/lit/ - Literature

first for webnovels are not novels

Free Dick (download): http://b-ok.xyz/s/?q=Flow+my+tears+the+policeman+said

third for jolenta consented to it

>>11017975
I have around 10% left and there better be a fucking crazy ass mindfuck reveal or I'mma be disappoint

IF that emphasizes story rather than being primarily about being a game (and especially IF that isn't a game at all, such as Galatea) belongs here.

So do LNs.

>>11017975
Already read it

sunset found her squatting in the grass

>>11017967
Neither are short stories. They still belong ITT.

>>11017936
The translation is very good, but it is most certainly not a light read, because it was already really contrived in japanese. I already mentioned it changes narrators all the time, but it's also really technical, almost reading like a textbook at times. The paragraphs are proper literature size, nothing light about them.

They had two translators work on it instead of just one to minimize issues. The translators are Emily Balistrieri, who is also translating Overlord, so that might be a bad thing for you; and Kevin Steinbach, who is translating KonoSuba, Goblin Slayer (both the LN and the manga) and ReZero EX amongst others. I can't vouch for Balistrieri because I haven't read Overlord, but I'm up to date with all 3 of the translations by Steinbach I just listed, and he's legit good.

As for the print, I don't know. I read it digital.

Give it a chapter, and again, if anyone wants piracy of the epubs and can't search the /a/ archives for danke's releases or something, I'd be glad to provide.

>>11018165
heck why not. If the Log Horizon LN translation is also good, I'd likely buy both just so i can group them together on a shelf.

im just a sucker for good cover art too, already have the Dungeon Meshi volumes.

>>11018165
weeb

I unironically enjoy modern coming of age fantasy and genre fiction and I use amazon's "customers who bought this also bought" to find new books

>>11018230
>he says while posting in 4chan

>>11018228
Cool. Though I'd still give the epub a quick read before pressing the buy button.
Too bad Log Horizon hasn't been digitized. But hey, at least a new volume came out last month in japan at long last. I was afraid Mamare's 2015 tax scandal would make him persona non grata in japanese publishing forever.

>>11018245
>modern
>coming of age
No such thing exists in the age of soy.

>>11018165
>illegal weeb
off into the internment camp with you

>>11018271
I already bought them. But I don't buy before reading.

any litrpg/chinese cultivation whatever the fuck that isn't cringey, magical realm harem bullshit that reads like it was written by a 14 year old?

>>11018260
I meant modern like written in the 2000s, not modern life since every book talked about here is from the 1800s. They're still swords, magic, and dragon stuff.

>>11018303
No, sadly, and although they're usually shitty, it's really not the fault of the translators. I went through with learning japanese and found that LNs are the bottom of the barrel. Stick with manga and VNs

>tfw all those character>anything last thread

>>11018279
ok. worth reading, you say? might give it a go

>>11018314
They're right

>>11018303
Just Log Horizon, and that one only barely passes.

I want to start watching the expanse but have not read even the first book yet. Are the books good enough to justify holding off on the show till i read at least a few of them?

>>11018303
That's the charm of litrpg.

But try Drew Hayes NPCs. It's not prime wordsmithing, but still is a somewhat earnest fantasy about a group of non player characters who have seized center stage from the PCs who normally define their world.

It's easy. Goes down like a bag of chips.

>>11018314
If I hate a character there's no point reading about him.

Anyone know a fantasy series with the general concept of two continents being separated with a magical bridge that raises every X years? I started the first book years ago and now I can't find it. I think it was four books, but I may be misremembering

>>11017960
Who else beside Subterranean Press, Folio Society and Easton Press sell deluxe maybe illustrated hardcover copies of sci fi and fantasy classics?

>>11018380
You sir are hundred percent right. I will never read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

>>11018406
I think what that anon is saying is that a character has to be compelling, and you have to be interested in reading about them. If you hate reading about them, then there's no point in doing so.

They don't have to be likable and you can hate them as a person, but if you hate them as a character it will detract from the reading experience.

I don't think my question deserves its own thread so I post this here.

So I've been reading this, The Shadow of the Torturer, part of The Book of the New Sun. It was recommended to me as a book with good plot twists but I found it boring as fuck.

Does it get any better? The book doesn't really end in a cliffhanger, if I was reading this back in 80 (or whatever year it came out) I would see no reason to continue reading the next book.

>>11018422

Book two and beyond is what really drew me in. First book is comfy but it's largely just world building and exposition on Severian's daily life at the guild.

>>11018442

So you think it really gets better after book 2? I might give it a try and, should book 2 fail to interest me, give up on it altogether.

there is a mistake on this chart btw

sanderfag a hack

>>11018448
you should really read the whole thing. book 3 is where it really gets good.

>>11018422
No, you should give up now. Book 1 is there to entice people who would like book 2

>>11017967
First for fuck that noise, TMoPI is better than half the print garbage posted here.

http://www.localroger.com/prime-intellect/mopiidx.html

>>11018422
If you find it boring as fuck then Wolfe is probably not the author for you. I'm not trying to be superior or condescend to you like some asshole, just save you the time of forcing yourself to read the whole series waiting for it to get better. If you don't like that book I honestly just suggest going for something else. You are probably after something more conventional or with more action. He's probably my favorite author, but I find it silly when someone says "I don't like this book" and the response is "read the full series of 12 books and then you'll finally appreciate it."

Might just not be for you.

are the spheres in stormlight archives supposed to look like marbles? cause that's what im imagining.

>>11018303
Unsouled by Will Wight?

