WORLDS EDITION >What are you currently reading? >What's your favorite secondary world >Thoughts on the trend of modern authors giving world building precedence over plot in their books.
Seriously though, I very much enjoy the idea of kids or teens going out and adventuring in nature against some foe, similar to Avatar or Dragon Prince. It makes me feel nostalgic for something I never had, and I love that. I'd read fanfiction of the series', but their best fics are full of mediocre writing at best. So I figure I could ask here. Could any of you anons help me find something similar to what I'm asking?
Logan Jackson
cringe
based
Easton Collins
Cradle series by will wight- basically sort of a level up type story about a weak kid trying to get stronger and makes a few friends (generally well regarded by people in this thread also) Dawn of wonder by jonathan renshaw- basically exactly what you want. Very well written The arinthian line by sever bronny- Also exactly what you want. Super YA but pretty well written for what it is. benjamin ashmore by AC cobble- Average dude gets thrown in with above average people. Little bit of politics but mostly traveling and fighting and training. Mageborn by michael g manning- Can't remember too much but decent overall. Magic based The crimson queen by alec hutson The white tower by michael wisehart That's all I remember right now but I have a few more tucked away somewhere
Jack Gonzalez
I'm reading it at the moment, still about half of The Wizard to go. At its best it's really great and enchanting, Wolfe writes these surreal supernatural scenes like no other. The characters are great and I like basically all of them now that I've gotten into the chivalry, honor and duty mindset that they all have. Svon is probably my favorite. The world is super intriguing. However there are also times when the story either moves very slowly (the court plotting in land of the giants) or is very episodic (basically the first half of The Knight) with the MC just stumbling upon random events. I suppose it will all make more sense on a second read.
John Gray
It's not a book, but have you tried the manga Made in Abyss? It's cute and nice and then it has grimdark and gruesome plot twists.
>shilling dawn of wonder I don't know if dawn of wonder is botted on goodreads or if it's some plan 9 from outer space shit, I've never seen a book this bad get a score this high with a significant amount of reviews. The top review for it is pretty much 100% on point, worst fantasy I gave a try to. Seconding Cradle, and while Crimson Queen first book was very good the 2nd drops pretty badly in quality with nothing happening, hope that manages to pick up.
Logan Wright
your courting death.
Michael Butler
YOU DARE?
Jackson Powell
I DO DARE! be prepared to cow-tow and i will make your death swift.
So. /sffg/, wanna make fun of birdboi more? I can drop some spicy info.
Justin Nelson
No, I want to make fun of you for your stupid tsundere crush on him which makes you keep bringing him up. Go sniff his farts somewhere else faggot.
Asher Walker
I love birdboi!
Adrian Watson
Why haven't I seen any talk about Benson's Lord of the World novel? Based Pope Benedict XVI has endorsed and it's the first time I hear about it. Has anyone here read it?
>What are you currently reading? The accursed Kings, it’s based. >What's your favorite secondary world Don’t know what that means >Thoughts on the trend of modern authors giving world building precedence over plot in their books. Wouldn’t be so bad if they could build a decent world. People consider Wheel of Time’s worldbuilding to be the greatest in recent memory and it’s a boring cultureless blank canvas with no history (which is impressive given that the series is about time being an endless loop).
Hudson Jones
I found that siege book with multiple walls kinda disapointing. Druss it was called. Or legend? Idk. I like Druss books though.
Jonathan Morales
For a book named "the wizard knight", you wouldn't expect the first book to be called the knight.
Chase Diaz
Because you are a faggot for liking that boring shit.
Is The New Achilles by Christian Cameron up anywhere yet?
John Miller
>Obligatory It's a Perrin episode episode
Liam Johnson
>it's a Mat gets made a woman's bitch episode
Wyatt Murphy
>What are you currently reading? Just started We. >What's your favorite secondary world I really enjoy Faerie in the form of an alternative world that is really close to and sometimes even become one with ours. It's beautiful in an old school feeling way. >Thoughts on the trend of modern authors giving world building precedence over plot in their books. When your story is simply an excuse to tell about your fancy ass world you're doing it wrong.
Benjamin Rivera
>Christian Cameron Mummy please no! Not the belt!
Benjamin Nguyen
That's the premise of the entire series, only instead of Mat it's every Male character.
Luis Morales
The magic in all of the books I have mentioned don't have high offensive potential, but do have powerful and weird AOE effects that can ruin lives of many.
Brandin of Ygrath (probably the most directly combat oriented), Jonathan Strange and the Gentleman with thistle-down hair, I suppose are far stronger than the LPQ poets and their andats on the power spectrum, but they'd all be shredded alive if someone on the high medium end of the /sffg/ spectrum appeared, like Accelerator and his vector manipulation.
In general, I've never seen an author with a purpler prose write a good action packed magical battle, just as I feel that a browner prose is sometimes not quite there with characterisation.
Jacob Wilson
I'd love to know where that version of faerie that is, user, whether it comes from a book or a series or something else?
Wyatt Roberts
>>Thoughts on the trend of modern authors giving world building precedence over plot in their books.
How about authors who don't really do either, to the point they plod rather than plot
It's rated really high on Amazon as well. I don't get it.
John Barnes
This
Benjamin Rivera
It won a bunch of awards when it first came out.
