/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.8603240]

Fantasy
>Selected: http://i.imgur.com/r688cPe.jpg/
>General: http://i.imgur.com/igBYngL.jpg/
>Flowchart: http://i.imgur.com/uykqKJn.jpg/
Science Fiction
>Selected: http://i.imgur.com/A96mTQX.jpg/
>http://imgur.com/a/90laS
>General: http://i.imgur.com/r55ODlL.jpg/ >http://i.imgur.com/gNTrDmc.jpg/

Previous Thread: >>8592745


Another reminder that The Bard Quarterly from /tg/ is looking for short stories.
>http://thebardquarterly.wixsite.com/home
The deadline for the next issue is November 11th.

The Shrike edition

[Anonymous No.8603245]

First for Jean Woof

[Anonymous No.8603246]

>>8603240
>Another reminder that The Bard Quarterly from /tg/ is looking for short stories.
>>http://thebardquarterly.wixsite.com/home
>The deadline for the next issue is November 11th.
Fuck off.

[Anonymous No.8603247]

Does anyone else hate how it's impossible to be a classy /sff/ fan any more?

Where are the days of Tolkein and Wells, noble men who wrote deep philosophical tales and characters in thrilling fictional worlds.

Now /sff/ is vidya, movies, D&D and LARPing shit. I'm sure it's no less fun for people but it's certainly much less classy.

I just want to discuss literature and ideas, why am I forced into a group with these excitable idiots.

[Anonymous No.8603248]

>>8603246
>he can't write

Have you tried self help books?

[Anonymous No.8603266]

>>8603240

>>8593165

[Anonymous No.8603271]

>>8603247
That sort of old-school gentility and erudition is just out of style right now, all you see is manchildren like Rothfuss and pretentious tryhards like Bakker. There's a few of the old guard left, like Silverberg and Peter Beagle, but they don't seem to influence the newer talent as much as more vulgar "low fantasy" types.

Gaiman's probably the best of a bad lot though, he at least appreciates Wolfe-sama and has a nice aesthetic. Mieville and Susanna Clarke have decent idea content too.

[Anonymous No.8603274]

>>8603248
Nice try shill. Get that shit out of the OP.

[Anonymous No.8603283]

>>8603247
>>8603271
Melville is pretty awful, judging from Peridio Street Station. It's essentially a Jack Vance story stretched into 800 pages for no reason, with worse prose and no semblance of characters.
From what I understand, the Nebula award still has quality control, maybe you should look into that? In any case I'm not bothered too much by the state of sff because there are tons of great works which I haven't read.
The real problem is that this became a plebeian shithole so I have to go through 80 posts of Sanderson, waifus and edgy shit before I reach an interesting comment.

[Anonymous No.8603293]

Can someone explain to me the appeal of Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora"? I was pretty underwhelmed with more or less all of it.

[Anonymous No.8603303]

>>8603283
PSS is probably his second worst book desu, I'm thinking more of the shorter stuff like 'Tis
the Season and especially the Last Days of New Paris novella - loved that one.

And there does seem to be a segment of /tg/ and /v/ types here, more concerned about
superficial stuff like cool weapons and armor than any themes or metaphor. But I guess that
has its place too, and maybe they'll progress to deeper stuff - I know I've become less pleb since discovering /lit/.

Anything's better than the politicized Hugo shitshow right now, seems like the PKD Award
has a decent track record of discovering new writers.

[Anonymous No.8603482]

>>8603240
Hi Donkey, took off your trip I see.

You are still brimming inside with excitement, because YOU know that you made a thread and it's gonna have 300+ replies.

[Anonymous No.8603487]

>>8603247
You're probably just getting much older.

[Donkey !HOTAY/zB0Y No.8603664]

>>8603482

Incorrect. I am not a fan of Hyperion. I would have removed the mention of /tg/'s writing contest as well.

[Anonymous No.8603670]

>be sol
>sit there for hours listening to how your baby girl was getting fucked by the arab sitting across from you

[Anonymous No.8603680]

Melville lacks cohesion and throws as many fucking fantastical races on one page in an effort to wow any brain dead reader.
Bakker is purple prose with approximately 10% ot the plot of a normal book.

[Anonymous No.8603688]

Why do you people read and attempt to write Fantasy?

Is it because you can't figure out a way to captivate your readers without going "oh nah senpai these green bipeds are cool af"

[Anonymous No.8603694]

>>8603688
That's it in a nutshell, brilliant deduction.

[Anonymous No.8603697]

>>8603680
Well Wolfe has 1% of the plot of a normal book.

[Anonymous No.8603711]

>>8603680
There's no fantastical races in The City and the City, which is what he actually won his main award for.

[Anonymous No.8603797]

>>8603670
Name of book please. Is it described? Is there GRI???

[Anonymous No.8603799]

>>8603711
Should I read that or Peridio Street Station if I'm reading only one?

I'm trying to round out a list of SF books that are any of great/influential/memetic/culturally significant or that sort of thing.

[Anonymous No.8603821]

>>8603688
For fun. You know fun?

I work as a proof reader/editor at a tv station. It takes a load off when you read about some fantastical shit (not literal anime in prose though), and don't have to think too much.

Why would I read tripe like IJ and it's ilk, then spend my free time trying to figure out, and make sense of whatever indiscernible thoughts pop out of their self worth, ego inflated heads?

I already do that for a living, not going to do it in my free time.

[Anonymous No.8603832]

Do I know why the cat and the guy can't talk about some things?
Do I want to know?
Do I want to keep reading to find out?
Do I like this book so far?

[Anonymous No.8603834]

>>8603799
Probably City, Perdido is part of an (albeit loosely- connected) trilogy. Also it's more 'Literary' if you care about that, like a Kafka or novel- length Borges.

[Anonymous No.8603869]

>>8603832
No, your perception is dim.
Yes, your curiosity is bright.
Yes, your resolve is firm.
Yes, you love cats.

[Anonymous No.8603885]

>>8603697
But Book of the New Sun sprawls a very large, intricate and detailed plot which gradually grows in scale.
But even if that were not so, it wouldn't be a problem.
>>8603799
If you want a good novel in general, avoid PSS. It's Bakker tier of both boring and tryhard.

[Anonymous No.8603891]

>gotta make sure everyone understands i'm a progressive individual
>i'm going to reveal one of the main characters to be a homosexual black female (the combo!)
>i'll write approximately a single page of her backstory and call it a day
>after all, all you need is diversity, right?
good book

[Anonymous No.8603919]

>>8600149
>You fucking hard sci-fi nuts. Can't you read a book set in the future that is theoretically possible?
>Why does everything have to be grounded in 100% peer reviewed science?
>A photon weapon is possible if we have a compact, yet powerful battery.
>Nanotechnology is possible.
>Human augmentation is possible.
>Why the fuck does everything have to be conventional equipment, in space?
>Sci-fi is, and always has been, science fantasy, i.e the futuristic what-ifs capabilities of technology.
>You hard sci cunts just want delta v's, and the movie gravity in prose.
>Fuck I hate you cunts.

Lol at this autist

[Anonymous No.8603930]

>>8603869
What book is he talking about?

[Anonymous No.8603971]

>>8603869

Thank you.

[Anonymous No.8603980]

>>8603891
>and now for these asian characters, "we arr tark rike diss, samuraih honah" should be fine

[Anonymous No.8604082]

>>8603919
>Gravity
>Hard Sci-Fi
That's a good one

[Anonymous No.8604188]

>>8603821
> proof reader
> and it's ilk

[Anonymous No.8604269]

>>8600149
>tfw agree with what this man says

[Anonymous No.8604347]

/sffg/, I cant come up with stories anymore. when I do it's always too long to write, and when I think of something short enough to manage it seems so simplistic to me it feels demeaning

[Anonymous No.8604350]

>>8604347
What do you mean, "too long to write?"

[Anonymous No.8604363]

>>8604350
I have the attention span of a goldfish. I've never written something longer than 5000 words before losing interest or re-writing it from the ground up

[Anonymous No.8604406]

>>8604347
When it's too long, subdivide, write the smaller bits and then stitch back up

[Anonymous No.8604446]

Damn it after reading WoK I thought Sanderson was actually improving but the I read WoR. Well I gave Sanderson a chance but I won't be reading his books again

[Anonymous No.8604510]

>>8603930
I don't remember anymore. Maybe a Sanderson?

[Anonymous No.8604587]

I can't ever write and SFF because I get bogged down in worldbuilding. I have encyclopedias worth of lineages, history, conflicts ... and while it will surely help make my story more real and compelling, I just never get around to developing that.

[Anonymous No.8604605]

I am looking for a book - fantasy or sci fi doesnt really matter - about comfy building. Notably, building a fort/home/spaceship, which is nicely designed, works, and might even be called smart.
The feeling you get in minecraft when your base is totally tricked out, ready for whatever, with giant underground farms; relatively safe from the world. A siege in stronghold which gets repelled because you prepared your defenses well; the process of designing a personal spaceship with all sorts of neat and efficient tech that others have missed.

So far, I have read the fun, although certainly sometimes also cringeworthy Daniel Black novels that somewhat capture this feeling they include a somewhat chauvinistic main character - but also sex with catgirls.

Any recommendations? Stuff that even vaguely might fit this?

[Anonymous No.8604664]

>>8600149
>Sci-fi is, and always has been, science fantasy

if you read this pal, suck my donkey dick

science fantasy will always be science fantasy. The Sci-fi title covers this, as well as "hard scifi" which some of us like too. Just because you struggle with the language doesn't mean it's absolute garbage

[Anonymous No.8604667]

>>8604587
I know the feeling bro. Read some classic or more famous literature. Learn to appreciate characters and themes. No book can propel itself on world-building alone.

[Anonymous No.8604691]

Finished re-reading all the Culture books. Fuck I love Iain Banks.

Have read the Hyperion Cantos, all of Neal Ashers books, China Mieville (which I actually enjoyed)

Also I really enjoyed Seveneves, though the epilogue should really have been in a separate books.

Any recommendations?

[Anonymous No.8604705]

>>8604691
Ian Banks is on my radar.

