/lit/ - Literature

>Discord
KWPCM7m

>>16867629
It's not well written by any means but it's super enjoyable.

I'd consider it pop historical fiction

>>16880646
>>discord
tranny

brandon sanderson sucks

>>16867872
Why isnt there a /sffg/ 2020 list?

>>16880788
>reading anything from [current year]

>>16880797
You cant discuss the same old shit forever

>>16880822
try me

>>16880788
Literally no one cared about the 2019 list, why would 2020 be different?

>>16880847
People care if it has good books on it.

>>16880638
Sanderson is to SF/F what SF/F is to the rest of literature.
That said, Rhythm of War is perhaps his worst written work so far.
>meandering 90 percent of the book that gets nowhere
>cosmere masturbation
>rushed resolution
What did you guys think of the book?

>>16880897
>good books
There's your problem.

What is some good horny fantasy?

>>16880928
Kushiel is alright...

>>16880908
Why are you spending your limited hours on this earth reading sanderson?

>>16880996
I’m reading machine translations
Fuck life

>Whimsy

>>16880797
Eric is not fat, he is big boned.
Also based.

>pick up ANY book of his
>always have a bunch of lengthy coomer paragraphs
>some getting awfully close to pedo bait
How does he keep getting away with it?

>>16880908
I gave up on it after 50 pages, I'm just so burned out of his writing after Oathbreaker. I might try again in the future, or I might just read the plot summary just like I did with the Wheel of Time after book 2

>>16881070
*Oathbringer kek

>>16880788
There will be one for 2020 books only sometime, when I get around to it.

>>16880847
The 2019 one was for all time rather than only 2019 only unless you are referring to something I don't know about.

>>16880996
You're on this site wasting your limited hours.

>>16881070
I can't even get through dawnshard

Give me some top tier fantasy lie the lyonese but less magical please. I already read the black company nd didn't quite like it as much.

>>16881194
Once you go Vance, you can't go back.

>>16881181
>dawnshard
Ha, I completely forgot about that one, went straight to RoW after OB. Chances are that I wouldn't be able to get through it as well

>>16881209
I, by no means think the lyonesse is the best fantasy series ever. But it's very solid and the prose is exquisite.
If I was asking for another genre defining piece like LoTR I would understand not coming up with anything, but come on.
And what is the deal with the "super edgy characters/stories" being recommended around here like black company shadow of the torturer and prince of thorns?
Being edgy does not make something good just by itself.

>>16881338
Book of the New Sun is absolutely not edgy despite the main character being a torturer.

>>16881194
Years of Rice and Salt , its mostly alternative history with a bit of spiritualist magic but its very kino.

>>16881433

Thanks I will give it a read despite the title scaring me because of that amount of chink chit I wasted my time reading.

>>16881373
I was told the same thing about prince of thorns and I had to drop it a third in because of the sheer cringe of the story.

Any books like this, /sffg/?
>>16881067

>>16881338
What would you say are the three best fantasy series ever?

>>16880822
Yes you can.

>>16880908
The first half was awfully slow, and the Venli flashbacks just terminated any momentum

>>16880908
I liked it better than Oathbringer, but I'm a worldbuildingfag with a cosmere boner.

>>16881782
Can I be huge faggot and put Beowulf and Homer's odyssey with LotR?
Personally that is the level I think LoTR had in literature and culture as a whole, and at the level it's in.

>>16881541
That's Sword & Sorcery in general. But I would specifically recommend the story Worms of the Earth. There's a female character extremely similar to those ladies in her portrayal.

Say my name.

>>16880638
Nigger

>>16882301
Hack Hackerson

>>16882301
Big Guy

>>16881481
Prince of Thorns is trash New Sun is some of the best English literature of all time.

>>16881481
Read a different Wolfe and learn to trust.

>>16881481
That's because Prince of Thorns is a shitty YA-tier edgy bullshit. Mark Lawrence is a terrible writer, unaware he'll never be funny.
Only people who read Hunger Games or Red Rising would recommend Prince of Thorns to you, i.e., tasteless neckbeards.

>>16882564
>>16882586
>>16882605
>>16881481
>.t

>>16881481
>he didn't read the entire book just to laugh at how fucking bad and tryhard the book was
weak

>>16882586
>In 1965 he writes a ghost story called “The Dead Man” and sends it out to magazines. The most prestigious, at the top of his list, is The Atlantic Monthly. The least prestigious, at the bottom, is Sir!, a nudie mag. Sir! buys the story. He gets a check for $80. This is how his professional writing career begins: in his mid-30s, as text filler in a jerkoff magazine. At this point, he’s been sending out work and having it rejected for eight years.
On impulse I searched for Gene Wolfe bios and stumbled across this. Gold.

>>16882675
You just don't get the book mate.

For those who haven't read it the prince of thorns deals with the struggles and the moral quandaries of a man who is hated by the world. How does such a character, who has not show the love he deserved, interacts with the world around him? how does he act in a world that is full of hate and hates him even when he is so young?
That is what the book is about it about the human nature. You were just filtered if you didn't like it.

whats some cyberpunk /sffg/ would recommend?

>>16882782

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

>>16882752
I was filtered by the edgy faggot with a sense of ethics straight out of 2009's /b/, who keeps whining all the time like a mall emo, quotes Plato, rapes random women, the retarded astral magical bullshit, his pretentiousness, how some 13yo overpowers veteran killers twice his size, and sets a fucking nuclear warhead by lighting a fire next to it.

It's a shit book and one of the worst things I've been memed into reading by this general. There's no shame in admitting you like shitty books. Just don't call it a good book because you related to the faggot MC because you were another edgy 16yo who probably listened too much death metal or emo music or something. The book is pure cringe.

>>16882791
Suarez is libertarian wank fiction, but if you share his tastes he's worth reading.