Currently listening to Children of Time while I work, anyone else read it?

>>11019186
not him but lol I'm reading that right now. Not gonna lie it's sort of confusing me with all the kung fu chi spirit stuff but it's keeping me interested. Might be able to start the second book tonight

>>11017125

definately waiting for #2 to be uploaded somewhere
I would never pay for this sorta junk book

I read Forever Peace when I was way too young to get it, but I enjoyed it immensely regardless. Should I read The Forever War and reread Forever Peace?

>>11017985
YES

>>11019402
Forever war is pretty good so yeah read it. I don't know about forever peace, haven't read that one

>>11017960
>What's your least favorite weeb SFF work, and what makes it so bad?
Eragon. Do I even need to explain why?

>>11018880
I guess so. I imagine mostly clear marbles with shiny bits in the middle.

>>11018388
Sounds very much like The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu, or at least the second book of the series at any rate.

>>11019519
eragon is great

>>11018324
>>11018380
If you care about character more than anything you have zero justification for reading SFF books, which are infamously bad at character writing and tend to be plot driven with heavy emphasis on their setting.

Either you're lying and actually value plot and setting more than characters, or else you don't read very much SFF.

>>11019534
It is the single worst fantasy series I've ever read. To like it you must be either underage or have read less than 5 fantasy books in your entire life.

>>11019548
your not getting any hipster contrarian points for hating it. Its a rip off but a fun ride and I enjoyed the series

>>11019544
They don't have to be complex characters with detailed backstories and development, but if I don't like the character it really doesn't matter how interesting the world is or whatever.

>>11019534
>spend entire chapters on things like atheism and being a vegetarian

You'd never guess it was written by a hipster teenager

>>11017739
>>11017753
I feel like being financially independent has robbed me of an important part of reading, which is rereads. When I was a teen and could only get around 5 new books a year, rereads made up 80-90% of my reading. The experience of reading a book for the third or fourth time, finding new details or ways to interpret passages that I almost knew by heart is one of defining traits of my adolescence. And here I am now, financially stable, constantly buying more books than I can possibly read through in the limited free time I have, postponing a reread of BotNS and Dune for over a year now. Shit sucks.

Who /kimstanleyrobinson/ here?

who /nofemaleauthors/ here?

>>11018391
Centipede Press, Night Shade Books, Pegana Press

>>11019728
kill yourself.

>>11017992
>tfw havn't started
Soon™

>>11018008
Feel free to join in the discussion once it's time anyway.

>>11018388
Moontide Quartet

>>11019728
i honestly dont know why but in my entire life ive never read a good book by a female author.
they were all either shit or not even coming close to male equivalents.

>>11020240

>>11019372
>>11018161
hey I enjoyed the second one, but I agree it doesn't fully live up to the first one. I has a lot less setpieces that the first one, for starters, and I don't feel as much progression as during the first one, where it seemed like every chapter advanced the skills and abilities in some way. Still it had some great moments and new thing to keep it fresh, and it was just a jolly good time to read.
Also, can we talk about the deus ex machina that was the hidden mana potion Boxxy secretly stashed in his mouth while being captured? It's the only thing that really bothers me about the plot, and something that could've easily been fixed by having Boxxy try to access its storage while crashed, but getting interrupted by the Spymaster, scattering potions all over the place and scrambling to grab one in the process. It wouldn't even have to specifically collect one, just imply it got one. But the foresight of grabbing one out of storage and keeping it hidden is uncharacteristically considerate for Boxxy, which felt weird. Minor nitpick I guess.

>>11019720
Red Mars was the first book I finished in 2016. I planned on doing Green Mars and Blue Mars afterwards, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Are they any good?

When I was a kid my dad had the trilogy with the covers depicting the slow terraformation of the planet that I really liked. My dad explained the series to me, but being 8 years old I only got the gist of it. Just one of those things from my childhood I remember really well.

I didn't like Chasm City. Why all of his characters are so soulless?
Should i give Reynolds another chance? What should i read from him next in that case?

>>11020290
but you won't upload the ebook so we can all enjoy it ???

>>11019193
Yeah, I've spoken about length. Basically half the chapters are sick spider worldbuilding, the rest of cliche human garbage. Same as Fire Upon the Deep and also apaz it's sequel

>>11020463
the entire thing can actually be read here in its original form.
https://royalroadl.com/fiction/8894/everybody-loves-large-chests
but I still prefer the ebook for reading comfort.

I'm writing a fantasy story and one of the main (non viewpoint) characters is a girl who is 14 and finally becomes blooded and shortly thereafter pregnant. There are no explicit sex scenes though there is a cuddle scene (fully clothed.)

Is this type of thing even allowed anymore? I feel like I'll be immediately blacklisting my novel from major publishers by doing so. It's not at all the focus of the book, it's more exposition to set up the story, and like I said there aren't any details or lewd imagery

>>11020581
Oh i didn't even think to look on that site

>>11020595
I'd write it anyway and then let an editor decide. If the book is good enough to get published, they'll probably bring this to your attention if they want it cut or dialed down. Look at GRRM's stuff. Kids getting raped, abused, murdered all over the place but no one really gives a shit because it's sort of expected in the setting.

