/sffg/ - Science Fiction and Fantasy General

How are esslemonts malazan? I know like Erikson he isn't a trained writer so I'm not expecting much but how terrible out of 10 is his writing?

Good adult 1person fantasy? I'm a noob here.

Anyone here read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay? I would like some recommendations for other books where the characters are written as good as Brandin.

>>8884443
Read Lions of Al Rassan

>>8884439
By adult do you mean GRI?

>>8884443
I read tigana and enjoyed it for the magic. If you want books that give you the magic feel I can recommend some.

>>8884494
But there wasn't much magic in Tigana, right? You had the wizards of the peninsula and then you had 2 powerhouse sorcerers of whom Brandin was the most powerful. I remember the other sorcerer guy thinking "How can one man have such power?"

>>8884494
>GRI
what is it?

I dunno, something dark and without much romance.
The witcher is close to it.

>>8884534
The First Law

>>8884361
>No More Shill Edition

>Links NPR's top 100

l e l

>>8884542
Is there something from the first-person point of view?

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>>8884506
I am talking about the King's Fool showing his emotions etc. There was plenty magic in Tigana. Then again maybe I am remembering wrong or confusing it with another book. I read it in 2008

>>8884534
>>GRI
GRI is pic related.
>what is it
Not what. I have a bunch. Dark?
Night Angel Trilogy is pretty degenerate, so is Broken Empire Trilogy. A lot say they are edgy but whatever. Everything dark is "edgy" for these guys nowadays. Witcher is edgy for them. Bakker is edgy. Black Jewels Trilogy is edgy.
Pick your poison.

>>8884571
A wannabe author put his own shit book in someone's chart and replaced the link a few weeks ago. I think that is what the OP is talking about.

>>8884579
I want to write the first-person dark story.
I would read anything if it's good written.

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>>8884361
Hey /sffg/ how about some good holiday themed science fiction/fantasy recommendations?

>>8884454
Does this have some sex and romance/love sub-plot in it?

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>ywn tap prime dunyain ass

What are some decently written fantasy/science fiction books with anti-heroes as protagonists?

Does The Blade Itself count as such? At least I liked the inquisitor. But other than that, I really liked reading about Pavek in Chronicles of Athas.

I'm not sure about having a sphinx as a riddle in my fairy tale. On one hand I need someone to ask the riddle and a sphinx works best, but on the other, most famous mythical creatures have only one iconic fable

>Oedipus and the sphinx
>Perseus and the minotaur
>Oddyseus and the cyclops
>Hercules and the hydra
>Franketstein's monster
>Van Helsing and Dracula
>Pinnochio and all artificial humans
>The little mermaid
>Harry Potter and the basilisk

I would feel comfortable replacing the sphynx with a ghoul or barghest (both of which work for my story since them being canine helps the story), but they don't have the same tendency for riddles

Unrelated, but is there anything wrong with naming an artist who is connected to ghouls "Ross Pickman" after Ra's al-ghul and the-ghoul-who-was-Pickman?

>>8884818
>Ross Pickman
It'd be a pretty on-the-nose reference to Pickman, not many people would miss it. The question is, is the distraction the reference causes your reader outweighed by other factors like your reader feeling clever for picking up on it? I can't answer that in a vacuum.

>>8884678
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

>>8885084
I don't think it would be distracting. If I named the riddle-spouting ghoul I proposed Pickman it might be another story.

Honestly I really wish the one-myth-per-beast rule didn't exist. I really do wish I could have the sphinx (beast) that looks like a sphynx (hairless cat)

>reading Words of Radiance
>it's another Shannad flashback chapter AGAIN

I'M GOING TO FUCKING SCREAM

>>8885205
Shallan*
I can't even remember the cunt's name.
Just give Pattern away and go sleep with the fish.

Is there anything wrong about ending a story about a kid whose parents are killed in front of the, with the kid reuniting with their parents in an alternate universe where they were killed instead

>>8885221
depends, only if you take a boy with who suddenly found his crush's number on his phone...

>>8885234
FINDS

anyone got a link for the Babylon's Ashes audiobook

I know the general is for discussion only, but I couldn't find a request thread on lit

Guys, I have heard that Brandon Sanderson has the most interesting magic systems amongst current fantasy authors.

Help me get into Sanderson. Which of his work should I read first, then what next?

>>8885267
Start with the Stormlight Archive, it's certainly the most expansive and the best out of the bunch. "The Way of Kings" is the first book. ~1000 pages. Only two so far are out.

It'll be hard at first to get into it because you have to figure out a lot of stuff by yourself, but as the book goes on you'll figure it out.

>>8885267
Stormlight Archive.

Don't read anything else. If you like it, you will eventually read his other works.

>>8885277
>>8885285
Funny neither of you two didn't mention Mistborn. YouTube reviewers keep pushing how it's Sanderson's magnum opus. Even Sanderson himself named his Reddit profile /u/Mistborn

Last call, should I replace my riddling sphinx with a riddling lovecraft ghoul, or is there a better, more unique option that's canine or feline in appearance?

>>8885316
Try a faun as in Spanish folklore. Like the one from the movie Pan's Labyrinth

>>8885329
It has to be canine or feline in origin. I guess a rat, mouse, squirrel, centipede or spider would also work, but a faun is straight out.

>>8885302

not his superhero "steelheart" / reckoners shit

I like him, but that stuff was the worst.

>>8885329
what about a bargehest. Nobody makes shit with barghests in it

>>8885302
Oh boy.

1st: the original Mistborn triology is complete. The Stormlight archive is his "de facto" Masterpiece. Brandon hiself admits that.

2nd: The Mistborn Series was supposed to be a standalone book. "The final empire" can be read as a standalone book, and it was really enjoyable. Not epic fantasy, no world building, but still a great book. The second Mistborn, however, was one of the most atrocious works he's ever done. It's fodder from star to finish. Nothing happens in the entire book, and you're introduced to the most cringy cliche characters he ever wrote.

>>8885377
Look, I just need a modern epic high fantasy with humans and elves and political intrigue and shit.

>>8885404
Forget Mistborn then.

