making me paranoid about my own ideas.

>> No.23204121

>>23204110
do you feel you have a great philosophical breakthrough that most people have great difficulty grasping, and that you want to share in writing?

>> No.23204136

>>23203947
RIP senpai, Fire in the Deep was mid

>> No.23204170
File: 1.22 MB, 1000x1500, Vinne - Shadowheart (6).jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23204170

>>23200459
Fucking fags in fantasy.

>> No.23204173

>>23203235
I might sound like a broken record but the female writer was a big red flag.

>> No.23204185

>>23203947
That sucks, I have a signed copy of A Fire Upon the Deep

>> No.23204192

>>23204121
No. I have an astrophysics degree and an oceanography masters so I feel confident in the nitty gritty scientific knowledge side of writing sci fi, but that all just boils down to the minutia of ‘how’ and not the ‘what’ or the ‘why’. I also tend to get bogged down in realism and have trouble being what I’ll call ‘narratively confident’ meaning I’ll become preoccupied with formulating justifications for characters to engage in events which don’t even occur in real life. Maybe I should just stick to my day job and keep doing the science.

>> No.23204204

>>23199030
Great read and very prophetic in many ways. I’d say Clarke ripped a lot of his ideas from Stapledon. Hell, this book contains so many sci-fi ideas you could just take any and make a whole book out of it. Great sci-fi.

>> No.23204222

>>23200395
It's extremely reddit, it's like if Sanderson tried to be edgy.

>> No.23204230

>>23204192
Try writing a character who is just legitimately irrational. Not necessarily to publish, but just as an exercise.

>> No.23204287

>>23204192
> astrophysics degree and an oceanography masters
dude wtf

>> No.23204304
File: 326 KB, 800x1224, Penguins Ihoujin.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23204304

>>23198892
pic related.

>> No.23204321

I liked Embers Ad Infinitum

>> No.23204354

>>23203235
Is it just lesbos, or is there trannyshit too?

>> No.23204363

>>23199176
Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance

>> No.23204365

>>23199147
It’s one of my top favorite series. I think about it almost everyday. The first book is the weakest but then it keeps on getting better and better. I think the peak so far has been reached with Dark Age. Lightbringer was good but disappointing compared to the previous part.
>tfw you will never be a genetically enhanced superhuman jumping down on planets and chopping people to pieces with laser swords

>> No.23204828

>>23203926
Now read the sequel, bitch.

>> No.23204989

>>23204287
He commands the sky and the sea

>> No.23205106

>>23204105
David Brin wrote a tribute post for him which is how people found out he died.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/vernor-vinge-father-of-the-tech-singularity-has-died-at-age-79/
(I'm not linking directly to Facebook)

>> No.23205161

>>23199782
>It's actually a shitty romance novel with some dragons on the side.
This is every book out there that women get all excited about. If women are reading it, beyond the non normie girls who actually read, it is this or some kind of women porn.

Like fucking Twilight in the 2000's. This shit was absolute trash of a Vampire book. Made no sense, threw out most established vampire lore and replaced it with more shit that just didnt make sense. But the women ate it up.

>> No.23205376

>>23203926
So we're at the point on the cliché scale where gay rape is to edgy fantasy as "academy for special teens" is to YA, right?

>> No.23205408

>>23204287
People can know about more than one field of science. I WILL discover aliens on Europa. Or, failing that, create an environment suitable for them myself.

>> No.23205427

>>23205408
What do you think of the ocean on Mimas?

>> No.23205432

Bakker status?

>> No.23205440

>>23205432
Buck broken

>> No.23205441

>>23205432
Suicided by the canadian (((healthcare))) system.

>> No.23205484

>>23205432
King.

>> No.23205608
File: 601 KB, 1600x1438, Wing of fire all books.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23205608

>>23203296
I guess Wings of Fire even tho technical it's aimed at even younger audience than YA, despite some gruesome deaths. It's also all about dragons. Humans aren't really characters here at least until the third act, but I don't really care for the third act

>> No.23205670

>>23203947
F. Loved A Fire Upon the Deep.
>>23205106
> (I'm not linking directly to Facebook)
Based.