>>11020595
>pregnant teen
Consider the difference between a pregnant 12 year old and then a pregnant 16 year old. Why 14 years old specifically? It's still half as creepy as a pregnant 12 year old.

also are you a guy or a girl? it may be stupid but I feel if it's coming from a female author, the outlook changes

>>11020595
be sure to use stupid words like "quim" or "taint"

also make the girl black and impregnated by her step brother

>>11020623
>because it's sort of expected in the setting
That's how the city the story mostly takes place in is. They're a bunch of poor and uneducated sops who deal with the kingdom's brutality and have children plucked away by the nobility without explanation, so they're always having more kids.

>>11020627
Male. And 14 because 12 is the current average age of first menstruation so I'd give a year or two of leeway to dampen the initial shock any normies might have

>>11020687
edgy

>>11020687
Seriously, I don't see a problem with the idea of a pregnant 14 year old. Your problem is going to be with the father. From the sounds of it, he cares for the girl and stays with her, which is, sadly, the problem. Generally anyone who gets a kid preggers is going to be called a paedo and you're going to have a hard time convincing publishers/editors/readers to like the guy.

>>11020704
Yeah, that's something I've already dealt with, or at least know I need to address. The main character is a bit slow and they end up having three kids by the end of the book, the first two taken by the nobility. The reader will hopefully come to like the characters and their relationship through a learned hatred of the kingdom which is attempting, unwittingly, to tear them apart. Whether I succeed or not, I guess I'll have to finish rewriting it and see

>>11020695
It's actually a generally happy story, the focus on finding happiness in situations where there are none. The main characters are always having positive interactions despite the occasional (and not lingered upon) terrible stuff around them.

>>11020733
How old is the father? What do you mean by slow? Because you're opening up a whole bunch of confusion by having a mentally challenged man impregnating a little girl.

If he's just a bit of a simple-minded guy of similar age to the girl, then I don't see much of an issue.

Heinlein has to be the worst writer of dialogue I have ever read, what the fuck

>>11018422
Dropped it after he killed the fit bird

>>11020780
He's 19, and not mentally challenged, but very simple, as everyone else in the town is, because they only know the town and fields around them.

>>11020832
Sounds fine. At most, an editor might ask you to bump the girl's age up but that's about it. You're not going to get blacklisted for it.

>>11020196
This was it! Thanks a ton. I'm excited to start it again

>>11020435
You can try Minla's Flowers.

>>11017998
100% agreed.

Would anybody here be interested in a general called /altlit/ or something similar, for light novels, interactive fiction, web-based literature, audio dramas, etc.?

>>11020926
yea if all of them will fuck off form here, now i understand how normal /lit/ feels

>>11019534
Of all the crap I've read in this thread...

>>11020964
Smug and superior for no discernible reason?

The only things listed there that have gotten even a little discussion in /sffg/ are light novels, and even that was minimal. I've seen a grand total of two or three posts on interactive fiction or hypertext fiction here ever, and the only discussion of web-based novels is that one shitpost per thread about them being novels. You're tilting at windmills.

>>11020392
They're okay, not as good as red mars but readable.

>>11020926
If it means you fuck off, yes.

>>11020964
You can try set it up and see if it takes. /lit/ isn't the busiest board so it won't get crushed right away.

>>11021048
I'm not the person talking about VNs and I'll still come here to talk about sci-fi and fantasy novels. No need to be so buttmad though.

Started that /altlit/ thread. I know it's been over an hour but I'm at work and had to do my job. Anyway, here you go:
>>11021435

>>11021440
>starting a general, not a thread to test the waters
Top cancer.

>>11020983
>i dont like a decently written coming of age fantasy with magic and dragons because the author doesnt spend 5 pages detailing the grass and trees using the most pseudo intellectual prose possible
thats cool. stick to your epic fantasy written in the 1600s that obviously superior in every way

>>11021533
I prefer Joe Abercrombie

>>11021533
Actually, it's one of the most generic fantasy stories I've ever read. The plot is stolen from Star Wars and the language is as bland as it can get. It's to long, the antagonists are stupid and the ending is the biggest cop-out ever.

It's not decently written in any way. Even in the somewhat restricted sub genre coming of age fantasy with magic and dragons there's several actual good books you can read instead.

>>11021672
>>11021533
I personally enjoyed the first one back when I was like 15, but got progressively more frustrated with the series, to the point that I didn't even read the 4th.
What even happened in that last book anyways? Do they just fight and that's it?

What's everyone's opinion on the 3-Body-Problem trilogy?
I kinda enjoyed the ride, and kinda liked how it came full circle with the misanthropic environmental message, but at the same time, it's just pretty joyless and depressing, and blueballs you with most of its universe, though that might be for the better because badly executed aliens are worse than implied ones.

>>11021596
The slowest developing plots ever written.

>>11021713
I did not really hate the first, second or third book when I read them as a teen. However, I did not love them either.

>Do they just fight and that's it?
Haha, no. First Eragon travel to some far off island on a whim and fine like 500 dead dragon hearts, making him strong enough to fight Galbatorix. Once he've had his power up he go to the evil king and in a moment of brilliance say a couple of magic words, informing Galbatorix of the errors of his ways which apparently are so grave that Galbatorix simply spontaneously self combust. Everyone applaud and end of story, only we have to spend 100 pages tying up every loose end left by the 3 previous books.

>>11021762
The Wheel of Time would like a word with you

>>11021762
characters die often and there is good black humour to keep it interesting so I don't mind

>>11020581
seems like this version has way more smut than the ebook version

>>11021960
I don't know why the smut wasn't kept in.

