Sci-Fi and Fantasy General

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Sci-Fi and Fantasy General Anonymous Thu Sep 17 03:30:33 2015 No.7125880 [Reply] [Original]

Paperback Edition

Old thread hit bump limit.

>Old thread
>>7095454

>Favorite fantasy series?

>Favorite Sci-Fi series?

>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 03:34:34 2015 No.7125886

>>7125880
OP here, I'll get started.

My favorite fantasy is the Black Company series by Glen Cook. I also enjoy the Wheel of Time Saga by Robert Jordan.

My favorite Sci-Fi is definitely Starship Troopers by Heinlein.

Guilty pleasure is anything John Ringo. His novels and series are just a nice bit a fun that I feel comfortable picking up and dropping at any time.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 03:34:44 2015 No.7125887

My favorite fantasy novel is Silmarillion, didn't actually read fantasy outside a few authors, only Tolkien and Wolfe were good in the bunch.
Sf also doesn't tend to have long series so Book of the New Sun.
Currently reading Solaris which is unexpectedly fantastic. It's quite spooky.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 03:48:19 2015 No.7125916

>>7125887
>>7125887
There are a some long ones for Sci-Fi. The Deathstalker series by Simon R. Green isn't bad. It's like seven or eight books for the first part and then another four or five to finish off the whole thing. Been a while since I read it.

John Ringo also got his start doing Sci-Fi. He has two or three different series. The one he started with is pretty long, something like 14 books total.

Honestly I read more fantasy than Sci-Fi.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 03:57:26 2015 No.7125935 >>7125916 I've read only Wolfe, Tolkien, Lewis, Martin, Rothfuss and Erikson, with the latter two being some of the worst books I've ever read.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:02:03 2015 No.7125945

>>7125935
Rothfuss isn't bad IMO. I do wish he'd finish the fucking third book already. Erikson reminds me of Cook so I do like him, though not as much.

Honestly try Robert Jordans' Wheel of Time or Brandon Sandersons' Way of Kings (he stated that he wants it to be at least as epic as the Wheel of Time). Sanderson actually finished the Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan died. Felt a bit off, but what do you expect when you bring in a new author?

Somehow I've never heard of Wolfe. I'll have to look into it. Any recommendation for his best of?

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:09:33 2015 No.7125958

>>7125945
Rothfuss is by far the worst fantasy author I've read and one of the worst writers in general, there isn't a thing I actually liked about it.
It has mediocre writing at best, cringeworthy at times, anime tier school drama, Denna The Cuck, a laughable attempt at progressive propaganda and a character, Kvothe, the self insert of every gentleman neckbeard, a massive lack of imagination, slow and redundant story and a bunch of other awful elements that just make it into an amalgamation of cliches, bad writing and fan fiction.
Wolfe is also one of the most popular fantasy authors here, start with Island of Doctor Death and Death of Doctor Island or Fifth Head of Cerberus and ask around from there, you'll get a number of responses on where to next.
also you are a pleb, lurk more

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:10:41 2015 No.7125960 File: 205 KB, 600x686, PaperArtist_2015-09-15_23-11-30-600x686.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Any fantasy books with protagonists like pic related?

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:23:59 2015 No.7125995

>>7125958
>>7125958
Eh. Rothfuss has always felt mediocre tier, not bad but not good either. I just want to finish the series. Kvothe is definitely cucked by Denna though. Pretty frustrating honestly. The non-flashback parts are pretty cringe worthy. Outside of the flashbacks I have a constant though of "Stop being a fucking bitch and take fucking control. You're the most badass magician since ever, fucking do something." Only reason I want to keep reading is to see if he gets off his ass to do something.

I read for fun, I don't care as long as it entertains me so pleb insults are pointless

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:30:22 2015 No.7126009

>>7125880
>favourite fantasy
Farseer trilogy without a doubt. Stormlight Archives and Book of the New Sun are great as well.

>favourite sci-fi
Hyperion. Only one good book, one average one and two shitty books, but all the sci-fi I tend to read is standalone. Some would say Book of the New Sun but I see that as more of a fantasy book.

What are people's thoughts of Peter Watts? I heard good things from people, but I'm trying to read Blindsight and his prose is atrocious.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:35:14 2015 No.7126017 >>7125995 Pleb wasn't an insult, it was stating a fact, which you confirmed >>7126009 Hyperion is as much fantasy as is New Sun, both don't really care about actual hard sf

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:41:38 2015 No.7126033

>>7126017
[SPOILER]I only hear it as an insult. Still don't care.[/spoiler]

Looking for new Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I'm going to be looking up Wolfe (I feel bad for not hearing about him before). Anyone who is epic tier or better for Sci-Fi? Heinlein and Haldeman are two of my favorites.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:45:25 2015 No.7126042 >>7126033 Hyperion is quite large in scale. Horus Heresy too, you'll probably like it. Enders Game maybe.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:51:51 2015 No.7126056

>>7126042
Read the whole Enders' Series. Along with the Shadow of the Giant stuff.

Horus Heresy IIRC is Warhammer 40K (Warmachine/Hordes is better IMO). I haven't been really interested in it as I don't play WH40K. I'll look up Hyperion at least. It doesn't have any relation to Hyperion from Borderlands does it?

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:54:17 2015 No.7126061 >>7126056 Hyperion is a Greek titan, you'll see the name tossed around. Don't play video games, but doubt there is a correlation.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 04:59:00 2015 No.7126072 >>7126061 Okay. Wasn't sure which one you were talking about. In the Borderlands setting Hyperion is a company trying to exploit a planet full of alien tech and other shit.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 05:08:25 2015 No.7126093 I like both now maybe fantasy more but only by a little. Favorite hmm probably robin hobb farseers trilogy. For sci fi really enjoyed jack Vance's dying earth.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 05:44:01 2015 No.7126144

>>7125880
>Favorite fantasy series?
ASOIAF, Abercrombie's Third Law + standalones, Bakker's Second Apocalypse
>Favorite Sci-Fi series?
Morgan's Kovacs books, I haven't read nearly as much sci-fi as fantasy though.
>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?
James Lovegrove's "Age of ....." books.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 06:06:52 2015 No.7126177 I just read Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. The concept seemed really dope from the previews I read but I was pretty disappointed with the book. Is it worth bothering with the sequels at all?

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 07:03:50 2015 No.7126255 >>7125935 You should read Lord Dunsany. He was hugely influential on Lewis and Tolkien

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 07:06:09 2015 No.7126258 File: 18 KB, 509x411, uzLrg2P.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7126144 >Abercrombie's Third Law

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 07:47:53 2015 No.7126335 >>7126255 I was thinking Howard and Zelanzy, because I by accident got part 10 of Amber Chronicles and saw a nice omnibus of Conan for 20$

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 07:49:49 2015 No.7126342 >>7126258 Oops Umm I mean haha I totally baited you.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 09:02:21 2015 No.7126551 >>7125960 Paper skinned, owl face books?

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 09:03:12 2015 No.7126553 Sapkowski's Witcher saga

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 09:05:45 2015 No.7126559 >>7126258 What was the third law of wizardry again?

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 14:33:46 2015 No.7127487

> Fantasy
Robin Hobb's Farseer/Tawny Man books.
There's more depth and characterisation of a wolf in these books than other authors have in entire books.

> SciFi
Star Wars... I don't read sci-fi

> Rothfuss
I really like his books, but you guys make me feel bad about it :(

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 14:49:08 2015 No.7127556 File: 53 KB, 488x750, 1431792521611.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Requesting a book that has a similar vibe as pic related

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 15:54:29 2015 No.7127769 >>7127487 >actually giving a fuck about what /lit/ thinks

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 16:02:22 2015 No.7127801 I'm close to finishing Dune; should I go on to read Dune Messiah? I kinda wanna read other stuff tbh, but I've heard it's the high point of the story and so far the book doesn't seem like it will come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 16:08:44 2015 No.7127830

>>7125880

>Favorite fantasy series?

Has to be ASOIAF, despite the most recent books being sub par

>Favorite Sci-Fi series?

Hyperion probably. Quantum Thief if I look at the recent years only.

>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?

Currently reading a book in the Dresden Files series. 'nuff said.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 16:22:40 2015 No.7127859
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Why is [pic related] so highly regarded? The sci fi was good, but damn the writing was terrible and ruined it almost completely for me. It makes everything sound boring, the book should have been half as long and just how many times do I have to read several pages long descriptions of the captain as well as every other insignificant detail.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 16:28:24 2015 No.7127877 Wonder why lit seems to like Robin Hobb. Seemed pretty meh to me. Though it has been a few years since I read anything by her.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 16:37:48 2015 No.7127918

>>7127877
I think it depends what you want from a book.

Hobb's Fitz books are all about characters and family. Being who you want to be rather than what you're expected to be.

