/sffg/ - Science Fiction and Fantasy General

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anime

Did the fantasy genre reach its peak with the Book of the New Sun?

How is anyone going to best it?

>Hyperion and Dying Earth that low
>Starfish instead of Blindsight
Shit list OP

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Count Counsel General Janus bet Vhalnich Mieran is my autismbando!!

Can someone please tell me some fantasy without strong womyn? I'm so fucking tired of how every princess character is written

>>9730795
>Can someone please tell me some fantasy without strong womyn?
The Book of the New Sun

>>9730832
Already read it

>>9730851
Read it again bitchboi

>>9730795

This

>>9730832
>>9730851

I haven't so I'll give it a go

>>9730795
>Sanderson's "witty" females
Never reading one his books ever again

>>9730964
It's dangerous to go alone. Take this.

https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm

Best of luck

>>9730583
Kys for making that book into a meme. Soon people will not read it. I hope ABSOLUTE SEMPAI fucks your shit up.

>>9730795
Age of Myth

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>>9731065
The more meme a novel is perceived to be, the more people will read it.

Source: Infinite Meme by DFW

>>9731095
I read about fifty pages of that last year and couldn't stand it. Gravity's Memebow, on the other hand, was alright.

>>9730979
>Shallan acting like a cunt to the highlords in WoR
DROPPED

>>9731143
someone post some of her autismal dialogue

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>>9730551
hey, it's my boy Stelarc. This dude is pretty nuts, one of the more intriguing performance/body artists around.

This is his 'Ear on Arm' project. It's made with real skin and cartilage, sculpted through plastic surgery. He has a microphone implanted in it, so he can listen to what his 3rd ear hears with headphones, or stream his 3rd ear to the internet.

Anyway, not a huge scifi guy, don't mean to shit up your thread.

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>>9730551
Anyone have some good rec's for dark/horror/grimdark fantasy? I haven't read too much outside of Robert E. Howard.

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>>9731095
>he fell for the book that never ends

>>9731527
How did the arm in the OP work then? I thought it was a prop.

Has anything been done in sci-fi or fantasy about humanity living in complex places underground structures while they fear and plot how to overthrow the giants who live above?

>>9731600
I want to say it's hooked up to switches he can push with his toes.
He made a huge spider walker thing that was controlled with his toes so the arm might be similar

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>>9731600
It's not hooked to his toes like another poster suggested. It's wired to diodes on his leg that sense the electrical nerve signals of his muscle movements. By flexing his leg, he controls the third arm.

Ping Body/Involuntary Body works the opposite way. Users on the internet send signals which are converted into electrical shocks, causing his muscles to spasm and 'dance'.

>>9731662
Broken Earth trilogy
Metro 2033

>>9730795
Ender's Game.

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>9730524

I will be the devil's lawyer here. There have always been prolific authors and slower writers. Philip K Dick banged them out, but Walter Tevis couldn't. Consider also that 40-70s novels were often smaller. A lot of novels from this era are barely two hundred pages.

>>9731836
>>9730524

>>9731836
>A lot of novels from this era are barely two hundred pages.
That's a good thing

Rowling is my favorite author! She's the best!

>>9732120
What did she write?

>>9731836
That's because bloated SF&F wasn't normalized in that period as it was now. Instead you had authors who produced lean works and cut their teeth banging out story after story in the pulps so they could eat. Now these jokers can get huge advances and twiddle their thumbs forever.

>>97319816

Yes, my saying 'barely' two hundred pages makes it sounds like a criticism. I've no problem with shorter novels. The two hundred page novel is good because a good example can be begun on Friday evening and finished by Monday. If I knew more novellas I would also read more of them.

Perhaps my point that prolific authors wrote shorter novels is also countered by noting the short story market. People like Vance and Dick wrote a lot of short stories as well as novels.

How'd they do it? It appears to be a matter of dogged determination, economic necessity, and single-mindedness.

Look at Robert Silverberg's level of productivity from the 50s-70s. All those SF+F novels, as well as short stories, and a line of non-fiction books. He didn't have to pop pills like PKD either.

But there is publishers to consider. Would a modern publisher even permit an author to release two novels a year? They would prefer to milk sales of individual books for much longer.

Finally bought a copy of Nemesis yesterday, is it as good as I've heard?

>>9730583
With 'The Wizard Knight' and 'Soldier of the Mist' arguably.

>>9731065
If it weren't for the meme it wouldn't get a fraction of the exposure it does.

Anyone else reading Tad Williams' new book? It's a sequel to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I'm liking to so far, you can tell how much he's improved since he wrote that series decades ago. Main issue I had going into MS&T was the unbearably slow pacing. All Williams' novels have a slow windup but he just spent so much time on basically nothing in MS&T. He's learned to accelerate faster and trim out the fat over the years and it shows in Witchwood Crown so far.

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I heard there are ARCS. WHO HAS ONE?????

so /sffg/ how integrated are you into the rest of /lit/? what would you say the ratio of classics to SF/F books you read? have you read the meme trilogy?

I am asking these questions because I know you guys actually read things, which the rest of the board doesn't convince me.

>>9732146
A story about someone important dying, and there being a vacancy in office. Middle age mom has mid-life crisis and corners young nubile virgin and feasts on his virility and innocence.
There is also poos in loos, chubbers and slag passing around the cunny.

>>9732438
50:50
The meme trilogy is GR, IJ and Ulyseses right?
In that case I've read it

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>>9732191
I've always been impressed that PKD, when he couldn't get or afford actual drugs, worked out a way of getting high from megadoses of Vitamin C

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>>9732317
>If it weren't for the meme it wouldn't get a fraction of the exposure it does.
I had it in my chart years ago, and it was in the OP years ago too. I recommended it when called for. All you fags are doing is reducing a modern classic to a meme. Especially when someone ask for something specific, e.g sword and sorcery and you lot recommend BoTNS because Severian carries around terminus and has a glowing blue claw, or they ask for books with giant killing and you rec BoTNS because of Ms River so Green, or they ask for GRI and you rec BoTNS because of "muh granny" and "muh forced boat excursion".

>>9732478
Who cares you autist

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>>9732438
Are you new to lit, or new to sffg?

>>9732478
>Modern Fantasy
>Grimm's Fairy Tales
??

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>>9732482
>he doesn't know where he is
Every. Single. Anon. In. This. General. Is. An. Autist.

>>9732438
I'm trying to read more classics and nonfiction now, used to be 70% SFF to 30% anything else but this year I'm more or less evenly balanced, getting into some history, biography, and politics. Haven't read anything from the meme trilogy, but I did pick up Pynchon's "Bleeding Edge" and enjoyed it (partly because it's got elements of cyberpunk going on). I also really like William Blake. Don't post on regular /lit/ as much as /sffg/, but occasionally pop into a thread if it's about an author or book that seems interesting.

>>9732485
Everyone reading fantasy should read that book. It should be fantasy's version of "start with the Greeks". Too many things are drawn from those stories.

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Recently started listening to the first Legend of the Galactic Heroes Book. You know what's even less interesting than ham-fisted lore? Heavy tactics right at the beginning, especially when you don't care about the characters yet. The world interested me, but I just stopped caring and got my money back halfway through.

