Science Fiction and Fantasy General

>>7617349
Is High Fantasy dead? Other than Sanderson, I don't know anyone prominent who is writing it atm

>>7617618
I-I am.

>>7617618
Bakker
I guess that hack Esslemont is trying his best to make Malazan even worse

>>7617349
>>What's your favorite story with a "gay, rape and incest" plot?
My own fantasy manuscript desu.

>>7617349
Bakker is truly a master of the gay raoe and incest genre

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Ebin Bakker OC

>>7617767
why is malazan bad? I didn't read Esslemont yet but want to give him a try

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>>7617349
>What's your favorite story with a "gay, rape and incest" plot?

all the rape in Berserk

>>7617618
China's probably gonna come back to it, badly, and you never know when Stephenson or Gaiman might step in for it.

Honestly I think it died with Pratchett. We'll keep getting D&D novels, but we'll probably see fantasy going more literary with Gaiman et al. on one hand and coming back to its roots, Vance, Wolfe, and Lovecraft fans, on the other. Medieval stasis is I think definitely dead.

>>7617999
It's not bad necessarily, it's the fact that Erickson has no idea how to write dialogue in a way that's relate or human.

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>>7617349
for scifi fans highly recommend Peter F Hamilton

What is mandatory reading for me if I want to write a fiction based in an alt-history of Europe?

>>7618215
What do you mean by alt history? Also location and time period?

>>7617349
>>What are you reading?
and incest" plot?
Prince of Nothing

>>7618215
European history books I would think.

>>7618215
Real histories of Europe. Pick your bias, there's books on it.

>>7617349
>What's your favorite rape in fantasy?
every time an author rapes me with a shitty sequel is my favorite senpai

>>7618234
I guess what I mean is something along the lines of fantasy historical fiction. A realistic setting in Europe sometime between the 1400's and 1700's, but in an alternate history timeline.

>>7618641
I'm still not getting it. So you want real, historic Europe with magic in secret? You want real, historic Europe except magic is everywhere and Henry VIII has a court magician, and somehow history progressed as in our timeline? A European version of Alvin Maker or Frontier Magic? Are you asking for mandatory alt-renaissance fiction that has already been published? Not enough info.

So I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; the first 3 books in A Song of Ice and Fire; the Dark Elf Trilogy; The Colour of Magic.

What else should I read? I picked up The Name of the Wind tonight but I'm not sure if I should read something else first. What fantasy is "more essential" than TNOTW?

>>7618121
Pity he can't write a decent ending. All that amazing buildup, and I can't think of a single ending that wasn't rushed and unsatisfactory.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a real big fan, and it's great sci-fi, but it's like you're edging for hours, then lose the erection just before release.

>>7618730
Everything. Throw that in the trash and Jesus fucking chrIst does no one read the previous threads first

>>7618730
This shit was asked in the previous thread and I'll say it again here. Farseer trilogy.

It's entry level, but not in a shallow way, and it remains amazing no matter how much fantasy you've read before.

>>7618722
Sorry, guess I should have explained better.

My setting is this: sometime in renaissance Europe 10-20 years after the visitation of divine beings to Earth. And by divine beings I mean literal angels and/or a Jesus like figure. Hence the fantasy alt-history bit. Does that make sense ?

Why are all of Brandon's magic systems so gamey? The processes are always so well described and the limits are always explained like his books legit take place in a programmed world.

>>7618941
well then you want to study renaissance europe and also christianity

>>7618997
Indeed. But are there any other fantasy/fiction books in a similar setting that I should read for inspiration?

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>>7619013
I would imagine the bible would be a good place to start.

>>7619020
Probably Dante, Tolkien and Wolfe as well as the Bible

>>7618953
Because he is an Engineer. Sanderson writes his stories around his magic systems, whereas most write their magic around their story. He just really likes making complex and fleshed out magic.

>>7618953
Because he's a shit writer

>>7618941
What you are trying to write sounds like Rogue Mage by Faith Hunter, set in renaissance Europe, instead of Americlap.

>>7618953
>like his books legit take place in a programmed world.
Lel you should read Perfect State by Sanderson

>>7619114
Is there any soundtrack you'd recommend listening to while reading the complete chronicles of Conan? Aside of the Conan soundtrack, that is...

>>7619238
didn't mean to quote

>>7619013
You'd be better off reading history books.

>>7619114
>an action-filled novella about privilege, culture clash, and expectations.
This better not be social justice bullshit

>>7618086
Why is it bad? can you give specific examples? I liked it

>>7619013
>>7619020
>>7619323
Yea, I already know about The Bible, history books, and Tolkien. I've been reading all that

But are there any good "realistic" fantasy books out there? Just looking for general plot/character inspiration. I suppose I better read GoT just because it's so popular. I admit one thing I like about it is the sparse use of magic

>>7619109
thanks

>>7618040
I assume you mean china mieville, but I really wish that Chinese high fantasy or low started being written and published in the west.

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>Now they could understand the gutturals of the black men.

>"Our brothers are already assembled at the pit," said one. "We have had no luck. I hope they have enough for us."

>"Aram promised us a man," muttered another, and Conan mentally promised Aram something.

>"Aram keeps his word," grunted yet another. >"Many a man we have taken from his tavern. But we pay him well. I myself have given him ten bales of silk I stole from my master. It was good silk, by Set!"

>The blacks shuffled past, bare splay feet scuffing up the dust, and their voices dwindled down the road.

>"Well for us those corpses are lying behind these huts," muttered Conan. "If they look in Aram's death room they'll find another. Let's begone."

>"Yes, let us hasten!" begged the girl, almost hysterical again. "My lover is wandering somewhere in the streets alone. The Negroes may take him."

>"A devil of a custom this is!" growled Conan, as he led the way toward the city, paralleling the road but keeping behind the huts and straggling trees. "Why don't the citizens clean out these black dogs?"

>"They are valuable slaves," murmured the girl. "There are so many of them they might revolt if they were denied the flesh for which they lust. The people of Zamboula know they skulk the streets at night, and all are careful to remain within locked doors, except when something unforseen happens, as it did to me. The blacks prey on anything they can catch, but they seldom catch anybody but strangers. The people of Zamboula are not concerned with the strangers that pass through the city.

This is reminding me of the entire Germany\Sweden refugee thing.

>>7619358
Complaining about social justice bullshit in modern literature is like complaining about Marxism in Academia.

>>7619682

is the implication there that there are gangs of blacks that roam the city at night and rape both men and women?

>>7619670
There's plenty of translated xianxia if you like your protagonists doing drugs and barely winning every fight for a thousand chapters.

Anyway I'm sure Cixin Liu's success will get American publishers interested in more Chinese fiction. You only have to wait.

>>7619358
Sanderson nods respectfully towards it as he feeds his children using money from Tor, but he's always got something more interesting to say. Like in Stormlight Archives, where racism turns out to have been a pretty good idea all things considered.