I'm trying to get into Discworld right now.
I'm reading them in order, I have finished the first two and started Eaqual Rites tonight.

Am I doing this sort of right or is there anything else I should now ?

Also, I want to read Tolkien soon.
Can I just start with LotR or should I read anything else beforehand ?

>>8885492

reading them in chronological order is entirely fine. The only reason to rearrange them is if you are in any particular rush to finish any of the series

>>8885377
How's the third one?

>>8885492
I mean you should probably start with Hobbit first it's an easy read and not very long.

>>8885552
I was hesitating about that, the fact htat it's apparently for children made me a bit cold.

I'll check it.

>>8885538
You think I'm some kind of a masochist?

>>8885316
I think a sexy feline would be best.

>>8885577
I liked the third book. Except for the ending.
I was okay with the ending when I later reread the series.

Currently reading The Great Ordeal.
I just reached the part with the discovery of the whale-mothers.
I'm a huge fan of the Tleilaxu, so that really pleased me.

does hyperion actually get any good? its pretty slow right now

>>8885734
Dunyain genocide best day of my life

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>>8884361

Books I'm currently reading/have read:

Sci Fi- -

The Aeronaut's Windlass
Ender's Game
Leviathan's Wake
Caliban's War
Abaddon's Gate

Fantasy- -
The Eye of the World


Do you guys have any suggestions for Sci Fi novels that feature a gang of people traveling through unexplored space encountering alien creatures? Or maybe people stationed on remote refueling stations? I love deep space psychology exploration.

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>>8885774
Possibly the Sector General series. Each story is about encountering unknown aliens in distress and attempting to discover enough about their psychology/biology to patch them up.

>>8885786
Bro that sounds phenomenal. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

>>8885789
No problem. They're great light reading.

>>8884361
What are they shilling?

>>8885492
The lord of the rings is fine to read by itself, and its all most people will ever read. I doubt many got into the silmarillion ;_;

Discworld can be read in the straight order, or you can read the constituent mini-series like the wizards, watch, witches etc.
Personally I read all the wizards books first, then the witches.

>>8885774
Honestly you should read the next book in the Ender series Speaker for the Dead. It's a totally different change of pace to Ender's Game but hits the niche you describe.

>>8885404
The Traitor Baru Cormorant is pretty good political fantasy with some solid world building, but there aren't any elves or dwarves and it tends more towards low fantasy.

>>8885404
>elves
Not many authors do Elves anymore, they're not vogue. Try out Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams if you really want some modern epic fantasy with elves. I'd say his best work is Shadowmarch, but it's more fairies and gods than elves.

Ghoul, sphynx or barghest. which one do I use?

Just finished the first book in dune. The series looks pretty long. How much of it should I read before it becomes excessive?

>>8885205

I don't know why everyone is so hard for Sanderson. His worldbuilding is cool but his characters are fucking noxious. Kaladin is the only halfway decent one in that series so far and I still get sick of him.

>>8885922
:3

>>8886098
>>8881741

You know what? Fuck the sphinx and the other riddle too. All I do is make this story more complicated than it needs to be without increasing the quality

>>8886145
You're really asking for it this time, but I'll relent.

>>8886145
You could just take a step back and simplify. For example, a riddle carved into something beneath an effigy of a sphinx or some shit. I don't know what your setting is though.

>>8886153
I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just cant stop coming up with ideas and then second-guessing them and third-guessing them and fourth-guessing them etc.

>>8886156
I am. and there are two simple version of the story:

>1. I only leave in a single quest (catch the basilisk fly)
>2. I cut that out too and just say that the oracle has the power to control gravity

2 is the simplest, but it might be too simple, and leaves the introduction of her full powers looking like an asspull, even if I build up to it

1 has elements I want and works beautifully, but I don't want to stop there

>>8885774
Metro 2033
Hull zero 3
Enjoy

>>8886105
If Sanderson had any real competition I doubt he'd be so popular. He's not the only author who does what he does, but he's the only one putting out books on a yearly basis and is consistently delivering what he promises. You won't want to be in these threads if GRRM's sixth book comes out cause it will take a year probably before people stop shitposting about it.

>>8884361
wermachtaboo here. are there any sffg nazi books that aren't about a poc transspiecies womyn taking down all of nazi germany?

>>8884705
Yes.

>>8885774
>Or maybe people stationed on remote refueling stations?
GRRM's short story called something like The Second Kind of Loneliness

Where do you guys buy old books?
I need a store that ships to South America.

>>8886713
MyAnonamouse. They're pretty cheap and the delivery is fast.

>>8886713
Support your local book sellers lad

>>8886766
I do, but they don't have the books I want. Mostly fantasy novels from the 80s and in english.

>>8886110
Thanks! I'll read up to God Emperor then. A series that long can't help but degrade into a fanfic of itself but 3.5 books is manageable.

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>>8886477

>>8886713
Which country?

>>8886477
>>8886882
Also Man in the High Castle

>>8886893
>Don't touch me you filthy fucking non-virgin
>The /r9k/-dragon's daughter.

Am I a bad person for enjoying the witcher saga?

>>8886883
Brazil

>>8886907
As long as you're aware that liking something doesn't make it good, there's no problem enjoying anything bad.

>>8886908
Why are you guys sending your old, tired and used up whores to my country?
Why do you guys like anal so much?

>>8886912
>liking something doesn't make it good
But that's exactly how it works. If you don't like it it becomes bad, rather.

>>8885765
I think the priest's story was where it got good. If you're already past that and still wondering when it gets good, maybe you won't like it

My favorite book is Frankenstein. I've read it at least half a dozen times and gotten something new out of it each time.

I also really enjoy pulpy stuff like Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and I've read and enjoyed the Sprawl Trilogy and Snow Crash.

Is there anything as pulpy as the Lankhmar books but with more depth? Sci-fi or fantasy, either is fine.

When are we getting a TUC excerpt.

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>>8886979
It's not deep but Michael Moorcock's Runestaff series is simple and pulpy in the Robert Howard way, a basic good versus bad tale with a mutilated prince and his band of friends, with lots of sword fights, battles, exotic monsters and random magic/technology. It's a feudal/dying earth sort of setting where some steamunk-esque technology has survived.

