/lit/ - Literature

>>16093233

jesus christ those fingernails look disgusting

>>16093283
Discuss my cock... haha jk discuss R SCOTT BAKKER

What should I read next?
Heretics of Dune
Neuromancer
Foundation

>>16093283
What are Fantasy books for someone who likes DBZ?
I liked the Worm Ouroboros.

SFFG Discord: https://discord.gg/KWPCM7m

:^)

>>16093347
Blindsight

>>16093347
Replay

>>16093347
Neuromancer. It's a standalone. Most stuff will seem tame and normal for today's tech but he wrote out in the innate 80s n predicted a lot of shit.

Dune should be read in order, throw out his son's books only read canon.

Foundation is melodramatic golden age buck Rogers spacerocket fiction era and it grates a little on it's concepts n predictions. Good story but it's only a prologue to an entirely standalone universe set of novels.

>>16093347
Night Angel Trilogy

>>16093347
Book of the New Sun

>>16093283
I've recently started reading the Belisarius series, and I love it. Maybe some of my new favorites. After I finish it should I look up more stuff by David Drake or by Eric Flint?

>>16093421
I forgot I that own it.
>>16093463
I've read Dune 1-4 and I took a break from it for a few months so I'm ready to start Heretics.
Is Foundation not as good a stand alone as the first Dune was? Is it a pure prologue like Hyperion?
>>16093466
No.
I'll bookmark it though.
>>16093469
I'm not ready to go through that again but I will. It was godlike.

>>16093526
>>16093421
>I forgot I that own it
I'm retarded. I forgot I bought it a while ago. It was hiding behind my other books.

>>16093415
>discord

>>16093570
i keep seeing this image
i'm afraid i don't know what it is
so please someone, tell me the context.

I have a strange theory that getting an e-reader will break up the pages weirdly and somehow ruin the pace of the book.
Am I just retarded? It's not like most authors intend for a whole important bit to happen on one page, right?
I just want a light easy one handed reader so I can get more volume done, which is arguably the most important since if I find holding fat paperbaks open to be tiresome and uncomfortable, then I'll read less.

>>16093586
A hilarious interrogation involving a brave little chair.

The Bene Gesserit shit is the cringiest part about Dune. I hate it.

>>16093625
>the hottest
ftfy

>>16093620
can you be more specific?

>>16093353
PoN

>>16093605
>autistic
>reads genre fiction
like pottery

No. Writers are not involved in typesetting or the book's design that way. I think only the mid-end ereaders can be used one-handed (they have physical buttons to the right).

>>16093463
>r

>e

>d

>d

>i

>t

>>16093605
No it isn't an issue.
>t. autist who reads genre fiction on an e-reader

>>16093605
The only time I've seen a book aware of its own layout was Lemony Snicket, a kid's book.

>>16093665
Go back

>>16093554
It's really good. Really makes you think. Unironically

>>16093702
>>16093730
>>16093778
Jeffrey Bezos has you to thank for his hundo or two. I'm not sure if the Oasis will be more or less ergonomic.

Like, holding a clipboard isn't comfortable. Videogames figured this shit out with a nice palmful of grip shaped like your fucking hand.

>>16094093
There's a Kobo with the same layout. Ereaders weigh next to nothing. You can hold it in both hands like you would a tablet or a Nintendo Switch and switch pages with either thumb. Sometimes you'll use your index finger to tap on a word to check its definition.
They all work the same way. The fancier ones have physical buttons on top of that.
>Videogames figured this shit out with a nice palmful of grip shaped like your fucking hand.
What the fuck are you talking about?

>>16094125
he wants an ereader in the shape of a console controller

>>16094125

Is PKD a hack or am I just a pleb ? Just finished the three stigmata of Eldritch palmer and I am very disappointed.

>tfw you realize you're the only anon introducing other anons to fantasy and sci-fi that isn't already popular or well-known
Feels good.

>>16094318
What have you recommended recently?

>>16094318
recommend me something about ayy lmaos

>>16094318
Nice narrative you've made about yourself.

>>16094386
>>16094412
>>16094431
Based

/sffg/ rec me some science fantasy that isn't star wars, warhammer, or some other extended universe of shit. I want a story where mages throw fireballs from hovercars.

>>16094567
Try xianxia

>>16094567

Wheel of time

>>16094567
>mages throw fireballs from hovercars
Shadowrun books. Seriously there are a shitload of Shadowrun books and most of them are great. also the 3 Shadowrun games by Harebrained Schemes have great fucking story telling.

>>16094567
Gideon the Ninth is necromancers in space,

>>16093283
The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson, The Masquerade #1 (2015)
I would describe this as secondary world historical fiction. It would be more commonly called historical fantasy, but I don't think that would be accurate. Some may even try to label it as hard fantasy. In the first book there's not even a hint of anything fantastical from what I could tell. If A Song of Ice and Fire didn't have anything fantastical, which is to say no magic, no dragons, and no white walkers I would have still been satisfied with it. This lack of fantastical wasn't an issue for me, though I don't know others would feel about that overall.
Baru is a savant whose homeland is subjugated and decides that the only way to save her homeland is by destroying their conquerors from within.
This book is heavily biased towards exposition. Economic warfare is the primary mode of action. Governmental policies are described in detail and used to drive a lot of the plot forward. As George R.R. Martin once asked, “What was Aragorn’s tax policy?”, and this more than sufficiently answers that question in its own way. I felt like this went on for a lot longer than it page count would suggest, probably because I was reading it more slowly than I usually read.
My primary issue was that everything seems to come too easily for Baru, but I assume that was to maintain momentum. In some ways this is more like a certain type of science fiction in that it seems more concerned with exploring its ideas, which are socio and geo political, rather than anything else. Apparently a lot of people really enjoyed the characters and that was the primary draw for them, but it wasn't for me. There's a 77% drop-off of people who rated the second book (released 2018) on Goodreads, which I think was because they enjoyed it because didn't think they could endure any more of it. That's understandable. I'll be reading the next two books, but not anytime soon, as it emotionally affected me more than I thought it would and earned a place among those which provoked an emotional reaction that I would described as "elated despair". I'm all too familiar with mixed affective states.
I'm almost certain that the books after this will be rather different from this one and that'd be for the best. This style is suitable for a one-off, as it continuing it would probably be overbearing for most readers. I suppose I'll eventually see.
Considering what I've written, the rating below may seem too high, and perhaps it is, but I don't feel that I could possibly rate it any lower from a personal perspective, but I could also never rate it any higher.
Rating: 4/5