>> No.23205703

>>23205427
If I remember correctly didn’t the researchers who discovered it estimate that it was only around 50 million years old? Probably too young to have life, but it is interesting that such processes are still occurring at this stage of the solar system’s life.

>> No.23205976

Am I missing something? Why cant you buy a copy of the Dragonlance books on Amazon?

>> No.23206048

>>23205976
Yes, you are. You can buy the ebooks on there or pirate them. The physical are probably out of print, which may be related to the lawsuits the author filed against the publisher and likewise. It's quite the mess. The publishers has also been doing less and less with novels over the years. You can buy the physical on there from third party sellers though.

>> No.23206103

>>23206048
>Yes, you are. You can buy the ebooks on there or pirate them
No shit, that's pretty much a given. Physical copy was implied. I thought the lawsuits were dropped and the the new books have been released. Now you have a situation were you could bring in new readers, yet the books are not really available to get. It's basically just dumb business.

>> No.23206143

>>23205432
Actually came here to ask this.

>> No.23206167

>>23206103
Anger, pettiness, a need for revenge, and similar lead to bad decisions, including for businesses.

>> No.23206331

>>23202904
ty

>> No.23206446 [DELETED] 

>>23205703
It's younger than that, but looking up when the oceans first formed on Earth and life first began it looks like it doesn't take millions of years for life to start.

>> No.23206454
File: 77 KB, 561x843, space viking.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23206454

>>23202361
It was so kino Piper used up all of his talent on it and never wrote anything else good.

>> No.23206486

>>23202361
it's great, Cosmic Computer is fun too, his twists are limp... but Space Viking is peak and I won't believe you're the real deal until you tell me you've written your own follow-on from our boy Lucas (because the sequels don't get it exactly right)

>> No.23206491
File: 141 KB, 853x1280, IMG_20220629_221322_667.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23206491

>>23202361
>>23206454
The synopsis sound rather underwhelming, not to mention it's space fantasy.
Is this one of those ironic recommendation shitposts?

>> No.23206609

been plowing through the Discworld books every night for the past few months and its been great.
on Maskerade now. Nanny Ogg is the best.

>> No.23206624

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/hz/bookshelf/ku/discover/ref=ku_sf_tab_discover?storeType=KINDLE_UNLIMITED&size=20&sortType=popularity-rank&restrictions=&selectedNodes=&baseNodes=9069934011&nodeFilter=2243074011,2309013011,9578102011,9070123011,9578101011,9069963011,154715011,154608011,154607011,9069935011&page=1
>Select a genre
>Literature and fiction
>Horror
>Dark fantasy
>Find me something to read
>???
>Profit

>> No.23206709
File: 204 KB, 1024x1024, the holy shria.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23206709

Why did Bakker completely waste his character?

>> No.23206724

>>23203947
WTF I'm literally right in the middle of A Deepness in the Sky. I was hoping he would write more Zones of Thought books. RIP. Best sci-fi series I've read besides Gap Cycle and Culture.

>> No.23206776

Having trouble finding recommendations, any good places where I could find some?

>> No.23206782

>>23206776
I recommend Deez Nuts

>> No.23206809

>>23203947
RIP. I've owned Fire Upon the Deep for years now and should probably get around to reading it

>> No.23206813

>>23206776
What kind of recs and what's wrong with this thread or what's linked in the OP?

>> No.23206817

>>23206776
It depends entirely on what you're looking for and how specific your requirements are.

>> No.23206824
File: 188 KB, 1280x720, Dick, Philip K.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23206824

>>23206776
see >>23198986
and here have a PKD rec chart

>> No.23206837

>>23206776
Just spend some time on this board and follow the polar opposite of the consensus, I find that usually works. I genuinely find my favourite recs are whatever sffg fucking haaates

>> No.23206847

>>23206837
You love YA romance novels for teen girls? Interesting.