Nicholas Robinson
I guess wizard just works better as an adjective. The name also makes more sense in the context of the book because the MC is a knight first and a magician second.
Lucas Wood
plot is fascism
allow the readers to construct their own narratives within a breathing world
Luke Rogers
Just go dick around in Skyrim and ignore quests.
Austin Watson
>Secondary world An internally consistent, fictional, fantasy world or setting that is different from the real "primary world"
Alexander Turner
I will dick around your mom if you don't stop giving out braindead advice. World building in skyrim is for the eyes, world building in books is for the mind.
Leo Adams
Jonathan Strange, Mists of Avalon, Lud-in-the-Mist and The King of Elfland's Daughter are probably my favourite fairy related books. Don't search for Goodreads fairly lists, I think I suffered an aneurysm.
Jordan Wright
>he doesn't read the books in skyrim
Ryan Moore
Watching out Billy Bigbrain before you keel over
John Johnson
Berenziah > Soulcatcher
Adrian Kelly
If you don't want to get banned stop now.
Oliver Howard
they're still fantasy books retard stop trying to play mod
Jayden Carter
Who are you calling billy big brain bitch? How many books have you even read? I've read every Cosmere book Sanderson has written and what I know about world building would fry your tiny brain. Have you even read Wheel of Time? Or Malazan? No? Thought so punk. Stick to Marvel movies. You are not qualified to debate or make observations on a topic you do not understand. Please show yourself out and stop embarrassing yourself.
Jonathan Phillips
imagine
Jaxon Rivera
Yes sir.
Ayden Fisher
Watch out Billy Bigballs before your legs give way
Ethan Collins
I propose we read the complete works of Gene Wolfe for the next month. Alternativelly I still want to read The Wandering Inn.
Cameron Long
>I still want to read The Wandering Inn I'm on volume 5 right now, took me a week of non-stop reading. I liked it.
Nicholas Smith
Vol. 5 is by far the worst, Goblin and the faggot Emperor chapters will put you to sleep. Vol. 6 is looking great so far though.
Evan Morris
>it's that time again when i don't know what i want to read help me out here bros
The cover indicates that it would at least rate 8.5/10 on the trash scale.
Jackson Hernandez
Am birdboi. Please stop, you are doing nothing but making the thread less pleasant for others. There is no reason to be doing this. I will not bother the thread anymore, you do not need to worry about writers not being in the thread. I will go.
thousands of pages spent doing what most other fantasy authors do in about 200
It's alright (well the first two are I haven't read the third book) but it's incredibly slow for what actually happens in the plot
Matthew Hughes
Even slower than ASOIAF?
Jordan Watson
Memory Sorrow Thorn is the only thing that comes to mind which is notably slower in moving its plot along but I did only read the one ASOIAF book (I got put off by having to read Theon slip on his ass at the start of the second book)
Luke Diaz
>buying books
Landon Allen
Today, a couple hours ago, I have finished the 6 Dune books written by Frank Herbert originally. It has taken me the whole year, as I've started with the first book for the first time around this time last year. Ho-lee fuck it has been a crazy ass, sometimes frustrating, sometimes incredibly awe inspiring journey. Looking back, There are certain nailed-down favorites, and some parts which were surprisingly good despite the popular opinion (yes, I enjoyed Dune Messiah)
As me anything I guess, just wanted to share this.
Rec me some anime books. Like Sanderson's Stormlight Archive but not so slow. Preferably not completely braindead and at the very least competently proofread.
Gabriel Cox
>anime books if only there was a name for that kind of thing and a dedicated bo/a/rd you could ask on.
Blake Davis
Sanderson isn't a LN author. At least read the whole post.
Thomas Gomez
How do you think Herbert's planned book seven should've or would've gone?
What do you think are the series highest and lowest points?
David Bennett
Just read Hyperion and was blown away
Joshua Collins
Savor it.
Read "The Fall of Hyperion" it is worse in some ways but better in others.
Never read anything after.
Levi Brown
Cradle Codex Alera Powder Mage
Jaxon Mitchell
not that guy but what's powder mage like once you get past the gritty coup intro? Do any of the protags discover their powers or whatever or do they all already have them
my version had fucked up formatting after like 10 pages and I haven't ever gone back and downloaded a different copy
Levi Moore
This is the correct reaction to reading Bakker.
Josiah Watson
There’s one PoV character who only discovers their powers in later books. But most of them already have them, although one does get a power up.
Past the intro it splits three ways, dealing with a cult, dealing with the war and dealing with aristocratic loyalists and opportunists. These plots overlap in various spots.
Caleb Edwards
I wish probably get bashed for this, but...
>tfw there will never be YA fiction as easily read and as engaging as Harry Potter
I just want to go back when I was child and relive it before the movies were big and popular.
Xavier Lewis
What's everyone reading? I'm reading filthy self published shit.