Its lack of pretence, and small chapters, varied action, locales, and fast pace make it a good holiday read.

Each novel is only about two hundred pages, which I found refreshing when every modern fantasy novel seems to be as big as War & Peace. They are collected in an omnibus called History Of The Runestaff.

But if you want something along similar themes to Frankenstein, about science and responsibility, there is also HG Wells' The Island Of Doctor Moreau. It's less dense than Frankenstein and can be easily read in a weekend.

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>>8885267

>magic "system"

Yo which author has the best contradiction in terms???

>>8886979
I agree with >>8887014 and will add everything by PKD, especially "Do Androids Dream..." which blends pulp and depth amazingly.

Even PKD liked Bladerunner better than his own book it was based on, though.

>>8886939
That's not how it works at all. Liking/Disliking something is subjective based on your experience. Something being good/bad is an objective measure of the flaws/qualities.

>>8884808
Gateway, Pohl

>>8886935
1) Old, tired and used up whores can't compete with the new blood here.
2) Because sodomy used to be forbidden. Plus, lot's of ladies need convincing to do anal, to the point that it becomes a bargain chip.

>>8886912
What makes the Witcher books bad exactly? I greatly prefer them to stuff like Locke Lamora or anything by Sanderson.

about 3000 A.D.

team sent to nearby earth-like planet with breathable atmosphere, already colonised by self replicating drones which have introduced some familiar flora/fauna & microbial life
also started rudementary human colony, expect population around 2000 people, basic civilization

team are there to check up progress and introduce new tech/genome to populations, as well as keep loyal to earth (other colonies rebelled since initial deperture)

what kind of people you think would be needed ont the team?

>>8887045
You probably need a brilliant yet misunderstood yet nerdy scientist, a sexy butt-kicking woman that doesn't need a man but really does, a loose cannon that follows his own rules and his uptight stickler partner, and a big guy who's proposing to his girlfriend after this mission.

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Is Poseidon's Wake decent as a standalone, and as a book in general?

>>8887036
Well it seems like you don't know what the word objective means.

>>8887057
what makes these stereotypes be so used must be an old piece of work which actually used these archetypes well, but i can't for the life of me imagine how

>>8887045
An anthropologist/historian who nobody listens to anyway, a priest, a psychologist (who may at loggerheads with the priest), engineers, paramilitary/grunts, a government beurocrat who is recording and observing, making sure everything is by the book (probably an asshole).

There you go, there's a book in there, surely.

>tfw too intelligent for genre fiction
>tfw too intelligent for "literary fiction"

Should I stop trying to find a soul and just learn to code or whatever?

What do you think about the Warcraft books?

Has anyone read the trilogy by Cixin Liu? I've finished the second book and it wrapped up nicely. Is reading the third one worth it?

>>8887106
Stop thinking of yourself as better than everything. You're not.

After reading mistborn, im never trusting that damn flowchart. What fantasy book (doesnt matter high or epic) without a strong prevalence of YA prose and without an "oppressed peasant that will rise up against the establishment". Essentially im just asking for something that sticks far away from the latter points.

>>8886882
>bing a naziboo makes you /pol/
L O L

>>8887342
Try The Blade Itself.

>>8887068
Do elaborate.

>>8887342
Prince of nothing

>>8887106
If you were truly intelligent you would be able to find meaning in even the most worthless Star Trek Voyager tie-in. You're a midwit, pham. Too smart for lowbrow, too dumb for highbrow. You're going to have to get used to Superwholock Theory; you're going to have to start wearing Witty Pop Culture Reference t-shirts. On the bright side you'll be able to make tons of midwit friends who all think the same way you do.

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Finally got round to reading this and it's as great as everyone says it is.

Just found out there's a miniseries of it. Anyone watched it?

>>8887377
All the things you can "measure" on are subjective by default. E.g. long descriptive passages like Tolkien. Someone might like that and and for him it's good. Someone else prefers concise, to the point stuff like Hemmingway and for him it's bad. Neither side is objective because there isn't a "right" way.

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>>8887342
How about an oppressed peasant that becomes the establishment?

>>8887396
Miniseries was pretty good but it cut a lot of the good bits (Napoleon was just one episode and they didn't go to America).

>>8887036
The primary goal for fiction is entertainment.
If it entertains you then it has succeeded in that goal.
So it's good for you, regardless of whatever "flaws" or "qualities" that aren't relevant in any way.

>>8886907
No.

>>8887045
The Spanish Inquisition.

>>8887420
No because it will probably end up having 500 pages of "oppressed women gets slapped and abused by sleazy boss". Essentially it will turn into a power fantasy like mistborn.

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DUDE SWEARING LMAO

Malazan is the best series I've ever read.

It has it's flaws, but overall I've never read something like this. I finished the main series a few days ago and immediately picked up the firs tbook and started rereading it. I'm going to add in all the ICE and novellas this time in the ultimate reading order.

Almost done with book 2 now. Any malazan hype here?

>>8887576
I really want to read it to see what the fuss is about but it's so exhausting

>>8887396
Yes. It was okay.

>>8887576
I'm 2/3 through Deadhouse Gates and it's sort of losing me. I liked Gardens a lot more. Nothing has really happened in a few hundred pages. Convince me to stick with the series.

>>8887576
I just finished Midnight Tides earlier today, about to start Bonehunters. It's crazy how all that shit you thought was inexplicable 2 or 3 books ago winds up coming back in unexpected ways. Also Bugg turning out to be Mael absolutely floored me, I knew he was some kind of Ascendant but a fucking Elder God?

>>8888084
What are you talking about? That book is full of shit happening. The stuff with Coltain and the Chain of Dogs remains one of my all time favorite parts of the entire series. Granted the parts with Felisin and Heboric are harder to appreciate in the moment, it takes a long time to contextualize the events they're involved with.

>>8888108
>tfw a elder god will never be hard gay for you

Why is H2G2 so widely loved?

>>8887043
>1) Old, tired and used up whores can't compete with the new blood here.

They come over here and get treated like royalty with their loose buttholes.

