/lit/ - Literature

>>17646010
>Eldritch Woman edition
please don't remind me of my ex

>>17646010
Any novels that depict a eldritch woman falling in love with a regular person and pretty much being unintentionally abusive towards their love interest?

>going back through notebook of ideas
>find one where where a milf vampire is seducing and turning the son of her gardener and has to be stopped
>can't write it now because everyone will think I'm just ripping off/trying to cash in on the new resident evil
:(

/sffg/, I'm about half way through unsong. I think I might use this as some inspiration for that jewish fantasy setting I was never going to do anything with. the setting's god is Rahab though, so I might change the "Names of God" to "Names of the Fathomless"

>>17646130
The Library at Mount Char might be what you're looking for.

I just finished picture related, loved it. it was cheesy and action packed. anything similar ?

>>17646010
We need more eldritch horror fantasy.

>>17646274
>We need more of one of the most common cliches in fantasy

>>17646130
There is a short story you might like: How to Meet Girls at Parties.

>>17646279
No I mean fantasy with eldritch horrors, not eldritch horror works.
I want the farm boy to be a chosen one but not by fate.

>>17646274
>>17646199
>>17646041
We need more Spongebob based lovecraftian horror.

>>17646293
>We need more of one of the most common cliches in fantasy

What you're describing isn't remotely uncommon. Basically every new fantasy series has at least one token eldritch antagonist varying between classical fae to totally not lovecraft.

>>17646293
we need less name fags, also retarded idea, why do we need a farm boy or chosen one at all?

>>17646293
>I want the farm boy to be a chosen one but not by fate.
This suddenly made me think of The Easily Defeated Hero's Monster Girl Adventure.

>>17646293
>fantasy with eldritch horrors
Oh you mean like the No-God of course

>>17646296
imsorryjon

>>17646304
yeah desu I'm getting annoyed by the dark souls-y blood/cult/eldritch monster things

>>17646333
honestly, what I want to see are more unique takes on the chosen one.

Un Lun Dun had a good one. The main villain gets the chosen one hit by a car, so he's completely unprepared when her sidekick ends up doing her job

between you and me though, the version I really want to see is a story where the main character has a prophecy about them but rather than try to defy it or blindly accept it their whole goal is controlling the context of the prophecy.

>The prophecy says I'll die on the fields of trenzalor? That sounds like a perfect place to fake my own death
>The dark lord will never die? Hope you like being sucked into a black hole fuckbutter!

>>17646272
Heroes Die.

>>17646419
>the version I really want to see is a story where the main character has a prophecy about them but rather than try to defy it or blindly accept it their whole goal is controlling the context of the prophecy.
That's literally the entire point of the Wheel of Time series. In fact both those things you listed in greentext actually happen almost exactly as you phrased them.

>>17646716
>Heroes Die.
Thanks, starting it tomorrow

>>17646130
För gudinnan (not shure about the english title) by anders fager

The priest replied, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one." David said, "There is none like it; give it to me."

>>17647288
>reading the old testament as if it was an ultraviolent and grimdark fantasy novel
based

>>17646010
>anime
>”eldritch woman”
>”never going to happen”

Shit thread once again.
>>>/a/
>>>/d/

>>17646010
What is you guy's opinion on LitRPG/Progressional fantasy styled books? For the unaware, these books are basically character driven power fantasy stories that follow the story an individual going from the very bottom of society as a leper, all the way to the top of it as a legendary godlike figure; this is usually achieved through intense training and nonstop life or death fights as they search for the pinnacle of what it means to be strong.
There will usually be numbers, ranks, or some other quantifiable way for you to measure the protagonist as they gradually become stronger. These numbers are also used to wank the protagonist as they'll usually break the established system repeatedly by beating opponents when it should be physically impossible.
Some examples of this genre would be Cradle, any Wuxia, Xuanhuan, or Xianxia, the Stormlight Archives, Worm, and the Lightbringer series.
With all of this in mind, what is your opinion on this subgenre of fantasy; do you enjoy it?

>>17647298
>David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

>>17647306
they are objectively LCD trash but can be ok as a turn off your brain thing.

>as they'll usually break the established system repeatedly by beating opponents when it should be physically impossible.

that doesn't even happen, it's usually not impossible for someone to fight up a tier or two just vary rare and they always have past experience or the perfect abilities to make it happen and planning and traps and psycological warfare etc.

One thing that those books usually do well is have good fight scenes with lots of tactics though.

>>17647306
Sounds like the bad kind of gay, stuff for autistic shut-in blobs raised with way too much internet and anime

>>17647381
pretty much

>>17646296
Based and bobpilled

is there any in universe/official name for the mutilated/ dunsult

Overlook and Orbit - I'm still baffled why they didn't use any of GRRM's recommendations of the first trilogy as cover quotes

>>17647732
the mutilated

What is the best site to download audio books from?

This book is comfy.

>>17647818
ABB

>>17647828
And what does abb stand for?

>>17647306
Story progress is easy to notice because every chapter comes up with bigger numbers and bigger text boxes. That's about it for litrpgs.

As for gamelit, If you want a professional example, read something like Line of Delirium, based on Master of Orion game universe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_the_Five_Gods

so this won a hugo? never heard of it lol

>>17647845
Curse of Chalion and the Penric series are mentioned here semi-regularly.

>>17647813
I don't think that's ever used in the text though

Let's settle it once and for all. TOP3 best writers in sffg?

>>17647874
Pringles
Pringles again
Jackie Chan

>>17647875
Not even remotely funny.

The world of Earwa is horrifyingly, terrifyingly misogynistic. The men see women only as dumb sexual objects created to pleasure men. And the world is a horrifying, impossibly bleak, impossibly violent place. There’s no space for love, for happiness, for peace. The erasure of women in Eawa leaves the men damaged, trapped in their own violence, unable to find anything beyond violence. Because it is a place of misogyny, Eawa is a place of sterility and death. The men are trapped in their toxicity. They can only rape and murder. They cannot love. And that’s the point. The shining blue-eyed blond-haired saviour hero … is a toxic terrifying emotionally empty fascist.”

>>17647880
I know you posted this to troll the heckin libtarderinos but it's actually true and I believe it's Bakker's intention, being himself a liberal and self proclaimed feminist.
Cope, seethe, dilate, etc.

>>17647880
wtf i love bakker now

>>17647880
brb gonna read The Second Apocalypse RIGHT NOW

I cant find Bakker books anywhere in my country.

>>17648086
Can't buy them online?

>>17648094
No, we don't have internet here.

>>17648096
Damn, that's a real shame.

bakker is for basement dwelling pseuds and edgy 15 year old faggots

>>17648096
So how do you post here?

>>17648133
filtered

>>17648159
easy to just say "filtered" all the time isn't it?
i am right and you know it

>>17648133
>>17648159
>>17648177
filtered

>>17646130
Book of the new sun.

>>17647877
It was the quality of response that post deserved

>>17648159
>>17648185
I'm lurking here for quite time already and I've never seen truly normal review or reason why I should read Bakker. It's always just 'read this or be filtered'. I've read some of it and it's just the same tropes as in other books. Mary Sue godlike hero, barbarian, wizard, whore, war. What does this series have that others do not have?

>>17648136
Military base.

>>17648206
Prose, themes, history, worldbuilding philosophy, not sanitised

>>17648244
>muh prose
>muh themes
>muh history
>muh worldbuilding
>muh philosophy
>muh not sanitised

>>17648206
It comes highly recommended from a handful of posters in a 4chan(nel) general, and we both know anonymous posters from 4chan(nel) always have the best intentions as well as impeccable taste.

>>17648243
How's the war?

Have any Bakkerchads seen the recent "Hannibal" show with Mads Mikkelsen? It's extremely reminiscent of Neuropath and has shadows of TSA as well. The theme of a brilliant, charming, heartless psychopath who casually manipulates everyone around him to fall in love with him before setting them up for bizarre predicaments. The characters are constantly saying "Tell me... what do you see?" and at one point someone actually says "Does that trouble you?"

>>17648301
I watched valhalla rising because of you, ok film

>>17648206
Bakker's definitely shameless about his use of genre tropes, but each one is inverted, given some kind of fundamental twist which changes its core meaning. Combined with really interesting philosophy and dense, poetic, biblical prose and you have a really interesting series. A lot of annoying retards shill it, though.