Julian Nguyen
I've read 30 books this year and I still have a problem forcing myself to stay with something thats not gripping me until its done lol. Might also read a sequel to something else before I finish any of these
>His Majesty's Dragon Just need to finish this off, the dragon character is fantastic but I'm probably not reading the rest of the series because nothing else is that interesting >Cloak of War (empress game) Liked the first book of the trilogy but this has second book syndrome, it sets up a villain on like page 30 and then never really has them present in the plot. Like 90% certain it's doing an empire strikes back thing where the villain gets everything they want to set up the third book so I'm struggling to finish it off knowing that's what I'll be reading. >Free The Darkness still trying to work out if this is a comedy or shitty self-pub could wear thin either way but it's been on my kindle for ages so I kinda feel obligated to get it read >Sorcerer's legacy Incredibly filthy self-pub shit but the first two books were fun supposed to fall off later so I might stop before the series becomes too much of a time investment >Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City So good I've ended up reading it every time I open my ereader right now even though it was only supposed to be on there to read after I finished everything else >Seven Shades in Black Seems good, also on there to be read after everything else
Caleb Torres
Dune. I'm stuck at the aftermath of Leto's death and the Harkonnen attack.
Joseph Williams
If you think that was slow you haven't read Abercrombie
Michael Anderson
Nothing. I'm not sure whether to pick up a Clarke book or reread Hyperion
Luke Jones
Finally finished this Wasn't actually about a centaur fml
Hey for anyone who's interested I'm doing a weekly bookclub for Gene Wolfe's series The Book of New Sun. For anyone who loves his work come on in! discord.gg/q7Fte4 There's also a thread on Yea Forums right now about it
What other easy to use options are there? Everyone knows you can't love Gene Wolfe and be a tranny
Jordan Jones
What is wrong with Yea Forums threads? Discord just never results in decent discussion and attracts the worst kind of people
Asher Walker
I felt it would be taking up space for people who didn't read all the chapters leading up to whatever part of the book we talk about. If not enough people join the discord than perhaps I'll do it.
Isaac Gray
Fuck that guy I like the birdboi updates.
Alexander Richardson
>someone becomes autistically infatuated with some writer who posted a few things here >said writer fucks off forever because of this faggot Cool, thanks Yea Forums, scaring people off as always
Adrian Parker
>a writer not yet
Colton Cooper
This isn't a writing thread
Angel Hall
yeah because what this thread really needs is yet another person talking about the book they're never actually gonna write
Hunter Allen
someone post litbulliesqtbooktuber.jpg
Anthony Lewis
/sffg/, if my setting has a large number of sentient animals, can I get away with not making any of them aside from their leaders into characters?
I have about three or so ideas for animal characters but I feel like I'm crossing a weird line even though I've read and enjoyed plenty of series that had talking animals in the past
some of us are actually writing them, even if they are writing slowly and not very well.
I'm reading furies of calderon. It was a slow start but I'm actually getting into it. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it this much
user, as much as I wish I could I can't bring back the magic. However, if you're looking for some YA that feels similar, I want to recommend the Underland Chronicles to you. Suzanne Collins may be famous for the Hunger Games, but this was honestly her best work. Maybe it's no surprise that I'm basically plagiarizing it.
do it the chink way, only the strong animals have enough intelligence to communicate with humans
Caleb Gray
I read Legend after hearing people say it's great, and honestly it just felt like a bad 80s anime OVA.
Adrian Perez
that would work, and it checks out with some of my other internal logic. The problem is that one major plot point is that the weakest race has their own city. Also, I feel like I need at least some normal animals speaking comprehensible english in order to communicate my setting's mythology and mystery
Lastly, I'm kind of stumped on my second act, and one of the few events I've been able to nail down currently depends on the characters going to the strays for aid.
See, this is they kind of wishy-washiness that helps nobody.
is that a hyperbolic planet?
William Myers
>is that a hyperbolic planet? No, it's a world bra.
Oliver Lopez
Give it back to Galaxy-chan, she's indecent without it I-I can see her large magellanic clouds!
Grayson Peterson
Is "The Stars, Like Dust" by Asimov any good? Was thinking of picking it up on sale.
Ryan Brown
Well I'm almost 100% sure he was gonna revive Paul and Jessica and all the other past characters from Scytale's chambered cells in Chapterhouse Dune, but I was wrong and I underestimated the slog which is the first 70% of the book. For that, the revivals would have been postponed for the 7th book so there's that. Note that I haven't started the 7th book yet so I don't know what's going on. Just from what I can gather based off Chapterhouse. Daniel and Marty would be in the enemy camp (independent Facedancers/handlers/futars and such) but they won't be evil per see and they would eventually help Duncan and co in whatever they're doing. The whole book takes place in another galaxy/universe and not in the original empire I would think and could even be set many years into the future as a new Dune is already formed/found. Heck knows, Frank Herbert jumped from one thing to another pretty wildly, like for example how the Suk doctors were a big thing in the first book and suddenly went irrelevant in pretty much all the subsequent books. Or the guild navigators, or all that. Mr. Herbert made a lot of things seem super important at first but were largely irrelevant to anything but themselves.
Tyler Butler
A few years ago I purchased an old, dog-eared copy of 'We' (and 'The Foundation Pit') at the estate sale of a literal Bolshevik agitator who fled the USSR in 1954. It has sat on my bookshelf ever since. OP has inspired me to finally read it.
Nathan Hernandez
It's not bad, although he said it was his least favorite book.
Hunter Perry
>What do you think are the series highest and lowest points? The lowest points were anything related to the old empire and way of things. The whole Spacing Guild and Choam and shit was dull in my opinion, and were mostly a slog to go through. The highest points were the no-ships for me. The whole concept and technology behind it seems so interesting and alien like you could apply it to anything (no-god from Baller is what immediately comes to mind.) Also I don't think it's any surprise that God Emperor is my favorite book of the series, I mean come on. But other than that, the ideas introduced in Dune Messiah seemed the most interesting and relevant in the entire series. I mean you have 6 full books (well 5) all about the ghola Duncan.