I still daydream sometimes about Kowal getting microagressed and quitting his podcast. Just three dudes talking about S/SF again, none of these awkward filibusters about cultural appropriation.

>>7620245
>Kowal
I legitimately have no clue how so many multiple award winners have 3 lines on Wikipedia and none of their novels have a separate article; how the fuck are theses people winning popularity awards?

>>7620265
Maybe her books are good, I wouldn't know. Has anyone here legit read a Kowal book? They're regency romances with magic or something, and a contractually guaranteed Bechdel-approved conversation and no damsels in distress.

I've been reading Mistborn and its good and all so far but this shit drives me crazy.

Every other page has frowning thoughtfully, frowning thoughtfully, frowning thoughtfully, shrug. shrug, rolls eyes, frowning thoughtfully.
I don't know why it bothers me so much, I guess just since its fucking everywhere.

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>>7620245
>racism
>good in SA
Where are you getting this from?

>>7620374
>forgetting eyebrow raising

>>7620407
Hoid tells them they might have a point in their eye color discrimination, for one. It could just refer to eye color coming from Shards, but never trust anything Hoid says to just mean one thing.

For another, the Parshendi/Parshmen. Really should have kept their distance on that one.

Really hoping these threads don't turn political

>>7620585
You know who's political leanings really annoy me when they're forced down my throat?
China Meiville

>>7619491
Everyone seems to have a deep grasp of war, philosophy, and magic regardless of age, education, or profession.
Fiddler, Grub, Udinaas, etc.

>>7620589
When does he do that? I've only read Embassytown and even though a lot of the plot hinged on political stuff I didn't really feel his opinions coming through

>>7620631
Same here. I really liked it, too. Couldn't get into Perdido Street Station, though, and I never tried anything else.

>>7620631
I've noticed Americans have trouble noticing the politics in Embassytown, but Britbongs immediately notice It's basically just "Conservatives are bad, vote labour you stupid goyim, I've been to the best private schools in one of the most expensive parts of the country so I know what's better for you".

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>>7620843
>I've been to the best private schools in one of the most expensive parts of the country so I know what's better for you
Sounds familiar.

>>7620864
>Voting labour ever
Cameron could literally drop-kick a pregnant mother and by the end of the week look better than Corbyn. Labour have been unelectable since they joked about bankrupting the country, twice.

>>7620879
>>7620864
Wait, wait, hold up, before you get into your limey-wimey lecturerant could you explain the politics in Embassytown? It's been a few years since I've read it and I've learned most of what I know of British politics since then. I still can't recall anything political. Were the non-twin ambassadors supposed to be Tories or something?

>>7620879
That is correct, people who are good liars and manipulators are much better at public image than honest men.

>>7620899
To bad his honesty doesn't align with electorates political opinions, even his own party doesn't want anything to do with him; he can't even build a cabinet.

>>7620916
You're correct, that is to, to bad about electorates political opinions.

>>7620917
He's pretty successful on campuses though.

>>7619682
>This is reminding me of the entire Germany\Sweden refugee thing.
As it should. Because it's the exact same thing. Howard didn't have any personal experience with it, of course, but in 1920 guys coming back from Africa saying "man, the locals are really into rape" were believed instead of silenced.

>>7620113
There was a Ugandan rape gang at Bagram Air Field when I was there in 2011. Most of their victims were men. Apparently they were gone when I was back in 2013. What I'm saying is that the answer's yes.

>>7620265
It's almost as though there's some sort of cultural or social affinity between Wikipedia editors and fans of PC-approved SF authors.

>>7620631
>>7620807
Probably because you're an American liberal.

>>7620990
But I'm /pol/tard scum and I liked it. The aliens were cool, the concept of linguistic heroin from the non-twin ambassadors' speech was super-interesting, and the whole thing was dressed in some neat SF ideas that were tactfully undeveloped along with some nice descriptions. I ate that book up.

>>7620999
>Not wearing your politics on your sleeve
I don't even read Scifi any more because Le Guin told me technology is a matriarchal construct.

>>7621077
Don't you mean "patriarchal"?

>>7621101
Can't check, she said it in a sci-fi.

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Have anyone read The Old Axolotl by J. Dukaj? Is it good?

>>7621234
Is there an english version of this?

>>7621247
Yup, there's English translation by Stanley Bill. It's first book of this author translated into English so I'm curious.

>>7621266
If I knew where to find that english version I'd read it tonight and then let you know

>>7621471
Apparently the part of the concept is that the novel is only published in form of a e-book. You can buy it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Old-Axolotl-Hardware-Dreams-ebook/dp/B00UTUMM3E

>>7621471
The opinions I've heard to this point were saying that this time Dukaj somewhat restrained from making highbrow art and produced a more canonical sf. Knowing the opinion of a fellow e/lit/ist would be great tho, I've been planning to read it but don't have time at the moment. Also, getting more people interested in his books outside of Poland seems like a great strategy for getting his Lód finally transleted, which I've read in it's massiveness (about 1200 pages) and hate the impossibility to discuss it on the best avalible literature board, cuz noone knows Polish :^(.

>>7620585
Just report the person trying to start shit.

Don't want anyone shitting up our threads.

>>7621471
So, do you plan to read it?

>>7618953
because there are diffrent styles. http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-second-law/

>>7619621
read joe abercrombie for low fantasy with good charakters

>>7621731
>this guy thinks hes so important that he thinks he can come up with fucking writing laws

Asimov and Clarke were geniuses who were supet influential. Sanderson is some Mormon weeb who hot lucky.

>>7621767
If you had read the article you would know that he said npbody has to follow his "rules"

>>7621767
I can see your envy at not having his notoriety, it's saddening

>>7621767
Get a load of this faggot.

Anybody can come up with writing laws, many writers have personal ones they follow in some way. Sanderson just bothered to voice his and it's a valid one if you're writing anything with magic in it.

>>7617618
Tad Williams is currently writing new Memory Sorrow and Thorn Books. I loved the originals when I was much younger. Haven't tried them again since then so maybe its just nostalgia but I am hyped for the new stuff.

>>7618121

Fight me this shit was absolute garbage.

>sci fi

What are some good space operas? I've read Asmoivs and Frank Hebert works already.

this harlan meme man has one of his formulaic twist stories where ebrybody is an incestor-the end

>>7623257
When it came out it was a different read, much of what it talks about was cutting edge. Reading it again now it does seem a little dated but I can still remember how mind blowing the concepts were at the time, the internet was a new thing talked about in the paper news and sometimes on TV and to see it's future visualised into a story was a big new thing.

Reading Ubik by PKD right now and I like it a lot. Which of his books should I go with next? Some parts of it remind me of Illuminatus and I find that aspect appealing.