I'm too far into Way of Kings to justify a DNF - with 10 chapters left, and I want to throw this at the fucking wall.
My reading group is on the same theoretical page with this.
Every bit of shit Bransan gets is rightfully deserved.
How can he be a trusted creative writing lecturer, author, and commentator on fantasy; when he writes such drivel?
He dominates all SFF book talk on mainstream social media and his kickstarter is literally just the same shit you've already read, in a slightly better cover, made with even more unethical Chinese sweatshop miracle.

It just doesn't add up. Fuck him.

>>16093283
What's the best post-Tolkien fantasy series and why is it the Book of the New Sun?

>>16095164
>20
This meme needs to die botns is a shit book

>>16093283
Read Worm and Mother of Learning, any other good web serials?
Any good webnovel sites I can comb through besides Royal Road?

>>16095189
I like chrysalis and defiance of the fall
Also tree of aeons but it only updates once a week which is unbearable

Translated chink/Korean shit is what I’ve been mostly reading

>Your GF's friend buys you a drink and whispers pic related. WDYD?

>>16094567
Play Shadowrun, especially Dragonfall

>>16093421
I finished that and now I'm reading Hyperion. What do you recommend next?

Red Rising & Blindsight are my favorite sci-fi novels so far, but I come from fantasy

>>16095176
get filtered harder lmao

>>16095673

>>16094956
It's traditional fantasy. Don't be retarded and read it if you are looking for something that's gonna break down barriers. You and your group just sound like spergs with no awareness of what makes something popular or well-liked.

It's like listening to a dad rock album and complaining about it sounding old. If obviously you're not gonna enjoy it, why the fuck are you even trying it in the first place? Especially when it's ridiculously long.

>>16095176
Which one is it then?

>>16094956
Even though I agree with you, Tom, I still feel that it's not 'He should be hunted' tier.
It's definitely not well written, I'd probably put it on the YA rung for all intents and purposes.
Everything else is sort of harmless.

>>16095768
So because something is popular, it means it's good?
That's dangerous thinking, boyo.

>>16094567
Not a book, but the Destiny lore is a decent half attempt at something for all it's wroth.

>>16095912
No, something isn't good because it's popular. It's often the opposite, even.
But, that's exactly the dichotomous thinking style I'm trying to point out that you seem to have:
if you can extrapolate what elements are at play to make something popular and decide whether or not they are elements you traditionally enjoy, you can readily determine if you are wasting your time consuming it.
Clearly, Sanderson wasn't intended for you.

Sanderson does the classic Tolkien good vs. evil style story, has a magic system that's logical and builds a world rich in detail that is earth-like and based off society, and has characters that are basically goody-two-shoes who doubt themselves. He's masterful at all of these elements, but if these are not elements you are looking for you in a story
- again, I will reiterate -
why would you read said story?

>>16096226
I get what you're saying anon, trust me.
I'm reading it because we agreed to read it. That's it.
But, it seems that you're misunderstanding a very important line
>when he writes such drivel?

I'm not >>16094956 but the point is for 2/3's of the book he writes like shit.
Not worldbuilds, Not following trope tradition, Not his idea of fantasy; he writes like shit.
The words you read to process information is straight up bad.
There is no getting around this anon, I'm sorry.
For a man that teaches writing, he uses the medium so poorly that I'm surprised that someone of his level hasn't pursued further education on how to literally write better.

WoK is riddled with 'Suddenly', and 'And then [synonym for something][buzzword][synonym for happened]' - "something amazing happened", "then the incredible was upon them", etc.
If he was a debut author I'd forgive him for a lot of things - but 10 years, with a (decent to good) trilogy under his belt, and he makes the most elementary of fuck ups? Seems weird.
Others also include
>Writing a character by character way he's done, if Shallan wasn't so bad I'd be alright. But the drop between Kaladin and Dalinar is already steep; Shallan is just really tough to read.
>Writing of fighting scenes; if they were good I'd like them. But they feel far too safe for the named characters.
>The abominations that are his literal one note female characters that sound like girls Brandon had a crush on at church that got turned down by.

If it was just Kaladin, the book would easily be 5* because there is a consistent tone, style, and language within his writing that makes sense for that character.
It falls apart when he uses utilitarian language for a noble and scholar - it feels odd that a romantic scene has operating room levels of sterile dialogue, it doesn't work when the quippy girl doesn't think the way Brandon want's you the reader to think about her.
It's sloppy. It's inconsistent and it reads like he couldn't care about characters other than Kaladin.

Fuck E William Brown

>>16096361
Why? His novels are enjoyable enough for what they are (haremlit).

>>16093283
What fantasy race would you guys be, if offered the choice?

Is LoTR old hat?

>>16095844
Malazan

>>16096226
I enjoyed Mistborn, but WoK was so incredibly boring I had no interest in continuing.

>>16096738
Dragon that can transform into human. No weaknesses (like sun, cold steel, water, etc.), oftentimes they can adjust their human form and last but not least they are powerful as fuck.

>>16096585
He has held his latest novel hostage for a year plus. You have to sign up to his paywall substar to view the book a chapter a month.
He's becoming a predatory lender- I mean author.
Imagine paying 5 bucks a month for one. single. chapter, and the book having more than 30 chapters. You're paying 150 bucks plus for an ebook that's less than 10 on Amazon.