Benjamin Long
How is this thing, /sffg/? The only thing by Jack Vance I've read is Lyonesse; I quite enjoyed it for the most part. I know Dying Earth is most likely very different thematically but is it good?
How many books/short stories do I need to write in a setting before I hit too many for the setting?
Asher Bennett
This was okay. Cute characters, typical last of his kind/good vs bad guys story, with interesting but not very complicated world building and no heavy handed political message. It could be read as a standalone too, and it's less than 300 pages.
Trash shit, and you're probably a brainlet for enjoying it.
Isaiah Lee
It's good. Just good.
Luke Reed
I'm about to finish Assassin's Fate and I am dreading the withdrawal. Is there a series any of y'all can recommend that will give me characters I can truly grow to love? Fantasy or SF doesn't matter, I just want characters that will feel like pieces of my own heart.
>What are you currently reading? The Long Tomorrow. Apocalypse happened and now cities are basically forbidden. Follows a New Mennonite boy trying to find his way and not hate technology.
>What's your favorite secondary world Probably Dune, but it's not one I'd live in.
>Thoughts on the trend of modern authors giving world building precedence over plot in their books. It's a form of procrastination in a sense they're actually avoiding WRITING the book itself. If you want to worldbuild write RPG source books.
is it comparable, to say, the 90s parts of cryptonomicon?
Nicholas Garcia
As soon as we have enough people to form a Senate
Gabriel Stewart
Uhh, been a while since my last readthrough of Crypto, but it felt pretty different from his other books generally. Probably because of its focus on being a thriller.
Nicholas Thomas
Na dude "Legend" is a good fucking book.
John Reyes
Anything else like this? Small scale knightly adventures?
Can I get some fantasy with some cute romance? Just finished the short story where Jane's wife keeps sending dudes to kill him and I just want some actual romance.
Brandon Reed
First two Witcher books come close.
Jose Baker
The broken sword but she's also his sister
Tyler Stewart
Already read them. Pretty much, though I need a protagonist who is a 'sir'.
>tfw your obsession with a novel you're never going to write is so stressful it's actually become a mental illness, but you live in America and therapists are $375 an hour
Christopher Carter
Have you tried not living in America? Works wonders for your health, on a psychological, emotional, physical and even financial level.
Gabriel Miller
that would involve leaving all my friends and family behind. I tried that once, it wasn't great
Nathaniel Taylor
The ultimate pleb filter is not liking asoiaf
Caleb Myers
You could try not being a pussy. Talk to one instead. Fuzzy companions never judge.
Henry Butler
Definitely a little more complex than I gave it credit for originally. I went into it thinking it was mindless grimderp fun. But there's some deep psychological stuff going on with Cassius. His mission is driving him insane but he can't stop. Honestly, by the end he reminded me of a school shooter.
Easton Perry
I want more birdboi stuff bro.
Nathan Ramirez
How did he turn into a fcking worm? I only read the 1st book
Parker Ortiz
Why not just read the books yourself? Anyway basically he absorbed so much melange that he basically attracted every sand trout in the vicinity and they started to attach to him until they became his skin, having been assimilated into his biology. He basically became a worm with a human core, so to speak. In time that basically gave him unlimited self production of melange to fuel his prescience and made him invincible for all intents and purposes. The closest thing to a God in the books. Due to his power he practically created the future, since observing it makes it "real" and written in stone.
Brody Powell
The nadir drew his curved knife. I reckon this the end. I reckon it is. And then Druss spat and axed the nadir and he threw another slant eyes savage down the wall and he spat and returned to his quarters to eat beans and smoked and they rode on.
Anthony Lewis
Picked up pic related from a second hand bookstore and was pleasantly with it. Anyone read the entire twilight reign series? Does it remain consistent?
Is there any fantasy about a successful viking colony on America?
Bentley Lopez
american gods lol
Christopher Anderson
I'm sure he meant GOOD fantasy about a successful viking colony on America.
Jeremiah Sullivan
I'm sure he meant go fuck yourself and suggest something different instead of shitposting.
Ayden Hernandez
I would let Mercy kill me
Ethan Lewis
Haha wouldn’t it be funny if her purple crystalline feet were grinding your broken nose into the dirt haha
Nathaniel Stewart
The Sundering by Gav Thrope. It gets really anime early on with Malekith fighting the Orcs.
Eli Brooks
I'm sorry for your loss user.
Nathaniel Clark
Am birdboi. I will answer questions if any are here. I want to get this out of the way so the thread stops getting spammed by the poster who wishes to know about my writing. I do not understand the obsession. I am sorry everyone.
will there be birds based on shrikes in your books?
David Torres
All Vulkur are based on a speculative biology lineage I have done based around flightless carnivorous waterfowl.