>> No.23207034

I went through the Hugo and Nebula nominations for best novel for the last decade or so, and of the 100-ish entries, over 90 of them are either written by a woman or a LGBT, or they're about a woman or an LGBT. All that Sad Puppies shit from 5-10 years ago isn't any better because most of those books suck ass.

Can somebody please recc me something written in the last 30 years that's as enjoyable as the original 6 Dune books were? I tried The Darkness That Comes Before but Kellhus is such a deeply unlikeable Redditor that I could barely make it through the book. I finished it, but I didn't exactly like it. Reading Book Of The New Sun right now and it's outstanding so far, but I already know I'll be done with the five books within the next week. Re-read Lord of Light, that was also sweet. Just really need something newer to pick up.

>> No.23207038

>>23204192
Simply absorb other works. Read a lot. You'll become a better writer.

>> No.23207057

>>23207034
Book of the New Sun is only the first part of the Solar Cycle. If you're reading literary puzzle books that quickly you probably are missing a lot of you aren't taking time to think about them.

Your ask is too high of a requirement.

>> No.23207062

>>23207038
Yeah the good ol’ Quentin Tarantino method. I think one of the largest barriers I need to get past is my obsession with ‘plausible realism’ which severely limits what you can really do in sci fi. I know it’s silly because many other formally trained scientists have been able to write absolute nonsense and make it good, like Asimov, but very often when I think of an idea I’ll aso automatically start thinking through why it wouldn’t ‘actually’ work and I lose confidence in following through with it. It’s silly because I do enjoy very soft sci fi like Star Trek, etc, but there seems to be a difference when it comes to putting my name on it.

>> No.23207066

>>23207062
Are you trying to write for an audience or discover a new Scientific method?

>> No.23207072

>>23207062
nta
Then write near future speculative fiction or mundane science fiction. There are several literary authors who deny any genre element to their writing when clearly there is. I've read a good bit of translated Chinese short fiction that is very educationally oriented while still having an interesting narrative.

>> No.23207085

>>23206709
Half-Dunyain generally seem pretty expendable and also doomed desu.

>> No.23207135

>>23207057
I didn't ask for your opinion on my reading speed little buddy, you can keep that to yourself next time. My only requirement(s) is that it be written in the last 30 years and not have a bunch of gay/woman shit in it. Is that too high of a requirement?

>> No.23207143

Tolkienbros: are the Timeless Halls distinct from the Deeps of Time?

>> No.23207148

>>23206609
Walter Plinge a good boy

>> No.23207166

>>23207066
Well I do the second one in my actual career, so doing the same thing but in a fictional setting seems superfluous. Let’s compare (what I consider) to be good sci fi to things like jazz or avant garde art. It’s the cliche of someone saying ‘it’s random and anyone can do it’ without knowing the that Picasso was a classically trained painter and jazz musicians could play in classics orchestras if they wanted to. You need to know the rules before you can choose how to selectively break them. I think it’s important to have an understanding of physics, so that when you write a story you can tweet just one or two things only in order to keep the rest of the unaltered world grounded.

>> No.23207175

>>23207166
What are you having trouble getting across?

>> No.23207223

>>23207175
I’d say it’s how to craft believable character motivations in a universe that is ‘mostly’ realistic and weave that into a plot that differs enough from simple mundane life so as to be evocative or entertaining for the reader. As an example, let’s assume that the speed of light is the hard limit even in this sci fi setting. In this case the amount of effort and resources that would go into colonizing another star system are so great that it’s difficult to come up with a motivation or impetus that does not feel contrived. Even if you did, things would take place over such vast distances and times that it becomes difficult to write the story from the perspectives of individual people in a narratively satisfying way.

>> No.23207229

>>23207135
Honestly, yeah, it is.

>> No.23207231

>>23207223
Study human behavior.

>> No.23207239

>>23207223
Just because it doesn't satisfy you doesn't mean it wouldn't satisfy most other people. As you've already noted this is an entirely a problem with you. Until you've resolved your internal issues nothing else matters.