You don't find sprawling battles spread across entire continents which appears to be the in thing these days.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:16:23 2015 No.7128081 >>7127877 Some of the best characterisation I've seen in any medium. Prose that is simple and easy to read, yet very evocative when it needs to be. And it's a drama in a fantasy setting, which is a nice change of pace from the usual fare.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:20:52 2015 No.7128100 Favorite fantasy: Third Law books and Gormenghast Favorite Scifi: The Stars my Destination and Book of the New Sun

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:21:52 2015 No.7128103 >>7127918 The new Fitz book was so fucking bad >>7127830 I really couldn't get into the Dresden files, the first book wasn't good at all and Harry Dresden seems like a stup

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:31:00 2015 No.7128152 >>7127859 Many scifi lovers don't give a shit about writing (which is why most scifi is bland shit)

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:32:23 2015 No.7128160 >>7125935 Erikson and Rothfuss are both bad so don't worry about it

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:36:52 2015 No.7128180 >>7128152 I also don't usually care about writing, but this one was really bad even by my standards.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 17:39:37 2015 No.7128197

>>7128103

> I really couldn't get into the Dresden files, the first book wasn't good at all and Harry Dresden seems like a stup

I read the most recent one first. That one was better (than the first one), so I guess that's the reason I kept on. I basically use this series as light entertainment inbetween reading more serious books.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 18:29:42 2015 No.7128422 >>7128103 The last third of the Fitz book was a bit shit I'll admit. Before that it was pretty awesome.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 18:37:05 2015 No.7128457
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>>7125880
>Favorite fantasy series?
Cosmere meta by Sanderson

>Favorite Sci-Fi series?
Revelation Space universe by Alastair Reynolds
I think I fucked myself up for hard sci-fi because I can't see anything ever topping this.

>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?
I don't really have any. Since aging, I've realized a lot of the shit I read in the past was pure filth and nowadays try to stick to good Fantasy or Sci-fi.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 19:05:04 2015 No.7128588 File: 72 KB, 406x505, 1442016768838.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7128457 >Sanderson >Good Fantasy

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 19:15:51 2015 No.7128625 >>7128588 >this shit again

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 19:22:11 2015 No.7128646

>Favorite fantasy series?

Discworld by Terry Pratchett

>Favorite Sci-Fi series?

Manifold trilogy by Stephen Baxter (though it's more like variations on a theme than an actual series.)

>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?

Dragonlance 'Time Of the Twins' trilogy, Doctor Who books from the 90s.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 19:59:33 2015 No.7128764 >>7128457 I intend to read Reynolds next, but Peter F Hamilton is great sci-fi. Man seems utterly incapable of writing endings, but the ride up to them is great.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:16:20 2015 No.7128812
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I'm writing a second world fantasy like Chronicles of Narnia or The Neverending Story, and my protagonist is 12. Does that turn you guys off?

It's still pretty dark, and has a lot of body horror, violence, and death in it, but I've kept out anything overtly sexual because I want it to be accessible to younger readers.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:23:43 2015 No.7128845 >>7128812 is it a gril?

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:37:15 2015 No.7128895

>>7128845

It's a boy. It's not especially socially progressive or anything.

What I think makes it stand out is that it has the archetypical characters of the Mononyth: hero, herald, guardian, trickster, shadow, etc. and as the book progresses each one starts to reveal themselves to actually be a different archetype. The guardian character, for example, is revealed to be the shapeshifter, and the villain winds up being the mentor. I think it will be interesting.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:44:54 2015 No.7128925 >>7125995 Thats what I feel. one time he gets to fuck the best fairy there is. next he wishes he get to suck dennas dick. I enjoyed it notheless though good sir

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:48:02 2015 No.7128938

>>7125945
brandon sandersons books are really ambitious bro. spoilers aside they are linked- maybe its a plan to get us to buy everything. I do want it to all link explicitly but I wonder if he will be alive then or if will.
That aside the bridge scenes were amazing. didn't know bridges could get me excited.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:50:38 2015 No.7128949 >>7128812 reading about rape for the first time really changed my views of dark. before it was just villainly. people die all the time in fairy tales or disneyish stuff - the evil lord slays the knight.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 20:53:29 2015 No.7128957 >>7128812 nono, reading about childhood poverty and urchin violence is of the darkest ive read. im sure you can make a good dark story without SEX. lord of the flies was about kids if im correct

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 22:41:14 2015 No.7129204 Do you guys read anything other than big names? I realize big names are big names for a reason but I'm feeling adventurous.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 23:05:20 2015 No.7129266 File: 686 KB, 1024x1018, 1442449872655.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Reminder

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 23:14:42 2015 No.7129298 >>7129204 Yes. Go ahead. Big names are big names because of marketing, like any other medium.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 23:22:00 2015 No.7129309

>>7129204
I've been on a few trawls through goodreads to find new and interesting stuff but haven't ended up buying anything yet.

Was looking at The Winds of Khalokovo the other day, seemed neat.

Anyone read it?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9601072-the-winds-of-khalakovo

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 23:22:35 2015 No.7129311
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What does /lit/ think of the Witcher books. I'm about halfway through the main saga and I've enjoyed it so far, although it drags a bit. I find it particularly interesting how Sapkowski throws a bunch of noir conventions into fairy tales and manages to make it work.

Anonymous Thu Sep 17 23:26:08 2015 No.7129332
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>>7128588
Meta is pretty cool, yeah.

>>7128764
I just finished re-reading the Sabriel books and started the Dying Earth series, myself. I've heard good things about Hamilton; maybe I'll check out some of his stuff sometime.

>>	Anonymous Thu Sep 17 23:36:06 2015 No.7129355 >>7129266 I have complete admiration for anyone who can pay their rent with their writing.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 00:20:56 2015 No.7129490

>>7127801
To me Dune Messiah and part of Children of Dune are the weakest part in the original series. I really loved God Emperor of Dune. Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune were pretty great too, but the last one ended on a cliffhanger. Have read the two prequel trilogies written by his son when they came out, but not the two sequels written by his son (or the books that seem to fit in between the original series).

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 00:31:43 2015 No.7129527
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Reminder that Wheel of Time is absolute garbage whose only value is as a warning to other authors about the dangers of indulgence. Without hyperbole, I frequently mourn the death of Robert Jordan, ONLY because I will never be able to tell him to his face how badly he fucked up. Once again, that isn't me just being edgy; I legitimately feel that way. I don't like shitting on dead people who can't defend themselves, but Jordan, even in death, needs to take responsibility for the opprobrious atrocities he committed.

Never before has there been a more depressing case in recreational literature than Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan, having vast creativity and imagination, as well as an excellent prose style, could have written a timeless fantasy series. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to write a novel. While being able to craft clever one-liners, he had no trace of elegance, architecture, or pithiness.

His lack of selectivity was insulting to the reader, bloating the novels into literally thousands of pages of nothing. The wondrous setting of Randland was completely suffocated by Jordan's belligerent insistence on selfishly rambling about things that no reader cared about. Even after several years, I am still astounded at how an author could be so disrespectful and offensive as Robert Jordan, who took perverted pleasure in holding hostage any shred of good, enjoyable literature behind weeks of flaccid endurance.

It was this viciousness that killed Wheel of Time. The best thing Jordan ever did for the series was die, leaving his good ideas in the hands of a much more capable novelist. Unfortunately, Jordan didn't die soon enough to save his magnum opus.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 00:46:21 2015 No.7129561 >>7129527 Gotta pay the bills somehow bruh

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 01:09:09 2015 No.7129608 File: 23 KB, 361x361, frodo2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7129527 So why don't they just put out an abridged version?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 01:14:29 2015 No.7129625 >>7129527 >His lack of selectivity was insulting to the reader, bloating the novels into literally thousands of pages of nothing sounds like another soon to be dead author...

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 01:16:27 2015 No.7129628 File: 28 KB, 320x214, spongebob-walk-cycle-o-s.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7129625 Hiyooo!

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 01:26:13 2015 No.7129645

>>7128938
Not sure what you mean. I know he did another series or two prior to the Stormlight Archive he's working on now. I haven't read them though. He's only about 40, should be able to finish everything before dying.

>>7129311
Planning on reading those myself. I like the game and as I understand it the books came first. I figure it'll be interesting to see the contrast.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 01:35:46 2015 No.7129662

>>7129527
I gave up by book 6.

There were some really powerful moments.

I remember the desert people surrounding that mesa singing wash the spears or something.

And a flash back to when one of the male wizard people that went dark side killed a load of people that retaliated by singing.

Awesome moments but too few and far between.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 03:33:16 2015 No.7129912 Late night bump.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 03:49:58 2015 No.7129957

>>7129311
The first short story collection is excellent, and the second is okay but much worse than the first.

Never could get into the main series, Blood of Elves was just plain dull. The lack of Geralt and expanded plot didn't help. People say the series just gets worse as it goes too.

Shame because I love the world, lore, and the game trilogy.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 04:09:25 2015 No.7130001 >>7129527 Don't agree, thoroughly enjoyed the series as a whole, despite the slowness around book 10.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 05:32:08 2015 No.7130125 File: 414 KB, 800x600, brandonson.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 05:32:51 2015 No.7130127

>>7129645
I picked them up (read: torrented) after finishing wild hunt. The two short story collections are basically just Geralt doing a bunch of contracts with a bit of extra character development.

The series proper is a bit slow, but it gives you a lot of context for the events of the games and I have a soft spot for road trip stories. Also you'll finally understand who all the people on the gwent cards are.