At least other authors who have patreon release shit multiple times a week for that price. You are actually getting your money's worth there. He went "full time author" last year, and his work ethics dropped abysmally compared to when he had a 9-5.

Fuck E William Brown.

>>16096738
Some being that can manipulate energy or feed on it. I can eat anything, walls, metal, air, etc, once it has matter, it can be eaten / manipulated.
I would be able to breathe under water, or "fly" to mars and make a colony.

>>16097092
Sounds shitty but can't you just pay 5 read everything and then cancel your sub.

>>16097136
That's what some anons here do. Pay for the sub twice a year and grab whatever was released from their last trawl.

>>16097123
Was it autism?

>>16096738
Dragon so I can hoard treasure and have a princess make me tea

>>16097001
>Dragon that can transform into human
Tranny. You probably wanna be a girl so men can ram you.

>>16096738
Facedancers or any kind of Mimic really.

>>16097092
Wait, you aren't a shill?
Talk about a plot twist. Wasn't expecting there to be a genuine reason to hate the guy.

>>16093463
I was wondering if his son's books were any good or if he was just cashing a check.

>>16093463
What about the Neuromancer sequels?

What you guys waiting on to be released?

>>16097780
Winds of Winter

>>16097862
lol

> “Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1970.

> “This was the first prose work published by MacDonald. Because of its limited financial success, MacDonald saw himself forced to turn to writing realistic novels. Phantastes, however, exerted a strong influence on fantasy authors of later generations: for example, C. S. Lewis in his book Suprised by Joy claimed that his imagination had been "baptized" by reading it.
>The story centers on the character Anodos ("pathless" or "ascent" in Greek) and takes its inspiration from German Romanticism, particularly Novalis. The story concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world and there hunts for his ideal of female beauty, embodied by the "Marble Lady". Anodos lives through many adventures and temptations while in the other world, until he is finally ready to give up his ideals. In its themes and overall storyline, Phantastes is a kind of dry run for MacDonald's later novel Lilith.”

>>16095717
>Red Rising
Why?
I don't mean to be rude, but it's worse than Sanderson in terms of plot progression. And in terms of writing, it's borderline Eragon bad in places.
How did you stick with it?

Rec me a dark fantasy book sets in ancient rome

>>16098282
Doesn't The Black Company take place in post-apocalyptic upside down Rome where Cleopatra didn't administer herself an emergency boob-job?

>>16098300
Is it? Never read

>>16095189
The Wandering Inn, Displaced, Delve, The Glided Hero.
Go to topwebfiction to find new webnovels.

>>16097479
>Mimic
I approve.

>>16096226
>Sanderson does the classic Tolkien good vs. evil style story, has a magic system that's logical and builds a world rich in detail that is earth-like and based off society, and has characters that are basically goody-two-shoes who doubt themselves. He's masterful at all of these elements
notice that the one missing "element" here is good writing
in a fucking novel

>>16098023
>The story concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world
They've been iseika-ing people since 1858.

>>16098462
>The Wandering Inn
>good
>gotta go fast to outrun bullies
>no killing gobos
>muh iphone
>muh shifting blame to others and getting people kill because I'm a stupid bitch
>the inn doesn't actually wander around and is stationary

>>16096226
>has a magic system that's logical and builds a world rich in detail that is earth-like and based off society, and has characters that are basically goody-two-shoes who doubt themselves. He's masterful at all of these elements, but if these are not elements you are looking for you in a story

We have such low standards that Sanderson is considered a "master".

He is only a master in the ability of wasting so much pages in literally nothing, the first two books could be easily in less than 800 pages

>>16098462
Are you the cuck who shilled wandering inn to me last year? kys that book was trash. A thousand plus pages of nothing. That book is the definition of filler.

>>16098845
Isewho?

>>16096738
Elf but only in middle earth

>>16098914
isekai is japanese for other world. in the past few years isekai anime and manga have been immensely popular and the term had somewhat of a resurgence and has been established in western media as well as in books when it comes to themes wher other worlds are involved.
on /sffg/ it has a negative connotation and they prefer the term portal-fantasy.

>>16098906
It's a slice of life book.

>>16094903
No, Gideon is teenage girl drama masquerading as necromancers in space. I still liked it, up until it abandoned the promising island murder mystery party premise and started ignoring the logic and rules it laid out in the first three quarters of the book.

>>16093554
you're gonna make it, anon

>>16095673
I show them the 15 minute long video we made of me throat fucking her that ends with her saying "thank you, daddy".

>>16095673
rothfuss is the ultimate cringelord

>>16095673
"What is an ass fucking for $500, Alex?"

i see a lot of whiggers getting fired up about BOTNS
i've been thinking about it
do it?

>>16099047
>portal-fantasy.
Or porta-potty fantasy
I see now. Thanks.

>>16099345

>>16099368

>>16099132
Slice of shit, you mean.

>>16099343
yes, though I am one of those whiggers

>>16099442
i'm getting fired up, dog!

>>16095189
Mine ;)
Just kidding. It's bad and I haven't updated in months. Do you like royalroad? Everyone in the forums seems like a twat or a mouth breather.

I haven't read fantasy in years. What is the fantasy equivalent of book of the new sun/Dhalgren/hyperion? Or just rec me some literary fantasy thank you.

>>16100017
>Dhalgren
Gay shit? Imajica

>>16094567
The Warlock Series by Christopher Stasheff, most of his books are about wizards in space
Darkover
Lord of Light
The Star of the Guardians

>>16093605
yes, you're retarded

>>16093463
Aren't you supposed to read his son's books because he couldn't finish them and the last one ends with a huge cliffhanger?

>>16100328
tyty

I want to lose my virginity

>>16100535
Stop drinking pop and do 1 hour of cardio while watching your favorite youtuber a day, instead of sitting and watching him like you always do.
Buy a $200 elliptical, they are fun.

>>16093605
>Am I just retarded?
Yes anon.
Most writers just vomit out words and then clean it up.

