/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.10794874]

The Year So Far
>What have you accomplished for sff so far?
>What are you currently reading?
>Any new books you wish to recommend?

FANTASY
Selected:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21329.jpg
General:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21328.jpg
Flowchart:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21327.jpg

SCIENCE FICTION
Selected:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21326.jpg
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21331.jpg
General:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21332.jpg
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21330.jpg

NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21333.jpg

SF&F author listing with ratings and summaries:
>http://greatsfandf.com/authors-full-list.php

Previous Threads:
>>10778690
>>10769663
>>10756138
>>10743775

[Anonymous No.10794901]

First?

Downloads: http://b-ok.org/s/?q=Childhood%27s+End

[Anonymous No.10795131]

How did you guys interpret the ending to Roadside Picnic? I've just finished it. It feels so tragic, Red realises at the very end that he doesn't know what he wants deep down or even if what he wants is possible, or that it should happen. And how do you think the Golden Sphere reacted to the wish?

[Anonymous No.10795192]

>>10794874
Reread Eden, by Lem.

Just finished pic related. Not sci-fi but post apocalyptic, which I think is close enough to mention. I loved it.

[Anonymous No.10795215]

Is anything after this series worth reading?

I thought I might read this again but realized I never followed up on some the after novels in the same universe.

[Anonymous No.10795345]

sanderfag a hack

[Anonymous No.10795368]

What are these lazy fucks doing?

Advice to you aspiring authors. If you want to keep your readership don't publish your first book until you have an outline of where your series is going, and a definite end.

[Anonymous No.10795412]

>>10795368
i thought super sales 2 just came out

[Anonymous No.10795453]

>>10795368
You guys don't actually read books with covers that poor do you?

[Anonymous No.10795483]

>>10795412
i dont know why you keep posting almost every thread.
theres a timeline for william d. arand books on his blog. and super sales 2 is already out. e william brown however is notorious for not releasing books in a schedule. just stop posting until the books are out.
a little info about william d. arand/randi darren though.
he only writes trilogies. doesnt mean that there wont be more books with the same protagonists but he only writes trillogies.
i asked him a few questions per email and he told me a few things actually. such as: ioana and felicia will eventually get to yosemite city somehow

[Anonymous No.10795508]

>>10795368
Should I actually read one of those books? And if yes, which? Im a little intrigued with litrpg but can't tell if it's a meme or not

[Anonymous No.10795519]

>>10795508
super sales is the only good one out of those 3 in my opinion. wild wastes is just smut and and daniel black would have potential if it wasnt written so terribly.
i recommend the super sales audiobook over the book actually. its fucking amazingly narrated.
id ignore the other two. though you might want to read wild wastes somewhere down the line since all the books of william d. arand are in the same universe and hes building this metaplot where theyre all somehow connected.

[Anonymous No.10795522]

>>10795508
The first two are power-leveling harem erotica, not litrpg. Superheroes is the same except without the sex. None of them are true litrpg.

[Anonymous No.10795524]

>>10795508
also daniel black and wild wastes arent litrpgs. super sales is what id consider a pseudo litrpg. is light on the stats and rpg elements.

[Anonymous No.10795538]

>>10795368
isnt the super sales guy releasing a new book every 3 months consistently for like two years now?
didnt he just write one in collaboration with two other guys that just came out a few days ago?
i read something that if this books sells as well as the previous ones hes gonna quit his dayjob and go full time writer.

[Anonymous No.10795566]

are web novels really novels too?

[Anonymous No.10795581]

Currently reading "Magican" and im nearing the end. After Pug was sent to the assembly and Tomas got cleansed things started going downhill fast. The question is, should I continue or find a new book?

[thiskillsthedarkelf No.10795592]

>>10795566
Very much so, it's like getting to read the bare bones of a good-ish series with much less effort.

>yfw gene wolfs work could have been summarized in a 1,900 chapter web novel in half the time it took to write the books

[Anonymous No.10795620]

>>10794874
I am reading Dragons of a Fallen Sun and I am about a whopping 4% in. I don't know why but Dragonlance has been enthralling me.

[Anonymous No.10795643]

>>10795581
Keep going, when you are finished with Riftwar Saga you should read The Empire Trilogy (it's better than Riftwar IMO)

[Anonymous No.10795771]

>eyre affair (shades of grey sequel never) & sword of the lictor (reread)
>annihilation
>ttl & botns

[Anonymous No.10795819]

>>10795215
no one eh

[Anonymous No.10795870]

>>10795566
Absolutely. Novels used appear as serials originally all the time. Dickens famously.

[Anonymous No.10795998]

>>10795215
>>10795819
Read the first book of the series and post a short review here, as long as it's not complete dogshite I'm sure you'll get a few of us to read it.

[Anonymous No.10796060]

>>10795998
I've actually read the series several times, but never the Milieu series that follows it, was a curious if its worth pursuing

[Anonymous No.10796076]

>>10795581
Magician and >>10795643 are the only books in Feist's setting worth reading.

t. guy who owns 16 books set in Feist's magical realm

[Anonymous No.10796098]

>>10794874
>Finished Urth of the New Sun, taking a break before Litany of the Long Sun
>No SFF while I palate cleanse, reading 'Speak, Memory' by Nabokov
>Recommend The Lightning Stenography Device by M. F. Sullivan, doesn't come out for 2 more weeks but preorder that bitch if you like your sci-fi with a dose of philosophy. https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Stenography-Device-M-Sullivan/dp/0996539514/

Anybody in this thread read any of the Chinese sci-fi I've been hearing so much about lately? How is it? I'm intrigued but already dealing with such a long reading list.

[Anonymous No.10796109]

>>10796060
Is the series actually good?

[Anonymous No.10796161]

>tfw no obsidian gf to cuddle with
It hurts lads

[Anonymous No.10796220]

>what have you accomplished so far?
read book of the new sun. great book
>what are you currently reading?
nothing. what should i read?
i could start
>way of kings
or
>wheel of time
but im open to other suggestions.

[Anonymous No.10796290]

>>10796098
Pretty good, though it's the best ones that tend to get translated in the first place. A lot of them examine and make use of themes that may resonate more strongly with a Chinese audience (Trisolaris for example from the Three Body Problem has many aspects that call back to the dynastic cycle and Legalist philosophy, or Folding Beijing being a critique of the hukou system used to artificially restrict rural to urban migration and stratify society) but it's always interesting to see another culture's perspective.

You can give them a go by reading the short story collections of The Wandering Earth and Invisible Planets, and of course The Three Body Problem trilogy for something longer and meatier.

[Anonymous No.10796435]

>>10794874
On a scale from 1-10 what would you rate this list?

>Twenty Must-read Finished Fantasy Epics – An Introduction to the Genre – The Ranting Dragon
http://www.rantingdragon.com/top-20-finished-epic-fantasy-books-an-introduction-to-the-genre/

[Anonymous No.10796522]

>>10796435
I'd rate in a 2/10 because it at least included LOTR, Amber, and Legend/Drenai.. The Sword of Shannara needs to be forgotten. The Wheel of Time is a glaring omission.

I have a pretty jaundiced view of Epic Fantasy as a genre however, and there are some things on that list I've never read. At least he tried.

[Anonymous No.10796561]

>>10796076
I kinda like Serpentwar though.

[Anonymous No.10796567]

>>10795870
Yeah, in magazines. That means someone other than the author read it first.

[Anonymous No.10796578]

>>10796435
I've read only a few of those series so I can't really comment. Seems like a lot of the authors I read are just obscure since they never seem to make these lists.

[Anonymous No.10796588]

>>10796561
I liked the first two books of Serpent War, but you need to read all of Riftwar to get the context for them and if you're not enjoying Riftwar before you even finish Magician I wouldn't say it is worth your time. And I can't even claim that my opinion on Riftwar is unbiased cause I have a softspot for military fantasy and merchant shenanigans, so I especially love Rise of a Merchant Prince.

[Anonymous No.10796590]

>>10796435
Fairly decent actually, I've read most of them. While some I wouldn't really recommend as they are only average it does get bonus points for having Kushiel and The Belgariad on there. The former because I think it's prose is so well written, the latter because while I don't think it's high fantasy it's the perfect easy to read coming of age series.

Shannara is god awful though. I hate it always makes these kind of lists.

[Anonymous No.10796597]

>>10796590
>>10796435
I think I'll pick up Belgariad next.

[Anonymous No.10796633]

Is Senlin Ascends any good?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35271523-senlin-ascends

[Anonymous No.10796646]

>>10796220
If you start reading Wheel of Time you should know the first book is sort of odd. The Eye of the World's main plot is basically a side story that's never brought up again, while the side plots in it end up becoming majorly important foundations for the entire series going forward. I don't know if this is because Robert Jordan had a very different idea of what WoT was going to be while writing the first book, or if he did it to be intentionally misleading, but the ending to Eye of the World basically changes the entire focus of events. It's a crazy ride though, I don't regret reading the whole series though it was slow at times.