>> No.23207318

To the anon who recommended that I read Mask of the Sorcerer by Darrel Schweizer, thank you, it's very enjoyable. I'm mostly done with it now, and it's quite unlike anything else I've read and not at all what I expected, but was a compelling read the whole way through and I'm glad I have it in my library. I will probably reread it several times.

On that note, does anybody have any recommendations for magic school stories? I have read:

>Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan
The gold standard, IMO.
>Deadly Education trilogy by Naomi Novik
Enjoyed this very much.
>Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus
A nice book. A shame about the sequel.
>Art of the Adept (first two books) by Michael C Manning
I liked the first book well enough, but the second left me cold.

and of course read Harry Potter.

Not interested in web novels thank you very much.

>> No.23207333

>>23207318
The Magicians
Vita Nostra

>> No.23207366

>>23207034
Long Sun obviously

>> No.23207373

I recently finished reading The Mage Errant books 1-3 by John Bierce.
I loved some of the world building. The Endless Erg might be one of the coolest ideas I've read about. A desert that's basically treated like a sea with ships sailing in it with a few islands of population in-between.
I wish the novel was just adventuring and exploring the world instead of the actual overarching plot.
Also, he should've got with the storm mage instead.

>> No.23207383

The Scavengers Reign TV series was very good. I've seen comparisons to Annihilation but this was much better.

>> No.23207492

>>23207143
The latter feels more like a space-time thing related to Arda, while the former we know for sure is a "place" where Eru dwells, outside of time as we know it. I'd say they're different.

>> No.23207546

Good Books with hard magic systems and aren't reddit?

>> No.23207577

>>23207373
Sand seas have been done plenty of times before.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Whales

>> No.23207578

>>23207546
None exist

>> No.23207584

>>23207577
Yes, but they haven't been executed well-enough.

>> No.23207587

>>23207546
Hard magic systems are just science is a world with different laws of physics.

>> No.23207588

>>23207546
What makes a story "reddit"?

>> No.23207595

>>23207588
Whatever anon doesn't like.

>> No.23207615

>>23207584
Hard magic is reddit. Therefore there can't be any.

>> No.23207618
File: 651 KB, 1440x2880, Screenshot_20240322-005810.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23207618

>>23207588
>>23207595
Literally suggested from reddit

>> No.23207652

Is Tannith Lee a good author? What is her best work
I recall reading a short story of hers that had a lesbian scene

>> No.23207762

>>23207652
>Is Tannith Lee a good author? a short story of hers that had a lesbian scene
you just answered yourself

>> No.23207808

>>23207652
Flat Earth is the only thing I've read. Some of it qas really great, other parts were smutty fan-fic tier.

>> No.23207830

Hey guys, I notice people are still butt hurt about the Rings of Power. Surely it's trash but people who act like it ruined Tolkien or something are stupid because the Silmarillion is bad. Stick with the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings which are great.

>> No.23207856

>>23207373
>I wish the novel was just adventuring and exploring the world instead of the actual overarching plot.
This is usually a good thing and means the world was written so well you itch to see more of it, or the story is so bad it gets in the way of things. Which is it?

>> No.23207860

>>23207830
>the Silmarillion is bad
Literally the greatest work of fantasy ever, brainlet.

>> No.23207862

>>23207830
The Rings of Power legally has nothing to do with the Silmarillion.

>> No.23207867
File: 152 KB, 474x318, 1711103723672.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23207867

>>23207492
That makes sense. When Tolkien refers to The World, is he talking about Arda or Eä? It is confusing me because Eä is also known as The Created World, but I understand it to be the material universe, as opposed to Arda which is a planet in which exist continents (such as Middle-Earth etc). I'm confused because The World, in my mind, means the place in which the story would take place.

>> No.23207869

>>23207867
>is he talking about Arda or Eä
Arda.

>> No.23207875

>>23207862
Well I don't know what it's about because I didn't watch it after the 1st episode it was so bad. My point is all the extra expanded universe of tolkien is really bad. People act like it's some sort highbrow literature but there is a reason why nobody reads it.