>>7129957
I mostly agree. I like the main series so far because I'm a massive lore nerd but I think it does get a bit better in Times of Contempt where the main plot actually begins. Blood of Elves feels more like a prequel than a beginning if that makes any sense, it's sort of there to contextualize and justify later things but ended up really bloated.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 05:45:47 2015 No.7130144 >>7129266 Klarkash Ton only had 3 years of formal education and his prose is still better than Tolkien, a man who contributed to the Oxford English dictionary. What's Tolkien's excuse?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 05:52:03 2015 No.7130151 >>7130144 What's yours?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:03:55 2015 No.7130172 >>7129311 Have only read Blood of Elves and it was one of the worst books I've ever read. I've heard the short stories are good, though.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:04:20 2015 No.7130173 >>7130151 That is the saddest defense of Tolkien.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:05:26 2015 No.7130175 >>7130151 I'm not a writer, nor do I have any aspirations to be one.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:07:12 2015 No.7130177 >>7130173 It's not a defense of Tolkien. Clark Ashton Smith had only three years of formal education and is still better than anyone here. Apparently formal education isn't linear with prose ability. How about that.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:08:03 2015 No.7130179 >>7130173 Do people actually think Tolkien is that great? Give him credit for revitalizing an essentially dead genre but that's it. His works weren't that good.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:26:05 2015 No.7130212 Holy shit the amount of plebbery occurring in this thread is disgusting, people actually complimenting sanderson and rothfuss. New lows

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:29:47 2015 No.7130219 >>7130212 Of course they are simultaneously called pieces of trash, rightfully so, but people who read for "fun" visit these threads assuming from v and tg

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:31:11 2015 No.7130222 >>7130179 He is certainly one of the best writers in fantasy and 20th century literature. He was a skillful writer, full of imagination who also imbued his works with gorgeous symbolism.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:33:32 2015 No.7130229 >>7130212 Sanderson is a better novelist than Jordan. Period. Although that's not saying much.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:33:46 2015 No.7130230 File: 46 KB, 480x853, 1440127152745.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7130219 >people who read for "fun"

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:37:01 2015 No.7130236 >>7127487 Robin Hobb is fantastic

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:40:14 2015 No.7130246 >>7130212 >being this astounded someone has an opinion you don't have

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:44:45 2015 No.7130250 >>7130144 >his prose is still better than Tolkien How do you assess this?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 06:58:26 2015 No.7130279 >>7130230 I like this meme

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:02:43 2015 No.7130289 >>7130144 Klarkash Ton really has surprisingly good prose - went in expecting a Lovecraft clone, and while it was one, his prose is on a different level compared to Lovecraft Those prose poems though, bah, what a bunch of clichés

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:03:57 2015 No.7130292 The Belgariad and the Mallorean. Hands down my favorite series and they go hand in hand. Seems like most modern fantasy is a pale shadow of the Belgariad.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:04:47 2015 No.7130295 >>7130125 >ur just jealous cuz hes popular!

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:14:33 2015 No.7130314 >>7129645 Yh remember Wit. He is more crazy than you think. I don't wanna spoil if for ya but the other books are pretty swell too. A lot of oppression themes and a pretty unique magic system if you are into them things.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:18:43 2015 No.7130321 File: 209 KB, 592x1032, Battle Circle.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Anyone read this?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:43:23 2015 No.7130374 >>7130321 No, but I have read Realty Check by him and while the story was entertaining, I was rather surprised this old guy kept perving on his granddaughter. Is that normal for this writer?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:45:07 2015 No.7130382 started book of the new sun, about 80 pages in, love the language

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:47:34 2015 No.7130391 >>7130374 That isn't a common theme, but things being generally fucked up certainly is.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:48:29 2015 No.7130398 >>7130382 Keep us posted on what you don't understand after you read it.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:49:58 2015 No.7130405 How's The Blade Itself? I've had it sitting unread on my shelf for years now.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 07:53:17 2015 No.7130418 >>7130405 Keep it on the shelf.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 08:09:06 2015 No.7130455 >>7130418 That bad, huh?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 08:19:26 2015 No.7130476 >>7130455 Not Rothfuss bad, but there are so many more worthwhile novels out there. Read it if there is buzz in your social circles, but otherwise no real reason to read it.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 09:00:08 2015 No.7130548 >>7130476 I genuinely enjoyed "The Name of the Wind", to be honest. I haven't finished "The Wise Man's Fear", though... Too boring, even/particularly the sex scenes.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 09:04:00 2015 No.7130555 >>7130548 This --> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/124567435?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 09:23:05 2015 No.7130587 >>7130292 Anyone know of any more straight up, prophecies and magic and gods stuff like this? Particularly stuff that isn't trying to be gritty and realistic just to be gritty and realistic.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 09:53:32 2015 No.7130651 >Favorite fantasy series? Haven't read enough to say. >Favorite Sci-Fi series? Foundation >What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)? I used to read Star Wars novels Great thread!

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 10:53:47 2015 No.7130783 >>7130555 That's one of the best reviews on Goodreads I've ever read. Thanks for posting it.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 11:26:34 2015 No.7130860 >>7130405 Not the strongest first book but the series as a whole is one of the better high fantasy series of the last decade or so.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 11:28:26 2015 No.7130865 >>7130587 Wheel of Time I guess.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 11:29:02 2015 No.7130867

>>7130783
Hehe, you're welcome ;) Too bad this pretty much sums up the book:
"I can't go any further into the faults without completely ruining it for you, but suffice to say it's flabby where we don't care, lean where we do, Denna dominates fully 100 pages of screen-time (and is even more annoying this time around) and there are 60 full pages of egregious faery boning, wherein Kvothe is schooled in the arts of love by an ancient mythical Fuck-Goddess."

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 12:22:50 2015 No.7131007

>>7130144
Tolkien's prose is rooted in Old English, Christianity, as well as in an oral storytellling tradition. A lot of the stylistic decisions he makes, like the exploration of genealogy, some of the descriptions of eating and smoking, and a number of other things are definitely affected by all 3 of those inspirations. It can make the prose seem a little stilted sometimes, but he has a reason for doing it.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 12:26:25 2015 No.7131018 >>7131007 In my book that is top tier prose.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 13:04:46 2015 No.7131119
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>>7130555
http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/02/concerning-hobbits-love-and-movie-adaptations/
>You know that it’s going to be like? It’s going to be like wandering onto an internet porn site and seeing a video of a girl I had a crush on in high school. You probably knew someone like her. The smart girl. The shy girl. The one who wore glasses and was a little socially awkward. The one who screwed up the curve in chemistry so you got an A- instead of an A.
>She was a geek girl before anybody knew what a geek girl was. And that was kinda awesome, because you were a geek boy before being a geek was culturally acceptable.
>You liked her because she was funny. And she was smart. And you could actually talk to her. And she read books.
>And sure, she was girl-shaped, and that was cool. And she was cute, in an understated, freckly way. And sometimes you’d stare at her breasts when you were supposed to be paying attention in biology. But you were 16. You stared at everyone’s breasts back then.
>And yeah, you had some fantasies about her, because, again, you were 16. But they were fairly modest fantasies about making out in the back of a car. Maybe you’d get to second base. Maybe you could steal third if you were lucky.
>And maybe, just maybe, something delightful and terrifying might happen. And yeah, it would probably be awkward and fumbling at times, but that’s okay because she’d be doing half the fumbling too. Because the only experience either one of you had was from books. And afterwards, if you make a Star Wars joke, you know she’ll get it, and she’ll laugh….
>That’s the girl you fell in love with in high school. You didn’t have a crush on her because she was some simmering pool of molten sex. You loved her because she was subtle and sweet and smart and special.
>So you stroll onto this porn site, and there she is. Except now she’s wearing a thong and a black leather halter top. She’s wearing fuck-me red lipstick and a lot of dark eye makeup. Her breasts are amazing now, proud and perfectly round.
>Someone’s taught her to dance, and she does it well. She’s flexible and tan. She has a flat midriff and walks like a high-class Vegas stripper. Her eyes are dark and smouldering. She has a riding crop, and she likes to be tied up, and her too-red mouth forms a perfect circle as she sighs and moans, and tosses her head in a performance designed to win any number of academy awards….

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 14:15:00 2015 No.7131321 Are the Mistborn trilogy any good? And what about the Stormlight Archive? Are they worth reading and which are the better of the two?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 14:16:34 2015 No.7131327 I have an idea for a fictional universe but how do i know it's actually a properly original idea?