[Anonymous No.10796711]

Is it absolutely necessary to read Urth of the New Sun after BotS? Does BotS make sense on it's own or can it only properly be understood by reading Urth immediately after?

[Anonymous No.10796719]

>>10796435
>brent weeks
>night angel trilogy
DROPPED like a fucking ton of bricks. one of the worst books ive ever read.

[Anonymous No.10796819]

>>10794874
Why do contemporary Fantasy book covers look so hideous? What happened?

[Anonymous No.10796882]

>>10796819
Sweet Jesus, the one on the right. Had to google because I didn't think it was real. It's a real cover. Mother of God.

[Anonymous No.10796890]

>>10796819
the left isnt the worst cover if you just got rid of the flames for some kind of actual background.
>middle cover
>12 minutes into child of the daystar and chill and he gives you this look

[Anonymous No.10796891]

>>10796646
> The Eye of the World's main plot is basically a side story that's never brought up again

You'll have to be more specific because that's not true at all. What is found in the EotW carry on for entire the rest of the series.

> while the side plots in it end up becoming majorly important foundations for the entire series going forward.

What's the problem with that? It's exactly how world building works. The first novel in a series should help setup everything that follows.

[Anonymous No.10796894]

>>10796819
they're trying their best to look nothing like the books kids have to read for school so as to not scare them away. it has to look like absolute trash because if it didn't it might make your target audience think of their homework.

[Anonymous No.10796900]

>>10796711
It's not absolutely necessary to read Urth. BotNS works perfectly fine as a standalone. Urth answers some questions that aren't fully answered in BotNS, and continues the story.

The general advice to new Solar Cycle readers is to read BotNS twice before moving onto Urth or the Long/Short Sun books. When I read them for the first time I wanted the re-read without anyone advising me to. I got a lot more questions answered by the re-read than by reading Urth if that makes sense.

[Anonymous No.10796952]

>>10796891
>What is found in the EotW carry on for entire the rest of the series.
Yeah, but the EotW itself is irrelevant. I don't recall anyone ever talking about it after book 1 in any great detail, I think it gets mentioned once or twice in passing, but that's it. Nobody visits the place again, and it doesn't feature into any of the future plot developments. After the first book it is completely irrelevant to the story. That's why I said it's basically a side plot when you look at the whole of WoT. Meanwhile stuff like Perrin's adventures with Whitecloaks and meeting Elyas end up becoming incredibly important and formative for the series in the long run.

>What's the problem with that?
Where did I say it's a problem? All I said is that it's odd, because it is. It's extremely odd to have a first book in series where the main story that drives the narrative ends up being inconsequential while almost everything else ends up being incredibly important.

[Anonymous No.10796956]

>>10796819
The three great sins of modern fantasy covers:
>a sword or something against a white background
>photograph of a model in costume
>cheesy photoshop effects all over the place

[Anonymous No.10796958]

Reading Senlin Ascends and loving it. Anyone else check out that book? Anything out there with such a unique world?

[Anonymous No.10796962]

>>10796633
I’m loving it, very fast, very cool world building, the MC is likeable and unique

[Anonymous No.10796982]

>>10795131
I don't think the Sphere grants wishes. And about Red, I think all the shit he had experienced finally got to him and drove him mad.
I also feel that the Sphere actually granting wishes would not fit the theme of the book (that the alien visit is like a picnic), it's such an specific effect for an piece of alien garbage to have.

[Anonymous No.10796986]

>>10796633
>>10796958
>>10796962
is this sffg's new shilled book of the month?

[Anonymous No.10796990]

>>10796986
Wow, this place really isn’t that different from /v/

I picked it up on a whim after reading the first chapter free online. I like the writing style.

[Anonymous No.10797000]

>>10796982
If the Sphere doesn't grant wishes how do you explain the Vulture's children being so good looking, Arthur so virtuous etc? They look nothing like the Vulture himself - the Vulture apparently got those children by visiting the Sphere and sacrificing people to the grinder. That's why he's so adamant that Red needs to take someone (to sacrifice).

[Anonymous No.10797001]

>>10796890
Didn't even notice the flames at first, was too busy looking at the shitty font they used for the book title.

[Anonymous No.10797077]

>>10796819

[Anonymous No.10797091]

>>10797000
Checked.

That's only what the Vulture believe. The nature of the Zone is erratic, and it's a known fact that the children of Stalkers turn out strange. Red's child turned out bad but there's no reason for someone else not to get lucky.
Or maybe someone else slept with his wife when he was in the Zone.

[Anonymous No.10797093]

>>10796986

why they talk about new thing??

[Anonymous No.10797287]

>>10797091
Not him but I like that first sentence, that's actually a possibility I hadn't considered when I read RP. Shit that book was excellent.

[Anonymous No.10797440]

Any litrpg where a guy becomes a sexy girl and hates it? Asking for a friend.

[Anonymous No.10797444]

>>10796522
>The Wheel of Time is a glaring omission.
Wheel of Time is terrible.

[Anonymous No.10797446]

>>10796220
>>wheel of time
Don't.

[Anonymous No.10797450]

>>10796956
>>photograph of a model in costume
Those are fine.

[Anonymous No.10797461]

>>10795453
>judging a book by it's cover
Some of those shit covered books, blows books published by recognized print houses (with dedicated art departments) out of the water.

Serious question. Do you read sff, or are you here just to meme?

[Anonymous No.10797468]

>>10795566
Webnovels are novels too

[Anonymous No.10797473]

>>10797446
>it got so obnoxious that Nynaeve tugged her braid

[Anonymous No.10797481]

>>10795483
>will eventually get to yosemite city somehow
Will his irresistible dick make them crave it? They are the lesbians right?

>only writes trilogies
That means I have 2 more super sales books, and one wild wastes book to look forward to.

>e william brown however is notorious for not releasing books in a schedule
He doesn't even post on his blog when he said he would. I guess his wife cucking him and falsely accusing him of beating her took a toll on his promptness.

[Anonymous No.10797499]

>>10797481
>He doesn't even post on his blog when he said he would. I guess his wife cucking him and falsely accusing him of beating her took a toll on his promptness.
do elaborate on that. sounds intriguing.

[Anonymous No.10797503]

>>10797481
I didn't know he was Tommy Wiseau.

[Anonymous No.10797517]

Anyone read any of Lems other books? I like Solaris and i'm curious about the rest.

[Anonymous No.10797569]

>>10797444
So is Night Angel and fucking Sword of Shannara. An unlike either of those two WoT had a lasting impact (albeit for worse, imo) on the genre.

[Anonymous No.10797572]

>>10797517
I've read His Master's Voice and The Cyberiad, they are both excellent in completely different ways.

[Anonymous No.10797579]

>>10796161
Iron Gold is worthless shit.
Don't read.

[Anonymous No.10797588]

>>10797569
Touché.

[Anonymous No.10797625]

>>10796435
>Thomas Covenant the unbeliever
>Lotr
What possessed them to put those shit on the list?

[Anonymous No.10797631]

>>10797569
>So is Night Angel
Night Angel is more entertaining than WoT and Legend.
Go fuck your dinosaur ass with a dragon dildo.

[Anonymous No.10797723]

>>10796522
>The Wheel of Time is a glaring omission.
Are you from reddit or something? Why do newfags think it's a must to troll people into reading something on lit? This general used to be actually helpful, with people that read everyday.
Now we have people who last read a sff decades ago, and they try to troll people into reading fucking shit infested books. Fuck you.

[Anonymous No.10797740]

>>10797499
In the Daniel Black book, his wife was cucking him while he was at work. When he gets home early she screams at him, calls the cops, then has him arrested for domestic abuse. Then sends a divorce lawyer after him the next day.

Writers usually write what they know. I think he was cucked and taken for a ride.
If you like magical engineering books I recommend Daniel Black. Going for my fourth reread sometime next week.

[Anonymous No.10797772]

>>10797723
I'm still butthurt ovet the time spent reading Prince of Thorns. I got punked good by one of you.

[Anonymous No.10797779]

>What have you accomplished for sff so far?
Finished my very first short story (proud of this one)
Got my head out of my butt and decided to give Dune a try. It was worth it but have no incentive to read the second book now, for some reason.
Reread BotNS once again.
Tried Malazan but dropped because it feels like fanfic more than anything else.

>What are you currently reading?
The Black Company. Finished first book a few days ago and I started the second one.
Want to read Oathbringer but I can't find the book anywhere for some reason even though it shows that it was released last year.

>Any new books you wish to recommend?
Nope, I only read and reread older sff. The newest things I read is B. Sanderson. I would like others to introduce me new sff though, any recommendations will be greatly appreciated

[Anonymous No.10797791]

>>10797772
I got trolled into thomas covenant, imajica, LoTR, buried giant, last unicorn, red knight, the blade itself, Prince of thorns, gray mouser, and many others. If I could find those cucks who did this...