>> No.23207888

>>23207875
>Well I don't know what it's about because I didn't watch it after the 1st episode it was so bad.
Same. The only correct part of your post, retard.

>> No.23207891
File: 2.30 MB, 2026x2865, 1711104298676.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23207891

>>23207875
>X is bad
>I haven't actually seen it but I just know that it is bro

>> No.23207895
File: 928 KB, 1818x1136, 1711104404901.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23207895

Thread-boss update: pease refrain from further Tolkien discussion and resume scheduled Bakkerposting.

>> No.23207897

>>23199285
Early thief-Conan is comfy uWu

>> No.23207899

Redpill me on Viriconium.

>> No.23207908

>>23207891
If the 1st episode of a show sucks the show is not good. Do zoomers actually cope and think that only some of a show needs to be good?

>> No.23207918

>>23207908
>If the 1st episode of a show sucks the show is not good.
Retard.

>> No.23207980

>>23207899
it's good, read it you lazy cunt

>> No.23207988

>>23206454
what is the lightning in a bottle around it? I definitely feel it but can't put my finger on what makes Space Viking work

>> No.23208086
File: 49 KB, 311x404, 39892810.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208086

>> No.23208095
File: 207 KB, 1500x2250, 2022-05-07_at_21-38_id_379408210756378624_hash_a49fc63a41e43a4f1b0fc9e374783836cd93669c677046cb369bb366c9b1181975a9fb5399de39b2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208095

>>23206776
https://www.polygon.com/23691206/best-fantasy-books-sci-fi-2023

Whatever you find in the lists like this (on that site or others), you avoid like the plague.

>> No.23208107
File: 351 KB, 654x783, Chained-by-Frank-Frazetta-cover-art-on-Conan-the-Usurper-by-Robert-E-Howard-1967.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208107

>>23202685
Best Conan story is best. But why not include a Frazetta pic

>> No.23208262

>>23206809
Do it.

>> No.23208315
File: 220 KB, 703x675, 1711117241684.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208315

>>23203947
Holy shit. One of my favorite authors, felt it would be soon but damn. RIP.
>>23206809
Do it.

>> No.23208380

>>23206809
It's terrible, it's hardly even scifi

>> No.23208394

Know if there's any science fiction out there that deals with a crisis of technology being able to fabricate information, and it being used to ruin people's lives? Like someone could just use software to render a video of you robbing a bank, or a assulting someone.

>> No.23208488

>>23208394
Maybe some technothriller or TV show that ignores logic does, because your premise is entirely flawed. Ruining people's lives through fabricated evidence is already commonplace on social media. Your two examples aren't valid because in terms of a criminal case they wouldn't be sufficient evidence. In terms of social media it wouldn't be any different then already is.

>> No.23208492
File: 351 KB, 728x895, Screenshot 2024-03-22 at 08-24-41 The best sci-fi and fantasy books of 2023.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208492

>>23208095
What the fuck? This makes it sound like the sequel about Presger translators doesn't actually have any translators in it. The translators were the best part of books 2 and 3

>> No.23208540

>>23207856
Usually for me it's neither. I just don't care for world-saving plots or hero's journeys. I think they're boring. I'm not interested to see what characters that I like do in more mundane situations.

>> No.23208551

>>23208492
>hit
That's already enough information not to read it.

>> No.23208571

>>23206817
Hmmm, you got anything with fairies? Not like that ACOTAR shit I'm talking like real fae.

>> No.23208577

>>23208571
Little, Big
I quite liked The Harp of Kings and the sequels but that might or might not fit your definition of fae.

>> No.23208578

>>23208394
>a crisis of technology being able to fabricate information, and it being used to ruin people's lives? Like someone could just use software to render a video of you robbing a bank, or a assulting someone.
That's not scifi

>> No.23208619

>>23208540
What do you like then if none of that?

>> No.23208638

Does anyone have science fiction recs that involves posting on an imageboard that was founded by a teenage American based on a Japanese imageboard that was later bought by the former owner of the same imageboard?