>>7623549
A Scanner Darkly
Valis
Minority Report

>>7620113
They actually eat them in that story, but they do have a fucked up religion.

>What are you reading?

Darkness that Comes Before. Seems sufficiently relevant to the thread.

>What's your favorite story with a "gay, rape and incest" plot?

Probably ASOIAF still, though the recent two books have been pretty poor and I have 0 hope of the series ever being completed.

>What's your favorite Rape in Fantasy?

There are probably better ones that I forgot about but Julia's rape in The Magician King was alright.

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Planning on reading one of Randolph LaLonde's books, the first one's free but I don't know if I should just go for something I've heard good things about

>>7617349
Tadeys by Osvaldo Lamborghini

>>7624284
The fox god was the greatest in all the books.

Her vag was rekt'd, don't see how Quinton went in there... and kept going back.

>>7617349
anyone suggest a good fantasy series for me to get into
just finished wheel of time and the original mistborn trilogy

>>7624712
Earthsea Quartet is good

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Is this series worth it?

>>7624812
If you want dbz yeah

>>7624812
For audiobooks i recommend it, it starts off in the middle of things, and you can't make sense of things until the end of the book.

So, in line with the theme of the thread, is there any fantasy/sci fi that features male rape? Or do we keep on pretending that it doesn't happen in these genres?

>>7625003
Prince of nothing series.
Steel remains
Malazan book of the fallen
Night Angel series
There was a immortal series where there were 5 male gods, the youngest one was stolen by a demon and was lovingly raped everyday.... the demon used to skin him alive too, he couldn't die.

>>7624834
Retard

>>7625122
Katherine Kerr's Deverry cycle has a moderate amount.

>>7625003
Adam Roberts' New Model Army, but it's not intentional.

>>7625132
Meant for >>7625003

>>7625143
Not intentional? Was it a trap?

>>7625129
Pleb

>>7625176
He gets some from his ex-boyfriend, then realizes the dude's only doing it because he's terrified.

>>7617846
Is everyone else really retarded in Prince of Nothing?

>>7617349
oh fuck be that an inchoroi avatar?

>>7625180
Dragonball comments are unoriginal and patently untrue

>>7625222
How are they untrue? It's an anime video game the novel

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Bands of Mourning soon

Who expects Steris to actually do something this time besides be autistic on the sidelines?

>>7623199

Lois Mcmaster Bujold- Vorkosigan Books

>>7621471
So, how was it anon?

>>7625199
No, Kellhus is just Übermensch to their untermensch

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>>7625272
She might be important in finding or discovering the answer to some significant problem based upon her observation skills. Who knows. At least she's falling for Wax and seems to be set up to become useful.

>yfw 4th book not for two years

Have any of yall read Michael Swanwick? I just finished the Iron Dragon's Daughter and I'm not sure if I liked it or not. I like the ideas behind it and the writing, but it was p repetitive and parts were a chore to get through (like the whole high school section). I love how it totally ripped apart derivative LOTR-esque fantasy tho

>>7625975
>it totally ripped apart derivative LOTR-esque fantasy tho
Like how?

>>7625991
It basically subverted all the big major tropes you find in stuff like Jordan and Brooks. The setting was a weird modern-ish industrial world, the main character wasn't really anyone special and didn't try to save the world or anything and she does a bunch of p terrible shit without any kind of justification or redemption, nothing was really explained, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. Basically it took a bunch of fantasy archetypes and did a bunch of weird shit with them, kind of like evangelion did with giant robot shit

>>7626019
So by "subversion" you mean "being something else?"

>>7626021
If you put it that way, yeah, but there are pretty clear parallels, and it's still distinctly in the fantasy genre

>>7626048
Evangelion took common tropes of the real robot genre and examined them (what situation would be so desperate and specific for an industrialized nation to put teenagers in control of giant robots? why use giant robots at all?) but that's not where it stopped. It was at its heart a story about relationships between people that don't want to have relationships but hate being alone.

From what you're saying, Iron Dragon's Daughter is basically Hunter S. Thompson with fantasy names and places. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Anyone here read Kingdom of the Wall by Siverburg? It's fucking amazing

Trust me pls

>>7626072
Eh I guess I didn't really word it correctly. I guess what I meant to say is it's set up to be a traditional fantasy story (orphan girl slaving away in a factory, getting out with the help of a dragon), but nothing really ends up the way a traditional fantasy reader would want it to end up. Instead of trying get revenge or go one some kind of personal quest she ends up living a pretty meaningless existence, and the dragon ends up being manipulative and cruel. It doesn't necessarily share the same themes as Evangelion, but it operates from a similar perspective, and shares a similar tone (dark, desperate)

enjoy faggots

http://www100.zippyshare.com/v/QmdN9qMs/file.html

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>>7617349
Anyone read the short story where this guys disovers a hidden planet in the galaxy and *spoiler* all the people there fucking at any age and relation any time they wanted. But... it was a paradise. Forgetting the authors name, think it Hienlen.

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Does /lit/ support the cleanup?

>>7625222
He's right though, it's literally power levels the series.

>>7625259
>>7626268
How, the whole point is even the weakest can give the strongest a tight go of it. Gods rise and fall, everything is flux, mortals ascend and immorals die.

Power-levels my ass.

>>7620407
Was there even any actual racism in SA? The parshmen weren't enslaved for fun, the parshendi were the ones to declare war on Alethkar and the only characters I can remember being actively hated for their skin color were the blue demon guys.

>>7626267
That all looks like shit

What is that picture even supposed to be about? ">muh swj bogeyman"?

>>7626267
any censorship of literature is a no-no. we must fight this fire burning cult, even to ensure that the normies have the freedom to read whatever they wish. Luckily sjws don't know how to read so they can't ever tell if Patrish lit meets their standards.

>>7626216
>>7626216
Theodore Sturgeon. "If All Men Are Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?"

I consider it a great parody of utopian writing, but I doubt that was Sturgeon's intent.

>>7617349
>What are you reading?
The Lone Drow by R.A. Salvatore

>What's your favorite story with a "gay, rape and incest" plot?
can't remember any right now so I'm just going with Artemis Entreri in Road of the Patriarch

>What's your favorite Rape in Fantasy?
The Dune sequels written by Frank Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

>>7626267
>implying theres even been good Right-Wing SF/F since Tolkien or Heinlein

>>7626124
Staying inline with the theme of the thread, was there gay, rape and incest? You already said it's dwrk.

>>7626118
Hi Siverburg, how many books you sold total?

Do you see a rise in sales after you use an image board?

>>7626650
>implying that justifies censoring the ones that do exist?

>>7618941
Try playing Legends of Eisenwald instead. Surprisingly, it fits into your description quite good.

>>7626650
Wolfe and Miller

>>7626370
Exactly, power levels fluctuate in it all the time just like DBZ, so you end up with wizards beating Gods.