Not related to what to mentioned but I loved Hyperion Cantos, and went on to enjoy Foundation Trilogy and Blindsight so I guess that's it.

[Anonymous No.8604759]

>>8604705
Just looked up Blindsight and it seems pretty interesting, I'll give it a shot. Cheers man.

[Anonymous No.8604889]

>>8604664
It's absolute garbage because it porn for science majors. Absolutely fucking boring.

When I read sci-fi I like to see what the future has to offer, how existing technology can evolve, and where are humans in all of this.

I don't want to read about people using sulfuric batteries in a parallel / series mixed combination to power some space rocket. Take your pulp shit out of here.

[Anonymous No.8604904]

question /sffg/ is doing the homura time loop thing still blatant plagerism if instead of it being time travel, the person is able to see the future based on certain choices?

[Anonymous No.8604951]

>>8604889
>porn for science majors
that's not a bad thing, in fact this critique just supports my point that you don't understand it.

And that's unironically completely ok. I'm doubtful I'm ever going to understand why people read Plato in the original Greek, but I'm not going to get hung up on it. Plus I'm a fucking biologist so I always have a hard time with physics and pure maths sections in hard scifi, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

As the scifi being about what the future has to offer, then a good scifi book should be able to convey that through a multitude of scientific vocabulary. If it can't it's a bad book. Don't blame hard scifi as a subgenre.

Also:
>wandering in the summer in the woods of Neldoreth [Beren] came upon Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, at a time of evening under moonrise, as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin.
>The Silmarillion

Compare this to
>sulfuric batteries in a parallel / series mixed combination to power some space rocket
>Anon (You)

They've both babble being used to advance a story. It's a /sff/ authors ability to manipulate this babble which makes them talented.

[Anonymous No.8604955]

>>8604587
I'm the opposite. The most worldbuilding I've done is have a grasp on the map and the rules of the magic system (If you can even call it magic).

I hate the idea of so much backstory.
I want to just drop the reader in a world with compelling main characters where the rules of life are a bit different.
At least for the first book anyway.

[Anonymous No.8605034]

>>8603247
I get Eurocentric vibes from this post

[Anonymous No.8605039]

Im not sure if this is the right board, and it will probably be bad for my sensitive creator's soul and ego, but I want to upload this anyway. Maybe you guys enjoy. Otherwise feel free to tell me whats wrong with it.

>Humans? Ofcourse I know those. I'll never forget them. What. You never heard of them?
Gronn readjusts his seat and sits up straight, exposing the scars on his scaled belly.
>Allright, you kids are in for a treat. Because those fuckers where quite the deal when they showed up. Long before your genetic code was written.
>When they first appeared on the intergalactic stage, I was still a captain of a small transport vessel. My passengers usually where low level government officials. Smalltime diplomats, ambassadors. Nothing special.
>That day we got orders to go to some backwards sector. A new species managed to make contact with one of our outposts, and the doctrine at the time was to send a diplomat first, to check out the situation and hopefully make some friends. You can never have enough, right? Ofcourse that was before we had the Plague. We were quite careless back then.
Gronn smiles faintly, while shaking his head.
>Anyhow. As we are warping -this was before the modern warp engines so it usually took around a day- I get in a conversation with the ambassador im transporting. Nice guy.
>He tells me about how he has done many missions like this and how usually the species that he comes in contact with are basically the same. Underdeveloped beings that are totally overwhelmed the first time he arrives.
>He had some nice stories about that too. Apparently he is seen as a god by some species he visited. They build monuments of him and everything.
>But i'm sidetracking here. What he told me... Showed me even, i'll never forget.. The message we picked up from these humans wasn't really meant for us, or anybody else. It was a very primitive transmission which contained no message... But sounds...
>Weird thing was, that these weren't just sounds, but sounds in a mathemetical order. Humans call it 'music'.
Gronn leans back, pride is in his eyes.
>I know it's hard to imagine, but there was a time we had no 'music'... And I was lucky enough to be one of the first Ravv's to actually experience that stuff.
>The moment I heard it... I... Im not gonna lie, I thought I was going to die. In a good way. I... It was like a warm wave of energy touched my counsiousness. It... Ah you little ones know what I mean, right?
>I mean, we knew what sound was ofcourse. Back then we already knew all the rules and mathematics within sounds and vibrations. But this, was entirely new. They somehow combined different frequencies and rythms into.. that. It felt like a beautiful insult to the laws of nature to me.
>Instantly I understand why this ambassador wanted this mission. This was something new. Something exciting. After hearing those sounds I expected to arrive to a immensely advanced civilization of some sorts.

[Anonymous No.8605044]

>>8605039
cont.

Gronn reaches for the container on his hips and grabs a small liquidcontainer, which places in the distributor on his chest. It connect with a small hissing sound.
>Turns out I was wrong. We arrive at the planet and instantly I saw that they where backwards as fuck. Almost pathetic. I mean they still used actual farms. No warp travel. Nothing.
>It is quite funny to see the chaos that ensued actually. They really didn't know what hit them. Some tried to attack us, some tried to make contact... Quite some even committed suicide. Thats how afraid they where! Its a damn miracle they even survived as species, being this disorganized.
>So we make contact with what we thought was the most advanced subspiecies we could find. They called themselves the 'Dutch' or something like that. The ambassador, following standard procedure, did his typical "We mean you no harm" talk, to make them calm down and gave them a simple communicator to open up a diplomatic line right away. He knew that we would come back to that planet.
>We didnt stay long. When we returned, this diplomat guy quickly made up a report, which usually got stuffed away in some databank to be forgotten. But he was so bold -maybe stupid, to actually add some of that 'music' to the report.
>I dont know if you kids know anything about politics. But doing stuff like that is Not done. Usually he would have lose his function over this; wasting time of your superior in command. But it was a smart move.
As Gronn reaches for another liquidcontainer he continues.
>This thing blew up. In no time everyone had heard this sound fragment. Scientists were fighting over who would visit those 'humans' first. Was there more of this 'music' stuff? Could we duplicate it? How was it possible that they could come up with this, while clearly being inferior to us, or any other big player in the galaxy?
>It quickly turned out humans were more than happy to share their soundcombinations with us. And they had... A Lot. Millions upon millions of 'musics' where already made by the time we built our first outpost there. One even more complex and beautiful then the next. Some were fast and made you hungry for war. Others... relaxed, slow and peaceful. For every emotion these humans felt they have a 'music'.
>But that wasn't even all of it. They also combined visual stimuli. They can take different colours and create an image that didnt come soley from their memory. They actually combined memories into new thoughts, in a way that was never seen before. But not only visual. They also did it with their food!
>Turned out there is a weird mutation in their brain that somehow survived the evolution, which made this possible. Also explained why they are so damned chaotic. But because of that mutation, they where able to make combinations with sounds, tastes or colour, which directly stimulated the rewardcentre in most brain-type organs, across the fucking galaxy.

[Anonymous No.8605049]

>>8605044
more?

[Anonymous No.8605055]

I'm having a fuck of a time getting a flow goin today. I was doing pretty good yesterday and managed to finish a chapter, but today I just...I don't know, feel nothing. I just want to do anything else besides write. Maybe I need some exercise.

[Anonymous No.8605076]

>>8605034
Even worse, I'm English

[Anonymous No.8605083]

>>8605055
Taking a walk usually helps for me. Get your head out of the game for a sec.

[Anonymous No.8605084]

>>8605076
>>8605034
How can your be eurocentric if you're not part of Europe?

[Anonymous No.8605092]

>>8605044
This is good solid HFY, keep going

[Anonymous No.8605093]

>>8605083
Yea, think I might do that. Get my good headphones out.

[Anonymous No.8605095]

>>8605084
Europe=/=EU

[Anonymous No.8605141]

>>8605044

>Those backward fucks, by pure luck, basically invented drugs without downsides.
The liquid seems to slowly take effect on the Ravv warrior as he reaches for another one.
>Kids these days dont see to realise that almost all the stuff they enjoy, actually comes from those fucking humans. They lost all interest in history.
Gronn sighs.
>Anyway... It didnt take long before the Vaaks, Tr'trks, Venguans and all the other civilisations found out about these humans and the things they offered. Before long the human planet had multiple outposts. And I must admit they played it smart.
>They quickly learned that the stuff they thought was normal, was actually very rare. So the first thing they did, was to sell some of it for technology. Small things. Better computers, robotics, new materials and warp drives.
> At first we could just scan their systems and simply copy those 'arts' to our databases. We just gave them those technologies, so they wouldnt stop making new 'art'. We didnt see the harm. It was old technology anyways. But soon they found a way to actually hide all of their so called 'art' from our scanners.
>A bold move. When not given what they want, especially Vaaks and Venguans tend to get a little genocidal. So guess what they did? They made an agreement with the most powerful; the Vaaks at the time. for their protection they would receive 'arts' for free. A brilliant move. Vaaks dont give two shits about anybody else. And they where a force to be reckoned with.

>In about one human life worth of time, they evolved from nobody's to intergalactic celebritys.
>They colonized a small planet in their solar system and quickly build it into a enormous city, where the wealthy from across the galaxy could gather and experience the best 'arts' they had to offer.
Gronn pauses again. Each new liquidcontainer he connects seems to ask more of his concentration.
>I was there once. Invited there because we where the first to make contact with the humans. It was beautiful and grotesque at the same time.
>There was this place for instance. Like a pay-to-mate house. You could pick someone from almost any species known, and have them read 'poëtry' for you. You could even select what kind of voice you wanted them to have. Crazy. But oh so... intense...

>We almost forgot that humans where actually very undeveloped beings. Because with time, they did the thing... They got arrogant.

[Anonymous No.8605155]

>>8603930

Sabriel

[Anonymous No.8605305]

>>8604889
>When I read sci-fi I like to see what the future has to offer, how existing technology can evolve, and where are humans in all of this
That's what hard sci-fi fans like too, instead of just hand wavy magic bullshit.
You're just a plebeian, deal with it and stop lashing out.

[Anonymous No.8605327]

>>8605039
>>8605044
>>8605141
>writing from alien's perspective
>still anthropomorphic as fuck
Nope.exe
Don't let me discourage you though, I'm sure somebody will like it, maybe some Star Trek fans or something.