>2) Because sodomy used to be forbidden.
When I see Brazilian anal porn they take dick so good it kinda makes me want to fuck one of them in the ass.
>Plus, lot's of ladies need convincing to do anal, to the point that it becomes a bargain chip.
How I understand it is that they need convincing to give up the pucci. They will give anal easier than vag.

Do you know which Neighbouring country I'm from?

>>8888325
Nostalgia. Hardly anyone rereads it.

>>8884361
I'm curios, are there sci fi authors that actually know science?

>>8887342
Blood Song is pretty good

>>8888432
Fuck. I was tricked into buying it.

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Any sff with sexy cat girls? The beastlier the better.

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>>8888502
Don't try to pretend you're not him

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>>8888622
Actually, it isn't. I prefer to give recommendations, though sometimes ironically (yes, I know. I find it entertaining).

>>8887348
>>8887378
>>8888450
Do these books have good characters and prose, or are they the same YA schlock that i have already experienced. Also, is it me or do i need to dial back on my standards for fantasy/sci fi because im expecting to learn something or for something to pop out at me? I feel like i might have become an elitist when it comes to sci fi/fantasy.

>>8888740
Not that anon, but Prince of Nothing is the first part of a series by a guy with a MA in philosophy, who quit during his PhD. His knowledge of philosophy bleeds through in the outlooks of the different characters, and it's actually really well done. It's so dark ASOIAF looks like a day at the park, though. And if you want strong female characters (that is, female characters with good characterization, not in the meme way), look elsewhere.

Also, give the Lankhmar books a shot if you can handle straight up pulp. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have the best friendship in any fantasy series, and Nehwon blows my mind.

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>>8888434
Reynolds, you duck.

>>8888740
They say the Golden Age of science fiction is twelve.

>>8887216
Not read past 1st but I always hear "yes"

>>8888434
Watts, you baseline

I need a fucking 3D starmap

Where can I get a fucking 3D starmap

Does anyone know where I can find a fucking 3D starmap

Yes, a fucking 3D starmap

Of the stellar neighborhood, don't your know

>>8888995
NatGeo had one as an insert a while back.

>>8888434
Yeah you've just gotta go to Amazon or Goodreads and find the most cringy self-published hard SF you can find, and chances are it'll be written by somebody with a STEM degree.

But joking aside, Atomic Rocket has a list of approved reading.
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/sealofapproval.php

>>8888772
Any books like what you describe but with females done well. When females are done well and not in an SJW way, it is really effective. Or is there a book with a party of characters, with female and male mixed with enough interest that it also does not go down that previously described storytelling trap? Blood song looks interesting though, thanks.

>>8888772
>implying esmenet and serwe aren't realistic depictions of women

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>>8888740
>reading The Prince of Nothing

Don't say we didn't warn you.

>>8884762

Isn't he supposed to be like a foot taller than her? Also
>you will never lift Proyas off his feet and fuck the God out of him

>>8885774
Citizen of the Galaxy, and Ringworld might be your type of book then.

>>8888434
Kim Stanley Robinson. The guy's the bomb.
Steven Gould, while his books are pretty much fantasy, has a rock solid grasp of engineering and construction.

>>8888434
Alastair Reynolds worked for the European Space Agency before retireing. Studying pulsars or stars or some stuff.

Then there's Asimov and others.

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>>8885771
>implying The Consult haven't stolen some whale-mothers to breed their own line of Black Numenore- I mean Black Dunyain.

I need some help coming up with a magic system for my own writing. I'm finding it really hard to come up with a balance between consistent/well-explained and actually magical/mystical. It seems that no matter what I come up with, it leans too far one way or the other (usually towards over-explained).

Thinking about other magic systems, most of them seem to do the same thing. In shit like Eragon and Garth Nix and Rothbard, the magic system is very well-explained and loses some of its charm, but in shit like Harry Potter and Tolkien it's barely explained but somehow seems to fit the universe. I guess I want something more midground. Any advice?

>>8889283
Name of the Wind, unironically. The book is crap but from what I remember the magic system is pretty dank.

>>8889337
>In shit like... Rothbard, the magic system is very well-explained and loses some of its charm

I've read it, but I didn't like the magic system. It's far too mathematical for my liking, it doesn't feel like magic at all but more like science. I get that that's what he's going for, but it's certainly not what I want. I want magical magic.

>>8889352
Sooo...Prince of Nothing?

>>8889366
I haven't read it. I'm more interested in how the magic is actually applied/used than where it comes from or who wields it. What is the magic system in Prince of Nothing?

>>8889337
It's actually two systems layered on each other, just approaching in different ways. So he gets the best of both worlds that way.

>>8889283
Don't focus too hard on trying to be different. Think instead about cool and interesting applications of magic. Specific things you want characters to be able to do with it. Then build the system around those things. I'm assuming you have a story you want to tell here, and you're not just trying to invent a magic system for an RPG setting or something. While hammering out rules and limitations for magic can give you ideas for how a story can develop, I find it's pretty backward to contrive the entire plot around the rules of a magic system.

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OH MY FUCKING GOD

I AM SORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING I SAID ABOUT SANDERSON

MY. FUCKING. DICK. 2000 PAGES WERE WORTH THIS MOMENT.

>>8889400
It took thousands of pages for Kaladin to be awesome, but when it happens it's like an orgasm in book form.

>>8889411
I was LONGING for this moment. God damnit I was wanting it. And it did not disappoint. I have a boner.

>>8889397
I do have a plot and characters in mind. I want it to be fairly non-intrusive, the magic doesn't have to drive the plot. The only real reason I want magic is because I can make the story more interesting and the characters deeper by including their struggles with magic.

I write a lot, and recently I wrote a historical fiction story. I want to differentiate this from that story and if it's just swords without sorcery it'll seem very similar. Additionally, I recently wrote another fantasy story with a magic system I'd thought out and complemented the characters and was important to the plot, but I ended up feeling like it was lame because it was too mundane/academic and not at all special/mystical. I want to remedy that in this story.