Brandon Ross
>pretend to have a stalker for days >come back because of "them" lol an old Yea Forums trip used to pull this attention seeking gimmick too
Asher Fisher
tfw been confusing two different books for each other because they both have generic covers and semi-vague blurbs
Parker Bailey
>Currently reading Wrapping up Arcanum Unbounded, got either Snuff, Grave Peril, or Shadows Linger on deck. I haven't decided yet. >Thoughts on modern worldbuilding It's nice in theory, I personally love finding settings that I'm itching to spend more time in. The issue is from my understanding is that either nothing makes these worlds unique enough to stick around in, or the stories themselves suffer and I couldn't give less of a shit what happens in them
Jonathan Green
Best romance I've read in a while. Kitai and Tavi are fucking great.
>Aleran! Is it true your people marry for political purposes? >Yeah but it's not like we- >So I'm just your Marat Whore then am I? >Wha- Kitai no I... >So you have no intention of marrying me is that it?! You've never mentioned it before! >Kitai the whole reason I've never mentioned it is because it's goddamn obvious we're going to get married. It's not even up for debate. >Oh. Well I love you too, chala. That's as complicated their entire romance gets, it's fucking perfect.
James Hill
good news /sffg/! I've found a plot change that simplifies my story, makes it feel more mythological, makes my MC look like less of a pussy, explains an odd choice my characters make, and maintains the plot and character arc!
I can't wait to hate it tomorrow!
Dammit user! You spoiled me. I didn't even realize Kitai is a girl. Kitai IS a girl, right?
Yeah sorry about that, it's revealed after they spend some time together. Also, to paraphrase Terry Pratchett because I'm an annoying bastard >They started off at each other's throats, and we all know what that meant between a man and a woman together in the long run.
Wyatt King
>Kitai IS a girl, right? yes. the best kind too. feisty and headstrong.
Chase Parker
>looking at Goodreads reviews of this >so far all the 1 star reviews are people complaining that Jack Vance is misogynistic
People hate Kvoth because he's a marty stu genius who impresses a sex goddess with his virgin fucking, makes people weep with his music and has highly unrealistic romantic dialog, right? However, all of these things are his own personal accounts, and he by his own admission lies frequently to stoke his reputation.
Why are we assuming that anything he says about himself is true?
Nolan Flores
Because you still have to deal with that shit even with the author going "hurr unreliable narrator."
Benjamin Jenkins
>Name of the Wind is the Book of the New Sun of the 21th Century Wtf i love cuckfuss now?!!
Ayden King
What would a Rick and Morty book by Gene Wolfe be like?
Justin Rogers
you're dealing with the lies of a unreliable narrator so charismatic that he manages dupe the reader in spite of bragging about how he exaggerates his exploits.
This is what peak chad looks like. You don't have to like it, but you have to accept it
Josiah Morgan
>Morty! i turned myself into a Pringle!
Kayden Russell
rick would be a old ass wizard, morty would be stil his nephew but has no magic what so ever. jerry and his wife would be either some low ass farmers or king and queen. where she has the pants on in the relationship. the wizard queen that married the normie muggle. they still go on wacky adventures but it all has a medieval feel to it. basically disenchantment but you know rick and morty. youtube.com/watch?v=Gp_RnJcb8Ig
Kayden Miller
Yeah, I only wish there had been more moments between Tavi and Kitai in the series. Could have replaced some of the scenes of Bernard and Amara or even better the entirety of Isana and Araris.
Sebastian Baker
It was mostly Kitai being at Tavi's throat, really.
Easton Foster
You no longer have control birdboi. We love you. Just ride the tiger
Bentley Hernandez
>I realize all teenage boys are annoying, but Kvothe was extra frustrating to read about. He had the added bonus of just being wonderful at everything and anything in true fantasy style. I want to just quote everything he says and post it on r/iamverysmart.
>He is similar to Bella Swan
>It really does read like a bunch of mini quests. It was funny because the book hyped itself up, and ending up letting down. It was boring, unoriginal, uninteresting, and the characters (and romance) had zero substance. They’re all so clearly story book characters, and not real, complex people.
>I stopped reading the Cosmere verse to check this out, so I might go back to reading those books instead. I found them more compelling.
>(65% upvoted)
they hated jesus because he spoke the truth
Ryder Fisher
How does the shitty story about how great he is become any more bearable by assuming it isn't true? Particularly given that it's already a fantasy story in an imaginary world.
Brandon Collins
Why does it look like the Simpsons, only they are in colour instead of yellow?
Evan James
Actually, they hated Jesus because he came from rebbit, and wanted the common people to upvote his post about "giving to Caesar, what's Caesars'".
Anthony Clark
its made by mat groening.
Jordan Reed
So Simpsons trying to keep up with the times and get a younger audience? Even when I was young I never liked the Simpsons. Never understood the interest that people showed that and south park. And people used to look at you funny when you said you didn't like it because it wasn't interesting.
Blake Hall
its more futurama than simpsons. though simpsons hasnt been the boomers simpsons since like 10 seasons or so.
He got fiddled by his mum and beaten by his wife. Also he's a larger know it all.