Another similarity to DBZ is how most books are lots of meandering and slow build that should have been heavily edited down before working to an explosive & awesome climax.

>>7626715
>Implying Robert Silverburg needs to troll a Javanese puppetshow collective for sales

Nigga's old as fuck anyway.

Anyway >>7626118 I've heard very little bad about Silverburg's novels but I've only ever read a few of his short stories. I prefer to read consensus classics rather than risk wasting my time on some new writer, I really ought to pick up something of his. I guess this is as good a place to start as any.

>>7626267
>Nobody believes me when I said they were doing this before even the press figured it out last thread

>>7626781
>>7626650
Herbert
Anderson

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>>7626618
I remember that one! Mostly how mad the designated non-utopian dude got when he found out the father and daughter were doin' it. And everyone's like, cool it dude, they're using birth control. And he's like, I have a very large head and loud voice, making me the stupid one in the political cartoon

>>7626448
>there is an entire serf class made up of dark-eyed people

>>7626810
Im usually the same way, but it was recommended to me by a friend. It was really good. It's the only book of his I've read

>>7626810
The "plz trust me" just cried of self advertising shill

>>7626448
Eye colour determined if you were either a white privileged (bright eyes) or a low class dog from India's colonization days(dark eyes).

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>>7626940
>>7627056
If we were being pedantic, wouldn't that be classism? Not that it matters either way because a clear discrimination is shown between people of different colored eyes, even altering Kaladin's personality a tad since he becomes a lighteyes when he uses his Surgebinding abilities.

>>7627056
>white privileged
please take this meme and shove it up your ass
there's no white privilege involved here, it's classic ruling class/common class dynamics

>>7626637
>The Dune sequels written by Frank Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Are they really that bad? Just finished reading the first Dune novel. Should I continue reading, or was the first book the best?

>>7625920
Is the next Mistborn book going to include Wax and Wayne again or will he start writing a new trilogy with new characters in modern setting?

>>7619027
>Because he is an Engineer

Citation needed. That would actually raise my interest in his books if true.

>>7626267

I don't get what the image is supposed to represent. Those are all Polish books, most of them from Sapkowski (author of the Witcher). In fact, I don't know about the books but the games were recently under a lot of criticism from SJWs due to lack of people of color (they are based on european medieval setting and Slavic folklore, go figure).

>>7627826
Poland is like 99% white
Why would they be writing about niggers?

>>7627833
>Poland is like 99% white
>Slavs
>White

>>7626841
Herbert was only a conservative in his younger years. He became Liberal after studying Zen Buddhism.

>>7627480
I think he made a mistake. The sequels by Frank are still pretty good, but the sequels by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson blow dicks.

>>7627800
He's not, according to his website he have a Master’s degree in creative writing : http://brandonsanderson.com/about-brandon/

>>7627881
>He became Liberal after studying Zen Buddhism

No he didn't, he expressed overtly conservative opinions until his death; even to this day people still bitch about his disdain for homosexuals.

Studying Zen doesn't automatically make somebody a Liberal.

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>>7627636
Next Mistborn book will finish the Era 1.5 series (Wax and Wayne books) and the end of the trilogy that began with Shadows of Self. Modern Mistborn won't be until like 2022 or something stupid.

>>7624812
I opened Gardons of the Moon at the bookstore and read the first couple pages, then promptly put it back on the shelf. I dunno, maybe it's just me but the writing style seemed very retarded

JUST CAME HERE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT FOUNDATION

these books are terrible. I hate them.

I love Asimov, the smug bastard, don't get me wrong. I Robot is clearly the work of a genius. His non-fiction is awesome, also. I have a super cool analysis of the Old Testament that he did, and I love it.

FUCK FOUNDATION THO

It's written like this motherfucker's first draft. There are no characters. There is no plot. There is only rooms, and people sitting in rooms, and people... FUCK
1) characters enter a room and recap the plot up to this point, for a few pages.
2) one character notices a discrepancy.
3) the other character says AHA I have outwitted you
4) the first character says he was only POINTING OUT THE DISCREPANCY because he KNEW it was there, and therefore, he has outwitted the other guy!
5) somebody else shows up and says HEY. LOOKS LIKE YOU CHARACTERS HAVE BEEN OUTWITTED.
6) goddamn!! he outwitted us!!
7) not me. he didn't outwit me.
8) oh wait, he did.

EVERY CHAPTER IS JUST PEOPLE SITTING IN ROOMS DOING THIS

And none of it is exciting, because it's all contrived by the writer. It's almost brilliant how this is the PREMISE of the book, so one could argue that this is Asimov's point - that none of this is exciting, or intriguing, or worth anybody's time, because it's all just being made up by an long-dead fuckin genius, like it or not.

Fuckin Foundation. Fuck.

I sat down and read about 30 pages of The Blade Itself, book #1 of the First Law series.

Is it just me or does the writing style seem overly simplistic and the dialogue forced? Isn't it kind of weird that this brutal grimdark fantasy book has the writing style of a YA novel?

>>7627985
IMO, his style works better in his actual YA novels. So, yes.

Joe Abercrombie is super good at story structure, character, and is an imaginative, insightful writer in general. It's too bad his prose is so DnD.

>>7627826
Never liked this argument. Keep in mind, I'm a whitey myself, and I don't play much video games anymore, so I don't have a horse in this race, let alone a dark one. But, like, it's a fuckin fantasy world, in a roleplaying video game. It is not, ever, intended to be an accurate depiction of reality in medieval Poland. It's bizarre to me that this argument of "realism" only occurs in accusations of a too-white cast of characters. Like, do magic spells and fairies make sense in medieval Poland, but not black people? SEEMS PRETTY FISHY TO ME

Besides, there were tons of black people, and asian people, and all sorts of darks n browns in Medieval Europe, so it's not even an accurate claim.

But like, whatever.

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>>7627972
>non-fiction
>Old Testament right afterwards
I hope this is just poor sentence structuring.

>>7628039
Don't bring your Christposter bullshit into these threads.

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>>7628054
But that's what the person who I replied to did.

>>7628029

> OMG, look. It's a nuclear power plant in the middle of a medieval fantasy world based on polish folklore

> That kinda breaks my immersion since that wasn't really a thing back in medieval Poland

> Fuck you, you anti-sjw cucked cunt. There are fucking Elves and shit and you are bitching about there being nuclear power!??! Jesus christ, it's totally the same as magic spells and fairies and isn't a giant anachronism thrown into the game with out any in-lore justification or reason. Deal with it #FeelTheBern

>>7628029

That's besides the point. The writers should be able to create the worlds they want to create without people complaining there isn't enough [insert minority here].

>Besides, there were tons of black people, and asian people, and all sorts of darks n browns in Medieval Europe, so it's not even an accurate claim.