>>16100017
You don't sound all that interested in fantasy desu

>>16099368
oh, interesting. It's like how movies depict the area between west 59th street and west 82nd street in new york as haunted.

off the top of my head, we've got ghostbusters, rosemary's baby, night at the museum, and every single urban legend about The Dakota. I have my suspicion the reputation has to do with the fault line under it causing infrasound

>>16093283
What's a good book that gives off a comfy explorer/romanticism vibe? Wanna read about sailors/space travelers chilling in their ships or camping.

>>16101045
Book of the New Sun

>>16101053
>a guy wandering aimlessly through various towns is somehow a sailor

/sffg/, I really, really, really don't know what to do. I don't think I'm ever going to get my passion for writing back, but i don't want to abandon it. i've abandoned every other passion in my life and I can't keep running out of reasons to survive

>>16101056
Yes

>>16093463
Science fiction is not about predicting stuff

>>16101243
VERY based post

Hi guys, I know probably you have the most expertise on this topic: Do you know any book (Novel and/or short stories) with the feeling like Iblard Jikan , or like Jean Giraud Moebius stuff?

Just like it looks like sci-fi but it is not at all, just surreal psychedelic stuff happening in made-up worlds/dimensions etc, that has tech and/or magic. Mostly plot-less, just like travelogues into made-up interesting weird places and people.

PIC RELATED

>>16101302
Phillip K Dick
Imajica
Jose Philip Farmer

>>16093283
Before They Are Hanged (The First Law #2) - Joe Abercrombie (2007)
Where do I begin? I sucked my gums and tounged the space behind my two front teeth.
Think you can write fantasy and escape Tolkien's influence? You've got to be realistic about these things.
I have many talents, but writing consistently serious reviews is not one of them.
And so the chosen band of adventures, a mighty wizard who is he more than appears, a hobbit, and three warriors spend much of the book journeying and on their way pass through Mordor which is filled with orcs in search of the One Stone to rule them all.
Elsewhere Cripplesworth The Superior is at a city pretending to be Constantinople.
Meanwhile Joffrey leads his troops into the fray.
Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie. Say he likes stock phrases. You can never have enough forced memes. Ssss.
I've finished this review and I'm still alive.
Rating: 4/5, because it's basically one continuous story anyway, so by the transitive property it's still a 4.

>>16101302
Moebius himself said that Robert Sheckley and Jack Vance were big influences on him.

>>16101302
Not a book but
>Just like it looks like sci-fi but it is not at all, just surreal psychedelic stuff happening in made-up worlds/dimensions etc, that has tech and/or magic
you should definitely watch Kaiba

As >>16101486 said you could try Vance, particularly The Last Castle and Emphyrio

Condemning the heavens

>>16101494
Why bury them with the shoes on the chest?

>>16101505
Because they are light and comfy shoes that keep you warm.

I like boats. Most fantasy today takes place on pangaeas, what are the essential archipelago books?

>>16098845
I still think Connecticut Yankee is the first true Isekai, in the modern sense. It's not just the other world aspect that matters, but that they are a modern man taking their superior understanding of the world and using it to quickly rise to prominence in a medieval fantasy world.

>>16101505
why bury them with any clothes at all? not like they need it.

>>16101734
I was enamored with A Sea of Trolls as a kid, but I don't know how well its writing holds up for adults.

>>16101977
You necrophiliacs are sick fucks.

>>16101972
None of the isekai novels as we know them today is about modern man going to primitive worlds, they are all about going to some magic world.

>>16102185
They're all about going to a cobbled together anachronistic pre-industrial revolution fantasy world, which is a very accurate summation of Twain's depiction of Arthurian camelot.

>>16101069
>passion
I saw on reddit that every great writer actually hates writing and has to force themselves to finish a book. It's why grrms and rothfuss arent writing now that they dont have to.

Anyone read the Southern Reach trilogy? How is it?

>>16102350
first two leave you wanting more each time and then the third doesn't deliver at all entirely and even the journey in three isn't that great. That was my experience at least.

>>16102284
GRRM probably lost interest while making the TV adaptation of his work, it likely killed whatever joy he had in it. He's still active as an editor and writing other stuff, especially for TV. He was a TV writer before he was a novelist, after all. It's old hat to him. But Rothfuss just plain burnt out on writing in general. He hasn't published in what, seven years? Last thing he published was a book of poems he probably had sitting on his shelf since high school, so really it's been over a decade since he's probably written anything.

>>16101446
Loved it but hated the end of the quest

>>16102500
There was that side story novel, but yeah, the worst thing you can do is let an author become successful. I appreciate that Butcher has decided to just get the whole Dresden thing over with and is releasing two books this year.

Has anyone here read this series by Tad Williams? Would you recommend it?

>>16102762
I read shadowmarch a while back. It was fine, very acceptable epic fantasy, but it did not make me want to read more.

>>16093338
They both have small fanbases?

>>16094905
The sequel was so dissapointing

>>16102762
I liked it but it's not his best work.
Memory Sorrow and Thorn and its sequel series if you like high fantasy.
Otherland if you like sci-fi.
War of the Flowers and Bobby Dollar if you like urban fantasy, and I think Williams is best when he writes urban fantasy.

Any good recomendations for good hard sci-fi horror? I am having no luck.

Weird book, it's a 6/10 if you read it sober but a 12/10 if you can manage to read it on a trip. Highly recommend it if you can, was a lot of fun, some of the concepts in the book are really out there.

Almost 3/4s into Lyonesse and it's been great so far. It has a little bit of everything, multiple PoVs, fairies, knights, wizards, everything except battle or combat scenes, though it's so comfy I don't really mind anything too large scale. The world building is slightly random but it's part of its charm (don't know what to make of 14th century Skandinavians with those customs though). It feels very similar to what I had in mind while reading Le Morte d'Arthur and about hundreds of knights, fair maidens, enchanted forests, etc. It fits Vance's quick style perfectly. I just hope to catch a more classical or direct reference (something like "fell thunderously to the ground" but in Vance's own words).
I had no idea that it was this long or that Vance wrote it with some software (apparently he was almost entirely blind when he wrote it).
It's a shame the book is a bit problematic for this age and that Hollywood is doing everything in its power to do shitty Arthurian adaptations.