Red Rising is better

>>9732500
Well, sure, but nobody would put the Greeks on a "modern literature" chart. Unless you mean the chart itself is modern, not necessarily the books on it?

(Really starting with the Greeks could apply to fantasy too, loads of Wolfe stuff is directly linked to them. Plus the Norse.)

Also I've just noticed it's "fantasy" but there's Ringworld and Rendevous with Rama.

>>9731548
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.One of my absolute favorites

Listen to the audiobook

>>9732438
I pretty much just infest this thread. Read classics sometimes, but have no interest in the /lit/ meme trilogy. I'd rather revel in garbage no one has heard of :3

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>>9732506
Brother. Are you awaiting the new book?

>>9732529
Not him but I don't want to wait until November. I want it NOW Brown you hack.

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I've been depressed recently, and I've realized most of the things I like reading are highly cynical and realistic. I like that sort of thing, but I could use an upper.

Can someone recommend something that is Grimdark, but has themes of unlikely hope?

Rules:
>not boring
>characters are more important than the world
>can be sci-fi or fantasy
>dynamic plot

>>9732529
Hell yeah I am. Pierce Brown, alongside Joe Abercrombie, are both my top inspirations
>tfw this is the most conversation I've had about the book I'm so passionate about

>>9732537
I want him to take his time. I think he pushed the release date back several times, and it's in January now. I don't care if it's a year from now as long as it's good.

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>>9732511
When sffg started about 2+ years ago people kept crying for more charts. So after months of others whining I made this >>9732478 (my second attempt because the first one was too lazy). Of course it and it's predecessor were met with immediate ridicule as is expected of this general.

Many months later I made pic related. It is supposed to be books that can be enjoyed by a modern audience. I've read a lot of books and many of them didn't age well, so I slapped together this chart of books that might appeal to everyone (a little bit of everything).
If you want I can post the 4th version I made, that is much closer to what I originally wanted(still too lazy to complete to satisfaction. Ask anyone that made a chart from scratch, it takes hours).

>>9732549
>tfw this is the most conversation I've had about the book I'm so passionate about
Should have been here months ago when Inwas shilling it like a mudda (after it was shilled to me)

>>9732558
That's the trouble, reading is a solitary activity. I'm trying to start a local fantasy bookclub

>>9732562
Goodluck. You'll have to find people of like minded tastes. Because some may not want to read the shit book of the week/month.

>>9732438
Most of /lit/ doesn't actually talk about books so I don't really have anything to do on this board besides talk about sci-fi and fantasy. Seriously I just refreshed page 1 and this is what I got:
>atheism/depression thread
>zizec meme thread
>mormon thread
>some thread about art vs science or whatever
>writing feedback thread
>e-celeb drama thread
>stupid crossboard thread about how music is better than literature as an artform
>James Joyce thread by a guy who hasn't even read JJ
>/pol/ thread
>"STEM meme" thread
>twitter drama thread
>post picture recommend book thread
>actual book discussion with only 10 posts over the last 7 hours
>another Joyce pseud thread

This board is fucking terrible for talking about books.

>>9732478
If anybody's doing Wolfe a disservice it's you by making these charts. I haven't read most of these books because when i was 13 I decided that no book with a stock photo tier cover is worth reading, if it weren't for the meme I'd lump in Wolfe's masterpieces with the works of Brent Weeks and Jim Butcher. I've never actually read either of those authors but if either have ever produced anything 1/10 as interesting as The Fifth Head of Cerberus I'll eat my hat.

>>9732538
Book of the New Sun

Give me more loli books /sffg/.

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How is it? Think I might pick it up.

Already three chapters into TUC, and we have already reached maximum depravity.

Wew.

>>9732605
I go into outer lit to see all the redshit invaders who think they can post outside our hallowed halls and succeed, ultimately fail. They learn that this is there home, and they should get back in here.

>>9732757
Don't. It's reddit & youtube cats the series. If you're a catfap who unironically says that your cat is your master and you the servant, then go ahead.
Just a heads up. Butcher dropped Dresden Files to write this trash, and now he can't even release book two of reddit cats.

>>9730583
This brings up a question that's been bugging me: why do people hate Urth of the New Sun?

I thought it was a powerful denouement to the original quad. Man, I was shedding them bitch tears by the time Severian returned to Urth and brought everything full circle. Especially the segment where he's walking on the ocean floor.

>tfw no big tittied mermaid bitches

>>9732720
Just kys you memeing cuck.

>>9732803
You into fish fucking?
What about female minotaur? Yo into cow fucking?
Female centaurs? You into mare fucking?

>>9732807
Go read another 5000 page series where every cover is some guy wearing black hood.

>>9732810
Look dude. I'm going to lay it straight. The longer I go on with my miserable existence, the lower my standards drop.

I would literally fuck a curvaceous tree at this point, as long as it vaguely resembled a woman.

I'm at that point in my life where most women are obese or single mothers with a brood of niglet spawn. It's either get drunk (or drop acid) and go on a bizarre /tg/-inspired erotic journey or slay a shoggoth from Craigslist. I will not apologize for my actions.

>>9732799
You realize we have a guy who only reads books with catgirls on the cover

>>9732842
He told me that they weren't that kind of cats.

Fuck Dark Fantasy. Give me zany and weird fantasy Ala Morrowind.

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I know most people consider the Dragonlance novels shit, but I maintain the Legends trilogy (Time of the Twins, War of the Twins, Test of the Twins) is pretty solid. It's got a crippled, half-mad dark wizard who goes back in time so he can outmaneuver the ghost that shares his body, seduce and corrupt a priestess of Good, and ultimately try to become a god. Plus his brother gets in a bunch of gladiator fights.

I SAID GIMME LOLIS

>>9732720
>I haven't read most of these books because when i was 13 I decided that no book with a stock photo tier cover is worth reading
The fact you are proud of this shows what a mental midget you are.

>>9732842
>books with catgirls on the cover
Wait, what books are those?

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>>9732935

>>9732550
>Prince of Thorns
There it is again! has anyone but me actually READ that book? Or does it just migrate from rec chart to rec chart, each generation trusting the previous blindly? It's so fucking bad man. It's so bad I thought it was a joke, a satire about dark and edgy fantasy protagonists, until I read further and realized it was dead fucking serious. I'm actually supposed to root for these deviantart OC motherfuckers; I'm actually supposed to be interested in this goddamn "get it it's the post apocalypse, nukes are magic lol" setting.
Is there some sort of magical turning point at the end of the series? Does the author reach enlightenment halfway through and transcend the mortal realm? Why the fuck do people keep recommending this?

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>>9732946
>not posting the one with 70s porn-stache man lurking in the background

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>>9732946
I think it was the Baen books one

>>9732957
>rap album cover with a random white guy in the background

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Ya'll missed one.

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Gonna buy some books. Is this a good choice?

>>9732999
I only recognize Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which I really liked.

>>9732933
Name one good book where the cover is a guy in a black hood photoshopped in front of a forest or something.