>>16882809
I prefer libertarian non-fiction

>>16880785
Why do you think that?

Recommend me your best / favorite space fiction; anything that has to do with spaceships, planets, etc. I looked in the MEGA and didn't see any relevant charts. So far on my reading list is The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and 2001: A Space Odyssey

>>16882952
read rama and be don with it.
space by itself is very very boring, it's thaw things in it that are interesting.

I've been having some kind of existential crisis with regards to my writing career, /lit/. I've always wanted to branch out and write a nice, long fantasy novel. I write fiction for a living, though it's seldom the sort of work I'd be proud to call my own.

But every time I see the desolate state of the publishing industry, I have to wonder: is it worth it? Who am I writing for, if I'm not willing to pander to the retarded tweens who command the market and give accolades to hacks like Sanderson and Rothfuss?

Is there hope?

>>16883023
>Sanderson
>pandering
You're so bad at basic vocabulary though.

>>16883023
Why do you give a fuck about what other people think of your work? Write what makes you happy and that you enjoy. Or at least do what you enjoy in your off time while paying the bills with garbage like every other human.

>>16883061
Sanderson isn't pandering?

>>16883074
Not so much what others think, just the looming question of whether or not there's really an audience anymore. /lit/ is such a minority of readers, and /sffg/ is a minority of a minority, the pseuds among a board bloated with pseuds.

>>16883023
Write for yourself. The best writing advice I ever heard was 'write what you want to read.' If your work just so happens to be a hit with people and you acquire some fans, then that's just a massive bonus, the heart of your writing is that you're writing for yourself.

>>16883090
Pandering requires a level of duplicity. Writing your own personal fan-fic to the applause of millions isn't so much pandering as simply existing.

>>16882782
Thin Air

>>16883103
Have you ever listened to Sanderson talk? He's absolutely a businessman first and a fiction writer second. I'm impressed with his acumen on the subject and I respect his hustle, but you would have to be retarded to think he's not writing to an audience.

>>16883125
The market is always right la, if he is making more money that means he is more successfull and therefore a better writter.

>>16883125
His audience is him. He's found his niche and his audience hasn't wavered in 10+ years. He could retire tomorrow to the ultimate harm of both the internet and many at-risk depressives, but he won't because he wants to write.
He's not pandering to anyone.

>>16883142
Anon that's the problem. The market drives writing. How many people will see a story and which stories will be valued over others. And this all happens well before the consumer even has a say.

It's very disheartening on the whole.

Nobody leverages their publisher to pad a thousand page time with this much art as a wank to the audience.

>>16883125
Untrue. He comes across as a fiction writer who has turned to business as a mode to understand the secret of appeal. That's the nut he wants to crack beyond everything

>>16882805
Based

>>16883125
Of course he would take that approach when holding a class on the subject

>>16883155
>the bastard children of colossus and an angel from kill six billion demons

ehh could be worse. fucking race of spikes that the ashspren turned out to be.

>>16882952

I can go on at some length, but here are some highlights that pop into mind immediately;

A Deepness in the Sky - Vinge
Stations of the Tide - Swanwick
The Algebraist - Iain M. Banks
Count to a Trillion - John C. Wright
The Fractal Prince - Hannu Rajaniemi

That's aside from the canon like Ender's Game, Dune, etc

>>16883300

*Oh also, the Uplift trilogy by David Brin

>>16880638
Man in the Empty Suit - Sean Ferrell (2013)

The premise of the novel is that through the usage of a time machine he created the self-proclaimed 39-year-old nameless protagonist meets up with himself at the same hotel, same time and same place, every subjective year on his birthday to celebrate himself with the many versions of himself, including those several decades older than him.
A hard sf novel tends to concern itself with exploration of its its idea and everything else serves to that end. This isn't that. Instead, this novel examines sets of emotions and behaviors that constitute Ways of Being and everything else is to that end. It's literally a struggle against the selves of the past, present, and future.
The first sentence sets the tone for the entire novel: It is unfortunate for me that I am, by most any objective measure, a genius.
While this is technically a time travel novel, the only time traveling shown is when he goes back in time by six months. Everything else is mentioned in passing.
This may be off-putting, mild narrative structure spoiler. Halfway through the novel it becomes a different story. I'm not going to write about that.
When I finished reading this, I was in a state of shock and thought, "I guess this is a 3?" because I didn't know what to think about it. After thinking over it for a while, I became angry at having spent my time reading it and decided it was definitely a 1. Had I wrote this immediately after finishing it, this would have been a rant. I instead went to sleep. Having now finished the stages of grief, I'm no longer angry at it, and I've accepted the disappointment. This is my disappointment of the year, which considering the book is rated 3.13 on GR, is quite the feat. I fell for the interesting premise, as I tend to to do and I will continue to do.
How does the time travel work, as a matter of curiosity? Full book spoilers follow. The nameless protagonist uses a time travel machine that always goes to the same timeline. As a result, he is able to meet up with himself. Due to the protagonist outright stating in the text that logical inconsistences are what allow it to happen I'm not going to dwell on the specifics. Each version of him on the same line of causality is called being tethered. When the casual chain is broken, a new causal line is created and that version becomes untethered from those on a different causal line. This is how the paradox of his multiple deaths are resolved. A version on a different causal line is functionally a different person. In the end, he becomes untethered from all other versions of himself and revels in the freedom from the regrets of the past and the expectations of the future. Although it isn't shown he states that he will destroy the time travel machine so that no others in his casual line can be created.
Rating: 1/5 (which are always for personal reasons, though may include technical ones)

>>16882952
Revelation SPACE

>>16883447

You might enjoy Chiang's, "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"

It's short fiction but comfy and well written.

>>16883585
It was ok. I like several of his other stories a lot more.

>>16883679

It's been a hot minute. I recall enjoying most of Stories of Your Life Etcetera, but which works really stand out to you? The one I recall enjoying most vividly was about the tower of babel.