>>17648133
Based

>>17647880
>The world of Earwa is horrifyingly, terrifyingly misogynistic. The men see women only as dumb sexual objects created to pleasure men.
Truly it's the best

post dangerously based books that will likely be banned in the future.

There was a book discussed here by some anons last year or something like that, about a holy paladin woman who was apparently blessed by their god and she was immortal. I don't know what the book was about but I want to read about holy devout god-warriors and turbo crusader-like protags smiting the evil out of the world through sheer faith.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

>>17648703
Paladin woman makes me think of The Deed of Paksenarion, but you aren't exactly specific there.

>>17648703
See
>>17645102

>>17648703
There was a Dragonlance trilogy with a similar premise.

>>17647880
And?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgal

bakkerchads, I kneel.

>>17647307

>For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groans of a wounded man.

>So I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fail. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he reaches out with it against the land of Egypt.

When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

I am looking for something that I would describe as elusive. I looked up in the mega and on internet in general. The book of the new sun has some aspects that I might like but it sounds too convoluted right now for me. I haven't been reading seriously for a while and I want to dwell more in a book's universe, picking up ideas and being immersed.

I liked the movie Stalker for that, this elusive and contemplative feeling in a not-so defined context. Something that can be said as futuristic but not too tech-oriented.

A contemplative book set in a mysterious future/world.

>>17649048
good movie but not great, I wrote a short story like what you wrote idk if you would want to read.

>>17649048
>Stalker
Did you read the book?

>>17649066
You should post it in any case, it's my first post on the Chan since many years. I am more of an illustrator than a writer and I would like to create a story like that. A mix between Stalker, Blade Runner and The Dark Knight with an early 2k undertone.
>>17649108
I quote the movie not for the story or the setting but for the same feeling.
Low-stakes, a contained story in a bigger untold setting.
I don't really know how to explain. Contemplative fantasy would be the most concise way.

>>17649136
>A contained story in a bigger universe
The stalker book (roadside picnic)
Book of the new sun (long and self important, don't rec)
Wizard of earthsea
Lord dunsany
Lovecraft books, I guess.

>>17649136
occured to me that I have two that might fit the bill

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IsNgupo5uF7biBUPUdtr61WKALqJqCt-Z1NpNcyjNvQ/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JqpQblY_TzO3ZCrvG6RY6sxMAi2FsIZtR6gjiSh_1PA/edit?usp=sharing

The second one is more recent. I had a discord friend draw a scene from it, the art style is kinda cringe but what the heck.

>>17649048
>>17649136
Engine Summer by John Crowley, or Ka
Fifth Head of Cerberus
Piranesi
Girls' Last Tour though it's anime/manga

>>17649048
I think book of the new sun will work out for you. It's not as convoluted as you may think. The literal plot is very simple, but the narrator will often go off on a tangential though he had. Lots of moments of reverie.

>>17649166
>>17649245
>>17649257
I'll check those, BotNS or Wolfe in general seems to be a common pick. Is there maybe something similar with a smaller scope?
Tbh I doubt I will be able to tackle this one especially if it's too long.

>>17649325
Fifth Head of Cerberus is a shorter one, but I'm not sure if it has that feeling you're searching for. It's definitely a strange world that you're left to contemplate. You're not really handed definitive answers to the questions the book raises if that's appealing.

>>17649325
5th Head of Cerberus is shorter and it's a put together this story split in 3 parts, told in three different ways, the three PoVs are very contemplative and ruminate, sort of cluelessly, about their life stories and the circumstances of the setting.
If you get easily frustrated by not truly understanding what's going on, not even after finishing the first 4 original novels, BotNS will be almost impossible. It takes a special reader willing to trust the text to just go along with it, with no demands, to make sense of it all until the appropriate time. If the writing, atmosphere and voice of its MC doesn't catch you immediately, if the imagery of a decadent far future is not enough, then it'll be missed on you.

>>17649325
And btw I cannot recommend Engine Summer enough. It's very low stakes story about a kid coming of age and embarking on a big adventure, in a very weird setting, the most basic things like family or tribe structure which don't initially make sense, but it subtly evokes some grestness as all the pieces all fit in place, eventually. It's sort of an LSD trip.

>>17649048
Don't listen to little bitches telling you that BotNS is too hard for you. Try it out. If you get filtered, oh well. BotNS is what got me back into reading after not doing it for a long time.

>>17649450
>>17649603
I will keep those 2 books in in mind. And look up the others that were suggested
The default choice will be BoTNS but I'll keep my eyes open

>been away from /sffg/ for 6+ months
>faggots are still recommending the same few books and the same authors

>>17649892
That's the way it's always been. muh wolfe muh bakker muh sanderson general.

>>17649892
maybe new authors should write better

>>17649892
if there were other authors worth discussing we'd discuss 'em. the field is stagnant, anon....
we must write.

>>17649892
Have you tried reading most fantasy? It's fucking bad. I've switched to posting mostly in /wg/.

>>17649912
>>17649924
>>17649949
Literally kill yourselves

>>17649963
no u

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/134406.Can_t_Wait_Sci_Fi_Fantasy_of_2020_

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1989-45-of-the-most-anticipated-sci-fi-and-fantasy-novels-of-2021

>>17649963
my bad i forgot about nk 3 hugos back to back jesmin :)

>>17649924
>we must write.
I am, anon. I am coming to redeem the genre of fantasy

>>17647834
audiobookbay I think.

>>17650006
good for you lad
post excerpt please

>>17646010
Fuck! E William Brown

No offense, but judging by your posts and the place we are, I doubt I would ever want to read anything written by retarded faggots like you.

>>17650123

>>17650089
Not him, but I've posted an excerpt of mine in /wg/

>>17650089

not him but this is mine >>17649237

>>17650326
I wasn't referring to any particular anons btw, just saying "you retarded faggots" in a broad general sense, as in all of you itt who has any writing ambitions.

>>17650393
We don't care

>>17650393
I got a poem I wrote when I was 12 published in a national magazine, i'm kind of a big deal.

>>17649237
please use another platform than google docs, it saves visitor's login information so most anons are wary to use it...

just post here with spoiler desu

>>17649325
Wolfe is loved by sffg, but it's long and indulgent. I found it utterly dull, cannot rec.

Do literally no good xianxias exist? Is it just a shit genre? Each and every one has either a retarded main character, the same cliches as every other book, or a retarded story.

>>17650472
1/~4

Yōkai
Sunlight crept under and around the edges of the sheet that Veris had hung by her window. She was sitting on her single mattress, knees tucked up to her chest. The creases and folds of the sheet made interesting patterns. She’d had the dream again. Veris leapt out of bed. Her house was like a bunker or prison, grey, plain and square. The only luxuries in the design were windows on each side of the house, with steel rolling shutters 2 inches thick.

She let herself run on autopilot. As she showered and dried herself, she couldn’t help but think of that dream. The hiss of water and misty glass made it difficult to stay for the usual five minutes. She ran her hand along the cold metal control panel and found the button that opened her huge wardrobe. There were ten sets of clothes. Trousers, shirts and coats, all the same design, shades of black and white. She selected one of the darker blacks and the least worn pair of boots. After dressing herself, she wrapped her hands with cloth and pulled on a pair of sap gloves. As she walked towards her training area, she glanced at the mirrored surface of her wardrobe.

Veris had the lissom body of a dancer or an acrobat tempered with the strength and bulk of a fighter. Her lips were thin and eyes sharp. Her hair was short and black. Long hair was a liability in combat, it gave your opponent a handhold and got in the way.

She worked her way across her training area. Most of her routine was cardio, but she still spent a lot of time lifting weights. Maintaining peak human condition was hard, but necessary work. That level of fitness was useful in her casual employment as a bartender, and essential in her real job, cleaning up this disgusting city.

She finished her workout, towelled herself down and headed straight out the door, she had work to do. The sky in Amcit-1 (the locals just called it The Stove) was always overcast, a faint haze hovered in the air, like steam from a kettle. She headed for the subway and pulled up her facemask. The pollution in the city wasn’t bad enough to be an active threat to life but breathing it in wasn’t exactly good for you. Veris headed down the dirty subway steps at a trot, the walls stunk of piss and grime. Graffiti covered the tunnels of the subterranean complex, She kept her eyes fixed forward, there was a roughly foot long square part of the roof that protruded at just the right angle to where it clearly stood out, and being almost exactly at eye level it was the beachfront property of the subway. The previous day’s graffiti would, without fail, be painted over by the next time she walked down these steps. Today was no exception, the message was written in surprisingly neat black paint “Kill all cyborg cunts!”

