/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.23769142]

Why the hell isn't there a general up edition.

>Recommended reading charts. (Look here before asking for vague recs)
https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/4rAmSZxb
>Archive
>>>/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg
>Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg

Previous Thread: >>23756730

[None !SFFG.n1h7M No.23769162]

The Orphan and the Queen, Ashes of Eormun #2 - D.J. Molles (2024)

This second book is quite different, though just as enjoyable as the first. As it's now a self-published series it has the distinction of being the only self-published fantasy book that I've given five stars. Depending on how I'm feeling on a given day, I could state that it's the best self-published work I've ever read. That may not say much, so I'll also state that it's one of the more enjoyable books I've read. Even better, the third book is set to release later this year, only a few months after the second. Molle's website says that Season 1 concludes this year, which makes me hopeful that there's much more to come. At the rate this series is going, it may become one of my all-time favorites. That astounds me and really demonstrates how much an author's writing can improve over the years. I find it difficult not to overhype, because as I'm far as I'm concerned it's the most underread fantasy series relative to its quality that I've read. It does and has almost everything I could want. It has a brisk pace and a suitable length. You should be reading this if you enjoy epic and/or military fantasy.

So, how does it differ? As compared to the first book, there's much less military campaigning. In its place intrigue comes to the fore. Various factions are developed and represented, each with their own overlapping and competing interests. There are few friends, but many allies of convenience, and often desperation. Ideals give way to the necessity of circumstance. Today's allies may be tomorrow's enemies, but one has to survive until tomorrow for that to pass. Each character has to decide with which faction to align, as to be on their own is certain death. Often it may not be much of a choice, but still its their own decision.

There are four main viewpoints. The two from the first book and the orphan and the Queen. The questions they must each answer are: How much of what I'm doing is to survive and how much of it is to improve the lives of my chosen group? Is this the righteous path or am I falling into an ever deeper darkness and killing all my companions? Will the future we seek be worth the ruination wrought?

Those are the questions asked on a personal level. Many factional and societal questions are posed as well. Who ought to shoulder the burden of a society's progress? Is there a better way, and if so, does that matter? How much suffering of others is permissible for our own comfort and convenience? Given that the resources fueling our progress are known to be limited, should any thought be given to management?

That's not to say this is an introspective and discussion oriented book, because it isn't. Most of the above questions are asked and answered through their actions. They're all too busy trying to stay alive, so it's mostly for the reader to consider what relevance they have for the story and their own lives. I appreciate that.

Rating: 5/5

[Anonymous No.23769166]

>>23769162
FUCK ON!! YOUR "REVIEWS" ARE AWESOME !

[Anonymous No.23769174]

>>23769162
cool

[Anonymous No.23769175]

Did anyone hate the Farseer trilogy more than me?

[Anonymous No.23769327]

>>23769175
Loved it until the last few chapters, it literally has a ntr ending with Fitz gf getting impregnated SEVERAL times by his ugly bastard adoptive father, worst part is seeing people online saying that Burrich is a good father, yeah every good dad should impregnate his son's fiance lmao at least Hobb knew her mistake and when burrich finally fucking dies in Tawny Man Fitz barely shows any sadness and is more concerned about the fate of the Fool (fool is a real one)

[Anonymous No.23769366]

Escapism is the only fulfillment i have in life.

[Anonymous No.23769405]

Reminder that Bakker has finished the series. The Resumption begins and the No-God will reign triumphant.

[Anonymous No.23769416]

>>23769327
why are you posting spoilers retarded nigger others haven't read it yet

[Anonymous No.23769433]

>>23769405
More like Gay-Rapist-God

[Anonymous No.23769434]

>>23769142
I am familiar with wuxiaworld, royal road and scribblehub for some bad to average/good reading. Are there any other good sites for reading fantasy stuff? I need a good old fantasy romp and no isekai or litrpg for a while

[Anonymous No.23769468]

>>23769434
>I am familiar with chinkworld, slop road and scribbleslop
>i want to read webnovelslop that isn't slop
haha

[Anonymous No.23769531]

ooooooooooh shit Dune reference spotted

[Anonymous No.23769584]

>>23769468
Well, do you have any sites that arent slop? My knowledge of physical fantasy books is literally 15 years behind

[Anonymous No.23769618]

>>23769468
Pale Lights is 10/10 for me

[Anonymous No.23769650]

What a disappointing ending, i hate these life goes on types. Overall the 2nd part of rigante books is a lot worse than the 1st one. Does the Drenai saga end in a similar way? Was planning to read it after this, but now im not so sure if i should

[Anonymous No.23769655]

What are the best stand alone fantasy stories? Tired of series desu

[Anonymous No.23769661]

It's startling going from Throne of Magical Arcana to Circle of Inevitability. Cuttlefish has improved drastically since that work.

[Anonymous No.23769720]

>>23769650
Waylander series has a definitive ending.

[Anonymous No.23769728]

>>23769655
Piranesi
Sword of Kaigen

[Anonymous No.23769740]

>>23769416
rude!

[Anonymous No.23769864]

Went into the handmaid's tale completely blind, holy fuck I can see why it is considered such a classic. Amazing book. Not only is the political commentary sharp and imaginative, the narrative is tight and interesting, the world is novel, and the characters are grounded too (Offred losing her mind and becoming okay with the abuse from having an inkling of comfort is such a brave take). I can see why the normies felt the need to grind it into the ground with a tv show that completely misses the point

[Anonymous No.23769957]

>>23769864
>this is gonna be the UK in 30 years

[Anonymous No.23769966]

>>23769864
>completely blind
>already knew what it was about
>was able to compare it to the tv series
>probably more than that
Strange definition of "completely blind"

[Anonymous No.23769973]

>>23769966
I have since read the show synopsis and some clips. Going into it I had only heard the classic handwringing of "this politician wants to make handmaid's tale a reality!!!" and stuff like that, without knowing exactly what it meant. I did not know anything about the world, the characters, the plot, or the message, etc.

[Anonymous No.23770069]

In fantasy, is there such a term that describes something like 'lorebait'? Where storytelling comes second to some autist that just wants to create a world and describe endless technical and structural lore.

[Anonymous No.23770172]

>>23769650
the Drenai saga isn’t really a series, just a setting with many different stories. although there is a chronological order, the books (or short series featuring the same mc like Druss or Waylander) basically stand alone.
what didn’t you like about the end of the rigante saga? it’s been years since I read it but I remember liking it.

[Anonymous No.23770178]

>>23770069
it’s called worldbuilding.

[Anonymous No.23770230]

>>23770172
Good guys were saved by a deus ex machina, then the epilogue goes listing what happened to some of the side characters, while completely ignoring the mc from previous book and what actually happened to rigante. It feels like it was left open ended to leave room for a sequel. In general i wasnt a fan of Gaise and his whole character felt undercooked and rushed.

[Anonymous No.23770414]

>>23769142
For all those bitching about modern fantasy being woke and what have you, consider pic related.

[Anonymous No.23770450]

>>23770414
Rabid puppies get put down.

[Anonymous No.23770453]

>>23770450
The fuck are you on about

[Anonymous No.23770509]

>>23770178
you can world build without storytelling becoming secondary

[Anonymous No.23770512]

>>23770414
kek

[Anonymous No.23770522]

>>23770414
lol this is terrible
Are you gonna suggest Razorfist's books next ? or Maybe Larry Correia ? Have some self respect and get some fuckin taste pleb, you don't have guzzle these slopfests just because the author is mildly RW

[Anonymous No.23770540]

BasedCon starts the day after tomorrow.
https://basedcon.com/

>Cons became increasingly dominated by a small clique of authoritarian jerks who made them into venues for pushing social justice dogma and, in the name of “inclusiveness,” shut down any opinions that didn’t align with progressive orthodoxy

>Maybe you’re familiar with the Gamergate debacle.

>Undoubtedly you’ve heard about the push to get Critical Race Theory and other social justice garbage into schools.

>Some based beliefs include:
>Men cannot give birth
>Guns don’t kill people; people kill people
>A fetus is a human being
>Socialism has failed everywhere it’s been tried
>Discriminating against white people is racism

Featuring panels on:
https://basedcon.com/Schedule
Why ebooks are bad
Why dystopias are wrong about technology
How to fight against the leftist sff publishing industry
Why the the left can't write good stories
Why AI in writing is a positive
Literary movements are irrelevant now
Epic fantasy is dying because of litrpg slop
Trad publishing hates men
Alternate and secret history
How to write humorous sff
Catechism
Religion and World Building
Fairy Tales to Fight the Culture War
Going on the Offensive in the Culture War

Games:
Play as goblins killing human hobos
Cyberpunk 2020 meets EVE Online.

[Anonymous No.23770548]

>>23770512
>>23770522
Neither of you read it.

[Anonymous No.23770552]

>>23770414
Modern leftie books are shit
Modern right wing books are also shit
Modern politics are shit
Modern fiction is shit
No more brother wars

[Anonymous No.23770568]

>>23770552
When did modernity begin?

[Anonymous No.23770577]

my trilogy is going to be really good btw

[Anonymous No.23770586]

>>23770453
Vox Day was the central figure of the group known as the rabid puppies in their attempt to destroy the Hugo awards.