[Anonymous No.10797793]

*dabs*

[Anonymous No.10797795]

>>10797740
>If you like magical engineering books I recommend Daniel Black.

[Anonymous No.10797797]

>>10797779
Library at mount char
Shades of Grey by fforde
Metro 2033
Enjoy.

[Anonymous No.10797801]

>>10797793
That robot is a pretty convincing girl. Would fug.

[Anonymous No.10797806]

>>10797791
Wars were started over lesser transgressions anon.

>LotR
I barely finished Fellowship and felt exhausted and drained. The rest are horrendous. The Last Unicorn film is excellent tho.

[Anonymous No.10797807]

>>10797795
Yes. I am my squat bro. What do you want to ask?

[Anonymous No.10797811]

>>10797797
Excuse my ignorance, but allow me to assume that Shades of Grey by fforde is not the same as 50 Shades of Grey by whoever wrote that, right?

Also I only heard good things about Metro 2033. Will definitely read it soon.

[Anonymous No.10797813]

>>10797723
Anon, you or someone of like mind has been saying this pretty much since the general started. Relax pard.

[Anonymous No.10797827]

>>10797811
>what is google
Do you live in china or something? Is google banned and blocked?

[Anonymous No.10797828]

>>10797450
Please expire in a conflagration my good man.

[Anonymous No.10797833]

>>10797827
I was just making conversation, trying to lure the anon into talking more about it. No need to get so angry and rude about it.
If we go to that extreme, me might as well close this site altogether because we could just "google" book recommendations and get over with.

[Anonymous No.10797863]

>>10797833
>pic
There are female rape monsters?

[Anonymous No.10797876]

>>10797833
>Outta my way cunuroi fuckin' shits

>>10797863
No, sadly. It would have made sense. But there are female mind-rapers, female incubator monsters, and female sex monsters. Just no unwanted dick-in-pussy on the male side.

[Anonymous No.10797878]

>>10797791
>gray mouser
Delet, reeee, etc.

Also, once you learn how to filter out the bad/average recommendations this thread is the best place for SF&F recommendations that I know of.

[Anonymous No.10797879]

>>10797863
Reminder that she actually fucked a small bird in that scene.

[Anonymous No.10797881]

>>10796882
Going by covers alone, I'd rather read a book about fluffy kitten and it's operatically appreciative companion than sidelong glance reptilian or le fightin man.

[Anonymous No.10797885]

>>10797876
>mouth open all the time so a face can see out
That must be suffering. Leaving one's mouth open for every must be extremely painful.

[Anonymous No.10797886]

What the fuck was this guy's problem?

[Anonymous No.10797889]

>>10797886
Bakker? Muh philosophy, mostly.

[Anonymous No.10797891]

>>10797885
Post fall Inchoroi just really sucked at genetic engineering. The best way they could think of to be able to make appropriate Non-Man sounds was to grow a second, Non-Man head. But they couldn't fuck with their hox genes without killing themselves because they suck. So they just grew the head inside their existing head.

[Anonymous No.10797893]

>>10797889
No, I mean the guy on the cover. What's his deal? Why is he staring at us so angrily? It's very off-putting.

[Anonymous No.10797894]

>>10797879
Gotta do what gou must to survive... Even though a man is looking after you and you don't need the money.

I hope esmenet dies horribly. Why do these books bring out such emotions of hate in me? Is it because I have trust issues, and don't want to be cucked?

[Anonymous No.10797897]

>>10797894
>Even though a man is looking after you and you don't need the money.
She didn't trust him to look after her indefinitely. Mandati aren't supposed to get attached.

>I hope esmenet dies horribly. Why do these books bring out such emotions of hate in me? Is it because I have trust issues, and don't want to be cucked?
My guess is a woman was a profound negative influence on your life at a formative period. Likely your mother. No matter how you might try, you will always have a visceral negative reaction to women as a result. The fundamental model of "woman" in your head is a manipulative and malign entity.

[Anonymous No.10797901]

>>10797894
>I hope esmenet dies horribly.
Well since Little Kelmomas is the No-God now, her chances of being tortured and raped into insanity by her own progeny have gone down markedly.

[Anonymous No.10797902]

>>10797897
So are you saying you don't want esmenet dead too for cucking akka?

[Anonymous No.10797907]

>>10797901
It was pretty hot that the "we need to talk about kevin" character fucked his sister. She was so meek afterwards.

[Anonymous No.10797940]

This is some pretty good anime lit. Couldn't even finish the broken empire trilogy, think he improved a lot at writing interesting characters since then.

As for the anime it's got special bloodline powers, yuri, magic school, nuns, special power that (so far) only the mc has, lots of one on one fights and probably a lot of other stuff that could qualify.

[Anonymous No.10797950]

>>10797940
>it's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge
This is more edgy than night angel trilogy quote

[Anonymous No.10797952]

>>10797902
No, because it was Kellhus. Kellhus does that to everyone.

[Anonymous No.10797957]

>>10797907
>it turns out Thelli wasn't always a robot, she just never had emotional affect. She wasn't a genuine robot until Inrilatas completely destroyed her
;_;

[Anonymous No.10797972]

Well I guess I'm officially a brainlet. I just finished Perdido Street Station and thought it was really underwhelming even though it gets recommended in ever other /lit/ chart.
The world-building and the setting where quite fascinating at first but the story really became a drag in the later half.
I skipped big parts because I just wanted to get on with the plot and not follow secondary characters with their uneventful tasks (Derkham and the waterbender laying cables was especially uninteresting).
Birdmans story was quite interesting and the snibets from his pov where good for breaking up the dragging story.
Also Isaac is a fucking cunt and Lin a retard.

[Anonymous No.10798067]

What's a good, sensible reason to write sff in the first person?
I'm tired of the whole "memories" stuff even though BotNS is my favorite book of all time, and having the MC writing in a diary / journal / notes is overdone. So is talking about their lives on their deathbed to their children / followers.
So far, the reason I have is that the MC is telepathically talking and playing chess on a cosmic scale with actual god, and they're just kinda talking but because actual god is so incomprehensible, we basically only "hear" the MC.

[Anonymous No.10798131]

>>10797952
So you're saying you wouldn't mind because it's kellhus? Well then
>there is a skull on a pole behind you

[Anonymous No.10798136]

>>10798067
Read daniel black to see how you write first person

[Anonymous No.10798138]

Has a science fiction book (or concept therein) ever scared the shit out of you?

[Anonymous No.10798140]

>>10798067
Why do you need a reason to write in first person?
Tons of books do it and never give a reason. There is no reason to do so.

[Anonymous No.10798151]

>>10797579
I liked Lysander's and Ephraim's stories, Lyria's was so fucking boring, what the hell was Pierce thinking?

[Anonymous No.10798176]

>>10798138
Children of Light had a pretty grim beginning.

[Anonymous No.10798190]

>>10798138
As cliched as it may sound but after reading shadow out of time by lovecraft I actually dreamed about huge cyclopean underground-cities and lurking formless shadows within.
Really freaked me out because thats exactly what was happening to the MC.

[Anonymous No.10798203]

>>10798131
Oh I'd mind. I'm just saying that if for some reason Kellhus wanted to fuck Akka instead of Esmi, it would be Akka drooling over his Dunyain knob and Esmi crying herself to sleep over the betrayal. He's a fucking Dunyain.

[Anonymous No.10798217]

>>10797091
Good point.

Another possibility is that the throwaway comment about Arthur being groomed to be a lawyer, then Senator, then President could be part of the "soft invasion" theme and the Sphere is granting wishes subversively in order to put Zone-people in powerful positions. We already know Zone-things communicate with each other in an unintelligible way, like when Monkey and zombie grandpa were moaning to each other.

That's a bit of a stretch, I know. And I like your idea about the Vulture just being delusional. However I don't completely buy into it because, firstly, we know there are lots of dead stalkers near the Sphere and we know that Vulture knows the location. Therefore we know that Vulture has gone there several times and sacrificed several stalkers. This implies he found the Sphere worth visiting repeatedly. Finally, we've only ever heard of Stalker children being mutated and wrong somehow, there are no other examples of Stalker or Zone resident children turning out well. Only Vulture's children.

[Anonymous No.10798230]

>>10797893
How would you feel if cursed to inhabit a dinner-plate for all eternity?

[Anonymous No.10798248]

>>10798230
Is this canon?

[Anonymous No.10798253]

>>10798138
The Three Stigmata of Peter Eldritch scared me a fair bit.

Especially:

- the ex-wife regressing after she did the brain enhancement medical procedure
- the idea of being stuck in Eldritch's dream place after taking Chew-Z, never knowing for sure if you've got out, everything seems normal again but then it suddenly becomes a horror show..