[Anonymous No.8605331]

>>8603240
I know of good fantasy series but what are some good stand alone fantasy books.

I want to read a fantasy novel but not be drawn into a series. I am clueless as to where to start

[Anonymous No.8605454]

>>8605331
Guv Gavriel Kay's books are either standalone or only two books. Song for Arbonne or Tigana might be a good place to start.

[Anonymous No.8605481]

>>8605331
The Hobbit.

The Etched City by KJ Bishop.

Blackdog by KV Johanson.

Bridge of Birds is great.

Elantris is pretty good too, ignore the memers.

[Anonymous No.8605506]

I have a question for fans of Arthur C. Clarke/people who have read the Rama series.

A while ago I read Childhood's End and it blew me away by how good it was. It's easily one of my top 5 books. So I started reading a couple other books by him and I was severely disappointed. First I read Rama, which was terribly boring and just plain poorly written. I'm about halfway through Songs of Distant Earth and this one is terrible as well.

I noticed that the rest of the books in the Rama series have a coauthor, so my question is, are they noticeably different? Mainly it was the lack of descriptiveness, the bland characters, and the plodding pace that I disliked about Rama.

[Anonymous No.8605517]

>>8605506
>I noticed that the rest of the books in the Rama series have a coauthor, so my question is, are they noticeably different? Mainly it was the lack of descriptiveness, the bland characters, and the plodding pace that I disliked about Rama.

Most people consider Rama's sequels to be far worse than the first book. The whole point of the book is the intrigue, mystery and wonder of exploring the strange yet familiar environment inside Rama. I have heard the sequels go off in a completely different direction and make the series more of a space drama with details about who built the Rama and so on.

Also regarding Arthur C. Clarke I recently read City and the Stars and I liked it quite a bit. My favorite part is the alien environments and exploration. I don't think he's a great author when it comes to drama and human relationships. If that's your thing, maybe look elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.8605537]

>>8603797
A little slow on the memes I see.

[Anonymous No.8605553]

>>8605517
>The whole point of the book is the intrigue, mystery and wonder of exploring the strange yet familiar environment inside Rama.

Titan by John Varley (my favorite author) is a similar story, about humans exploring an alien vessel, and it was so much more vivid and fulfilling. I was probably judging Rama harshly because I had read a similar book previously and I was comparing them.

>I don't think he's a great author when it comes to drama and human relationships. If that's your thing, maybe look elsewhere.

It's not my thing at all, but if it's present I'd prefer it to be good. The problem is that in Rama and Songs of Distant Earth he keeps introducing characters, and he has a horrible habit of telling the reader what each character is like without showing. In Childhood's End there wasn't really a main character, the story was about humanity more than any individual. I think that's why it was so good, because he wasn't able to showcase his flaws and only his strengths with that plot.

Have you read anything else of his?

[Anonymous No.8605562]

>>8605553
>John Varley
I think I've just read Red Thunder from him, and it was a lot of fun. For some reason I had him pegged as the author of Buried Dragon, but that turned out to be Hamilton or someone like that.

[Anonymous No.8605580]

>>8605553
>Have you read anything else of his?
No.

Have you read Eon by Greg Bear? Similar concept (though it gets way wackier). Only the first one is good.

[Anonymous No.8605583]

>>8605553
>the story was about humanity more than any individual.

You might try The Light of Other Days, written with (or maybe by) Stephen Baxter. It has characters, but they don't really matter because the story is an idea playing out among men.

If you want to zoom out even further, try Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon (no characters) or Evolution by Stephen Baxter (light sketches of character) as they trace the race from beginning to end.

[Anonymous No.8605588]

>>8605331
A Princess of Mars is fine standalone, though the ending will make you cry
The Martian Chronicles
Anything by Steven Gould excepting Jumper's sequels

>>8604889
I bet you believe that solar power is actually a solution too. You always liked science and math, but not enough to pursue it as a career, right? "Stop liking what I don't like" isn't valid and never will be, stop your whining and enjoy what you enjoy.

[Anonymous No.8605597]

I just read Blindsight. I don't really know how to feel about this book. I like some of the ideas it brings to the table and I love the descriptions of the alien architecture and environment.

What I didn't like:

>Exploring the main character's past with so much boring prose, and cutting back and forth between the present situation

>The vampires and the seemingly pointless scene when Jukka attacked Siri

>The unbelievability of the way the aliens were able to hide themselves in plain sight

There was also a ridiculous plot hole in the book. Though for the life of me I can't remember it right now... I wish I had written it down because it really fucking bothered me. Oh well.

Should I bother reading Echopraxia? Do we find out more about the aliens?

[Anonymous No.8605629]

>>8605597
>Jukka attacked Siri
Was he doing a dominance thing or was that at the end? Because if it was the scene at the end it was because the aliens had completely compromised Theseus' computer system.

And the aliens hiding in plain sight, that's not a spoiler, it's the book title. It was one juvenile that was hiding and just from the MC. His friends looking through the camera could see it fine. The other aliens just avoided them.

[Anonymous No.8605642]

>>8605629
It wasn't right at the end, it was before that. Everyone was in on Jukka doing something to Siri for some reason but then he took it too far and ripped Siri's hand in two or something

[Anonymous No.8605647]

>>8605629
>And the aliens hiding in plain sight, that's not a spoiler, it's the book title

The way in which they do that was hard to believe

[Anonymous No.8605656]

>>8605647
Yeah, they'd have to move really really fast for it, but... are you unfamiliar with the theory? The eye doesn't take in the entire field of vision at once, it inputs tiny chunks of it and the brain stitches it together with estimates for the parts it doesn't have. That's why you can't find your keys in the grass, because you literally don't see them.

It doesn't feel that way, it feels like we're seeing the entire picture, and that's the point of the book, that consciousness is an illusion and we don't know what we think we know.

>>8605642
Oh, that? Yeah, and he becomes self-aware just after that. You're right, that was weird. He was superior before that, able to do his information topography thing, and self-aware so he could... feel the impending horror? Maybe someone else got that.

[Anonymous No.8605675]

>>8604587
>it will surely help make my story more real and compelling
Actually, it probably won't.

[Anonymous No.8605683]

>>8605580
>The Light of Other Days
I just read the synopsis and Asimov has a short story about this topic, but I forget what it's called!

>>8605583
Thanks for the suggestions to both of you.

[Anonymous No.8605702]

>>8605141
More..?

[Donkey !HOTAY/zB0Y No.8605703]

>>8605656

>are you unfamiliar with the theory?

Yes. Do you know the name of the phenomenon? I'd like to read a Wikipedia summary of it.

[Anonymous No.8605747]

>>8605597
>>8605629
>>8605642
>>8605647
>>8605656
There's an explanation for why Jukka attacked Siri. It had something to do with making him a part of the mission instead of a remote observer to better make him able to convince people or something like that. I'll give you that it was a bit hand-wavy, but nothing is perfect.
And regarding the unbelievability of the aliens hiding, it's "directional cloaking" technology, like the one Rorschach has.
Personally, the moment that threw me out of suspension of disbelief the most was when the aliens were said to contain ATP. This is pretty much equivalent to having aliens contain DNA. Watts should've brushed up on his biochemistry.
All in all though, it was a fantastic book and you must be slightly homosexual if you didn't love the fuck out of it.
Echopraxia is definitely worth reading.

[Anonymous No.8605805]

Just finished The Gods Themselves.

I enjoyed the book, but what as Asimov on when he wrote it?

>tfw you will never melt with your triad

[Anonymous No.8605859]

>>8605703
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking here you go you putrid tripfagging sack of filth

>>8605747
ATP's a tad less complex than DNA. I thought it was really cool that they don't have genes and are born with all the stored energy they will ever use. I would love to steal Scramblers for something if pastiches ever come back into style.

[Donkey !HOTAY/zB0Y No.8605881]

>>8605859

Thanks.

[Anonymous No.8605889]

>>8605805
You should read the Radix Tetrad if you want wacky zany shit that will leave you wondering what the author was on.

[Anonymous No.8605892]

>>8605588
>I bet you believe that solar power is actually a solution too
It could be, but we don't have to facilities to store and distribute the energy efficiently.

What I would like is liquid solar energy (some synthetic agar that stores and release photons direct from the sun), I want to see a sci-fi author try to convince me it can work.

[Anonymous No.8605934]

>>8605892
We call it ethanol, there's a bunch of its residue in your gas filter right now.

[Anonymous No.8605991]

>>8605859
Look at the file name. ATP and nucleic acids share a common evolutionary descent.
Also, if you do some basic calculations you'll see that the amount of ATP hydrolized by a human in one day is pretty damn big, around 70 kgs, so the thing about the scramblers being pre-loaded with ATP doesn't make sense either.

[Anonymous No.8606016]

>>8605889
>burning zinc

Sanderson no!
http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor.php?lesson=safety3/demo

[Anonymous No.8606044]

>>8605991
Well then it would have to be convergent evolution wouldn't it? And I don't even recall if ATP was present or just a similar compound.

[Anonymous No.8606118]

>>8606044
No. Convergent evolution would be for example two proteins from different families acquiring the same function through evolution. The chance of them having the same sequence too is basically zero. And this is not including alien metabolisms.

[Anonymous No.8606122]

I was supposed to write tonight. I didn't do it. I don't have any desire to do it now either

[Anonymous No.8606123]

>>8606118
Well write it up and send it to Dr. Watts then, I don't even have a bachelors' degree.

[Anonymous No.8606125]

Just finished Mistborn which was pretty fun. Looking at starting the stormight archives, is it worth getting invested in or is it going to be another wheel of time? I guess at least Sanderson cranks out books so I'm not worried about the waits.