>>9732999
cheeki breeki iv damke

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>>9733007
1. Reamde
2. Sanderson the way of kangz
3./4. Vinge Hugo award dilogy
5. Lynch Lamora
6. Echopraxia
7. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey book 1
9. Stanislaw Lem Solaris etc.
10. Ulysses
11. Alexander White "Petersburg" - Ulysses part 2

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>>9733026
> Alexander White
Andrew White

>>9731585

lmao that is a dank frogchop my friend

>>9732500

Every /pol/ack should read "The Jew in the Thornbush"

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>>9732947
>go to amazon for "click to look inside", looking for memeable quote
>"Normardy"
>sweet merciful jesus, ok you can get through this
>"I leaned back against the gallowspost and nodded to the birds."
>errrggghhhh
>"The corpses posed as corpses do."
>NNNGGGGGGGG
>"Strange, it's killing that gives me a thirst."
>"Bovid Tor"
>"'Shit-poor farm maggots.' Rike discarded a handful of fingers over Bovid's open belly."
>"I gave him my warning look. His cursing stole the magic from the scene;"
>"Makin' always told jokes. He'd tell them to those as he killed, if they gave him time."

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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I've been re-reading the Xanth series lately. People say these books are misogynistic, but I only feel like the first two books (from the perspective of Bink) could be interpreted that way. Sure there's a lot of cheesecake, but in the next few books the love interests (Millie, Irene, and Tandy) are all great, relateable characters with plenty of agency. In Night Mare, even Queen Iris, formerly a sorceress villain, has her humanizing moments.

What's the deal? Do people just read "A Spell for Chameleon" and then write off the entire series as woman-hating trash?

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>>9733079
>narrator is 13

>>9732946
Ooh, a Danmachi prequel.

>>9732438

I occasionally post in other threads but this is by far where I spend the most time on /lit/.

I'm about 40:40:20 on SFF/~Literature~/Nonfiction.

>>9732506
Just watch the anime.

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>>9732538
Awake in the Night Land.

>>9732999
>buying books

Where do you guys get most of your books?

>>9732803
People don't like UotNS because it has a much less elevated tone, something done intentionally to demystify some of what's going on. The first third or so when Severian is still on the ship in particular reads like a pretty generic Adventure in Space. I don't hate it but it absolutely is not on the same level as BotNS.

>>9732506
This post makes me sad on so many levels.

>>9732855
Lyonese

>>9733225
He's absolutely right though.

>>9733255
This post makes me sad on additional levels.

Seriously, who the fuck doesn't like tactics?

>>9733007
Don't trust this person, it's a shit book written by a womameme

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...wow

>>9732803
Like the other anon said the transition from Citadel of the Autarch, which is Wolfe at his best and BotNS at its most unique to Urth's opening on the spaceship is very jarring. The story as a whole is thematically on point but the telling doesn't feel as 110% Wolfe. The Corridors of Time, Severian's becoming Apu Panchau and the part where he sees the real events of Eschatology and Genesis were so fantastically done that I could never hate Urth of the New Sun, but the change in tone is disappointing at first.

I'm currently reading Book of the Long Sun and while it doesn't appear to be as intricate as New Sun I'm enjoying it quite a bit. All of this business with false revelations is very interesting. And that picture of Wolfe sledgehammering a crucifix through a copy of the book couldn't be more accurate. Anybody interested in reading this should have a look at the Catechism beforehand, this is probably the most Catholic thing I've ever seen.

>>9732438
About 50:50

>>9733430
What do people see in the book of new sun?
I don't get it. I've read it and it's just kinda mediocre.
It's definitely different from most books, but that doesn't mean it's good. It's like someone took a bunch of setting notes and short story ideas and cobbled them together into a seriew of books. Kinda interesting, but overall 6-7/10.
Am I not getting it? Is it really just a meme?

>people hate LOGH and like that retarded Pierce Brown Hunger Games series
As an /m/fag this actually makes me feel a little ashamed.

>>9733454
>It's definitely different from most books, but that doesn't mean it's good. It's like someone took a bunch of setting notes and short story ideas and cobbled them together into a seriew of books. Kinda interesting, but overall 6-7/10.
Looks like we can stop worrying /lit/. Harold Bloom's successor posts among us.

But really this is such a stupid non-critique that I don't know where to begin. It's popular and well received because taken on the nose it's a fantastically written adventure story while also being extremely rich in thematic depth and allusion.

>>9733470
Eh, I think everyone just has really low standards.
There's no taste, just bland foggy slime.

>>9733459
Thank you for posting this, I feel slightly less depressed.

I'm actually surprised because I've seen nothing but hate for Red Rising in this thread until today.

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What are the comfiest science fiction books out there?

>>9733513
I think the thread rotates on an almost daily basis which is why you'll see Wolfefags and later Wolfehaters, cosmerefags and cosmere haters and so on. I think that the only three sets of books /sffg/ actually mostly agrees on is that Roadside Picnic and Blindsight are great and that Rothfuss is shit.

>>9732425

It's a unique experience for me. I read the first books when I was 16 or 17 back in the 90s so I was in the same age range of some of the protags. Now they are in their 40s like me and it's basically one big nostalgia trip. I really like it so far. As for the pacing, people keep telling me how grating it was for them, but I always liked that with TWs books. You really get to know these characters.

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So I read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep and it was alright. But maybe a bit too straight forward considering some of the other stuff I've read from him recently. I could see how it would catch on with the uninitiated though. Not sure what to read from PKD next but I'll think about it while reading something else.

>>9733533
Rothfuss is actually p. good, my favorite author.

Why do people keep shilling Neil Gayman here? His books are shit, wolfe-tier shit even, which makes sense since wolfe is his idol or something

Post the most van-side-airbrush-worthy cover you can.

>>9733723
THANK YOU FAGIT

What are some books with lolis?

>>9730620
Starfish was excellent but needed to be a standalone independent novel
no sequel setup required

>>9730551
Are those charts widely accepted by /lit/ people, or do opinions vary?

>>9733383
name a better fucking pure science fiction (not science fantasy) from after 2000 and then we can chat shit out BS

>>9733778
idk generally they're pretty respected
its rare we get tangible criticism and remember they're not so much a required reading list as a starting point from which you engage with the thread and actually find what you like by others recommendations and suggestions

a perfect list would eliminate the entire need for a thread because there would be no discourse

>>9733778
I personally think a lot of them are hot garbage, but they've been in the OP for as long as I can remember so I don't bother complaining too much.

>>9732816
Thanks. I will

>>9733787
Good point. I'm pretty new to both genres, so I assume those are good for me.

>>9732478
>>9732550

We need charts like this for the 60s - 90s.

There is a lot of fantasy books and authors from this period that dont get much mention like Karl Wagner or Hugh Cook.

>>9733790
This, just ask in this thread for specific recommendations. We're not one of those generals that refuses to answer questions just because there's something that possibly could answer your question in the OP.

>>9732842
The cats in the windglass are real cats that piss and shit in your stuff. Catfag anon likes anthropomorphic catgirls. With tits and super tight vags that you have to be a little rough to gain entry to.

>>9733533
This is a good theory since I'm certainly like that. I sometimes go weeks without visiting then come back and post regularly for a day or two then leave again, and the cycle continues. Probably has something to do with how a lot of us are often busy reading.

>>9733814
Damn, what about anthropomorphic catgirls that piss and shit in your stuff? I'd like to see that.