Funny, such claims often seem like history revisionism to me. There were *some* but for sure not *tons*. I grew up in a Slavic country and the only black people I've seen IRL until I was grown were a few foreign exchange students when I visited the capital. I really can't imagine there being more minorities in middle ages.

>>7628144

You are aware that black and brown people, unlike nuclear power plants, actually did exist in medieval Europe, right?

Very scarce, to be sure, but they existed.

>>7628173
Da, can confirm. There is like one black guy in the town that I study in and he is a rumour of sorts anyway.

>>7628114
>>7628054
Whatever amount of fact the Old Testament contains, Isaac Asimov's analysis of it is nonfiction. So you're retarded.

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>>7628144
>When It's easier to discuss a book on /pol/ than .t because the author isn't a transracial Marxist

>>7628183
As did a massive amount of other things that are rarely engaged with. Economics was massively important, the development of public debt, currency issuance and debasement and the massive witch's nest of different currencies used, the linguistic difference in conceptualizing money between the Romance-language fluid ideal and the Germanic solid ideal, but almost none of that is brought up in your average Polish fantasy novel because that's just not what it's about.

>>7628217

I completely agree that demanding authors shoehorn in diversity is rank nonsense. Just pointing out how terrible that particular greentexted argument was, is all.

>>7628217
>but almost none of that is brought up in your average Polish fantasy novel because that's just not what it's about.

It probably should though, a lot of theses fantasy books are outright fucking crazy, your sword or whatever cost thousands of gold coins? how the fuck are you transporting this amount of currency? what's with the inflation, everything is so ridiculously expensive etc.

>>7628229
If you've been on 4chan and haven't been introduced to Spice and Wolf you've got something nice to look forward to. You can even read it, though I can't vouch for the translation quality.

>>7628229
I do remember that Geralt is pretty much always broke, and that when he buys armor he treats it well.

Eragon was slammed because Paolini would go for 500+ words on weapon descriptions. Unless you are a weapons buff, there's no need for that bloated information.

Unless the fantasy is geared towards merchants, like >>7628246 says in Spice and Wolf.

Good worldbuilding should not just dump information on you if the character from that POV doesn't understand the intricacies of stuff like microeconomics.

It's not inflation, that is why in tourney's knights would offer up their armor and weapons as ransom/restitution for loss because that was the most valuable, expensive thing they owned.

>>7628029
>It's a fantasy
If you're gonna use that logic, might as well make it to where everyone flies and shoots fire from their eyeballs because it's fantasy, right?

>>7628278
"Dude has a tan" is not as insane as "shoots fire from their eyeballs." It is in fact, less insane than just about any of the other fantasy elements in pretty much any fantasy story ever.

Nobody ever read Earthsea and said "I can't get immersed because I'm trying to picture a realistic representation of the british isles and I can't because the protagonist is black and THAT'S JUST TOO MUCH TO BELIEVE"

The idea that diversity needs to be "shoehorned" is a problem to me. I agree that people shouldn't (well, they can do what they want, I don't care) argue that a story is 100% bad if it is 100% white, but it is even more odd to me, logically speaking, to argue that having diversity in skintone alone would impair the work in some way. Gattaca being all-white makes sense. A third-reich style fantasy with an all-white cast makes sense. Based on what I know about The Witcher, Geralt could be brown, white, or orange and it wouldn't make a single difference in the develpment of theme, character, or world. It's not essential either, mind you, but to argue that a racial decision is arbitrary is not the same as arguing that it is essential.

>>7617349
I always wondered why Science Fiction was considered either crap, boring, or trash literature by critics, and why it never became truly popular genre.

>>7627480
>>7627891
I meant Brian Herbert, not Frank.

>>7628295
>Earthsea
>protagonist is black
Wasn't he a Indian?

>>7628029
I wish some writer would just come out and say "I don't want niggers shitting up my fantasy world like they do in real life".

>>7628361
Very few authors aren't Marxists though, the entire industry is incredibly left-wing, they wouldn't get published ever again.

>>7628295
I figured Earthsea was more of a southern Polynesia kind of place, like that one island where the Maoris ate everyone. And Le Guin had her races set up, too, the "barbarians" to the southeast that Ged tomb-raids in the second book were white people. There just weren't random white people hanging around Ged's islands, and if they were there was a reason for it.

The problem isn't that someone has a tan, the problem is that someone, sometimes Lancelot, has a tan, and everybody just treats him normally for it, nobody calls him a thick-lipped Moor, there's no mention that his father brought back an Ethiopian bride from the Crusades, or anything like that. The presence of races isn't what breaks immersion, it's the absence of racism.

And I mean casual racism. Not 19th-century American South racism that has to end with everyone realizing that racism is bad. Just an awareness, real awareness.

>>7628361
This would be preferable compared to the faux-logic "it's essential that they be white because of world-building!!" that fans tend to weep about.

Nobody is obligated to share the same political agenda as any particular one of their readers. Often a writer doesn't even think about race, and people assume white. Or, the writer assumes white, and doesn't realize it. Most of the time, these writers just go "whoops, we'll try better next time," which I'm told the creators of The Witcher games have actually done. It's only the fans that think whiteness is essential, and that creative vision is being threatened by people simply noticing.

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>>7628382
>unironically using the word "whiteness"
>thinking a diverse cast is necessarily better
Don't you have a die-in to get to?

Anyway it doesn't matter what race they are as long as you can change it, years after the fact, after the movies said they were something else.

>>7628418

Christ almighty, people need to stop getting their knickers in a twist because Rowling tweeted about a fan play. It's really just pathetic.

>>7628436
It wouldn't have been so pathetic if she hadn't declared Dumbledore gay after the fact, too, so as to sell more books but get more suckup points.

>>7628441
Even if this cynical idea is true, does it really matter?

Dumbledore is gay is pretty well supported in text, even if we agree that it should have been more explicit if Rowling wanted it acknowledged. So is black Hermione, for that matter.

But I doubt she pointed these things out after the fact to sell more books. I really, really really don't think JK Rowling needs help selling books at this point in her career.

Are there sword and sorcery like books but with a female lead?

>>7628454
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Alyx

I think these crossed over with Fritz Leiber's books, too, so they're legit.

>>7628441

Who even cares? Honest question.

You're playing right into her hands by getting up in arms about her pronouncements. Being so angry about Rowling declaring Dumbledore gay years after she did it just reinforces her position and makes you look sad for being unable to move on.

Why do you care so much whether the author expresses support for a progressive reading of the text? You can read the text any way you like. Lord knows the books don't explicitly make Hermione out to be black, or Dumbledore out to be gay - you can interpret the characters any way you choose.

Frankly, it seems like you're looking for something to be offended about at this point, and in that regard you're no better than the PC SJW crowd themselves.

>>7628433
I don't think you've got my point entirely.
>I'm arguing that in most works, the ethnicity of its characters are arbitrary or easily accounted for without breaking internal logic. Even if it does require a single line from a single background character to point out the difference, this is still an extremely minor price to pay.
I agree.