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>>8889400
Yeah, it was pretty neat. You should read Warbreaker if you want build-up with a fun conclusion.

has anyone discovered a way to force yourself to like something?

started to read watts' blindsight the other day: why does he have to stress words with italics every paragraph? the book is interesting but this italicizing really gives me the impression i read reddit posts...

>>8889434
No but you can force yourself to dislike anything by simply finding out that reddit likes it.

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>>8885774
Political from a military perspective, not psychological, and not great writing, but I enjoyed reading the Janissaries series.
Humans are treated and bred as peacekeeping slaves by a confederation of alien species, and Earth is left wild as a gene stock to keep the slave breeds viable.

On the psychological end, but without alien species, Tau Zero was interesting, if a little swampy at times. An intergalactic colony ship uses sparse matter as fuel, accidentally runs into a nebula, devouring a bunch of matter all at once and is forced to keep accelerating. Relativity, just the contemplation of relativistic consequences, messes with the heads of the crew as they're trying to come up with acceptable ways to deal with their situation. (trigger warning, Sweden actually managed to take over the world)

>>8889445
that only makes retards hate things

Is there any site that lists all the new fantasy books coming out next month? Every since Charlie Jane Anders left Io9 they rarely do that segment anymore

>>8889400
His endings are great.

>>8889400
>2000 pages to reach full anime

I enjoyed it

Just finished up the first Deed of Paksenarrion book and I'm surprised I don't see it mentioned more often when people request military SF/F stuff.

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>>8888502
The human main character desperately wanting to fuck the cat is a plot point

>>8889640
Saved. Much thanks.

Are there any fantasy or sci-fi books that are about scoundrels, thieves, etc? Picaresque but still belonging to the overall sf/f genre? I heard the Lies of Locke Lamora are like that but I'm hesitant about it

>>8889602
The fact that he even has endings is great in this genre

>>8889751
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Cugel's Saga

>>8889782
>>8889751

Seconding Cugel.

Truly unredeemed.

>>8889782
>>8889796
Noted, wanted to get some Jack Vance in the first place, will check out Lies of Locke Lamora too then

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What are some hard sci-fi novels with intriguing, abstract concepts? I don't remember the name but there's one where different parts of space have different laws of physics or some shit, like one part affects difficulty to progress as a civilization IIRC. Wack-ass shit like that, I don't know.

>>8889751
Locke Lamora seems to be one of those "you either love it or you hate it" series. Personally I liked the first one, thought the second book was bad because it's basically "Locke Lamora robs a casino" and "Locke Lamora is a pyrate" stapled together, and thought the third was better but not quite as good as the first.

>>8889808
Read the books by Cixin Liu. They are everything you want.

>>8889808
You might be thinking of A Fire Upon the Deep.

>>8885851
> The lord of the rings
> silmarillion
Silmarillion is still pretty safe but barely anyone read his The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún; The Fall of Arthur; Kullervo and his Beowulf translation and literary criticism.

>>8886907
The Witcher is fantastic but admittedly you get much more of it if you are European. The first two books of short stories are pure gold. The saga lacks a bit of the charm of short stories since it practically gets rid of most of the sarcasm and commentary but is still very good.

>>8887576
Not my personal favourite but I love Malazan, too. I'm in the middle of the ten book series currently taking a break and reading other stuff. I expecially like how it doesn't really explain stuff and expect you to learn how to swim by yourself. Hell, even if the characters actually get to explaining something they use jargon and terms you are not familiar with (yet) so it mostly provides more questions than answers. Also love those segments where two or more characters meet and talk without any particular introduction and no names given and you have to realize who it is by the nature of their verbal expressions and contents of their talk.

>>8885558
It makes for a fun little read.

>>8889815
You've pretty much nailed it. For the most part Locke and Jean aren't strong enough characters to carry a story on their own, so the quality is more dependent on the various settings, characters and schemes of each book.

How are the books by Naomi Novik? Are they YA Fantasy like Mistborn? In this case I'm not interested. They look to have an interesting premise but how are the characters?

>>8890223 here
Also interested in The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin? Same questions about her.

>>8890223
Naomi Novik is YA fantasy.
N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy is not.

>>8890223
*
And to add to that, the characters in Naomi Novik's works are significantly weaker than NK Jemisin's Broken Earth.

>>8890234
would you recommend the broken earth trilogy?

>>8890245
I was very fond of them.

>>8890245
*
So I would recommend them.

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The premise of the Foundation books (1-3) ought to be absurdly weak on paper but Isaac Asimov makes the plot work flawlessly and with mindblowing precision. The prose doesn't feel heavy and is incredibly satisfying with several mindblowing conclusions and the characters are astoundingly relatable, especially the Mule story in the second book.

There were numerous twists that I didn't see coming including Preem and the first and second books were two definite page turners and although the stories may be short and somewhat episodic these are concise and well thought out stories that do not detract from the overall experience (for those such as myself who prefer a longer novel).

I only hope that Season 3 of Code Geass will be 75% as satisfying as Foundation and Empire.

what's everyone's opinion about the Stormlight Archive? I want to read it but everyone is so negative about it. Anime-action-book, nothing happens in 2000 pages, black and white characters, the only good thing is the magic, etc.

>>8890307
Read the Emperor's Soul and form your opinion on Sanderson.

>>8890307
Well, you clearly already know everyone's opinion. Just go read it yourself and form your own opinion instead of being such a gullible fag.

>>8890067
God I hated Jean, he's just a fat Mary Sue.

>Locke Lamora book 4 still not out
JUST FUCK MY SHIT UP.

>>8890267
not sure what Anime has to do with it, but I agree with your first two paragraphs

>>8890307
it's good

note than even the people who shit on read the whole 1000 page tome and the equally long sequel

>>8884762
THEY MAKE US LOVE

>>8887480
Nope wrong on all counts.
The book we are talking about has the GRI seal of approval. Sanderson never has, never will, get a GRI seal of approval.

If Sanderson lets a little GRI into his novels it would be 80x better.. but then he wouldn't be able to sell to everyone's grandmother and toddler.

