Science Fantasy Edition
Monthly Reading for May: There Are Doors by Gene Wolfe
Monthly Reading books: drive.google.com
Fantasy:
imgoat.com
imgoat.com
Flowchart:
imgoat.com
Science Fiction:
imgoat.com
imgoat.com
General:
imgoat.com
imgoat.com
NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books:
imgoat.com
SF&F author listing with ratings and summaries:
greatsfandf.com
Previously
Other urls found in this thread:
And don't forget the monthly reading in honor of that dead guy what likes to use the big words.
looking for something where humanity bands together against common enemy
Second Apocalypse by R Scott Bakker.
A Song of Ice and Fire.
was asking for a scifi, forgot to say
The Turner diaries
Who here likes the Baru Cormorant books? I know it faltered in the second book but I am still hyped for the third.
Go read Discworld!
First book was great but I lasted only about 5 chapters into the second one so nuh not going to read the third one.
How good is this series? I was considering reading it when I thought it was trilogy but it's 7 books right? I don't normally want to invest in a big series like that because the quality is usually all over the place.
I feel like the author took a class on the British Empire once and got way too caught up in colonial/postcolonial discourse, to the detriment of the story. Baru Comarant could have been a nice little ascension/descension story, but he's too busy wanking over an essay about the British in India he wrote in third semester (and over hot lesbian sex) to stick to a solid plot.
Starts off amazing, the first trilogy is overall great, the second one drags BAD in the second half, but is of overall decent quality if you ignore the endless filler. The last four books were supposed to be three, and it really show, I don't know why he decided to pad it out to four books, I'm guessing money, but it wasn't a good idea.
It also has the highest GRI content that I've ever seen in a series, especially in the second half but still frequent in the first part. It even achieved the holy pinnacle by having literal incestuous gay rape as a key part of the main plot. Besides that, there's also GRATUITOUS ULTRA GORE all over the place.
Definitely read the first book if you're interested, it's the best by far, you'll either loge it and be forced to read the rest, or dislike it and know with 100% certainty that it's not getting any better.
Thoughts on Delta-V by Daniel Suarez?
any main character with very cute sister that is relevant to the story?
It depends on whether you care a lot about dialogue and plot or value worldbuilding, prose and setting more. Bakker doesn't rely on his characters' words and actions for the most part, instead formulating and expressing their insights and emotions for them. He does pick his POV characters well and doesn't inflate the list of actors without reason, which helps because there are a bunch of odd names and terms to keep track of.
The different concepts and the nature of the threat affecting the world are far more interesting. There are the Dunyain, a monastic sect of ubermensch that have spent centuries perfecting bodily and intellectual training to understand human nature and acts perfectly, in the hopes of understanding all factors affecting causality to such a degree that they ascend from determinism. One of their members is the main "protagonist", and the first books provide a pretty fascinating spectacle of him understanding and manipulating people, groups and societies to his own ends.
It gets bleak as fuck but despite the many strange terms and sometimes over-emphasized viciousness of the world and most of its characters, the pages kind of flew by for me.
The Second Apocalypse is kind of like Malazan by Steven Erikson if it was set on a 40k planet, and all the charactors/actors are variants of the Whirlwind, the Tiste Edur, the Tiste Liosan, the Pannion Domin, the Crippled God, Kallor, Poliel, a douchier Karsa Orlong and the rest are a bunch of Tocs. It is grim as goddamn fuck but is written pretty well and provides some pretty good analysis/depictions of psychology and society.
Interesting, thanks. I'm going to order the first book and give it a go.
I agree with this but the Masquerade and its various systems and machinery are a lot more fascinating to me than any real-world empires.
The second book got a bit bogged down in the Oriati backstory/origins of the main conflict and the Cancrioth etc, but I really want to see where it goes.
It's boring, edgy, and pretentious while ripping off Lord of the Rings and the Crusades.
The one and only.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams also has "Threat from a past age returns" and "People on horses have a war" but that doesn't make it a carbon-copy of LotR.
"Edgy" is an okay description but Bakker also elaborates very well on the depravity, decay and violence. Cnaiur urs Skiötha is much more horrible than your average Dothraki because he can soberly explain why he does what he does, why he is so broken and why he feels at home killing and raping innocents just because he can.
>but that doesn't make it a carbon-copy of LotR.
The ripping off of LotR is so blatant Bakker doesn't even try to hide it. He tries to make it seem like it's just a fun little 'wink wink nudge nudge' homage, but it's way more than that.
Kinda.
Lotr twinks need to noose themselves.
isnt that the novel where the author just use vampire to solve everhthing
>TFW I want to write post-apocalyptic cyberpunk Fantasy.
How do U do it, lads?
The difference between Bakker's books and LotR is that the former actually has themes, and very little sentimentality.
*How do I do it, lads.
Yes; zoomers are this retarded.
What superior generation are the users of this fucking meme supposed to be a part of. I've been wondering.
To be fair, the mines of Moria are 100% ripped off, balrog included, though with considerably more alien super meth.
The WW2 generation, you degenerate little queer.
Millennials who are economically and ideologically more aligned with Baby Boomers than their own generation.
Milennials remain more left-wing and incentivized to support left-wing parties than any older and more right-wing generation. It's basically only on Yea Forums and some subreddits where "old" means "Clinton supporter" and "young" means "Daddy Drumpf!"
Zoomers are, politically, the average milennial, and the edgytarians and islamic panic-boys are the outliers.