>>17650639
it's lowest common denominator trash yeah, and most of the translations are terrible quality.

of the ones i've read reverend insantiy and divine throne of primodial blood were the best, but all xianias tend to get worse as the story goes on, authors drag them out as long as possible because they don't know if they will ever make another hit and to maximise profits.

2/4

I'll post more if anyone is interested

>>17650646
Well that was something she could agree with, mostly. Yesterday it had been a simple “Fuck you!”. She hopped over the outstretched legs of a drunk at the bottom of the steps, she wasn’t sure if he was sleeping, unconscious or dead. If he wasn’t already dead, he wouldn’t be long for getting hauled away by Good Samaritan organ harvesters. The body of the train was steel and rust, the indents in the metal made it look like it had been constructed out of corrugated iron roofing.

Veris stepped into the train and manoeuvred herself into a position near one of the doors, where she could lean against the wall. The seats were filthy, and you were more vulnerable sitting down. The subway was dangerous, but it was cheap, and the traffic above was simply insane, acceptable if you didn’t mind traveling ten kilometres an hour. She didn’t know how to drive anyway.

Most people stood or sat in groups, edgy. Veris leaned back and let herself relax. She closed her eyes, listening, letting herself melt into a meditative state, while maintaining awareness of her surroundings. When she opened her eyes, they were immediately drawn to the large black man directly in front of and looking at her. His long brown hair was matted into dreadlocks that fell nearly to his waist. Each tendril passed through several metal beads. The overall effect was an uncanny resemblance to the cables and bionic apparatuses that emerged from the heads and necks of the most advanced cyborgs.

Like her, he dominated his area of the train. Two little bubbles of space had formed around the two, nobody wanting to get too close. She walked over, weaving through the crowd that shuffled out of her way, she slid up next to him on the wall.

They made eye contact; the whites of his eyes were almost jaundiced.

‘Hey’ said Veris. He looked her up and down and smiled.

‘Name’s Ezekiel’

‘Veris. Are you with SECC?’

Ezekiel smiled again and nodded.

‘You bet. Look, I’ve had my share of disagreements with Tieez and Zhao, but they’re right, somebody needs to do something.’

Veris looked at the bulge on his hip, a compact heavy submachine gun was clearly holstered underneath his coat.

‘Looks like somebody is. Where you headed?

‘Red Zone, Markheight.’

Veris whistled, ‘That’s tough, I’ve got a lead on Alessdro, near The Pit’

Ezekiel shook his head. ‘You’ve got a lead on the Tyrant? And I thought I was crazy.’

Any good stories involving cosmic beings?
>No Lovecraft

>>17650826
marvel comics?

>>17650646
>>17650678
Your writing is competent, but it lacks emotional stakes. Reads like a vidya game narrative or fan fic. Make me care about the characters beyond their power levels.

I don't know if this fits here but I guess it's science fiction.
Was reading jurassic park and it's actually not bad and was different from the movie.
If I wanted to read maybe 1-2 more books from that Crichton guy, are there some that are above others overall?

>>17650678
>>17650874

3/6 might as well post the rest

Veris patted him on the shoulder and moved away, it was good to meet others like her, she hoped he’d be alright. The computer announced the next stop over the speakers, Megacity central 4. That was her stop. The train pulled up. Veris and Ezekiel got off, she turned left, and he turned right. She hoped he would accomplish his mission safely, he seemed like the type of person the city needed more of. As she walked out of the subway, she pushed him from her mind, she had her own mission to worry about.
Like most of the city, The Pit was loud, busy and lawless, it just took it to the extreme. Easily accessible from the Subway it was a favourite place of people looking to get a piece of the Red Zone nightlife. Drugs, booze and prostitutes aplenty. It was also a great place to go if you wanted to get shot, robbed, stabbed or raped. Less than ten minutes after getting off the train, Veris saw four private security contractors trying to submerge a body found in the river.
One of the men was trying to wrap a chain around the dead woman’s body, but the body had been in the water for what looked like weeks and it was falling apart. The Tighter he pulled the chain the more flesh sloughed off the body. If all went well that wouldn’t be the only body they had to deal with tonight.
Even since the election of Chief-Major Wallace in 2043 the city had gone to shit. Wallace had run on a populist platform, with his key “policy” being drastically cutting taxes to insanely low levels, he won in a landslide and kept his promise, by gutting public services. Wallace had boasted that by privatising the police the government would save billions of dollars. The same services would be provided cheaper by eliminating red tape and bureaucratic inefficiency. In the eight years after the privatisation of the police, crime rates had fallen by an astounding seventy percent. Violent crimes had fallen by ninety. The contractors were paid based on crime rates in their area, and the easiest way to keep those rates down was to simply not report crime. Murders were classed as suicides or “disappearances” and even if you could find someone to report a crime to the paperwork would conveniently end up lost.

>>17650943
his plague one is topical.

>>17651035
4/6

Veris leant on the corroded 4th story fire escape, the building had been easy to find. It was everything the rest of the Pit wasn’t. Quiet, secure and dark. The building itself was nondescript. It looked just like any other decaying building in this city. Veris had been watching the building for hours, there were two men standing out the front and one out the back, occasionally one went in or out. Often a different person came in than came out. Two people had walked out of the building and left entirely. Veris wanted to follow them find out more but it wasn’t worth it. She didn’t want to miss her chance. Just when she was tossing around the idea of following the next person to come out of the building she spotted a large man walking toward the building, this might be it.

She stealthily climbed down two levels of the fire escape, sticking to the shadows. He fit the description, he was big, hairless and walked like someone used to telling other people what to do. Veris lost any doubt that this was Alessdro when she saw the guards tense up as he approached, he stopped and talked to one of them and then the two went inside. Veris waited. Alessdro was involved in all kinds of illegal activities, smuggling, human trafficking, drugs, racketeering, and most importantly, a dealer in illegal cybernetic upgrading, parts and replacement. He was allegedly the mastermind of the sixth biggest criminal syndicate in The Stove.

She was going to kill him.

When he came out, she hoped it would be on this side of the building, it was going to be difficult if he came out the back door. She should have asked Ezekiel to come along with her. At the forty-second minute the front door opened again, Alessdro was still talking to the guard he’d accompanied inside. He patted him on the back, spoke briefly to the man watching the door and headed back outside, the way he’d came, right past Veris.

>>17651044
>his plague one is topical.
The andromeda strain? From synopsis doesn't sounds like something that I'd necessarily enjoy much, but thanks for the suggestion

>>17651044
Veris moved down the fire escape, she needed to move fast, she couldn’t afford to lose Alessdro to the chaotic clamour of the city, clouds were moving overhead, and it was getting dark.

She leapt off the fire escape and rolled, there was enough cover that she could easily get behind the guard. He had a pistol, but it was holstered. She crept up behind him and gently exhaled, he felt the gentle breeze and turned around. Veris hit him in the throat, then gripped and crushed his trachea. He staggered and reached for his throat, clawing. Veris worked the body twice and threw herself behind a savage left hook that caught him on the chin. He collapsed, unconscious and Veris borrowed a knife from his thigh and pushed it into the back of his skull.

She wrenched the knife out and wiped it on his shirt, she spun it twice and then sprinted down the alley after Alessdro. She rounded the corner just as he turned down another alleyway, good, she hadn’t lost him. She followed, striving to maintain a balance between staying close enough she wouldn’t lose him, and far away enough he wouldn’t notice her. He headed into what she thought was an abandoned area of the city, why? Then when she turned one corner he was gone, she controlled her panic, it was a dead end, he hadn’t enough time to climb the fire escape.

She swept the alley and spotted broken yellow tape leading into a small, unfinished building. She sprinted inside, he’d led her into a perfect area, it was remote enough she wouldn’t have to worry about interference.
He was waiting for her. His pale sunken face had enough scars that it was clear he was a fighter, few enough that it was clear he was good.

>>17651115
yeah

>>17651122
6/7 jewed by word count



‘I knew something was wrong, he said. You don’t get to be where I am without trusting your instincts. Well. Come on.’

Veris dashed in, he was big, stronger than her. His arms bulged, cybernetics.
She threw the knife at his face, he covered up and the knife bounced off his arm, he threw a straight punch at her which she sidestepped. She fired off a volley of punches into his body, her steel coated knuckles met resistance. His body was protected as well. She ducked another wild swing, he clearly didn’t have her orthodox training, but he had experience.