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 14:29:49 2015 No.7131372

>>7131321

I've only read Mistborn so can't compare. It's an alright trilogy, nothing super impressive but worth a read imo. Second book was a bit too long and not much happened compared to the first and third. Didn't like the time Sanderson spent on the city siege so that was a minus for me. The whole allomancy system is pretty fun, action scenes are well written, so if you're looking for a series with good action and ok story then go for it. The ending was also a nice unexpected surprise. There will also be a second and third trilogy.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 15:13:25 2015 No.7131509

>>7125880
>Fantasy Series
Chrestomanci, Earthsea, Fafhrd & Gray Mouser, The Once & Future King... The Magicians but don't tell anybody

>Sci-Fi Series
Helliconia

>Guilty Pleasure
Cory Doctorow

>Stand-Alone Fantasy
LOTR; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell; Little, Big

>Stand-Alone Sci-Fi
Tiger, Tiger; The Zero Stone; The Diamond Age

>Hybrid
Lord Valentine's Castle

>YA/Children's
A Wrinkle in Time; His Dark Materials; Archer's Goon; The Hobbit

>Honorable Mentions
Discworld, Narnia, Dhalgren

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 15:16:21 2015 No.7131515 >>7131119 What the fuck Rothfuss

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 15:20:23 2015 No.7131528 File: 39 KB, 960x720, IMG_258126291333602.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7131119 Kek

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 15:26:09 2015 No.7131545 File: 1.39 MB, 3264x2448, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] anyone read this before? one of my favorite singers recommended it.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 15:31:16 2015 No.7131563 >>7131545 Anne Frank was not a singer

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 17:06:32 2015 No.7131878 File: 128 KB, 1024x754, clock3-1024x754.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7131119 that was a pretty good read tbqh

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 17:08:08 2015 No.7131886 File: 67 KB, 540x720, CPNA0BXUkAA3ToO.jpg:large.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7131119 that was a pretty good read tbqh

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 17:45:17 2015 No.7132035

I never liked a single fantasy novel. It even ruined books for me as a small child because school forced me to read through horrible tripe like harry potter and the lord of the rings.

Eventually I found out about dystopian books like 1984, player piano etc. That fueled my reading habit.

But still to this day I haven't touched a fantasy book that I liked (I also don't like fantasy movies/series/anime/games).

If there is one fantasy book that could change my view on fantasy books, what is its name?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 17:48:54 2015 No.7132050 >>7132035 dunno fantasys pretty weak tbh

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 17:57:40 2015 No.7132090 >>7129527 it's so boring to me I can't even make myself read through the wikipedia description.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:05:42 2015 No.7132116 >>7132035 Wolfe and Tolkien are pretty great writers in general so start with them

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:10:08 2015 No.7132130

>>7132035
How about you explain what you didn't particularly like about fantasy...?

Maybe you hate its tropes (good vs bad, swords, wizards, born-to-save-everyone characters) and its devices (historical like setting, multiple PoVs, serialization, deus ex machina resolutions, etc). Maybe you're so petty and narrow-minded you just hate guys in armor. We don't have a magical crystal ball, you know...

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:16:09 2015 No.7132140

>>7132130
>Deus ex machina magical solutions.
>born-to-save-everyone
>Objective good vs Objective bad
>Meme races like orcs and elves (at least be creative)

I don't have a problem with swords,wizards or anything. It's just that it feels like most of the fantasy genre is lazy writing with magic crap just pulled out of the ass deus ex machina style for every possible scenario.

But maybe i'm just autistic.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:24:14 2015 No.7132166 >>7132140 Most fantasy isn't like that, even bad one. Maybe for dnd and video games. And even Tolkien who had orcs elves and good vs evil has a lot more going on past the surface.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:25:50 2015 No.7132174

>>7132140
Elves and orcs aren't really memes. Those are just accepted names for metatypes in fantasy settings. If you have an issue with the specific words then you're being pretty close minded. In the best of fantasy, these fantastic races are used to exaggerate human characteristics like greed, anger, wisdom. They can act to establish reasonable expectations of behavior without having to delve into entire new cultures for various groups of humans.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:29:56 2015 No.7132184 >>7132140 >Objective good vs Objective bad Why is this a bad thing?

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:31:11 2015 No.7132191

>>7132140
Since you seem to be into sf and 'larger themes', maybe try Gene Wolfe.

Or Mervyn Peake if you want different (i.e., Gothic) aesthetics. .

If you want morally gray gritty stuff with multi-layered themes, read fun pulpy trash like Abercrombie, Glen Cook, GRRM, Scott. A. Bakker.
If you want the same without the moral nuances, maybe read some stuff inspired by Arthurian myth (TH White).

If you want a more realistic setting albeit with some surreal elements, read magic realism and the likes (Borges, Cortázar, Murakami, Ishiguro). "Little, Big", comes to mind.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:33:19 2015 No.7132198 >>7132191 Quality post, seconded

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:33:36 2015 No.7132201 >>7132035 Have you ever tried Discworld? Really good at pointing out all the laughable stuff about fantasy, while still being excellent fantasy.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:50:32 2015 No.7132266 >>7132140 >Deus ex machina magical solutions. >born-to-save-everyone >Objective good vs Objective bad >Meme races like orcs and elves (at least be creative) a song of ice and fire has none of that, and the books are good. might be worth a try

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 18:58:19 2015 No.7132294 >>7132266 >Reading an ongoing book series that is likely to be left unfinished CUCK U C K

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:07:43 2015 No.7132323 >>7132191 Solid post, seconding specifically TH White

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:12:56 2015 No.7132346

>>7132191

>If you want a more realistic setting albeit with some surreal elements, read magic realism and the likes (Borges, Cortázar, Murakami, Ishiguro).
>Cortázar

Not the anon you are replaying to, but really? I only read Rayuela from him - which is an absolute genius book, by the way - but I wouldn't say that had much of 'magical realism' in it. What books of him would you say are more in this vein?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:15:10 2015 No.7132354 >>7132090 kek

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:17:36 2015 No.7132363 >>7130230 That kid is one of the youngest and most accomplished Dota 2 players of all time, by the way. Last year alone he won something like 1.7 million dollars on prize money.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:22:39 2015 No.7132388 >>7132346 Around the Day in Eighty Worlds by Cortazar has a touch of that.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:26:50 2015 No.7132408 >>7132388 Nice, I'll check it out. How would you say it fares compared to Rayuela?

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:29:19 2015 No.7132420

>>7132346
It's true Cortazar is closer to the nouveau roman movement, Rayuela being something of a staple of that style and the Latin American boom, so I'm referring mostly to his short stories (Axolotl, Casa Tomada, etc).

Listen to this if you can understand Spanish:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJifc-A_Pj4

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 19:50:41 2015 No.7132491 >>7132294 its ok if grrm dies sanderson will finish

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 20:19:35 2015 No.7132594 >>7132491 How is that a good thing?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 20:43:20 2015 No.7132669 >>7132491 >Gurm >leaving it to a weeaboo hack like Sanderson He says he wants all his notes burned if he dies, but in truth it's more likely Elio and Linda finish it, or they possibly find an actual good author to help them.

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 20:59:20 2015 No.7132723

>>7132491
Sanderson is too different to GRRM, but at least we would be guaranteed an ending in the next 5 years.

My vote goes to Hobb. She's versatile enough to pull it off and has better understanding of characters in fiction than anyone else, genre or not.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 20:59:30 2015 No.7132726 >>7132354 It wasn't meant as a joke. I tried several times over the years to find out what all the fuss was about only to stop reading after the 4th or 5th sentence. I will try another time now.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:00:45 2015 No.7132729 How's Red Mars? I've had it recommended to me a few times now.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:05:10 2015 No.7132745 >>7132726 >4th or 5th sentence of a Wikipedia summary Sounds like someone needs to see a doctor for ADHD. Wheel of Time is a pretty bad series with some great moments interspersed every 800 pages, but you might legiimately have problems.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:14:31 2015 No.7132779 >>7132745 or maybe it's just terribly boring

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:16:19 2015 No.7132784 >>7132723 i dont know who hobb is but are you seriously suggesting a woman?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:21:26 2015 No.7132799 File: 54 KB, 500x651, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7131563 i beg your pardon?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:26:59 2015 No.7132812 >>7129266 >HOWARD, LOVECRAFT, CAS >low quality pick one

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 21:40:29 2015 No.7132873 >>7125886 I kind of got tired of The Black Company somewhere in She Is The Darkness. All i remember is some long ass siege going on and everyone basically being in a stalemate and One Eye getting his arrowhead back.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 22:01:39 2015 No.7132936 >>7129527 saved, this could be an interesting pasta

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 22:01:42 2015 No.7132937
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Finally around to reading Dune. It's very good so far, seems like an equal mix of fantasy and sci-fi. I'm not much into fantasy, but I can put up with the "sires" and "m'lady"s in this.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 22:03:24 2015 No.7132943 >>7132937 I forgot to mention that it has no magic (at least not yet), so that is very good.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 22:56:09 2015 No.7133133 >>7132784 Yes, I am. Is that a problem?

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 23:16:01 2015 No.7133192 >>7127556 if you haven't played the game Limbo... that's basically it... i have no clue about a book though and would like to know

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 23:31:49 2015 No.7133254 Any love for the Mars trilogy?? It was recommended to me by a girl

Anonymous Fri Sep 18 23:44:56 2015 No.7133301

>>7132937
>>7132943
It never comes to "magic" so much as some obscure "mysticism" (Bene Gesserit are about as close as you get until the late 3rd/4th books). Pretty cool balance I always thought; not too unlike the standing of our own world religions today. A hint of the divine without wizards running around and shit. Dune stays very sci-fi throughout.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 23:55:20 2015 No.7133336 >>7132090 I actually did that after book two. I was painful.