I hope this doesn’t start a shitshow, but are there any books that sort of have a DeS/DaS feel about them?

>>16883726
>Book of the New Sun
>Elric of Melnibone
Just off the top of my mind.

>>16883726

In what sense exactly?

>>16883697
Babel is one I didn't like though I know a lot of others have liked it.
From the Stories of Your Life I liked: Story of Your Life, Liking What You See: A Documentary, Understand (Yes, I know what a lot of others think about it, I don't care.)

From Exhalation I liked:
Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom
Exhalation
The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feelings
What's Expected of Us

I did a "review" for Exhalation but Stories of Your Life was before I started doing reviews.

>>16883741
I usually hate the “so far in the future it becomes the past” thing, but after reading the description for Book of the New Sun it definitely has my interest. Looks like it might be hard to track down affordable copies though, seems to have gotten rare.

Elric of Melnibone sounds really good though, definitely gonna pick that one up.
>>16883744
I guess in an “atmospheric” and “fantastical” sense. That sort of mystery that looms over from a half thought out lore, and the strange creatures that inhabit a fantasy world and must be dealt with or avoided. How it is a dark fantasy, without ever being grotesque or “shocking” in nature just for the sake of shock value.

>>16883794
>Looks like it might be hard to track down affordable copies though, seems to have gotten rare.
What?

>>16881338
>black company is edgy
Nigger are you legitimately retarded? Black company can be summarized as a bunch of old mercenaries hating their job and trying not to die constantly

>>16883804
... well what the fuck. Only one that came up for me was around 50 bucks.

>>16883794
>That sort of mystery that looms over from a half thought out lore, and the strange creatures that inhabit a fantasy world and must be dealt with or avoided. How it is a dark fantasy, without ever being grotesque or “shocking” in nature just for the sake of shock value.


I hesitate to describe Malazans as Souls-like, but it fits this description pretty well.

>>16883970
I like the synopsis, and the covers definitely catch the eye. I saw there were 10 books in the main series and several prequel/spin-offs.

Is it all worth reading or is there sort of a stopping point where the quality drops off?

>>16884042
By far the worst book in the main series is the first one, Gardens of the Moon. Its intentionally obtuse, and Erikson wrote it years before the rest of the series so its style and the plot points it emphasizes are completely different from the rest of the series. The series only gets better with each book, I would definitely power through the first book unless you absolutely hate it.


I havent read any of the spin offs.

>>16884100
Awesome, I appreciate the heads up. I’ll probably grab the first 2 and see how I’m digging them by the end of the second book, then go from there if it’s holding my interest.

B

recommend me fantasy books about manly men doing manly things (no fags)

>>16884428
>recommend me fantasy books about manly men doing manly things
Kings of the Wyld is pretty go-
>(no fags)
oh

>>16884415
A

>>16880694
A very comfy read. One of my first novels.

I'm reading TUC and just got up to the bit with the nonman laser sniper

this is so fucking epic lol

>finally at part 3
I feel this will be the real slog with the assault on Emul I don't care about, focusing back on whatever will go on with the honorspren in Shadesmar and SHALLAN's retarded ass, and Navani being dumb for the sake of plot--all without the comfiness of Kaladin casually inventing psychology.

>>16884605
K

>>16883155
>Always imagined the Parsh as humanoids with actual carapace-like armor coming out of them
>turns out they're just generic ass fantasy race #23242 but with a hundred thousand words worth of explaining why they're actually not generic at all

>>16884966
Those are literally Klingons.

>>16880908
Not his worst work - Elantris is still a 2/3 borefest that felt like a slog.
But RoW is among the worst in the cosmere. Shallan's resolution was a joke, Kaladin's was an asspull. Adolin's was fine but then again he's always the 'fine' character. Navani was great, too.
But then Venli. She was 'fine'. Her flashbacks were shit, though I enjoyed Eshonai's side of things. Problem is this was supposed to be, well, her book, but she gets fucking NOWHERE save for being like "I'm not AS shitty as before."
And then Dalinar, which was there. Not great, not bad, just... there. Then of course the Jasnah/Hoid romance that came out of nowhere CLEARLY just to shut up those who still theorized Jasnah was gay, but it added NOTHING to the plot and was about just the most out of nowhere romance Brandon has ever done, and he's done some pretty big ones before.

Idk man, if I weren't a Cosmerefag I'd probably stop reading.

>>16884633
The assault is fairly short and anticlimactic, and Navani literally can't stall forever. It gets better, especially the Adolin arc.

Alastair Reynolds is writing a new Revelation Space novel
How does this make you feel?

>>16885051
I still haven't read galactic north or any of the prequels.

Reading through these Malazan books, not bad. Usually only stick to sci fi but decided to dip into either wheel of time or Malazan and glad I went with Malazan so far

>>16885125
If you have the attention span, Malazan is weeks worth of well written fantasy that lends itself so well to re-reads. The first book reaches a new level when you have context for what's happening.

I started reading Mirrorshades: the cyberpunk anthology. First story was The Gernsback Continuum. Gibson telegraphed his most recent novel, the one about it being her turn, from the very beginning of his career. I still liked it though, the views given on UFO encounters were pretty interesting.

>>16881541
Wyrd Sisters

>>16884428
Monstrous Regiment

>>16880638
I've heard The Belgariad is pretty generic. Was anon just overreacting?

>>16883339
>mfw gorilla warfare

>>16883726
>>16883794
Glen Cook might be what you want. The Black Company series is a soldiers-eye view of serving in a evil sorceress' army and gradually goes other, weirder places. the Dread Empire series is older and more high fantasy in feel but still has a lot of similar themes. Darkwar is almost never talked about but is about a barbarian on a planet of cat people becoming a kinda-evil sorceress and then traveling through space.

The Malazan series was also heavily inspired by the Black Company books.