John Barnes
>Thoughts on the trend of modern authors giving world building precedence over plot in their books. Good world building is always welcome, and done in nice subtle ways, but I don't actually know of any examples where worldbuilding actually does take precedence over plot? Like, you need to seriously fuck up, to end up in a book where you talk more about how the world works than what is happening in it. I'm much more annoyed at world building that makes no sense (like how the movie Bright had an alternative history earth with fantasy races where over a thousand years ago fantasy-hitler happened, yet apparently 100% of our normal world history still happened? It makes no sense). Or where I feel like personal opinions get thrown into a world for no fucking reason. Trudi Canavans "Black Magician" series for instance, has her "advanced modern (medieval) world" be gay bashing out of nowhere, while pointing at a different culture that doesn't care about people being gay at all, strongly implying that that's how it should be, and you can hear her yelling "THIS IS YOU, SOCIETY!" trough the pages. It completely took me out of the story, because suddenly the book was ranting about unjust mistreatment of a marginalized group (that I'm very well aware of) at me. Could have at least woven that into the story a bit better.
Xavier Anderson
>Never understood the interest that people showed that and south park. Some of the old Simpsons episodes were just genuinely entertaining + people grew up with it, so it's not hard to see why people like it. In terms of cartoons it was certainly above average, and having it in a "sitcom" style as opposed to a saturday morning cartoon style meant it was more accessible for older audiences as well.
As for South Park, South Park is a clever show, disguised as a dumb show. It has over the top humor(cartman feeding a kid that tricked him his own parents made into chilli), social commentary and probably the best depiction of shit 8 to 10 year old kids do when left alone on TV. Also, since the show can be put together faster than almost anything else on TV, apart from late night shows, it is often incredibly topical, including themes that happened under a week ago. I'd personally recommend it as probably the best long running show that is still on.
Brayden Collins
>tfw turning the page to a well-illustrated depiction of the current scene How great is this and why doesn't it happen more often? Post some good books that do this.
Connor Parker
I've got an edition of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea that does this
Eli Adams
Publishers don't want to pay artists so they taught the reading public that pictures are only for kids' books.
Adam Richardson
To be fair, in a well written book I've never felt like I needed a drawing of anything really. Fuck, sometimes I'd prefer the cover to be plain, but then again it's a well known fact that Fantasy novels need shit tier covers by law.
As an /ic/ fag , I feel, more often than not, that shit art does not befit an excellent book.
For example, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has illustrations of my favourite character. This would be good, if not for the unfortunate fact that my favourite character is drawn like a complete /beg/ tier garbage scribble, the fact that the artist draws my favourite character about five times worse than I do and the fact that this artist needs LOOMIS. This artist needs private lessons to make drawings that actually look passable and how such a ngmi bottom feeder even managed to land a job as an illustrator when their grasp on perspective is worse than an ostrich with its head buried in sand is amazing to me.
It's doubly shit when you realise that book characters get only about 1% of the fanart than an average seasonal anime, if it even exists, and if it does exist it is drawn by /beg/ tier nincompoops who draw worse than the average deviantart furfag.
And then in the short story collection, for example, they change out the artist for someone who can draw lineart of people standing still looking straight forwards, in a pose completely unrelated to the content of the story, and the instant their head is turned upwards their neckline disappears into the void and their mouth turns into the shape of a pikachu meme and it looks like they tried to trace something and it just didn't work out.
I also downloaded a copy of Jane Austen's illustrated books of the internet and apparently """illustrated""" in this context means that someone has copied and pasted a few photos and drawings off google.
My opinion is that you have nice drawings in them (nice as in 'not drawn by a wikihow contributor').
I probably should've seen this coming considering I've complained about dogshit cover art since I was in the single digits. Even when someone competent is hired, the art is so inaccurate that even technically skilled work becomes unappealing. A single hour's worth of consultation between author and artist to not get things utterly wrong is apparently never worth what may be the single most marketable aspect of the novel. Original post was inspired by the intermittent illustrations in translated weebshit I'm reading. Even if it's /beg/-tier animus, it carries aesthetic appeal and is entirely accurate to the tone and specifics of the material, and eclipses technically skilled but revolting and misrepresentative crap like and the majority of cover art to anything scifi and especially fantasy I've read. I'm sure this cover was the source of much of this series' initial success.
Also, if you're reading weebshit anyway, I can recommend two works "Welcome to the NHK" if you are living the NEET lifestyle, and the manga "Oyasumi Punpun" as just generally one of the better Manga I've read
Hunter Sanchez
dude looks like he's gonna take a selfie and post it on insta so his mom can be the only one to like it
Connor Rodriguez
Bottom left has frosted tips for some fucking reason. So there's that.
Caleb Rodriguez
I think he has slightly different hair colours in every cover, actually.
Matthew Collins
Yeah I noticed that as well, but nothing is as bad as frosted tips. Imagine that book series with a little douche sporting frosted tips, dear lord. I know Yea Forums kinda shits on them, but I do really like those books. Probably nostalgia but hey.
Brayden Turner
why is this dyke so fucking smug I'll give them a look. S&W is the only written weebstuff I've read. Only manga I'm a fan of are Dungeon Meshi (absolute tippity top shit, my god, it's perfect), Made in Abyss (wholesome, tragic, really out there but appealing art and design if you can stomach the cute kid you're rooting for suddenly being featured in a softcore porn bonus panel at the end of a chapter) and Heterogeneous Linguistics (lighthearted so far and not a lot of it out yet but the communications autism has been entertaining and there are hints of more tense circumstances down the line).