[Anonymous No.23770592]

>>23770586
>Theodore Robert Beale (born August 21, 1968), commonly known as Vox Day, is an American activist and writer. He has been described as a far-right white supremacist,[2][3] a misogynist,[4] and part of the alt-right.[5][6][7] The Wall Street Journal described him as "the most despised man in science fiction".[8]

[Anonymous No.23770610]

>>23770552
It's just a fantasy romp. There's no hamfisted politics in it like you'd expect from leftists. At least no semblances of it that you wouldn't have found in classic fantasy, anyway. Notice I made no mention of RW politics; all I said was that it wasn't woke, and the trannies started convulsing on cue. That tells me all I need to know.

[Anonymous No.23770629]

>>23770568
2001

[Anonymous No.23770634]

>>23770592
>He has been described as a far-right white supremacist,[2][3] a misogynist,[4] and part of the alt-right.[5][6][7] The Wall Street Journal described him as "the most despised man in science fiction".[8]
Nice.

[Anonymous No.23770646]

>>23770610
I don't care about owning the libs
I don't care about making incels seethe
I care about union, joining hand in hand to rise and bring down the top 1% of the World that has divided us and brainwashed us to hate each other.

[Anonymous No.23770655]

>>23769405
I could accept this if he hadn't left several unresolved story elements, which I doubt was an amateur mistake give how intelligent of a writer he is. There was obviously meant to be a final series.

[Anonymous No.23770677]

Is there such a thing as wrestling themed fantasy?

[Anonymous No.23770679]

>>23770677
Yeah, it's called WWE.

[Anonymous No.23770680]

Elden ring is a science / fantasy / philosophical / theological fiction right?

[Anonymous No.23770725]

>>23770592
Im kinda interested now

[Anonymous No.23770745]

>>23770540
>It's literally called BasedCon
>hurr durr abortion is literally baby killing durrr
>Why AI in writing is... le GOOD
>muh oppressed men
I'm going to have to agree with that one commie above on this one, and I don't often agree with commies, but these people are fucking embarrassing.

[Anonymous No.23770758]

>>23770725
he's barely RW more liek milque toast lolbert like the rest of this shit crowd

[Anonymous No.23770779]

>>23770540
this is so embarassing
>literal AI shilling

cuckservatives and lolberts are so good at making the non leftist crowd look like terrible

[Anonymous No.23770863]

as fans would you prefer that writers read more of their contemporaries to avoid copying cliches or read less so they can keep their idea unique?

[Anonymous No.23770872]

>>23770863
i have never read a book and thought "this author is copying xyz" author

[Anonymous No.23770876]

>>23770863
1) read more
2) but dont read contemporaries
3) read other genre (reading biographies of famous people is very nice) or other country's literature (their tropes) or history (story historical structural)

[Anonymous No.23770903]

How do you fantasyfags balance reality vs fantasy? How do you set boundaries to not come off as autistic in real life?

I read these old fantastic stories and embarrass myself sometimes because their spell remains for a day or two. My friend has caught me smiling and talking to myself several times and gave me an awkward look. Now I have stopped reading fiction. I don't want to shit my pants again.

[Anonymous No.23770917]

>>23769162
How pozzed?

[Anonymous No.23770962]

>>23770903
Make fantasy into a science, structure how fantasy becomes real. If you're detailing magic fire, detail about sequences of flame structure as it pertains to natural combustion cycle and then using physical momentum to throw the magic like a baseball. Alternatively, an advanced magician could be using compression magic to simulate high pressure zone to produce jet like fire that can be shot. Dont give away all the secrets head on to others, it should be reserved to specialists just like in real life. "Pop" magic might say one thing and specialist might be working on another. Further a deeper/extreme far end of specialist could have a completely radical notion of magic that breaks the conventions all together.

[Anonymous No.23771054]

>>23770903
Like with games, i hide my power level when it comes to books. Oh yeah bro, im reading that lord of the rings, heard it got popular thanks to that amazon series.

[Anonymous No.23771090]

>>23770540
I attended last year and had a blast. I'm headed to GR this afternoon for this year's con. It's a breath of fresh air to attend a con that isn't filled with trannies and SJWs.

[Anonymous No.23771103]

>>23770872
>Man incapable of pattern recognition fails to see what the problem is.

[Anonymous No.23771175]

>>23770903
I read/listen to it only as a practice for learning foreign languages.

[Anonymous No.23771262]

>>23770863
I would prefer them to read real science and history (non-fiction) so that their ideas will be both more unique and more plausible.

[Anonymous No.23771275]

>>23770903
>I read these old fantastic stories and embarrass myself sometimes because their spell remains for a day or two.
What?

[Anonymous No.23771276]

How do I deal with character bloat? I can't remember half these people.
I remember when the Gholam killed one of Mat's guys and apparently it was supposed to be sad or something but I had no idea who he was.

[Anonymous No.23771277]

>>23770903
You should have just sperged out and started talking about how cool the stories were, it's authentic and opens you up to connect more with them. If you can't share your interests with your friends then they aren't really your friends.

[Anonymous No.23771296]

>>23771275
You don't mentally stay in those fantastical worlds?

>>23771277
My friends are jocks. They only care about pussy, money and sports. Whenever I share that shit they don't have much to say.

[Anonymous No.23771314]

>>23771276
Use the wot companion app

[Anonymous No.23771342]

>>23769434
>>>/qst/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/
SV and SB have some of the same stories as RR.

[Anonymous No.23771411]

>>23770758
So you're either such a hardass that Heydrich would blush or you're a clueless dumbass.
I suspect the latter.

[Anonymous No.23771427]

Finished The First Law trilogy.
What are some else low magic fantasy series?

[Anonymous No.23771435]

>>23771427
You got 6 more books anon of varying quality

[Anonymous No.23771439]

>>23771435
I'm stopping on the trilogy for now, ending gave me mixed feelings.

[Anonymous No.23771444]

>>23771439
You could try the stand alones, since they try to emulate different genres, though the type of characters he writes remain the same. Avoid the 2nd trilogy if you didnt like the 1st one since its basically the same, but worse

[Anonymous No.23771456]

>>23771444
It's not that I didn't like the first one, had few issues, but that's it.
I want to leave them for now because cause I read trilogy in a fortnight, so trying them now might spoil all the fun.

[Anonymous No.23771506]

>>23771103
Bold of you to assume he's read enough books to see any sort of pattern.

[Anonymous No.23771528]

>>23769655

[Anonymous No.23771544]

>>23770540
>Why AI in writing is a positive
christ

[Anonymous No.23771580]

>>23771528
>He doesn't know.
Anon...

[Anonymous No.23771782]

>>23770540
>A fetus is a human being
Okay, but what about "there are circumstances under which killing a human being is morally justified"?

[Anonymous No.23771839]

>>23770586
>the group known as the rabid puppies in their attempt to destroy the Hugo awards.
I'm 9000% sure the Hugo awards did that on their own.

[Anonymous No.23771855]

>>23771839
Yes, they overcorrected. Being attacked radicalized them. It was their 9/11.

[Anonymous No.23771892]

>>23771782
If you're a retarded asshole I guess you can try and argue you're aborting the baby on the basis of self defense (even though the baby had no say in being brought into being, nor does it have any intent on hurting the mother). But there's no need to dive into those weeds with these freaks.

Simply grant that abortion should be allowed for those <1% of cases in which the risk of death is near certain or rape was the cause of pregnancy, but assert that the other 99% of elective cases should still be banned, and watch them continue to seethe and piss and shit. This goes to show that for them cases rape and death are merely red herrings. They don't actually care about it, and only use it to bludgeon people into submission with emotional appeals. It's bodily autonomy that is the heart of the matter.

[Anonymous No.23771905]

I read a shit ton of pratchett out of boredom lately. He's pretty unstable in quality, but most of the stuff is pretty entertaining. Was pleasantly surprised how well he incorporated a bit of horror in Thud!.

[Anonymous No.23771985]

>>23771905
>Based discworld enjoyer

Discworld and Vorkosigan are my go-tos when I need to psychologically shake myself awake and sort of feel alive to the world again.

[Anonymous No.23772040]

>>23770540
there's nothing more cringe than pro life positions

[Anonymous No.23772068]

>>23772040
there's nothing more cringe than pro death positions

[Anonymous No.23772087]

Lumian is always mocking things in his head. I wonder if, in the original chinese, this is the same phrase that got translated as "lampoons internally" in LOTM or if it's a slightly different 'character trait'

[Anonymous No.23772145]

>>23769661
>>23772087
I got bored with CoI around ch700. Did Lumian fuck a demoness yet?

[Anonymous No.23772169]

>>23772068
Anons should never reproduce.

[Anonymous No.23772174]

>>23771411
Go seethe about trannies, Vox

[Anonymous No.23772188]

>>23772145
I don't know I only started reading it, I just got through part 1

[Anonymous No.23772190]

I rather have bakkerfag talking about gay rape than to read /pol/rants

[Anonymous No.23772240]

Shill me something to read. Incels.
Hopefully without romance, I am on quite the women hating streak lately.

[Anonymous No.23772422]

>>23771276
Read a series which isn't 90% filler

[Anonymous No.23772468]

>>23769957
If you're lucky.