Trump and the GOP are carried entirely by baby-boomers, however.
I'm looking for some weird stuff...
basically a mix of rocketpunk and biopunk, with a higher emphasis on biopunk that actually delves deeper on the inner workings of a bioship and a society based around biological manipulation of both itself and it's environment.
Any ideas?
Should I pick up a ereader or just buy physical books?
>the generation that became far-left degenerate commies is supporting Trump and the GOP
lol okay, stupid.
Baby boomers are commies? Wtf are smoking. And yeah, if you look at the demographics for who voted for Trump then his base overwhelming consisted of baby boomers.
Baby-boomers were left-wing during the 60s and 70s and then turned completely and irrevocably right-wing in the 80s when they got suburban homes and got scared of non-Whites and gay people.
Just 13% of validated voters in 2016 were younger than 30. Voters in this age group reported voting for Clinton over Trump by a margin of ****58% to 28%***** , with 14% supporting one of the third-party candidates. Among voters ages 30 to 49, 51% supported Clinton and 40% favored Trump. *****Trump had an advantage among 50- to 64-year-old voters (51% to 45%) and those 65 and older (53% to 44%).******
So Milennials supported Clinton by a margin of 30%. Gen Xers supported Clinton by 11%. The old people supported Trump.
When were baby-boomers born and what age are they now? Think hard about this, bud.
please stop shitting the thread nobody cares about whats going on in your shithole country
idk about rocketpunk, but The Windup Girl has plenty of biopunk.
It was too long and the publisher made him split it into two books. When in doubt always blame the publisher.
Well I already know that one.
The only comparaison that comes to my mind right now is if farscape but more squishy, fleshy and hard-sciency.
E-reader obviously unless you're one of those faggots that feels the need to tell everyone about the superior feeling of holding a real book in your hands every time the debate comes up.
Besides the fact that it's way more convenient to carry around it's also a one time investment for free reading for as long as the device lasts. Just pirate everything after you buy one.
This. It isn't just Americans who use the phrase 'zoomer' you know. So this whole delineation of 'zoomers' and 'millennials' and 'boomers' based on whether or not they voted for Trump or Clinton doesn't even apply to the majority of the Western world.
any fantasy books about thieving or skullduggery? I simply cannot find a good piece of fiction that's not for 12 year olds.
>simply cannot find a good piece of fiction that's not for 12 year olds.
That's because that's what publishers want. Dig through the mountainous heap of trash that's self-pubbed if you want something else.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Physical books are far superior but if you're a poorfag go for an e-reader.
I haven't read it, but isn't there a recent and quite famous fantasy book about thieving and skullduggery? The Lies of Locke Lamenta or something like that (can't google, on phone, someone correct my guess.)
Thanks for the adviced. I bought a kobo since it was on sale with free shipping
It's on my kindle, ready to go after I finish with another book.
Anyone else a Red Rising fan. First is kind of like Ender's Game/Hunger Games mashup. But the world gets built very well and becomes excellent as the books go on.
>But the world gets built very well
YAS WORLD-BUILDING SLAY
Libraries exist faggot
Lol who goes to the library except kids and homeless people?
Looking for a great Sword and Sorcery read. What are your favourites?
Terms of Enlistment series, one of the best military sci-fi's.
People who aren’t fucking stupid like you.
It's Yea Forums but try Legend of Heroes:Trails in the Sky series
>Having a well developed backstory in fantasy and sci-fi books is somehow leftist and SJW
Retard.
Also Red Rising is pretty good. Reading Old Man's War now (just got to the second). Similar in some ways (both military sci-fi.).
Red Rising has better twists and flows but the story of Old Man's War is more unique and interesting.
Anyone ever read Armor?
There are Doors is his weakest novel. I really didn't like it. Pandora was much better, if we're comparing his random novels from that time period.
>>Having a well developed backstory in fantasy and sci-fi books is somehow leftist and SJW
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS
Genuinely kill yourself
Why did retarded millennials fall for the world-building meme so hard?
Fuck off
lol nigga, you mad.
>female author
It's kind of fucked up that two of the biggest names in fantasy right now, Sanderson and Rothfuss, are or were backed by religious cults. Kinda makes me wonder about the behind-the-scenes shit at publishers. Did Rothfuss ever even come back and badmouth the church of Scientology after that whole thing?
I blame Elder Scrolls and Warhammer
It's fun.
Because they are onions beta cuck simps. Not alpha Chad carnivores like us.
Based!
Lies of Locke Lamora was fun; thieves, rogues, and aristocrats all circling each other in a Venice-like cityscape.
Conan
I read through the first trilogy.
It was kinda stupid honestly.
How is Rothfuss even a big name in fantasy "right now" ? I thought he quit being a writer, effectively, with no books in the last 6 years. Even GRRM has at least published something.
It's just another word for setting. Some narratives flesh out their setting more in an engaging way.
Take Dune for instance. You get to learn about numerous traditions and cultures as part of the narrative.
Not all novels need this. Vurt is a great book, but the setting is amorphous.
You my friend, are a retard who probably just saw the phrase in relation to GOT and thought:
>Popular thing bad. Me unique!
>Leftists like thing. Thing bad. Orange man good!
I feel bad for Rothfuss. The first two kingkiller books were really excellent, but it seems that he’s run out of steam/ideas/inspiration. He’s obviously been struggling with the third book, which means it probably won’t be very good. Meanwhile, expectations are HIGH among his long-suffering fan base.