>>11021938
constantly killing off characters is the same as cheap jump scares in horror movies. shallow and pedantic

>>11022038
I like it

>>11021533
Well I guess if you can get by the Mary Sue characters, the constant macguffin asspulls, the author blatantly preaching his teenage worldviews through the characters, the most generic of generic fantasy races, the horrible anticlimatic resolution for the main evil guy, the hilariously broken and super basic magic system, and the author being lazy and ripping off everything he can every chance he gets there's... oh wait there's nothing left

>>11021807
The first few WoTs work pretty well as standalones. It didn't die until he stopped writing books in a series and started writing just chapters.

>>11021960
>>11021972
maybe due to the public release on a big storefront like amazon? They might have regulations like that? or to preemptively avoid trouble?
How much did it remove anyways? Is it entire plot scenes, or just the smut that's already there being shortened? I personally didn't feel like the ebooks needed more sex, it was perfectly fine.

>>11022183
So far it's just been the 2 demons screwing each other & other smutty dialogue
Not going to re-read the first book just to see any differences.

My degenerate harem novel is coming along pretty nicely. I already had the MC impregnate his mother. Freud would be proud.

>>11022188
the futa demon raping the masochist succubus was in the book as well. It focuses primarily on Boxxy calling Carl about Arms' anatomy, though.
What chapter was that again? I could just compare it.

>>11022194
>Freud would be proud
This is /sffg/, not /outerlit/, Heinlein would be proud.

these 3 books are next on my queue, which one should I read first?

>Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
>Legacy - Greg Bear
>The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi

>>11022222
Nice digits. Duno about the books.

>>11022220
I think it was at the end of the first book actually, which I don't recall being there at all

>>11022222
wasted quints, kys
read some real literature

>>11020435
I can't think of a Reynolds book without soulless characters. Maybe Slow Bullets?

>>11022222
nice numbers nig
i vote windup girl

>>11022194
Waiting

>>11022222
checked

Revelation Space

>>11019274
Thinking of reading it. Let us know how it was when you finish

>>11018422
Read the first part a long time ago. Kinda liked it but didn’t pick it back up for part two. Just remember the weird duel with the plants or something

>50 pages into Belgariad
>can see where this is going
Does it at least have interesting characters or events that take place?

>>11022232
I found it, it's right in the first chapter of the ebook, while it's in the interlude "Interlude - A little fisting goes a long way" in the online version.
The ebook replaces the core of the explicit futa rape from the PoV of the two familiars, with a scene of Boxxy watching them fuck, who then calls Carl in confusion while his supposedly female Demon has a "male part". Both scenes have roughly the same length and content, just the PoV changes slightly in the middle.
I honestly prefer the ebook version, as we get another fun conversation with the tech support guy.

>>11019622
I did too

>>11022222
I’ve only read windup girl. It was good

>>11022301
not really, Eddings intentionally wrote the series to be as cliche as possible

It's really intended for children, if you are an adult and have read better fantasy series there isn't anything worthwhile in the Belgariad

>>11018406
Why do you hate Thomas Covenant as a character?

>>11019720
I really liked Aurora, how'd you feel about it?

Shaman or 2312? I can only get one

>>11022301
I remember reading it in my middle teens and I found it stupid back then. I doubt it's worth reading.

>>11022597
Aurora was fucking great but I felt the last chapter or so dragged a little bit which sucked since the rest of it was so gripping
2312 is... kind of the same but also completely different
I really liked it but I could see the average 4chan user fucking hating it because of all the weird transhumanist gender stuff

As someone writing a fantasy novel with magic and dragons, what are the best books you can recommend to read and reference to improve my writing? I've gotten 30,000 words in for the first third of it, and I feel like it's coming together, but I'm looking for fresh perspectives as I edit what I have and write the remainder.

Are the Halo books good?

>>11022868
They're... passable, from what I remember, but I haven't picked one up in ages so I couldn't tell you for sure.

>>11022806
Something close in genre I suppose, which you probably know best yourself.

Generally I'd say just read. Maybe try to read "literary" works, and analyze the text while you read.

>>11022868
video game tie in books have a tendency to be the absolute bottom of the barrel

Also Karen Traviss wrote some and fuck her

>>11022904
That's not a bad idea. Any "literary" works you'd recommend I look into? I've read plenty of old classic works before (always start with the Greeks, right?), but I was a dumb teenager who didn't really digest and understand them properly at the time.

What are some well done audiobooks? I really liked the Graphic Audio version of the Stormlight books, but the other books they've done aren't very good (The Demon Cycle).

>>11022951
I don't think people read the greeks for the language desu. Among SFF there's Wolfe, Tolkien and Mervyn Peake, to name three, that all wrote beautiful prose. Outside of fantasy I'd probably recommend Borges, his works are usually short, well written and suitable to set the mental grears agoing.

But honestly, read things you enjoy. I doubt it'd improve your writing notably to force yourself through some dull 1000-page tome just for the sake of it.

>>11023013
>I don't think people read the greeks for the language desu
Let me correct myself, I don't think people read the greeks, except the poems, for the language desu

>>11023013
I've never heard of Mervyn Peake before but a brief google search tells me that I might enjoy his works. Thank you, friendo. I appreciate it.

>>11019720
I thought I was through with him after the Mars series started middling and petered out quick, but I took a chance on Aurora and it was fantastic.

Then I got cocky and read 40 Signs of Rain and had blacklist him again. Boring and terrible.

Name a better living Science Fiction author than John Scalzi. Go on, I dare you.

>>11017975
anyone else feel miserable when they think about reading or watching movies or anything of the sort
I have this overwhelming emotion that I don't have enough time in my life to read all the great literature, watch all the great movies, experience all the great things.
Someone else surely feels or has felt something similar, right?

does Malazan have GRRMesque sex scenes?