>>16102855
>>16094905
The Masquerade is one of those series that I greatly enjoy following and I would be super ultra pissed if it got dropped by the publishers. However, I mostly follow it for the characters, because the author is great at making them likeable. Book 2 shows that author can't really into plot. From Book 2 and Book 3 you can conclude that author would rather write a faintly alt-hist horror novel than politics/revenge.

Any comfy but edgy fantasy where most of the focus is on one character?
I'm kind of tired from following a million plot threads that converge in another single epic conclusion.

>>16103039
How heavily do the books push sjw politics?

>>16103044
Book of the New Sun

Should I read Tolkien or book of the new sun first? Never read either

>>16103216
Neither are enjoyable

What is some realistic sci-fi?

About to start reading this.
Anyone have any thoughts to share? I've read, from most to least enjoyed; Ubik, Do Androids and Man in the High Castle. I liked them all though. How does this one compare?

>>16102860
Ive already read and enjoyed MS and T. But ive heard the Shadowmarch series was boring.

>>16103300
What should I read then?

>>16103338
Is that a novelization of Megaman 1?

>>16103338
>>16103352
Idk. Is Kevin Spacey in Megaman 1? Looks like Kevin Spacey to me.

WoK was okay.
Not great, not the worst thing ever.
I think the basing and the fans are both deserved.

>>16103477
Way of Kings?
The first book isn't bad, especially the bridge men arc. It's pure ya trash by the end of book 3 though and Sandafags attempt at finally writing a complicated character in Shallan devolves into an almighty mess.

>>16103034
Most of the combat is in Madouc, and dare I say it feels very well earned

>>16102714
>I appreciate that Butcher has decided to just get the whole Dresden thing over with and is releasing two books this year.
That's the publisher. They pulled what they did to lotr, botns, Prince of nothing's great ordeal. They split his book into multiple books because "it's too big". It's why peace talks felt like half a book. He had to fill it with filler.

Does enjoying this mean you have shit taste?

>>16103777
Isn't it one of those books that literally gives you a wink within the first chapter saying "Look, this is taking the piss." or did I misread it?

>Join discord because they keep spamming it.
>See their book of the month is by a female author (who suspiciously looks like a Sarah J Fatass clone) and is described as "Lesbian Necromancers go on an adventure in space."
>Why did I fall for this?

>>16103792
It is.

>>16103811
based lesbian filter

>>16093665
interrogation of stephen mcdaniel

>>16103777
Yes. Absolutely.

>>16103056
The author literally wrote that the first few chapters are a filter for people concerned about that.

>>16103039
>baru
>likeable
no

Why do fatass white slampiggies make me so hard.
Especially when they are mommy milkies.
I love self published books, they want the slampiggies too. No walking skeleton elves, you got shortstack gobos and gnomes taking off dick. So many thick girls.

>>16104236
Let me guess, you love junk tier harem trash William E. Brown.

>>16103056
it's a book about colonialism and the MC is a black lesbian, I think if you're talking about "sjw politics" that's already enough for you to dislike it

>>16104314
Naw. Brown is a skinny cuck. William D Arand is the thinking man's big brain author. Such nubile plump bodies waiting for cock.

>>16093353
Malazan is basically fantasy DBZ, it's all power levels

>>16104493
I assume this is a joke since they are the same person.

>>16104493
>nubile plump bodies
Where do I get the nubille DFC skellies?

What do I need to have read first to fully appreciate book of the new sun?

I just finished (again) The Horror at Red Hook, and I have a question:
Why did Suydam's house collapse? The fact that Suydam's body reached the pedestal meant that Suydam's accomplished his aim, or Suydam was actually the tittering phosphorescent thing and got beaten by its dead body?

Also, I found out about "The Ballad of Black Tom", is it another "Netflix adaptation" (every white straight male is bad, the rest are the good guys) of Lovecraft's work?

>>16104484
It only matters if it's heavy handed and forced, as it tends to be in modern fantasy.

>>16104938
A thesaurus

>"He was Gully Foyle, the oiler, wiper, bunkerman; too easy for trouble, too slow for fun, too empty for friendship, too lazy for love.
wtf literally me

>>16104938
Nothing. Or:
The Bible (mostly Genesis, New Testament: gospels, Acts)
Augustine's The Enchiridion
Marcel Proust - In Search of Lost Time
GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday
Jack Vance - The Dying Earth
Jorge Luis Borges - Ficciones (The Library of Babel, The Circular Ruins)
An English dictionary. I don't know what edition but one with arcane words of Greek, Latin and French origin.
Some basic Greek mythology (e.g., Ovid's Metamorphoses)
Frazer - The Golden Bough (for Apu-Punchau and Incan references)
Some book on American Civil War history (esp. the battle of Hampton Roads)
Maybe some hagiography, but I don't know which one.

Book of the New Sun can be interpreted and enjoyed on different levels. You can read it just once, or multiple times to better decipher the plot, or read more reference materials to enjoy some of its vague metatextual aspects.

>>16104938
>>16105102
I missed some references (like Frankenstein) but if you want the bare basics, the easiest way to navigate it would be with Lexicon Urthus (you can download it from libgen or b-ok.cc).

>>16103044
Conan

>>16103497
I started reading oathbringer because I remembered quite enjoying the first two books when I was younger. I had to stop indefinitely when Dalinar was described with shit like "he could make choosing breakfast look like the most important thing in the world". and the plot started going down some out of nowhere tangent about how Dalinar cannot remember his old wife.