[Anonymous No.10798263]

>>10798253
>- the ex-wife regressing after she did the brain enhancement medical procedure
Elaborate? this may be my fetish

[Anonymous No.10798271]

>>10798138
Ubik and The White Plague are pretty scary and, honestly, the idea in BotNS that you have to flood the Earth killing almost everyone and destroyig eerything to save it
is fucking terrifying

[Anonymous No.10798287]

>>10796109
I like it because I read it as a teen, when you can go all in on some work without regard to anything but your own interest, and have re read as such but I have no idea how its viewed historically or critically.

[Anonymous No.10798291]

>>10798263
Sure but when you greentext me please re-spoiler the spoilers. I'll elaborate if you delete that post and post it again with spoilers.

[Anonymous No.10798300]

>>10796982
any significantly advanced science looks like magic to the primitve et al

the sphere was some sort of device that interacted with the user on some level that had some sort of mechanism for enacting what the user wants

[Anonymous No.10798303]

>>10798248
Around here, sure. There's a couple greentexts we've written about it in the archives.

[Anonymous No.10798321]

>>10798291
I already found it myself. You'll have to live with it. It is indeed my fetish.

[Anonymous No.10798346]

>>10798131
Brainlet woman here (pleonasm, I know, bear with me)
Can you explain the skull on a pole for me?

[Anonymous No.10798360]

>>10797940
>At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.
Females are weaker than males though.

[Anonymous No.10798394]

>>10798217
While not impossible, the Zones being tools of invasion feel highly unlikely. It goes against what the authors have said on the theme of the book and also seems like a really obnoxious method for the aliens.

As you say, my theory is in no way CONFIRMED and your arguments against it make sense. But it does fit the theme and depressing/bleak atmosphere of the book, it seems unlikely that Reds wish would come true, granting everyone happiness and freedom to everyone.

>>10798300
>any significantly advanced science looks like magic to the primitve et al
True. The Sphere actually being what it's supposed to be is in no way unlikely, I just feel that it does not fit with the novel.

[Anonymous No.10798399]

>>10798291
>>10798321
Though I do wish more had been shown, and that she'd gone further. The despair of being reduced that way. unf. So hot.

[Anonymous No.10798402]

>>10798346
Not that Anon but any explanation is going to be pure theory.

>pleonasm
Marry me.

[Anonymous No.10798479]

>>10798360
It's all about how much of the ancient bloodlines you have. I fly into an autist rage if the females are just stronger for no good reason too but this book didn't trigger that.

[Anonymous No.10798519]

>>10797779
>I would like others to introduce me new sff though, any recommendations will be greatly appreciated

If you like Clarke, read Cixin Liu
If you like Heinlein including the weird sex, China Mieville
If you like Heinlein but prefer your sex to be in the missionary position and open to procreation, John C. Wright.

[Anonymous No.10798671]

>>10798291
>>10798321
Can someone explain to me?
I've seen 3 palms being shilled for months. Your answers depends on whether I read it or not.

[Anonymous No.10798679]

>>10798151
It was emotional blackmail. He talked about dead babies and children to get the sops who wear their hearts on their sleeves.

[Anonymous No.10798708]

>>10798519
>implying Isaac and Lin wouldn't have procreated given the chance
She deserved better, Mr. Motley a shit ;--;

[Anonymous No.10798727]

Royal assassing was a big step up from Assassins Apprentice. Which was already quite good. It's a fair bit longer, which really helps it flesh out everything a bit more than the first. Though I now appreciate the short lenght of the first book as it got the childhood stuff well out of the way. Quite excited to start part 3, after that I'll probably move on to something else for a while, even though there's still 6 books following these same characters I believe?

Royal assassin did some great work in fleshing out Burrich, Verity and the fool. Most characters, really, Though I am not fond of Fitz' romance with Molly. But I guess you just gotta have a love interest. It just didn't feel as earned and earnest as it should be.

Still, I can't help but feel that killing Regal after the events of Apprentice would have saved everyone a lot of trouble. It also seems to me Verity should have noticed the source of Shrewd's waning strenght. It would not have taken much for him to ruin those parasites.

Here's hoping Verity doesn't just come back with some deus ex machina solution.

[Anonymous No.10798758]

>>10798346
It means gai but secs in the arse

[Anonymous No.10798766]

>>10798479
How did you like the females in thousand names?

[Anonymous No.10798771]

In what order do I read Branderson?

[Anonymous No.10798784]

>>10798727
>assassin
>doesn't assassinate anyone
Get the fuck out of dodge with that sheit
I'll stick with my Night Angel

[Anonymous No.10798794]

>>10797972
People mostly recommend Perdido for the worldbuilding. China Melville is not as good a writer as he thinks he is. It certainly drags, especially near the end, where he thinks a dozen pages about laying cables is a good idea. No, its not a good idea, its pointless filler, and his writing is, again, not good enough to justify it for the purpose of the prose alone.

[Anonymous No.10798801]

>>10798784
I agree that the title is chosen poorly, and it sometimes feels like the writer goes out of her way to try and justify it.

[Anonymous No.10798803]

>>10798271
>Ubik
That one actually seriously fucked me up. I had to put the book down and go for a long walk after I finished it just to stop being disturbed.

[Anonymous No.10798812]

>>10798771
His mistborn series is finished. he's now 3 books into Stormlight archive. There's some standalone books too, but I'd ignore them for now. Start with either of these two, depending on which one sounds most interesting, and on whether or not you can stomach waithing 3 years in between releases.

[Anonymous No.10798822]

>>10798771
Emperors Soul, it's short and good.
Then Warbreaker or Elantris, or Mistborn, but that last one kicks off a couple of trilogies. The first trilogy of those really has to be read as a trilogy.
After those, and other short stories you can get on the Stormlight train, or just start with it.

Don't read his non-Cosmere stuff if you're older than 20 or so, as they are either for kids or teens mostly. With the exception of Legion.

>>10798812
>His mistborn series is finished.
Nope, one book still missing from the quadrilogy of the second era. But the trilogy of the first era is finished.

[Anonymous No.10798829]

>>10798766
Didn't read that, is it any good? Reverse trap soldier could be interesting if it's more Joan of Arc and less YASS QWEEN.

[Anonymous No.10798849]

So I'm 17 chapters into Shadow & Claw and I still have no idea what kind of world to picture in my head. I'm a brainlet so I haven't really been understanding the descriptions of architecture or scenery. I keep imagining Yharnam from Bloodborne except no monsters. Am I close?

[Anonymous No.10798889]

>>10798849
Picture a bunch of Catholic images.

[Anonymous No.10798904]

>>10798889
Is there supposed to be a lot of stained glass and temple looking buildings?

[Anonymous No.10799050]

>>10798889
What's going on in this pic?

[Anonymous No.10799071]

>>10799050
Literature.

[Anonymous No.10799073]

So did Glen Runciter die in his sleep at the end of Ubik? Is this why he sees Joe Chip(working against destruction) on the coins?
Did Runciter die of cardiac arrest or did vogelsang kill him? Why would vogelsang kill him? Was it a reaction to taking too many amphetamines?

Also I expected more gloating and sadistic behaviour from Pat, Pris was far better at humiliating Isidore, I barely got excited during Pats scenes with Joe
What other PKD novels/short stories contain the dark haired girl archetype? Preferrably some where shes properly degrading some helpless guy I can self insert as

[Anonymous No.10799083]

>>10799073
>dark haired girl archetype

Man in the High Castle.

>>10799050
Some dark poetic cryptic shit

[Anonymous No.10799128]

>>10798138
Does Lord of the Flies count? Simon's epileptic seizure had me grasping for air.

[Anonymous No.10799129]

>>10799050
I'm afraid you're not quite demented in the specific way needed for it to make any sense.

[Anonymous No.10799137]

>>10799073
What the fuck

[Anonymous No.10799145]

>>10798346
Judging from some appendix stuff he's using the severed head of one of his faithful and/or a demon to keep him grounded to reality while he sends his soul into the Outside.

[Anonymous No.10799202]

>>10798402
Any theory would suffice as long as it's YOUR theory. I want to see other people's take on the Second Apocalypse. I'm not going to pretend that Bakker is klasse eins wordsmith and philosopher extraordinaire, but aside from a few select ones (BotNS being at the undisputed top), his Second Apocalypse is easily my favorite sff series.
Could it be Kellhus' alternate presence in the Outside? I shall have to reread the Aspect Emperor.

>Marry me.
Sure, if you're willing to handle my incomprehensible ramblings (it's not that bad)

>>10798519
>China Mieville
I've only heard good things about this man. Can you (or anyone else) say something in his defense in order to prop me to read him?

[Anonymous No.10799209]

>>10799202
>China Mieville

He probably has the best name in the world outside of John Lee Hooker

[Anonymous No.10799216]

>>10799209
China Me-evil or Meye-e-ville or Mee-eh-vill?

[Anonymous No.10799221]

>>10799216
dja-pan moe-be-dick

[Anonymous No.10799227]

>>10799209
Jean-Luc Mélenchon would be the best name.
Maybe Mélanchon or Mélachton would be better.