>There are two arguments I see which excuse an all-white cast in a fantasy world.
I disagree, not with the sentence, but the underlying idea that an all-white fantasy world needs to be excused in any way. It doesn't.

>>7628452
The idea is that she was afraid a more obviously gay Dumbledore and black Hermione would have hurt her sales, but an all-white all-straight cast would have hurt her reputation among those she seeks validation from.

>>7628454
Red Sonja?

>>7628464
It's not that I care about gay Dumbledore. It's that Rowling didn't have the guts to make a gay man gay or a black girl black. Black Hermione would have been a wonderful character. She was white, because the cover art said she was and Rowling never in years complained. I honestly had not remembered Dumbledore at all in many years.

I just think it's a little cynical for an author to go, "look, she was diverse, see? It never said white skin!" years after. Saying, "that's a nice interpretation," that's great. But telling me I had the wrong interpretation, that what she told me wasn't true? She should have done that in a book. Novels aren't multi-media experiences.

>>7628464
In many ways it reflects how much we changed as society in general. A honest question, would the reaction in the early 00s, 90s or even 80s have been different, or the same?

>>7628474

I agree that it's a tremendous cop-out from Rowling for the sake of pandering to the progressive audience on both accounts, but I can't fathom why people are acting as though Rowling has issued a decree setting Hermione's race in stone.

As far as I know, literally all Rowling said was that she has no problem with a black actress playing Hermione because the character never had a specific race indicated in the book. Why, then, do some people seem to be acting like Rowling has engaged in revisionist manipulation of the canon to declare the character black?

>>7628497
Because we get our news from baseless rumors and lies? Get with it.

has anyone on /lit/ read Worm or Twig? I'm a massive fanboy, but I can't talk to anyone about them. Tried recommending them to people, but nobody wants to read super long books in unusual formats.

I'm not sure if it's fantasy or science fiction. There are "magical" elements, but they are very well, consistently explained and not treated as a deus ex machina.


Both are published online.
>Worm
parahumans.wordpress.com
Superhero story. What would the world really look like if there were people with superpowers? Very bleak, but also humanist. It's nearly a million words long and I've read it 3 times, start to finish.

>Twig
twigserial.wordpress.com
1920s, alternative course of history. Science has taken a different direction. There are new breakthroughs every year. The British Empire spans half world, but without conflict, it cannot progress.
The main characters are designed as weapons with a short lifespan.

Much stronger writing than Worm, but still uncomplete. Basically a better version of Ender.

>>7628536

Worm is my fucking jam. Wildbow needs to hire a professional editor, put that story through the wringer, and get it in print. I firmly believe Worm could be absolutely huge if it hits the mass market.

>>7628536
>web serial
>million words
>incomplete
Nigga those better wash my clothes and do the dishes. And there's already, like, a bunch of "real world with superpowers" books, some of them, in fact, very bleak. Now if you've read Soon I Will Be Invincible, we can talk about that.
>that scene where Dr. Impossible thinks the heroes have ambushed him in a cafe

>>7628577

>>7628571 here.

I've read Soon I Will Be Invincible, and loved it, so you can believe me when I say that Worm is the definitive work in the "modern superhero novel" genre. The prose isn't the strongest, as it's a first draft written at absolutely breakneck speed, but the creativity in worldbuilding and usage of superpowers absolutely demolishes any other superhero work you'd care to name, Marvel and DC included. The characters are done very capably as well, though I don't deny that the magical spark of the world is the main draw of the series.

There's really nothing in the superhero genre like it. If the writer can properly revise the series, clean up the prose, and trim the fat, Worm has the potential to be a tremendous success.

>>7628577
definitely will read, I love that shit. Thanks for the recommendation. Though the goodreads rating is a bit low.

>>7628571
I know, right? As soon as it comes out I'm buying the fucking collection and forcing my friends to read it.

Favorite character?

>>7628524
weber does race right, mentions it in passing when describing a character pnysically, then ignoring it as largely irrelephant

>>7628589

Not him, but disregard Goodreads, it's quite a fun book. Don't go in expecting any creativity in superpowers - it's basically a Lex Luthor expy expounding on his relationship with a Superman expy while battling Justice League expies- but the main character is very well-done. His views on the heroes make for a real hoot.

Tattletale was probably my favorite, if only because weaponizing the traditional superhero mid-battle banter is a tremendously fun idea. I greatly enjoyed her incessantly shoving her nose where it didn't belong; she generated a lot of fun conflict.

Favorite hero would definitely be Vista.

I desperately want print versions of these works, but I do worry that Wildbow's not going to bring on a professional editor. As much as I love Worm, the quality really dips after Taylor turns herself in, and plummets at the timeskip before bouncing back for the ending. He needs to basically cut the timeskip entirely and rework the earlier pacing to add in a bit more downtime, and I'm not sure if he's up to that without encouragement from a real editor.

>>7628586
>demolishes any other superhero work you'd care to name, Marvel and DC included
They're the bottom of the barrel though.

>>7628524
Actually, he only said third-reich fantasy = white. Which, like, true. It'd be weird if there were black characters in the fuken third reich dude

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>>7628655
Why?

>>7628613
I couldn't imagine Worm receiving a proper proofing, Wildbow is incredibly egotistical and couldn't accept that at least half of the chapters could be cut and it'd actually improve worm.

>>7628586
haven't read it but I would say that astro city would stand up to it pretty well

For me, the weakest moments were the first couple of arcs and the very end. Contessa sucks as a character and doesn't belong.

the part where Taylor turned herself in (and eventually killed X) is my absolute favorite part. So much fucking tension and raw emotion.

>>7628661
Wildbow has improved his writing skill a lot. And he has acknowledged that Worm needs a lot of polishing. I'm optimistic.

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>>7628655
>on /lit/
>hasn't read Gravity's Rainbow

>>7624812
Definitely, but just remember the first book was intended to be a one off/movie.
If you want Fantasy, no other series even comes close.

>>7624812
>its a herald gets raped to death by a giant undead insect queen episode.

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>>7628306
I think it's the literary genre that's gone away from science fiction. Back in the day someone respected like Mary Shelley or Nathaniel Hawthorne would write a science fiction story just because they thought it was interesting, and critics would compare it with other works by the same author. I'd it was a small cadre of academics at first that stopped considering SF along with literature, possibly due to the trashy image of early 20th-century SF, and from there it just snowballed. HG Wells was considered a serious author. Arthur C. Clarke wrote the exact same kinds of things and he was stuck in the ghetto.

Fantasy at least has always been around. Homer and Shakespeare were both fantasy authors.

So, what's hot shit coming out right now?

I'm in between series, and I'd be down to start something from a contemporary author.

Do we have like, a calendar or something?