See
He said he will not write another book until drumpf is impeached.
>The first two kingkiller books were really excellent
What exactly did you like about them? I honestly cannot understands why these books have a fans. The characters are mediocre, the setting is not interesting at all, the plot and the dialogues are so clunky. But maybe I'm not seeing their charm..
Is anyone else frustrated by this series? It's weird, I like reading them for the problems and the way all the bullshit they weave to get out of it, but it's so frustrating when half of them start because the MC can't keep his dick in his pants.
Yes, I completely agree. I know there's a new book but I stopped at half of the last one. I don't know if I'll come back to it.
>but it's so frustrating when half of them start because the MC can't keep his dick in his pants.
Just like in real life.
I like Janny Wurts. Try To Ride Hell's Chasm if you want a stand alone book.
>I feel bad for Rothfuss
Any recommendations for something like GoT? I really want some political bickering, lots of character deaths and limited fantasy elements. Being a complete series would also be nice.
Currently reading Neuromancer and using Shmoop for summaries where i don't understand a fucking thing that happens in some chapters like the fight with the Riviera zombie illusion. And sometimes using the audiobook on youtube to get the pace right when reading.
Now I haven't read a book since Of Mice and men in high school and now I just got into reading and read Treasure island myself a few weeks ago but why the FUCK is Neuromancer so difficult to read it's like the author is a fucking schizo all over the place, some of the descriptions in and of themselves are quite nice but feels like style over substance and theres no emotions shown by any of the characters so far im on Chapter 8.
is this normal?
First Law
yo tatzelwyrm guy if you read this i like your story keep it up.
Why do people keep saying that?
It's basically a heist movie. With scifi tech.
usually in a heist movie like oceans eleven they explain the people, parts, settings and motivations.
Neuromancer lacks context and jumps from setting to setting between paragraphs
I'm planning on taking on Dune. What do?
Consider this: I'm a brainlet with the attention span of a coke addict.
>Just finished reading the chapter in which Rand bangs Elayne.
Holy shit! I never laughed so much reading WoT. You guys complain about Sanderson being too anime, but he's just following Jordan's footsteps.
I don't really feel bad for him. I feel like he was trying to basically emulate GRRM's fame without having to do any real work. He wrote 2 books, didn't bother to finish his trilogy, then basically did nothing but attend cons and parties for the better part of a decade. GRRM may not have finished his series but he's still actually doing work: he's published side stories, edited anthologies, and contributed the production of the HBO adaptation of his series over the years. What has Rothfuss done to earn his celebrity status? I can't fathom how he hasn't overstayed his welcome despite not publishing anything.
I dropped it halfway though the first book. Absolute trash
Well, he did release that side story about best girl Auri. But I agree with you.
Chapters are really short and the first book is full of action though starts kind of slow. I’m reading PKD and can’t get into the same way I got into Herberts writing.
>Holy shit! I never laughed so much reading WoT. You guys complain about Sanderson being too anime, but he's just following Jordan's footsteps.
Why? How was it like?
It’s not you: Neuromancer is stylistically challenging. It’s tapping into the zeitgeist of the eighties, which means at times it’s written like a bad drug trip. It’s not necessary to understand every single thing, just try and get the gist of the story, then come back to it in a few years when you have more experience with experimental literature and see if it’s a smoother ride.
>Starts complaining after he's 9 books in
>It’s tapping into the zeitgeist of the eighties, which means at times it’s written like a bad drug trip
I thought that it was more of 70s thing.
From a literature standpoint, 70s drug trips tend to be mellow and meditative, while 80s drug trips are hyperactive and disruptive. Neuromancer definitely has the Wall Street manic vibe about it that is essential to understanding the 80s.
Is there still a market for medieval schemes of lords like ASOFAI?
Ted Chiang's EXHALATION is supposed to release tuesday, but it's apparently already out in some markets.
Does anyone have either of the two new stories, OMPHALOS or ANXIETY IS THE DIZZINESS OF FREEDOM? They're not on libgen yet.
stop with the reddit spacing
Best start believing in reddit boards lad.
Youre on one.
Neuromancer is a notoriously confusing book to read, as pretty much a novice book reader it's probably one of the worst books you could use to jump into the genre.
Neuromancer wasn't hard to understand even on my first read. I honestly don't know why so many people claim to have problems with it.
Well except for the Rasta's. Fuck those scenes and Gibson trying to write their speech.
Yes.
>You guys complain about Sanderson being too anime,
I wasn't complaining though.
Because of the success of GoT on HBO the market is super hot for gritty medieval political intrigue. But because it's so competitive you'll need some kind of gimmick, so be prepared to write your pitch as "it's like ASoIaF but..."
I've read them all and decided that they're okay.
How is this thing?
I'll admit the only reason I know about it is because of that one episode from Love, Death and Robots, which I thought was pretty great.
I have never read Alastair Reynolds, or any sci-fi for that matter.
What is a good book centered around ghost ships?
Spider alien was a top-tier waifu, would fug that slimy pulsing spider mouth
Good man
What is this thing and why does it look like Ornstein?
>What is this thing
Sapient worm colony/orgy. Pretty chill. The big central worm is sweet.
>why does it look like Ornstein
It grew "clothing" that approximates the look of a self-contained creature so that it could communicate more readily.
>spoiler
As in... taste? Or as in personality?
Back in 2014.
Personality. The whole thing is a character from a Finnish xenophilia VN/RPG called "Teraurge," if you're interested.