[Anonymous No.10799261]

>>10799227
>>10799209

>wolf blitzer
>slinger francisco
>harper lee
>robert lee burnside
>michael ironside

[Anonymous No.10799356]

>>10798394
>it seems unlikely that Reds wish would come true, granting everyone happiness and freedom to everyone.

Oh I agree, in fact Red realises himself that the wish can't be granted since a person's happiness often requires another to be unhappy. He wishes for that explicitly because he can't think of anything better to say, which is what's so tragic. But shortly before the last line he essentially asks the Sphere/aliens to look inside his soul and grant what he wants deep down, which he can't articulate, but assumes is something worth wishing for. Red and the Vulture both already know that the Sphere doesn't grant what you ask for, it grants what your innermost wishes (supposedly, if it grants anything at all).

>>10798671
>Can someone explain to me?
>I've seen 3 palms being shilled for months. Your answers depends on whether I read it or not.

I'm the anon who made a fuss out of the spoiler quotes. I don't really want to explain to you since you haven't read it, it would spoil parts of the novel for you. Suffice to say Three Stigmata is a uniquely horrifying book that generates the horror in various ways. I'll try and explain without spoilers:

1) PKD creates a suffocating and oppressive atmosphere the pervades the entire novel. Day to day life is oppressively dull for the colonists on other planets and Earth has become so hot that you can't even go outside. It's almost claustrophic.

2) The protagonist and other characters are constantly unsure about they're in reality or a joint drug-induced dream. This gets really sinister when Palmer Eldritch makes an appearance.

3) Palmer Eldritch himself, as an antagonist, is just... ugh. I'm sure anyone who has read the book remembers when Palmer Eldritch first appears in the flesh and meets the protagonist. Gave me chills.

I don't think I'm doing a good job here... the novel just completely engrossed me and made me feel *really* uneasy while reading it and for a long time afterwards.

I just spent a few minutes thinking about why it had this effect on me:

When you get to the core of it, what makes the story so terrifying is that it drives home how tenuous our experience of "reality" is. Our minds aren't really that robust. If you lost your mind... PKD knows better than most authors what that might possibly entail and it's horrible.

[Anonymous No.10799369]

>>10797950
>everything that sounds cool is edgy

[Anonymous No.10799435]

>>10799369
>everything that sounds cool to a hormonally imbalanced young person is edgy
Probably, yes.

[Anonymous No.10799436]

Quick, give me some /sffg/ material that features dinosaurs getting the shit beat outta 'em!

[Anonymous No.10799469]

Are there any sff books that deal with the end of the world in a dissimilar way to the dark lord nameless hordes of mooks invasion, or even worse, some extremely vague aftereffect of something that angered """the gods"""
I want to read a good book featuring the end of the world and its effects on, well, the world, the MC, the government, environment, all that.
>inb4 BotNS
*teleports ahead of u*

[Anonymous No.10799479]

>>10798784
night angel is awful and you should feel bad

[Anonymous No.10799485]

>>10798771
you don't

[Anonymous No.10799488]

>>10799436
Malazan

[Anonymous No.10799522]

Which translation of Roadside Picnic is best? Felt like I should ask before I read.

[Anonymous No.10799565]

>>10799469
Man in the High Castle
Dune
Canticle for Leibowitz
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

[Anonymous No.10799588]

>>10799565
>Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
>dude whales lmao
>dude 1986 fish out of water jokes lmao
>dude lets break the prime directive again lmao
one of my favourite films, absolutely magnificent

[Anonymous No.10799820]

>>10798360
>ER nurse Susan Walters of Portland, Ore. was returning home from work in September of 2007 when she faced the surprise of her life: a crack addict armed with a hammer determined to kill her.

>“Not having any clue why he was in my home, I knew, I could feel his intent to kill me,” Walters told KPTV.

>As the man attacked her, repeatedly striking her with the hammer and his fists, Walters says she went into survival mode.

>“I pushed him flat to the floor, and I got up on his backside and I leaned forward and I put my left arm under his neck, and I squeezed,” she recalled.

>Walters knew she temporarily had the upper hand, and if she continued to apply pressure the man would eventually stop breathing, but she offered him a way out. “I said, ‘Tell me who sent you here, and I will call you an ambulance,'” Walters said. “I wanted him to be afraid, as terrified as I was.”

>The assailant showed no sign of giving up, and Walters knew she would not survive another round of attacks. So she gave it everything she had, applying pressure to the man’s neck until he stopped struggling.

>Walters didn’t know whether he was dead or simply passed out, but she didn’t wait to find out. She grabbed his hammer, and fled to a neighbor’s house to call the police. The crack addict, who died in the struggle, never told Walters who hired him.

>But Walters soon found it out it was her husband of 17 years, Michael Kuhnhausen. Prosecutors said Kuhnhausen, then a janitor at Fantasy Adult Video, offered Edward Haffey $50,000 to kill his wife.

>Walters said the hit man’s “last words on this earth” were “you’re strong.” Kuhnhausen was sentenced to ten years in jail in September 0f 2007 after pleading guilty to solicitation to commit aggravated murder, but he may be released in September due to good behavior.

[Anonymous No.10799828]

>>10798727
I actually thing that Apprentice > Royal > Quest. The series was best when it dealt with mundane shit, as opposed to save-the-world tier tasks. Fitz dealing with his life and his problems with the Wit, loyalty and being an assassin was the best part of the series.

>Here's hoping Verity doesn't just come back with some deus ex machina solution
top lmaodragon ex machina incoming

>>10798771
Warbreaker first. If you really really really like it also read Emperor's Soul. Then stop.

[Anonymous No.10799840]

>>10797881
I'd be terrified of reading it because something bad might happen to the cat or the jolly fat man.

[Anonymous No.10799848]

>>10799469
>inb4 BotNS
DYING EARTH LOL

[Anonymous No.10799857]

>>10799522
I have only read the one you posted, but the afterword by the authors mention how it's the complete, unedited version so it's probably the best one.

[Anonymous No.10799859]

I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey Inside the Mind of Philip K. Dick - Emmanuel Carrère
or
Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick - Lawrence Sutin
or
The Search for Philip K. Dick - Anne R. Dick
or
What If Our World is Their Heaven?: The Final Conversations - Gwen Lee

[Anonymous No.10799872]

Would /sffg/ read my short story and give honest feedback?
Where should I upload it?

[Anonymous No.10799882]

>>10799356
Just tell me what the regression was. That's all I want to know. You can spoiler your answer too.

[Anonymous No.10799890]

>>10799479
I feel euphoric. It was enjoyable. Waiting on tight pussy part 2.

[Anonymous No.10799971]

>>10799522
I read that one, it was great.

>>10799882
It's a regression of creativity, intelligence and physical looks. She can't create original designs any more... she looks "coarser" than she did before. Not to mention that even when this medical treatment (of enlarging the brain) works successfully and you become smarter, you're still left with an enlarged head that sounds both comical and disgusting. Quote from the book:

>The man's head reminded Hnatt of a photograph he had once seen in a textbook; the photo had been labeled hydrocephalic. The same enlargement above the browline; it was clearly domelike and oddly fragile-looking and he saw at once why these well-to-do persons who had evolved were popularly called bubbleheads. Looks about to burst, he thought, impressed. And -- the massive rind. Hair had given way to the darker, more uniform pattern of chitinous shell. Bubblehead?

>More like a coconut.

So she's left with that, and it's irreversible IIRC.

[Anonymous No.10799972]

>>10799872
I'll read it, just export it as a pdf and post it or put it on google docs

[Anonymous No.10800149]

I don't get the love for Stormlight Archive. I've liked basically every Sanderson book, but I just can't get into the newest Mistborn novels and Stormlight Archive

[Anonymous No.10800173]

have any of you fags read the book of dust?

[Anonymous No.10800181]

>>10799073
The Man in the High Castle
VALIS, sorta
A Scanner Darkly
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said

[Anonymous No.10800203]

>>10799872
>Where should I upload it?
I usually use https://pixeldra.in their PDF viewer works great

[Anonymous No.10800205]

>>10799202
>China Mieville's defense
He's a better version of Neil Gaiman, at least if you're not a 14-year-old girl. Alternate realities and hidden conspiracies in urban settings, weird/grotesque creatures and characters.

He's a no-holds-barred Communist but generally manages to keep the politics from negatively affecting his work (when he doesn't, it can be pretty bad, e.g. Iron Council).

He's jacked af

[Anonymous No.10800214]

>>10798849
>Bloodborne
Eh, kind of. Mostly the areas surrounding the Cemetery and the Torturer's Guild. However Nessus is a mess of buildings from different periods and styles, not just Gothic stuff.
Read Chapter 18 or whenever something happens involving the Cathedral of the Pelerines, and that will give you a hint of how to imagine all those 'towers'.