>>16883155
You gotta admit, some of this art is fucking sick.

>>16885396
No, it really is.

>>16885396
>I've heard The Belgariad is pretty generic.

It is, but the idea was to write a generic fantasy story except one where characters would be well written. Kind of mindblowing what a difference it can make.

>>16885396
No it is incredibly generic, it was specifically written to rip off Tolkien to make money.

Also David Eddings and his wife were child abusers.

>>16885431
based

>>16885413
The thing that annoyed me the most was having one entire order completely missing for the whole run of the series, only to have them appear totally unremarked upon in the fourth book. Having pictures of all 10 sapient spren makes up for that though.

>>16885445
On what?

Recommend me some new-ish (2015-2020) SF stuff. Preferably something edgy, like The Library at Mount Char.

>>16884669
K

>>16880638
No fucks for E William Brown.... Yet...

Is there such a thing as left and right wing sci-fi?
Would 40k be seen as conservative and star was as leftist?

>>16886185
The Vorkosigan Saga is basically left wing vs right wing sci-fi as a plot.
>One side is a consumerist dystopia that pioneers technological advancement because of a complete lack of scruples, morals or regulation with constant jokes about how literally nobody actually voted for the head of their government
>The other side is a space monarchy prone to stuffiness but all in all extremely competent with by far the most functional military in the setting, even having a joke about that being because it's the only all male military.

>>16886185
No. How is 40k conservative? It depicts a horrible dystopia.

kelmomas just wanted to have a chuckle, Esmenet should have got him some lego or something to occupy his time.

>>16886208
t. retard, it used to be le ebin satire but now it's more played straight and the imperium is depicted as a nessecery evil

>>16886251
O-okay please don't call me a retard anymore I'm sorry I got it wrong

>>16886204
Aren't both of those right wing?
Thinking left is hippie country no tech allowed.

>>16886279
yeah sorry

>>16886290
No, the former is basically a liberal utopia with undercurrents of corruption caused by the completely unchecked hedonism. I'm talking kids sent on tours of tranny communes where they're all hermaphodites by choice.

>>16885051
meh
still waiting for Prefect 3

What do you guys think of characters having super natural powers in the modern world? just asking for your personal opinions.

>>16886437
Yeah, it's fine.
As long as it's not some dumb power level shit; I'm pretty okay with supernatural powers.
Dresden Files is toeing the line, but fun.

>>16886437
I love JoJo, so of course I think it's fine.

>>16886437
pretty kino innit. A really cool power would be the ability to send someone to hell for a few hours that they experience tho in the real world it's like a second. Either showing the victims their fate and offering the solution or lying to those not bound for hell and doing the same

could easily

>>16883120
I thought Altered Carbon was pretty good, but only made it a few chapters into Broken Angels, is Morgan’s other stuff worth looking at?

Can anyone help me?
Trying to find a book or maybe a series?
Not sure if its full on science fiction but it was about a group of school kids that go to a research facility that had dragonflies in the different stages of its life cycle. The dragonflies escape and start swarming/killing/eating the various staff and students.
The reason I say it could be a series is because I remember the back flap had other books depicting various creepy crawlies turned overly dangerous.
My google-fu skills yielded no results.

>Where you fall as fodder, I descend as hunger

Small brained ADHD fag here, how much of Black Company do I need to be able to remember to read black company 2?

>>16866230
ok, I started the book. And only in chapter 1, so much has happened. Things are happening at a break neck speed. But it does have this bizarre "Tails Gets Trolled" quality to it that is humorous. I'm not sure if it's intending to be humorous, but it is so far.

>>16878814
What? No they didn't. It literally took centuries for technology to advance enough to even face the shrike. They had to learn how to manipulate time to do it, and then reach back in time to find some hero to help in the fight. And even he died in the war.

>>16886875
hm well I didn't read Endymion, all I saw was the Shrike dying randomly at the end of Fall of Hyperion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_Hyperion_(novel)#Conclusion
> On Hyperion, Lamia frees Silenus and destroys the Shrike through an unknown power

Why did Jennifer Diane Reitz's works ape Christianity in an equal ratio to how much they derided the belief the system?

Quick!
Rate each of the Wheel of Time books outta 10.

>>16887107
Eye of the World: 6/10. I found it derivative and lacking a unique voice but it had enough likable characters and solid fantasy schlock that I read through it
The Great Hunt: 8/10. A very good book and I am glad I stuck it through Eye of the World.
The Dragon Reborn: I'm not done yet/10

>>16887041
I wasn't talking about Endymion. At the end of Fall, Kassad is pulled to the far future. Where everyone is fitted with super advanced suits. Presumably the same suit that he was gifted with, that allows the manipulation of entropy fields. Essentially giving them the ability to move as "fast" as the Shrike do.

I can't say I know how Lamia managed to destroy the Shrike. But I think it has something to do with being pregnant with her special child. It's only vaguely explained at the very end. But Brawne's child is like this messiah. And Brawne is like this weird virgin Mary type figure. The shrike use the tree to broadcast human suffering, because that is what attracts empathy. And by controlling empathy, they can control time.

ok, that last sentence is probably half wrong. But it works something like that. The child is basically some kind of connection to empathy. And so through the baby, Brawne was able to manipulate the entropy around the Shrike, causing it to be displaced in time, thus dematerializing and becoming like glass. Or at least that's how I understood things. You'd have to fact check me.

>>16885531
Who, the Willshapers?

>>16886849
I don't remember.

>Incarnations of Immortality
or
>Dresden Files

which series should I start next?

>>16887267
Dresden Files. Whether or not you like the first few books you should know that this is a series you will love.

>>16887276
Ty.
My copy comes with 'Restoration of Faith' at the start of 'Storm Front'.
Should I read it first, or should I save it until release order?

>>16887288
Just read it now.