>>8888108
>the earth will never tremble to bring you back to life
After the story of that poor super natural high mage those two buddy rapour were the best in the series.
Honourable mentions :
>solve all your troubles with muh dick and sword
>you may be dumb but that dick is made for my fake vagina

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>>8888995

>>8889167
>4 legs
>conveyor belt
Wtf are dunyain humans? I read the first trilogy last year and promised myself not to read the others.
Don't want to see someone cucking a guy who sacrificed everything for him, then saying the guy will kneel to you.

What happens in the later books? Does the most violent of fags still fuck trap ass? Does akka get even more cucked? Does akka kneel? Why should I continue bakker and his self cuckold fetish?

>>8889423
You are sounding like a published author

How about this-
There is a church / religious / mystic organisations that semi rules the land. Each person at birth has to be inspected by the said church.
>they implant something organic into the navel canal
>it grows with the infant
>nobody but the upper church knows of this
The implant allows you to inject alkaline and acid based fluids into the blood stream. The more powerful the acid/alkaline the stronger the power.
Varying acids/alkaline of different substances gives different results for a finite period (you could root this in real science, unstable mixtures might all you to cause fission / earth tremors etc, but it depends on the substance and it's alkalinity or acidity).

The downside is the more you use the faster your body deteriorates, the organic symbiot doesn't protect your body, it just reacts differently to different substances. If you juice that is it for your goose.

You can play around with the idea and adapt it to suit your story if you really are a writer you can make it work. You can even say that it's an allegory for addiction and substance abuse. Godspeed.

>tfw somebody is gonna steal this idea and deny ever coming here
Feels gud man

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>>8890615
>Why should I continue bakker and his self cuckold fetish?
Because you enjoy it

Also there's absolutely nothing wrong with cucking weaklings like akka.
>w..what will be the n..next time i die? an..andiamine h..eights?
Xinemus would fucking kill himself if he wasn't already blind

>>8889751
Lies of locke lamora
The 6 main Riyria books
greymouse books

>>8890223
Never read novik but broken earth is gri approved.

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>read literary greats
>tolstoy. dostoevsky, turgenev
>good and edifying stuff, but reading is an effort
>routinely have to break after 25 pages

>read a random SF paperback from the 1980's
>read 70 pages like it's nothing
>having fun

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>>8889842
I'll keep them in mind. Thanks. Heard good things about The Three-Body Problem.

>>8889863
Yes, that was it. Never read it or anything but came across it during searches in the past.

>>8890488
Code Geass is very much "according to keikaku".

>>8890714
>>8890553
what is GRI?

>>8890734
Gay, rape & incest. Cool kids only read gri books

Hey everyone, I have decided that my New Year's resolution is going to be to finish a full first draft of a novel. I've written tons of short story tier things and a few novella length things but not a full novel. I have a number of ideas and I'm trying to decide which one to use.

One of them is a YA dystopia, but subverted. I want to do something typical like Divergent or Hunger Games or any of the novels that came after them in that genre, but darker and more realistic. Basically I want to show what it would really be like if a bunch of young people started a revolution against the state.

Any advice on the plot? I'm considering having a few characters survive but regret rebelling because they didn't make many gains, while losing all of their friends. I'm also thinking about having everybody die in the end to defeat the evil dictator, but that might piss off readers and ruin any chance of another book if I ever actually get published. Another option would be having the main characters survive, but have their actions make things worse for the majority of people.

>>8890230
Broken Earth is not YA. It's very close to GRI approved, and the first one has an unconventional narrative structure. They're my favourite sff novels of the past two years, I'd definitely give them a try. I found the characters interesting but its one of those "everyone is kind of an asshole" worlds.

>>8889400
Never read it but that seems really cheesy and lame. Anime is meant to be watched, not read.

>>8889400

I don't know. It was good and all but I preferred when he jumped into the pit against FOUR shardbearers to save Adolin. Now that took balls.

Why can't sci fi authors write characters?

Is it autism?

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>just finished Troika by Alastair Reynolds
Welp wasn't expecting that mindfuck at all. Gave me goosebumps.

>>8890915
My advice to you is to just not care about the specifics and power through the whole thing in 1-3 months. It's a first draft, so just make it complete dog shit. As long as it gets done.

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>>8891024
>>8891029
That's embarrassing, Prophet.

>>8891093
I guess I'll try to do that but I hope it comes out coherent if I decide to go in without the details of the ending being worked out. I don't outline a ton but I usually have an ending figured out in detail so I at least know what I'm working towards.

>>8891184
Write an outline just don't put too much effort into it. The biggest mistake you can make is taking too long to start and finish.

>>8889751
The Stainless Steel Rat.

You're welcome.

>>8884808
Transmetropolitan

>>8885404
Star Epic One

>>8888502
Flight of the Lazarus

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>>8889060

>>8890067
Lynch really fucked up by killing off the Stanza brothers, aka the only likeable characters in the series.

>>8890223
Temeraire is essentially Master and Commander/Hornblower but with Dragons. It's kinda cheesy but enjoyable none the less.

Uprooted is a good but unambitious girl becomes a sorceress story. It has some interesting elements such as "Polish fantasy kingdom is menaced by The Zone" but ultimately falls kinda flat.

>>8891023
It's the SF reading public's fault, they want melodramatic YA trash, nu-Arthur C Clarke veritas for STEMlords (The Martian), or teenage wank fantasies (Mr Rothfuss.)

Any good fantasy series with a little girl as protagonist?

Has to be at least a trilogy.

>>8891423
>Lynch really fucked up by killing off the Stanza brothers, aka the only likeable characters in the series.

That's my main reason for barely being able to finish the book. That was bad.

>>8891509
The Chronicles of Chaos

enjoy

just finished 2 books in stormlight archive by sanderson, loved them
thinking of either coldfire trilogy by Friedman next or the prince of nothing by Bakker
which do you guys recommend?

What fantasy book/series has the most charismatic hero?

>>8891579
Coldfire is very underrated and really good imo.

>>8891588
unrelated but have you read the black company by glen cook?
thinking of jumping into that instead

>>8891591
I think it's worse than both of your previous options but isn't bad.

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>>8884361
Hello!

Does anyone read Edmond Hamilton's "Space Kings" and "Return to the Stars"?

These books were my first one in space opera genre and I still love them.