Edgar Allan Poe, "MS. Found in a Bottle"
Lord of the Rings
It's not hard to understand if you're an avid reader. It's hard to understand if you're new to the genre and/or reading beyond high school tier stuff.
Fuck yeah
How are the 3rd and 4th ringworld books compared to the first Two?
So I've been reading a lot of Thomas Ligotti lately and now I'm sad. Recommend me something lighthearted and uplifting /sffg/, what do you read when you feel like shit?
Touche.
I only read the first one and I was really underwhelmed.
Ending was so abrupt and out of the left field I had little incentive to continue.
>Ending was so abrupt and out of the left field
How so? He mentions how there must be a hole somewhere forming the storms on the ring world, and how all the pinpoints of light on the bottom are holes into the ring it's self, so the points would be gigantic holes. It's hinted at throughout the story
Is the Masters of Rome series good?
Finish the books you fat fuck!
What's up with all the cuck shit in this book?
Alright guys, I've tried to read Alastair Reynolds before and I fucking hate it
Started with Revenger and it made me think of some weird fucking steampunk victorian LARP shit in space and I dropped it
Tried House of Suns but I couldn't get into the setting and I dropped it
Now I'm reading Revelation Space and I'm really enjoying it
Should I go back and give the other two a try?
Is there any anime similar to the cradle series?
Why is every single Dune book other than the first total shit?
Woah hey now God Emperor of Dune is a solid 3/5.
what's a good fantasy setting to read, lit anons?
grrm has apparently not written anything of note since 2011, goddamn.
Tolkien's legendarium or Book of the Fallen
grrm is busy living in Santa Fe and funding Meow Wolf
Fat fuck wrote some books on Asoiaf world history and short story, but now he's too busy writing for some vidya game, eating lemon cakes, fucking that turkish whore and blogging about shit.
>eating lemon cakes
THAT'S VITAL RESEARCH
>fucking that turkish whore
Who this?
Shea the funny whore.
I'm back now, thanks for keeping the image posted!
Ah, that one. The classic feminist pornstar walking cliche.
Mein Kampf
It is and it pissed me the FUCK off.
I'm not completely remembering everything but to my memory the first novel ends with quite the cliffhanger where they aren't off the ring yet with the alien severely wounded, the luck girl away with he new boyfriend and them riding ship towards the hole.
In general the later parts felt incredibly rushed but not getting anywhere despite that.
I wasn't really taken away by it.
so what are some good choices to jump into the genre for a novice book reader?
Redpill me on the first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
It's cause Gibson really like describing things and forgets the story so he has something come out of the internet and save the day at the end of all of them
First Book is good
Second Book is just kind of filler but still good
Third Book is good
There is a female character that he likes to show off for some reason though. Everytime she shows up in a chapter, there is a paragraph dedicated specifically to pointing out how much better she is at something than the men she is with
>Its the "communism isnt tyranical guyze socialist poster" again.
It's grimderp with SUBVERTING DEM EXPECTATIONS galore. So it's like every other piece of shit modern fantasy series.
it's both epic (in the true sense of the word, not the reddit sense) and totally fucked up
absolutely based
first book is mediocre but gets substantially better with each book
hey anons I am about to finish Dune. Good stuff. But I head that the quality declines rapidly within the next books (there was some kind of meme chart for the series). Which are worth my time, where should I stop?
I absolutely hated it until I realized that the aliens were pretty much werewolves
>raping his father's corpse
thanks user, I remembered this line from the last time I saw this.
So, option 2 or 3? Anyone read them all?
I've read the six original plus up to 'The Machine Crusade' in Brian's series. Bearing that in mind, if people say that want to read Dune but don't know where to start, I usually recommend option 3 to them. On a side note, the Brian Herbert books aren't bad in their own right - if you transposed the writing and themes to another franchise, people would give it a passable 6/10. Maybe it's the influence of Kevin J Anderson, but they reminded me of the best-written of the Star Wars EU books, in terms of quality. It only cops so much flak because Dune is a beloved series and Brian doesn't live up to Frank.
>sf/f series goes on and on and on until it eventually introduces time travel
That gets to the point and doesn't stretch something beyond it's expiration date? No.
lmao
Humanity he said, not human dna spliced with reptiles, who have an unquenchable thirst to destroy anything they come across and breed and consume their own young.
I'm looking for some good modern military sci-fi, does any exist? I keep starting award winning series and they are always utter shit. Recently I've tried the Frontlines series(Unbelievable, bad, ermersion broke too much by poorly written combat), The Interdependency series(muh strong female characters and weak males trope, many bad attempts at humor, no motivation to pick up the second book), Expeditionary Force(immersion kept getting broke by bad combat, never picked up the second book), Legacy Fleet series(Unbelievable space combat), Freedoms Fire(just started first book, has the all too common trope of a protagonist who's simultaneously got little to no backbone but is also a superhuman in combat despite having no prior experience).
The only good modern series I've picked up recently has been the Bobiverse series. While the author writes bob as an immensely frustrating, overly emotional, pussy it is still fun to read.
When I was a teen I started out with Military Scifi by reading the Halo books(I remember them as being great), Robots and Empire series(Amazing), and many Heinlein books(all great).
Do you have any recommendations for me? I guess I'm going to want sci-fi written by someone who's actually spent time in the military. I don't want any superhero BS unless it's believable like the Spartans
>Pic related was my favorite Halo book, been 6 years since I read it, Halo went to shit with the Forerunner trilogy
The armada wars series isn't too bad
>I guess I'm going to want sci-fi written by someone who's actually spent time in the military.