>> No.23208688

>Started re-reading The Eye of the World
>Notice the guy who helps them across the river has the surname HIGHTOWER
>Realize GRRM has a couple nods to Jordan in his works and other SFFG writers like Vance or Peake

So is this where GRRM got the name Hightower from or just a coincidence?

>> No.23208694

>>23208619
I like characters that I find interesting. I like it when characters are competent and have desires that they try to fulfill. Eg House from House M.D.
I don't care much for character development these days. Character development often means that they take an interesting character and make them into a bumbling idiot in order to show character growth.
Sometimes an interesting story does take precedence over characters for me. Eg The Martian and The Hail Mary Project.
Most of the time I can read almost anything as long as I like something about the characters in the story. Chinese xianxia, harem novels, Japanese light novels, litrpgs etc. I just wish these stories weren't so muted in the characters fulfilling their desires or being so formulaic.

>> No.23208699

>>23208688
Most definitely. I discovered a lot of references in the first Elric book too and not sffg, but in The Accursed Kings as well, it was kind of distracting at times.

>> No.23208709

>>23208688
what sre grrrm’s vance references?

>> No.23208713

>>23208688
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hightower
Coincidence

>>23208699
Similarities don't mean inspiration. Different stories may have the same source and that's why they are seem similar.

>> No.23208765

>>23208699

For me it was the opposite I've only started reading Elric lately but I've caught wind of where GRRM was potentially inspired in places like Melnibone being his Valyria and both using dragons to conquer for dominance but I think Moorcock's take on dragons are completely different from GRRMs . Not to mention both Bloodraven and Daemon seem to be Elric OCs

>>23208709

House Vance
Lan the Clever/Cugel the Clever

I think Tyrion's attitude or personality may have been inspired by Cugel too.

>> No.23208777

>>23208765
There's also the Tangletongue guy, Yyrkoon/Hyrkoon and some other stuff I've forgotten. I didn't even think about the dragons to be honest.

>> No.23208835

>>23207546
The Hymn of the Pearl

>> No.23208848

No meme, what's so good about Kingkiller anyway?

All I hear about it from secondhand is that it's about a gary stu who fucks every woman he sees and always wins "but the prose is flowery and that's what makes it popular" and all defenses about being a gary stu are met with "well, actually he's an unreliable narrator so we don't know if it's actually always going his way"

>> No.23208855

>>23208848
it's dnd virgin wish fulfillment + babby's first purple prose
reddit used to love it until people started listing all those issues with it plus rothfuss being a con artist

>> No.23208952
File: 831 KB, 597x906, GigachadProblem.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208952

finished the first book of Three Body Problem. Imagine being as based as gigachad Da Shi

>> No.23208961
File: 83 KB, 927x1500, 61v28reE4qL._SL1500_.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23208961

THE PULPSLOP ODYSSEY CONTINUES.
I'm really enjoying this series. It's the SF&F equivalent of fast food, but high quality fast food.

>> No.23208979

How do I into Michael Moorcocks books?
>>23208848
>fuck yeah im proud to be a cuck

>> No.23208989

>>23208979
For Elric: Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melnibone collection.
Then his Swords Trilogy.
And then maybe History of Runestaff.
And that's it.

>> No.23209181

>>23208638
My diary desu

>> No.23209455
File: 190 KB, 1080x1308, Vicente Cebollo.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209455

>tfw all you want to read is stories about half-naked warrior chicks riding giant monster birds who kidnap men and use them as sex slaves

>> No.23209462
File: 135 KB, 328x383, eyes pop out anime.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209462

>>23209455
booba and assba what book?

>> No.23209470

>>23209462
Lord of the Rings

>> No.23209471

>>23208979

I've started with Elric of Melnibone and I'm enjoying it so far I'm reading it in this order: EOM>TSOTSOF>TWOTWW>TVT>TBOTBS>SB

Definitely dated in parts but I love how melodramatic it is

>> No.23209561

>>23199912
A few years ago some anon said that the Past Master is a very controversial book that wouldn't come out today. He must've beena schizo, but it's a really good book. I've also read his short storry collection, it was really funny.