The thing that reminded me most of the world of BotNS is Torment: Tides of Numenera.
You may want to check the drawings by this guy:
https://twitter.com/urik_he

[Anonymous No.10800218]

>>10800181
So these all contain sociopathic characters like Pris Stratton and Pat Conley?

[Anonymous No.10800257]

>>10800205
>/fitlit/
is this the ultimate form of human?

[Anonymous No.10800267]

>>10800218
Flow My Tears meets the criteria, others are questionable, especially VALIS.

[Anonymous No.10800324]

>>10800218
>>10800267
You'd probably like the woman in Flow My Tears. She even wears bondage leather

[Anonymous No.10800592]

>>10797833
>>10797863
>>10797876
Whats this from?

[Anonymous No.10800662]

>read neuromancer
>space Jamaicans
Can you guys help me. I don't know if I was high while reading this book, but did the guy who made the holograms first appear out of nowhere in that alley, or was he there before.
It seems he just appeared and now he part of the team.

[Anonymous No.10800671]

Been reading War and Peace but I read big books slowly and I only have a week left to finish the few hundred remaining pages. I'm so screwed

[Anonymous No.10800679]

>>10800671
>I only have a week left to finish
or what?

[Anonymous No.10800680]

>>10799971
So she became an actual, literal, brainlet?

[Anonymous No.10800685]

>>10800592
>Whats this from?
the gay, rape, and pseud philosophy chronicles

[Anonymous No.10800699]

>>10800592
Prince of nothing series
It has the highest GRI seal of approval

[Anonymous No.10800704]

>>10800679
His brother's best friend's girlfriend will have words.

[Anonymous No.10800726]

>>10800704
>tfw became a meme
Thursday's the day, boys. 36 pages in so far

[Anonymous No.10800794]

>>10799202
>I'm not going to pretend that Bakker is klasse eins wordsmith
I think he is by fantasy standards.

> and philosopher extraordinaire,
That not so much though.

>Could it be Kellhus' alternate presence in the Outside? I shall have to reread the Aspect Emperor.
That's part of it, and another part of it is somethng in the appendices. Apparently at one point a guy was executed for saying he saw Kellhus repeatedly decapitate himself and exchange heads with one of the ciphrang heads he keeps around with him. I think it has something to do with the way he projects himself Outside without being eaten.

>Sure, if you're willing to handle my incomprehensible ramblings (it's not that bad)
We can work that into the prenup.

[Anonymous No.10800802]

>>10799469
Echopraxia

[Anonymous No.10800816]

>>10800680
Yes but it's not explored all that much on her end sadly, so if you're like me and it's your fetish you won't get much out of it in that regard. Nothing is from her perspective, she gets very little screentime after the treatment, and they realize what's happening pretty quick and stop it before it goes too far. She just loses her creativity entirely, becomes a tiny bit dumber and more superficial, and ends up with stronger facial features than she had before.

[Anonymous No.10800837]

>>10799202
What did you think about the Whale Mothers? Personally I thought it went a bit far. Beating a dead horse and all that, stretched my disbelief that they got that far with just selective breeding too. Plus I think it would be more edgy and subversive in supporting his point if the objectively very evil Dunyain had "liberated" women that were considered equal to the men

[Anonymous No.10800843]

Question for all of you Bakkerfags.
I remember finishing The Prince of Nothing a couple of years ago. The first book was pretty decent. A rather original setting, lots of weird shit, pretty cool characters.
But the later 2 books just dragged on and on, the prose got denser and drier, and it just left me the impression they didn't have as much polish as the first one.
Years later, after reading other things (like Dune and Glen Cook/Moorcock) I realized the things I liked best (Kellhus personality and the linguistic approach of describing magic use) weren't precisely original.

How does Aspect Emperor compare?

[Anonymous No.10800853]

>>10800843
Hard for me to say how you'd experience it, since your experience of Prince of Nothing was the reverse of most peoples'. It is different from Prince of Nothing in some fundamental ways though. If you found the books interesting it would be worth trying.

[Anonymous No.10800913]

>>10798849
not really. its not gothic architecture.
i used this

[Anonymous No.10801260]

Unironically, what are some novels about menial soldiers dealing some bullshit and mental issues?

Alternatively, what are some novels about the everydayman dealing with life alterning events and living alongside a legend whom he loathes?

no Master Chiefs, please

[Anonymous No.10801285]

>>10801260
They're dinosaur as fuck and not exactly what you asked for but maybe check out Keith Laumer's Retief series. Menial foreign service officers puts up with bullshit IN SPACE (Laumer was a career FSO).

[Anonymous No.10801309]

>>10794874
>What have you accomplished for sff so far?
I started reading Horus Heresy on june last year and a couple of weeks ago I finally finished and am to speed. Man that was a wild ride and I havent read any sci fi that has such an engrossing universe and the fact it isnt simply over after 2-3 books is so great. I was unsure about W40k in general before I started.

>What are you currently reading?
Gaunt's Ghosts, I'm on the 2nd book. So far it's been good.

>Any new books you wish to recommend?
New, not really, but if you're looking for a bit of magical realism, I recently read Little, Big and it was great.

[Anonymous No.10801326]

>>10801309
If Gaunt's Ghosts seems a bit off to you right now, you have to remember the first book at the very least (maybe the second) was originally serialized in White Dwarf or some other magazine, so it's kind of jank and probably not written in the thought-context of a larger series. The whole Men of Iron thing is kind of stupid when you look back at it.

You're coming up on Necropolis, it's one of the best in the entire series.

[Anonymous No.10801357]

>>10801326
Yeah, the book overall was okay, though the whole thing about the STC for robots was indeed a kinda bad ending. I'm enjoying so far anyway.

I read Eisenhorn in between finishing HH and starting on GG and I didnt like it as much as them. Abnett is not great at first person narrative, felt timeskips were kind of random at times, the stories somewhat rushed and he didnt really manage to form a connection to most deaths except Aemos, that was most perturbatory.. It's made me not really want to go into Ravenor and Bequin stuff, so I moved on to GG.

[Anonymous No.10801365]

>>10799436
Devourer by Liu Cixin.

[Anonymous No.10801654]

>>10798849
Probably not since BotS doesn't take place in Europe It's set in South America

[Anonymous No.10801708]

>>10800173
I bought it but haven't read it yet

[Anonymous No.10801713]

>>10800816
Yep this

[Anonymous No.10801720]

>>10801260
SOMEBODY ORDER A WARTHOG?

[Anonymous No.10801855]

>>10799469

Cat's Cradle

[Anonymous No.10802080]

>>10794874
Any books about beans, in particular the farting properties of beans and proteins?

[Anonymous No.10802183]

>>10800662
They hunted him down and forced him to join, He tried using his projections to escape.

[Anonymous No.10802215]

>>10802183
Oh. I thought my book had missing parts.

[Anonymous No.10802244]

The whole Space Jamaicans thing does kinda feel like it should be a deleted scene on the Neuromancer bonus disk, with Gibson sitting there with a coffee laughing with the interviewer "hahaha so yeah I'll tell you about that time we almost made the Space Jamaicans a prominent part of the novel hahahaha guys..."

But at the same time... it is kind of awesome....

[Anonymous No.10802300]

>>10802244
Space rastafarians is pretty goofy, but I get what Gibson was going for. Neoromancer is influenced by a lot of 'punk' subcultures, especially those that revolve around drugs. It's also very multinational with various races and cultures brushing up against one another.

[Anonymous No.10802310]

>>10802300
It was 80-85% Japanese.

[Anonymous No.10802314]

Did something happen to yiff in hell party?
Is the updater broken?

[Anonymous No.10802546]

>>10802244
Why? To me it makes sense that a minority would seek religious comfort . even more in the wake of the sped up advancement of technology which supposedly would make life easier, but still leaves them behind to live in ghettos.

[Anonymous No.10802725]

>>10799202
>China Mieville
I'm >>10797972 and his most acclaimed book was terrible to me.
It is way too long and he describes stuff for pages while interrupting the plot, which takes away any urgency.
Also the ending was an insult to the characters.
Would not recommend.

[Anonymous No.10802752]

Any finished fantasy series where romance is built up well and has a satisfying conclusion? No love triangles, "bittersweet" endings or shit like that. I feel like fantasy these days can't do romance for the life of them. I'm looking at Kingkiller Chronicles and Stormlight Archive specifically.

[Anonymous No.10802789]

>>10801260
The Black Company is pretty down to earth for something with such pronounced magic, and it deals with the common soldier just trying to do his thing in a world where pretty much everyone that presides over him is some sorta demigod all powerful immortal wizard.
I thought the book was overall good, haven't read the second yet.

[Anonymous No.10802794]

>>10802310
Only during the early Japanese sections of the book. The space station at the end is mix of races

[Anonymous No.10802811]

>>10798671
>Your answers depends on whether I read it or not.
I think you have that backwards.

[Anonymous No.10802829]

>>10802811
Who are you, the pope?

[Anonymous No.10802843]

>>10802829
I am Anonymous, and you/he/she still has it backwards.