Well so did she, she’d fought cyborgs before and knew how to fight against them. They were strong but they had their weaknesses. Most had slowed reactions as their body fought their enhancements. She circled, firing off more punches, parrying and slipping his counters. She was faster than him, but she wasn’t doing much damage.

She landed a solid hit to the temple, he staggered, she’d hit metal, but he’d still felt it. He covered up and she pressed the attack, but suddenly he leapt forward, arms wide. She stepped to the side and fired out a powerful kick, but he took it on his arms and kept coming. He dove in and grabbed her hips, smashing her against the wall.

She struck down on his arms trying to break his grip, but he was too strong. She went for the joints but didn’t have the leverage to break out. He was crushing her. He dragged her across the wall, her fingers scrabbled, looking for a weapon. She felt several of her ribs crack, she couldn’t breathe. Her fingers closed around something sharp and rammed it into his thigh. He howled and let go, blood spurted from his wound and he staggered back.

Veris saw a hammer next to the pile of nails that had saved her life and swept it up. She came at him, cracking him in the knee which buckled. His legs were vulnerable! She circled, dodging his clumsy swipe, she swung the hammer again, cracking him in the side of the head. He staggered, and she struck him in the knee again, something broke and he fell to the floor.

She dashed around behind him and swung the hammer again, it bounced off the back of his reinforced skull but drove him into the floor. The head of the hammer shrieked as it bent, almost snapping off. Veris spun the hammer in her hands and swung. The claw smashed through the top of Alessdro’s skull, blood and brain matter splattered in her face. Veris could hear herself panting. Blood trickled down her hair and down her face. She collapsed, falling to the floor. It hurt to breathe; she pressed a hand against her ribs. Some of them were broken. She tried to breathe shallowly but her oxygen starved body fought her.

>>17651131
She rose to her feet unsteadily, letting the hammer fall to the floor. She staggered out the door, her left hand pressed against the wall for support, leaving a bloody trail. She wondered how long it would be before someone found the body. Above her the clouds burst, the acidic rain stung, but it helped keep her moving. It was only pain, after all.

done
people I've shown this to before assume she dies at the end, not what I intended. I can see the lack of emotion, though i'm going to be a cringe writer and say that's intended seeing as she's a sort of autistic assassin, but that doesn't mean it isn't a problem

>>17648717
The deed of Paksenarrion
That was it. I'm. Reading it after I finish with Earth sea, which btw
Should I read all of Earthsea? I've almost finished the first book and I fucking loved it. It's very comfy and I'll always have good memories of it, and I don't want to spoil it with mediocre sequels and cash grabs, if any. I trust you /sffg/ and if you motherfuckers say it will be fine, I'll keep on reading.

>>17651136
Is it a completed short story? I won't read it if it's not.

>>17651160
yes

>>17651165
>The previous day’s graffiti would, without fail, be painted over by the next time she walked down these steps. Today was no exception, the message was written in surprisingly neat black paint “I FUCK SRANC”
I actually liked it very much my man. I guess I was just in the mood for something like this, but it was good. The prose was nothing to write home about though. Very workmanlike, if I may say so myself.

>>17650639
It's a well established genre with a set of well established rules that you kinda love or hate, and within that the competition is over the quality and artistic merit rather than innovation, I could recommend a few I liked but ultimately if you are looking for something within that genre the best thing is to find aspects that you like/dislike and focus on picking out the ones that cater to your taste.

To give you a couple examples that fit my own taste, on top of other guy recommended, I'd mention Legend of the Great Sage as one that I find among the most memorable, well written and all in all good ones for me, but I grew rather tired of it eventually. On the flip side you have something like Against the gods, which, despite it's innumerate flaws and crimes against quality writing, is able to provoke emotional response from me and make me actually sympathise with what's going on and thus probably my favourite. But it's a love it or hate it sort of thing and it's really not all that well written, from the iterative beginning to abuse of every trope in the genre, if you don't like cliches common for the genre don't touch it.

>>17651165
Alright time for a review. The first thing that annoyed me is what I call the cliche. Not a cliche, but THE cliche. Think about it. You wanted to showcase your protagonist but you were too overzealous and made no sense. You had her wake up, shower, change into badass assassin clothes, workout, then head out. Who does that? Nobody, but you were lost in the cliche. I've seen it done many times to this exact effect. A lonely protagonist in a shitty gray square apartment. I'm surprised you didn't have her eat food, which is usually meant to show the shitty food available in The Cliche. That's what the cliche does in this genre. It shows the life of the protagonist outside the action, meant to demonstrate how hollow they are outside the action.
A more realistic course of events would be she trained, THEN showered, then went out in mission.
Which leads me to my next issue. Who trains moments BEFORE a mission? Have you never worked out? It drains you. Training is meant to prepare you for the day of the mission, not meant to be done before the mission. There's a saying in my country "you can't fatten the pig on Christmas" meant you gotta fatten the pig all year beforehand to be eaten on Christmas, not force-feed it on Christmas in hopes it gets fat. Same with training. Training on day X will only tire you out. Training is meant to be done all year round before, in order to prepare you for day X.
The bulk of the story was more cyberpunk grimepunk cliche. Subway, graffiti, clouds. Ezekiel had charm in the few moments we got to see him but again he is cliche. Even Ezekiel is a black man name in this sort of deal.
The final fight was good though, even though I knew how it would end. Again you were blinded by cliche. If Alessdro knew she would come, why did he let her kill his guards? Why did he let her 1 on 1 him?
I half expected him to reveal some high, never before seen, technology and was blinded by arrogance and confidence. You could have had him reveal some prototype deep-field scanner drilled into his skull which allows him to have a mind minimap of the area. The mission would be Veris cracking his skull open to retrieve this tech.
Or you could have Alessdro fight her 1 on 1 because he was FORCED to by his shadowy leaders. "We give you this tech, go out and test it". To (((them))) he was nothing but a tool to test new tech. You'd have readers ask who are these shadow bosses, what new o er powered technologies are there.
Instead you made the blandest bad guy in the world, and the story ended with zero curiosity of what your world has to offer.

2/5

Why does everyone and everything in Earwa (sranc, skinspies, wracu, etc.) have a thicc upward curving benis that pokes them in the belly button? What did you mean by this, Scott? Are you describing your own peen and think they all look that way? It's it somehow a result of Inchoroi tekne? I know you're here fucker, answer me!

>>17651579
you post this in every thread retard
the answer is that in earwa evil is sexualized, bakker has said so himself
now shut up or at least ask questions that aren't completely retarded

>>17647306
Not reading your chinkshit "books", Will
>>17651606
So curved phalli are inherently evil? I'm not buying it, Scott. Tell us the real reason. It's because you really thought everyone has a weird bent dick like you, isn't it?

>>17651480
Hope you don't mind if I try to defend myself. Either way thanks for the feedback since mostly what i've ever got for this is "good".

I agree the showering then training thing is basically an oversight, I think the workout is justified though, she wakes up early in the morning, has to get all the way over to the Rez Zone and then wait for hours for her target to show up (and she may not get a chance that day), unless she's really smashing the weights she's going to be pretty much recovered by then, especially since she's in great shape, olympic marathon runners do at a MINIMUM an entire marathon a day (though not before the race). Also her life is 24/7, she has to train today for tommorow's fight.

I agree with the rest of what you say, definitely a missed oppurtunity, Veris is supposed to be a human who hates cyborgs and is unaugmented.

>hy did he let her kill his guards? Why did he let her 1 on 1 him?

I intended it to be understood that he didn't know she was coming, but that he got a sixth sense/felt that something was off and decided to head into an abandoned area as a precauation, avoiding a potential trap and having the oppurtunity to turn the tables on his assailant where it is difficult for them to escape and there won't be any outside interferance, he's confident in his skills.

To me this makes sense, he doens't know how many people are out there gunning for him but he's probably not being followed by all of them, they are likely waiting nearby ready to jump in if needed.

You've pointed out a lot of flaws though and given me a lot to think about so thanks.

>>17650006
I have not come to redeem it, but to show the world where it should stand.

>>17651776
>>17650006
Look at all these big words. Then they post passages that are straight 2/5 fanfic tier shit. Every. Time.

>>17651788
neither of those guys are me

>>17651813
Then post your passage

>>17651822
not any of those guys, but I'm pretty sure these passages here >>17651035, >>17651044, >>17651122, >>17651131, >>17651136 belong to this guy here >>17651813.