>>16887221
Stonewards, willshapers got some minor time with Venli and Timbre in OB.

>>16887381
Stonewards don't need anyone else when they have turbochad Taln representing them.

>>16887381
Big D Back In Roshar Taln will be a major viewpoint in the 5 last books tho.

>>16880788
There is

>>16887867
>sanderson creeping in

>>16887867
>top of the list says "book"
>actual list includes entire series as single entries
The fact is that I don't understand it

>>16887867
damn, lotr was written this year?

>>16887899
>he doesn't know Tolkien was a time traveller

>>16887904
It explains how the orcs knew what a menu was

>>16887867
> stormshit archive rated over bakker
this is why /sffg/ is a joke

>>16887924
>quoting the movies
back to tv with you

>>16887936
Do we even have the traditional "sanderhack a shit" post anymore?

>>16887867
>Stories of your Life and Others
I am surprised. Also, it saddens me how modern book covers are either abstract pictures or badly photoshopped people posing heroically.

>>16887867
Bad, not representative, and poorly done.

>>16881059
His obsession with Jewish people, specifically Zionists, and how they are more special than any other group of people is weirder to me.

>>16880788

>>16888487
Blindsight is great; Echopraxia is mediocre.

>>16888512
Echopraxia > Blindsight

>>16888539
I don't know how you could possibly think that.

>>16888561
Clearly.

How's the illustrated edition of Lord of the Rings with Alan Lee doing the illustrations? Are they any good?

Anyone read the "Red Rising" or whatever the fuck it's called series by Pierce Brown? I read the first one a couple years ago, thought it was decent but it felt a bit YA towards the end so I stopped there. Friend of mine is trying to get me to read the rest, gib unbiased feedback pls

Thoughts?

Any of you autists remember which stream it was that some absolute madlad got brandoom sanderstorm to wish "Nick Ger" a happy birthday?

>>16888787
I'm pissed at how much potential this had.
First novel is great. The plot and MC are a bit cliché but the setting is amazing and it's very well written.
The second novel is a terrible mess, the plot almost non existent, the writing missing the mark 9 times out of ten, it's less polished as if he tried to recreate the style and lyricism of the first mechanically, and obviously failed. Extremely disappointing.
The third echoes the themes in the 2nd part, except the source of it all is internal. It reads like something completely disconnected from Pastel City.
The fourth is barely okay (it's a short stories collection).

>>16880646
This Discord is run by a pedophile.

You should check out Chateau Cascade. One of the best indie fantasy novels I've ever read!

>>16889137
What's it about?

>>16889120
That's based though, if you want to keep people off discord like you should say it's run by a tranny or something.

>>16889138
Hero's journey with a lot of WoRlDbUiLdInG but not so much that it becomes tiresome to read. Very comfy.

>>16889137
>>16889138
>Idealistic and full of hope, Jak Barnswallow grows weary of wasting his youth on his father's farm. He wants to make a difference in the world. He wants to be a hero.

>Welcome to Genesis, a continent on the brink of a genocidal war. Two powerful nations stand at each others' throats, both with rigid ideologies that demand the annihilation of the other. In the middle stands beautiful Chateau Cascade, the castle on the waterfall. Young Jak dreams of the Chateau and of becoming one of its glorious Cascadian Knights, the keepers of this world's peace.

>Times are changing for Jak and for Genesis. When he is thrust into the midst of a conflict that looms large over the entire world, he must decide for himself what kind of man he truly wants to be. Unlikely and decidedly unideal companions join him on this dangerous adventure, teaching him that sometimes a hero is not what you might expect or want it to be.

>Above his struggle, the mysterious Lady Acelia, queen of the Chateau, watches, waits, and machinates. All will serve as pawns in her schemes.
Sounds dull and bland as fuck.

>>16888839
that is epic, anybody got the screencap?

>>16889137
Good luck. /sffg/ doesn't tend to touch anything beyond the same ~20 'AAA' authors' works. I've been trying to get the thread to read certain sff titles for years, to no avail.

>>16889169
>mfw this poster only reads brandon sanderdumb

>>16889137
Is the janny going to need to go on another deletion spree?

>>16889238
No, I don't. I never read Sanderson in my life.

>>16889245
You should.
He's pretty good.

>>16889234
Maybe it's your fault if you cant get across why theyre good.

>>16887970
Every thread, anon. Every thread.

>>16888687
It's YA, definitely, but on the better side of it. I've only read the first 2 books 'cause I've no money and I like owning physical books, but they're fun. Not a masterpiece but if you could ever enjoy a YA series it's probably this one.

>>16889238
Or it could be your book is shit and no one thinks about you when you're not here shilling your own crap.

>>16887970
sanderhack is a /v/ crossboarder -- as evidenced by the recent /v/ fantasy book thread -- which explains quite much.

Is the time machine hard to read?

>>16889643
Read the words from left to right, top to bottom. When you get to the bottom of the page, go to the next one.

Why are we getting all these newfags asking for non rape books? Don't they know sffg was founded on the GRI principle?

>>16889584
>book is shit
I'm not the guy that you're replying to. I've read that book and I think it's great. Maybe you are the one that is shit?

>>16886849
What kind of a stupid question is this? It's not Black Company is a complicated book or anything. Just remember Darling and Raven.

>>16880908
I really liked it. Maybe my favorite in the series so far, I got genuinely emotional during the climaxes of adolins trial and kaladins big moment.

>>16885396
It's YA Tolkien-lite but it's comfy

>>16890059
Top 5 Moments
>Taravangian toppling god as a stupid dribbling retard
>Kaladin beheading the Pursuer with the garbage lashing while being power suppressed
>Jasnah setting an entire battlefield on fire
>Ishar dominating everyone and being "just OK" as far as fighting heralds go, oh PS, apparently he's not supposed to have the honorblade he just used to almost kidnap a whole Stormfather
>Honor is not dead so long as he lives in the hearts of men and we chose, just the whole trial sequence
Easily my favorite stormlight so far, but I'm also a huge cosmere lorefag, the whole book was worth Navani/Raboniel arc.