[Anonymous No.10802848]

Any fantasy where the hero is the son of a goddess?

[Anonymous No.10802879]

>>10802843
>>10802811
>whether I read it or not depends on your answers
Is your ocd induced autism satisfied?

[Anonymous No.10802903]

>>10802848
>Any fantasy where the hero is the son of a goddess?

Christianity

[Anonymous No.10802989]

>>10799972
>>10800203
Here's the link my friends
https://pixeldra.in/u/Eh_dc8
Do note that I'm not a native english speaker.

>>10800837
It was something I couldn't outright buy because of the whole real world genes. I didn't understand how could dunyain-born women (which are bred for breeding, so it's not an accident they're like this) become whale mothers by birth, yet dunyain-commoner born women be the hottest, most intelligent perfect aryan women on the planet? It felt like Bakker really tried (and it's objectively the case) to showcase the sheer inhumanity and coldness of the dunyain. The whale mothers are/would be fine as long as Bakker would have shown or implied their existence in any way before, or maybe not even that!
It's all in the execution, which was poorly done in my honest opinion, family, because I can suspend my disbelief enough to think that something like this can happen even in real life.
Again, it felt a bit forced because we went all "dunyain are inhumanly strong and intelligent, also, uhh, they are born FROM ACTUAL SEX MONSTERS WITH BIRTHING HIPS!"

>>10800794
>I think he is by fantasy standards.
He has painfully dry prose. Thankfully, he's good at making dialogue so that saves it a little even though his descriptions are lacking (not in volume, but in "brightness" so to speak), and the world is very intriguing. I'm jealous though. As a writer, I've had this rape-monster idea for a long time and as I read more and more of TDTCB, I realized how must they resembled the Inchoroi.

>he saw Kellhus repeatedly decapitate himself and exchange heads with one of the ciphrang heads he keeps around with him
Where did you read that? I don't remember ever reading something so specific in Aspect Emperor.

>We can work that into the prenup.
I shan't be silenced though

[Anonymous No.10802991]

>>10802752
Stormlight archive has more mature love stories than a lot of fantasy though. Comparing it to Kingkiller chronicles is pretty harsh.

[Anonymous No.10803037]

>>10802989
See I think given one of the big themes of the series is "Is good 'good' because God wills it, or is it inherent?" it would serve his point a lot more if the Dunyain were damned in part because their women were just as monstrously driven and strong willed as the men. But yeah the genetics of it...the Dunyain are already pushing it. Not sure how they managed to get all those other traits fixed and also turn the women into naked mole rat queens. It would actually make more sense if only some of the women were like that. Human genetics would have trouble segregating into physical castes based on gender that way. Should have been more like termites and less like ants or naked mole rats if he had to have the birth monsters.

>He has painfully dry prose. Thankfully, he's good at making dialogue so that saves it a little
I feel the exact opposite. I didn't think the dialogue was super special but found the prose evocative as fuck.

>As a writer, I've had this rape-monster idea
Tell me about the rape-monsters.

>Where did you read that? I don't remember ever reading something so specific in Aspect Emperor.
It's in the big appendix, not in the book proper.

[Anonymous No.10803057]

>>10796819
>Why do contemporary Fantasy book covers look so hideous?
You should see the cover of George RR Martin's "Fevre Dream" of one of the Spanish editions. He used to have it somewhere on his website. Hideous is a gross understatement.

[Anonymous No.10803066]

>>10803057
This?

[Anonymous No.10803071]

>>10803057
Speaking of Bakker, there's some hilarious ones for Warrior Prophet and Thousandfold thought where Akka is depicted as basically being chubby wizard conan. I can only assume it's based on his personal account of the Holy War

>And then, my incipient wards glowing wetly over Esmenet's giant heaving tits, I split the Ciphrang with the Cirrulic Phallus

[Anonymous No.10803076]

>>10803066
dat face

>tfw fevre dream

[Anonymous No.10803082]

>>10802989
>The whale mothers are/would be fine as long as Bakker would have shown or implied their existence in any way before, or maybe not even that!
You'd think Kellhus would have at least shown some surprise or intellectual curiosity at the comparative lack of sexual dimorphism between world born men and women. the reason he didn't is because Bakker didn't think of the concept until relatively recently. In all the flashback scenes at Ishuäl the children are referred to by gender neutral plurals.

[Anonymous No.10803264]

>>10803037
>I didn't think the dialogue was super special but found the prose evocative as fuck.
Each is entirely entitled to their opinion and I respect yours, but I remember back in the day, trying to get into it but couldn't go further than 5 pages because of the sheer amount of high fantasy namedropping:

>The citadel of Ishual succumbed during the height of the Apocalypse. But no army of inhuman Sranc had scaled its ramparts. No furnace-hearted dragon had pulled down its mighty gates. Ishual was the secret refuge of the Kuniüric High Kings, and no one, not even the No-God, could besiege a secret.

The only thing that saved this was the innocuous, offhanded mentioning of dragons (and not Wracu, as I have later learned). It gave me a familiarity anchor with which I could drag myself closer to the kernel of the story. It had -dragons-, real actual "furnace-hearted" dragons (although as I learned, these dragons aren't even 'real' dragons (I always liked bestial dragons as opposed to ">tfw to intelligent" dragons that speak in ye olden englisch)). It was enough for me. Later, it was Cnauir who kept me in the trilogy, and even later in Aspect Emperor, it was the inhuman enemies of the Great Ordeal.
As I have found through reading so much sff, war between humans and human politics is not nearly as interesting.

>Tell me about the rape-monsters.
donut steel
It was the first draft, years ago, of the main 'antagonist's antagonist'. A genus of immense, leper-white, "cosmic horizon" faced, ebullition voiced, loosely dolphin-like abominations who came upon Earth in 'le search of a new home'.
Twist is, this new home was a frozen asteriod that needed melting, and these aliens traveled in a giant, Sun-like ship across the vast crevices between galaxies. Countless upon countless millennia ago, the ship approached this celestial body and its heat began melting the permanent ice, slowly creating a veritable water world for these aliens.
Anyway the story and plot takes place ~4.5 billion years later, when life has already formed and evolved on Earth. Human-like creatures worship the Sun, obviously, unbeknownst of the fact that it's not a life-giving warm God, but higher forms of life, waiting to move in.
The rape comes of the alien's abstruse psyche, and unfathomable morality. Something perfectly normal to an alien, such as debarking from their ship onto Earth and inhabit it, would be seen as INCREDIBLY evil for other intelligent life forms that have evolved on Earth. And since life is already old on earth and has developed societies and politics and armies and magic and stuff, the aliens, few in number, can't wage war without completely destroying their perfect world, which they made over so many billions of years. Hence the rape-murder that follows.
Anyway I haven't scratched the story, just the rape-murder-immorality of the aliens. They are still incomprehensible and basically god-like for the humans on Earth, but otherwise less Inchoroi.

[Anonymous No.10803294]

I just finished the Southern Reach Trilogy, which is more like the Southern Reach-Around[/spoiler] Trilogy, (shout out to my homie the lighthouse keeper.

Anyway, is the exact nature of Area X left purposely a little vague, or am I just dense?

[Anonymous No.10803362]

This is third attempt to make this post as the spoiler system is failing me for some ungodly reason.

I'll be brief. Southern Reach, I didn't understand the exact nature of Area X. I mean I understand that it's most assuredly a sort of artifact/gateway/rip of a forgotten world that is communicating with us as best it can, yet I feel like I missed something.

[Anonymous No.10803368]

>>10803362
I've seen your other posts. Why do they keep getting deleted?

[Anonymous No.10803383]

>>10803368
Because I'm trying to format in a couple spoilers and every time, the third or second one gets omitted. It's not me fucking up the spoiler system because the remnants of my mis-typed spoilers would have come through, instead of totally being not there.

This has been going on for about a week.

[Anonymous No.10803527]

>>10803264
>but I remember back in the day, trying to get into it but couldn't go further than 5 pages because of the sheer amount of high fantasy namedropping:
Oh yeah Darkness That Comes Before has a serious problem with that I agree. But once you know what all the terms mean, a re-read of the prologue is just beautiful.

>(although as I learned, these dragons aren't even 'real' dragons (I always liked bestial dragons as opposed to ">tfw to intelligent" dragons that speak in ye olden englisch)).
I always imagine Wracu as fairly biomechanical geiger-esque things. I think it's a neat spin.

>Cnaiur
My favorite character. Fantastic.

> it was the inhuman enemies of the Great Ordeal.
I liked the human nations and politics in the first trilogy, because I love ancient history and it very much had that classical Mediterranean aesthetic, but I also absolutely love how bakker handles the Sranc. No mere orc ripoffs here. The mechanics and ingenuity of their swarming instincts are great. Brings home that they're more a weapon than a race.

>rape monsters
Sounds interesting and yeah I can see the similarities with the Inchoroi. They're even implied to have come from a thicker, wetter atmosphere.