>>7628864
>shelly
>respected
bruh her greatest work was just a ripoff of the jewish story about a golem

Anyone up for some short stories about a fearless schizophrenic protecting the Earth from Martians?
http://www.survivalplus.com/defense/page0002.htm
>When he got back to the little apartment, Clarence set about making a simple still from quarter-inch plastic tubing, a light bulb, two tin cans, Goop, a No. 6 cork, a Tums bottle and a two-quart plastic container. When he got it set up, he quickly distilled two ounces of very strong ammonia from the weak and soapy mess sold as a cleaner. While he worked he gleefully explained aloud to his guides every step and the impact of the project on the Martian invaders.
>Then he cut off all the match heads from the four cartons. He put them in a shallow bowl and poured boiling water over them. Next he stirred them until the potassium chlorate and sulfur making up the heads dropped away from the cardboard. He then scooped out the cardboard and put the bowl in the oven at its lowest heat to evaporate the liquid.

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>>7628867
Red Rising, Pierce Brown. You won't regret it. Third book's coming out on the 9th.

We'd never agree on a calendar. Though if someone made one we would use it.

>>7628868
le women can't write meme
ebin

>>7628885

Thanks. I'll definitely look into it


I don't see how one can disagree "on" a calendar. Shit comes out the day shit comes out

I tried using goodreads awards for a little guidance, but after the Goblin Emperor and Ancilary Justice, never again.

>>7628903
Yes, but what deserves to be on the calendar is the question. A lot of books get published.

>>7628932
everything scifi should be on the calendar just have it broken down by author or subgenre, like action, war, space opera, coming of age, etc...

>>7628932

I think once you're done filtering for Sci-Fi and Fantasy and 4chan tastes, then it can't be that many, but I see your point

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>>7628941
nigga you don't understand

>>7628954
I wouldn't mind something like /a/'s season charts with sections for "pleb-tier redditrash," "Gender Studies textbooks," "literary books for literary elitists such as myself," "gun-related," or "Tell me about Baen."

>>7628966

Well, I'm about halfway through discworld (just finished the fifth elephant) and I'm trying to stall as much as I can to space those books out as much as possible, and avoid firefly'ing it now that Terry passed away

So I'm always running out of minimally decent shit to read.

>>7627922
>tfw new iron druid and mistborn out
>tfw got like 600 more pages to finish for malazan book 10

just fuck my shit up

>>7628885
Is red rising really good? I've seen a lot of people shilling for this book, and let me be honest, the blurb reads like YA trash.

Is there any gay, rape or incest included?

I need a recommendation for fantasy novel
I've read and liked: wheel of time, legent of drizzt, the cleric quintet, all of Anne rices vampire chronicles, all of Brandon Sanderson.

I didn't like the sword of Truth?, the malazan bored the crap out of me for 3 books.

Just need a new series or two

>>7629457
Sounds like you'll enjoy the works of Patrick Rothfuss

>>7629423
The blurb does make it look like YA trash. It's much better, though. The genetic supermen actually are genetic supermen, not someone Captain Kirk could beat in a fistfight. The obligatory Dystopian YA Future School is a valley with a bunch of castles in it so the students can practice empire building while their teachers fly around dressed like Roman gods, and acting like Roman gods and not intervening when they probably should. And the kids have these totally Roman battles, where sometimes they'll have a couple of their champions duel beforehand shouting their names at each other.

There's implied gay but since they're space Romans it's different. There's rape but no incest.

>>7629457
read the worm ouroboros.

>>7629457
You'll enjoy Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series because it seems like he's attempting to clone Brandon Sanderson's plot tweests.

Sanderson also has a student - Brian McClellan - whose writing shares a few similarities with his own but the way McClellan handles everything is different.

>>7629460
Well Bakker discovered plot cryogenics. Plot developed at a glacial pace and nothing, it seemed happened - well of course other than the gay, rape and incest.

>>7628571
> I firmly believe Worm could be absolutely huge if it hits the mass market.

Not really. What made it relatively huge online was the release schedule. It had a lot of time to pick more and more people as it slowly progressed.

>>7619114
What the fuck was this? [Spoiler]"lel she wasn't real also your nemesis was a female all along too and maybe she's into you but it won't have any consequence because this is just a novella and we can't afford 5 more pages to wrap up the story!

>>7629876
Sanderson can't into scifi but his magic systems are /sci/ approved.

>>7629890
I actually really liked it up until the ending, there were a lot of good parallels with current vidyagames (specially MMOs) too. Just the character relationships weren't fleshed out enough to make their conflict interesting.

>>7629520
Ok you sold me, imma give it a try. It's just you have to be suspicious when a book(by a new author at that) is shilled so heavily.

Like last thread a anon said that someone releasing a magical pirate assassins book, i was intrigued but I've been bitten too many times.

>>7629457
Like another anon said, Brent Weeks(all of the novels).

You could also try Kevin Hearne(Iron Druid) or Jim Butcher (steampunk cats, Dresden Files or Codex Alera)

If you like gay, rape and incest, try the Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop.

They are old, but also try the magic goes away and the Coldfire Trilogy.

>>7629896
I read it last year, and the ending made me "feel", and actual feel mind you. I usually get entertainment from books, but an actual emotional response is usually non-existent.

>>7629876
It was supposed to be ironic because it matched your programmed statement perfectly.

What's some red pilled and or /pol/ approved anti sjw fantasy?
I'm just acting like a tool for the fun of it, my real question if there's some decent fantasy with little girls/young teen girl killing machines or a female lead who's practically like a demon?

Also is it worth continuing with Malazan after the first book?
Or rather, do the amount of characters start to feel manageable post the first book, it's quite a drag that if I haven't read for some months that I need to look up all the names again
Maybe I should just read more often

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>>7630077
>What's some red pilled and or /pol/ approved anti sjw fantasy?
Book of the Long Sun explores why feminism, democracy and one party government suck and why a theocracy is good.
>I'm just acting like a tool for the fun of it, my real question if there's some decent fantasy with little girls/young teen girl killing machines or a female lead who's practically like a demon?
No.
>Also is it worth continuing with Malazan after the first book?
If it already didn't make you vomit.
>Maybe I should just read more often
Probably


Also posting pic use it for new thread, it's pretty awesome.

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>perform my regular quarterly check to see if there's any news on the sequel to The Rook after years of radio silence
>it's coming out in June
>and they're making a TV show

Well, when it rains, it pours, right?

>>7627972
I didn't like Foundation either. Interesting that you liked his other stuff, I wasn't going to bother since I disliked Foundation but I might check out I, Robot now.

>>7630085
Who would you say is the most red pilled author in fantasy? I wanna read something that's either devoid of bullshit social commentary or sharply against the current narratives.