>>	Anonymous Fri Sep 18 23:57:40 2015 No.7133342 >>7132491 No, Sanderson is a shit writer. He's not capable of creating his own stuff and making it interesting, imagine writing from another writer's leftovers.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 00:02:28 2015 No.7133366 >>7131509 Great list. You really would dig the Book of the New Sun. Its the missing puzzle piece.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 00:08:15 2015 No.7133386 >>7132669 >George Rape Rape Martin >Not a hack

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 00:28:50 2015 No.7133454 WHY IS EVERYTHING SWORD AND SORCERY GARBAGE? Fucking VIDEO GAMES have more innovative settings and characters in the genre compared to the dead-end state that fantasy novels currently exist within.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 00:37:59 2015 No.7133487 Read the forever war and old man's war. Thought old man's war was absolute shit compared to the forever war. Never read starship troopers though, should I do it?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 00:51:21 2015 No.7133532 >>7131119 Lord of the Cucks

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 01:28:33 2015 No.7133655

>>7132873
It was a spear but yeah. Really slowed down there. I honestly hated like half of She is the Darkness and almost all of Water Sleeps.

Why do you guys seem to like Robin Hobb so much? I recall reading some fantasy trilogy by her that dealt with ships (this was years ago). It was okay but not particularly amazing.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 01:47:41 2015 No.7133702

>>7133655
That would be Liveship Traders. It's a decent trilogy and half her other series range from dull to okay.

We tend to praise her Farseer and Tawny man books, which are basically full of the most vivid characters in fantasy. Super emotional too if you're into that sort of thing.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 01:56:47 2015 No.7133717 >>7133454 Sword and Sorcery has been dead for decades. Now anything remotely fantasy is labelled "sword and sorcery" so it's a pointless subgenre.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 02:42:28 2015 No.7133799 >>7133454 What are some examples of this dead-end state?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 02:52:31 2015 No.7133814 >>7133702 Huh, I haven't read those two. Might take a look at them then.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 03:05:23 2015 No.7133835

>>7133655
Not the anon you're referring to, but Hobb is really hit-or-miss. I thought the Farseer Trilogy was great, really emotive, but then I read Soldier's Son and wanted to throw the fucking book in the garbage. I read the whole trilogy and feel like I wasted a lot of time doing so. The main character is so ridiculously unlikable that it almost becomes self-parody, and the ending is so unsatisfying that "rocks fall, everyone dies" would have done the job just as neatly.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 03:58:57 2015 No.7133903 >>7131509 The Once and Futurw King is a series?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 04:11:30 2015 No.7133927 File: 85 KB, 500x667, Swainton 3 book omnibus - The Castle.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7133454

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 04:12:09 2015 No.7133929

>>7133903
Sometimes you can find its books sold individually, mostly the Sword in the Stone and the one book from White's senilia that's just old Arthur doing Sword in the Stone again.

And anyway forget the rest of the books, I can just read the Ill-formed Knight over and over. Rotten Orkney kids in the background, Arthur's cockoldry a dim foreboding, just Lancelot stifling his natural cruelty with chivalry and getting so insane chivalrous he can heal people.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 04:13:46 2015 No.7133933 >>7133927 >samurai swords >better than flint daggers Guaranteed replies.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 04:54:31 2015 No.7134010

>>7133933
Checked.

As I understand medieval (as in, anything before guns) weaponry a samurai sword (presumably the katana) is superior to a flint knife. Really the only cringey part is that it implies
>muh nippon master race

Unless you meant that it was low level bait. I can't really tell. I blame alcohol.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 05:27:40 2015 No.7134068 >>7134010 >not a multilayered meme with topicality, bait, incisive social commentary, and veiled insults packed into a short post with very little apparent content Do you even /lit/ bro

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 05:34:33 2015 No.7134084 Was anybody else really into The Legend of Drizzt in high school?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 05:40:23 2015 No.7134095 >ctrl+f >Malazan >no results okay...

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 05:48:53 2015 No.7134109 >>7134095 that is a feature not a bug

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 05:57:10 2015 No.7134126

>>7131321

Mistborn is quite OK, but I think it shows a lot how Sanderson has changed when you read it after Stormlight Archives, which I think is incredible in contemporary fantasy. The first kinda reads like YA in a lot of moments, especially in the first book, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing and the scope of its system and Sanderson's work with it is definitely worth the read (especially in the second half of the first trilogy onward and to follow the second trilogy and so on), the maturation of his style, themes and characters makes SA the better read of the two by miles, imho tbh.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 05:57:56 2015 No.7134130

>>7129311
Shorts stories okay. Books less okay but could be worse.

>>7125880
>Favorite fantasy series?
I always really liked The Belgariad by David Eddings, but that may actually just be the nostalgia speaking because I read it as a kid and loved it back then and not because it's a great work of art.

>Favorite Sci-Fi series?
I am not well-versed in Science Fiction. I guess I liked that one about the void but I can't actually remember the author or the titles of any of the books or even any of the characters, so.

>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?
Just - stories. Fun, easy-to-read stories with likeable characters. I like to turn off and not think occasionally, and a nice little fantasy story with a straightforward quest is a great way to do that. It's better than watching mindless reality television.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 06:09:25 2015 No.7134145 >>7134109 and with Black Company in OP? not really

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 06:20:16 2015 No.7134159 >>7131886 This

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 06:24:10 2015 No.7134165

>>7125880

>Dresden Files and Stormlight Archives, still working up the genre classics so I know it's really pleb
>Dune
>Regarding books I don't see anything as a guilty pleasure per se since whenever I feel embarrassed of reading something I just drop it or finish it and don't go back to it ever

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 06:24:15 2015 No.7134166 >>7134126 >themes and characters makes SA the better read of Wait, Stormlight Archives is contemporary fantasy?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 06:32:55 2015 No.7134178 >>7134166 Only in its production/publishing sense. Sorry if it sounds any different than that.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 08:01:55 2015 No.7134338

Extended list because my top favourites don't change much, and I'm pretty sure I've vomited my praise for the Dying Earth and Covenant enough times already here.

>Fantasy Series
The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, The Dying Earth sequence, Master Li and Number Ten Ox, Farseer, The Long Price Quartet, Prince of Nothing

>Sci-Fi Series
[Miles] Vorkosigan series, Gap Cycle, Saga of the Exiles, Tschai, the Demon Princes, Firefall series (if it counts as one)

>Stand-Alone Fantasy
The Worm Ouroboros, The Hammer, the Folding Knife, The Scar, The Lions of Al-Rassan, The Anubis Gates, The Orphan's Tales

>Stand-Alone Sci-Fi
Neverness, The Demolished Man, I Am Legend, Lord of Light, Non-Stop, The Sheep Look Up

>Favourite Collection
Academic Exercises, Adam Robots, The Rediscovery of Man, Stories of Your Life and Others

>Favourite Anthology
Songs of the Dying Earth

>Favourite Sword & Sorcery
Conan, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Nifft the Lean

>Childhood Favourites
Dragonlance Chronicles, Legends, Dark Elf trilogy, The Belgariad, the Elenium, Magician

>Guilty Pleasure
The High Crusade (FUCK YEAH)

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:01:58 2015 No.7134465

Does anyone know about any fantasy or scifi that's slice-of-life-ish (like the hard scifi anime planetes). So it's more about the life of the protagonists and how he experiences the fantasy/scifi world and less about "there's this super powerful evil dude who wants to destroy everything without any real reason."?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:06:22 2015 No.7134477 >>7134145 Black Company is what gave inspiration to Malazan. It is superior.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:17:28 2015 No.7134508
File: 736 KB, 3264x2448, 0519-embarrassed-girl-red-sweater_sm.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

Last time I visited this board I saw no love for scifi/fantasy, so I'm glad to see this thread. I love shelf porn and it's easier to take a picture than list things, so I want to post a picture of the beginnings of my book shelf to see what other fantasy and sci fi fans think of what I have so far. I've collected almost entirely without recommendations and had no interactions with other fans of this kind of thing, so I'm curious. (1/3)

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:18:39 2015 No.7134514 File: 727 KB, 3264x2448, 5MZWs9S.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7134508 I have no idea why that's the filename, but whatever. (2/3)

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:19:43 2015 No.7134517 File: 612 KB, 3264x2448, NtCq3ID.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7134514 (3/3)

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:22:00 2015 No.7134529

>>7134465
I honestly can't think of anything as comfy as Planetes or YKK, but there is a lot of character-centered F/SF if that's what you're wanting. It is mainly goal-driven, though, with the Western action-climax paradigm as opposed to the Japanese jo-ha-kyu just-end-it-out-of-nowhere style.