[Anonymous No.10803600]

>>10799469
Childhood's End

[Anonymous No.10803620]

>>10803600
Is this a spoiler?

[Anonymous No.10803638]

>>10802080

[Anonymous No.10803639]

What does /lit/ think of The Broken Earth series?

[Anonymous No.10803641]

>>10803638
When I think about it, yes.

[Anonymous No.10803679]

>>10803639
mediocre at best. not worth reading unless you are incredibly bored or have nothing else to read.

[Anonymous No.10803878]

When historical fiction has fortune tellers, druids and whatnot with actual power does it become fantasy?

[Anonymous No.10803894]

>>10803878
>with actual power
That's a big YES.

[Anonymous No.10803905]

>>10803878
Can't it be both? For example, I'd be fine with someone calling Latro in the Mist either fantasy, historical fiction or both.

[Anonymous No.10803910]

>>10803639
Like a gay Sanderson, but not as good.

[Anonymous No.10804076]

>>10803264
Not the anon you replied to but your rape monster description prose is pretty fucking dope. Paints a nice imagine in my mind.
Also dolphins are fucking scary. Did you get the rape inspiration from them or based them around aquatic creatures that rape? Also orcas.

[Anonymous No.10804187]

I think this is the right place to ask.
Where to start with Greek mythology?

[Anonymous No.10804206]

>>10804187
Do you want to actually study Greek mythology or do you want to read fiction related to Greek mythology?

[Anonymous No.10804230]

>>10804187
Start with Homer, the original fantasy author

[Anonymous No.10804298]

>>10804206
Both
>>10804230
Alrighty

[Anonymous No.10804330]

>>10804298
The Aeneid is more polished than the Illyad and the Odissey, go for Vergilius if you don't like Homer or after you're done with him. It's also got the metatext of a poet being commissioned by the greatest politician of all time to justify the conquest of Greece and a whole bunch of myths about the birth of Rome.

[Anonymous No.10804383]

>>10802244
The space Rhastas were what kept me going, everything else post-Chiba City Blues is just so horrifically boring.

[Anonymous No.10804408]

>>10804230
Just remember, if you can lift a charriot in one hand Zeus probably fucked your mom who was also a furry.

[Anonymous No.10804444]

>>10804330
I'll get that too, thanks

[Anonymous No.10804585]

>>10804298
>Both
Mythology by Edith Hamilton is usually recommended as a good starting point on here. Then there's the two obvious, The Iliad and The Odyssey. For modern fiction Latro in the Mist is very good, and quite autistic when it comes to names, places and language.

The Aeneid is more of a Roman work, but while I have not read it personally I don't doubt that it's quite read worthy.

[Anonymous No.10804602]

hmmmmmm

[Anonymous No.10804770]

>>10804602
I think it specifically states that is has 2 huge wings, a head with another head inside it's open jaws, long limbs and a pendulous cock.
This interpretation, while interesting, looks nothing like the description. If bakker wanted something else, it would have been alluded.

[Anonymous No.10804846]

>>10804383
>The space Rhastas were what kept me going
Each to their own

[Anonymous No.10804866]

is brandon sanderson really using "storm" as a stand-in for "fuck" in the way of kings? i just started and its pretty good but every time someone says "Storm it!" i cant help but cringe.

[Anonymous No.10804957]

>>10804866
Yes.

[Anonymous No.10805049]

>>10804187
Richard Buxton's books on Greek mythology are superb.
If you are interested in the Norse myths I highly recommend checking out Kevin Crossley-Holland.

[Anonymous No.10805064]

>>10804866
>Storm it!
they actually say this?

[Anonymous No.10805112]

>>10804602
>>10804770
Well that one does have the wings. Alter the head and I think it does a nice job of being a walking obscenity that instills revulsion and horror at a glimpse. Even if it's not exactly as Bakker describe them, it's a good interpretation. Plus it actually looks like an alien in here.

[Anonymous No.10805116]

>>10804866
Fake expletives are almost always cringey.

[Anonymous No.10805147]

>>10802989
let me ask you something before I actually read it: what's this story for? you just building your own mythology or something? is it an intro to some epic you're planning to write?

[Anonymous No.10805231]

>>10802989
Not very far, but it's hard to tell you're not a native speaker. The prose is quite good I think. Just seeing some minor issues with tenses not agreeing every once in awhile. I know that can be annoying even with lots of practice.

What is the native language, out of curiosity?

[Anonymous No.10805245]

>>10805231
>>10805231
>Just seeing some minor issues with tenses not agreeing every once in awhile. I know that can be annoying even with lots of practice.
Oh and also some cases of using the wrong preposition. "At"s instead of "of"s, or vice versa, that kind of thing. That's even harder to keep track of in a foreign language than tenses. Very arbitrary. But something to look out for.

[Anonymous No.10805258]

>>10804866

>gods below
I've started using this one by accident after reading malazan too many times

[Anonymous No.10805261]

I just reread The Magicians trilogy and I need more sci-fi or fantasy with damaged youngish protagonists who are struggling to learn and grow and sometimes help each other but sometimes hurt each other. Ideally with some real growth before the end.

I've already read Vurt too.

[Anonymous No.10805336]

>>10794874
Name a better audio-drama. Go on, I'll wait.
But for real though, wtc audio-dramas? Any recommendations?

[Anonymous No.10805464]

Where can I pirate audiobooks?

[Anonymous No.10805495]

>>10805464
usenet

[Anonymous No.10805499]

>>10805258
>hood's balls

[Anonymous No.10805506]

>>10805261
Vurt was shit. Fuck who ever recd that

[Anonymous No.10805512]

>>10804866
Seems like it contextually switches between "damn" and "fuck". At the very least, the made up swears are consistent enough. Can't really think of any slips of irl swears among what i've read

[Anonymous No.10805526]

>>10804866
>you mean a fantasy book that doesn't take place on earth cusses different?

[Anonymous No.10805536]

>it's an Elayne chapter
Does Sanderson fix this mess when he takes over? I'm halfway through book 10

[Anonymous No.10805539]

>>10805261

I tried watching that TV show and fell over laughing at how fucking utterly awful it is. Are the books also shit? Asking someone who isn't this guy cause he sounds boring

[Anonymous No.10805541]

>>10805526
They shouldn't even be speaking English. why not translate the curses too?

>>10805536
Well, the "elayne takes a bath" chapters will be a lot more tolerable in the TV adaptation at least

[Anonymous No.10805554]

>>10805258
The Hani use "gods rot".

[Anonymous No.10805644]

>>10805539
The books are less "douchebags go on an adventure" and more "fine Hogwarts is real and congrats you just graduated so now what are you going to do with the rest of your life?"

[Anonymous No.10805661]

>>10805536

just skip the chapters that are too slow, you dont lose anything
matrim cauthon chapters will carry you through to the end

[Anonymous No.10805668]

>>10805541
>why not translate the curses too?
Just like with jap cartoons and drawings. Some of the original language is used in the translation.

[Anonymous No.10805674]

>>10794874
just finished Olan Thorensen's destiny's crucible series and enjoyed it. Any other novel about introducing new technologies to medievals?

[Anonymous No.10805723]

>>10805668
yeah but "storm" is an english word as well. its not like he's using a made up language.

[Anonymous No.10805730]

>>10805116
Too zarquing right.

[Anonymous No.10805737]

>>10804866
He's a fucking mormon.
What did you expect?

[Anonymous No.10805872]

>>10799488
literally this

[Anonymous No.10805880]

>>10805258
>>10805499
I listen to Malazan on my way to and from work and have definitely referred to hood accidently

[Anonymous No.10806020]

>>10805723
There is just no pleasing you huh?
Neck yourself.

[Anonymous No.10806092]

>>10804187
David Gemmell's Troy trilogy. Warning though: Gemmell unfortunately died before he could finish it completely, but his wife (also a writer) stepped in and finished it with the notes he left behind. If you've never read Gemmell before then the parts his wife finished will probably go unnoticed. But it really doesn't feel disjointed at all if you do notice that it feels like someone other than Gemmell wrote a certain paragraph.

[Anonymous No.10806122]

So this song is obviously about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBKM5puZDM

What other fantasy series could you also see it applying to? (Two friends brought together by tragedy using adventure to distract themselves from the memories?)

[Anonymous No.10806199]

do i continue on or nah? i liked the feeling of dread & desolation

[Anonymous No.10806268]

Someone make a new thread. I'm phoneposting from my bed and faillling aslerp
donlt fuck up thd previous threads

[Anonymous No.10806277]

>>10806092
>if you do notice that it feels like someone other than Gemmell wrote a certain paragraph.
Did his wife try to stay away from the rape?

[Anonymous No.10806283]

>>10806122
>>>/mu/

[Anonymous No.10806289]

>>10806283
I'm not going to go to /mu/ to ask for fantasy novel recommendations.

[Anonymous No.10806313]

>>10806311

>(embed)