>>16104956
>>16105102
>>16105123
Sick thanks anons

Im at book 5 of the wheel of time series and i cant do it any longer.
Every chapter is the same shit over and over again: a man does something, a woman is angry about it. Sometimes the women are angry even tho no man did anything, they are just angry for the sake of being angry. Even the woman that are supposedly "in love" with a certain man are angry about said man.
And the main male characters are no better: they just complain about their fate "oh i cant do this, i cant do that, i just want to run away, i dont want all this responsibility"

I kinda want to know how the story unfolds but every book is like 1k pages and maybe 100 of them is relevant.
Fuck me

>>16105211
The Wheel of Time is probably the most undeserving well known series in the genre.

It's purely bad Lord of the Ring's fan fiction. The plot is bland and predictable. The characters are bland and uninteresting. Every book is the same shit, over and over again. You can just skip to the end of each book, because every thing in the middle of it is just annoying fodder. Robert Jordan is also a bad writer over all.

>>16105211
Just drop it, you're still in the so called "good" parts of the series, even the people who love the series will tell you the story slows down to a grind in books 7 to 10. And believe me, it gets much worse. There's a whole arc spanning a couple of books in which a bunch of the leading women go off to do their own thing and the entire plot line is literally cancer.

>>16103477
Words of Radiance is better.

Oathbringer is a pile o shit.

>>16105211
Have you read the Malazan series?

Because it's miles fucking better.

>>16105271
>read this shit series that is better than that other shit series.

>>16105283
Name a series that's not shit and I'll laugh at you.

>>16105289
botns and amber
want more?

>>16105310
>"I'd probably have surrendered, to save my remaining troops, who had served me far too well. But there was no one to surrender to, no one asking for a surrender. Eric couldn't even hear me if I cried out. He was out of the way, directing. So we fought on, and I was down to a hundred men. Let's be brief. They killed everyone but me. At me they threw nets and unleashed blunted arrows."
>Amber
>Not shit

FUCKING LMAO

>>16105329
Having never read amber there is nothing inherently wrong with what I'm seeing.

>>16105411
BUT...LMAO!!

>>16105329
Wait, is this real?

Would anyone be interested in a sffg discord?

>>16105431
Cope.
>>16105512
It is, and here's more:
>"I tried a head-cut, which he parried; and I parried his riposte to my heart and cut at his wrist. He parried this and kicked a small stool between us. I set it aside, hopefully in the direction of his face, with my right toe, but it missed and he had at me again. I parried his attack, and he mine. Then I lunged, was parried, was attacked, and parried again myself....I nicked him and the blood flowed. "Oh, damnable brother!" he said, retreating. "Report has it Random accompanies thee." "This is true," said I."

>>16105569
see
>>16093415

>>16101446
4/5??? More happens in your review than the entire First Law trilogy. Abercrombie still hasn't figured out how to actually move a fucking plot.

>>16105569
no

>>16105571
>>16105329
How is it like to have autism?

>>16105892
He literally just described it with greentext.

>>16093554
Good collection

>>16105329
>>16105571
zelazny allegedly churned these out for the money
i tried reading the first one and the writing was atrocious, dropped it after around 1/5 or 1/4

>>16099274
Holy based

About halfway through. What the fuck am I reading?
I'm not sure whether I really like the book or find it somewhat retarded.
Feels as if the author really wanted to get through the first half in a hurry by what I've read so far.

>think back on some book or series i finished a year ago
>can hardly recall anything about it
How do I learn to read and remember?
Should I really take notes?
I have no idea how to go about that.

>>16106516
If they were good you wouldnt need help remembering

>>16103044
Maybe Mark Lawrence's "Prince of Thorns" ? It mainly focuses on one main character and his group (at least for the first book) and is quite edgy. I personally didn't like it too much because of the edge, but you might.

>>16104948
>Also, I found out about "The Ballad of Black Tom", is it another "Netflix adaptation" (every white straight male is bad, the rest are the good guys) of Lovecraft's work?
You already know the answer.

>>16099950
What's the name of your web serial, faggot? Don't just say you have one and then not tell us what it is.

>>16095189
Wandering Inn, A Journey of Black and Red.

Azarinth Healer isn't bad either but the start is rough.

Are there any legitimately good time travel novels?

Red pill me on lightbringer is it good?

>>16106972
I liked this, but I've only read a few novels that deal with time travel.

>>16106989
>Brent Weeks

Just no.

>>16106992
The main criticism I’ve read of this is that the characters are pretty terrible, did you find this to be the case?

>>16105310
>amber

You had one job.
Retard.

I'm about to finish Worm. What should I read next? Anything goes, as long as it isn't shit.

>>16107046
Couldn't tell you. I read it about a decade ago and remember liking it at the time. I probably wasn't very good at judging characters and the like at the time anyway, so this criticism might have some merit.

>>16107016
Yikes nevermind lol

>>16098462
This Displaced novel is pretty fun so far, thanks for the rec!

reccomndation:
dave hutchinson's fractured europe series
haven't seen this one mentioned often (or at all)

>>16103477
Ur gay bro

>>16107046
Every character is terrible in 50s SF.

>>16105571
Wait this is based tho

>>16096738
Dunyain

>>16103338
It's one of his best, and also one of his most emotionally-charged books. Take it slow and don't hesitate to re-read some of the dialogue, especially towards the end.

>>16105571
>I'm not coping, you're coping!
lol anon, you've could've just left it at BotNS and shut him up, but you had to go and fumble it

>>16107072
Oh don’t worry, thank you very much anyway for the recommendation I’m gonna check it out!
>>16107238
Yeah starting to think it might come with the territory.

>>16107453
>lol
Cope.

>>16107453
>Reading comprehension.

>>16093463
>Neuromancer. It's a standalone. Most stuff will seem tame and normal for today's tech but he wrote out in the innate 80s n predicted a lot of shit.

You are absolutely correct in everything except it’s the first of a trilogy. Love that book!

>>16094869
>>
Does it matter which book you start with?

>>16107493
>You are absolutely correct in everything except it’s the first of a trilogy. Love that book!
It is the first of a trilogy, but you can also read it as a standalone. I read it twice before looking at anything else in the series.