I could name a lot of character-driven genre fiction but I'm having a hard time coming up with day-in-the-life genre fiction. Aside from what I'm trying to write.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:25:20 2015 No.7134537 >>7134529 You seem to have good taste so please recommend me something. I haven't read any books in ages and want to get back into reading. I'm honestly kinda lost since there are just so many books.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:26:14 2015 No.7134541 File: 839 KB, 142x146, laughing 2ds.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7134508 >capes >Brooks >Robo-Modesitt >Unfinished Wheel of Time >Thrillers But you've got Redwall so you're cool in my book.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:29:33 2015 No.7134551

>>7134541
I read up to five in WoT I think, but then I got sick of reading the same story for so long since I'd read three and a half Sword of Truth books before I started WoT, and they're essentially the exact same series so I got burnt out.
I haven't read the Modesitt book yet.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:29:44 2015 No.7134553 >>7134541 wow what a pleb

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:31:59 2015 No.7134563 >>7134477 flawless logic there champ

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:35:12 2015 No.7134570

>>7134537
Off the top of my head, if you want to relax go with Zelazny's Night in the Lonesome October or Connie Morris' To Say Nothing of the Dog. I guess those are in Victorian England if worldbuilding was what you wanted. Mareilon the Magician? Dang.

Come to think of it, Patricia C. Wrede in general is a really underrated high-YA author and all her books are really chill, so you could try her. Diana Wynne Jones as well. Their books do have save-the-world plots sometimes, but somehow it doesn't seem that urgent.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:49:30 2015 No.7134604 I liked the way Sanderson finished The Wheel of Time. Which of his books should I try first? I was thinking The Way of Kings.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:54:33 2015 No.7134617 >>7134551 >Doesn't know about Dumai's Well. You've not really read The Wheel of Time if you haven't seen shit really hit the fan in book 6 and after.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 09:58:23 2015 No.7134630 >>7134617 I'll get back to it, then. I was going to give it a bit of a break and read some Xanth, but now I'm curious.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 11:41:06 2015 No.7134907

>>7134068
I was pretty drunk last night. I've also been informed that my tastes are pleb tier

>>7134084
Not really into it. Tried reading it to see what the fuss was about. Didn't like it much.

>>7134095
Erikson was mentioned a few times. I even mentioned liking him.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 14:34:39 2015 No.7135519 The Silmarillion is awesome. Any who disagree are just being contrary for the sake of being contrary. Jhereg series is great if you like dark and gritty fantasy. Elric. Drizzt.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 18:17:50 2015 No.7136308

So Im trying to remember a series I read when I was a kid

the first book was actually pretty good, it had a beaten down guy in his 40s who killed a dragon and was called to kill another and his wife was a mediocre mage that helped him and in the end she was granted the power to turn into a dragon herself and left him

the rest of the books got super weird and dark. there was one that went to modern times with computers and stuff. there was one where the guy has to make a deal with the demon queen to save her and go through a bunch of tortures and shit. the guy is just put through the ringer constantly and the chick isnt worth any of it, a woman wrote it I think

anyone know what the hell im talking about?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 18:40:11 2015 No.7136397 >>7136308 The first one definitely sounds like Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. I haven't read the sequels, so I don't know about those.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 18:42:01 2015 No.7136401

>>7134604
First Mistborn trilogy is where I'd start, because it's sort of a finished story. The Way of Kings is the beginning of The Stormlight Archive, which will take at least a decade before it's finished. Warbreaker and Elantris are pretty much standalone, but I enjoyed them less than the Mistborn trilogy.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 18:49:17 2015 No.7136424 you guys should post your profiles in the goodreads thread real lack of SFFags in there

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:01:11 2015 No.7136466

Are you guys adamant about hard sci-fi / hyper realistic fantasy, or are you more into looser concepts (think Wolfe's New Sun sci-fi or Tolkien vs GRRM fantasy)

I'm writing a very ambitious, very loose sci-fi that is basically space-opera complete with technologies that I pulled out of my own arse and space-magicks. It's quite interesting but I feel like today's audience is all about hyper realism where fantasy must be medieval England / Europe and sci-fi must be a documentary or some sort of college thesis. Hence the "why didn't the eagles fly to mordor" discussions, which are idiotic when you take fantasy as fantasy, and not super realistic alternate history.

In other words, I just want to write about Gorgrom the barbarian fighting vs. Xar'than the evil wizard of darkness of the empty southern wastes.

Do any of you feel like me?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:19:20 2015 No.7136538 >>7136466 Personally, I love that kind of stuff, just hard to find decent examples of it.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:22:37 2015 No.7136554 >>7136466 I only care about how good the book is, loose or hard is just means to an end.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:29:07 2015 No.7136580

>>7136554
Is loose sci-fi intrinsically bad, or because there are no good examples to draw from? Ask any neckbeard, and they'll go full autism because X or Y sci-fi books are not accurate enough, but almost everyone will agree that New Sun is a very good loose sci-fi book (which also happens to be my favorite).

And the point of my post is, what exactly is a "good book" for you? Is prose alone enough to make a good book? The message it conveys? It concepts? Or being "hard" sci-fi or realistic fantasy? Or vice versa?

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:38:59 2015 No.7136628 I wanted to know if the "Enders game" series is actually good or just "reddit tier: Harry potter!, Dr Who!" Wanted to start a sci-fi series. But i need to know if it's worth the time investment beforehand.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:43:02 2015 No.7136640

>>7136580
What makes a book good depends on the book itself, there isn't a universal way to go around it.
For Wolfe it is his strength of imagination and creativity, his strong sense of ideals and a clear goal at what he wants to convey as well mind games he plays and many other elements.
For Dick it is his strange way of perceiving reality and insane situations that arise from it.
For Dostoevsky it is his ability to perfectly recreate a human, transfer a real person to the written form and his absolute mastery over knowing (and I hate the phrase, but bare with me) the human condition.
So basically you need to know exactly what you are good at and craft your work based on what you are good at.
>>7136628
It's great for reddit tier reading, but not quite up there with Dick, Wolfe, Lem and Le Guin.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:52:16 2015 No.7136668 >>7125880 Anyone here like End of etenity by Asimov? Really cool environmet and well executed idea. Love his take on the future.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 19:58:00 2015 No.7136682 >>7136397 that was it, thanks

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 20:22:28 2015 No.7136743
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Just finished pick related. It was entertaining I guess, but I don't get why the whole "magic school" shit never feels right beyond Harry Potter. Maybe it's because I'm older now, I can't feel it anymore. Author is still a hack for stealing everything, even if that's the point.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 20:56:48 2015 No.7136833 >>7136743 Weakest of the three, agree with your feelings in the last sentence

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 21:08:01 2015 No.7136865

>>7134617
Stop that.

Dumai's Wells is an amazing 'shit hits the fan' moment, but nothing worthwhile happens afterwards. That's really the point where Jordan needed to ramp up the tension and pace, but the next four books are literally full of nothing happening.

Anonymous Sat Sep 19 21:16:08 2015 No.7136896

>Fantasy
The Second Apocalypse
A Song of Ice and Fire
Malazan Books of the Fallen
The Black Company
Instrumentalities of the Night
Harry Potter

>Science Fiction
Foundation
Dune
Book of the New Sun

>Guilty Pleasure
None. I don't feel guilty about Harry Potter, I loved that stuff growing up.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 21:40:09 2015 No.7136989 >>7133254 Bumping this

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 23:52:22 2015 No.7137449 >>7136640 What I like most about Wolfe is how his novels are filled with simple logic. They are like having a conversation with a nice old man.

>>	Anonymous Sat Sep 19 23:56:12 2015 No.7137461 >>7137449 I meant "simple wisdom".

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 00:38:47 2015 No.7137602 >>7133835 Soldier's Son is ass. I made it about 100 pages into the second book.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 02:34:19 2015 No.7137984 What's a good asian scifi or fantasy that isn't a space opera? I want something along the lines of the grace of kings and the windup girl.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 03:42:25 2015 No.7138208 How come it seems like the most praised Space Opera feature little-to-no alien life?

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 03:53:04 2015 No.7138227 Anyone read the Alvin Maker series? It's pretty good.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 04:07:33 2015 No.7138253

>>7138227
I started reading it fifteen years ago, when the fifth book had just come out. The seventh and final book still hasn't come out. SO ANNOYING... Still, the first five books were entertaining. Haven't read the sixth, because I wanted to wait for the series to be finished + they decided to change the damn covers for the UK edition I bought 1-5 in.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 04:18:33 2015 No.7138265 How about these? Pretty good.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 04:19:42 2015 No.7138266 File: 59 KB, 322x475, 510KR1XP5RL.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7138265 Oops, forgot pic

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 04:26:12 2015 No.7138277 File: 395 KB, 858x690, Robert Asprin - Myth Adventure 01_Another Fine Myth_ACE_Walter Velez.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] These were actually funny.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 04:36:17 2015 No.7138294
File: 238 KB, 1100x748, valckenborch_babel_1595_grt.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>7125880

>Favorite fantasy series?
Old and New Testament
>Favorite Sci-Fi series?
The Apocalypse of John from New Testament
>What is your guilty pleasure (Sci-Fi or Fantasy)?
Qur'an

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 05:13:25 2015 No.7138355 Anyone read Lies of Locke Lamora? Worth investing my time incredibly short and precious into it?

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 05:24:50 2015 No.7138374 File: 41 KB, 332x477, A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz_cover_1st_ed.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] I read the first chaper of the book in my native language. (Fiat Homo) And it was really nice. Also,is this Sci-Fi or Fantasy?