Ethan Hernandez
A lot of LNs have good to great art (although these are not as well drawn as that of manga, but drawn to a degree that is more skilled than anything produced in the west. Some western cover artists such as Michael Whelan are damn good though.). Some LN covers look excellent such as the illustration to the left. However, I don't really read LNs at all -- the translations fare quite poorly, in my opinion (I would much experience anime or manga). I also try to avoid reading translated anything, although the Strugatsky bros and Lem are an exception to this rule.
Made in Abyss was one of the things I started, but then never continued. Not because I didn't like it, but I just never picked it up again. I wonder if /sffg/ would like it >spoiler I prefer it. Other Weebshit I can recommend is GTO about an ex biker-gang member who turned teacher and now has to teach a bunch of rowdy kids who are considered a lost cause. Might be hard to find a translation that doesn't look like ass, but it's enjoyable. They also animated it, if that's your thing. The Mascot of this little site, of course "Yotsuba to!" is generally heartwarming as fuck. But over all I think Oyasumi Punpun might be the best of the bunch. If you have an android device, get "tachiyomi" to read it. Personally I downloaded most manga and then converted it to read it on Kindle. that's an interesting experience, for sure.
Jason Adams
> but drawn to a degree that is more skilled than anything produced in the west. Lmao, no. A lot of comics have lazy art, but there are plenty of great artists. Just like there are plenty of bad and plenty of great manga artists.
Angel Harris
I watched some south park eps and the gay Satan & Saddam Hussein movie. Some stuff were funny, but a lot others weren't. I'm not like those brain dead Americlaps who applaud and laugh at multiple fart jokes. Maybe you have to be consuming the same chemicals and water that america pumps into it's citizens to find unfunny stuff funny.
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Isaiah Rodriguez
>ywn live in a world where the tower is torn down and anyone that can use the p*wer is burned alive like the creator intended
Angel Watson
T. Pedron Niall.
Jonathan Sullivan
can any work of fiction compete with malazan worldbuildnig wise?
Juan Kelly
>the only real man in the series
James Murphy
I hope not, so that Malazan can have something going for it. I feel bad that it's one of the few series I dropped halfway through, I was that uninterested.
Hudson Ward
>What is LotR? Malazan is a hotchpotch of a mess written based around the imaginations of an edgy dnd obsessed virgin. Even Sanderson does worldbuilding better than Erikson.
Gabriel James
>the only real man in the thread
Cooper Cox
Are Jeff Noon’s vurt sequels at all worth reading?
Joshua Brown
Gurps not DnD.
Nolan Powell
i read The Knight the other day, loved it
Adam Ward
Because who does your art matters way more in Japan than it does anywhere. When was the last time you cared about who drew the cover art for a book? I guess it's more comparable to comics in that way. Still doesn't excuse that most LNs are just fan fiction tier garbage only getting published because the demand is so high and there are niches to pander to that basically anyone can earn something.
Brody Jones
LNs are basically just YA. Which is hardly an endorsement, but they're not some special class of bad literature the West doesn't have.
Liam Torres
>Vol. 5 is by far the worst, Goblin Yeah...I don't care about Goblins except the adventurers
Tyler Morales
Yeah I meant Rags and Garen. They're still better than the blind cunt though.
Christian Lee
t b h I appreciate New Sun's immense scale, and it's got to be the most all-encompassing novel I've read, but the non-specificity and enigma of everything irked the shit out of me. Information was filtered through >implied untold thousands - even millions? - of years of human advancement, failure and re-advancement >Wolfe using archaic, forgotten words to describe vaguely related original concepts instead of making up words, but not actually mentioning anything but the word, forcing you to look up the real world definition for a clue as to what the fuck forgotten future bullshit he's using the name for >Severian's limited perspective >Severian's social and mental retardation >Severian's intentional obstructions as he writes his autobiography >angelic manipulation of space and time around Severian I get that this ethereality of what is even actually happening is part of the mystique and indicator of scale, but it just constantly ate at me that I didn't know enough about anything that was going on. Maybe it's just assburgers but fuck if it wasn't the most conflicted I've ever been while reading something.
Xavier Fisher
It would be nice if actual books actually got illustrations like that, however, or even the more realistic concept art stuff. How awesome would it be to see an author approved fully illustrated version of the ocean from Solaris? Or the greenfly infested galaxies in Revelation Space and to wonder through them? Or Delmak-O from a Maze of Death?
It'd be awesome to see Mare Infinitus and the River Tethys from the Hyperion Cantos. I'd always want to go there if you could pick any speculative fic place to visit (my three favourite places to visit when asleep are Gallifrey from Doctor Who, Faerie from JSaMN and Mare Infinitus. So, I suppose those are also my three favourite secondary worlds.)
Publishers won't pay for it, I guess.
Hudson Campbell
Goes to shit, though I read a shitty translation.
Andrew Thomas
It's slow paced, but a really good series with lots of character development but also good action.
Jaxon Rivera
an isekkai where the spirit world is inhospitable to mortals. the characters go on a quest to the underworld to find the fountain of life because its the only way they'll be able to survive and find a way home. MC is a cripple who secretly hopes the waters will regenerate his arm. it doesn't heal people or grant eternal life, it makes zombies.
Nathan Torres
gay
Gavin Stewart
>Hawk Queen doesn't count It doesn't count cause its good and Sigarni is my silver-haired warrior maiden waifu.