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>critacism of charts

you have nothing to bitch about until you see this convoluted mess I concocted three months ago

>>9733320
Non autistic peoples.

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>>9733430

>>9733854
This looks EXACTLY like the Fansub Cartel chart which is STILL posted regularly to this day despite being old and outdated as shit.

>>9733881
based

>>9733874
>peoples
>doesn't even understand proper English

Yeah, I can see why tactics might be too hard for you.

>>9733533
>Blindsight are great
You really want me to apply my brand of autism to anti-shilling this book if it's shit when I read it?

>>9730795
The Deed of Pakesnarrion.

>>9733894
Heh.

>>9733892
Don't care, we'll ignore you anyway.

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>>9733535
>I was right
>all these years I said the people that shill these old books were around when they were first published and do it because of nostalgia
>anon admits to it wholeheartedly

>>9733906
Fuck off kid, you're probably not even half his age and you think you can talk down to him. Why don't you just grow the fuck up. You're just a kid. So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid.

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>>9733745
>>9732932
>>9732735
You can try pic related for classics.
For sffg, Red Sister bu Lawrence, black jewels trilogy, the black magician trilogy
That should be enough.

>>9733932
Brilliant. You're a saint.
>there's even yuri
The world is beautiful.

Which PKD book is the one where they have some sort of box which they use to "merge" with some religious figurehead guy? I'm guessing it's Androids but not sure, can anyone confirm?

>>9733973
it is. Mercerism

Your thoughts on Greg Egan ?

>>9733973
Androids, yes. Although that particular part of the book was taken from his short story The Little Black Box.

>>9733973
Yes it's DADOES - Mercerism. It's the fake religion that encourages feelings of empathy and of belonging to the social organism, constructed for purposes of social cohesion in a post-nuclear world. Notice the android's dislike towards it, and PKD's favourable attitude to it.

Did the last thread die before the bump limit?

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>>9733802
Another anon made something like that a few months ago. I can't make those charts because I haven't read more than 100 pre-1990 books, and those that I read aren't varied as the modern ones, so I can't form a proper opinion. I only rec books that I myself have read. So any pre-90's chart I make that meets my approval (book I like and think others will) will be SUPER small.

>>9733919
Good meme hunting

>>9732538
Grossman's The Magicians Trilogy.

>>9733745
Jemisin's Fifth Season/Obelisk Gate. Including some weird shit where a guy depends on psychic contact with the lolis to stop himself from being mind-controlled by the malevolent spirit of the planet or something.

>>9733891
>ESL berating a native speaker
>doesn't know that native English speakers laugh at American English
>holds Americlap English as some standard

>>9733919
>kid
I'm actually 29. My good Sir, have a good day *tips*.

>>9732478
Quantum Thief is so fucking good

>>9734063
>completely greentext meme-filled still ESL post

Yeah, I can see why tactics might be too hard for you.

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>>9734081

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>>9733566
Thank you for the blog post anon.
We are all happier now that you've posted XD

>>9733566
I also got into the Dick through Androids.
Ubik is good, as in VALIS.
Man there's been a lot of dick discussion recently. Fuels my theory there's just like three dudes on this general.

>>9734120
It's probably the case that there's three people that's really into PKD. I feel like I'm talking with the same people over and over again when he comes up as a discussion.

>>9732910
wow, sounds cool.

>>9732474
i was under assumption that pkd would make cocktails of vitamin c by pouring a shit ton of it into his water. don't know how high these doses were.

>>9734120
do people here read We Can Build You before Androids?

>>9732538
Red Queen's War

>>9734099
>another meme

Yeah, I can see why tactics might be too hard for you.

>>9734013
Fantastic, both Schild's Ladder and Diaspora blew me the fuck away. At times it gets a bit tiring to read the stuff inspired by his personal struggle with religion, but he's definitely one of my fav sf writers.
I would also recommend Gregory Benford if you like Egan.

>>9733995
>>9734014
>>9734027
Cool, thanks. I just started reading Society of the Spectacle and it reminded me of that.

>>9734202
what would you recomend as his best book ?

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>>9734183
>(You)
This is your final one, use it wisely.

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Hello /sffg/, the last novel I read was Burroughs' Soft Machine. I really like sword and sorcery films, so I'm looking to get the closest thing to >pic related? Conquest was a really out there film. What would be an equivalent novel or author?

>>9734216
Diaspora and Schild's Ladder are as hard sci fi as it gets, those are his best IMO. Read Distress or Quarantine if you want something more thriller-ish. Teranesia is also pretty good, much smaller in scope and with more emphasis on character development.
There's also the Orthogonal trilogy which is based on a universe with different physics than ours, and features a bunch of aliens and no humans at all. I haven't finished it yet though.
But I would just start with Schild's Ladder if I were you.

>>9734252
Thanks

Should i bother with The Stormlight Archive?

>>9734252
> those are his best IMO.
Did you read Permutation City?

any modern fantasy books which arent edgy or pretensious?

>>9734296
Library at mount char
Shades of Grey

>>9734322
>Library at mount char

> "Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole..."

stopped right there

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>>9734353
>"Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole..."

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>>9733734

>>9734237
>running out of arguments so he scrambles for le (You) meme

Yeah, I can see why tactics might be too hard for you.

Also, if you don't respond to me, you admit that tactics are in fact too hard for you and confirm that I was right all along.

Can someone recommend a good starting point for G.G. Kay?

I'm thinking Tigana or LOAR but open to suggestions.

>>9733535
I only read MS&T about 7 or so years ago when i was in college, and it took me a while to get through them. My introduction to TW was actually Shadowmarch, which I adored. I still consider Shadowmarch to be his best work, but so far Witchwood Crown is really good, I'm about 100 pages in so far and already there's plots and intrigue with gods and immortals spiraling out of control. I love it.

Has anyone read Baxter's new War of the Worlds sequel? I've heard mixed reviews about it, but enjoyed his Time Ship one.

>>9734389
Wow, that is one gay horse.

>>9732146
A seminal (heh) work on being not rayssis and supporting homosexuality.

>>9732474
How can you get high from Vitamin C? Couldn't find anything.

>>9733778
The charts are basically the least offensive/controversial options because anything remotely butthurt-inducing is left off.

>>9734496
I have a vitamin C tablet every day and it deludes me into thinking taking ketamine every week isn't having a negative impact on my mind and body

So how's unholy consult?

>>9734496
>Regarding some information concerning the use of massive doses of
water-soluble vitamins that were suggested to improve the neural firing
and the communication between the two hemispheres of the brain, Phil
discovered an article in the April 1974 issue of Psychology Today that
told about a case where a doctor had treated a schizophrenic patient
with a combination of water-soluble vitamins. Phil copied down the
"recipe" and began his own treatment, experimenting further with dosage
and vitamin ratios. Phil states in his notes that, "both hemispheres [of
the brain] came together, for the first time in my life."
http://alt.fan.rawilson.narkive.com/4HLeqPRE/philip-k-dick-s-vitamin-recipe

>>9733510
>Eh, I think everyone just has really low standards.
Except you, of course, right?

>>9734520
So it only works for sufferers from schizophrenia?The only (side-)effect I could find was diarrhea.