[Anonymous No.23772472]

>>23770677
Gigantomachia, though it's a short series (6 chapters iirc) manga. It's about a guy named Delosmachia in the post apocalyptic far future, and he Wrestles.

[Anonymous No.23772496]

>writing your literal wife into the book as your army-assigned gf who also has sex with the entire platoon

[Anonymous No.23772506]

>>23772472
It's also entirely about the power of little girl pee. Truly her urine is miraculous. The nectar of the gods really.

[Anonymous No.23772537]

>>23770540
https://basedcon.com/Guests
dont recognise anyone apart from the guy who did fables

[Anonymous No.23772559]

Wolfe was inspired/influenced by Borges, right? A copy of Labyrinths seems to have somehow made it onto my shelf. I have no idea where it came from.

[Anonymous No.23772605]

>>23770540
Also from the founder of BasedCon, The Based Book Club. For only $25/month, you get a book from a non-woke author. The authors don't toe the progressive line.
https://basedbookclub.com/

[Anonymous No.23772612]

>>23772605
For $0/month I can get as many books as I want

[Anonymous No.23772734]

>>23772537
The one with the cowboy hat looks extremely faggy

[Anonymous No.23772762]

GOOD EVENING! I've written a short sci-fi story about the afterlife of a criminal on Mars, if anyone is interested
>>>/tg/93814493

[Anonymous No.23773101]

>>23772537
>the guy who did fables
is he going to suck israel's dick again?

[Anonymous No.23773104]

>>23772605
identity politics fried your brain anon, go talk to people outside, real people don't act like twitter feminists

[Anonymous No.23773289]

Shilling my current favorite chink KINO.
It's basically LoTM in xianxia china.
>good mix between small detective case mysteries and the larger world-building mysteries
>fun MC. He's smart but super horny. (opposite of the no-personality Klein)
>good supporting casts
>Tarot club, taoist edition.
>many classes of cultivators (each are very distinct, similar to Paths from LoTM), each with their own stories and mysteries
>lots of Mao Ni style verbal showdown/stand-foo

[Anonymous No.23773366]

I loved the Licanius trilogy ending so much bros
does will of the many have time leap stuff too ?

[Anonymous No.23773613]

>>23773289
I am 80% through A Will Eternal, will read this next

[Anonymous No.23773618]

>>23769162
based but I'm not reading it until it's finished. Also congratz on well written review, its almost like I'm not browsing /lit/ anymore

[Anonymous No.23773632]

>>23773289
>transmigration
I shan't be reading it

[Anonymous No.23773836]

>>23773289
>When will Asian worshipping card fags get the rope?
Asking for a me. [/Spoiler]

[Anonymous No.23773898]

What am I in for?

[Anonymous No.23773900]

>>23771892
>or rape was the cause of pregnancy
yes, encourage the women to get rid of the genetic evidence of her rapist so that he can get away scot free.

[Anonymous No.23773921]

>>23772605
>$25
>A month
Jesus fucking christ

[Anonymous No.23773932]

>>23773898
an author who thinks he's not only smarter than you but also a better person than you
and he just can't wait to not tell you why a single fucking thing matters
if you don't want to sit through endless nonsense until some of it maybe makes sense later, then I guess you're just a lesser person

[Anonymous No.23773961]

>>23773900
What an insane aside. This literally has nothing to do with the point I was arguing for, and other than being retarded I can't think of another reason for you having gleamed nothing pertinent.

[Anonymous No.23773972]

>>23773366
>does will of the many have time leap stuff too ?
Too early to say. I won't spoil anything but something happens in the end that implies time shenanigans or at least another world shit

[Anonymous No.23774000]

Rallying around a random meme word used by teenagers is so embarrassing.
There's already an artistic and literary movement for what you people are trying to do - romantic realism.
It includes the word "realism" in the name, so the idea of being in "touch with reality" is explicit.
Because it's both aspirational and realistic, romantic realism is diametrically opposite to wokeism, which is by its nature nihilistic and in denial of reality.
And yes, works of fantasy can be realistic too, without abandoning what makes them fantasy. It's about being true to that which you know in your heart, while depicting a world that is better than the one we inhabit.

[Anonymous No.23774024]

>>23773932
typical gurps gm

[Anonymous No.23774066]

>>23773289
>KINO
why is it that only retards use this word?

[Anonymous No.23774076]

>QUEER QUEER QUEER QUEER QUEER QUEER QUEER QUEER
Why was he like this?

[Anonymous No.23774104]

>>23774076
J R R Wokien

[Anonymous No.23774116]

>>23774076
>The fire burned low, and the last faggot was thrown on.
He was a chuddie

[Anonymous No.23774180]

Guys, faggot meant matchstick and gay meant happy in the english of his time. Why do you think people use them with their new connotations today? SOMetimes languages and words evolve as the years pass. I mean in old greek rape meant kidnapping and nowadays it´s a word for an really unwanted sexual activity

[Anonymous No.23774236]

Starting my September off with The Body Snatchers so far it's great and highly suspensful I love the amount of mistrust and paranoia involved afterwards I'll probably either read the penultimate Elric novel or start Memories of Ice.
What are you lot reading to bring in the new month?

[Anonymous No.23774246]

>>23773898
Epic fantasy in true sense of the word. It's not really about characters and that's the main thing modern fantasy readers don't get about Malazan.

[Anonymous No.23774254]

>>23774246
What's the "thing" then?

[Anonymous No.23774282]

>>23772496
I bet they were having issues, anon.

[Anonymous No.23774334]

>>23774246
It's about Ladies with big asses which malazan has plenty

[Anonymous No.23774356]

>>23771427
Drenai series by David Gemmell.

[Anonymous No.23774426]

Just finished this as my first PKD book. Saw it in a thrift store for cheap and I could remember liking the movie when I watched it about 10-15 years ago so I picked it up. Didn't remember much from the movie apart from liking it and that it was weird and about drugs.

The book was ok I guess. It was a bit underwhelming and I'd rate it around a 6/10, at least it was short. Is this considered one of his better or worse books? Or am I just a pleb who didn't get it? Also it was barely sci-fi at all and I had higher expectations of sci-fi concepts being in his books since he's such a big name in the genre.

[Anonymous No.23774448]

>>23773104
It exists outside as well. You either don't want to accept it or you're part of it. There's no middle ground WRT your motivation behind posting this.

[Anonymous No.23774539]

Just finished the Mistborn trilogy.
Liked pretty much everything up to the end, but now I feel like I've been robbed.
Absolutely despised the ending.

Somebody either tell me that I'm not crazy, or tell me why I'm wrong and I actually should've liked it.

[Anonymous No.23774580]

>>23774539
I didn't despise it but I felt it was just ok. The ending of the second one was the best imo.

[Anonymous No.23774584]

Were any of Gaiman's books actually good? I read Sandman and it was good but his novels just sounded like they were retreading the same ground and 75 issues of that was enough. Was I wrong?

[Anonymous No.23774593]

>>23774584
no

[Anonymous No.23774626]

>>23774580
>The ending of the second one was the best imo.
Can I ask why you liked that one?

[Anonymous No.23774645]

>>23774584
yes

[Anonymous No.23774668]

>>23774626
It's one of the most intense endings to a book I've read. You have the Marsh vs Sazed fight, with Vin and Elend approaching the Well at the same time. Add to that the short chapters with the rising dread stemming from starting to understand where the culmination of the secondary story in the epigraphs is going. It tied in perfectly with the main story and was paced out just right. The main part of the book was kinda slow at times but it nailed the ending for me. It was a book that just built and built towards the ending and then absolutely delivered on it.

[Anonymous No.23774772]

The guy who wrote dungeon crawler carl is having an ama over on r*ddit. Nows your time to go ask him why he made carl a cuck

[Anonymous No.23774785]

>dungeon crawler carl
there are people here who actually read this shit

[Anonymous No.23774794]

>>23774356
Thanks for the reply, will keep this position in mind.

[1/2 No.23774810]

>>23774668
It felt to me like almost all of the events earlier in the book were just dragging their feet or taking up disguised holding patterns until someone flipped a switch and the ending was finally allowed to happen. And then that ending was just a bunch of "and then this happened, and then this happened," with no way to work things out yourself because it involved so many brand-new or unexplained elements that felt like asspulls.