Check out David Drake's stuff then. He's a Vietnam vet.
On a side note, The Wheel of Time series has the most beleivable strong female characters I've encountered. The female characters in the Halo books are also very well written, at least any prior to 2011. I remember not enjoying glasslands or the Forerunner trilogies, but don't remember enough details to comment on their female characters.
Are we all in agreement that the GOTTA SUBVERT DEM EXPECTATIONS mindset is ruining modern fiction? Having nice twists and turns that are organic to the characters and story is one thing, but when you write a story with the main goal being subverting expectations one right after the other it's not a surprise that story usually turns out in the long run to be complete shit.
>The Wheel of Time series has the most beleivable strong female characters I've encountered.
They can be quite annoying though.
That's why they are believable.
I don't find the female characters to be particularly annoying. Maybe sometimes they do annoying things. I guess Nynaeve is an "annoying" character but I'm never annoyed as the reader. I don't get annoyed at a book unless something is happening that breaks the immersion. I'm currently on book 6 and I can't recall that ever happening so far in WoT. In all of those series I listed in my immersion got broken consistently.
Subverting the expections has become a fucking cliche so the next cool thing is actually not subverting them.
Exactly. God I can’t wait for it to get here.
Things move quick nowadays, a couple of years and we'll be up to our necks in hero's journey stories.
Outerlit.
>th-that's not how a didgeridoo is supposed to be used.
>no one mentions how an ass is supposed to be used.
im not an avid reader so not sure what expectations im supposed to have
which books are you referring to?
Damn near every grimderp fantasy series starting with ASOIAF; who popularized it. SUBVERTING DEM EXPECTATIONS and grimderp go hand-in-hand.
Why is it that almost every litrpg that comes out these days are harems?
They have a guy and two girls on the cover. Every one of them.
Something rare happened to me this week in my 15 odd years of reading fantasy and sci-fi. I dropped a book before finishing
I think it’s only happened three times so far: Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Prince of Nothing and now pic related
After putting up with three or four deus ex machinas in the first 150 pages I finally gave up when a character unknowingly survives teleporting, as the first person ever to do so, to another character who’s gonna montage train the hell out of him
>I think it’s only happened three times so far: Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Prince of Nothing and now pic related
What did you drop them for?
Only brainlets find Nynaeve annoying, Egwene is the one who can be an actual cunt sometimes. But at least the books are aware of it most of the time, one of my favorite random moments was when Elayne bitchslaps Egwene.
You were right to drop that book. It's genuinely terrible.
>Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Prince of Nothing
Now you're just memeing.
Thomas Covenant was just boring imo. Thought the rape scene was gonna set the stage for a real no holds barred clusterfuck but then nothing else happens...for longer than I cared for
Prince of Nothing is probably my most shameful confession. I literally dropped it because i couldn’t pronounce a god damn thing in that book. After 3 chapters of seemingly random letters strung together to form words I gave up
Long after proper knowledge of technology has been lost, Protag travels the ruined cyberpunk cities looking for connection nodes where they can link their consciousnesses to decaying mainframes and gain valuable "magic" which is actually just understanding of forgotten tech.
>Thomas Covenant was just boring imo
How did you like him repeating ad nauseam that he is a leper?
Retards read GoT and thought Ned dying was cool because it sUbVeRtEd ExPeCtAtIoNs, completely ignoring that the actual reason it worked is because it followed logically from Ned's character art/plot rather than subverting it because he's the MC
It's honestly kind of scary how quickly blatantly retarded opinions can take hold and spread.
There’s a pronunciation guide at the back of PoN (ana-sur-rim-boor)
Anyone care to share their thoughts on Malazan? Hesitant to start a series with so many books due to the potential quality drops.
Because it's what young men want. The whole "toxic masculinity" and sjw fad got really old, so as with every cycle, men just want some survival, men doing men things with women being women and not feminists cunts. It's really simple really.
Litrpg is naturally inclined towards cheap wish fulfillment. In the video game medium, tangible growth and the ability to plow through every obstacle on your own agency are tempered by player execution and competition. When you transfer the appeal of these game mechanics over to the written medium, you lose the speed bumps and it's very easy for get a protagonist who just overcomes everything with no clever writing enabling it because the measures have to be respected.
This leaves us with a genre that people usually seek out for power fantasy, and when you're already there, you start wanting to squish other forms of power fantasy in there. A bunch of girls hungry for gamer cock is a natural step.
It’s personally my favorite but I also recognize why others don’t like it. It’s probably the most polarizing series
Why you would like it:
No hand holding. Seriously he drops thousands of years of history, races and politics in the first few chapters and expects you to keep up. Same with the magic system.
Power reveals galore.
Subverts expectations often enough.
Why you would hate it:
After book 4 or 5 I think it’s a major grind but every book at least has a payoff in the last 150 pages
Random character inner monologues all over the place. The cast could be Soldier #1, #2, #3 etc till you run out of numbers all with chapters dedicated to their day to day life
I've never read any litrpg and I never will, but to me it sounds like it's the romance novel for men.