>>16885396
It's aggressively bland. There are stupider and less skilled works out there but this one's standout feature is its studied lifelessness. Avoid like poison, because it is.

>>16885194
400 Boys was my favorite story

>>16890180
It really felt like Kaladin let us down last book, and it really feels like he made it up to us this time. The stuff with him pioneering mental health and PTSD treatment was one of my favorite minor parts of the book. And yeah, Navani really made this one, she was just kinda neat as a character before and it was great getting to see her make progress both as a person and pushing the setting forward in a meaningful way.

Thoughts on Snow Crash?

>>16890509
Stephenson is either for you or he isn't. He is himself in every book. I like him, I don't really understand why others don't but at this point I just accept it.

>>16880638
Why is SF/F the punching bag of literature everywhere? It has infinite storytelling potential.

>>16886652
Between a friend and I Broken Angels is our favorite book of the three Kovacs stories. It helps that I read it right after Count Zero so I saw the homage to Gibson in the voodoo mysticism parts. Thin Air was a fun cyberpunk Mars corporate and political snafu romp, and The Steel Remains was an interesting take on twisting fantasy tropes. Making them squeal but not to the breaking point. The latter two books in A Land Fit for Heroes were a bit weaker and people were quite disappointed in how the series ended but I was fine with it. Haven't read Black Man or Market Crash.

>>16890509
I enjoyed it as a teenager which means I jerked off to the scene where raven ducks a hypodermic needle into his dick. Multiple times.

Has Sanderson's dialogue gotten progressively lazier? It used to fit the somewhat medieval worlds he was crafting, but now they are so fucking modern sounding it's very off-putting.
Or did he always have mediocre dialogue, and it is only now that I realize it?

>>16890801
probably the latter. I got like 5 books into The Expanse and suddenly realized half way though the 6th that I couldn't stand reading about another shitty space battle.

On a related note, what is the best way for authors to approach the problem of main characters ALWAYS getting into the action. In this action they ALWAYS survive and are ALWAYS at the crux of the battle? It makes sense for a single book but when it happens 6 books in a row it starts to feel fucking retarded.

>>16890509

It maybe hasn't aged very well but it's fun enough and certainly a credible early publication from an author in a genre that is full of shitty early publications.

>>16890643
because trying to predict the future is impossible, and no one wants to read about philosophical questions about the future, they want ebic space ship batltes

>>16888512
>>16888539
>>16888487

I also prefer Echopraxia to Blindsight.
Blindsight is a bad first contact novel with some novel science and ideas.
Echopraxia is a good road trip novel with some novel science and ideas.

>>16890844
For books by Dan Abnett when he writes for 40k there's a pivot towards the action becoming more a setpiece than a means for plot progression. I.E. no longer focusing on the possible consequences, but rather how "cool" the action is.
So basically an author getting his literary dick out and flashing his descriptive ability.

I’ve asked a couple of times but haven’t got much in the way of answers.

Are there any particularly good /m/ related books? Also, if there’s anything quite like Kamen Rider, Garo, or Guyver I’d be really into that as well. I know there are the Kamen Rider light novels which are supposed to be really good, but of course, none are translated.

>>16890801
I think he has leaned more heavily into his "my dialogue is a translation into modern english, not actually a transliteration of what people would really say" since the beginning, but it's always been present to some degree. Particularly if he's not singling a character out for a noticeable accent.

Greta Thunberg is the reason I work out. I have this fantasy where we start talking at the UN climate summit after party. We exchange a few pleasantries. She asks what I do. I say I loved her on CNN She laughs. I get my drink.
"Well, see ya," I say and walk away. I've got her attention now. How many guys voluntarily leave a conversation with Greta Thunberg? She touches her neck as she watches me leave.
Later, as the night's dragged on and the coterie of gorgeous narcissists grows increasingly loose, she finds me on the balcony, my bowtie undone, smoking a cigarette.
"Got a spare?" she asks.
"What's in it for me?" I say as I hand her one of my little white ladies. She smiles.
"Conversation with me, duh."
I laugh.
"What's so funny?" she protests.
"Nothing, nothing... It's just... don't you grow tired of the egos?"
"You get used to it," she says, lighting her cigarette and handing me back the lighter.
"What would you do if you weren't a climate change activist?" I ask.
"Teaching, I think."
"And if I was your student, what would I be learning?"
"Discipline," she says quickly, looking up into my eyes, before changing the subject. "Where are you from?"
"Mexico" I say.
"Oh wow. That's lovely."
"It's OK," I admit. "Not everything is to my liking."
"What could possibly be not to your liking in Mexico?" she inquires.
"I don't like sand," I tell her. "It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

>>16890975

There's nothing. Maybe you should write something. Be the Cormac McCarthy of mecha instead of Westerns.

>>16889689
Fucking kek

>>16891009

literally who

>>16890509
the first time i read it, i absolutely loved it. it sort of served as the catalyst for me exploring a ton of sf/f when i was younger. but i recently took another crack at it, and in my mind a lot of it just reads like a teenager trying to show you how cool and smart he is, pretending not to take himself seriously even though he totally does. all that being said, i will always have a fondness for it, and it's definitely enjoyable

>>16889643
only if it's a translation in a language you don't speak

>>16890857
but what makes that any different from making shit up about the present or the past, like the bible?

>>16889137
fuck off shill

>>16887867
the whole listing just the last names thing is cringe

>>16891126

>>16891331
>reeee stop liking things I don't like!!!!!!!!!!

>>16891371
you are obviously the author lol

>>16891371
why don't you spend this time improving your craft instead of trying to shill people into pretending they like you

>>16891126
because you have information about that time to base your book on. Who knows what the philosophy or technology of the future will look like, so it's impossible to write about it.