>lots of time spent on meandering city politics that don't really go anywhere
>revert Vin and Elend's relationship progress from the last book like you're starting a sequel video game and you lost all of your powers from the last one, with a shitty "oh no she's just too nervous and autistic" explanation about her behavior from the between-books timeskip
>lots of time spent on Vin and Elend just not communicating at all, only to end with Elend finally just deciding to say "I trust you, Vin" over and over like he's Jon at the end of Game of Thrones deciding "she's my queen"
>lots of time spent on trying to tease Zane and Vin's retarded non-love-triangle that goes nowhere
>like damn Sanderson, you mean Vin doesn't end up going with the brand-new psychotic stranger that she has no history with or connection to or attraction to, wow, you really fooled me for a bit there
>keep alluding to Zane having a spike, explicitly reveal it at the end of his storyline... and then never have the characters learn anything from it because apparently Vin and Elend never fucking examined the body, and Zane is never acknowledged by them again, like he just despawned after he dropped dead in her room, lmao
>actually kinda interesting mole-hunt subplot ends in a great and logical reveal, but then most of the stuff learned from it just gets put on hold when TenSoon fucks off out of the story until the next book (though the related reveal about mind control does help with the koloss)
>the whole "what if someone is rewriting prophecy" element can only happen because Sazed has to make his charcoal rubbings in 10 seconds and can't spend five minutes to read through a few paragraphs himself, like he's not even fucking curious, doesn't even get the first or last few lines that any person's mind would read just at a glance
>Vin, Elend, and Spook leave the city just to turn back around just in time for when the ending plot wants them to be in the right places
>Vin somehow thinks that the Well is in one direction for the entire book, only to randomly realize that it's in another direction right at the end

[Anonymous No.23774817]

>>23774584
i read The Graveyard Book and Neverwhere, they are both solid. The Graveyard Book i remember liking very very much. he is very good at making beliavable worlds and characters and inmersing you in them, showing only whats needed. the plots are well paced and entertaining, fun adventure. his films i also love

[2/2 No.23774819]

>>23774810
>Marsh leaves for the entire book just to return in the nick of time, just for Sazed to realize that he can draw power from his rings in the nick of time, just for it to run out in the nick of time, just for Ham to show up in the Nick of time and brain Marsh with a cane
>the mist spirit is an unhelpful retard who totally wants to help at the end, except for how he never helped in any way before when he totally could've said or done something if he really fucking cares so much (right, book 3?)
>and then Vin and Elend stumble through things at the Well that they have no possibility of understanding
>and and then they fuck up in a way that neither they nor the readers can understand by releasing a villain that no one knew was there and no one understands, and so no one can appreciate the implications of it, but it's really bad just trust us
>so the all of the characters' efforts toward reaching some better outcome throughout the whole book preceding this are reduced to "lol, none of that mattered, you never had a chance of not failing"
>oh but the terrible ending is still kind of okay since there was conveniently one allomantic bead left that the mist spirit will finally help you with
>so the horrible outcome for Elend that came out of nowhere is also gone out of nowhere
>and then Vin is going to go conquer every army and wrap things up neatly, admittedly with a bunch of koloss back-up, but she's still playing the part of supersoldier assassin after spending the whole book saying "I don't want to be a supersoldier assassin" (except for that one time with Zane against Cett's men, that she agreed to do completely randomly, and then reverted immediately, but here we are at the end of the book reverting it again the other way)
>and we're left with all of our characters just standing around going, "oh no, uh, something bad happened, but, uh, we're not quite sure what..."

also, Breeze gets traumatized and goes dissociative / borderline catatonic, but then just fucking gets over it by the next book?
that really fucking bugged me

[Anonymous No.23774887]

Bit of a specific request but does anyone have some recommendations for books featuring combined arms warfare? Can be any genre really and I'd prefer the antagonists to be aliens or spooky horrors from beyond the veil. I enjoyed The Salvation War and the Aldenata Sequence so that should give you an idea of the flavours I'm looking for.

[Anonymous No.23774907]

>>23774887
the first (only) 3 Halo books because I'm a pleb

[Anonymous No.23774914]

>>23774907
Already read 'em but thanks for the rec. Loved Contact Harvest

[Anonymous No.23775120]

>>23771296
NTA but no. Sometimes I'll daydream about them if I'm BORED. I can separate fiction from reality.

[Anonymous No.23775150]

>>23774785
It just got published by Penguin and sold to Universal

[Anonymous No.23775165]

>>23769864
I went into it blind years ago, long before the show because my gf is the time was taking a class from the author and said it was her favorite book. My take away after reading it was "female oriented erotic fiction".

[Anonymous No.23775171]

>>23771276
Honestly outside of the main characters it doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous No.23775178]

>>23769416
and hopefully they never will
anon is saving them from this shit "cuckoldry classic"

on related more don't read "spin", MC is a cucked simp
his high class oneitis gets with a neanderthal that abuses her, then finally leaves him but never reciprocates MC's feelings anyway

[Anonymous No.23775191]

>>23774539
You're wrong in that not only the ending was shit, the whole thing was shit.

[Anonymous No.23775192]

Never accept a cuck protag.
Always spoil a cuck protag.

[Anonymous No.23775197]

>>23775192
Carl is not a cuck and he told that bitch to fuck off the moment he learned she cheated, fuck you

[Anonymous No.23775199]

>>23773898
If you can get through it all, one of the best fantasy races I have ever read.
The story of the T'lan Imass, their relationship with the Jhagut and its consequences, and their concept are great. And I think only a professional anthropologist/archeologist could have pulled off undead neanderthals so well.
I think Malazan is worth reading just to see their story.

[Anonymous No.23775206]

>>23775178
Thank you for your service. I already read those garbage books, but still I hate how common this white knight simp cuckold self-sacrifice bullshit is in fantasy books. Fucking disgusting.

[Anonymous No.23775209]

>>23774426
This is one of his best imo, but I also think that Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said is terrible and most people think it's great. I think the main issue is that his work is really inconsistent. I can see how you would be disappointed if you came in looking for dedicated scifi, but he isn't really a scifi author so much as a "what if this weird thing was true/existed" author. In the case of A Scanner Darkly, what if heroin was 100x worse, and would it be morally justified for the police to sacrifice someone like the protagonist in the fight against it. Anyways, I'd recommend his short story The Minority Report for something that is built around a scifi concept. Also Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep but that's probably already on your radar.

[Anonymous No.23775229]

Anybody here read Tchaikovsky's Children of Time series? I personally loved it but the books definitely got weaker with each entry. The first one was magical but the second one tried balancing far too many POVs to it's own detriment. I think I'm one of the few who's favorite is Memory despite how preachy it got at times.

[Anonymous No.23775261]

>>23775229
I read the first one and really enjoyed it, great bit of historical fiction and his exploration of the idea of a spider civilization was very fun and I liked that it had a happy ending twist with the spiders merely disabling the humans rather than killing them but I am a sucker for that sort of thing .

[Anonymous No.23775278]

>>23774785
It's not that bad. The quirky sidekick is annoying, but otherwise it's solid.
Certainly best litrpg adjacent shit ever, since the RPG elements are just Sufficiently Advanced Technology - aliens created a lifelike RPG for the purpose of entertainment. Regular litrpg takes me or instantly, why would real world be like a game? But this makes sense, it's just a system manufactured for mindless entertainment.
VR also takes me out instantly, since the stakes are not real or really forced - but here it's not VR, it happens in tangible reality thanks to Sufficiently Advanced Technology.

[Anonymous No.23775286]

>>23775197
we were talking about farseer
don't be so self-centered

[Anonymous No.23775302]

>>23775286
I felt personally attacked and had to chime in

[Anonymous No.23775330]

>>23774887
most of them are not modern warfare/not combined arms, but a lot of the older novels from the same publisher (was it baen?) scratch the same itch as Aldenata for me
namely, 1632 by Eric Flint, Empire of Man by David Weber, Belisarius series by Eric Flint, General by David Drake, Safehold by David Weber, Troy Rising by John Ringo, Mutineer's Moon by David Weber

[Anonymous No.23775347]

>>23774887
Maybe some Imperial Guard novels from Warhammer 40000 would fit, but I'm not an expert.

[Anonymous No.23775349]

>>23770577
>Trilogy
Already failed before you began

[Anonymous No.23775357]

>>23775278
For a better spin on panem et circenses try Heroes Die. In the corporate hell grimdark future, they send "Actors" to start wars and play at "heroes" in another universe with magic and dragons. Their bloody exploits are watched as simple entertainment on Earth.

[Anonymous No.23775358]

>>23775278
Does that setup play a major part? It sounds even worse than shitty game elements just "being so".

[Anonymous No.23775379]

>>23775358
Yeah, a lot of plot points are about various alien factions outside the game, interviews with the "players", getting good ratings for the show/game, GMs bending the rules, etc.
It also seems to be setting up something like "it wasn't just a game, it actually serves some purpose, and aliens aren't fully in control since it's some ancient magitech of a superior extinct species".

[Anonymous No.23775480]

1632 but good

[Anonymous No.23775553]

[Anonymous No.23775604]

>>23773289
was this a serious recommendation?

[Anonymous No.23775674]

>>23775604
wtf

[Anonymous No.23775687]

Hello fantasy and sci-fi frens. I'm mostly well read in the "serious/classic literature" world, but don't find it fair how it often excludes sci-fi and especially fantasy and want to expand my horizon. Which fantasy/sci-fi works do you consider the strongest arguments that these settings are not just slop and entertainment, but can be truly profound? I was already very impressed by BOTNS.

[Anonymous No.23775712]

>>23775604
I just assume the guys who spam chink stuff are trolling.

[Anonymous No.23775791]

>>23775687
well you've gone through Gene Wolfe, then I'll presume you've gone through Tolkein and Lewis?

In any case, the usual suspects for "High Lit" speculative fiction are usually the following

1984, Brave New World, Clockwork Orange, Left Hand of Darkness, Dune, Farenheit 451, and Slaughterhouse 5. Tolkein and Lewis' works are also usually held in high regard as well.

Beyond these offerings, I'd just also look at Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, and PKD as they're universally recognized as the "sci-fi guys" as a whole. PKD has a wide range of really "out there" books so I'll leave another anon to recommend specifics. Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein each have a few works widely considered their "big" ones as well as a very long list of good short stories.