(Maybe that's because cool illustrations by soviet artist Robert Avotin.)

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>>8891604

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>>8891591
Black Company is absolutely amazing.

>>8884439
Started Thomas Covenant a week ago, I'm loving it.

>>8891621
is it similar to the first law trilogy?

>>8891583
Darrow from Red Rising trilogy is a man I might follow IRL.
Jorg from Broken Empire is very charismatic, too.

>>8891591
I could never get into the weird style.

>>8891632
Not as hopeless as first law is but it's a great series if you like banter

>>8890575
Ublala choked out a god, he doesn't need a high INT stat.

>>8890770
I don't get the joke.

>>8891689
If your book doesn't have GRI then /sffg/ calls it YA

>>8891684
He was the half-whatever with the huge cock, right?

>>8891604
Star Epic One is a new space opera series I'm putting out. Start with Fusion Heart.

>>8891714
Is there any actual YA with GRI though? I remember "The Knife of Never Letting Go" had some pretty gruesome stuff going on behind the scenes.

>>8891753
Kuriel's Dart os the most YA book I know even tho it deals with "kinky" de Sade stuff.

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>>8890975
Take a look at this faggot.

>>8891796
>"reading" pictures
>reading Bleach

>>8891840
>being a faggot

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>>8890915
Be careful what you subvert, lest it be subverted from the beginning.

>>8891420
gaskun

how does /sffg/ keep track of new releases?

>>8892185
You don't. Too many new books come out. You just hope the actual good books win some awards or someone shills it to you.

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>>8892192
>>8892185

You're right. I fucking hate buying a book I end up not liking at all.

And yes I bought every book I ownAnd yes, that includes e-books

>>8892192
My local barnes and nobles hasn't added a new release to scifi fantasy section in two months

>>8892198
the only books I avoid buying are really expensive cookbooks like Modernist Cuisine

>>8892209
>My local barnes and nobles hasn't added a new release to scifi fantasy section in two months
And?

>>8891753
The Knife of Letting Go is borderline not YA anyway.

>>8891579
Coldfire by far.

>>8885774
>Or maybe people stationed on remote refueling stations?
Anything specifically about this?

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>>8892198
>paying for ebooks you don't know if you'll like
Why don't you just pay for the ones you've read and enjoyed, thus spending money only to support authors you like? It's not like you get anything tangible anyway - you don't even own the file, just a license to access it on your device which can be revoked at any time if the publisher's relationship with the platform changes.

Sup guys

Pleb here with 6th grade level reading skills

Going to get back into reading

Picked up Dune and Neuromancer today. I'm stoked.

>>8892226
I wouldn't be. Dune is awful.

>>8892228
Really? I always see love for it?

>>8892226
Just started Neuromancer, it's ace so far. I'm not too keen on Dune though.

>>8892216
Have you read the series recently? If so, does it hold up?

>>8892213
meaning there aren't too many new books coming out.

Mind you, the barnes and nobles in question is the flagship store in manhattan

>>8892273
If you live near Manhattan, surely you can find other bookshops where there's new content, assuming you've cleared out the current selection at the Barnes and Noble.

>>8892106
Guilty

>>8892273
>meaning there aren't too many new books coming out.
That's not how it works. Do you seriously think not a SINGLE book has came out in two fucking months? Please don't pretend to be retarded.

Ia Dune (the first book alone) a quick read? I'm already reading a long book so I don't want to get bogged down on another, but I want to read it

>>8892306
No because you will fall asleep every time you read it longer than 5 minutes.

>>8892295
I know! I've read books that came out this month. The point is I can't use the new releases shelf to see what new releases are coming out. I need a website to keep track of them, and Io9 doesn't do that anymore so I'm fucked unless I find another!

>>8884361
I know this will most likely not be any of your guys' cup of tea, but if anyone has read this, how is the star wars thrawn trilogy made by Timothy Zahn? Is it any good, and im obviously expecting YA (considering the material).

>>8892328
The bounty hunter trilogy.

>>8892315
There's so much of a backlog of amazing books, why would you not just read the older ones? I'm not saying new releases are bad, but I'd always give new books a bit of time before I'd buy them.

>>8892185
I come here, and wait for two or more anons to agree a recent relase was good. Otherwise, I use Twitter ;_;

>>8892221
I guess you're right

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Anybody got some shit they want to post?

I'm in the mood for reading other people's stuff, in an attempt to improve my own prose. Also want to post my own shit but feel guilty about never reading anyone elses OC

Sci fi, specially space stuff preferred. But if it's <1000 words I'll crunch anything.

>>8892336
because I'm extremely picky to the point of irrationality, and am turned off by older books. Most of the old ones that are remembered are the ones /lit/ considers good but I consider cripplingly boring (e.g. boring european epic fantasy, space operas with psychic powers, etc.). Newer ones tend to have fresher, more bizzarre ideas as the old cliches have been exhausted

>>8892364
They also tend to be unreadable garbage written by hacks.

>>8892364
Perhaps looking for niche fiction shouldn't be done in a Barnes and Noble.

>>8892371
I know, I don't care. I have my tastes, they aren't changing. I just want a way to find things to read

>>8892349
Shoot me an email and I'll send you something: [email protected]

>>8892382
Adam Roberts, The Thing Itself came out last year. I loved it and discussed it here before.
Echopraxia, Blindsight's sequal came out in 2014, and was pretty well recieved.
Death's End, the final of Lius trilogy, came out this year. Only read Three Body Problem but I've heard the trilogy as a while is pretty good.

Modern scifi shit I know. Don't hate on the classics though dude

>>8892364
>le euro fantasy boogeyman

>>8892404
I'm a fantasy fan an TBP went to shit after the first book

I bought East of Eden today but I kinda regret buying this and not a sci-fi/fantasy book. Is it fun to read? Haven't started yet.

>>8892439
Haven't read it but Steinbeck is one of my favourite authors, studying Grapes of Wrath atm.

>>8892409
Euro fantasy is not bad necessarily, but euro sword and sorcery is so overdone and cliche I cannot give less of a shit about it.

If it was after the colonial era or before the fall of rome that's a bit more interesting

>>8892271
I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who isn't a YA. It holds a special place in my heart though.

