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/lit/ - Literature

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5114972 No.5114972 [Reply] [Original]

What are the best books with a sense of decay to them? Preferably fantasy. I've already read New Sun, Lord of the Rings, and Second Apocalypse. Also, preferably not low fantasy, had enough asoiaf and First Law. Atmospheres not dissimilar to that of Dark Souls, if any of you have played it.

>> No.5114976

>>5114972
What do you mean by sense of decay here?

>> No.5114978

Lovecraft

Any time someone wants an atmospheric, "video game title"-like story, it's always Lovecraft.

>> No.5114981

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

>> No.5115004

>>5114976
the world was way better before

all we have to look forward to is a slow and wheezing halt.

all that exists now is a crooked shadow of former splendor

>> No.5115008

>>5114978
Read Mountains. Thought it was alright, if a tad pulpy for my tastes. I always felt like the history was a little one dimensional, the presence of the "necronomicon" forced.

>> No.5115032

>>5115008

Lovecraft's longer, more famous works are generally shit. The Colour out of Space is him at his best, and it has a little bit of the sentiment you're after.

Aside from fantasy, you might want to look at A Darkness at Noon and Rashomon.

>> No.5115040
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5115040

I'd suggest the Shannara series, but what's the point? Anybody who thinks it's shit has only read the first book, and they never thought to give the rest of the series a chance.

>> No.5115071

In The House of the Worm, The Outsider, Throne of Bones

>> No.5115076

>>5115071
The Outsider by Lovecraft?

>> No.5115138

>>5114981
I was going to say this. Interesting that Blade Runner went with a more cyber-punk atmosphere

>> No.5115153

>>5114972
Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories.

>> No.5115197

>>5115153
New Sun is basically Wolfe's own version of that right? Is it in any way similar?

>> No.5115516
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5115516

>>5115197
Both settings feature a dying sun. Both settings feature Ancient artifacts and ruins. There's plenty of weirdness, as well. Vance created an interesting world.

While BotNS is sci-fi that appears (from the covers, at least) fantasy, Vance's work is fantasy masked as sci-fi. Most of the stories can be taken on their own, with the exception of Cugel's Saga.

There's a lot of humor in the Dying Earth books. He doesn't beat you over the head with it, but it's there.