I'm 7 or 8 chapters in and there is a male PoV that has gotten about as much attention thus far and is set up to meet the MC very shortly in-story prob the generic love interest, who knows
William Hall
What's worse, a female MC or a male MC written by a woman?
Julian Wright
Honestly i can't decide. They're both pretty bad most of the time. The women most often than not turn out to be Mary Sues without a single flaw and everything goes their way. The men are always portrayed as incompetent idiots that don't learn their lessen until its too late or not at all. And obviously they always need a women to guide them. Not that strong women are a bad thing but the way they are written by women just don't work very well. I really cant decide whats worse.
Sebastian Phillips
>favorite visual novel That's an oxymoron cosmerefag.
Hudson Gomez
>The women most often than not turn out to be Mary Sues without a single flaw and everything goes their way Maybe stop reading YA crap.
>The men are always portrayed as incompetent idiots You aren't talking about Heinlein are you?
>Visual novel. The one with the bug in the binary that prevents it from starting up.
Lincoln Martinez
Bilbo.... easy on the tea and biscuits
Jeremiah Cook
YA is top tier screw off
David Thomas
>You aren't talking about Heinlein are you? Not xir or whatever but when have Heinlein ever written an incompetent man? His protagonists are always competent wholesale American men that can solve any problem. Unless they're Friday lmao
Chase White
So 'fantasy that's actually scifi' is nothing new, but usually there's some big revelation of that fact along the way, for the reader or the MC PoV or both. What about a setting that seems supernatural and divine to its inhabitants, and initially to the reader, but gives a gradual impression that it's actually just a lot of functionally fantastical mundanity without making a fuss trying to shock the reader or native characters? I know 'fantasy that's actually scifi' is a popular pick for insecure brainlets who think fantasy is arbitrarily less real and mature than wildly speculative and improbable space fiction, but I feel like there's a certain wholesomeness in a setting that isn't supernatural but functions as a land of wonders due to the belief of its inhabitants and sufficiently convincing props that they don't know the true origins of. Would like to know if that sentiment resonates with any anons or if it's personal autism that wouldn't appeal to many others.
Logan Howard
I havent read it before but some anons suggested emerilia before. dont know how good it is but the premise is that humans are encouraged to play this mmo but its actually the real world and all the magic shit happens through nano machines that manipulate atoms through radiation. its a litrpg though so take that as you will. again havent read it but some anons here seem to think its alright. it comes up every so often.
Oliver Ramirez
Litrpg is dead. Ieskai is the new self published king. What would be next?
Jack Jackson
Wuxia
Mason Thomas
my favorite part was all the ladyboys running around the island.
Levi Cooper
>Wuxia What about books that combine all three? Ieskia, wuxia and litrpg?
Adrian Russell
Do their boipucci get used? Freezypop gonna get violated
Lucas Carter
not by Cassius but you just know those degenerate Antiochi are wearing those buttsluts out
Benjamin Brown
Litrpg and wuxia don’t really mix well. Since they have different “leveling” systems.
Leo Howard
accidentally (You)'d myself
Isaiah Price
To be fair, this is probably what Bilbo looked like right at the start of his adventure.
Carter Mitchell
actual image of me and my ex wife
Wyatt Richardson
/sffg/, can I get an opinion on something? I'm trying to decide whether my character's quest should be to find a human city beneath the earth, or the underworld.
I like the mythological feel of a quest to the underworld, but that version of the plot would mean MC's backstory is more mundane, I would have to include a character I benched because she complicates the romantic arc, I'd have to remove a plot twist that I was planning on, and oddly enough, this is the version where the mc DOESN'T reunite with his mother's spirit, giving him the will he needs to win the final battle.
made in abyss had great characters and a cool setting. I just wish the author would cool it on all the scat and vomit
Jason Evans
Did she leave you because she had a bigger sword than you?
Nicholas Hall
i think you answered the question yourself. you don't want to do it and you have something a lot more interesting planned for your character finding a human city underground. don't try to do something exotic just for the sake of it. i know that "just write the story u wanna read bro " is basically "just bee yourshelf" Yea Forums edition, but in this case, i'd go for it. godspeed user.
Jason Campbell
wait, I just had an idea that could unite the two
the disparity between the approaches was why they were going on the quest. In the case of the underworld, they were going to find the fountain of life, and the climactic scene would involve them reaching it and finding out that the fountain only creates zombies. In the human settlement one, they were looking for a source of food, and instead the climactic scene would involve the MC finding the tree he buried his mother under, revealing that the magical world was earth all along.
Having him find both the fountain and the tree would clutter the narrative, but what if instead of a fountain of life it was the tree of life? I unite the two, keep all the interesting parts, and still have the MC go on a quest to the underworld
Samuel Sanders
>benched because she complicates the romantic arc Good idea, you don't need some whore to spice up the story. Now uncomplicate it by having the MC reunite with his dead mother's corporeal spirit and make them realize they've had romantic feelings for each other all along.
Christian Diaz
That's not in the plan, but his mother's spirit resides in the tree and she gives him a livingwood arm made from one of her roots,, so arguably for the rest of his life, whenever he uses that arm to jerk off...
Andrew Garcia
Boooring. At least make it so that a part of her spirit resides in the arm to provide sage advice like masturbation and fingering tips at appropriate moments.
Joseph Morgan
Can you just jerk off before you post? Filthy degenerate.