Asimov- Foundation Trilogy and I Robot are widely recognized as massively influential on sci-fi and popular culture as a whole. After those two, you've got a long list of works that are considered very solid. I'd go with The Gods Themselves or perhaps one of the short fiction collections like "Nightfall and Other Stories" or "The Best of Isaac Asimov".

Heinlein- Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I'll also throw in my guilty pleasure in Double Star onto here. Heinlein does tend to be more of a character writer than the other two, which makes his work more entertaining to read if you're not into the hard SF stuff.

Clarke- Childhood's End, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke, like Asimov, might come off as having more flat characterization, but he captures the sense of wonder in the grand sci-fi concepts and "big questions."

Ray Bradbury is another name considered when talking about the greatest science fiction writer of the 20th Century. He's just a damned good writer in general and I'd probably put him in the category of pure speculative fiction as a whole. I'll recommend The Martian Chronicles, Farenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, and R is for Rocket.

Now, let's go to the writers that aren't gonna show up on "high-lit" lists all too often.

Roger Zelazny is a writer that did "This Immortal" and "Lord of Light". I did read both of them and they're certainly well-written and evoke a bit of a dreamlike quality. Now, as I'm not as widely read on serious literature, I can quite explain it. But I believe there's likely a lot of recognizable literary influences he's drawing from as well as some other more high-lit aspects present in it.

Fritz Leiber, Poul Anderson, James Blish, C. L. Moore & Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton, Frederick Pohl, Damon Knight, and all the other "regular" names you may see when pulling up old lists of '30s-'50s science fiction writers do have some more literary offerings that could possibly go into the bowels of proper literature. It's a long list to look at.

[Anonymous No.23775809]

>>23775791
Thank you very much for the detailed response. Zelazny sounds interesting in particular. I should've mentioned I have basic sci-fi/fantasy knowledge so I'm of course familiar with Tolkien, Lewis, the big three and most found in the charts. But your reply is still very helpful, appreciate it fren

[Anonymous No.23775811]

>>23775687

The thing with sci-fi and fantasy is that, they're kinda allegorical in the end. Good literary SF/F is rooted in allegory and in looking at grander questions.

George R. Stewart's Earth Abides and Walter M. Miller Jr.'s Canticle for Leibowitz are more of my votes for ones to add to the list of worthwhile SF if you're searching for ones that can be elevated to the tier of "serious literature".

There's also Greg Egan but I'm too much of a brainlet to get into him.

The previous post mentioned a lot of things but I think the thing is that if you're looking for truly profound SF, a well that's still not often tapped by normie readers is Olaf Stapledon. The British philosopher that also wrote science fiction as a vehicle for philosophy.

Would you consider short fiction as serious literature? There's plenty of extremely good and worthy short fiction in the speculative fiction genre as a whole. Borges, Lovecraft, Bradbury, Asimov, and the like all earned their reputations with really good short fiction works.

[Anonymous No.23775819]

>>23775687
john Crowely
R A Lafferty
Poul Anderson
Keith Roberts

[Anonymous No.23775839]

>>23775604
Yes. I enjoyed this horny and wacky MC a lot.

[Anonymous No.23775852]

>>23775791
Good list, I'd also throw Alfred Bester (The Stars My Destination, The Demolished Man) and William Gibson & Bruce Sterling (Neuromancer, The Difference Engine) in there.

[Anonymous No.23775853]

>>23775261
I was a huge fan of this too, the twist when the spiders board the Gil and we find that they're actively not trying to kill everyone as well as the subversion with Kern pleading for them to kill the humans even though it's framed as the opposite was a breath of fresh air.

[Anonymous No.23775857]

I wanted to write something like (and prepared for it in last year's NaNo) Lord of the Mysteries but don't really have a unique hook of my own

[Anonymous No.23775869]

>>23770655
>which I doubt was an amateur mistake give how intelligent of a writer he is
He lost his editor after TTT and the publisher gave up on fantasy genre so he was winging it freestyle.

[Anonymous No.23775871]

>>23775809

I'm mostly focused on the older offerings. Think pre 1990ish. I'm still working my way through things, but I'll tell you that a good place to start is always short fiction anthologies. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame trilogy collected all of the short fiction works that the Science Fiction Writers of America voted on as the best of the best prior to the Nebula Awards becoming a thing. You'll see a wide selection of well-written works presented in them, including E. M. Forresters's The Machine Stops and Well's Time Machine.

I'm not certain if it also counts, but you may also find something worthwhile in the big 3 of the Weird Tales pulp magazine (Lovecraft, Howard, Clark Ashton Smith) as well as the post-Poe but pre-Lovecraft weird horror writers like Hodgson, Blackwood, Machen, and Chambers.

And, of course, I think you'll get a kick out of Alfred Bester and John Wyndham. I can easily recommend Bester's The Demolished Man and The Stars, My Destination as well as Wyndham's Day of the Triffids.

I think SF/F can be profound. 1984 and Farenheit 451 explored themes that have proven to be rather true.

Gene Wolfe is said to be one of those guy's that's "the writer's writer". Philip Jose Farmer was said to also be "a writer's writer". I wouldn't know where to begin with Farmer as I've only read his weird stream of consciousness short story from the famous Dangerous Visions anthology. Do be warned that Farmer does delve into strange territory. I don't know enough to flat out recommend him, but he was respected enough in his day to be praised by Harlan Ellison as a writer's writer.

Ellison's another interesting one. He's all short fiction. You can probably blow through his major work pretty easily.

A caveat with SF is that you gotta remember that a lot of these guys created all the tropes and cliches that have since been beaten and overused by mainstream media and goyslop, so if you've been overexposed to the MSM, it may not have as nice of an effect on you.

Speaking of which, Shelley's Frankenstein is likely profound, right?

Anyways, I'd also say that you're mileage is gonna vary for a lot of writers. Some people adore A. E. Van Vogt as the proto-PKD. Other people fucking hate him because of his prose.

>>23775852
Haven't read Gibson but he's a major author in the history of SF too. I'll also toss in Larry Niven as a major author that may be worth checking, even if he's more of a hard SF writer than a skillful writer. Ringworld and Mote in God's Eye are very well regarded.

Second Roberts, Crowley, and Lafferty as well. I'll also toss in M. John Harrison's works as a whole.

I feel like I'm missing someone.

Ah. Robert Silverberg, Clifford Simak, Jack Vance, Fredric Brown, Cordwainer Smith, and Robert Sheckley.

These are all solid authors. Smith in particular is interesting because he's the guy who also wrote the original foundational textbook on psychological warfare for the CIA and his works are almost all short fiction.

[Anonymous No.23775895]

>>23775871

Anyways, Silverberg's a well rounded writer with a pretty good variety of work. I'm not too familiar with his works. Simak's a soft SF writer that started in the golden age. He often uses pastoral themes and explores humanity. I think he's comfy, but might not break into High Lit.

Fredric Brown's another short fiction writer and his works can largely take a comedic spin. Sheckley's similar, but he's a far better writer as a whole. Both of them are still being printed, but Sheckley's work's in print from a major publisher iirc.

Jack Vance, however, is a writer that has the potential to be held as serious literature. He's an excellent fantasy and sci-fi writer with a very engaging and somewhat unique style. His books are all in print from Spatterlight Press.

and before I forget, there's also Douglas Adams, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author. Well regarded. I don't know if he's outright "serious lit" but he's definitely beloved by SF enthusiasts.

Other honorable mentions right now:

Orson Scott Card's Enders Game. Card's a highly skillful writer. I'm not as familiar with his works yet, but there's gotta be a good reason that he's remained in print and beloved despite the industry trying to unperson him.

John Brunner- Wrote The Sheep Look Up and Stand on Zanzibar. Famous for his "Rome Quartet" that tackled dreary futuristic predictions. Had a few proclivities for weird shit, but his work has been considered on the more literary side of SF. The Sheep Look Up was out of print for 30 years and predicted quite a few things.

Hal Clement- A hard SF writer that was very imaginative in his world building and science fiction applications. He's worth checking out, but I wouldn't call him profound. He's a solidly entertaining author.

L. Sprague de Camp- Classic writer that did a lot of alt history and time travel tales. Not a literary fic guy by any means, but he always tried to give an explanation for the inner workings of everything in his stories. Co-created the Enchanter tales about a mathematician who gets isekai'd and uses math to be really good at magic.

Harry Harrison- His only proper serious novel (Make Room Make Room)became adapted into the film "Onions Green." Known for his pulpy action filled series like Deathworld and The Stainless Steel Rat.

Michael Moorcock- Can't say he did anything "profound" but he's been consistently writing to entertain since the '50s and he has not let his commie beliefs infest his writing. I've only begun to read his works, so there could possibly be some proper high-lit merit somewhere in his long bibliography as he is capable.

Joe Haldeman- Channeled his vietnam experiences into The Forever War. Not sure if it's profound as I've yet to read it, but it's highly acclaimed. My impression is that it could have literary merit, but it's an analogy for his experiences with the Vietnam War and coming home.

[Anonymous No.23776208]

>>23774584
I've only read American Gods. It's shit with a few bright spots. IMO Gaiman is decent at vignettes and short stories, but totally falls apart at constructing a larger narrative.