>>9733533
>Blindsight is great
Blindsight is ultra-cringe, ultra-autist pure shit.

('Le cybertech space vampires in space'? Really?)

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>>9734448
Read any of his standalone books:
A Song for Arbonne
The Lions of al-Rassan
Tigana

Then if you want you can move on to some of his series:
The Fionavar Tapestry
The Sarantine Mosaic
Under Heaven/River of Stars

>>9733526
Stranger in a strange land desu

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>>9734532
>cringe
>autist
>le
Nice criticisms buddy.

>>9734013
>Your thoughts on Greg Egan ?
Egan is the most moronic and cringe-worthy example of shilling for gnosticism I've ever read, and that's including those pepe comics about 'le Demiurge' that get posted on 4chan.

>>9734549
Mate, you're a fan of a book about space vampires in space, you have no business talking about criticisms in any capacity whatsoever.

>>9733973
That's Mercerism in Do Androids Dream..
However, the premise for Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is very similar to this.

>>9734557
I bet you think I am Legend is shit too. Why are you even in /sffg/ if the concept of vampires in space triggers you so hard?

>>9734557
Not even that guy, but if you can't even articulate an opinion without spewing memes why should anyone care what you say? Would you care if a fat mental retard walked up to you and told you your favorite series is shit? You'd probably just find him obnoxious and not even consider his words for a second. You are that retard in this scenario, because you express yourself with the exact same level of eloquence.

>>9733214
AND
THIS
YOU
SHALL
PERCEIVE

>>9733214
>John C. Wright
Why would I read anything by a pompous, literal fedora-wearing idiot? Even if I agreed with his views, his horrendous writing style on his blog is reason enough to steer clear. Does he actually manage to write good prose?

So I've read Starship Troopers and am reading TMiaHM, where do I go with Heinlein after that?
I'm doing a Heinlein/Asimov/PKD cycle with non sci-fi inbetween for the foreseeable future.

I can't even read anything written by another author after reading nothing but Tales of The Dying Earth for the past month, its not that they don't have merit or anything I tried a lot but I couldn't even enjoy short stories from Clark Ashton Smith so I guess I'll read more of Vances full novels.
Second half of faders waft was hilarious and the ending was perfect, I didn't even mind the endless descriptions of portly characters with ringlets/curls

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>>9734621
>So I've read Starship Troopers and am reading TMiaHM, where do I go with Heinlein after that?
Red Planet and Citizen of the Galaxy if you want some good early Heinlein.

>>9734353
shoulda kept going dummy

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I'm looking for some good Weird West books. Anybody have any recommendations?

Does Ken Liu give this muh patriarchy shit a rest at any point?

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>>9734612
>Literally talking about a sequel to The Night Land
>good prose

How would you know? Wright's fine.

>>9732910
I really find the first and twin trilogy to be okay to good at parts (tough really the second was a lot weaker in my opinion), it's one of those books I used to get my sisters to like reading.

>>9734876
Night Land's prose wasn't the problem, it was the incredibly repetitive
>muh hunger
>muh feet
>muh spouts of gas
and to a lesser extent
>muh waifu
Cut that shit down to a quarter, and expand on their past lives and it'd be GOAT.

>>9734552
In what way does he shill for gnosticism?
>>9734274
Yea, it was cool but I just couldn't find myself agreeing with some of the premises (the thing about the virtual city continuing on its own after the computation had stopped, mainly). Some parts of it were great though.

>>9734901
I actually liked the grinding nature of it, it was part of the charm. What baffled me was how abruptly the story ended.

But what I meant was, of every person on Earth you might find who would actually be willing to attempt to emulate Hodgson's deliberately antiquated style, Wright is the only one I can think of who would actually enjoy it.

>>9734396
>LOGH
>tactics
wat

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>>9734732
Deadman's Road by Joe R Lansdale

>>9733814
Murr?

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>>9734732
Spellslinger desu

>>9735209

That looks fun, is it any good?

Seconding anyone who said the Dark Tower.

>>9735209

I guess not

"There are three things that earn you a man’s name among the Jan’Tep. The first is to demonstrate the strength to defend your family. The second is to prove you can perform the high magic that defines our people. The third is surviving your fourteenth year. I was a few weeks shy of my birthday when I learned that I wouldn’t be doing any of those things."

>>9734534
thanks anon

>>9735152
>>9735209
These look nice, thank you

>>9735271
weird. the amazon sample starts off with a guy (MC?) buried up to his neck in the desert, and there's a saloon scene and everything. Maybe the synopses got mixed up?

>>9734562
>Palmer Eldritch
>That British guy from jumanji is named Eldridge (pronounced "eldritch") Palmer in The Strain

Really bakes my biscuits

Book of the New Sun tbqh

Stranger in a Strange Land is the third Heinlein book you should read. If you don't like it, don't bother reading anything Heinlein wrote afterwards.

>>9734660 is right that Heinlein's "juveniles" (early books explicitly targeted to teenage boys) are worth reading either way, however. ST is considered a juvenile; if you find yourself thinking that ST was way better than SiaSL then you like his juveniles over his later novels.

>>9734901
Awake in the Night Land doesn't have anything about past lives, however if you want "The Night Land with better prose", it is exactly what you want to read.

>>9735766
>Stranger in a Strange Land

i own the uncut. is it the best version to read?

>>9734612
His published writing is (usually) better than what he posts on his blog. He actually has a pretty reliable ability to alter his tone -- I was struck by it when reading The Vindication of Man.

>>9735804
I'm not even sure you could easily find the original edition. But yes.

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>>9733430
I agree, there is definitely a change of tone, and I found the early part of Urth quite difficult to get through. I found myself wanting to go back and sink into Shadow of the Torturer again instead.

>>9733454
>What do people see in the book of new sun?
Some of the best prose I've ever read, and seriously there are scenes in BotNS that are so vivid in my mind when I think back to them. And obviously a story with so many layers I discover new things on every re-read.

But I did find it's a book that grows on you. I remember finding my initial read quite difficult (although I was only a teenager) - but I was captivated all the same

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I finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's A Fall Of Moondust, a fairly straightforward moon rescue plot from 1961. Here, a moonquake buries a tourist vehicle under fifteen metres of dust, trapping 20+ crew and passengers. The novel narrates in third person the rescue attempts and surrounding media frenzy, as well as progressively revealing the different personalities on board the boat. A lot of the novel is devoted to the engineers overcoming various setbacks and obstacles in ingenious and practical ways. This is lightened by some understated humour, surprises, digressions and twists that arise from the different personalities on board the trapped boat. It's a solid 3/5 book, nothing groundbreaking or very literary, but a good mix of human interest, peril, and tech. I had more fun reading this than Rendezvous With Rama.

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>>9732438
50:50 is the desired ratio as I read sf/f in the evening and "normal", more "academic" things during the day, but I read and enjoy sf/f stuff more consistently because it's fun.

>>9734526
If food in an expensive restaurant tastes like shit, is your taste wrong? Or does the food just taste like shit?

>>9735766
original anon here;
I liked Starship Troopers, but I -love- TMiaHM. I understand that Heinlein's later writings become increasingly libertine and sexual, and I basically enjoy his libertarian theory so even if SiaSL isn't my cup of tea I'm willing to tackle it.