Neither of these prophets >>17651776 or >>17650006 have posted any of their work here I think, still I am interested to read some of their work

>>17651822
I did already but I wasn't the one posting I will save fantasy or whatever

>>17651822
u 1st

>>17651848
yeah that's right

How does one save modern fantasy? What is it lacking? What does it have in excess?

>>17647825
100% agree, so surprised it doesn't get more recognition around here

>>17651853
I did in a previous /wg/ and several anons said it was good. I know I’m a visionary. I just have trouble sitting down and writing volumes. My inspiration comes at infrequent intervals; meanwhile, I do other things like compose music and paint. So it’s slow going.

I’m envious of writers who can just sit down and bust... but their work often suffers from it. Sanderson has this problem. Even Bakker suffers from it sometimes.

I can’t give this book a serious rating as I haven’t finished it yet, and I’m not rating it truly on its merits. It’s written fine enough, and voiced wonderfully if you are listening to the audiobook. But essentially everyone is an unrepenting villain and everything go’s wrong. I quit the book just after Circe gave birth to the child of Odysseus. Circe’s whole experience with the child is an unending hysterical nightmare. I kept waiting for some reprieve, but everything and everyone is so cartoonishly villainous that bad things lose their impact. There is no surprise, wonder, or suspense when you know everyone Circe meets will try to rape her, or will treat her like shit (I guess Daedalus is the exception). There is no contrast just endless misery upon misery. Some have criticized the prose, I disagree. I believe the prose is wonderful, the prose along with the fantastic narrator kept me hooked, and I kept waiting for the story to truly start. But it never did. It never moves on. It’s fine if you have one or two cartoonishly evil twits in a story such as this. It is fine if everyone is a cartoonish villain if it’s some action slock where say an OP Dorf murders the living shit out of every single one of the villains. But this, no. Just fucking no.

Victim Porn/10

>>17650826
The Library at Mount Char

>>17651848
I have months ago.
I am still of two minds of how I want my prose. I am practising different ways of writing, from old school prose where it's a little wordy and light hearted in tone, to something more gritty, dark and sophisticated. Simple or verbose.
Once I figure out my own voice, I'll throw something here. My goal is to place fantasy where it should be, but that's still distant.

>>17651884
>from old school prose where it's a little wordy and light hearted in tone, to something more gritty, dark and sophisticated
this sentence made me have serious doubts about your prose

>>17651870
I think I recall you. It's been a while, but I remember you saying something similar. I've been struggling to write recently, but I've decided to bet my life on it. Make a living or die.
I have been able to sit down and write 5-8 thousands words a day now and again. My goal is to write consistently, then improve my writing tone on the first draft, and then edit well.
Set yourself a task. Write, even for five minutes, every single day. If you get out one word, good. If you get out three hundred, good. Just write. Forget about inspiration, use your discipline to make it your discipline.

>>17651893
That was the point.

>>17651884
Not either of those guys, but I've been struggling with my prose too. I really hate the modern style of writing, where its very impersonal. I really love McCarthy's spare-and-verbose, precise, biblical style of prose, but at the same time I think he's too sparse and repetitive sometimes. I also like prose styles that are simple but not basic, if that makes sense; I admire the clarity in Hemingway's writing but I don't like the way he uses a very basic vocabulary. I love the playfulness and the rhythm of Nabokov's prose but its sometimes too excessive and flowery. I hope that I'll be able to take my favorite elements from all these writers and combine them into something wonderful, I just need to read more and practice more.

here's another thing >>17651848 I wrote


The Company


“Bring him forth, bring him forth, bring forth our mighty comrade” shouted the men of the company. Many pumped their fists in the air, others whistled. When the long table crested the hill, the men erupted into cheers and applause. It took eight men to carry, more a factor of its length than its weight, for indeed the wood was light. Standing apart from the company, Kosoter smiled and shook his head, even Yooliseez, normally so dour and humorless couldn’t stop himself from smirking, which only further aroused the mirth of the company. The table was lain down, and with exaggerated care Kosoter sat, crossing his legs. The company again erupted in raucous cheers, which took some time to settled. Kosoter then motioned to for his chief lieutenants to join him at the table, extending first the left palm, then the right. With a further subtle turn of his wrists, the rest of the company sat upon the hillock.

Kosoter spoke to them. “As you have no doubt guessed, I will be making a speech. But, let it not be said I do not care for my men. You may begin, bring forth the food and drink.” The company laughed, and several leapt to their feet, they gathered up bowls and plates in both hands and began to fill them. “But I would be remiss, Kosoter continued, if I did not thank our benefactors, so first let us give thanks to the noble Lord Grahm, into whose service I have consigned us” In this he spoke only half seriously, some of the company laughed and there was a brief applause. “but if I speak honestly, I must admit, that his generosity has been greatly outmatched by that of our vanquished foe!” At this there was much laughter and some “thank yous” from the company, for indeed much of the food now being brought forth and handed around, and near all of the drink which they were about to partake, had been looted from the enemy camp and baggage train. There was salted meat, bread, various grains, and they had even discovered several wagons loaded with live fowl. Mugs and cups were being filled with wine and ale seized from the stocks of the vanquished, as expected Kosoter had claimed much of the former for himself. His penchant for strongly watered wine was well known amongst the company. From the company's own stocks came mainly large servings of hot oats. Kosoter was of the firm belief that the grain was of great benefit to a fighting man, and his soul.

“No matter what the High-Lords of Theez may claim, the honor of today’s victory lies with us.” said Kosoter. At this Commander Veris fairly leapt to her feet

“My lord you are too modest!”

>>17651861
soul and spirituality, a sense of the fantastic

>>17651923

2 of like 8 or 9



“Perhaps, though I led the charge, you all followed, that took great courage.” Kosoter frowned. “Well, such things are for greater men than I, it is enough that we have won a great victory, lost few of our company and come away with great profit.”

Kosoter raised his goblet. “To victory, courage, and the continuance of our company’s good fortune!”

Though it was only midafternoon, their celebrations continued into the night. At length, Kosoter returned to his small tent.

Kosoter was washing his face in a wooden basin when he had received word that the Captain-General of Theez, had, once again, called for a Council of War, and that his attendance was requested. He was not surprised and informed the messenger that he would be there shortly. There had been no sign that the Captain-General would cease in calling his daily meetings, pointless as they were. Thus far the army of Lidno continued to avoid battle, all the while continuing to shadow the Theezian forces. For some reason Kosoter always felt more inclined to acquiesce to the requests of men with the ability to pay, or delay, the salary of his company.

Kosoter’s tent was small and sparse, a fact dictated by both the logistics of a military campaign and his own preference. There was a fine feather mattress and a small wooden desk and chair. Atop the desk, several sheets of parchment, inkbrush and stone and other sundry items. Leaning against the desk was an enormous sword, longer than most men were tall. The sheath was of a plain dark wood, along the side was a handle. Kosoter lifted the blade and strode out the tent. The sun had been waiting in ambush, directly afront the tent. Kosoter shaded his uncovered eye with the back of his hand and turned his head. The guard outside the tent saluted his captain. “At ease” said Kosoter, absentmindedly.

Kosoter hurried up the hill to the pavilion. There were guards stationed at all four entrances. The pair ahead of Kosoter parted long before he reached them. His height alone made him instantly recognizable; few men reached even his shoulders. The black cloth tied around his head and over his eye and the sword he carried, unmistakable.

>>17651901
>write 5-8 thousands words a day now and again
holy frijoles batman, watch out for carpal tunnel. 1500 is my max and that takes all day. but i edit as i go, and i choose each word with care. different strokes...

>>17650639
There's Reverend Insanity, the one and only truly great xiaxia. A totally coherent well-planned plot, well thought out and logical characters and setting, and consistently high quality over thousands of chapters. Highly philosophical and introspective of the genre as well. It's a pretty good summary and conclusion of the entire concept. If you're only going to read one xiaxia, Reverend Insanity has to be it, but if you've read many of them it's even better by contrast.

For a quick intro, the story is about Fang Yuan, a 500 year old demonic path cultivator who managed to send himself back into the body of his 15 year old self in order to continue his quest to become immortal, something no one's ever done before. His main, and almost only, advantage is experience. He schemes and manipulates people like they're children because to him they literally are. Not by being a galaxy-brain super-genius, but just by knowing what motivates people and what they expect of him. He's the only 500 year old character I've ever see in a story that's actually believably that ancient. His mindset is truly something interesting.