>>11022868
They're paint-by-numbers military SF -- readable but not memorable. If you want space marine pulp try the Undying Mercenaries series

>>11023161
develop your own taste and narrow the list down

A lot of things that are considered great by critics are shitty or uninteresting to me. When you figure out what kind of things you like and dislike you can safely disregard a lot of stuff as being not to your tastes

>>11023181
Yes, but isn't the best way to find out if you like a book to read it? Same with a movie.
I have already narrowed the list down some. Science Fiction, for instance.

>>11022806
Here's a list of different "fresh" perspectives on the subject of dragons and magic:
Jonathan Strange % Mr Norrell
The Last Dragonslayer
Iron Dragon's Daughter
Guards! Guards!

>>11022980
Anything with the narrator John (Rafter) Lee.

>>11023188
Liking something is usually correlated to personal interest and motivation.

My advice is to look up the plot summary of a book first. If it sounds interesting to you then pick it up. If it sounds dull/stupid then don't bother.

You'll develop your own green and red flags for books. For example I love science fiction but if the book is described as a feminist science fiction that's a red flag and I already know I won't like it. Nothing personal, I just have no interest in reading about gender relations in my space adventures.

Anyone read Servant of the Underworld and the rest of the trilogy by Aliette de Bodard? I want a new trilogy to read.

>>11022980
My favorite audiobook ever is the Aubrey-Maturin series read by Patrick Tull. Not SFF, but it's a great adventure story. Lots of people get turned off of the story because of the complex and somewhat archaic language, but Tull brings it all to life.

POB fan clubs used to invite him to meetups to read for them. It's a great performance. If you try it, give it some breathing room. The first two are good but a little awkward. The series gets its sea legs in book three and cruises to a sustained 15-book high until the author started to get too old and the quality dipped a bit.

>>11022597
Haven't read 2312 yet but Shaman was really good. Loved the tribal setting

>>11022309
>>11022232
>go through the existing online chapters
>book 2 ends at chapter 54
>there's 246 chapters total
>with the awful pace the guy is putting them into ebook format, we'll never catch up!
>But I don't want to read it in my browser!
ugh, choices choices.

>>11022194
Also wasn't there an anon who was rating all this smut books and putting it in a chart? He said he was half-way through.

>>11023532
that's not a harem novel, that's a novel harem!!!

>>11022868
The Warhammer books are more fun, especially the Dan Abnett ones.

When writing a fantasy book is it better to put the perspective of the central character on a more difficult to relate to, but more integral, character to the setting, or his easier to relate to deuteragonist?

Finished "They Mostly Come Out at Night" by Benedict Patrick. It was a great fairytale inspired tragedy, the worldbuilding is very satisfying. The folktales between chapters were at first mainly entertaining but as they intertwine with the narritive they elevate the story telling greatly. The book certainly picks up after 1/3 of the story and then it doesn't disappoint at all, run of the mill fantasy it isn't. The most obvious flaw to me was how the author rushed trough the plot, a nimble pace is appreciated but he often resolves situations in a hurry and with not enough detail. He's got good characters and an interesting setting and plot but it feels like he doesn't give us time to enjoy them as he constantly runs ahead. This being the author's debut it's understandable and his strenghts are more numerous than this one flaw.

>>11023155
Larry Niven. Also, anyone who isn't dead yet.

>>11023588
>deuteragonist POV
makes the central character more mysterious/ambiguous, easer to hide his motivations and personal information from the reader
>central POV
can be a very intimate experience for the reader, can play games and puzzles with unreliable narrators etc

neither is objectively better it depends on what you are trying to pull off

this N. K. Jemisin.... is she good or just getting hugos because she is a black woman?

>>11023588
You are writing a story, not solving a math problem. There's no "right" answer. There's just different stylistic choices. You need to be aware of how your choices impact the reader's experience so that you are making informed choices. This requires you to know who your audience is and how you are trying to engage them, that is the kernel from which all artistic decisions come from in genre fiction: "Who I am writing this for? How do I want to make them feel while reading it?" If you can't answer those questions you have no business writing anything.

>>11023164
It's got sex (including rape) but it varies a lot in how much detail you get. There's times where I feel like Erikson makes GRRM seem tame.

>>11019662
>>They don't have to be complex characters with detailed backstories and development, but if I don't like the character it really doesn't matter how interesting the world is or whatever.
Oh so you're just one of those narcissists who needs to "relate" to the protagonist or else he can't self-insert into the story.

>>11023897
Not him, but "liking" is not "relating to"
He wants to like them as a character. They can be a morally corrupt asshole that is unrelatable to most readers and he can still like the character.

any good sffg books in a western setting?

>>11022597
Loved Aurora until the last chapter

Who is best girl and why is it T'sain?

Any fantasy series or novels that are serious in tone with occasional bits of humor more specifically dark humor?

>>11019720
Anyone read Icehenge? Is it worth checking out?

Tired of cycling through the big ones ive read over and over since I was 10.

1.Wheel of Time.
2. Eragon.
3. Name of the Wind.
4. Warded Man.
5. Potfuck Magicdick.
6. Glittery Vampires, cuz why not? Fuck it.
7. Game of Thrones.
8. Assassin's Apprentice, that shit was weird.
9. Way of Kings.
10. Abhorsen

Theres more but I cant remember. I need something similar to at least 1-4, 7 and 9. I'm a picky reader and I want you to call me a piece of shit for reading some of those while you recommend me, because I know I am, and I know you would have even without me asking.