How many people here have out of print books in physical form?
I have some Elric books and now I'm tempted to get Vance's Lyonesse omnibus

>>7630156
>>7630077
Tolkien, Robert Jordan, C.S. Lewis, Orson Scott Card, T. S. Eliot, Mervyn Peake, Mervyn Peake, etc.

Cultural Marxism hasn't always dominated fantasy, you don't have to go that far to find conservative authors.

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>>7629890
He's gonna have to learn how by the time future Mistborn comes around but he has ~25-30 years so he sure as hell better be on top of his sci-fi shit by then.

>>7630054
To add to this anon, read Codex Alera only if you like Gary Stu protags.

>>7629890
>Sanderson can't into scifi
I wonder what his space opera will be like then

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>>7630085

>>7619682
>>7620973
>implying that the police are still walking the beat
>implying that rape is the only crime there is
Feminists, please go!

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>>7620864
>Sounds familiar.
Very familiar.

I'm looking for a fantasy recommendation. I haven't read fantasy in a long time and I'm craving it hard. I'm looking for a high fantasy book with everything: men, elves , dwarfs, wizards etc., shadow words, magic, the whole shebang. If it's possible I'd also like it to include some politics. Any ideas?

>>7630614
Weis and Hickman, Death Gate Cycle.

>>7626801
it's nothing like DBZ, more like a huge over the top D&D campaign

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>>7630614
Seconding >>7630624

DGC is fantastic.

>>7623549
Ubik was the first PKD novel I read. I really enjoy the way he writes - I'm currently reading Do Androids Dream and I can see why it was generally more popular than Ubik at least.

>>7631574
>Do Androids Dream
Couldn't get into that personally, felt too much like a bladerunner copy.

>>7629847
Is his Lightbringer series actually good? I read the earlier one, and while the first book was mildly interesting, it got fucking awful by the second and third book.

>>7631228
It's actually based on GURPS, which is why the system makes no sense to anyone but Erickson.

>>7630624
>>7631246
Thanks, will check it out

>>7631678
>They'll never write a novel where the characters follow 3.5 rules to the letter

>Come to the thread to see if anyone is talking about the new Mistborn book
>Hey guys let's talk about racism in polish fantasy
Oh dear

>>7631697
So it looks like Threnody is almost cosmere aware (nazh aside); Elantrians had a fabrial (yellow gemstone = heliodor, for detection) destruction of the Pits interrupted interworld merchants.

The land/water inversion in shadesmar seems to be due to how people view death and water or something?

Also khriss, finally.

>>7631631
Just saying, but that might have something to do with Blade Runner being an adaptation of it.

>>7631724
Didn't keep Minority Report from being a crappy edgy version of Minority Report.

>>7631697
Is Harmony Sanderson's self insert?

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>>7630202
It seems to just be a thing with fantasy authors trying to write scifi in general. >>7630054 reminds me of the whole way that the soft scifi is handled in Coldfire. Most of it is pretty interesting with the incorporation of literal Lamarckism as opposed to Darwinism with the Rakh but once Friedman tries to incorporate scifi and fantasy together it ends up with handwaving especially Madoka tier glossing over the concepts like how coldsleep and rituals are actually supposed to work and a whole bunch of plotholes for example we are supposed to believe that Gerry's powers are supposed to be anti healing but a fuckton of 'healing', especially in medicine, consist entirely of killing whatever is bothering the person especially in non communicable diseases like cancer, infection etc. in fact, killing is how the immune system just werks.

The way that Sanderson handles the magic gives his writing strength, but hopefully he won't get worked up over how fantasy and scifi gel together and make the split awkward like in PS. I cringed over the 'you can get a fantasy domain or a scifi domain' concept.

>>7632073
You know what's interesting? how very few fantasy authors study actual history, religion etc. If they did they'd realize what they describe as a "Complex, well thought-out deep magic systems" is way way way less complicated than real-world practices.

>>7632084
Exactly.

>>7631998
Yes, it is well known that Sanderson has no balls

>>7632139
I mean, he is Mormon

>>7632084
This.

This is exactly why I want to write a fantasy series without any magic. Also why I prefer not to include any magic in the pen & paper RPGs that I play.

>>7631998

Sanderson would never self-insert as his God expy.

I must say, having God literally speaking to the main character in the more recent Mistborn books has been a bit off-putting. I had hoped for more of the down-to-earth grit of Alloy of Law instead.

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Anyone ever read any Greg Egan? I started reading this tonight and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Sure, the writing isn't the greatest ever put to page, but the concepts he's playing with are interesting and presented well.

>>7631697
check
>>7629108

>>7632207
It seems like he's moving more in the opposite direction of Alloy of Law with each book, especially with this whole Threll thing

>>7629457
check out zelanzys' chronicle of amber series
same for you>>7630614
also l.e. modesitt jr

>>7617349
thaat'd be shakespear. his high fantasy is all about kings and queens being guided by celestial fate. many rape jokes and rapes and sodomy abound.
>wouldnt it be funny if we covered that guys virgin sister in shit then raped her?

>>7617349
Vurt by Jeff Noon is modern fantasy with the hero trying to find his lost sister/lover. There's a flashback scene where they're fucking.

Hild by Nicola Griffith ends with the main character marrying her half brother and getting the D.

both novels are fantastic for other reasons than the incest.

Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant has some incest. Quality level: Piers Anthony

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>>7631710
Are you talking about the Secret History novella? Time to leave the gen until I finally read this fuckin' book.

>>7632073
>finally finish Black Sun Rising today
Nigga I ain't reading all those spoilers.

>>7632249
>Trell
More like maybe Autonomy. Actually I don't know what the fuck Trell is aside from it being related to another Shardworld but I forget the exact specifics.

First time posting on this board. I really enjoy fantasy settings but I don't have too much under my belt. A few questions I guess.

How does this board feel about Sanderson? Has anyone read the black company? Anyone read Garth Nix?

>>7632656
>How does this board feel about Sanderson?
Read the thread
>Has anyone read the black company?
Read the thread
>Anyone read Garth Nix?
Yes

>>7632656
Read the thread, then read the old thread.

>>7618869
I'm considering Farseer after I read the Wheel of Time series. Although I might need a bit of a break from fantasy after that.

General question, what do you guys read when you need a break from fantasy/sci fi

>>7632494
>Nigga I ain't reading all those spoilers.
Well I just realised that the third Mistborn was out.
And then I realised after reading it that there's a fourth book in the sequence and another mini one too. Fuuck! At least I didn't get spoiled.

>>7632656
>Garth Nix
Yes.

>>7632684
Historical fiction.

>>7632684
I read sf and fantasy as a break from philosophy and Russian literature.

>>7633250
New thread

>>7620622
>Everyone seems to have a deep grasp of war, philosophy, and magic regardless of age, education, or profession.
>Fiddler, Grub, Udinaas, etc.
>grub

He's not even human, he was born from the souls of a warring people, and he grew up in an army close to the command structure. Of course he would know what to do.