>Dropped Prince of Nothing
Based
>Dropped Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Unbased
I'm not gonna play the contrarian here, and be the first to admit that the drama unfolding and dialogue is godly in Asoiaf. I'm rereading the series and I find it very refreshing, since let's be honest most fantasy sucks at having intriguing and character-shaping dialogue (most characters in fantasy sound the fucking same)
Any other fantasy book (can be series too) with such an in depth political drama and good dialogue? To be honest I want something with more low-scale politics (local rebellions, lord vs lord, no kingdoms, just local leaders) and no huge empires in it. Something with politics within a city or district, something like that. Anyone have any suggestions?
Joe Abercrombie's First Law series has a character with a "cute" sister. She drinks a lot and fucks a little, and then she is also quite witty.
Except that Heretics was the best one out of the original 6. I will fight you on this.
And trying to help Biden (lmao) win the election.
How does /sffg/ feel about the Starship Troopers anime OVA series, probably the best adaptation of the novel. OST is really smooth too.
I watched it a while ago, dont remember much but I liked it. Felt like there was pacing issues but dont remember exactly what
Definitely better than the 90s movie with Neil Patrick Harris. Doesn't feel as cheesy. I'm surprised it didn't start a buzz for Japanese adaptation of classic science fiction novels since it was handled pretty decently and a lot of sci-fi novels would easily work as anime rather than big budget American films
Creepy joe? Jesus Martin get a grip on yourself, and lay off the honey cakes for a while.
Looks cool
ANY FAGS HERE EVER READ NEIL GAYMAN'S -LONDON BELOW?-
I LIKED THE SHORTSTORY. I DISLIKED NEGRO MC.
So... what IS the Berserk of fantasy books?
I assume the "buff dude killing monsters with a 2 handed sword" part has been done pretty often, but what about the "supernatural entities being behind the shitty fates of men" part?
is there anything like The Road Not Taken but a full length novel or series
I want to read a long series, thinking about starting Wheel of Time or Malazan. Either of these good? Anything else I should check out? I won't read Game of Thrones or any other uncompleted bullshit series.
Forget the wheel of time. You’ll enjoy the first two books but it goes downhill after that.
destroyermen
Elric of Melnibone
Any series that goes beyond 5 books is not good. General rule of thumb. The longer something goes on the shittier it gets usually. This is universally true for all forms of entertainment.
What are some good magical survival books?
I want some magical Robinson Crusoe. Man gets stranded in x place and uses magic and his wits to survive. I already read most of Heinlein and a few others survival stuff (like Lucifer's Hammer), but if you have good scifi survival books where they use technology cobbled together from bits and pieces, I would take that too.
I already read Daniel Black and other regularly recommended stuff. Please rec stuff that you don't see in the general.
>tfw no west's sister to impreggers
...
Grabbed The Lies of Locke Lamora recently. It might not be what you're thinking, but hope it works.
LitRPG is the power fantasy of late-stage capitalism. Can't get a house, friends, or find love? Feeling unfulfilled? Well just log onto the author's poorly conceived vision of the perfect World of Warcraft/Ultima Online clone, the hottest VR-MMO where you can get a house in the microtransaction store, start a guild, and hit up the Singles listings. And then you can make your lizard brain happy by pumping up your stats.
They absolutely are, though via way of the old Mack Bolan/The Wingman/The Survivalist men's adventure novels instead of bodice rippers. Though there are some differences, the modern authors tend to have a protagonist surrounded by interesting women, while the older novels tended to have the protagonist devoted towards their girlfriend/wife/soul mate who's out of the picture (generally presumed dead, held hostage by the bad guys or on the other side of post-apocalyptic America) while also banging a bunch of random bimbos every book because of publisher requirements for sex scenes.
I'm fairly sure some of the more prominent "initial name" litRPG/harem authors are actually romance authors who branched out into fantasy/scifi.
So what's the alien of literature?
Any good sf/horror books beside Lovecraft?
> litrpg ... it's the romance novel for men.
haha. that's a surprisingly apt description especially considering how many of the 1st generation authors simply wrote smut and harems.
Admiral by Sean Danker is was pretty Alien in feel, these people wake up from cryosleep on a crashed space ship that shouldn't be where it is. There's a alien bio-threat but it's not really like xenomorphs, a bit different.
The sequel is more like the Statham movie Crank with a Shamalayan twist at the end.
theres a bunch of good alien novels actually. out of the shadows is pretty good.
Who cares how shitty litrpg is when reading basically anything is more stimulating than other entertainment options.
The Broadsword by Laird Barron.
Waiting for this as well, the first collection was great. Dude should shit out some novels which expand on some of his ideas.
how the fuck is it more stimulating?
No one really reads here bro. If you already read Daniel Black they have nothing to suggest that they read themselves, because they read the same shit over and over. Malazan, WoT, second apocalypse, etc. No body reads new stuff.
i dunno. i find videogames to be more stimmulating overall. its the interactivity aspect. that being said pretty much anything released after 2006 has worse writing than litrpgs.
gone are the days of amy henning tier writing like legacy of kain. its all about the anthony burch faggotry now. its a bit of a shame.
Value is found in works, not mediums.
Are any of the Warhammer 40K books worth reading or are they mostly just mediocre cash grabs
How is this thing, /sffg/?
I've seen people say it's cliché, but I don't really mind that as long as it has something good going for it.
Just finished book 10. Moving to the prequels. I loved every iteration and the author managed to make every book feel like it could stand on it's own.
The characters manage to be memorable despite there being so many of them, and the good characters are really good.
My two complaints are that the beliefs of the writer seep in and the magic.
The writer comes off as very "we live in a society" due to the number of characters that seem to be used as mouthpieces when it fits him. The flip side is that the commentary can be interesting and thought provoking when he doesn't fall into that habit.