I work at a place that is essentially babysitting teenagers and I have a lot of reading time. I don't care if it 500 doorstoppers, they'll get read if they're good. I mean fuck, I've reread all of WoT like 8 times already. HEAVY READING, I said. Tried American Gods, got halfway through before I threw my phone at the wall.

Dear god please somebody help me, life is too fucking boring for me to just watch shit happen in front of my face. I need stimulus and I need it now. Please, I beg you.

>>11024285
yikes.

Is there any Napoleonic/revolutionary era style fantasy out there

Powder mage and those Django whatever books are the only things I can think of that even fit some of the requirements

>>11024285
>re-reading wheel of time
muh nig.
try sword of truth. i'm not a fan, but many people say it's similar to WoT and swear by it
also the runelords series, if you don't mind an unfinished series that may never be finished

>>11019274
I liked it well enough (having liked Wight's other series) but I tried to read the third book when it came out and I had no fucking idea what was happening but had no desire to reread the second

>>11023831
Jemisin's hella good but I'd recommend just reading Fifth Season since her other most well known series is romantic fantasy and thus not likely to click with you.

So is black company good or bad?

>>11024356
good

>>11022038
It's fucking fantasy. Get over yourself, retard.

>>11024379
>it's genre fiction so it's allowed to be shitty !!!!!

Shitbrains like yours are the ones keeping the genre down

>>11024473
>maybe if I only read the most "literary" genre fiction the real snobs will respect me!
Spoiler: they'll never respect you. You just make yourself into an unlikable ass for actual genre fiction fans and seem that much more pathetic to the literary fiction snobs for trying to lower the bar to your level instead of rising to meet it.

Is there a website that keeps tracks of updates from premium publishers like Subterranean, Folio Society, Centipede, .etc?

i would have loved to drop a measly $75 on pic related and onwards had I known back then about these. I don't even need "limited edition", I just want some high-quality books that aren't just glued together

>>11024285
How about you read lovecraft or sherlock holmes?

>>11024225
The Eyes of the Overworld.

>>11024322
Dr. Norrell & Mr. Strange

What's the best bound H.P. Lovecraft collection out there? I keep seeing people complain about tons of typos and horrible typesetting or formatting in general.

>>11021744
I liked it but I have similar feelings as you. Liu obviously wanted to create an atmosphere of fatalism/nihilism, although he copped out a bit at the very end. I thought Liu subverted/handled the "cultivated everyman -> ascended master" trope, which usually drives me nuts, with Luo Ji very well too. I wrote a bunch of other shit on my blog about it but that's the gist.

>>11024730
The Gollancz "Necronomicon" is nice despite a few questionable selections. The Barnes & Noble version is the best imo; it's missing a few key collaborative stories and there was a first print run that was pretty fucked up but other than that it's excellent.

What is something with powerlevels.

>>11024676
I wish ebay wouldn't butt rape us with these made up prices for some of these non signed limited editions.

>>11024741
Is that the same as the Benediction Classics version or is it the one that's out of stock?
barnesandnoble.com/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-hp-lovecraft-h-p-lovecraft/1106658815

>>11024770
It's the one you linked to.

>>11024741
I'm told the 3 Penguin Classics are the way to go because they've been edited the best.

I just finished Dune. Thought it was good but kinda oddly paced, the first half of the book was the intrigue in the palace and then escaping, and then a bit on living innadesert, then huge assault that seemed to come too soon and ended with Paul becoming the emperor. Maybe I just read the second half a lot quicker so it seemed that way, but has anyone else found that?

Also what do I read now?

>tfw the book order has a defect

There's this white band and cut off text that goes all across the top of the cover. I'm tempted to just buy another one because this annoys me so much

>>11024904
Yeah, the pace does pick up quite a bit later on. This is pretty common in pre-WoT books that the author isn't trying to string out as long as possible.

If you liked it, keep reading the sequels until you get sick of them.

>>11024904
You read up to god emperor because the story of Dune isn't complete with the first book

You have to at least read the second one

>>11024285
book of the new sun you knob. you could have read that 8 times and gotten something new each time and figured out some of the puzzles instead of reading shit like glittery vampires or eragon.

>>11024931
I read that book and I don't understand what people mean by puzzles. I thought it was pretty straightforward

>>11024921
>4000x3000 and 2.67 MB for a blurry photo of part of a book cover
Nah nigga.

>>11025000
Holy shit I had no idea it was that big lmao

I'm on a phone
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>>11022222

>>11018303
Reverend Insanity, Ze Tian Ji, to some extent Archfiend

>>11024330
Just finished the second and starting the third right now. I still have almost no grasp on the whole madra and cycling techniques he talks about. I understand the plot as a whole but there are a lot of unknowns and the way he describes action scenes is a little meh. His writing style can be confusing. But I'm still enjoying it and definitely finishing the series. The eithan character introduced in the second book is the most interesting by far

>>11025192
I read the series and enjoyed it, trying out the other series by Will Wight now. The cradle series is pretty good : no harem and written by a native English speaker has it satisfy my xianxia urge, considering 99.99% of those web novels are trash (i only liked was "I Shall Seal The Heavens", and I need to try >>11025155 at some point). Only thing is I don't know how many books he will complete the series in, and he is already at 4 in about 2 years. Heres hoping quality stays consistent.

>>11024285
Abercrombie - The First Law + 4 standalone
Guy Gavriel Kay - everything
Bakker - 7 books
Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn

Here you go!