>>17651933
It's closer to 1000 nowadays. I just want to be a writing machine. There have been authors who have written 5k a day, everyday for decades and they're fine.
I'll edit it carefully, I just need the gist of everything to be out there.
Henry grabbed the flaming amber sword and struck the shadow dead.
Henry grabbed flaming sword, liquid amber that moved like lava, and banished the shadow with a single thrust.
Something like that, but usually better.

>>17646010
Any good fantasy novels written by Russians?

>>17652105
no

>>17652125
Russians have actual literature.

>>17652105
Yes.

>>17652134
well which ones?

There any bleak characters out there? In the likes of Rendall Flagg? Like more of ambiguous human, kind of force of nature.

>>17651944
>He's the only 500 year old character I've ever see in a story that's actually believably that ancient. His mindset is truly something interesting.
You sold me anon. I've long wanted to read something with an ancient character who feels ancient in thinking. I mean I am not even 30 years old, but I already feel leagues above any early 20s through sheer life experience and [things happening]. There is only so much that can happen in 1 year, but when you put many years in consecutive order, you get the wisdom of ages. I hate characters that we're told they are thousands of years old, but they still act like manchildren.

i love zelazny but haven't read this one, anyone know how it is?

>>17652227
>TFW we will never get winds of winter

>>17652263
Let it go anon

>>17652263
Don’t worry about it anon

>>17652272
I can't let it go
I never will be able to

>>17652272
Based George dabbing on bookfags, get fucked nerds tv show is canon lmao

>>17652149
I can't be arsed to list them out.
Here
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/99041.Russian_Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy_in_English

Does this book by Tad Williams get any better? Im at chapter 7 and its a weird, confusing and disjointed mess.
I liked his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series. Does it get better or should I drop it?

>>17652130
They write the exact same book over and over.

Name some unique fantasy short stories or novellas to help me rekindle my love for the genre.

>>17652650
My diary desu.

>>17652650
Dunsany’s God’s of pegana collection or his book of wonder (both are on sacred texts.)

Any of the prose or verse of Clark Ashton smith, and if you’re willing to go to fairy tales, check out Goethe’s green serpent and beautiful Lily. Also check out ETA hoffman’s stuff at some point.

Here’s a link to some Dunsany.

https://pastebin.com/d67ck2CU

https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/tbow/tbow15.htm

https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/gope/index.htm

Is this actually good? I've heard people say the author is a fag but that the story is still good. What can I expect? The world seems pretty unique.

>>17652940
Thank you for being a source of quality recs Frater

Just finished Cage of Souls, surprisingly good. I want to read more by mr Tchaikovsky, but it looks like most of what he's written is a 10 book steampunk series with stronk female characters.
Is any of his other stuff worth reading? Children of time maybe?

>>17647845
>so this won a hugo?
You say this like it means anything.

I finally got around to reading The Darkness That Comes Before. I'm about 3/4 of the way through it and I have to ask, when does it get grimdark? When does the misogyny start? Where are all the memes /sffg/ bakkerposters promised me? I was expecting something much edgier than a fun fantasy byzantium story.

>>17653176
Realism is what normies call "Grimdark".

>>17653191
>muh normies not hardcore enough for le real world
Oh shut up you retard

>>17653210
>He never read a history book.

Not gonna make it.

>>17653176
>>17653191
A little boy gets raped in the prologue. I'm not sure how that doesn't count as grimderp and edgy; especially since it was so pointless.

>>17653210
You're an actual brainlet if you think that anything written by Bakker (that's not directly tied to fantasy) is worse than what goes on in the real world.

>>17653216
>>17653210
Literally the nottest of going to make its.

>>17653227
>"especially since it was so pointless."
>What is the catholic church.

I'm actually surprised that you can navigate the internet.

>>17652940
Thank you anon

>>17652827
fuck you bitch

>>17653231
As someone who has been in multiple rapid descents into violent chaos, some resulting in death, he captures the horror of reality quite well.

What is the quote from a Cnaiur POV? Where the hollow bones of men meet the iron bones of the earth? Something like that. It struck me cold.

>>17653210
Imagine being this fucking retarded, holy shit.

I bet you're Sanderson's number 1 fan.

>>17653216
>>17653231
>>17653234
>>17653284
Literal brainlets basement-dwellers talking about realism, because "they've read history books!1 not like the normie military, cops, EMTs etc."
I'm laffin

>>17653298
You need to be 18 to post here.

>>17653227
All of the distasteful shit like that has been presented so obliquely that it hardly registers as edgy. I was expecting graphic descriptions, but have been pleasantly surprised.

>>17653310
The sranc cut people and rape the wounds while they're alive, leaving them twitching fleshy messes of blood and black seed

If that's not edgy, nothing is.

>>17653298
>Medieval warfare = Modern warfare
>Active deployed soldiers are normies

I unironically accept your defeat.

>>17653301
>>17653332
I accept your complete and pathetic lack of arguments, do not let it trouble you please.

>>17653331
this guy is right though, it's always inferred rather than explicitly described (unlike your crude and edgy post).>>17653310

>>17653331
That would be edgy if they were humans like that army in the Malazan whose name I forgot.

>>17653345
You don't know what an argument is.

Typical non sequitur retard.

>>17653298
>He doesn't infer veracity and knowledge from books

>>17653210
She's just baiting you.

>imagine thinking that Bakker is edgy

Is that what you people call non-YA?

>>17647825
I had a hard time getting into House of Suns and dropped it eventually. Felt like some neat world ideas kept giving way to contrived story stuff and none of the characters were interesting, except for Hephaestus for a little while. A book just about him would be cool.

>>17653375
The distinction between YA and "adult" fantasy seems to just be DUDE RAPE LMAO

>>17653231
>he doesn't know about the real world mutant breeding pits
>he doesn't know about know about the real world human extermination plan
>he doesn't know about the real world floating abortion sarcophagus
>laughing_sumna_whores.jpg

>>17653422
Learn to read.

>>17653426
Learn to suck my cock bitch boy

>>17653430
I can't, it's too small.

great thread, niggers

>BAKKEEER IS EDGY AS FUCK, GRIMEST OF GRIM DARKS. I WILL NEVER READ THAT SHIT.
>I ONLY ENJOY THE AVENGERS AND ANYTHING THAT RESEMBLES THEM.

>>17653444
Don't post selfies here anon, this isn't /soc/

>>17653416
It’s pronounced GRI

>>17653458
cringe

>>17653462
>GRI
yeah, it stands for Dude Rape Lmao

>>17653465
You're welcome

I'm going to start posting inspo images.

>>17653347
This is my main point. Nothing in The Darkness That Comes Before is as offensive as 'sunset found her squatting in the grass...'

I had been avoiding Bakker because you fuckers made him seem like some cheap, grimdark, hack. But so far, it's been nothing but good clean fun.

>>17653512
nevermind they were all shit

>>17653529
just spam gore for the realism, we're the realest niggas here

What are some books where the female protagonist's cunt becomes the world?

>>17653528
glad you're enjoying, anon.
bakker is a class act, not a lascivious greaseball like grrm or a braindead hack like sanderson.
bakker's relative obscurity and lack of popularity speaks, more than anything, to the fragility and small-mindedness of most normie readers, which says more about readers today than it does about bakker's writing, which is on the whole quite evocative and tasteful rather than gratuitous. he leaves everything up to the reader's imagination rather than spelling anything out.

>that one moment where all hope is lost and the protagonists know this
>they have to fight on in desperation knowing they're going to lose
>pull out every last ditch trick in the book hoping for a miracle
>it never happens
>the villain wins in the end

>>17651877
>The Basedbrary at Mount Onions
Nah
>>17650826
Apartment 16

>>17653580
Dawn of the Guns. Swarmed by a technologically superior army that outnumbers you 10 to 1, and then you find out that the front's been lost and that the country's fallen and that you're surrounded from all sides.

>>17653580
best end to any story. tragedia = katharsis. deux ex machina is for sheep.

>>17653580
Yes, I have read Bakker as well.

>>17652227
It's good, like all Zelazny. A highway that travels through time, the marquis de sade, a t-rex...

>>17652272
I thought this was going to be the one of him jumping on the trampoline naked

>>17653044
Children of Time was the only book I've read by him but it's good.

Can I get a relatively short scifi novel to get me into reading?

>>17653712
Wizard of Anhiritte or Patterns of Chaos, both by Colin Kapp.