My other gripe is that the magic system is soft as baby shit so there's no real guages of power amongst characters. Doesn't lead to too much one-sided Deus ex bullshit but also doesn't lend itself to actually feeling much interest in the magic physics.
It's not grimdark, it doesn't try to subvert expectations, it doesn't have highly complex politics or characters. Every thing and every one is a black and white portrayal and calling it cliché would not be a mistake. However if you want the perfect example of the young farm boy becoming the great fantasy world hero story then there may be no better example as it doesn't try to be anything else.
>Gurm is now /pol/
Lmao
Anyone? How hard is it to get survival books?
I'm reading The Dying Earth and it feels like I spend more time looking shit up in a dictionary than I do reading the story. English is my second language. Should I just give up? What the fuck does "roqual" mean?
>elections
>politics
>hey guys I talking about an author's personal political life and not his books
>It's not pol it's Yea Forums
I'm sure you're banned from other boards regularly and blame the mods for your off topic posts.
His books actually explains perfecly his endorsement of Biden, and I don't see how the author's personal life can't be up for debate. Arthur C. Clarke molested brown kids, we can't ever talk about that ever? Or how about Gene Wolfe dying, I guess that's just a part of his personal life and we can't ever talk about anything else besides the books themselves without ever referencing the author.
Man, you nincompoops wannabe mods are the worst. If it's totally against the rules then I would be banned, your whining about it is just pathetic, it does nothing and you're just trying to bait people into actually going off-topic, like I'm doing now.
> What the fuck does "roqual" mean?
I think it means whales. Also, why don't you try a translation?
hey /sffg/, it's flavorsanon. After a week of doing mindless writing I'm back to work on my novel. It's still not all that great but I've built up some momentum by doing free-writing so hopefully I can make some progress. I'm hoping to finish the first act before I crash again, but no promises.
Does anyone know any books featuring a pov character with a prosthetic that actually goes into detail about the day-to-day challenges? I want to do some research now that I'm almost done with codex alera, but surprisingly the place I thought would have tips on that only has links to online brochures
I've tried to read that but I can't take it seriously. Not since the panty raid.
>Also, why don't you try a translation?
What would be the point of reading an author who's good with words if the book is translated? I mean if you're reading purely for plot and the author is merely adequate when it comes to prose then sure, but Vance actually seems to be a good writer, it's just that I can't make heads or tails of a lot of the obscure wordings he uses.
>"And beyond the roqual hedge of trees the forest made a tall wall of mystery."
>"And beyond the roqual hedge of trees the forest made a tall wall of mystery."
I actually looked around a bit and it seens to be either a tipo or a made-up word.
This book sucks fuckin ass. Why is it on any of our lists? Finished it yesterday and it’s terrible
Only one chapter in and Vance is already fucking with me. I guess I should just ignore shit I don't get from now on.
Is there only one series in the Elric universe? Also why are these books so expensive?
>Is there only one series in the Elric universe?
Yes.
>Also why are these books so expensive?
Low demand.
>Also why are these books so expensive
not being printed anymore. the ebooks are much cheaper. you might get lucky at a used books store though.
I've had enough grimdark for the time being so this might be a nice break.
>Not since the panty raid.
huh... yeah I guess that sounds pretty dumb
Did you drop it entirely after that?
Disagree. But I under why it might not be to everyone’s taste.
I've mentioned it here before, but you might enjoy pic related.
I read new things all the time :3
It’s YA. That’s its only real negative. Eddings writes in simplistic, black-and-white terms, which make his stories plenty engaging for kids and teens, but a bit boring for adults.
The Legacy Of Heorot is very alien-esque. Colonists land on a seemingly underdeveloped world and start building up their colony, only to discover the lack of complex life is not due to a lack of biodiversity, but rather because a horrifying super-predator has almost hunted all other life on the planet to extinction. And now the colonists (and their livestock) are stimulating a new wave of predators.
> I've tried to read that but I can't take it seriously. Not since the panty raid.
wtf?! I think you are confusing The Belgariad with some other book.
What is your honest opinion about Lud-in-the-mist, /sffg/?
is there some other wizard named Belgarath I'm not aware of?
will Gaiman put his name on anything? everywhere you turn he is endorsing something
How do you deal with having a large backlog of mostly series? Read the whole series in one go and try to power through it or read a book out of the series then something else before coming back to it to avoid burnout?
I got a ton of books I want to read but only two of them are just individual books.
kek
He has endorsed the last two books I read, someone needs to stop him.
>destroyermen
my nigga
I am 80% through Battle Mage. For the most part--as generic of a tale as it somewhat is--the writing is certainly tolerable. Aside from some rather oft-repeated isms (nodding, bowing, etc.), the descriptions and prose tend to be immersing.
Afterwards, I suppose I'll focus on finishing Book 2 of Coiling Dragon while alternating between that, a handful of chapters of Desolate Era a day, and whatever book I focus on next. Maybe I'll finish Darkest Revenge if I can find the interest, or start the first Cradle book.
I know the feeling. I`m like one or two books into a few different series, but I don`t know if or when I will ever finish any of them.
>How do you deal with having a large backlog of mostly series?
Step 1: Don't read anything.
Step 2: Come on here and act like I read everything.
Addendum: Battle Mage has a number of surprisingly dark elements (e.g., many of the demonic elements ranging from the forms of Possessed to the methods of torture).