>>11024285
>that list
Wew lad

>>11024322
Jonathan Strange. Also the Temeraire series, if you like dragon autism and don't mind that it's a little more "simple".

I was under the impression that /lit/ was pretentious and contrarian
Is it just that genre fiction threads aren't as infested with pseudointellectual fags?

>>11024547
>just turn of you're brain lmao
>muh respect
/lit/ have melted your brain. There's absolutely no reason for fantasy to be shitty just because it's fantasy and there's nothing wrong with criticizing bad fantasy.

>>11025484
Not really. It's just that this thread is a haven from LARPing, here you don't have to pretend. However, most people here dislike Sanderson and Rothfuss so I would not say that we're not contrarian.

>>11024939
>tfw to smart too read book of the sun

What is the best literary eqivalent of pic related?

>>11018165
pedocore garbage

>>11025684
Bump for interest
But as far as I know, The Road and A Canticle for Leibowitz are both considered bretty gud post apoc

>>11025684
What in it are you looking for?

>>11025889
Survivors scavenging the irradiated ruins of the old world, bands of savage tribal-like drugged up raiders roaming the wastes and crazy new religious cults in the aftermath of the war are the main themes i'm looking for
>>11025884
I read the road already, i'll try leibowitz next

>>11022597
It was an okay book but I really disagree with the conclusion and where the author decided to go with the plot.

>>11025513
okay, Rothfuss deserves the hate considering The Wise Man's Fear

>>11024028
the half-made world by felix gilman
dark tower
red country by abercrombie
iron council by mieville

>>11024759
Malazan

>>11025513
I don't think disliking Sanderson and Rothfuss is contrarian.

>>11026048
They're amongst the top-selling fantasy authors currently, I think that's the definition of contrarian, going against public opinion

>>11026214
But them being bad writers is also a fairly popular opinion. It's like criticizing Twilight or One Direction.

I'd say if /sffg/ was anti-Gene Wolfe or Tolkien then it would be contrarian.

>>11024732
Sci-Fi books that end with the end of the universe always leave a bad aftertaste to me.
The way it's done in these books, It does kinda mirror some hinduist or buddhist cycle of rebirth, but ultimately feels pointless.
Everything after the flattening of the solar system feels like the clapping penguin from evangelion to me. The story is over, we're essentially just watching the credits for several chapters.

>>11024285
Pic related.

>>11025952
>>11025684
Roadside picnic
Metro 2033

>>11026305
>Tolkien
>if you don't like boring old lord of the shits you are contrarian
Neck yourself

>>11026350
The Stable and Unstable Eras in TBP are definitely intended to parallel the common Chinese understanding of their history.

The universe degrading from a higher to a lower state before eventually collapsing and being reborn is a different matter. I don't think any similar religious traditions require the sort of positive action from lowly mortals suggested in Death's End, instead suggesting that the universe's cyclic deterioration and rebirth is entirely outside of human influence.

>>11026434
week bait

>>11026350
I'd also add that the ending of Death's End is probably Liu's attempt from being too pointless. A true nihilist would either end it after the solar system is destroyed like you suggested, or just have them live in their little pocket universe until they died (no children, of course). It also redeems Cheng Xin because without the ending she's just a brat.

>>11026448
I understood the decay of the universe by the hands of reckless and godlike aliens as a parallel to the reckless destruction of the woods in china during the aftermath of the revolution.
The entire series basically starts because this chinese woman hates humanity for fucking nature and being dicks, so it tries to have everyone killed. And then the entire series ends by literally all nature being ground up to nothing in a pointless war and eventually restarting in a clean slate in an endless cycle.
It's a misanthropic environmentalist message wrapped in hinduistic principles.

>>11026480
But maybe in a cosmic sense, returning your matter to the universe so it can be reborn is the only meaning we can ever hope for, really.

>>11026434
contrarian detected

>>11026492
I've never really given much thought to the environmentalist message in TBP. It's somewhat explicit with the Evans guy and the ETO in the first book but I didn't think think Liu approved their arguments even of he sympathized with them somewhat.

Did Ye Wenjie really care that much about the environment compared to her dad being killed or herself being imprisoned?

Why are Rand, Perrin and Mat such soyboys?

>>11026556
What do you expect?

>>11026556
>Perrin a soyboy
bait aside, he's the man of the three, big, hairy and ripped from all the blacksmithing

>>11021766
>making him strong enough to fight Galbatorix
Galbatorix controlled the dragon hearts, and Eragon couldn't do anything about it. He went to the fight knowing he was completely fucked. During the confrontation Eragon says "feel" in the ancient language, which makes Galbatorix feel all the pain he has caused other people and commit suicide.
not denying that it's a shitty copout ending but you got some details wrong, if anything this makes it worse

>>11023831
Mediocre. She is very careful to tick all the diversity boxes. Finished the first book and amused myself thinking she missed one.
>mfw the second book starts by introducing a throwaway "I'm an X btw :P" character

>>11026886
all of them are about as far away as you can get from soyboys, anon is just using buzzwords he saw on teh 4chan without having a fucking clue of what they mean

Rand rules several kingdoms and has forced the ruling witch women to swear fealty and oaths to obey him

Mat does every random woman he runs into, makes the two biggest stuck up and arrogant women in the series beg his forgiveness and ask for his help while wearing an artifact that allows him to ignore and talk shit to the aforementioned aes sedai

>>11026556
Considering the world they live in I think they do a pretty good job of at least trying to resist being steamrolled by the endless armies of insufferable women in their lives.