>>9735841
>I remember finding my initial read quite difficult
>difficult
There's that word again. I don't understand what people mean by that. BotNS is like a thin broth, sure it tatste fine, but where's the meat? Why should I care about any of this stuff? It's like a fever dream, no attachment, no sense, just stuff happening. It's deliberately written to confuse, but all it does is annoy me.

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Will this ever be surpassed?

>>9734270
No.

>>9736277
I think the appeal of Wolfe is his intrigue. I didn't grasp a lot of BOTNS, but I would still think about scenes in the book, long after reading. So much of SF+F ends at the last page, but Wolfe's fiction niggles at you, and this is what makes you reread.

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Literally just getting back into reading fiction. What's some good CONTEMPORARY sci-fi? I've seen all the charts but most of those books are really old. I'm talking about books released in the last ten years.

Some I've bought recently:

Infomocracy
Leviathan Wakes
The Rise of Io

>>9736443
Careful, this thread hates this book for some reason. I don't know why, I'm reading it and it's pretty awesome so far. Dialogue's a bit hard to follow because everyone talks like Mordin Solus for some reason, and it feels like he jumps erratically from scene to scene at times, but other than that it's cool.

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>>9735145
Yeah, I can see why tactics might be too hard for you.

>>9736625
Have you heard of the lord and savior of science-fiction Blindsight?
Three-Body Problem is also good.

>>9736625
Embassytown, Southern Reach trilogy, Three-Body Problem, The Long Earth (just the first one, sequels were disappointing).

>>9736626
Neuromancer is just too 80's and confusing for some people.

>>9736653
Southern Reach trilogy isn't very good at all, though. It reads like someone's idea of what "deep and mysterious" fiction should be like, a bunch of mysteries that keep hinting at something... something... and never get any proper resolution. It's a shoddy ripoff of Roadside Picnic.

>>9736625
I suppose you could pick up SevenEves or The Memetian, but you're only hurting yourself in the long run.

>>9736625
Blindsight
The Quantum Thief
The Three Body Problem
Too Like The Lightning
The Fifth Season

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Anyone else here only read the first entry of a series then drop it despite immensely enjoying it?
I loved the style and protagonist of Logan's Run but can't bring myself to open Logan's World. I don't know if the deus ex machina of the ending just broke my suspension of belief or if I just can't fathom Logan's character arc proceeding in a different direction.
I'm probably going to do the same with The Blade Itself even though I'm only a third of the way through.

>>9736644
>>9736653
>>9736661
>>9736818
Thanks guys, I'll check these books out.

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>Sorweel gets [BLACKED]

What are some decent /sffg/ detective novels other than dresden? I'm getting sick of waiting for peace talks

>>9737304
I have never seen a science fiction or fantasy detective novel.

IT WAS NIGHT AGAIN. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.

The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking. If there had been a wind it would have sighed through the trees, set the inn’s sign creaking on its hooks, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing autumn leaves. If there had been a crowd, even a handful of men inside the inn, they would have filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a drinking house during the dark hours of night. If there had been music…but no, of course there was no music. In fact there were none of these things, and so the silence remained.

Inside the Waystone a pair of men huddled at one corner of the bar. They drank with quiet determination, avoiding serious discussions of troubling news. In doing this they added a small, sullen silence to the larger, hollow one. It made an alloy of sorts, a counterpoint.

The third silence was not an easy thing to notice. If you listened for an hour, you might begin to feel it in the wooden floor underfoot and in the rough, splintering barrels behind the bar. It was in the weight of the black stone hearth that held the heat of a long dead fire. It was in the slow back and forth of a white linen cloth rubbing along the grain of the bar. And it was in the hands of the man who stood there, polishing a stretch of mahogany that already gleamed in the lamplight.
The man had true-red hair, red as flame. His eyes were dark and distant, and he moved with the subtle certainty that comes from knowing many things.

The Waystone was his, just as the third silence was his. This was appropriate, as it was the greatest silence of the three, wrapping the others inside itself. It was deep and wide as autumn’s ending. It was heavy as a great river-smooth stone. It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die.

>>9736277
>BotNS is like a thin broth
/sffg/ - high brow literary discourse

>>9737403
You wanted to know what people see in this book. So let me try to deconstruct your critiques. I’ve read both books twice now, but I can assure you, all of these are things I knew the instant I read as far as you’d described. When I first read this book, it was a breath of fresh air; finally, someone capable of making every word *count* for something. It was only later that I learned that he’s from my home state; it’s possible that the cultural connection is what made this book’s meaning seem far more obvious to me than it has been to you.

—

“It was night “again”? Do we really need to be told that it’s been night before? Is night particularly unusual in this setting?”

Or is night maybe particularly demonstrative of something in this context?

He used the word “again” because he is emphasizing the cyclicality of night. And the rest of the passage makes it abundantly clear that Kvothe is frozen over the passing of time.

(As I’m sure you know by now, the Kvothe/Kote interludes include near-constant reference to him seeming older than he is. The fact that we get this implied for us at the beginning is not a strike against, but for this book.)

—

“Note that Rothfuss has just taken 345 words to tell us that the Waystone Inn was unusually quiet, something that could have been conveyed in a single sentence.”

Well, none of that was actually about the inn, as I’ll explain below…

…but even still; your entire article could be summed up this way: “So far = Meh. (?)”

The reason you don’t do that is because you want to describe *why* you think this. You want to flesh it out, and give descriptions.

The reason Rothfuss says more than “the room was unusually quiet” is because that doesn’t actually tell us anything about the room. What would normally be going on? Why would it usually be quiet?

Why is silence particularly demonstrative in this context? And what is the silence demonstrating?

For those of us who don’t frequent medieval European taverns, or who are looking for something other than the abridged version of one, that kind of description is actually the *only* reason we would read any fantasy novel, ever. And he gives it to us. (As any writer would.)

>>9737528


“I invite anyone reading this to try and explain why Autumn’s ending is deep and wide or what the sound of one flower cutting itself is.”

Autumn is deep and wide because those are the things we folk from Wisconsin (folk like Rothfuss and I) associate with loneliness. Someone else here decided that claustrophobia is more lonely; that’s only because they don’t live somewhere with space to be lonely in. The end of Autmumn is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year; around that time, the lack of light exacerbates feelings of loneliness and depression; autumn is a fundamentally more lonely time of year, and therefore for us deeper and wider.

Specifically, wide refers to the wide empty spaces, the fields and forests. Depth refer to the bottom of an ocean, or the bottom of a well, or the bottom of the Great Lakes, or the bottom of any lake; it has connotations of darkness and coldness, in addition to loneliness, all of which augment the emotional impact of the passage.

Deep and wide is also a subtle, cynical inversion of the Christian message that God’s love is deep and wide. By juxtaposing this with the messages about silence, the phrase “deep and wide as autumn’s ending” points the reader to a more cynical world-angst.

An additional reason: by the end of autumn, there are no leaves left for the wind to blow through. The rustle of the trees has gone, leaving a silence in the world; that change in the aural structure of the world is a deep, wide change.