Norse Mythology is okay, but he's basically just compiling existing works with a little embellishment.

[Anonymous No.23776232]

>>23775687
Stanislaw Lem.

[Anonymous No.23776248]

>>23775687
Gormenghast.

[Anonymous No.23776252]

>>23769142
Posting here because the writing general is dead. I have an idea for a story where a prince is turned into a dragon so he can be killed to make the corrupt duke that holds the throne and his royal guard look good. He escapes into the mountains, but is captured by bandits and turned into a mount for one of their captains. Much of the conflict would be him adjusting to not only the powers of his new draconic body, but also its limits. For example, he can no longer speak (Dragons are not typically intelligent in this setting) , so the easiest way for him to communicate is to scratch messages into the dirt with his claws.
This is the first solid idea I've had in months, but I'm worried it'll come off like a scaly transformation fapfic. Any suggestions on how to avoid this?

[Anonymous No.23776257]

>>23770646
reddit moment

[Anonymous No.23776285]

>>23776252

>>23769091
Try using the search function next time.

To answer your question, just avoid fetishizing the transformation. Most transformations come off furry or scaly nowadays, for good reason. Read old shapeshifter myths or watch the old 1941 Wolfman to get a sense of a transformation story untainted by furfags. I would try to avoid treating him like a pet or animal for too long, get him out of captivity and 'talking' to someone. Again, be very careful when attempting any romance when he is in this dragon form, as similar to beauty and the beast, you can easily go too far and end up with fetish material.

[Anonymous No.23776301]

Is he ever going to finish the fucking series?

[Anonymous No.23776302]

>>23776285
I could have sworn that thread wasn't there when I checked the catalog.
Thanks for the film recommendation.
> I would try to avoid treating him like a pet or animal for too long, get him out of captivity and 'talking' to someone.
This is my intention.Once the bandits realize he's intelligent they start treating more like an attack helicopter than a pet. Dehumanizing, just in a non-sexy way.

[Anonymous No.23776324]

>>23776301
he too busy fuckin yoru sister

[Anonymous No.23776385]

>>23776302
Transformations in classic literature often bring out some hidden side of the protagonist or serve some moral purpose. In the Wolfman the other anon mentioned, the lead loses control, becoming more animal then man, becoming aggressive and violent. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the lead transforms into the embodiment of his suppressed desires and inclinations. Hyde is aggressive, lustful, violent, and completely unrestrained in his actions, the dark side of the proper Victorian gentlemen.

In a transformation story such as yours, you may consider some negative to the transformation, some change slowly effecting the Prince the longer he is a dragon, some loss of either his humanity or self, to hasten his need to regain his true form.

You could keep it as is, but really there needs to be some symbolism or curse (negative) underlining his change from man to beast. If his struggle is merely the transformation, keeping him just as an intelligent animal comes off as a little fairy tale-esque, somewhat Disney. But I don't know the style you are going for. Light fairy tale fantasy is fine too.

[Anonymous No.23776389]

>>23776385
>more animal then man
Not reading the rest of your word salad.

[Anonymous No.23776525]

>>23775191
for now I still think that I enjoyed a lot of the characters & adventures & potential in the lead-up, but it's still only a been a few days so I'm open to being wrong
the premise being "magical tomboy adventures" buys a fair bit of goodwill

[Anonymous No.23776531]

>>23776301
The Doors of Stone comes out when Half-Life 3, The Winds of Winter, and Star Citizen do

[Anonymous No.23776558]

>>23775171
That's kinda how I was coping with it up to now, if I remember them then good, if I don't then they must be irrelevant anyway.
Apparently there was some darkfriend guy who tried to murder Rand in like book 1 or something, who then came back into the story in book 6 just to get executed by whitecloaks. Pretty funny but the only reason why I even know that is because I watched a recap of book 6 on the dusty wheel. Makes me wonder how much more of that stuff I'm missing.

[Anonymous No.23776602]

>>23776558
It's Floran Gelb, or maybe the stupid kid from their breif stop at the Four Kings. Both show up in minor roles later in the story. Jordan was very good at his callbacks. Like for example Galad wins his duel against Valda with the same gbot Rand defeats the Seanchan high lord in the second book with.

[Anonymous No.23776714]

>>23774334
It's about ladies with big guts and wrist folds and forehead fat because the author is a disgusting fat fetishist.

[Anonymous No.23776724]

>>23775349
that's what you think :)
you cannot drag me back into the bucket

[Anonymous No.23776757]

>>23775687
Lot of good suggestions but no list of literary fantasy should go without Lord Dunsany, particularly the King of Elfland's Daughter. Also consider A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsey, a more obscure book than most mentioned here but held in high regard by quite a few literary and fantasy critics (and my personal favorite book period).

[Anonymous No.23776767]

>author is sparse with details regarding character's appearance
>finally describes a character i've been imagining as timothee chalomet
>he was black this whole time

[Anonymous No.23776786]

>>23776767
name 15 examples

[Anonymous No.23776816]

>>23775192
>Never accept a cuck protag.
>Always spoil a cuck protag.
I kneel.

[Anonymous No.23776832]

>>23776786
no

[Anonymous No.23776851]

>>23776786
Piranesi
Earth Sea

[Anonymous No.23776860]

>>23769531
How about Kellhus's father being Paul Atreides of Dune Messiah (blinded, shunned, hermit) and Kellhus is Leto III and the future God(Aspect) Emperor. The Consult is the Tleilax. Dunyain are Mentats+Gesserit. Probability trance = Prescience
No-God analogous to no-ships (gods can't see them).

[Anonymous No.23776872]

>>23776257
>Reddit ignores the culture war
I love reddit now!

[Anonymous No.23776889]

>>23774236
Still reading Lovecraft's Necronomicon. Foundation when I finish then Jackal of Nar.

[Anonymous No.23776895]

>>23774584
I only read american gods a few years ago and even that i dropped halfway through, so as far as im concerned, no. Its been pretty funny seeing how quickly people dropped him while they were fellating him just a few months ago when the scandal happened

[Anonymous No.23776912]

Any books that provoke a feeling similar to the first Tomb Raider game? Kinda like the uneasy feeling you get when reading a Lovecraft book, with lost structures, mythical creatures and tomb raiding?

[Anonymous No.23776923]

>>23776912

[Anonymous No.23777037]

>>23769531
The blatant Iliad references made me roll my eyes desu

[Anonymous No.23777060]

>>23775197
What is a man without origin? A [Spoiler] chuckless [/spoiler] wonder.

[Anonymous No.23777062]

>>23772496
wtf I will read this now

[Anonymous No.23777082]

>>23769142
I require a book that is obvious wish fulfilment but isn't badly written
Stuff like:
>OP protag goes to underdeveloped civilization and gets treated like a god
>Harems
>Shaping the world how you see fit
Overlord comes to mind

[Anonymous No.23777088]

>>23777082
dunno, not a cuck

[Anonymous No.23777089]

>>23777082
literally every second Japanese story that I hear about is exactly like this
I think they're called light novels or something

[Anonymous No.23777091]

>>23776860
nonmen are elves
the basic world of "ages" is very First Second Third Tolkein
something about the Crusades in our timeline

anyway..even still..truth shines

[Anonymous No.23777101]

>>23777088
then envision yourself as a cuck so you can help a brother out

[Anonymous No.23777115]

>>23775687
The Worm Ouroboros

i'm not sure your premise is true though, every genre has tons of shit piling up on top of a few "truly profound" books. the difference is scifi/fantasy has not had as much formal study over it as the rest

[Anonymous No.23777270]

>>23775857
just get ai to write it for you, i doubt your average chinkshit reader would be able to notice

[Anonymous No.23777352]

>>23771855
They were attacked because they were already implementing their diversity quotas and a bunch of other political BS. The Hugos had been degrading for decades, but took a drastic turn for the worse in the 2010s.

[Anonymous No.23777419]

>>23775871
>>23775811
>>23775819
>>23776232
>>23776248
>>23776757
>>23777115
Woke up to all your suggestions and thoughts. I'll note it all down, thank you friends
To the first anon: Borges is highly regarded in the "serious literature" world too. Of course short fiction should be taken just as seriously as longer works!

[Anonymous No.23777428]

>>23777082

I'm genuinely not too sure. There's stories of alt-history like de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall, but that doesn't quite go into harems and godhood.

Sturgeon's MIcrocosmic God? No, that doesn't have a harem.

Unsure what you want, but you could check isekai tales or maybe some real old school portal fantasy alt history schlock.

[Anonymous No.23777455]

>>23777419
honestly there's a lot of solid literature and the genre hasn't been excised and dissected on the scale of the other ones.

there's plenty of proto-sci fi that could be taken seriously as well. then you have the stuff that makes use of fantastic elements. I mean, Paradise Lost, The Tempest, Fairie Queen, and etc. are all pretty fantastic but they're a bit removed from what one initially thinks of as fantasies per se, aren't they?

Sci-Fi is a whole other thing unto itself but at least it's agreed that Frankenstein was the first properly recognizable sci-fi work.

But what about things that fall under speculative fiction but not straight out fantasy-sci fi-horror? Like Magical Realism. Is that fantasy? A lot of it is treated rather seriously. I didn't care for A 100 Years of Solitude, but it's apparently held up by scholars of all kinds.