>>16107472
>>16107477
>so mad he had to samefag

Ninth House or Gideon the Ninth?

>>16107512
https://shadowrun.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Shadowrun_novels

Not really most of them are one offs. There are a couple of series but it doesn't really matter where you begin. Most recommend publishing order but that is really just a general starting point.

>>16107640
I like both but Gideon's a much snappier read
Ninth House is slow considering it pretty much immediately tells you where it's going

>>16107016
>facing her was harder than facing thirty highlanders
This thread has been quite productive. Crossing out Brent Week and Amber Chronicles (some people used to meme it here iirc), and that guy who mentioned Imajica made me check it out and it seems like trash as well.

>>16103777
>Does enjoying this mean you have shit taste?
I thought it could have been perfectly likeable if the author just didn't do the "mercs are rock bands" worldbuilding.
It's never funny enough to pull that off as a comedic element and it totally ruins it as a serious story.

It's something that would be a two page joke in Discworld that has to somehow stand alone as the one gag of an entire series.
>>16101734
It's all ship based but The Bone Ships is island fantasy. Can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

Has anyone read the north world trilogy by david drake?

>>16107655
Stay long enough and you'll cross out everything ever published.

>>16107149
I read them, and they're pretty good. I'm not just saying that because I'm from the country that the main character Rudi (or Tõnu) is from.
The unlikely far-flung sci-fi setting at the start of the books is of an Europe fractured into myriad micro-nations and city-states after a destabilizing deadly virus outbreak. And it gets more interesting from there.

>>16107655
>being this easily influenced
You're a perfect mark for those trying to influence others in this thread.

This was really good, it's very well plotted and although it suggests the story is going one way and leads you another it's always because of information already given to you by the text.

The one downside to this is that it has to pretty much abandon a character to pull off the conclusion but their story is done so it could just do with a bit more clarity about that being the case.

>>16108091
>influenced
What the hell are you talking about? Every chart has a bunch of shit. There are thousands or tens of thousands of SF/fantasy books. How am I supposed to separate the wheat from the chaff other than by obtaining new information or actually reading them? The genre has dozens of "must reads". I check or cross them out as the opportunity presents itself.

>>16108224
You crossed out one of the most well regarded works of the fantasy genre because of posts in a lit thread you fucking loser

>>16108244
Why are you this affected by some random person choosing what he reads? I've already read Zelazny, it's not like his books are going anywhere.

>>16108244
>one of the most well regarded works of the fantasy genre
come on now, brent weeks isn't THAT good

>>16096738
Toblakai or Dunyain

>>16107016
Bugman fantasy is the fucking worst.

>>16093353
Brent Weeks

Finished Foundation today. It was really good. I'm motivated to read the next book but I'm worried about how long this concept holds up before it gets old.
The cycle of peace, crisis, crisis averted can go on indefinitely. Do the books keep following this cycle?

>>16102762
>Has anyone here read this series by Tad
Williams?
Yes
>Would you recommend it?
Yes

>>16108514
It does sorta but like his robot series it explores what happens when the axioms are subverted

>>16101446
Last Argument of Kings (The First Law #3) - Joe Abercrombie (2008)
TL;DR, should I read this series?
Yes, but don't expect a "...and they lived happily ever after" ending.

I was going to rate this one 4 stars as well, but the last quarter or so was highly amusing and enjoyable. It seems it was very polarizing and I understand why. Even so, the 5 stars is 4.5 stars rounded up and barely makes it to that. It's possible I may eventually bring it down to 4 stars. That's to be seen. It's unfortunate when people are committed to how they want a story to go based on a mistaken belief of what has happened and then the plot irreconcilably diverges from how they though it would go resulting in lowly rated reviews. Sometimes life just doesn't work out, isn't fair, and doesn't give anyone what they "deserve". Is that something people want to read? Depends on why they are reading. If it's purely for uplifting escapism, then they picked the wrong series from the beginning. I don't think the ending was a bait and switch. It was foreshadowed often and many clues were given. I thought a bit more could been resolved, but it was fine. I can only accept "life's not so easily resolved" so much. 5 stars are probably the most variable in terms of why I rate something as such. This was a "fun" 5 star, I didn't take any of it seriously. If I had previously read books that were rather similar to what I read here, then I would have certainly rated it 4 stars instead. I think people can change, but circumstances, both environmental and hereditary, can make that rather difficult. By the end I found literally almost every character, whether major or minor, unlikeable and yet it still worked out well. It was enjoyable in small doses, but I don't know how I'd feel about it over the long term.

>>16102595
I thought it was funny, which is why I wrote that review as I did, but I think it should be contained to very few book doing similarly so that it doesn't its relative value. Well, of books I'll read anyway. The journey itself served a purpose regardless of what was at the destination. I understand how it could be disappointing though because reading itself is effort and you expect a payoff. Since it was intentional and similar happens in the books, I thought it was fine. If something like this was unintentional, then that'd be a problem. The discussion about "subverting reader expectations" and what the proper way is to do so is a different discussion.

>>16108817

>>16102762
I have, and I would, with some caveats. Tad Williams is a very slow burn compared to more recent authors in the epic fantasy niche. He's more of a traditionalist, but has improved with every series he wrote. Shadowmarch is my favorite series by him. It's still slow in places, but the mythology is exquisite and satisfying to unravel. Like other stuff by Tad Williams it's got a dark fairy tale aesthetic to it. This is one of the first series I took notes on while reading, trying to piece together the pantheon from 3 different holy books.

>>16102714
That's the thing, Rothfuss has barely accomplished anything as an author. He's basically riding off the initial hype of his first novel. I don't know how much he got paid up front for his series but it must've been a whole lot for him to not have to do any actual work. That or his convention appearances must pay well.