Well perhaps a few people could do it, but they'd have to be very insightful

>>16891378
>>16891401
I'm neither the author nor the person you replied to in the first place, spergo

>>16891409
Then why are you defending this homo

>>16891421
Because I like the book and I dislike annoying spergs like you. It's okay for people to like things you don't like.

Ender's Game is really good. Don't let any faggots tell you not to read it because the author might be "homophobic."

>>16881338
Book of the new sun is great. It made me think of a Singh film or final fantasy.

N E U R O M A N C E R

>>16891448
I enjoyed Ender's game when I read it in elementary school.

>Decide to buy the Lyonnese series
>The copies that are available have covers that look literal deviantart tier
What the fuck

>>16891498
NEURO FOR THE BRAIN.
ROMANCER.
NECROMANCER. I CALL UP THE DEAD.

I'm creating a subversive humanoid fantasy race that almost look 100% human, but of course they're not actually humans. What is a good name for this race? They control the banks and the newspapers in my setting and they push for mass immigration.

>>16891687
WASPs?

>>16890509
Fun, still held up on my reread this year. I don't get how people think he's being edgy instead of satirical like the whole pizza delivery thing at the beginning is not supposed to be srs bsns.

>>16891498
What about the rest of the Sprawl trilogy? Are they worth the read?

>>16891498
N E U R O P A T H

>>16891687
Too subtle, no one will get the message.
>>16891708
Kek

>>16891783
What do you mean? Please recommend a good name.

I'm thinking about something starting with j, like joosians. But that sounds a bit too Korean and they don't look like Koreans.

>>16891708
No, doesn't sound right to me.

>>16891009
kek

>>16891783
>that
>subtle
You people really are the scuttling vermin of this particular Nepalese yak milking forum.

>>16890801
All of Brandon's books have in-world languages that are technically just being translated for the reader's sake, so translating with anything but modern english would be irrelevant.

>>16885533
On Tolkien, obviously.

>>16885533
These nuts

BRANDUNK SANDERSLAM

>>16891687
Hebes.

The scene with Wit and Ruthar was quite, for lack of a better term, cringeworthy.

NO SOBBERS
NO LIMPERS

>>16892294

CURSE LIKARO

>>16882694
You got to start somewhere. My first work was published for around the same price. Though, not for a nudie mag. Your 30's tend to be when you start getting published if you're a man it seems. You spend your 20's getting gud

/sffg/, am I making a mistake from taking a break from writing? I don't feel the words calling to me anymore but I'm terrified if I stop I'll never hear them again and never come back to it

Slog of slogs, boys!

>>16892794
Creativity isn't a limited resource. It's a cycle that requires fuel. I've the course of my life several times I have felt that I have used every single bit of inspiration and creativity that this world had given me, and often I felt that it would never return. It did, eventually, and not always quickly, but it returned nonetheless, anon.

>>16892797
Should've of have had put it on the cover

Are there any sci fi books like Game of Thrones?

>>16887107
I finished the series today.

New spring: 5/10, a nice view to things, where the story really started. Would not miss much if you skip this one.

Eye of the world: 6/10, important book in the series, but kind of a slog to read trough.

The Great Hunt: 9/10, I really liked how the journey went into second gear, and some of the best characters in the series were introduced.

The Dragon Reborn: 7/10, Quite nice action scenes and a look into the White Towers workings. Climax of this book was worth the read.

The Shadow Rising: 9/10, one of my favourites. Plotlines split and different groups were enjoyable to follow. Rhuidean was one of my favourite scenes in the series.

The Fires of Heaven: 6/10, this one did not have alot of good scenes, and quite much of worldbuilding. Was kind of a slog.

Lord of Chaos: 10/10, this one was very good. Big advancements in powers and very nice twists. Battle at Dumais Wells was pure kino. My favourite ending of any book in the series.

A Crown of Swords: 6/10, was also kind of a slog to read trough. Not many exiting scenes and previous book had left me in high hopes.

The Path of Daggers: 8/10, I loved Perrin in this one, made me like the character so much more. Battles grow bigger, plans made grander and ending left me stunned. A great book.

Winter's Heart: 9/10, great chapters all around, strong beginning and very strong ending to this one. Intertwining with the next book raised my rating.

Crossroads of Twilight: 8/10, good twists and turns all around. Characters go desperate, and emotional. Quite alot of political business in this one.

Knife of Dreams: 9/10, I enjoyed the last pure Jordan book very much. It was very intensenand had alot of good scenes. Egwene was so good when held in the tower.

Now the last three books that Sandersson finished, had a few strong points, but the overall feel was toned down. It was not as gritty and sad, and not as cruel as I hoped it would be.

The Gathering Storm: 6/10, ending 10/10

Towers of Midnight: 6/10

A Memory of Light: 7/10, last battle was pure kino 10/10

Currently rereading the series in my native language. It was quite the ride and I am interested, how the tv series will turn out.

>>16891777
C-checked

>>16892794
go read some books on writing

>>16891591
I literally just bought Lyonesse with the good covers on Amazon. Look under mass market paperback.

>>16892841
Iain Banks' Culture books

>Stormlight Archives
>The Poppy War
>The Rage of Dragons
What else do I add to this list?

>>16892918
A crown for cold silver
The ruin of kings

>>16886875
Halfway through the book, and so far every chapter has a casual threat of rape. Very bizarre. Apparently wizards are just walking around rapping all the time.

Why isn't Canada-man writing more Blindopraxia?

>>16893054
Speaking of Canadians, where's my next Malazan book?

>>16882514
For you

>>16883023
When has Sanderson ever been a hack? He still writes some pretty good stories.

>>16892856
>Currently rereading the series
You're a brave man.