Anyways have fun fren. Genre enthusiasts love sharing everything they can as it keeps the spirit of the good stuff alive and spreading. Slop fades, but the classics remain, even if they're not as elevated as Orwell or Borges or Tolkein. (I love L. Sprague de Camp, but he ain't profound. Still enjoyable and skilled. Give it a century and we may have some rich autist get a PhD out of analyzing his life's works as one of the first major popular alternative history writers.)

[Anonymous No.23777481]

apart from BOTNS and Hyperion, does anyone else do the theme of abandoned tech long into the future and the inability to maintain it?

[Anonymous No.23777485]

>>23777428
Well it doesn't have to have all of the above, I'll check out the sturgeon book thanks

[Anonymous No.23777588]

>>23777485

sturgeon's microcosmic god is a short story.

[Anonymous No.23777591]

>>23777481

Earth Abides by Stewart, and probably the Vance Dying Earth books.

[Anonymous No.23777612]

>>23777082
in the Godwhale, one of the characters is kinda OP and as soon as he figures it out he takes command over things and gets a harem iirc. i'm not sure he can be called the main character though. the book is not about wish fulfilment at all, it's just the natural progression of that character that might be of interest to you. it's well written and a good book in any case, although i liked even more the previous book Half Past Human

other books that come to mind, in order of how good i think they are, are The High Crusade, Lest Darkness Fall, Ranks of Bronze. it's a subgenre that i really like, weird silly mixes of history and fiction that mostly want to be fun, but turn out to be good in their own right. i wish there were more books like this, couldn't find any

Halo: The Fall of Reach is kind of a man vs alien power fantasy. not good literature but it's fun and decently written

[Anonymous No.23777677]

>>23769142
The more I read, the more I prefer female writers. Chat, does this make me cringe (unbased)?

[Anonymous No.23777680]

>>23769162
Buy an ad, you filthy hobo writer.

[Anonymous No.23777684]

>>23777455
You're right and I've thought about that before. The Odyssee, some of Shakespeare's works, Hoffmann, Poe and many more are also fantasy. Frankenstein is early Sci-Fi (there's mainly two positions here, one saying Sci-Fi in other forms has existed for centuries, the other seeing it as something that only emerged as a result of the industrial revolution). As such there are many works that are technically Fantasy/Sci-Fi that are canonized, but there seems to be something about grand or epic fantasy stories of the last ~100 years in particular that much of academia is allergic to. Even Tolkien is still underappreciated in that environment which is truly insane.

[Anonymous No.23777691]

Is Ash: A Secret History good edgy grimdark wankery?

[Anonymous No.23777699]

>>23776786
Starship Troopers? There's the famous reveal that the MC is Pinoy at the end.

[Anonymous No.23777701]

>>23777684
>Even Tolkien is still underappreciated in that environment
cmon, that's not true. name 3 times someone in that environment talked bad about tolkien

[Anonymous No.23777723]

>>23774076
>"No black man shall pass my doors, while I can stand on my legs."

J. R. R. Tolkien, in The Fellowship of the Ring

[Anonymous No.23777730]

>>23777677
What differences have you observed between male and female writers?

[Anonymous No.23777744]

>>23777701
It's not that he's talked about poorly, but more that he's not talked about as much as he'd deserve. Perhaps this is different in Britain.

[Anonymous No.23777764]

>>23777680
Buy an ad to link to what?

[Anonymous No.23777829]

>>23777481
Plenty but they're not the top 5 on a bestseller list so you won't touch them.

[Anonymous No.23777844]

>>23777829
I've never looked at a bestseller list in my life you total projecting faggot
>>23777591
Already read Dying Earth. I'll check out the other one.

[Anonymous No.23777848]

>>23777677
No, it makes you based.
>(Speaking of Frankenstein)

I was waiting for Shelley, Cherryh, Tiptree, and others on the earlier lists. There are just too many though. I have a thing for Tiptree’s work, especially when I’m in a very dark place, psychologically.

[Anonymous No.23777863]

>>23777848
here
>>23777730
This, really.

[Anonymous No.23777935]

I read 'The Mercy of Gods'. It is good but the world feels restricted compared to the grand setting of the expanse universe. Also the main character is some mildly cunning guy who cucks his research team head. Compare this to the self righteous lovable fool Holden. There are no fun characters lik Amos or that martian soldier chick or that pajeeta minister or that mental chink girl

[Anonymous No.23778009]

>>23777935
I've only heard bad things about it so far

[Anonymous No.23778246]

>>23777744
i'm not in the industry but i know he is highly regarded. and not only because of his work on beowulf and academic shit he did, but because of his prose and because lotr is a fucking jewel, known and praised everywhere

i know wolfe and leguin are also incredibly respected and studied. and i bet there they also recognize several others and do some research about them, even if it doesn't get into the mainstream culture. i think what you say is just something that is no longer true, if it ever was

[Anonymous No.23778308]

>>23778246
What you're saying is simply false. Tolkien isn't anywhere near the actually highly regarded authors in academia. I've been in academia for a decade and like to think I have a decent overview of what's going on in it. But let me just give you an example. Here's a recent reading list from New College, part of Oxford, Tolkien's own university. If there's one place that should appreciate him and include him in their canon it's this one: https://www.new.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-06/2022%20Fresher%20Reading%20List%20-%20English_0.pdf

As you can see, there's a specific section for 1950s and beyond writers - and Tolkien is not on it, which is very much the norm. My point is not that everyone in universities spends their time screeching about how awful Tolkien is or that there is no study of his work. Longer university canon lists sometimes include LOTR. My point is that he is still not as respected in this environment as the importance and quality of his work should warrant and that the bias against fantasy in academia is by no means a thing of the past.

[Anonymous No.23778325]

>>23778308
>I've been in academia for a decade and like to think I have a decent overview of what's going on in it
ok you should have started with that

[Anonymous No.23778458]

To the guy who was asking for dark fantasy with a knight on an adventure last thread: check out this book titled We Are All Legends by Darrell Schweitzer

[Anonymous No.23778499]

>>23778325
All good, friend, I quite dislike the whole 'I got le credentials therefore I am le right' nonsense and I appreciate your perspective. There are definitely some who exaggerate the degree to which Tolkien is not respected so you do have a point. He doesn't get 0% of the respect he deserves, but also not even close to 100%.

[Anonymous No.23778528]

>>23772422
>Needs constant action scenes to be entertained
nigger spotted

[Anonymous No.23778539]

>>23772496
combat vets are sexually strange

[Anonymous No.23778599]

>>23778458
very strange but this is not on bookz. do you know where i can get an epub?

[Anonymous No.23778601]

>>23778528
filler =/= non-action scenes

[Anonymous No.23778604]

>mc travel's with a group
>Everyone else knows shit
>Never tells MC
>Huurrrr mc is chosen one but must be kept away from vital information concerning his life!!!
I hate this shit

[Anonymous No.23778674]

>>23778604
The concept in principle is fine, that being that certain pieces of information, if divulged at the wrong time or place, can do more harm than good, but it's admittedly not always implemented in the best of ways, and chances are if you're reading a lot of 'chosen one' stories back to back, there's a strong chance it's going to get repetitive fast.

[Anonymous No.23778700]

>>23778604
Name two and a half books that do this

[Anonymous No.23778705]

>>23778601
you perceive it as filler because you simply aren't white enough. only a couple books have any bloat in them at all.

[Anonymous No.23778719]

>Haruka Kanata cut

[Anonymous No.23778817]

>>23777481
yes plenty, it's a common troupe

[Anonymous No.23778836]

>>23777730
Women: more pathos

[Anonymous No.23778840]

>>23778458
Darrell Schweitzer is my nigga
everyone should read the mask of the sorcerer too

[Anonymous No.23778953]

>>23778599
You'll have to settle for a PDF. It's on the usual sites. libgen, zlib, Anna's, etc

[Anonymous No.23779028]

Yay or nay?

[Anonymous No.23779030]

>>23779028
nay

[Anonymous No.23779032]

What’s a good fantasy series where humans can interact with pagan gods? Like the Iliad but not necessarily a real mythology, it can be one made up by the author. Is Malazan good for that? Preferably something that doesn’t fall into a good god/bad god dichotomy like lotr and wheel of time.

[Anonymous No.23779037]

>>23779028
Neigh

[Anonymous No.23779049]

Just finished Harry Turtledove’s Aftershocks and I can’t believe he ended the Colonization trilogy with a big nothingburger. I was expecting a climactic war that would give the Big Uglies an upper hand over The Race, especially since they hyped it up with the US creating all those kinetic bombs out in the asteroid belt. But now there’s just a 40 year time skip between the end of this trilogy and the final book. I’m quite disappointed that the trilogy-defining event was just Germany getting wiped out by nukes because the Jewish author wanted to punish his fake nazis lol.
The only interesting thing about the trilogy was the reveal about who launched the submarine nukes at the colonization fleet.

[Anonymous No.23779058]

>>23779028
I'm on the third book and I would classify the series so far as unremarkable. Few or the characters stand out to me or are likable (besides maybe Maquin and Kastell). It also repeats the same events often the outnumbered enemy has a guy on the inside, or betrayal again and again. I'll probably finish it but never think about it again. Unless something amazing happens in the last book I guess.