>>11026766
Is he Amish or something?

>>11026965
Spoilers faggot

Are these worth reading? They seem to be well received but so is mistborn which was fucking trash.

where my gene wolfe niggas at?

>>11022868
I only have read fall of reach and thought it was pretty good actually. If you like the halo campaigns then they are worth reading, assuming the rest are on par with the first one

>>11023269
Thank you for the advice. I will follow.

>>11027307
Only read BotNS but it's made me want to read everything he's written. What should I read next?

>>11027376
The Other Sun books, then The Wizard Knight and Latro

do lots of characters die in Malazan?

>>11027307
jolenta consented and the doctor turned into the natives

>>11027410
Long Sun or Short Sun first? I recently replayed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and found a sword called Terminus Est which was a pretty cool reference I never noticed before. It was a useful weapon too.

>>11027417
yeah

>>11027468
nice

>>11026965
They are not soyboys, but they are all henpecked.

Is Dune worth reading if I have never read any of significance since high school?

>>11027517
not really they haven't aged that well and get progressively worse with each sequel

>>11027517
Yes, absolutely.

>>11027517

I meant to say anything*

>>11027517
You will be bored. Perhaps something else first.

>>11027517
Worth a shot. If you get into it, I'd recommend reading the sequel and then stopping. For the average reader, the rest of the series can be confusing as there are large time skips and the main characters aren't present. The sequel is basically just an addendum to the first, under half the length, and exists to wrap matters up.

What are your opinions on Scott Lynch?

>>11027745
He'll probably kill himself before finishing another book.

>>11027768
is he still depressed because his cunt wife divorced him? kek this guy needs to get a haircut and stop being such a weak willed bitch

>>11027435
They are literally in order, man. Read Long sun which then goes right into Short Sun. Short Sun alludes to Long Sun the entire time.

I liked Eragon for the worldbuilding. That was really pretty outstanding.

>>11027304
The Farseer Trilogy is a comfy (and good) coming of age type of story, but the later novels become fantasy misery porn.

is this any good? It sounds fun

is garrett pi any good?

I don't know man.
Watching an air-headed girl becoming the Mc-Guffin of the whole thing is pretty meh.
Also the exploration of the world wasn't really that interesting since its basically just earth in donut form.
Why is this recommended so often again?

>>11028286
muh classics

problem is science fiction ages worse than another other genre so even a book from 1970 feels dates

>>11028078
sucks major ass but then I only read the amazon preview but christ it sucked ass

>>11028362
but I want to read game of thrones on the moon

>>11028078
I read about half of the book before giving up. It had about 12 povs in about 200 pages. Few of the povs were good and the world is fun. But I can't stand it when shitty povs outnumber good ones.
Meh, give it a shot.

>>11028286
>Why is this recommended so often again?
The sequels are furrylicious.

>>11024356
Bad if you like things like 'details' in your story.

>>11026556
Because most epic fantasy is for soyboys. Chads read sword & sorcery and heroic fantasy.

Alastair Reynolds, Jeff VanderMeer and Dan Simmons are the new big 3 of science fiction

discuss

>>11028286
Nessus

>>11028078
I like the series but it's prone to doing the whole machinations that the reader isn't informed about for no fucking reason stuff.
Also at the end of the second book he appeared to write the one character I actually like out of the story.

Well worth a read but I'd keep in mind that it's really just feudal fantasy but on the moon rather than remotely hard scifi.

>>11028433
sword & sorcery is pretty much a dead genre though

In today's cultural climate, is it inappropriate for me to have characters which do not mirror my age, ethnicity, or sexual orientation so as not to misrepresenting or misappropriating?

>>11028417
I can see that happening actually.
>>11028308
It wasn't just the dated feel. The whole ringworld felt somewhat underwhelming. Things where just bigger than here.
And the fall of the engineers as it was described too. I guess it makes sense that they simply fade out but still. I was waiting for the cataclysmic dreadful past to unfold but instead we got advanced mold.

>>11028454
>>11028408
Okay thanks, I have a gut feeling I will like it so I am going to read it

Does the second book appear to be the ending or will there be more sequels?

>>11028455
That's because we have entered the Age of Soy.

It's not cool to be out for yourself when you should be fighting Dark Lord Nexthitler for the good of all.

>>11028465
Second book doesn't end anything and I'd be surprised if the third is the final one given how the plot has developed

>>11028435
>new

I am looking for books where the main character is pathetic cuckold.

>>11028771
have you tried your diary?

>>11028773
I will have you know that my boyfriend has never cheated on me.

DANIEL BLACK BOOK 4
EXPECT IT FALL 2018
GET HYPED

>Hardcover of Scott Lynch RSuRS came in.
>It's a book club edition
what the fuck??? Obviously doesn't even have an ISBN or price, I can't even trust an amazon marketplace dealer to not dupe me. Do they think that people who are looking for postings under a speciffc ISBN would not know what the fuck they are looking for?

how much of a hassle is this going to be trying to get it settled when it's not fulfilled by Amazon? I should have just gotten the anniversary editions instead, but those are too tiny. I want HUEG 9.5" books!

>>11028461
Are you a white male? Then yes.
Are you non-white male or female? Then no.

>>11028846
>litrpg

>>11028997
Daniel black isn't an litrpg. when will this meme end?

Use When Needed
New Thread
>>11029101
>>11029101
>>11029101
>>11029101

>>11029069
shitrpg? that describes it better, right?