If I thought mistborn was shit should even bother trying stormlight archive?

>>17653798
WoK is worse than Mistborn, and it's all downhill from there

>>17653798
If you thought mistborn was shit definitely don't try stormlight because it's worse.

I at least found mistborn interesting at first and somewhat tolerable. Couldn't even get through stormlight.

>>17652105
Lukyanenko was quite good, but I can't vouch for translation to English.

>>17647306
>do you enjoy it?
I generally enjoy it as long as the characters aren't too unlikeable or annoying like in many chink novels or the "cheating" makes the whole thing too stupid. My standards for enjoyment aren't that highbrow but it's easy to lose me with shit like what the Warformed: Stormweaver author did with the best friend and the antagonist.

>>17653934
I used to not see any point in isekai, lately I've been more accepting of the genre when it's done well, but I still don't see what constitutes "done well" in case of litRPG, what's the point? With isekai it's fish out of water plus easy backstory and starting point for the characters/events, but what about litRPG, how is it appealing compared to not wasting time on pointless charsheets.

Like, I get when it's just used as an auxiliary to a novel's writing, and the best I've seen that could be described as litrpg is I'm spider so what webnovel where it serves you to inform the world's rules/laws, but how about stories where it exists only for MC as a way to "cheat", why bother?

>>17653814
>>17653821

Strange how popular it is then. Because mistborn felt like a shitty video game. I get people have different tastes, and I'm not at all well versed in fantasy or lit but it seems like a low bar. I will say I did enjoy elantris though. While I read it when I was younger I seemed like a rather unique world and someone what philosophical.

>>17654037
>Because mistborn felt like a shitty video game
WoK felt like a shitty mmo.

Pick your poison.

>>17654037
Never touched Mistborn, but did get trough first 3 Stormlight books, it was fine, in my estimation, magic system aside, it's slightly above average compared to most of what I saw/touched when it comes to fantasy/fiction in general, the appeal of sander's magic system and world, in my view, is their reliability from which comes the ability to more or less predict what is and is not possible, thus permitting you to more deeply immerse yourself in the world w/o getting dragged out of it by DExM or simply bad writing, but the flip side is what you described, lack of "mystery" in the magic itself, tho there is still room for it in and around the rules governing it, it makes it more obvious of what will happen and less of an imagination driven read. Depending on your tastes, preferences and the need/want for such fuel for imagination his books can be pretty dull if Stormlight is anything to judge by.

>>17646419
I concur with the other anon, Wheel of Time is a fabulous take on the Chosen One.

>>17654080
His problem is that his character and dialogue are simply atrocious. He also cannot write proper politics or war campaigns.

>>17653210
Found the retard.

>>17654109
Hyperbole is useful but they aren't all THAT bad, they are just bland and unimpressive by and large. They don't strike a chord, true, but it's not like they are dumb as bricks or retarded in some other fashion, at least not from what I remember of it.

>>17652940
clark ashton smith is trash fuck off for baiting me into that

>>17652956
athiesm core

>>17653176
it gets more and more dark as it goes on, TGO and TUC are 11/10, TWP and TTT are like 8, darkness is like 6

>>17653981
I just like the fantasy of diving into dungeons with my harem party to acquire epic loot and become super strong. I would play rpgs instead but most of them are woke shit that will only give the option to romance one melodramatic slut. The "cheating the system" aspect is annoying but what can you do if only people with limited imagination cater to your particular escapist fantasy?

>>17654171
>>17654109
To be fair, it’s really just Shallan who’s the only actively terrible character to read through. The rest of the characters/view points range from entertaining enough to anime protagonist and are at worst inoffensive.

>>17654306
Eh, visual novels are a thing, it that's what you are into, but I suppose it makes sense otherwise. Cultivation/xianxia novels have lots of harems but often short on dungeons and rarely keep the harem together with MC so I see how you'd struggle to find something that suits your niche outside of litrpgs, I suppose it does present an interesting puzzle for finding something that fits while avoiding being one.

>>17654326
It's been so long that I don't even remember who she is, what role she plays and how she behaves in the books despite skimming through the wiki page on her. I suppose that tells you how memorable I found stormlight characters to be, hell the only concept I found utterly fascinating, enough to remember the details is the "dead" sword soul. It's an interesting idea and alongside with armor/swords mechanics in general probably the core appeal, or at least part of it, of the entire series.

>>17654366
>Eh, visual novels are a thing, it that's what you are into,
I've played some but very few actually have a harem and I am not looking for hentai, I like the companionship aspect more than the group sex.

>but I suppose it makes sense otherwise. Cultivation/xianxia novels have lots of harems but often short on dungeons and rarely keep the harem together with MC so I see how you'd struggle to find something that suits your niche outside of litrpgs,
Indeed. I would absolutely prefer a cultivation system over LitRPG stats, especially one that is well-done and fun like Martial World's. I can live without dungeons and loot drops if they are replaced with crafting and alchemy using the materials from spirit beasts and 1000-year-old plants, of course. The long separations are always annoying the shit out of me when I read xianxia, especially if it's because the MC decides to go full murderhobo to practice demonic cultivation techniques.
Not to mention that cultivation cheats are just as annoying as litRPG cheats.

>I suppose it does present an interesting puzzle for finding something that fits while avoiding being one.
It sure does.

Once upon a time i sat on some magic and it went up into my butthole; my butthole became magic.

>>17654456
I decided to go be a wizard with my magic butthole. So I went on an adventure. I met a mini-mart man. I told him 'tell me your problems and I will solve them.'

>I think you should be more worried not about the depiction == endorsement and people criticizing you for it, but the depiction == endorsement and people thanking you for it.

It's over bakkerbros, that annoying asoiaf chad finally won unironically

>>17654460
He told me that he hadn't paid taxes in ten years. I opened up my butthole and I shot magic out of it.

>>17654477
Fireworks came out, and magic exploded his mini-mart. Police came and took pictures. 'I have done this,' I said, the police handcuffed my buttocks. My butthole and buttocks became arrested.

The end.

When's the next Harry dresden book coming out

>>17654456
I love deep magic systems.

>>17654493
he hasn't said yet, but he's stated that he's inserting another book in the series before Mirror Mirror, tentatively called twelve months and he's implied his other series is getting its sequel first

>>17654509

None ever as deep as your mother's cunthole...

>>17654544
So what triggered your sperg-out episode?

>>17654419
>very few actually have a harem
Not sure if true or not, but to the extent that it is VN are a broad enough genre to house plenty of those that do feature it.
> I am not looking for hentai, I like the companionship aspect more than the group sex.
Eh, if you want to avoid hentai it would be difficult, tho not impossible to find one that suits you, however I'm not sure I get your meaning - hentai is just a subset of, in this case, visual novels that feature sex scenes, whilst it can mean group sex, it does not necessarily discards character interaction/companionship, nor necessarily focuses on the more perverted stuff. Kami no Rhapsody comes to mind as an example of something that might suit your fancy, tho it does make you pick a main heroine that's only for the plot developing around her, there are still lots of other secondary/support female characters that are prominently featured and well developed, by the standards of the genre at least. Check out other games by Eushully, some of the translated ones might be even more to your taste. Alternatively something like evenicle might do the trick. But again, both are hentai, not in the sex with tentacles sense but in the inclusion of sex scenes sense, so take it or leave it.

>Indeed. I would absolutely prefer a cultivation system over LitRPG stats, especially one that is well-done and fun like Martial World's.
I wanted to recommend Amber Sword thinking that for all it's faults it's not a litRPG and it does seem to do what you want, but thinking some more about it it probably qualifies as one so I'm just mentioning it in case you haven't read it. I find naive enthusiasm/idealism/liberalism of the author grading, but it rarely comes into play untill later parts and is easily overlooked if you enjoy the core of the character interaction that goes on. Tho the book does take it sweet time developing the relationships with the girls, for better or worse.

Another one that comes to mind is Sevens, that one is probably not a lit rpg, nor a cultivation novel, and tho I detest it for the main story and find harem without sex set up grading, it might be up your alley.

>>17654580

Dont cross me """friend""". First warning.

/sffg/, if I can't figure out how to make myself hypomanic I am literally going to kill myself

>>17646293
There's lord of the Mysteries if you're into poorly translated chinese shit.

>>17646419
>le no man can kill me bullshit
>literally pilpul as a narrative device
fuck off. Nothing better than a protagonist beating big bad through a series of optimal strategic choices over many years.