[Anonymous No.8606127]

>>8606122
>mfw I meticulously rendered a short story from my sprawling worldbuilding
>mfw it's thematically complete, and if I made it into a rough draft I could refine it into something nice on a lot of levels
>mfw I can't start it
>mfw I'm bored with it and it seems so dreary now
help me bros

[Anonymous No.8606134]

>>8606127
Well, do you think it's an issue with your planning and worldbuilding being too meticulous maybe

[Anonymous No.8606148]

>>8606127
I'm in the exact same boat anon, only I've been putting this off for a month now, I re-wrote the plot once, and now I'm realizing it would be a whole lot comfier if I changed it in a way that shreds the story and the motif and forces in a groundhog day loop that doesn't make sense with the existing mechanics

[Anonymous No.8606149]

>>8606134
Designing modern cultures is fractally complex and I know I won't be able to explain everything. The problem isn't with the world-building, which doesn't even get shown much in this slice, it's the writing itself.

OK, some of it is the worldbuilding. I'm not sure whether to start with a few paragraphs explaining that this is a planet you can go on million-mile road trips over and find a hundred different industrial societies that don't all know about each other or to explain that in dialogue, and wavering between the two I can't choose either. Ideally I wouldn't have to, it would just be the heroes rolling in from the desert, finding the guerilla village, doing my modified Western plot and rolling out. Maybe I can just start with them driving through a wrecked city.

[Anonymous No.8606154]

>>8606149
Yeah. Don't explain it unless and until you need to explain it.

[Anonymous No.8606159]

>>8606148
Do you keep notes for different stories? I sort inspiration into different stories where they would fit or into the general random thought file, and I've got neat ideas instilled in all of the different threads. Maybe the time loop belongs somewhere else, maybe it needs a story under it.

>>8606154
Thanks, I'll try that. I'm a lot more creative and poetic when I'm talking to people. Somehow my characters aren't creative or poetic unless they're giving lectures. Feels bad.

[Anonymous No.8606189]

>>8606123
I'm not autistic enough to do that, but I did send a heart broken e-mail when he killed Valerie. My vampire waifu ;_;

[Anonymous No.8606191]

what do you guys think of scott sigler's infected series? i read the first two but i'm hesitant to start the third since the ending of the second seems to tie things up. anyone like pandemic?

>i know it's not sff. just seemed stupid to give it's own thread and there's no horror general.

[Anonymous No.8606194]

>>8606159

Inserting the time loop makes no sense because the story is what I call a "hard science fantasy" meaning that there is excruciating attention to accuracy in quantum and relativistic physics that is then fantasized and mythologized in a really intricate way that's highly counter-intuitive

It's like if there was a scientifically accurate version off Avatar the last airbender that had caesium bending and a strict caste system based on the periodic table, but people still fling the elements around with no good explanation

[Anonymous No.8606211]

>>8606122
I can only write during the come down of a trip and all I write is stream of conscious, with the occasional purple prose poetry. At least it's better than nothing?

[Anonymous No.8606219]

>>8606194
Tom Simon had a good article on putting the work in to making sure your story holds together. I'm sure if you stare at it for a while then think about it while you do the dishes you'll fill in a few blanks.

[Anonymous No.8606228]

>>8606219
That's not a good explanation for the Simon article. I can't remember if it was in an essay collection or if it's still on his blog. Basically he was talking about how when George Lucas was writing a Star Wars sequel he got Leigh Brackett on board to help him with the plot, and she got as far as the ice planet and Obi-Wan's ghost sending Luke to Yoda before she died. He had to work on the script until he realized how well Vader being Luke's father would work, something Brackett had been grasping for but hadn't found.

He compares this with the prequels, where Lucas' ideas go straight into the script, no work involved, and it doesn't all fit and it's mostly very silly. That's why so many people have come up with better treatments for the prequel trilogy, because it's not bad material by Star Wars standards, it's just put together lazily.

[Anonymous No.8606291]

>>8605039
Frankly, it's obvious you've never read a book.

[Anonymous No.8606297]

>mfw reading the Scholar's Tale in Hyperion

[Anonymous No.8606320]

>Visiting family
>Left all my SFF books at home

Where can I find some good short stories to read?

[Anonymous No.8606324]

>>8606320
the internet

[Anonymous No.8606332]

>>8606297
King Billy on the tree ;_;

[Anonymous No.8606351]

>No standalone Kruppe PoV only

never ever

[Anonymous No.8606363]

Are the sequels worth reading if I thought this was okay?
Although I'm still not sure if I can tolerate any more of
>we have genders, but call everyone "she"

[Anonymous No.8606365]

>>8606363
Read something else then.

[Anonymous No.8606366]

>>8606363
>Are the sequels worth reading

>Female author

Answer by default is no

[Anonymous No.8606409]

>>8606363
the consensus is that the second book is shit

the gender shit remains

[Anonymous No.8606444]

>>8606297
>Mfw the consuls tale

[Anonymous No.8606449]

>>8606297
>ywn live on Mare Infinitus

[Anonymous No.8606462]

>>8603283
I only read The City & The City but thought it was great. Not too long, and with some really great ideas that I haven't seen before.

[Anonymous No.8606511]

Do I think Lirael will actually become a necromancer instead of getting the sight?

[Anonymous No.8606545]

>>8606511
Yes.

[Anonymous No.8606550]

>>8606297
I came here to post exactly this

>tfw Sol
>tfw Sarai
>tfw Rachel

What the fuck man why

Why do this

[Anonymous No.8606562]

>>8606545

Thank you.

[Anonymous No.8606601]

>>8606297
Hyperion was just an unending truckload of feels, I thought it was going to be like Dune or something.

[Anonymous No.8606664]

>>8606219
>>8606228
https://bondwine.com/2013/03/12/creative-discomfort-and-star-wars/

[Anonymous No.8606666]

>>8606664
dead link for me.

[Anonymous No.8606689]

>>8606666
Works in both chrome and firefox for me

[CS !ONk14TfQNk No.8606738]

I read To Marry Medusa aka The Cosmic Rape by Theodore Sturgeon, which feels like an unusually earthy and socially conscious book for 1958.

A large pan-galaxian hive entity, the Medusa, sends a small spore to earth, which is eaten by a psychotic hobo. The spore tries to manipulate him in order to absorb humanity into one consciousness, and join the Medusa.

It's an invasion story, where many variously repressed and troubled men, women, and children from all over the world (America, Europe, Africa) are introduced in vignettes and then bought together via the Medusa, who manages to transform humanity along more utopian lines.

I preferred The Dreaming Jewels and More Than Human, which have similar ideas, but there is some powerful writing in here of a cosmic and communal tone.

[Anonymous No.8606786]

>>8604955
That is exactly what Malazan did.
The autistic cunts here who like to be lead by the hand, always scream from the rooftops that Malazan is shit because he didn't explain every step of the way.

You have to actually pay attention when you're reading Malazan, and the low iq people that read fantasy can't put in the work.

They can't even read in between the lines at the simplest of references, and come here asking "is this person dead?", when it is clearly stated in the book.

[Anonymous No.8606807]

>>8605934
I don't want it burnt. What does all fuel have to be burnt?

What I'm looking for, is them leeching the photons from the agar to w/e machines processes it.
There is some fancy solar panels that take the photons from the sun, and store it in the agar.

What we are looking at is 90% of the sun's energy that made contact with the panels, stored in these agar containers, then using this energy for high burst applications, or slow release.

I know some of you are published authors, please make this work.

Hell, cosmerefag can you give Sanderson this idea? He can use it in his upcoming space opera.
Some cylindrical metal about 3 feet in diameter, surrounded by gallons of this agar, and that is a new type of battery.

Be vague of what the agar is, but explain how it stores HUGE amounts of photons until the metal(imbued or some shit) is ready to absorb.

please steal this idea

[Anonymous No.8606881]

>>8606807
Why do you keep saying agar? Why can't you just use gelatin like a normal person?

[Anonymous No.8606887]

>>8606738
Dammit Matt Groening, you got me again!

[Anonymous No.8606898]

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/04/the-distant-suns-of-gene-wolfe
A cool article which also implicitly states that the contemporary fantasy reader is a mouth breathing philistine.

[Anonymous No.8606902]

>>8604955
If you don't do the worldbuilding beforehand, the world will build itself as you write.

Which is nice until your readers confront you with the contradictions.

[Anonymous No.8606911]

>>8606807
Science today says photons can't be stored. That's not an engineering limitation but a fundamental - photons stop being photons when they can't go at the speed of light.

Some trickery might be possible with exotic matter at extremely low temperatures, so low that even space is warmer. Therefore the energy needed to keep stuff at such temperatures is vastly more than the energiy in the stuff.

So, no agar.

[Anonymous No.8606978]

>>8606786
Malazan is easy to follow. It has many flaws, being overly complex is not one of them.

[Anonymous No.8606981]

>>8606191
I enjoyed the rape, gay and incest is Infected Series.

[Anonymous No.8606995]

twenty thousand leagues under the sea is good SF.

[Anonymous No.8606998]

>>8606786
But the main audience for Malazan are the brain dead dnd players who in this case pretend it is complex and deep literature.

[Anonymous No.8607145]

>>8606981
You better not be joking.

[Anonymous No.8607161]

>>8606911
The agar by w/e properties has the photons bouncing around inside it.

What I'm thinking is that these containers will be like mini/mirco suns. While the agar is charged you can't access / gaze upon the agar directly. You need the blast shields up.

What I'm looking at is it taking energy (photons) that would normally be wasted,nand store them for future use.

Hell, they could set up these solar farms on mercury or some shit. When the battery is full ship off, plug in new one. psst, steal me

[Anonymous No.8607185]

>>8603247
>Tolkien
>Deep philosophy
>Characters

We can all respect his prose and linguistic efforts; let's not push it though

[Anonymous No.8607237]

>>8606664
thanks brudda

[Anonymous No.8607301]

>>8606981
i don't remember any of that

[Anonymous No.8607309]

I just finished the Unhewn Throne trilogy. What did you guys think of it?
That third book felt really messy.

[Anonymous No.8607328]

>>8607185
Serious question, do you ever get something thrown over your face and panic for a minute because you think the entire world disappeared?

[Anonymous No.8607347]

I'm planning on picking up some Fantasy Masterwork books when I get paid at the end of the month, any suggestions? Really in the mood for some pre-Tolkien fantasy like The Broken Sword or The Worm Ouroboros

[Anonymous No.8607354]

>>8607347
Lud in the Mist

[Anonymous No.8607361]

Where's PI? Did you really feel repulsed by Cugel? I am astounded. Personally, I think he's a GOAT rogue.