As to the tavern, Wisconsin is consistently ranked among the most extroverted state; and drinking culture is a huge part of where that happens. An empty bar, autumn’s ending, deep and wide… the entire passage is a description of depression. Sure enough, the sound of one flower cutting itself is a clear metaphor for what often results from depression; suicide or self-harm. It’s the author describing for us Kvothe’s emotional state.

Also, it’s not “the sound of one flower cutting itself”. It’s simply a “cut-flower sound”. A cut-flower sound is silence, just like all the others; and while it’s good that you got the reference to the self-harm that comes of a depression as deep as Kvothe’s, I don’t know why you would try to interpret that reflexivity into the very grammar. Putting layers of interpretation upon layers of interpretation only leads to the problem of successive-rounding. (By which, any number greater than 4/9 can be rounded to 1 if it is rounded an infinite number of times… if you don’t believe me, try it; I don’t know the proof.)

—

“wait, I thought it was supposed to be silent?”

Hint: the entire story is told in first-person, even when it’s not. When Rothfuss is talking about silence, he’s talking about how Kvothe *feels*. Subjective language is usually a signal of subjective intent, and subjectivity is about personal experience. The poetry is there in order to signal to the reader to how Kvothe is feeling about whatever is happening.

>>9737534


“The innkeeper, who is so clearly Kvothe I don’t know why Rothfuss is trying to pretend otherwise”

I know this was just a writeup of your reaction after only having read the prologues, but even I could tell Rothfuss wasn’t trying to pretend otherwise, and that it was just Kvothe not wanting to reveal his identity.

—

“Conlangs that all sound the same”

…because sprachbunds don’t exist; because languages in fiction can never be related to one another, ever, not even when they’re spoken by people of the same species; and because a linguistic version of the planet of hats trope is definitely a realistic portrayal of how languages work.

I mean, really, I can’t figure out what you’re complaining about. Let’s use Europe as an example:

English: I am going to the store.
Albanian: Unë jam duke shkuar në dyqan.
Basque: Dendan noa.
Finnish: Aion tallentaa.
French: Je vais au magasin.
German: Ich gehe zum Laden.
Irish: Tá mé ag dul go dtí an siopa.
Polish: Idę do sklepu.

Despite the fact that I went out of my way to pick European languages that are unrelated; despite the fact that strident nationalisms have been dividing Europe in constant war for centuries, no great difference exists in the ratio of consonants to nouns. German, Polish, and Albanian have a few extra consonant clusters; but even those languages were all heavily influenced by the Austrian Empire. Exactly two of these phrases begins with a consonant, and those two consonants are voiced/unvoiced versions of a the same stop consonant.

Compare this with:

Tajik: Man rafta , ʙa maƣoza doram .
Turkish: Ben mağazaya gidiyorum.
Uzbek: Men do’konga ketyapman.

Or:

Chichewa: Ine ndikupita ku sitolo.
Malagasy: Izaho mankany amin’ny mpivarotra.
Zulu: Ngizomenzela esitolo.

…all of which have similarities to one another that are even more apparent, and you can see why it seems to me that making your languages too distinct from each other is actually the unreasonable thing here.

dude fucking stop. your epin XD you baiting isn't going to catch anyone, nobody gives a shit.

>>9737536


“we’re told that war was declared and times are hard in a generic Ye Olde Fantasy kind of way.”

…because obviously, in the real world, far-off wars have a major impact on the daily routines of everyday Americans. In the real world, everyday Americans never stop listening for news of the Iraq and Afghan wars; they buy war bonds, and send lots of packages specifically addressed to the hometown heroes that they know by name.

(Though if you wanted to hear about people who are invested in a war, might I suggest the popular British TV series “Foyle’s War”?)

—

“Kvothe and his apprentice still have time for wacky shenanigans.”

This one made me laugh, and that’s why I’m addressing it last. The fact that you would call this a serious attempt at wacky shenanigans shows that you really didn’t understand the deep cynicism of the prior passage. Let me assure you: in a world where names have power, silence = death. The idea that this book actually goes from talking about death and depression to a happyhyperbutterflyesque mating-and-courtship display is too ridiculous to put into words. The fact was (and I did understand this the first time) that Bast was trying to draw Kvothe’s attention away from this inn, and its books, and the angst Kvothe colors it with.

For a better understanding of what it means to wear a mask with sincerity as Kvothe does throughout the interludes, listen to this take-down of the related phenomenon of “Minnesota nice”. Watch the guy in particular:

http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/19970419/97_0419WOBEGONICS.htm

(You can read too it if you want, though there are a few details they change in the transcript that make plain something that should’ve been left a bit more ambiguous…)

>>9737528
>>9737534
>>9737536
>>9737540
Every good post deserves a (You).

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>>9737540
>>9737536
>>9737534
>>9737528
>>9737403

>>9736653
>sequels were disappointing
The Long Utopia was really good too, captured that sense of mystery and urgency that War, Mars and Cosmos are sorely missing. First one is still the best though, an extremely comfy read.

>>9736846
So far I did so with Acts of Caine. The ending of Heroes Die was so satisfying that I don't really wanna see the shit hit the fan for Hari again.

>>9737304
Skullduggery Pleasant

>>9737304
The Caves of Steel

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>>9730551
>mfw these two songs tell far more compelling stories in a far better way in just a few minutes of rhythmic talking over a guitar than most scifi books can tell in 300-400 pages of schlock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud6LiVJkwyA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w34fSnJNP-4

>>9737861
This rules

Reminds me of old story ballads like Big Iron
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZfItlZG97Q

>>9737612
I didn't realise I shared this thread with absolute top-tier 200IQ maniacs

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>>9737304
You could try Made to Kill (Ray Electromatic Mysteries, #1) by Adam Christopher, but I've only read an excerpt, the premise seems interesting enough.

The Watch books from Pratchett's Discworld have crime solving in them, usually.

Hi /lit/, first time posting here, two years ago I read Robert E. Howard and I was wondering if there was another writter with a similar writing style ?

KELLHUS WE'RE IN MINECRAFT

>>9737977
epub when

O MY RENEWING UBIK

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>>9730551
I found this excellent piece of Posthuman speculative fiction right here on the chan, pic related.

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ubik

>>9738039
Truly an insightful commentary on the state of mankind.

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>>9738039
Weak, only funny part was adding 'GTA5' on the end of the LGBT chain.

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>>9738050
Elicited a good chuckle from me, mate.
>>9738039
Literally shit.

Rise and Fall of DODO is TRASH.

TRASH.

>>9738171
Please elaborate, Anon.