[Anonymous No.23779075]

>>23779028
Yay, fuck those other guys. It's one of the last times I wasn't able to put a series down.

[Anonymous No.23779085]

>>23777612
High Crusade and Lest Darkness Fall work because they're not trying to be power fantasies or wankfests. It's just solid speculative fiction writers telling fun stories. High Crusade's Aliens were especially fucking funny because they got BTFO'd by 13th century englishmen while on their own turf.

[Anonymous No.23779089]

>>23779075
Why did you like it? I'm on book 3 so spoilers to that point are fine.

[Anonymous No.23779103]

>>23777684

Academia is slowly accepting it. It's strangely conservative when matters don't involve IDPOL shenanigans or something along those lines.

There's already a sort of foot in the door already and it's been there for a long time. I recall reading that a lot of the speculative fiction authors of the past century, be it SF, fantasy, horror, etc., did try to elevate and develop the genres as a whole to get it to be taken seriously. It just feels sad that, for all their effort, mainstream speculative fiction got hijacked by retards (SFWA, etc) and modern mainstream publishing usually just shills slop.

There seems to be a slowly growing affection and appreciation for spec fiction in those circles. I know Lovecraft's being taken more seriously in spite of him being "problematic". Tolkein/Lewis are also slowly growing in appreciation as well.

On the SF side of things, Orwell and Huxley have their famous dystopias taken as major works of literature iirc. You've also got the slow burn on Olaf Stapledon's works being looked at increasingly. Then you've got Ursula le Guin's works being practically gift-wrapped for the modern progressive academic.

Herbert's Dune, Asimov's Foundation/Robots, Clarke/Heinlein's catalogue of stuff, PKD's schizoid works, Bradbury and Vonnegut's solidity as writers, etc. We can't forget Lem or the Strugatsky Bros either.

I think as time goes on, speculative fiction's going to get more of a place. Stigmas are hard to deal with, but speculative fiction ultimately roots in the "fantastic" that myths and legends are.

and myth is a powerful thing.

btw Howard Andrew Jones has brain cancer. Sword and Sorcery frens that are into him, is his work worth getting? I'm imagining that it may get pricey after he passes away. If anyone knows, do I grab the Hanuvar Books? What about the other stuff?

[Anonymous No.23779159]

>>23777677
same
>>23777848
>I have a thing for Tiptree’s work, especially when I’m in a very dark place, psychologically.
have you tried Joanna Russ? her work can be pretty dark since she was a bit of a femcel

[Anonymous No.23779194]

>>23779032
the goat himself

[Anonymous No.23779243]

>>23779159
Leigh Brackett, C. L. Moore, Andre Norton, and Judith Merrill are all solidly fun and engaging classic SF writers.

[Anonymous No.23779276]

>>23779159
Never heard of her, but I love recommendations. With which books should I start?

[Anonymous No.23779288]

>>23779028
i gave up halfway through the second book, its just not very interesting

[Anonymous No.23779381]

>>23779276
i hear her Alyx stories are fine fun and the Picnic on Paradise is also good. Female Man is what she's known for.

[Anonymous No.23779391]

>>23779276
"And Chaos died" and "We Who are about too..." are great, unique and go to some dark places, very New Wave.
These >>23779381 are good too

[Anonymous No.23779398]

>>23779391
>We Who are about too...
To* lol

[Anonymous No.23779441]

>>23779381
>>23779391
Thanks very much, guys! I’ll be happy to give these a read. They look wonderful so far.
>>23779243
(..And I’ll know where to turn next. Thanks for this post, too!)

[Anonymous No.23779650]

>>23778604
name five book series

[Anonymous No.23779674]

>>23778458
mask of the sorcerer was legit incredible, I don't understand why it isn't more famous

[Anonymous No.23779829]

>>23779674
it's too good for this modern world

[Anonymous No.23779871]

>>23779194
Damn, that cover rules.

[Anonymous No.23779918]

>>23779085
ok that it's not consciously tring to be a power fantasy, but the result is still the MC absolutely winning against unreasonable odds. so i think its fair what i said

[Anonymous No.23779979]

The only good progression fantasy stories are the ones where the progression is treated as sideshow to the actual plot.
Stories where the progression is the main appeal are trash most of the time.

[Anonymous No.23780035]

>>23769142
these women horny horny
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/27050.Impregnation_Stories_are_Domination_at_its_Finest

[Anonymous No.23780069]

>>23780035
what did i just read

[Anonymous No.23780087]

>>23779032
sort of

[Anonymous No.23780177]

FUCK he is good.

[Anonymous No.23780188]

>>23780035
Finding the Terminator in that ungodly list was pretty funny

[Anonymous No.23780200]

>>23780087
Draffut best Dog.

[Anonymous No.23780280]

>>23780035
How we stop the female menace?

[Anonymous No.23780295]

Do we have any info on joes new book? Do we know who the new main characters will be? I dont think i can stomach another girlboss savine...

[Anonymous No.23780297]

>>23780188
>Mega Man 6: Breaking Point
what

[Anonymous No.23780357]

>>23779028
i was really into it at first, then somehow lost interest by the end of book 3

[Anonymous No.23780390]

>>23780177
Mr. Clean?

[Anonymous No.23780423]

books with a dark souls/ Elden ring vibe? I've already read the book of the new sun, any others you can recommend in a similar vein?

[Anonymous No.23780448]

>>23780423
The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock (was one of the inspirations for ER)
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
Nightwinds and Book of Kane by Karl Edward Wagner
Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne and Zothique Cycles

[Anonymous No.23780479]

>>23780448
thanks so much brother

[Anonymous No.23780586]

>>23780390
If he had hair he probably wouldn't write as good as he does. He writes as if the end result were good then it would all grow back.

[Anonymous No.23780668]

I need fantasy American Psycho

[Anonymous No.23780688]

>>23779075
>Yay, fuck those other guys
found the redditor

[Anonymous No.23780696]

>>23780177
Total shitlib

[Anonymous No.23780775]

>>23780423
Great post anons, very original but just started three body problem and i'm wondering when does it gets good? are the witcher books any good? Only played Witcher 3 and the netflix's series. Just started Eye of the World when does WoT gets good?? Any books like dark souls/berserk/Bloodborne??? Any books like FF/Dragon Quest/Tales of..??!! Any books with N'Wahs?Kvothe is a cuck, will slob Martin ever finish winds of winter??? Abercrombie is Reddit-tier?? Are the dune sequels worth it or should i stop with god emperor of dunc? Should i read the Hyperion sequel???? Did severian fucked his grandma? Is severian a clone? Any books with chinks? Any books like fallout/metro? Any books where the mc gets cucked? Any books where the mc Doesn't get cucked?? Stormlight book 5 when? Will kaladin fuck the fairy?? is the Eisenhorn trilogy a good place to start with W40k??? Or should i watch 4hours YouTube vid about le EPIC lore??? Any books with young petite women? Any books with old thick women? Any books with MANLY men like David Gemmell? Soulcatcher or Lady who is the better waifu? When does malazan gets good?? I didn't finish highschool so i can´t understand Malazan?!?! Any books with chinks??!! When does ASOIAF gets good?!?!? When does Farseer gets good?? When does lightbringer gets good?? When does codex alera gets good???? When does Lord of The Isles gets good?? Dunsany is king or bakker?? Any books with incest?

[Anonymous No.23780785]

Any good books with gay rape?

[Anonymous No.23780788]

>>23780087
>saberhagen
holy kino last name

[Anonymous No.23780830]

>>23780785

[Anonymous No.23780841]

>>23780785
Re-read your diary.

[Anonymous No.23780862]

>>23780785
I'm sure that it shows up in Malazan at some point
then again, you said "good" books

[Anonymous No.23781045]

reincarnation of the strongest sword god is finally finished

what should i read next???

[Anonymous No.23781062]

>>23780668
>lets see Prince Paluallalans Munaellthir
>Look at that subtle green glow
>the tasteful thylra-humming it makes
>Oh, by Strellira. It even has a necrobridge

[Anonymous No.23781066]

fantasy series/books with female mc?

[Anonymous No.23781081]

>>23781066
me on the left

[Anonymous No.23781249]

>>23781066
Why is Shadowheart nearly naked in the middle of a goblin camp?

[Anonymous No.23781339]

>>23780775
okay but when does wot get good

[Anonymous No.23781358]

>>23781339
>he read past the first book

[Anonymous No.23781374]

>>23781339
LOL

[Anonymous No.23781418]

don't know what i want to read next.

[Anonymous No.23781457]

>>23781066
Mistborn
(but the ending is fucking terrible and ruins everything)

[Anonymous No.23781631]

Is Reverend Insanity worth reading knowing it got axed with no ending?

[Anonymous No.23781652]

>>23781457
How /coom/ is it?

[Anonymous No.23781690]

>>23781652
superpowered magical tomboy
need I say more?

[Anonymous No.23781969]

>>23781631
>chinkshit
of course its not worth reading you fucking mong

[Anonymous No.23781987]

>>23781969
I know, right, where's the diversity and feminist values?

[Anonymous No.23782225]

>>23782220
>>23782220
>>23782220
New

[Anonymous No.23782751]

>>23780775
are you okay bro