[Anonymous No.8607392]

>>8605517
>>8605506
I read the whole Rama series yonks ago, but I enjoyed it.

The dude who co-authored the sequels is basically a rocket scientist, so he was there just to bring the hard science elements to the mix.

The story in Rendez Vous With Rama 1 may seem boring because it's about a mission sent to explore an alien object which turns out to be some sort of empty tube, with a few structures in it.

But after that it gets really cool. Because a small group of people decide to go along. And they go deep.

Think of it as the boring and drawn out beginning of LOTR. then shit gets down.

[Anonymous No.8607398]

>>8607309
Third book was a trainwreck, and the whole series suffered for it even existing. Not a single plot line ends satisfactory. A huge drop in quality similar to blood song compared to its sequels

[Anonymous No.8607456]

Just finished re-reading the Bartimaeus series for the first time in years. Holds up really well.

[Anonymous No.8607487]

>>8607456
Ha.
I used to be really put off because it is often compared to Harry Fucking Potter. Not too bad after all.
But I like darker stuff. Maybe you would enjoy Gormenghast.

[Anonymous No.8607488]

>>8603247
Don't you think you're letting time do the winnowing for you? I don't think the density of thoughtful or classy books is any less now than back then

[Anonymous No.8607559]

>>8607487
>Gormenghast
Thanks, I've been meaning to read this for ages. I'll give it a go soon.

[Anonymous No.8607718]

>>8606807
>Hell, cosmerefag can you give Sanderson this idea?
Lolwut. I have never seen nor interacted with Sanderson beyond my one singular signed book. He doesn't even come to my state for touring.

[Anonymous No.8607731]

>>8607718
Which book did you get signed?

[Anonymous No.8607740]

>>8607731
Alloy of Law. I asked a question about Southern Scadrians.

[Anonymous No.8607747]

>>8607398
Yeah it started going downhill for me in the second book when Il Tornja barely showed up. It's hard to think of him as the big bad when he gets as much attention as a side character.
Also Adare was shit. I've never read such an infuriatingly shitty character. The whole trilogy had her making terrible decisions with huge repercussions then barely taking responsibility.

[Anonymous No.8608165]

>almost done with Words of Radiance
>Kaladin is STILL getting jerked around by lighteyes assholes
Jesus Christ, man

[Anonymous No.8608179]

>>8608165
>Words of Radiance

>It's another have to drudge through 3 different characters before you get to Kaladin POV series

[Anonymous No.8608415]

>>8608179
>it's another chapter that isn't about Dalinar

I just want comfy father and son adventures with the occasional scene when the MILF forgets that "no" means no. Is that too much to ask for Brandon?

[Anonymous No.8608427]

This book was boring, dumb, and read like a YA novel. Why does this guy sell so well?

Is there any good fantasy that has GOOD prose?

[Anonymous No.8608428]

>>8608427
The Buried Giant

[Anonymous No.8608431]

>>8608415
I think he's already realized the superiority of the short form but he's locked into sprawling epics.

>>8608427
Gee, I dunno, maybe you should try not reading Abercrombie?

[Anonymous No.8608444]

>>8603247
>Tolkien
>deep philosophical tales and characters

[Anonymous No.8608486]

Can someone tell me the best works of Science Fiction from France?

[Anonymous No.8608503]

>>8608486
Only French SF I know are Verne, Klein, and the Planet of the Apes guy, sorry. I guess Aliette de Bodard has all those short stories in Vietnam Space Empire but I wouldn't call her "best" anything.

[Anonymous No.8608507]

>>8607392
>The dude who co-authored the sequels is basically a rocket scientist

Funny, the other guy is a rocket scientist, too. Look up Clarke Orbit (or Clarke Belt).

[Anonymous No.8608523]

What are the chances of making a living with my writing?

[Anonymous No.8608539]

>>8608523
Depends on three things, in this order:
1. desired standard of living
2. ability to self-promote
3. quality of your writing
Wright's stuck with the standard of living he could afford when he had a day job and Tor still liked him. He also relies on his publisher to promote him and does not sling zingers on Twitter.

Trad publishers are in this fix a lot. Jemisin won a Hugo and still lives off her Patreon - she lives in Manhattan though I think. Most published genre authors have day jobs or working spouses. Then there's dudes like Correia that pound out a bunch of 5/10 books day after day and have big blogs, or Sanderson who basically got adopted by Tor.

[Anonymous No.8608593]

>>8608523
if you wrote pic related, 0 chances. pretentious vapid consumer-cucked bullshit.

you write like a tenth grader who desperately believes that their simulacrum of a dated and formal English style will elevate their prose. do you ever fucking think about writing before you do it?

sorry bub, read a fucking book or something, otherwise your best bet for money is a decent life insurance plan and a tank of helium.

[Anonymous No.8608602]

>>8606363
I just finished up the second book. It felt like it didn't really go anywhere, the first half of a larger novel that was split in half and padded out. I'll probably read the third one eventually, I'm just not in a hurry to do so.

Also like somebody said a few days ago:
>muh tea sets
>muh lieutenant awn

[Anonymous No.8608605]

>start reading pic related
>out of nowhere, fucking catgirls
Truly a shame that the series will never be completed.

[Anonymous No.8608610]

>>8608539
Correia had a day job till recently even with 10 novels a year

[Anonymous No.8608611]

>>8608610
>mfw I don't have a work ethic

[Anonymous No.8608615]

Is it worth finishing the series?

[Anonymous No.8608622]

>>8608593
>His voice was a rumble: “Han forwityng yon fremde not ken my tongue. Be ye tongue-witty?”

>Menelaus raised his palm by way of greeting and answered him. “My lowely tonge is naught unweedle ne unkonnynge. I speke Leche. Assent ye to be apposed by twa wee pers lordynges?”

>“Am naught looth ne drede,” said the big man with a chuckle of expansive good humor. “Find me servysable, who has none been hende weel-dressed muchel mee!”
What did Wright mean by this?

[Anonymous No.8608625]

>>8608615
Yes

[Anonymous No.8608628]

>>8608605
Wait, seriously? Do I need to move this series up on my list?

[Anonymous No.8608629]

>>8608615
no it is not

[Anonymous No.8608632]

>>8608615
forgot pic

[Anonymous No.8608671]

>>8608605
>out of nowhere, fucking catgirls
picked up

[Anonymous No.8608700]

Is there a list or a chart for good Fantasy fapfiction novels anywhere?

[Anonymous No.8608722]

>>8608615
I didn't care for it.

[Anonymous No.8608743]

>>8608700
Kushiel's Legacy.
Neveryon.
Lilith’s Brood.

[Anonymous No.8608974]

Does anyone have book 5 of Gaskun's series? I'm done with the first 4

[Anonymous No.8608981]

>>8608165
>>8608179
>>8608415

>just started Words of Radiance, got to the part where Jasnah gets shanked
>Out of the two female characters the books have been following, the more interesting one goes out like a bitch and we are stuck with the shittier one's POV

I'm enjoying the fuck out of Dalinar and Kaladin but I don't know if I can deal with a book's worth of Shallan POV without the only thing that remotely made her chapters readable.

[Anonymous No.8608990]

>>8608981
Well I guess it's time for Shallan to learn how to take care of herself, isn't it?

Also just read the book.

[Anonymous No.8609024]

W H E R E
H
E
R
E

[Anonymous No.8609058]

>tfw read 4 or 5 of the dune picks, the main foundation books, and two of the ringworld books
fuck man. These books were good and now I feel empty until I find something to fill the void. Any special recommendations for shit like ringworld?

[Anonymous No.8609093]

>>8603247
i don't visit this board very often because of all the pretentiousness it has, average intelligence morons thinking they are intellectually superior to other people because they have read x mainstream classic (see the brothers k thread) while achieving exactly nothing in real life and having solved 0 actual hard problems ever.

every time I come back I read something insanely pretentious and wrong within a minute of opening any thread. it's sad.

[Anonymous No.8609095]

>>8609093
Welcome to the internet.

[Anonymous No.8609146]

>>8608981
I literally just finished Words of Radiance 5 minutes ago. Shallan can be a pain but she does get better. Not as good as Kaladin does eventually though, oh man. This next part is a big spoiler though. Don't worry about Jasnah, she's fine.

[Anonymous No.8609151]

>>8609093
You get used to it. I find /sffg/ actually has some decent people in it once you get past the shitposters.

[Anonymous No.8609154]

>>8609146
Which was the most satisfying part about the end? For me it was when Kaladin goes full Radiant

[Anonymous No.8609160]

>>8609154
That was one of the most hype moments, but what came as a total surprise was Adolin straight up murdering Sadaes in the spur of the moment. I thought it was going to be a whole fucking ordeal with him being there and I just know a huge chunk of the next book is going to be the fallout of that happening, but I don't care cause that fat fuck is finally dead.

[Anonymous No.8609164]

So glad this thread is here. I wanted to ask /lits/ opinion on Harry Dresdan Files, I've read up to Book 15 and holy shit, this mother fucker is the walking definition of a Puppet on strings just being everyone's bitch and tool for everything.

I'm enjoying them but he just keeps fucking up and I'm not a profession /lit/ guy here so I'm guessing what I'm reading to you is what Health Nuts see when someone like me is eating a bag of Utz Chips

Is there anything like Harry Dresdan files and or better? My reading level isn't high like reading Beowulf and Shakespeare here.

[Anonymous No.8609166]

>>8609058
A step down maybe, but Charles Sheffield's Summertide has a gathering of aliens at a Big Space Artifact. I liked it.

[Anonymous No.8609192]

>>8609160
I was really hoping he'd get a good redemption arc but nope, down the side of the magic castle. GAS THE KHOLIN CIVIL WAR NOW

>>8609154
That was pretty weak imo but not as bad as the everyone gets a shardblade. There were better ways to get them all there, I'm sure. The big Alethi expedition was the best part of the book if I'm recalling correctly, haven't read it since it came out.