>>8890915
end yourself for even wanting to contribute to the sin that is YA.

Also underage edgy b8

>>8891621
Black Company was mediocre.

It was mostly the author jerking off about his pure evil sorceress waifu.
>gee, audience, isn't she hot and amazing?
>let me remind you some more
>and she's madly in love with my self-insert character
>also, she's a virgin despite being the BBEG's wife

Don't even fucking get me started on how stupid the sequels are. If you're going to read it, do the first three books at most.

>>8892495
Sword and sorcery hasn't been popular for thirty years. And you can make cliche Roman fantasy as easy as you can make cliche medieval European fantasy.

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>almost 2017
>nobody else has read A.A. Attanasio yet

Y'all suck.

>>8892349
Give us a prompt.

>>8892609
I have Wyvern on my kindle, just havent started it yet. Good book to begin with for him?

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>>8892631
Haven't read it so I honestly have no idea. You should read the Radix Tetrad.

>>8892609
No shit, I don't even know what that is and I've read a few things from Sanderson.

Care to enlighten a fellow anon?

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>>8892678
It's a star chart, showing some of the various (known) planets in Sanderson's meta.

>>8892609
He's been on my backlog since you rec'd him last summer, don't worry.

Should I stay away from A Wizard of Earthsea cause it is YA?

>>8892908
Nah, it was back when "YA" as a marketing category didn't really exist and books for young people had some thought put into them.

Can this poor old sod get some essential dark fantasy recommendations?

I don't know if this exists, but if it does, please point me to it:

>scifi novel series
>centers on people on a spaceship a la Star Trek
>lots of adventure, with some weird/horror elements (think like Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, or a less child-friendly Doctor Who)
>focuses on a core group of people and we see them grow and change over time

can someone tell me a website that lists the new fantasy books coming out each month?

>>8892908
It's thematically YA in some ways, but its plotting and prose is very different. It reads like an old folk story, and has a detached voice. I think it's real good, and tend not to like YA.

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>Therewith ran Goldry upon the King as one straught of his wits, bellowing as he ran, and gripped him by the right arm with both his hands, one at the wrist and one near the shoulder. And so it was that, before the King might move, Goldry spun round with his back to the King and by his mickle strength and the strength of the anger that was in him he heaved the King over his head, hurling him as one hurleth a ponderous spear, head-foremost to the earth. And the King smote the ground with his head, and the bones of his head and his spine were driven together and smashed, and blood flowed form his ears and nose.

If adult fantasy persistently fails to entertain me due to stale ideas and bland writing styles, should I give YA a shot?

It's strikes me as really weird that I still watch cartoons but I embarrassed to read YA

>>8893104
Have you tried pulp fantasy? If you haven't read the Lankhmar books, I can almost promise you won't find the ideas stale. I just read them recently, and they're some of the most creative shit I've ever come across.

>>8893111
do you mean old pulp, or is there modern pulp fiction?

>>8893128
I would say that some modern stuff is more "pulpy" but I mean old pulp.

The Lankhmar stuff ended in the late 80s.

You know how people who brag about reading like to tell you about how they hate finishing a series and it makes them cry and shit? The one time I've experienced that was when I was done with the Lankhmar stuff. I'm on my way back through it again.

>>8893137
I looked it up and it seems to be sword and sorcery, which is the exact opposite of what I want

>>8893144
It is sword and sorcery. I guess I should have asked which ASPECTS of fantasy you're finding stale.

>>8889431
Where the Fuck do you even find these pictures?

>>8893148
the magic, the monsters, the worlds and the human attitudes towards these elements are continually re-arranged and recycled in the same patterns when there are plenty of other forms they can take but don't because of a lack of originality

If magic systems exist I want to see them work in ways I've never seen before. If monsters exist I want them to be new or obscure or sufficiently modified and explored that I have to completely rediscover them. I want to see worlds that don't exist in mundane consciousness, or which do but have such a sharp eye for detail they are functionally anthropological documents of fictional (or real) societies.

For fucks, sake, if I wanted to read about kings and taverns, dragons and elemental mages I'd shoot myself in the fucking head because I'd know I've lost all sense of originality and have nothing new to contribute to society except unique forms of self-contempt

>>8892231
There's this one particular guy who keeps posting about how much Dune sucks in every thread. Just ignore him.

>>8893203
Half of what you said there, I'd still suggest the Lankhmar stuff for. There are basically no dragons. There's a tavern, but kings don't make many appearances.

My favorite one of their stories involves the two of them riding off to steal the mask from death at the behest of the strange, eldritch wizards who are their patrons, in exchange for the wizards making them forget their dead ex-girlfriends who are haunting them.

It's a long, arduous journey where they see the ghosts of their first loves who warn them to turn back. They do not, and ultimately they bring back the mask, but it's been split in half. As a result, the wizards do not keep up their end of the bargain. The ghosts disappear, but the request to erase the painful memories is not granted.

The story ends with us finding out that, even though Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser don't know it, stealing Death's mask means that their loves in the afterlife no longer have to live in constant fear of him.

Oh. And at the beginning of the story, they hire a bunch of drunk dudes to steal a house on stilts.

>>8893165
they were in that recent collection sanderson released, arcanum or whatever

>>8893241
I really love Brandon, but even if you hate him you have to give him credit for the amount of work he does.

So many names and universes, it's fucking ridiculous.

What are some good series that have a nontraditonal element system?

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>>8893261
Not as many universes as you think.

>>8893447
What do you mean by element system? Mistborn has a bunch of metal themed magic, and Lightbringer is basically ATLA with hard light instead of elemental bending, but I'm not sure if that's what you're after

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Anybody here excited for more romeaboo LARPing in space?

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>>8893690
>>8893690
>>8893690

>>8893660
fuck no

>>8886952
>hyperion
the priest's story was right at the beginning of the book.

desu though if you don't like hyperion you're a fucking illiterate pleb

>>8893079
That entire wrastlin' match was extremely hype.

>>8893203
Dude, pulp S&S is exactly what you're looking for. The stereotype you have of it actually applies to D&D novels and Dragonlance.