What am I in for? All I know is the basic premise and that apparently it's pretty weird.
>What am I in for?
A really out of place love story.
Is it morally wrong to remove DRM from ebooks you purchase legally?
>strawmaning so hard
The file is your property to do with as you please.
I personally switch out if I find myself getting bored. Te key is to not switch for too long, forget about the last one, and drop it.
Also, try not to drop a series during a boring part because it'll make you less apt to go back if you don't care what happens next
I don`t think so? I would equate it to someone ripping a CD to MP3s on their computer.
>it's flavorsanon
all the years we've been here, and all the threads I read, I'm the only one that calls you flavour user, and mentions your previous posts...
Normally I'd do it all in one go, but I did have trouble finishing up Malazan, so I started switching off there.
>our lists
>we
>us
Got a problem bud?
Is GoT full of MUH STRONK WOMYN just like all the news outlets claims?
>I've mentioned it here before, but you might enjoy pic related.
Is it magic or scifi, catfag. And what things do they do to survive?
Yes and no, the books aren't as bad as the show but it's still pretty bad. The show is just awful about it.
I've always known
Nowhere near as bad as in the show
Had a dream I had sex with the dragon chick from the For show
Recommend me some /sffg/ approved science fantasy. Far future stuff written like fantasy is the best niche, loved Dune.
There's no magic. The only SciFi thing is the initial incident that catapults the island back in time. Survival stuff is mostly trying to maintain a community cut off from any civilized people. A rush to develop early machinery and farming techniques using the skills and materials available to them. An early political schism involves a faction insisting that the noble indigenous peoples be treated right this time around. I've only read book 1, but I imagine later books focus more on interaction with more advanced cultures across the Atlantic.
Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky is a bit closer to Crusoe, but that's also been mentioned a bunch in response to similar queries.
I recently read the autobiographical Castaway by Lucy Irvine. Unfortunately the characters were too sick and malnourished for most of the book to do much at all interesting, and the book spent more time talking about the relationship between the writer and her island "husband".
>that image
Jesus Christ go back to /pol/
Anybody recommend a scifi/fantasy book with a decent love story, that isn't specifically trashy chick lit?
You go back to tumblr if you don't have any far-future science fantasy books to recc.
>Your new Audible credit is here!
based what should I get lads?
no
Is Anthony Ryan's Blood Song as edgy as it looks
This fucking book. Liked the look of the cover but I was already suspecting shit when I read the prologue with shit prose. It's like a 14 year old wrote it.
Harry Turtledove's World War series
The ones wirtten by Dan Abnett are pretty good.
you realize that quote is talking about astronaut suits and not white people right?
Sunset Warrior
The first chapter is a bit edgy but it's really good after that. Don't read past book 1 though, it works as a standalone, the sequels are awful.
Then it's badly written, as the context isn't immediately evident from the quote alone.
You fucking retard can't even damage control right. It is obvious if you have more than 3 brain cells to rub together.
But you have to make it a scary racist bogeyman instead of using your brain.
Don't procreate.
>/pol/ image derails the thread yet again
>getting this defensive
Yikes
I remember it being pretty nice. Felt very mysterious.
>What am I in for?
Girls with cute feets
it's ok
Is the prose good?
Definitely. From what I remember it comes off as very whimsical but also serious. There's some ridiculousness to it all, but then also a grave nature to the whole fairy thing that lends it sinister magic. Give it a read, one of the more unique fantasy books that I've read.
Yeah it should have explicitly said FUCK WHITE PEOPLE, I feel ya.
Book of the New Sun, duh
I'm the guy who asked the original question, now I am very confused: IS there a panty raid scene in the books? I Googled "The Belgariad panty raid" and I got nothing.
First book is a very good single PoV book. Every other book after that is hot garbage and I really dont recommend continuing beyond that.
Riveria is augmented and can make holograms at will.
Gibson does a decent enough job writing through the lens of a character. Case is a burnt out drug addict deadbeat. This makes itself apparent through the odd descriptions, high use of slang and disjointed narrative.
Like other anons said, its a heist story where a good portion of the book is gathering the party and building the world. There is some depth to the book but I honestly couldn't start appreciating it until I read a decent way into it because of the writing style.
My Urth of the New Sun edition has a Gaiman endorsement. The fuck is up with that?
Hey if you can stomach coiling dragon youll have a blast with cradle.
Belgarath does like to play practical jokes but there isn't one as far as I remember. That user must have simply watched too much anime. Even if there is it'll be one or two pages in a 5 book series and forgettably irrelevant.
NEW THREAD
NEW THREAD
NEW THREAD
Malazan question. How strong are jhagut? It sounded like one family fought against a tiste andii army in my reading of deadhouse. Did I get that wrong?
>any main character with very cute sister that is relevant to the story?
I haven't gotten far into it but the two main characters of the Gnome Saga series by Kenny Soward seem to be a brother and his younger sister.
oh fuck me this book is what i used to read all the time. great, simple high fantasy, and it has a TEXTBOOK and RIGID following of the "heroes journey" format. fuck me i thought no one had ever read this apart from me and my dad.
based and eddings-pilled
my fav book is the fourth harry pottter one. it is very good and
good.
i love the dragon
and cho ching is very atractive
Variable, *** is pretty strong, since random kid could be killed by a single imass.
Usually incredibly strong. Gifted fighters and their Warren seems to be the strongest when shit hits the fan
Really long and drawn out story that could have been half as long.
Kinda meh