[Anonymous No.8609206]

>>8609164
You might actually like Brandon Sanderson. He's pretty hated around here but that's because he's chips. Start with Mistborn or Elantris.

Something else you might like, he was super popular for like seventy years, is Edgar Rice Burroughs. John Carter of Mars, Carson Napier of Venus, Tarzan. He might have a few unfamiliar words but you can just roll with it, they don't matter much to the plot, and his main characters are total silverbacks from start to finish. Sword fights with four-armed green men and romancing Martian princesses all day every day.

Used to be lots of people read Burroughs, he was in the kind of niche Dresden Files are in now, it's just there wasn't so much other crap mixed in.

You could also try Louis L'Amour, he writes westerns. He's another author with assertive main characters, and a lot of guys only read his books. They're the kind of books you'll find under the seat of a worn-out cowboy pickup truck.

[Anonymous No.8609217]

>>8609206
I'm really fresh to your board, what is "chips" also I've heard about Mistborn, isn't the MC a woman though? Not sure how much I could relate to a woman to be honest.

[Anonymous No.8609227]

>>8609164
Breh this is Sci-fi/Fantasy General, we're not high brow here. Some posters pretend like they are, but they aren't.

I never read Dresden but it's urban fantasy right? Maybe try something like American Gods. Or if you want an epic there's always GRRM and Sanderson, very entry level authors.

[Anonymous No.8609229]

So Gallius rax
Snoke or Red herring?

[Anonymous No.8609234]

>>8609217
I was just meaning he's more like the Utz Chips you mentioned than health food. Vin's not hard to relate to, especially since she isn't much of a character and mostly is there to react to the characters around her, most of which are guys.

You know, you might get along with Heinlein. He's pretty no-nonsense in his writing. Tunnel in the Sky is about a bunch of kids that go to an uncharted planet for a high school civics class, it's meant to last a few months but they lose contact and have to basically build a frontier civilization on their own.

[Anonymous No.8609236]

>>8609217
I think he was using your metaphor, saying we read the equivalent of junk food. Which is true.

And if you want some advice I'd suggest learning to read for reasons other than self-inserting into characters or you won't get very far.

[Anonymous No.8609241]

>>8609192
>everyone gets a shardblade
Except Dalinar, fucking Bondsmiths of all orders he had to be the one with no shards.

[Anonymous No.8609249]

>>8609227
American Gods has a lot of filler but I can see why you recommend it. I'm trying to think of decent urban fantasy and I'm drawing a blank. Ender's Game is really surface-level and rewarding at the same time, I'd recommend it.

>>8609236
Literature is an art. Fiction is a necessity.

>>8609241
Every Radiant order's name is ridiculous in its own way, except for Edgedancers which is next-level ridiculous. Bondsmith sounds like a lawyer.

[Anonymous No.8609255]

>>8609249
>Every Radiant order's name is ridiculous in its own way, except for Edgedancers which is next-level ridiculous
Windrunner isn't bad though. I think that's the first one he came up with and that's why it sounds better than the rest. The dumbest to me is "Elsecaller" in that you can tell what it's supposed to mean but it sounds like something badly translated from another language, like Chinese.

[Anonymous No.8609263]

>my mfw face when the only ones more autistic than Sanderson himself are his fans

>>8609255
It would be neat if his works felt like they were translated from another language. It's a lot of work for a very subtle return, so I can understand why he doesn't do that, but aside from proper nouns and high-larious accents there's really no sense of what the language they are actually speaking sounds like.

[Anonymous No.8609272]

>>8609263
It doesn't help he uses distinctly English colloquialisms and idioms that by all rights shouldn't exist in an entirely separate universe. Like one that stuck out to me was when Dalinar said to Kaladin that he had a "chip on his shoulder" which is an idiom with a very specific history in our world and there's no reason it would exist in theirs. Just one of many things like that.

Oh and of course all of Shallan's puns make no sense if they're supposed to be speaking a different language. Jesus how I wish Sanderson could think of a way to be "witty" that didn't involve word play a 12 year old could write.

[Anonymous No.8609282]

>>8609249
>I'm trying to think of decent urban fantasy and I'm drawing a blank
Kraken - Mieville
London Falling - Cornell
City of Saints and Madmen - Vandermeer
A Fine and Private Place - Beagle (not your typical Urban noir-esque thing, but it's set in NYC and probably the best thing on this list)
Good Omens - Gaiman & Pratchett

[Anonymous No.8609292]

>>8609272
The alternatives are to cut idioms out entirely, which is extra work and drains color from the story, or to invent world-specific idioms, which I think he's done before? It sounds like a Sanderson thing, some lame metaphor that everyone uses because it's the only one. That's what he does for in-world cursing, which also covers for his delicate Mormon sensibility against using real-world foul language that would make his mother blush yes I know people get cut in half but at least they aren't cut in half while dragging you out of your suspension of disbelief. Doing the second option well takes a lot more work but it's very worth it.

Nobody gives Tolkien enough credit for his names. He translated Old Common into Old English, so even the Shire capital is translated into Michel Delving, he took the Elvish river name Baranduin and modified it the way English villagers would to make Brandywine. That world is believable.

>>8609282
The anon that was asking was looking for low-reading-comprehension friendly, so I wouldn't rec Mieville (not like I'd rec Mieville for most things anyway). Beagle's a good, honest writer, anon might like his stuff.

[Anonymous No.8609310]

>>8609292
>or to invent world-specific idioms, which I think he's done before
He has indeed. He has a lot of them. A lot of fantasy authors do this since it colors the setting.

>Nobody gives Tolkien enough credit for his names
I'm pretty sure there are several scholars and students who give him more than enough credit. Tolkien was a renowned linguist, I actually studied from his Beowulf and Gawain translations in college.

[Anonymous No.8609315]

The guy here who was asking about things like Harry Dresdan. How do I git gud at reading and understanding of words? I notice when I read historical readings or things with big words; if I cant pronounce them I start leaving blanks in my head when reading and I don't full grasp what I'm reading and how I see the world the author has created around me.

Now someone recommended GRRM but I have a hard time keeping up with multiple things happening at the same time with different characters and then even being self-aware of larger more subtle plots and agendas the characters have or trying to find connections and secrets in those things.

I feel like my IQ must be that of a rock because of this.

What are some good things to read and slowly get better? Im writing and screen capping all these books so I can slowly read them all

[Anonymous No.8609326]

>>8609292
Kraken is very much Mieville "doing a Gaiman", it's more accessible than any of his non-YA even if words like "benthos" occasionally crop up. Plus ideas like the Sea being a living entity that holds diplomatic relations with dry land are worth a little purple prose.

Beagle is hugely underrated.

[Anonymous No.8609327]

>>8609315
Try looking up study guides for Greek and Latin compounds. I started learning these from a very young age and it really helped me going into middle school because it let me guess at pronunciation and even meaning for words I'd never seen before with fairly high accuracy. A lot of the bigger and more complicated words in English are borrowed from French and have Latin origins, otherwise they are usually Greek. Not only will it help you figure out new words but also remember ones you've already seen.

[Anonymous No.8609336]

>>8609310
Nobody who hasn't passed through the veil of Tolkien-hate, I mean. He's mostly popular for writing novel versions of fantasy action movies. Huge shame.

>>8609315
Don't worry about it. You've got what you've got and Jesus loves you just as much as he loves any anon here. As far as unfamiliar words, if you can't pronounce them in your head just make up the next-best pronunciation and use that. You might end up using it in conversation later and getting embarrassed, but it happens to all of us. Dictionaries are great but they can slow you down and give you an excuse to stop reading. A lot of the time you can figure out what the word means from the context, that's actually most of how we all got good in the first place.

When you're better at reading come back and read the same books again. It's an experience you can't have with books you read with good comprehension: you'll be reading the same story but getting a lot more out of it, seeing things you missed the first time around. You're not going to grasp everything at first, and some of the very best books you're not ever going to grasp everything and neither are we.

[Anonymous No.8609345]

>>8609315
Reading is how you get better. You have to be willing to look up unfamiliar words, and maybe do a bit of extra work to help your comprehension like taking notes on what you read to help you remember things. As you improve and get better you won't have to do these things, but nobody starts out an amazing reader. They just get better with practice. Some people start earlier than others.

[Anonymous No.8609351]

>>8609345
This. I guarantee you most of our high-comprehension readers were in chapter books when they were six, Redwall and such. It's totally possible to pick up high reading comprehension as an adult, you just need patience with yourself.

[Anonymous No.8609356]

>>8609315
>I have a hard time keeping up with multiple things happening at the same time with different characters and then even being self-aware of larger more subtle plots and agendas the characters have or trying to find connections and secrets in those things.
I think you might do well with the Hobbit. I know Tolkien can be a bit intimidating to a weak reader but it's a very straight forward story so you won't have to worry about missing tiny details and plots within plots or anything like that. The only thing to deal with will be Tolkien's prose, which admittedly will be challenging for somebody at your level but if that's all you have to deal with then I think it would be a great experience.

[Anonymous No.8609368]

>>8609351
I actually didn't move onto to real novels til I was about 8 or so. Before that I mostly just read picture books or poems, stuff like Shel Silversten's books. I remember the first book I ever read to myself was this big illustrated book of poems about dragons, which probably is why I love fantasy even to this day.

[Anonymous No.8609379]

>>8609345
>>8609351
I read all the Brain Jacques books as a kid; I guess I lost my comprehension as I grew older. Those books had better food porn then GRRM; at least the one book I partially read

[Anonymous No.8609382]

What's the average size/number of pages of a first draft for a regular sized book?

[Anonymous No.8609383]

>>8609154
Kaladin isn't even a full Radiant yet. One Ideal left, boyo :-)

>>8609160
So many people think there's some ulterior meaning to it and I only ever saw it as a son removing a clear threat to his family.

>>8609249
>Every Radiant order's name is ridiculous in its own way
They're really not. Is this your first fiction novel or something? Things like Bondsmith, Windrunner, and Skybreaker are fairly standard fictional terms.

[Anonymous No.8609385]

>>8609379
Brian Jacques convinced me that food porn in fantasy was normal, which is why Raymond E. Feist, Tolkien, and eventually GRRM never struck me as weird for lavishing so much detail on food.