>> No.23209579
File: 38 KB, 340x433, CorumAmano.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209579

>>23208989
>Swords Trilogy
If he's going to read Corum, I think he should at least end the story of the Vadhagh prince with the Silver Hand saga (which rules, btw). He'll be much better off reading these than the early Hawkmoon books.

>> No.23209643
File: 184 KB, 375x523, 1710702948170175.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209643

>>23207895
Obliged.

>> No.23209665

>>23209561
That's only because you've far surpassed that level of schizo so it seems normal to you.

>> No.23209666

>>23209181
desu desu

>> No.23209678

>Loathe litrpg
>Seems to have cannibalized pulp fantasy
Book of the dead was pretty good. Anything similar?

>> No.23209697

>>23209678
Reborn as a Demonic Tree

>> No.23209700

>>23199912
I read his 'best of' short story collection and was left really underwhelmed. I will still give his novels a go eventually, but so far I find him vastly overrated.

>> No.23209711

>>23209697
I liked book of the dead because it could have just as easily NOT been a litrpg. The autistic "game mechanics" was done infrequently enough and the author did a good job making them not so jarring. is this at all similar? It doesn't seem like it.

>> No.23209712

The thread grows aged.

>> No.23209716
File: 25 KB, 220x325, AramintaStation.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209716

This was good. Thanks /sffg/.

>> No.23209717
File: 112 KB, 938x1500, 613hZk80uzL._SL1500_.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209717

>>23209711
Pic related is the only litrpg I've ever read and it has been described as 'anti-litrpg.'

>> No.23209732

Begun the archive process has

>> No.23209738

>>23209716
>ywn have a yip gf

>> No.23209821
File: 89 KB, 832x988, book series by wordcount.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23209821

How does your favorite stack up?

>> No.23209862

>>23209821
7 million words
350 words per minute reading speed
20,000 minutes to read
833 hours to read.
4 hours a day reading takes 208 days to catch up to where it was. That's 7 months.

>> No.23209874

>>23209821
no Second Apocalypse? is Bakker really that irrelevant?

>> No.23209937

>>23201256
i fucking hate modern covers

>> No.23209944

>>23209717
Ta. Downloaded. I'll be more pedantic and ask; anything you can recommend thats western?

>> No.23210007

>>23209944
Lord of the Rings

>> No.23210062

>>23209821
That wandering inn chart is hilarious, really shows how the author lost control of it

>> No.23210087
File: 99 KB, 851x509, words.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23210087

>>23210062
That chart is old. He's up to 12M now.

>> No.23210117

>>23209821
at first i thought the colors represent individual books but that cant be right. what do they mean?

>> No.23210119

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYvUwyjoYuY

kino...

>> No.23210128

>>23210117
individual books

>> No.23210133

>>23210128
but...

>> No.23210148

>>23210133
yep

>> No.23210153

>>23210148
no...

>> No.23210180

>>23210153
buckle up kid, you've got some reading to do

>> No.23210518
File: 279 KB, 1080x1080, 1711155923523006.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23210518

>> No.23210557

It's almost time, my sons.

>> No.23210589

>>23210557
Patricide awaits

>> No.23210619

>>23202685
Modern cattle "writers" on suicide watch once again
Thank you Conan

>> No.23210640
File: 198 KB, 1556x772, meng hao visits mcdonalds.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
23210640

>>23210518

>> No.23210643

Might end it all

>> No.23210650

>>23208848
The premise is pretty good, but I feel the author got lost somewhere in the middle, and the new book will never come out because he can't figure out how to continue. I suspect that the whole cuck arc, and him going into the woods next to have sex with some sort of forest succubus, is the product of a bad breakup or reflection of some shit that happened in his life and made him lose his mind

>> No.23210678

NEW:
>>23210675
>>23210675
>>23210675
>>23210675
>>23210675