>>9738188
>first person so no digressions
>oppressed ultra-talented linguist historian woman
>recruited by cute government conspiracy boy
>agrees to translate ancient documents for him, all in plodding awkward prose
>they talk about magic, which means HER ENTIRE WORLDVIEW HAS TO CHANGE
>OMG IF ANCIENT DOCUMENTS TALK ABOUT MAGIC MATTER-OF-FACTLY IT MEANS MAGIC IS REAL
>at this point it's obvious Stephenson isn't involved and this is just Neal Stephenson's Nette Force
>dropped so hard the sound barrier is broken, my eardrums punctured by the shockwave
>now I'm deaf

>>9734535
Do you grok it now Mr Krabs.
It ain't gonna Grok itself

O MY PORTABLE NEGATIVE IONIZER, WITH A SELF-CONTAINED, HIGH-VOLTAGE, LOW-AMP UNIT POWERED BY A PEAK-GAIN HELIUM BATTERY OF 25KV. THE NEGATIVE IONS ARE GIVEN A COUNTER-CLOCKWISE SPIN BY A RADICALLY BIASED ACCELERATION CHAMBER, WHICH CREATES A CENTRIPETAL TENDENCY TO THEM SO THAT THEY COHERCE RATHER THAN DISSIPATE. A NEGATIVE ION FIELD DIMINISHED THE VELOCITY OF ANTI-PROTOPHASONS NORMALLY PRESENT IN THE ATMOSPHERE; AS SOON AS THEIR VELOCITY FALLS THEY CEASE TO BE ANTI-PROTOPHASONS AND, UNDER THE PRINCIPLE OF PARITY, NO LONGER CAN UNITE WITH PROTOPHASONS RADIATED FROM PERSONS FROZEN IN COLD-PAC; THAT IS, THOSE IN HALF-LIFE. THE END RESULT IS THAT THE PROPORTION OF PROTOPHASONS NOT CANCELED BY ANTI-PROTOPHASONS INCREASES, WHICH MEANS--FOR A SPECIFIC TIME, ANYHOW--AN INCREMENT IN THE NET PUT-FORTH FIELD OF PROTOPHASONIC ACTIVITY.

WITH BOTH THE PROPERTIES OF BOTH RENEWAL AND REGENERATION

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>>9734634
>Vancelet
Get out, and take your blog with you.

>>9736625
Red Rising
Library at mount char
Shades of Grey
Broken Earth trilogy
Also check chart here >>9732550

>>9730795
Look for feminists complaints, treat them as advertising. Something like this:

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/08/i-read-100-best-fantasy-and-sci-fi-novels-and-they-were-shockingly-offensive

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>>9738247

>>9738272
O MY EAGLE FRIEND

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I'm fucking pissed right now /sffg/
pic related

This is straight up false advertising.

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>>9738388

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>>9738350
I just did that because of the spongebob suck itself meme, didn't know some gentlemen took it a step further before I could.

>>9738398
No, you're fine, I made it in response to your post because I thought it was funny.

>>9738398
Should I read the uncut version?

>>9738008

Did you not notice the link some kind sole put up in the previous thread?

>>https://forum.mobilism.org/viewtopic.php?f=1293&t=2143244&hilit=the+unholy+consult

Can I get a recommendation? Recently read the thousand names, merkiaari wars, Prince of shadows. Space ships or wizards n shit. I wouldn't mind literature, but I waded through Pandora sequence and it just wasn't that interesting.

>>9738476
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:00e485753b0a7515fb76d90016fe8b6f6f84ba95&dn=read%20this%20you%20fags.7z&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.halfchub.club%3a6969%2fannounce&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.opentrackr.org%3a1337%2fannounce&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.vanitycore.co%3a6969%2fannounce&tr=udp%3a%2f%2ftracker.torrent.eu.org%3a451%2fannounce

>>9737969
If you like the more fantastical elements of Howard, especially Conan the Barbarian, you might enjoy HP Lovecraft.

I've just discovered the whole Sad/Rabbid Puppies campaign ongoing since 2013. Could somebody please link me to all their Hugo slates, are those available somewhere in easy-to-grab form, put together on one site or like?

>>9738039
>got confused by the language in Too Like the Lightning
Good to have you back, retard-anon

>>9738411
>reading the abridged version of any book
>ever
What do you think ?

>>9738492
>read%20this%20you%20fags.
>read this you fags
Classy

>>9738419
>sole
thanks anon

>>9732947
I made the mistake of buying it from Amazon. Between the boring edgelord protagonist (who's 13 years old and manages to lead a company of hardened men-at-arms), disjointed structure where chapters with events that happened seven or eight years ago are as common as events that happen in the "present", and rather trite post-apocalypse setting, I was disappointed.

Another less grievous mistake was getting the first First Law book. It wasn't awful like Prince of Thorns, but it was still kinda meh, with one of the blandest fantasy settings I've ever seen with far too many things directly imported from real history with no creative twists or changes. (Angland. Fucking Angland. JOE AMBERCROMBE IS FUCKING BRITISH!)

>>9738419
OH SHIT

Greg Egan's Permutation City was a very compelling read and gripped me hard. Really liked the blend of philosophical thought experiments about what the implications of making a human copy/clone would be, or the nature of human existence in general.

How's Diaspora? Worth reading?

>>9730979
Almost as bad as his "randumb XD" female character that uses her "awesomeness" powers.

>>9739130
T. Someone who's only read that quote and not the book.

The verbiage is supposed to be childish because it's from the viewpoint of a child. Sure Sanderson isn't exactly deep but the argument is paper thin.

>>9739148
Obviously I read the book. It was also the worst chapter in it. I dread the book where shes supposed to be a main character.

Its one thing for a child to not understand their powers and call them something dumb, its another to have their fucking spren yelling at them what the proper terms are only for them to ignore it.

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>>9739117
> How's Diaspora? Worth reading?
Yep.

>>9739178
is this a wind in the willows reboot?

What's that historical fiction series that gets into currency and science in autistic detail? It gets talked about here from time to time. Breaks off in one section where the protagonist explains why the country imports wood because of the way the currency works or something

>>9739374
Spice and Wolf

>>9739374
>What's that historical fiction series that gets into currency and science in autistic detail?
I'd say The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson, but it might also be >>9739379

>>9739178
>publishers try to cash in on success of guardians of the galaxy with an anthropomorphic raccoon holding things that normally only humans used

>>9739154
But the spren is a voidbringer, why should she listen to it?
Cheer up though old chap, if I understand correctly, she will be older in her books. Sanderson just showed her as a child to build flashback material, and a "then and now" narrative.

>>9739518
If she ages at the same rate it takes for him to stop pumping out YA fanfiction and work on the next book I guess she will be fully mature.

Can anyone recommend some nordic mythology/folklore fantasy?

>>9739780
The Witcher

>>9739780
Compleat Enchanter. The Broken Sword. American Gods.

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>>9739780
The works of Elizabeth Boyer are quite comfy.

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What the fuck happened? Why did the ending of this book suck so bad?

>>9730551
Should I get into the Wheel of Time series? Does it get much better past the 1st book? I've only read the 1st one.

I'm an aspiring writer and I know I have to read more fantasy books but most of what I've read sucks. The Sword of Shannara sucked, Lord of the Rings put me to sleep, Harry Potter was sort of ok but still pretty bad. The 3 ASOIAF books I've read have been great but far too long-winded and with too many unnecessary characters. The 1st half of The Eye of the World was extremely full of cliches and tropes that I hate but the latter half of it was interesting and original.

It's like, I want to read fantasy fiction because I have some idea of how good fantasy fiction ought to be written but everything fantasy I've read so far has been pretty mediocre to my tastes, though I understand they're very beloved books to a lot of people. So how should I learn to write it by reading it, if everything I read is subpar to me? Shouldn't I just go straight to writing? But either way, I want to read something great and I'm thinking maybe the WoT series is just what I need to really get me some experience with epic fantasy. Is it worth it?

new bread

>>9739913