[Anonymous No.8609494]

>>8609383
Fairly standard fantasy is also ridiculous.

[Anonymous No.8609503]

>>8609383
>those Nordic features
I mean I really, really like white people but Stormlight's all about everything being exotic. I wish he'd had the artist alter the faces more.

>So many people think there's some ulterior meaning to it and I only ever saw it as a son removing a clear threat to his family.
You've got to look at it on the fairy-tale level. It was murder. You don't get away with murder even if some good comes of it, even if it was a bad man, not when it's a stab in the back when they think you're a friend. This is his first step toward a heel turn or at least a really hard journey back. The Cosmere is a moral universe, even in canon. You don't get to be grimderp and Machiavellian and avoid the consequences. The Lord Ruler made the same mistake.

[Anonymous No.8609543]

Hey, Catholic Fedora Man is... not that bad of an artist. Kind of a Jack Kirby style.

[Anonymous No.8609593]

>>8609543
Eyes are too widely placed.

[Anonymous No.8609631]

>first book
mistborn

>sequels
mistbored

[Anonymous No.8609640]

>>8609503
But Kelsier killed lots of people and he's still alive.

[Anonymous No.8609658]

>>8609640
He's got different rules. He'll never have the joy the moral characters have - look at Vin and... Prince-guy. They sailed off to the afterlife, happy ever after, he's got to deal with things here. And he doesn't get to see his waifu, either.

But the moral characters have hard things happen to them too, I know. They have an easier time dealing with them and they're a lot less likely to turn into bad guys. It's not always easy to see the benefits of being morally upright, and that's what makes Shadows of Self Sanderson's best work so far, the moral conflict Wayne has about submitting to his god even after he tricked him into killing his true love. That's a real issue, there's not always an easy answer, and there's a lot to talk about.

But yeah, the basic idea is that it's a slide to the dark side and you don't just play around on the dividing line without consequences, not if you want the book to stay honest. It's a very Modernist thing to have rewards and punishments as random as they seem in real life, and that's what makes Modernist works feel so dead.

[Anonymous No.8609683]

>>8609658
I'd say there is enough ambiguity to what happens regarding specific characters to not have clear defined end-states if a specific character would always fit a specific role. You can see the few shades of grey with characters like Kelsier, Wayne, and Kaladin. I genuinely believe nothing ulterior will occur involving Adolin and if so, I'll eat my hat. The most that /could/ happen is him joining one of the Orders but that would feel a bit cheap considering Dalinar and Renarin are already Knights. On a side note, I feel that it is cheap making Renarin canon-autistic.

Also, isn't Wayne's 'God' the God Beyond? Pretty sure that had nothing to do with his past, and subsequent gun phobia. Although this just reminded me of the ending of SoS and I forgot how amazing that moment was.

[Anonymous No.8609686]

>>8609658
>>8609683
Wait no, you meant Wax, not Wayne.

[Anonymous No.8609702]

>>8609686
You're right, my bad.

>>8609683
I don't think Adolin had ulterior motives. He really was doing what he thought was right at that moment. The problem is that it wasn't right at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he can't make it into an Order because he can't honestly say the oath. He wouldn't have the honor to feed an honorspren. You can see Adolin as a major foil for Kaladin in this. Wouldn't be surprised if there's a rift between them coming up. In fact, that would be an excellent conflict for Dalinar's book, the effort in balancing Kaladin, Renarin and Adolin. His job as a Radiant is to make sure they've got bonds. Could get in the way of Shallan getting that arranged marriage too.

>I feel that it is cheap making Renarin canon-autistic.
Probably not the last checkbox character, especially with that gay bridgeman coming up. Sandman's got to feed his kids and keep Tor happy so I guess there's no helping it.

[Anonymous No.8609709]

>>8609702
>The problem is that it wasn't right at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he can't make it into an Order
But see, that's the whole thing with the Knights Radiant; they all represent flowing forms of morality. He could be a perfect Skybreaker, literally taking the law into his own hands. Skybreaker best Order

Oh god, I forgot about Drehy being gay. What an annoying thing to deal with in the Cosmere now, this forced diversity.

[Anonymous No.8609711]

>>8608605
The true shame is that we will never see Scytale rebirth Tleilaxu civilization and conquer the universe, as was meant to be.

[Anonymous No.8609723]

>>8609709
No, check my theory that I just made up. Adolin's meant for the same order as Kaladin, he really couldn't stomach taking the law into his own hands all the time, he'd be much better at protecting the people he hates because it's his duty, and Kaladin initiates him but he can't continue.

I don't like the idea of everyone just getting the Order that makes them feel good. Maybe Adolin makes it to Skybreakers, but even if he does he will be diminished because he's not being entirely true to himself. A good epic should have tragic failures of heroes. Not just sudden deaths of heroes like Gurm, actual story arcs where they get eaten by their hamartia.

It would be neat in any case for there to be instant civil wars between New Radiant factions.

[Anonymous No.8609771]

>>8609058
Rec'd >8596142 in the last thread, but that was mainly a superstructure rec. Oh, Chung Kuo had a global superstructure ruled by corrupt Chinese lords and their loyal European retainers, which sounds awesome but I really didn't like it. ymmv

As far as sense-of-wonder SF goes, may I recommend
*tips fedora*
the Golden Age trilogy by
*posts picture of John C. Wright tipping fedora*
John C.
*quotes Wright's psychedelic conversion story*
Wright. It's this bonkers
*example of Wright's reactionary political views and snooty vocabulary from his blog*
libertarian space opera set in
*complains about Wright not being laughed at like in the god old days*
the Solar System thousands of years in the future when transhuman wonders are commonplace. It's got excellent worldbuilding but it's a very personal story about knowing who you are and who you love, plus some really crazy action scenes and weird transhumans, a month-long walk down the stairs of a space elevator, Victorian aesthetics, entrepreneurship, and a cameo from Socrates. Great fun all the way through, and one of modern science fiction's only accurate descriptions of married life.

[Anonymous No.8609864]

>>8607309
>ultra-elite special forces organization that puts its members through extensive gruelling physical trials is composed of 50/50 men and women despite the fact that females can only very rarely qualify to be grunts IRL

[Anonymous No.8609908]

>>8609864
>starring Jennifer Lawrence

[Anonymous No.8609920]

>>8603240
what the fuck are these books called anyways? theres like 7 different titles for 4 or 2 different sections of the book or something like that.

[Anonymous No.8609924]

>>8609920
Big Sev's Magic Thorn and Pussy Tour featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.

[Anonymous No.8609964]

Hi, /lit/
Once in /tv/ I was told to read some book about a wizard school that had more realistic depiction of magic and education, probably about some boy

Maybe you can help with the name because I can't remember it and nothing I google catches my attention.

[Anonymous No.8609985]

>>8609327
Underrated post

[Anonymous No.8609991]

>>8609964
Harry Potter
Name of the Wind
The Magicians
Wizard of Earthsea

[Anonymous No.8609993]

>>8609964
Might have been The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

[Anonymous No.8610013]

>>8609991
>The Magicians
>>8609993

probably this

>Name of the Wind
>Childtales

No, I forgot to mention that has HP thread and the book was described as something similar to HP in concept, yet with more detail towards reason and quality

[Anonymous No.8610143]

>>8609151
The shitposters being those "classics sff pulp" only guys?

[Anonymous No.8610179]

>>8609164
Look at the male protagonist.

[Anonymous No.8610261]

>start reading Perdido Street Station
>a friend says to me that Mievill is not a good fantasy author
>ask him why since I like the prose and the setting so far
>"his magic system is inconsistent. Read Sanderson, he's much better."

I...I don't even....how do I respond

[Anonymous No.8610284]

>>8610261
>different people like different things
shocker

[Anonymous No.8610292]

>>8610284

I guess what startled me is that I realized that he uses "consistency of magic system" as a measure of how good a SFF book is.

[Anonymous No.8610331]

>>8610292
Maybe he likes organized magic, so what?

Tell him you're not crazy about structured magic, you like other things.

I wouldn't read mieville because his books are shit (imo), but I read other similar shit like his. Magic doesn't have to be consistent, but it has to be believable.

[Anonymous No.8610342]

>>8610261
Miéville is just atrocious. I picked up one of his books and I feel like I'm reading Pokemon: The Novel, a simply absurdly large number of races that I don't care about and the novel is filled with interesting ideas that never deliver because it is completely bogged down by the superfluous detail about how x race looks.

To summarise: The Scar was an utterly nonsensical novel about a person who had to deliver a letter with people who were sprouting tentacles due to some unethical experimentation who eventually got raided by pirates and ended up in a city with lots of stolen books that they can apparently never leave and crayfish men and mosquito people appear and then the horrible, horrible vampires get tied to the ship and at some point they get attacked by a monster and there is also a massive conspiracy about rifts in reality.

Interesting imagination, good prose and about as cohesive as a sockpuppet made of four parts vegetable, one part fabric and two parts human hair. I'd take Sanderson over him any time.

[Anonymous No.8610346]

>>8610342

I don't know, man. I'm a sucker for innovative settings and fresh ideas and Perdido has a shitload of both. Sanderson is alright but he just reads like more Dungeons and Dragons type stuff and I have already had more than my fill of that.

[Anonymous No.8610360]

Just finished reading this.
Despite knowing the plot already,it was pretty good.
The prose is pretty light in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.8610363]

>>8610346
Mieville has remarkable shades of creativity but the plot in his novels is like a sieve and the conclusions are all over the place unlike authors like Vance or Simmons or even Bakker (whose works I never really got into but in his novel every event flowed naturally) who combine worldbuilding with story telling. Sanderson is formulaic but there is a distinct effort to draw everything every plot thread together.

The Bas-Lag novels are eccentric and adventurous but the content just randomly wanders whimsically.

[Anonymous No.8610369]

>>8603240
nah

[Anonymous No.8610424]

Hey everybody, i have read most of the shit this thread usually proposes.

Do you have anything new for me to read? By "new" i mean recently published.

Thanks fags.