>>16892918
prince of thorns

>>16893111
I read it aloud to my wife.
The last three books have not been translated to Finnish.

>>16893159
How parched does your throat get veikkoseni?

>>16893182
As parched as the Aiel waste.
The books have been split into two/three. So there are 25 books, instead of 12. It will take a few years, but it will be worth it.

>>16893223
Yeah, I recall reading the split volumes up until the 7th or 8th before deciding I'd rather read them in English so I started again from the beginning like a good boy

>>16893231
Good for you.
I have gotten more joy out of the series than any vidya or movie in the last 15 years. A long journey, but worth it.

>>16892918
Red Rising

why do roasties love Proyas? he was the favorite character of my two ex's

>>16892291
Why's that so?

>>16893435
He is righteous and has integrity.

>>16891858
I was being sarcastic anon, it's obvious what he was driving at.

>>16889643
it's one of the easiest and shortest good books that isn't YA in existence.

>>16891009
a modern masterpiece

any books about machines going to war with humans?

>>16891364
this is supposed to offend me how exactly?


also, it's not atheist to reject the bible as historical fact in favor of parables and poetry aimed to instill a deeper sense of the knowledge contained within't. most genuinely faithful christian theologians, scholars, and even priests will tell you the same thing, unless they're fundamentalist retards. also i am pretty much atheist, but i appreciate the actual scholarly/literary analysis of biblical texts (save for the book of revelation, the canonization of which was a mistake)

>>16892856
i got to dragon reborn and gave up because everybody just mistrusts everybody else and everything would be solved if people just fucking talked to each other. i'm still gonna get back to it eventually, but i'd appreciate a nudge in that direction to be honest

>>16891364
I'd hit it

>>16893888
There can be no proper communication where women are concerned. Women will not speak directly to men, nor will they listen to what men have to say. This is one of WoT's redpills.

Anyone here read this? I remember reading this a couple of years ago and it was incredibly right about many things happening in the future. It took very long to read though so I consider rereading (or relistening) it as an audiobook.
What are your thoughts?

>>16891364
Pretty damn hot, ngl

Got back to sf after a couple years hiatus. How the fuck is this genre now so colonized every book is chock fucking full of "LGBT representation"? What the fuck everything I pick up has gays in it and the antagonists are le right wing

>>16893928
hasn't scifi been dead as a genre for ages? it was only a thing because of optimism for the future we had in the past, fantasy has overtaken it now

>>16893928
Because modern society is clearly moving towards a more accepting way of life. Given this path, the future is bound to be full of LGBT openness.
Get used to it.

>>16891774
I like Count Zero but most people don't, and thought Mona Lisa Overdrive was good too. I like the part where someone says the gamer word.

>>16893888
>>16893907
Women will not speak properly to eachother even.
The series main characters are all male, so it felt. And Sandersson butchered the little amount of charm that few of the women had.

Read atleast to the Path of Daggers.

>>16894024
>so it felt
It felt?

>>16892856
>I am interested how the tv series will turn ou
I'm sure it will be 'pozzitive'

>>16894110
God damned I fucking hate this place

https://tapas.io/episode/1262767
What do the Jew runes surrounding the Eye Of Providence mean?

>>16894143
Haven't you seen the casting?

>>16891364
Fuck..... I'd hit it.

>>16894183
Really hate it. I wish i wasn't stuck here, I hate all of you. It's like a prison for my soul.

>>16894163
>reeeeeeee why isn't literally everyone white reeeeeeeee

>>16894163
Casting confuses me.
Aiel are bronze skinned. The desert people. It is just confusing.

>>16894203
>being a darkfriend

>>16894200
I'm a sexually frustrated virgin who is attracted to women. If it dresses up and looks female enough I would fuck it.

I read tomgirls and gri books for Christ sake.

>>16894163
GoT had diversity while still being true to the source material. Would that be impossible with WoT?

Get to work thread slave.
Hook us up with a fresh brew.

>>16894200
>2020
>still heterosexual
Get on with the times, old man.

>>16894267
>homo sex will soon be made mandatory by the goverment
>everyone is going of luse their culture and becmoe a brown blob made to serve the elite
God dammit the forever war hit the nail on the head.

>>16894237
My ideal casting would have everyone from Emmond's Field be black/brown, to make it obvious how retarded they all are for thinking Rand is a native.

how exactly does this weapon work?

>>16894411
he can strangle niggas, he also uses a knife

>Start of the book
"I had never seen Tams sword, I didn't even know he had one."
>Throughout the book
"I used to see Tam with his sword all the fucking time!"

Is Rand a retard? or did Robert Jordan fuck up?

>>16894458
see
>>16894335
>to make it obvious how retarded they all are

>>16894546
>>16894546
>>16894546

>>16893463
Meh.

>>16894554
I don't see how that's cringeworthy. They're just insulting him, and Wit is probably using emotional allomancy to make Ruthar fall into the obvious trap.

>>16894575
>Wit is probably using emotional allomancy to make Ruthar fall into the obvious trap
I don't think he needed to but I did not consider that.
I think it comes from Brandon (ironically) being unable to write witty scenes most the time. This comes across as too tryhard.
I really wonder how strong the atheist pussy is for Wit to follow her everywhere, though.

>>16894587
I actually find brandon's witty scenes quite charming. That wasn't really meant to be so witty as just outright insulting, as you can see the comments becoming incresaingly crude. not a masterpiece of a scene, but again, not particularly cringeworthy either.

What self-published /sffg/ is worth reading? I hear Will Wight and Jonathan French being talked about from time to time.

Which books have best alien planets

>>16894597
>just outright insulting, as you can see the comments becoming incresaingly crude
I agree with ya here
I'm sure there are worse examples. It was one of the last scenes to stick out to me before I fell asleep.

I'm gonna read it, and I already know I will regret this

>>16894674
No you won't, anything with kaladin is kino