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 08:07:53 2015 No.7138615

>>7138355
One of the funnest recent fantasy novels, and surprisingly well written too. The humour and dialogue is a bit juvenile, but still managed to elicit a chuckle here and there. Lynch really seems to understand timing.

Second book is different but still okay, third is complete shit.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 09:13:11 2015 No.7138727 >>7138374 Hard sf

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 09:19:36 2015 No.7138733 >>7138355 It's pretty well-liked here, though it's widely thought the series goes to shit at the second or third book. First one is pretty good taken as a standalone heist novel though.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 09:58:12 2015 No.7138827
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>>7136466
I liked the way Reynolds does it; introduces impossible aspects but goes into explicit detail describing how it would work instead of ~magic~.

>>7136401
Warbreaker is actually an introduction for a character that appears in SA. There's also a character from Elantris that appears in SA1 but that's more for fun. Then again both have lots of meta-related info too.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 12:07:09 2015 No.7139189 >>7137984 Three body problem? Haven't read it myself but other anons wrote good things about it here.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 12:09:32 2015 No.7139194 >>7138208 It's difficult to write aliens and make them feel truly alien. If aliens are going to end up being just different-looking humans, then they might as well be humans.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 12:20:20 2015 No.7139222 File: 18 KB, 241x230, amused.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7131509 a man after my own heart

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 12:24:38 2015 No.7139233 >>7138727 >>7138374 I'm planning on buying it. Is it nice?

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 13:11:50 2015 No.7139366 >>7136628 >Wanted to start a sci-fi series. But i need to know if it's worth the time investment beforehand You could read Dune to determine whether the rest of the (Frank H.-penned) books seem worthwhile

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 13:20:08 2015 No.7139390 >>7139233 It's a solid book, you won't regret it, but I'd personally buy some other novels.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 14:54:11 2015 No.7139698 >>7126009 I agree the prose can be hard to see through at times, but the ideas are literally 10/10. I think Blindsight might honestly be the best sci-fi book I've ever read.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 14:56:57 2015 No.7139709 >>7128457 >Revelation Space universe by Alastair Reynolds I think I fucked myself up for hard sci-fi because I can't see anything ever topping this. I used to think that too until I read Peter Watts.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 16:55:55 2015 No.7140214 I'm looking for a well written sci-fi book - besides Ubik - featuring psychic powers or phenomena. Any recommendations?

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:19:21 2015 No.7140329
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I've become completely bored with life and am actually looking for a good book.

I'm new to /lit/ and I haven't read a book since last year.

Does anyone have any objectively good fantasy/sci-fi books I can check out?

I'd rather not read a series, something standalone would be better if possible.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:22:40 2015 No.7140346 >>7140329 http://4chanlit.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_Reading/Genre_fiction

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:27:46 2015 No.7140376 >>7140346 I've checked it out, but I don't even know the distinctions on most of these genres. At the Mountains of Madness seems interesting.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:37:20 2015 No.7140408 >>7140329 Legend by David Gemmell Gets build into a series later on, but still stands as a complete work. Writer never even thought he'll finish it after all.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:39:37 2015 No.7140419 >>7128180 all of his stuff is bad except house of suns. Just read that and walk away...maybe thousandth night...maybe.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:43:26 2015 No.7140439 >>7140408 thanks for a straight forward answer, the description looks interesting. I'll probably pick it up later today.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:47:42 2015 No.7140460

>>7140329
Lord of the Rings
Silmarillion
Children of Hurin
Book of the New Sun
Fifth Head of Cerberus
The Wizard Knight
Island of Doctor Death and other stories
Ubik
Valis
A Scanner Darkly
Dune
Solaris
Dispossessed
Left Hand of Darkness
This should cover most of the best Sf and to a lesser degree fantasy writers. Won't mention things I haven't read yet.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:57:44 2015 No.7140517 >>7140460 thanks pal, I think I'll check out >Book of the New Sun >Dispossessed they seem the most interesting.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 17:59:03 2015 No.7140524 >>7140517 New Sun, Solaris, A Scanner Darkly and Solaris are my favorite.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 18:37:05 2015 No.7140711 What are the saddest stand alone novels? Just pure dread, no happy endings allowed. Like how the Plague Dogs movie ended The dogs swimming to a non-existing island

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 19:15:14 2015 No.7140858 >>7139189 isn't that a space opera?

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 19:16:40 2015 No.7140863 >>7140524 Big Solaris fan huh? Loved the movie, will the book be a step up?

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 19:59:44 2015 No.7141036

>Malazan/Erikson, despite have some literary merit and being somewhat philosophical is either lightly regarded as good or heavily regarded as shit
>Sanderson is usually always praised because he has a meta universe despite awful prose and unimaginative-at-best characters

okay.jpg

I wish people would at least read through Deadhouse Gates first, then form opinions. Gardens of the Moon is just too polarizing.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 20:13:17 2015 No.7141121

>>7125880

Just picked up Fellowship of the Ring, gonna read the trilogy.

I'm looking for fantasy that doesn't spend so much time going into how the universe works. Answering questions that only provoke more questions. I tried reading ASoIaF but the number of perspectives started getting annoying.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 20:24:03 2015 No.7141168 >>7141121 Try TH White since you'll be familiar already, or maybe try David Eddings' Belgariad since there's largely just one perspective and the pacing with which you learn about the world is nothing less than incredible.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 20:25:25 2015 No.7141178 tolkein, broken sword. don't think i've ever read a scifi novel, just some short stories

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 20:29:24 2015 No.7141191

>>7141036
You mean Gardens of the Moon is nigh-unreadable.
His work after is good, great maybe.

But GotM is shit

>I wish people would at least read through Deadhouse
Gardens of the Moon is a pretty big novel, people are turned off because it's too little for too much.
And then their expectations of Deadhouse Gates becomes very low to the point where they quit

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 20:42:44 2015 No.7141244 >>7141036 tbh they're both part of the cancerous new wave of fantasy writers who're more inspired by RPG's than folklore and mythology.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 20:54:15 2015 No.7141312

>>7141191

That's highly dependent on the reader though. I finished the Mistborn series and was highly disappointed, then went right to Gardens of the Moon. Jumping into Malazan was incredibly refreshing since it actually felt like fantasy, not someone writing a fantasy video game adaptation, which Mistborn/Sanderson feels like. Admittedly though, it was incredibly confusing but I stuck with it knowing that questions would be answered later, and I enjoyed the tone of it enough, probably due to reading Black Company, which I love.

>>7141244

While Malazan is obviously inspired by Erikson/Esslemont's D&D/GURPS setting, I still find their anthropology/archaeology backgrounds to shine through more brightly and ultimately make the series much more compelling. But that's not to say there are parts where I could imagine them sitting in a musty basement in the 80s high-fiving each other over some sick nat 20s translated to page.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 21:02:18 2015 No.7141366 >>7141312 > probably due to reading Black Company That's why. For most people, GotM is an unreadable pile of confusing mess.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 21:09:37 2015 No.7141404 >>7138727 I think it's more medium-hard, the Wandering Jew softens it a little.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 21:11:27 2015 No.7141412

>>7140863
Yes.
Read Solaris, His Master's Voice, and The Cyberiad. All three are masterworks of sci-fi and (given a good translation) great works in their own right.
The latter two got great translations which seem to be standard but Solaris mostly has the bad one, try to find the new translation.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 21:16:06 2015 No.7141428 How is Guy Gavriel Kay?

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 21:22:20 2015 No.7141455

>>7138827
>Warbreaker is actually an introduction for a character that appears in SA. There's also a character from Elantris that appears in SA1 but that's more for fun. Then again both have lots of meta-related info too.

Damn, I didn't know about the other two "characters" besides Hoid, and I've read almost all of Sanderson's cosmere books. Thanks for making me look them up.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 21:42:47 2015 No.7141548 File: 187 KB, 696x566, 1440947835198.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7141312 I'm not super familiar with Eriksons work, but I very often see him lumped with Sanderson by redditors. I just fucking hate Sanderson so much.

Anonymous Sun Sep 20 22:16:03 2015 No.7141665
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>>7141548
>I'm not super familiar with Eriksons work, but I very often see him lumped with Sanderson by redditors.

That's definitely a shame, since I see Erikson as the anti-Sanderson. Sanderson's work just feels like smoke and mirrors to me. You feel like, because of all the hype and "muh meta" and "muh magic" it'd be the next coming of fucking Tolkien or Howard, but in reality it's just incredibly sterile fantasy stories that only a Mormon would find genuinely fantastical and challenging.

Erikson certainly has his faults, but reading his novels definitely feels more like an experience, and you get a sense of an author genuinely trying to communicate his work with the reader without blasting the reader over the head with the obvious. You really have to trust him, but everything he writes feels, well, like he cares about more than just cool fight scenes and neat magic. These have actual characters that all have moving stories and arcs. I've rarely had genre books that have moved me like his had. You have hurdles to climb to get to those moments, but that makes those moments even sweeter.