>>17647306
Worm doesn't really count. It's a good story, but the progression is really unsatisfying.

>>17654588
I have played stuff like Bunny Black and Kamidori Alchemy Meister and even Evenicle. I'll give Kami no Rhapsody a try, wasn't even aware of this one for some reason. Thanks.

>Eh, if you want to avoid hentai it would be difficult, tho not impossible to find one that suits you, however I'm not sure I get your meaning - hentai is just a subset of, in this case, visual novels that feature sex scenes, whilst it can mean group sex, it does not necessarily discards character interaction/companionship, nor necessarily focuses on the more perverted stuff.
The vast majority of VNs that have harems are pretty much "nukige" is all I meant. The RPG/VN hybrids are usually more to my liking than the pure VNs with a harem.

>>17654588
>I wanted to recommend Amber Sword thinking that for all it's faults it's not a litRPG and it does seem to do what you want, but thinking some more about it it probably qualifies as one so I'm just mentioning it in case you haven't read it. I find naive enthusiasm/idealism/liberalism of the author grading, but it rarely comes into play untill later parts and is easily overlooked if you enjoy the core of the character interaction that goes on. Tho the book does take it sweet time developing the relationships with the girls, for better or worse.
>Another one that comes to mind is Sevens, that one is probably not a lit rpg, nor a cultivation novel, and tho I detest it for the main story and find harem without sex set up grading, it might be up your alley.
Ah, those happen to be on my backlog. I think I was going to wait until Amber Sword is completely translated before trying it. As for Sevens, I am not sure what has even kept me from giving it a try yet, I think I have it downloaded but was hesitant.

>>17646130
What’s going on here?

>>17654670
>wasn't even aware of this one for some reason
My taste in VNs is probably not that dissimilar from yours, below is a filter/search set up use when looking for something to play that suits me, some may suit you as well, tho some, like Castle Meister, only have complete russian translation, with some tweaking you might find more VNs to your liking.
https://vndb.org/v?q=&o=d&s=rel&ch=&f=04125045057411480x80z80Ry80T1N1803122gen2grugwcomplete-741

>Sevens
Sevens is a very light heated novel most of the time with bizzare tonal shifts for the main plot and artificial stupidity induced by MC being overtly shy to the point of being stupid or even retarded, and that artificial barrier in the way of developing relationship between MC and harem members really ruins it for me, so take care not to end up like myself 3(4?)) volumes in and utterly disillusioned by almost complete lack of development in the relationships.

On the flip side i can heatedly recommend Amber sword, at least parts about MC and other characters interacting, even outside romantic context, are stellarly done and the world and most of the fantasy elements are well done, tho I find some parts dubious it's not to the extent that affects enjoyment severely.

>>17654758
>My taste in VNs is probably not that dissimilar from yours, below is a filter/search set up use when looking for something to play that suits me, some may suit you as well, tho some, like Castle Meister, only have complete russian translation, with some tweaking you might find more VNs to your liking.
Thank you, I remember running into mostly partially translated/interface only translations the last time I checked VNDB. Unfortunately, English or German are my only languages.

>Sevens
Ah, yeah, at some point I just stopped being able to stomach Japanese light novels. They have some frustrating elements that ruin even the stories that I expect to be pure wishfulfillment for me, with some exceptions and some things I still haven't tried because of arbitrary hesitation.

>Amber Sword
Sounds like I should really give it a try before I complain about a lack of things to read to scratch my litRPG harem itch. Thank you.

>>17654757
Rape.

>>17653566
Very very unironically my novel

>>17654635
Make your sleeping schedule completely erratic.

>>17653566
I don’t get the reference.

I skimmed through Reverend Insanity wiki after I saw it suggested here (I'm all for overpowered characters using everyone and seeing everyone as merely a practice tool to achieve their ends, it unironically caters to my disillusionment factor).
Needless to say I was FLOODED with terminology I've never even heard of before. Concepts and ideas that I've never considered. Before I start reading, is anything explained in the books? Or is it like "modern fantasy" where you're thrust into the action. I don't get any of the concepts in the wiki.

>>17654974
From A Dance With Dragons:

She was sopping wet when he entered her. "Damn you," she said. "Damn you damn you damn you." He sucked her nipples till she cried out half in pain and half in pleasure. Her cunt became the world. Only his hands mattered, only his mouth, only his arms around her, his cock inside her. He fucked her till she screamed, and then again until she wept, before he finally spent his seed inside her womb.

>>17654990
Why do I feel like that sex scene was completely unnecessary.

>>17654989
Read it and find out.

Recommendation for a dark fantasy series? Last one I read was the Broken Empire trilogy. I would like something in a similar vein, not necessarily as edgy though.

>>17653777
Trips checked. Not the guy to answered to but those 70s boobs made me order that print of worlds of if from amazon

>>17654941
already done. it ain't working

the fact that I'm now too paralyzed by anxiety to write is pushing me further into an-hero territory

>>17655043
Prince of thorns?

>>17655043
The Darkness That Comes Before

>>17655047
Write something edgy THEN an hero and become instantly immortal and renown. Imply that your work was so insane and so inner that it drove you to anheroing

>>17655048
That’s within the Broken Empire trilogy

>>17655050
I was reading through the thread and saw that discussed. I’m checking it out now.

>>17655024
How about NO?

>>17655096
We’re not going to spoonfed you.

>>17655043
Eragon

>>17654493
>Harry dresden
Is that series any good?

>>17652477
it stops being confusing or a mess, and it does get better but it still isn't as good as the other one you mention. the more you know about how things work, the less interesting it all gets, and the ending was a bit of a letdown, too sweet and fantastical, it's characteristic of tad i think.

but it's worth it to go through to the end since you already started, unless you really hate it i guess. i remember liking the book although i didn't think it was anything special overall

>>17655132
I’ll put it on my list to books to read.

What are some cave system kino. It coluld be SF or Fantasy

>>17655103
I thought cultivation meant some higher awareness and something philosophical but after I skimmed through the wiki I found out it's just another name for leveling up and exp points, which disappointed me greatly.

Any fantasy series like sword of truth? I like it’s philosophical approach

>>17655165
There's plenty of terrible soapbox fantasy, just pick something that won a Hugo, 90% chance it's going to be awful and almost as likely it's going to have the author soapboxing.

Anyone read The Last Kingdom? I know it's not /sff/ but I thought people in here would be likely to have read it.

I tried the show and thought it was shit but had a good idea. Are the books better?

>>17655160
Very few cultivation novels actually go deeply into Dao comprehension, yeah.

>>17655043
>dark fantasy
What makes something a dark fantasy?

>>17655183
And those that do get it wrong.

>>17655180
The show does it better.

Is royal road a good website to read fantasy/sci-fi web novels.

>>17655190
Well, we are all frogs in a well, after all.

>>17655160
Leveling up is just a representation.

Cultivation can be seen clearer in works like Journey to the West movies. There, cultivation is climbing a social ladder turned mythology through mastery over one's body and spirit. Be it through a sword style that slices a falling leaf ten thousand times, control over elements, dark magic, or whatever else.

>>17655206
No, I would only ever batch download them to read on my kindle.

>>17655206
>sci fi
It's mostly fantasy there. Usually litrpgs.

>>17655217
Any one you would recommend? Been binge reading and the ones I’ve been reading are, let’s say, subpar.

>>17655223
I think I read one or two scifi, galactic or cosmos heroes? It was anime inspired.

>>17655225
>subpar
That's the case for most pre-edit works even for professional authors. Online publishing trades post edit quality for variety.

>>17655225
I don't read that many series there and most of them are probably what everyone in this thread would label trash, anyway.

>>17655271
>>17655271
>>17655271
New REAL thread hop in here

New thread that’s like twenty minutes old.

>>17655237

>>17655185
Fantasy that takes place at night

>>17655197
Well, thank you for saving me a read.

>>17647825
I quit after 30 pages. Too much info-dump early on.

I loved Pushing Ice.

Will try again one day. Should will read Revelation Space first though.

You idiots made three new threads

>>17655551
No, two idiots made two new threads despite this thread >>17655237 being made with anons already posting in it.

>>17654465
yes. unironically. and of course this general, more than anyone anywhere, are guilty of that most putrid sin.

>>17655160
RI is one of the LEAST exp grind cultivation xiaxias. There's lots of ranks and numbers, but it all boils down to just having more gas in your tank. Everything is actually done with magic bugs, the human cultivator is basically just a battery.

>>17649986
grim