>>16105246
>It's purely bad Lord of the Ring's fan fiction
this makes it sound like you never finished the first book

>>16107640
I read all of Gideon in a day cause it was a surprisingly gripping read. Extremely fun book, but the plot fell through at the end.

>>16109004
you mean you don't remember all the braid tugging in LotR?

>>16104571
William D Arand and Randi Darren are the same person
E William Brown and William D Arand are two different people.

>>16095673
Imagine being able to make Sanderson seem like an Alpha Chad.

Bow down! To the undisputed King of Fantasy and overall God of Literature!

>>16106516
Type notes into goodreads. The acr of writing things down helps your brain remember longer.

any books that evoke the aesthetic of the Legend of Zelda games?

>>16109307
How to defeat thw demon king in 12 easy steps.

>>16109045
I was too busy tugging my own braid, if you know what I mean

>>16109130
How is Terry doing nowadays? As the Sword of Truth series progressed, I could practically feel his psychosis rapidly deteriorating his mind.

>>16104484
Lol who the fuck would read something like that? Give me a break

>>16105569
Fuck off tranny

>>16109321
i meant the aesthetic of the world, not the fact that it's a video game. LoZ has some killer character/monster design (inb4 tingle), and the early 3d games vastly outpaced the limitations of the medium

>>16093283
Any authors aside from Philip K. Dick mention Sirius associated with their works?

>>16106972
licanius trilogy

>>16109468
Good cover, trash book. Only read it if you think Wheel of Time is good.

>tfw read and enjoyed the first 3 books of Malazan but then took a break and will probably be unable to understand anything if I try to continue now

>>16109480
It’s nothing like the wheel of time fat boy

>>16109484
I've heard this is a problem with Malazan. I'm trying to get a bunch of other books out of the way so I can get through Malazan uninterrupted.

This was actually pretty damn good by the end. It definitely drags for the first half, but once it stops pussyfooting around whether magic is real or not it really picks up.

>>16109484
It's not really a series you take a break on. I read it to completion only once, and I had to read each book back to back with the last one, no breaks or switching for a breather.

>>16109484
>>16109567
How does it honestly compare to wheel of time?

>>16109553
I enjoyed it as well, the author is clearly a Napoleonic history buff and it's nice to see a fantasy series that does credit to that era. The later books have some drawbacks to them, but overall I found it an enjoyable series.

>>16109578
I was hoping for magic-based warfare, so I was initially disappointed that it was less codex alera and more horatio hornblower, but once I accepted that it was going to be real tactics instead of fake ones I enjoyed the battles a lot more. Feor is such a useless sack of shit, though, I hope she is more proactive once they get back to the Netherlands.

>>16107640
>literal YAshit garbage bin author versus interesting prose/worldbuilding stylist

>>16109596
which is which

>>16109613
Leigh Bardugo write YA romances

>>16109573
Other than the fact they're both "epic fantasy" they have basically nothing in common in terms of tone, themes, writing style, setting, etc. Malazan is one of those gritty, sweary fantasy series with occasionally gruesome subject matter. It's also got a huge amount of characters like WoT does, but unlike WoT stuff is constantly happening in Malazan. There's long stretches of WoT where it feels like everybody is just treading water, sitting around waiting for stuff to happen, or traveling between important locations. Malazan is a lot more economical with jumping straight to where important conversations and events are occurring. If you think that means the books are shorter, then you'd be mistaken. A lot of stuff happens in Malazan, and it happens very quickly.

One of the biggest complaints people have picking the series up is being bowled over by all the name dropping. Lots of people, places, and concepts are referenced without any explanation in the first book, and the second book, and the third book, and so on, and you just have to roll with it and gradually pick up what these things mean. Explanations do come, but not in the way you're used to if your frame of reference is Wheel of Time, with a character who is new to the situation getting it explained to him by a convenient exposition person. You have to remember stuff so that when it comes up later with new information, you can make connections and build on your existing store of knowledge to get a more complete picture.

I once described reading Malazan as putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Like most epic fantasy series, there's a lot of mystery to the setting that makes you want to find out more about it, but where other series hold your hand and introduce you to unfamiliar concepts, Malazan just dumps all the puzzle pieces in front of you and you have to gradually put it together. Each book is like completing one small part of the puzzle, creating a recognizable image, but you're not really sure how it connects to everything else you've managed to piece together yet.

Truefax: I didn't really understand the overall shape of the plot until book 9 (out of 10), because of how huge the scale of the story is. It's not like WoT where the entire plot is spelled out for you by book 2. Just figuring out what the fuck is going on takes several books.

>>16108793
Have you read the Foundation series? Which book would you say is a good stopping point? Would I be able to stop at Second Foundation and feel like I've gotten a complete story? The main reason I'm continuing is because the first book felt like a long introduction.

>>16109618
she cute tho

>>16109589
You'd better brace yourself for Winter being one of the only competent people.

>>16109676
Frustrating. You'd think Bobby would get used a lot more after being turned into an unkillable soldier.

>>16109672
Just keep reading until you get bored of it. Thought I'd hate the series and I ended up reading every single last one of them and the Robots series and the Empire books. Anyway, Second Foundation will give you an indicator of whether or not you'll like the series as a whole or not.

>>16109685
It's not like other characters are useless, but Winter is clearly the favorite of the author and pulls off the most impossible stuff. Also, magic does feature later on as you can probably guess, but it's never really incorporated into the armies, it's more of a natural disaster sort of thing.

>>16109672
Foundation is a trilogy

>>16109700
No it isn't.

>>16107655
Amber Chronicles are great. Anyone shitting on Zelanzy is a literal retard. Put it back on your fucking list.

>>16109785
Much as I love Amber, it's just one step off being self insert isekaishit.

>>16109957
>>16109957
>>16109957

Finished Demon in White. Good! As usual the world's a cross between Dune and W40k.

Also read Hull Zero Three and Ship of Fools, both sci-fi horror. Not recommended- terrible, hasty endings to both of them.

And yeah Prince of Thorns is badass

>>16109675
Goth mommy gf.