[Anonymous No.8610426]

>>8610424
The Buried Giant

[Anonymous No.8610432]

>>8610424

I recommend Swanwick's newest short story collection, it's called Not So Much Said The Cat. Good shit.

[Anonymous No.8610450]

>>8610424
How recent

[Anonymous No.8610464]

>>8610450
not more than 5 years old

[Anonymous No.8610479]

>>8610464
Check out the goodreads new releases section. These fags only recommend old shit.

[Anonymous No.8610481]

>>8610479
Forgot link

https://www.goodreads.com/new_releases/2016/9

[Anonymous No.8610526]

>>8610481
what an impressive list

[Anonymous No.8610548]

>>8610342
Does Miéville do catgirls?

[Anonymous No.8610559]

>>8610526
How do I make this list only display authors I didn't rate 1?

[Anonymous No.8610580]

>>8610548

Don't know about catgirls but Perdido Street Station literally opens with a fat nerd fucking a chick with a female body and the head of a scarab.

[Anonymous No.8610609]

>>8610580
Interesting. I'm more looking for general portrayals of the femme feline, intercourse can be a gemstone on the shining necklace of her story, but alone it isn't worth much.

[Anonymous No.8610651]

>>8610464
>>8610424
>it's that time again

[Anonymous No.8610667]

>>8610651
>Anon says not more than 5 years old
>Posts list with 45-year-old books on it

[Anonymous No.8610668]

>>8610651
Pretty sure he said not more than 5 years.

[Anonymous No.8610708]

>>8610667
>>8610668
There are books in there that are 5 years old.

[Anonymous No.8610716]

>>8610651
Not a bad list. I have read most of them.

Bumping for recent books. Come on e/lit/s!

[Anonymous No.8610718]

>>8610716
Why don't you read the recs you got first retard?

[Anonymous No.8610720]

>>8610716
see
>>8610481

Also
https://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_by_date/2016/9?id=2016/September

[Anonymous No.8610723]

>>8610464
My two would be Aurora and Seveneves. Though we talk about them here sometimes so I don't know if that rules them out. I liked The Martian, I liked both Redshirts and the fuzzy one, enjoyed the Expanse series, though it petered out in the fourth book. Didn't much care for The Water Knife, though the ending was better than I'd feared.

Also read Osama by Lavie Tidhar, which seemed to be an experiment that never quite came together. Ready Player One started promising, but became tedious. I also liked Jim Butcher's airship book, though it's just adventure.

On the fantasy side, I haven't read much. I hated the second Mistborn series. In fact I forgot how much I hated it and accidentally read the most recent one which brought it all back. I liked his superhero-themed books better, though there's nothing new in them. I took a chance with Lightbringer and found it much better than Weeks' earlier series.

Since I'm anonymous, I'll confess I like the self-published D&D campaign stores of Drew Hayes (NPCs) and Robert Bevan (Critical Failures) though I'd be forced to agree with almost any criticism you could throw against them.

[Anonymous No.8610725]

>>8610720
And this
https://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_by_date/2016/10?id=2016/October

[Anonymous No.8610735]

>>8610716
I... I don't think I've read any senpai. T.T

[Anonymous No.8610745]

>>8610735
Catgirls are a miracle of the universe.

[Anonymous No.8610746]

>>8610735
>>8610745
Yiff in hel

[Anonymous No.8610749]

>>8610735
At least you showed a book i've never seen before here.

[Anonymous No.8610750]

Teach an idiot what makes Sanderson's prose bad. It just seems bland to me, besides the awful dislogue.

[Anonymous No.8610780]

>>8610746
That could be difficult, as I am unaware of any catfolk in the Scandinavian tradition.

[Anonymous No.8610795]

>>8610735
>plantigrade catgirls
do you even furry?

[Anonymous No.8610819]

>>8609723
I don't think there's any reason Adolin would have to be a Windrunner. Yes he's a foil to Kaladin but he doesn't have the same connection to honor that Kaladin does. I'm not sure what kind of Radiant he would be if he turns into one though. I see Adolin becoming a point of contention in the future. There's so many things to attack his ego now. His invalid brother is a Radiant, his quasi-rival bridgeboy is a Radiant, even his fucking fiance is a Radiant. That one might be the hardest to bear because on top of everything else he's emasculated by her.

I could see him weathering this but you just know he's gonna be angsting over it in Oathkeeper.

[Anonymous No.8610833]

>>8610716
Have you read any Tad Williams? I almost never see him mentioned in these threads. What about Brian Ruckley? Tim Lebbon?

Only really recent author I might recommend is Mark Lawrence, who is a GRRM-esque author currently in vogue, his last trilogy was published in the last 3 years.

[Anonymous No.8610836]

>>8610795
I guess ol Boris' imagination just wasn't up to it. I don't recall many digitigrade covers. This one and that Kzin one that is posted sometimes are all I can think of off hand.

[Anonymous No.8610892]

>>8610750
Most times when somebody in these threads says "X's prose is bad" it's filler criticism used by pseuds. Not every time, but most times. I've found what is meant by it is usually just what you've said: the prose is bland. It's serviceable and easy to read, but lacking any real creativity with lots of repeated phrases and descriptions for things. You see this a lot in doorstopper novels of the type Sanderson writes (he's not the only one or even the worst offender, but he's probably the best known author in these threads who does it besides maybe Robert Jordan).

So my guess would be they call this bland-bu-serviceable prose "bad" to make themselves seem more sophisticated, like some kind of prose-gourmet who can only stand to read the most elaborately crafted sentences and anything else is just unbearable to them (though how they manage to browse 4chan with this condition I have no idea). Or maybe they just genuinely read scifi and fantasy for artistic prose for reasons I doubt they can really explain.

[Anonymous No.8610960]

So I've got an idea for a book and I've started drafting it out, wanted your opinion on my pitch.

Basically it follows Sea Wizards, magic users who sail around the seas in their little sailboats using magic to control winds and waters. Sea Wizards are solitary and rarely talk or meet with anyone else, they mainly just sail around and use their magical prowess to try and fight nature, tsunamis, hurricanes, whirlpools, you name it. The book follows one Sea Wizard in his life of Sea Wizardry.

Kindof a waterworld meets earthsea sort of thing was what I was going for. On mainland there is a more sword and shield kind of fantasy world going on but I just want to focus the narrative on the sea wizards.

[Anonymous No.8611021]

>>8609093
I know, me too. But it's ok, the world outside the internet is filled with people like that too.

[Anonymous No.8611046]

>>8604889
I fucking despise STEMfags but you are very stupid

[Anonymous No.8611063]

>>8610424
The Medusa Chronicles by SB & AR

[Anonymous No.8611103]

*translocates behind you*
*unsheathes Enshoya*

[Anonymous No.8611105]

>>8609024
October 25th. The date is in his blog.
Seriously, how stupid are you?

[Anonymous No.8611139]

>>8610464
Not sure on exact dates, but here's my list for recent fantasy

Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Ryiria Chronicles by Michael J Sullivan.

Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne by Brian Staveley.

Powder Mage by Brian McClellan.

Both Night Angel trilogy and the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.

Ravens Shadow Trilogy and Draconis Memorian by Anthony Ryan.

Demon Cycle by Peter V Brett.

The Travellers Gate series and the Cradle series by Will Wight.

[Anonymous No.8611158]

>>8611139
A list or recommendations? Because several of those are very very bad.

[Anonymous No.8611171]

>>8609315
Getting good at reading is like getting good at sports or anything else. Start small, get confortable with it, push to the next weight class.

For Urban Fantasy I suggest the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. The MC at least tries really hard to not end up a puppet. I also really recommend Monster Hunters International series and the Grimnoir series, both by Larry Correia, and Hellequin series by Steve McHugh.

[Anonymous No.8611196]

>>8611158
I don't know about art, I just know what I like.

These all had good action, main characters that I either liked or at least I didn't hate, interesting enough magic systems, enough worldbuilding to make them feel different and memorable to me, and no glaring plotholes that bothered me.

Most important, none of those felt boring. So, yeah, I reccomend them.

[Anonymous No.8611197]

>>8610833
> Brian Ruckley
Wait what, someone else here has read the guy?

[Anonymous No.8611201]

You guys seem to like Gene Wolfe alot. Thought about reading The Book of the New Sun. Is it could because of the prose or the story? Because I consider reading the German translation.

[Anonymous No.8611204]

>>8611103
How can worldborn men even compere

[Anonymous No.8611231]

>>8611201

I would read it in English if it were you. I did it without problems and my own language is farther from english than yours is, so it should be even easier for you.

[Anonymous No.8611233]

>>8611158

[Anonymous No.8611239]

>>8611201
Don't read anything in translation when you can clearly post on 4chan in English.

[Anonymous No.8611279]

>>8611201
Don't get meme'd, Gene Wolfe is good but Book of the New Sun is not a good introduction to his style. Start with Soldier of the Mist or Wizard Knight. Starting with BotNS is like starting to read Tolkien with the Silmarillion.

[Anonymous No.8611323]

>>8611103
Tekne > gnosis

Only those who aren't safe from damnation disagree

[Anonymous No.8611344]

>>8611279
I'm reading the first book and it's not as hard to read as people make it out to be.

[Donkey !HOTAY/zB0Y No.8611349]

Someone start a new thread while I write up a summary of "Revelation Space".

[Anonymous No.8611477]

>>8611349

New thread
>>8611475

[Anonymous No.8611803]

>>8608605
More like
>out of nowhere, Jews

[Anonymous No.8611902]

>>8605597
You probably shouldn't bother with Echopraxia. The consensus is that it doesn't measure up to Blindsight. I really like Blindsight but Echopraxia left me disappointed. It's kinda similar in a lot of way but worse.

[Anonymous No.8612359]

Have anyone read the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks?
Is it good?
I have read The Night Angel trilogy by him and it was meh/okay.
He build an interesting world, but it didn't go anywhere.
Is Lightbringer series better?

[Anonymous No.8612418]

>>8612359
Lightbringer corrects 98% of the flaws of Night Angel and is 3x better as a result. If you want more opinions, ask again in the new thread.

>>8611475

[Anonymous No.8612426]

>>8612418
Oh. You did.