Erikson's background is in short stories, in which not a single sentence or word is superfluous, everything is important or symbolic. He simply took that approach to a 10 novel long fantasy series, and it shows, for better or for worse. But deciphering everything is never not rewarding and intertwines you more with the characters and the plot. Sanderson on the other hand just feels like a play by play of everything and you never get to feel a real connection to the world or characters. Compounding this issue is that many sentences, paragraphs, chapters even, feel redundant.

>I just fucking hate Sanderson so much.

I've never felt so much confusion about an author and tastes in general until Sanderson. He's so well-liked by the masses and I just don't understand how.
>Super Hans related

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 22:24:25 2015 No.7141698 >>7125880 >Favorite fantasy Malazan, no question >Favorite Sci-Fi I guess Snow Crash counts, so I'm going with Snow Crash >guilty pleasure Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 22:27:40 2015 No.7141708 >>7141698 adding on to my guilty pleasure, I also gotta shout out to Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey. It's 50 Shades except fantasy and with acceptable writing.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 23:03:28 2015 No.7141805 >>7140517 Read Dune too if you haven't. If you like it there are some more in the series, but it is fine as a standalone.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 23:14:15 2015 No.7141842 >>7141665 Too true.

>>	Anonymous Sun Sep 20 23:15:20 2015 No.7141847 File: 66 KB, 750x500, mb01_symbols-webres.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7141455 There are multiple worldhoppers, even some that haven't been discovered yet.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 00:02:34 2015 No.7142005

>>7141665
Its because he appeals to the new generation of Fantasy fans. The teenagers who like video games, superheroes and anime. The ones who probably dont read a whole lot unless its comics or mango.

Also lots of reactionary contrarians in the Fantasy community. As GRRM gains more mainstream success, more people will cling to the authors who are very unlike GRRM.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 01:47:30 2015 No.7142287 >>7141665 How PC is Sanderson's books? Are they devoid of graphic violence and sex? And/or no drug use?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 03:15:14 2015 No.7142456 >>7142287 There's some violence in there, but no sex in the books I've read. Allomancy could be seen as drug use, I guess.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 03:19:15 2015 No.7142465 File: 63 KB, 192x154, 1409200659123.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7141548 >this is usually followed by recommendations of Rothfuss and Sanderson That hits way too close to home.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 04:21:32 2015 No.7142591 Anyone else have the belief that magic users should be incredibly rare and magic should have absolutely no rules? Magic loses its magic when it feels like a science with surefire laws.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 04:27:50 2015 No.7142609

>>7141548
I really don't get what people hate about Sanderson. It's perfectly good escapism fantasy. Sure, it doesn't require you to be a rocket scientist to read it, but it's enjoyable, so who cares? Rothfuss on the other hand... I had fun with his first book, but his second... JESUS, what a boring POS. I just couldn't get past the fairy-fuck-fest...

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 06:42:40 2015 No.7142830 >>7142456 In Warbreaker a character pretends to have sex by making moaning noises etc. In the annotations Sanderson says he was reluctant to put that in.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 06:54:46 2015 No.7142851 >>7142287 Full of violence, but sex is a big no-no.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 07:04:33 2015 No.7142869

>>7142609

I picked up Mistborn series thinking just that: good escapism. The problem is, it wasn't. Sure, some plot I thought was kinda cool and he can write an engaging fight scene. The problems surface when I realize I don't care one iota about the flat, uninteresting characters. Dialogue is just abysmal, as is Sanderson's prose. No, I don't need McCarthy-level-writing to enjoy a fantasy series, but his approach seems to mimic YA authors who are too afraid of letting their reader think for themselves and instead must lead them by a leash to set piece after set piece.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 08:18:43 2015 No.7142989 File: 5 KB, 266x195, 1423156738913.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7139390 Very well. I just want something semi religious writing that has a belivable world.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 10:39:16 2015 No.7143337 >>7142989 Read Dune.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 11:52:38 2015 No.7143626

>>7125880

OFFICIAL SFF TIER LIST:

Patrician Tier:
>Gene Wolfe
>J.R.R. Tolkien
>E.R. Eddison
>Lord Dunsany
>George MacDonald
>John Crowley
>Mervyn Peake
>Jorge Luis Borges
>Franz Kafka
>R.A Lafferty
>G.K. Chesterton

High Tier:
>Robert E. Howard
>Samuel Delaney
>Ursula K. LeGuin
>Isaac Asimov
>Philip K. Dick
>Robert Heinlein
>Jack Vance
>Arthur C. Clarke

OK Tier:
>C.S. Lewis
>Ray Bradbury
>Edgar Rice Burroughs
>Jules Verne
>H.G. Wells
>Neil Gaiman
>Edgar Allen Poe
>H.P Lovecraft
>Michael Moorcock

Shit-but-can-be-fun tier:
>Terry Prachett
>Terry Goodkind
>R.A. Salvatore
>R. Scott Bakker
>Robert Jordan
>Patrick Rothfuss
>Joe Abercrombie
>Steven Erikson
>Jim Butcher
>Brandon Sanderson
>Steven King
>Michael Crichton

Try Hard Faggot Tier:
>China Mieville
>L. Ron Hubbard
>GURRM

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 11:54:09 2015 No.7143631 >>7143626 >Shit-but-can-be-fun tier: >>Terry Prachett Nope.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:02:21 2015 No.7143644 Why do you guys think of stand alone novels compared to series?

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:02:30 2015 No.7143645
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>>7143626
>L. Ron Hubbard

He is definitely "Shit-but-can-be-fun tier".

"Final Blackout is as perfect a piece of science fiction as has ever been written." —Robert A. Heinlein

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:02:52 2015 No.7143649 >>7142989 Book of the New Sun as well as Tolkien fit that description and are superior to Canticle

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:13:49 2015 No.7143661 >>7143644 Series are objectively shit

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:15:54 2015 No.7143665 File: 174 KB, 1189x591, some Lem covers.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7143626 Lack of Stanisław Lem under Patrician Tier is an egregious oversight.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:18:28 2015 No.7143669 >>7143644 Used to prefer series when I first got into fantasy, now I have too many books to read and prefer standalones.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:30:07 2015 No.7143692

I have an idea to a fantasy universe, but here's a problem

the first book i've planned is set during the early stages of a war between two different cultures

but the story ends before the war is over
of course, i'm going to make the war just the setting, but i want to be able to put focus on both the two cultures involved, despite them having no friendly connections whatsoever

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:43:31 2015 No.7143740 Anyone know of any sci/fi - fantasy books that take place in ancient times and Babel is the main city ? Maybe destroyed by aliens and people think god destroyed it and sht.. Any babel books out there ?

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:55:25 2015 No.7143775 >>7131545 This one hit me right in the feels.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 12:57:32 2015 No.7143787 >>7143740 Ancient aliens on history

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 13:01:46 2015 No.7143795 File: 40 KB, 371x600, chariots-of-the-gods-book-cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7143740 >>7143787 Pretty much this.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 13:47:14 2015 No.7143918 >>7142830 Lol, what a dweeb.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 13:48:14 2015 No.7143923 >>7142869 >McCarthy-level-writing to enjoy a fantasy series Read Book of the New Sun.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 15:08:30 2015 No.7144157 File: 36 KB, 266x407, the-gunslinger.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7143626 >Stephen King >shit tier Anon, when King writes fantasy, he beats pretty much everyone. He wrote the greatest American fantasy series.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 15:10:49 2015 No.7144170 >>7144157 >series Into "le" trash it goes But seriously he can't write endings.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 15:12:16 2015 No.7144179 >>7144170 It had the perfect ending. Roland didn't get it right, anon. He needs to get it right before he can move on.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 15:54:11 2015 No.7144332

>>7144157
How was the Talisman? I know King co-wrote it, but I really don't know much about it. My grandfather always talked about how good it was, but he wasn't much of a reader other than Stephen King so I never gave his opinion on it much consideration.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 16:00:21 2015 No.7144351 >>7144332 I wasn't a huge fan of The Talisman compared to The Dark Tower, but it was definitely a fun ride. King loves his reality-warping abominations.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 16:20:55 2015 No.7144432 >>7143923 It's on my to-read list.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 17:07:43 2015 No.7144587

>>7125945
I actually liked the way Sanderson took over the Wheel of Time saga, the whole pace picks up a lot and at the same time there's a lot of action suddenly packed in. I sometimes think it's a good thing Jordan died (he probably died of exhaustion from writing all those books - jk) otherwise we might be into book 15 by now, with no ending in sight and all the characters struggling with various degrees of angst.
Except Mat, he was a cool dude.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 19:46:46 2015 No.7145164 >>7144157 Seriously? That's awful.

>>	Anonymous Mon Sep 21 20:04:31 2015 No.7145229 >>7144157 >muh wild wild west aesthetics >muh distant past >muh stone cold character >muh falconry >muh finger tricks >muh gold coins and dubious hamburgers >muh jester in the dark Go die in a gutter.

Anonymous Mon Sep 21 20:51:32 2015 No.7145388

>>7144587
Mat never really seemed to reach the peaks he was built up to. He was pretty great and all, but a lot of his character seemed to be built around "fuck you Aes Sedai, you can't spank me now, so I can spank you". Seriously, if he didn't have that amulet he'd probably be a much better character.

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/lit/ - Literature