/sffg/ - Science Fiction and Fantasy General

>>8944286
Wow, that Stratosphere was really tough coming down in one piece like that.

Hey, /sffg/.

What are some good sci-fi or fantasy books that show really intimate (not necessarily in the sense of sex, though it's fine if it is) moments of characters' lives? Things that make them feel human and vulnerable and raw.

Especially if those same characters get to also be badass at other times.

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>>8944292

>>8944295
>mfw I want to read Culture but I'm still traumatized by the gaping vacuum that was Phlebas

>>8944300
probably not the best introduction

>TV show was pretty great with good potential
>Got cancelled after 1 season leaving on an amazing cliffhanger
>It was based on a book series
>The books are all drama and gossip and more romance drama with barely any plot

Fuck

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TUC when?

>>8944323
Which villainous footsoldiers are menacing through the entire story? What I'm trying to say is, what SFF stories have action scenes where it's always obvious the hero will die if he doesn't stay on his toes? What I'm trying to say is, what books are like Dark Souls?

>>8944348
>what books are like Dark Souls?

Books that have no plot and it's just 1 person killing random people?
Don't know any

N O T R E A L L I T E R A T U R E

>>8944343
What books/TV series?

>>8944361

The Secret Circle

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Darrow going back home a proper tearjerker lads.

What's a good fantasy novel for someone who liked The Road?

>>8944500

The Stand by Stephen King

>>8944500
What aspect of it in particular?

>>8944503
I'll recommend it. Thanks.
>>8944519
I think the fact that it depicts human frailty in a well-written way that isn't gleeful or sadistic (i.e., it isn't Hostel or Saw or something; you aren't supposed to be into seeing people suffer).

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what the fuck am I in for?

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>>8944286
What's your favourite 'hard' sci fi? Is pic related any good?

>get bored
>watch YouTube reviews of The Magicians since I just finished it
>this one reviewer says "I can't like a book if I don't like any of the characters, and the characters in this book were just too despicable for me to like them"
Are... are you fucking with me? How many books have you read? Because, yes, the characters do fuck up, but Jesus, they're not generally malevolent or anything. They're just flawed people.

>>8944597
I can vouch for Poul Anderson's skill as a writer, but I haven't read Tau Zero.

>>8944605
I think maybe a disproportionate amount of normie harry potter fags got burnt by it

>>8944597
this is on my list.

Quantum Thief. So hard it's magic.

>>8944615
I actually don't hate Harry Potter. The Magicians is so much fucking better, though.

Quentin is like a less self-aware (and thus more prone to accidentally hurting people he cares about) version of me. He reminds me of my past self, but more studious.

>>8944597
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

>>8944623
I liked the exploration of magic or being a magician not being inherently meaningful in of itself and the general dysfunctionality of the central characters.

Always bothered me in potterverse what these cunts actually occupy themselves with or how their society derives any cohesion or purpose when they've not got a Voldemort on the loose.

>>8944656
Agreed. I also like how being dysfunctional doesn't mean "horrible evil person with no redeeming qualities."

I genuinely don't understand why most people hate Quentin so much. Not that I don't see his bad sides, but I don't think he should be condemned outright for them.

Same goes for Eliot, Janet, Alice, and Penny, for that matter.

I haven't read the sequels yet, but I hear Quentin becomes a much better, more mature person in them, which makes the hate even weirder.

>>8944286
I want a fantasy where I can fall in love with the characters and their struggles again ;_;

>>8944286
>https://i.imgur.com/qkz73sR.jpg
>idiot op didn't change the to kill a god chart

If anything the guy who made that chart should be tripping right now that someone posted shit on his recommendations.

>>8944286
FUCK OFF STEVIAN WITH YOUR SHITTY TO KILL A GOD

GIMME A TUC ARC ALREADY FUCK

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Post yours guys.

>>8944605
>>8944615
>>8944623
>>8944656
>>8944670
I fucking HATE how everyone is like, "Oh, Quentin's life was great even before he went to Brakebills and he was bitching then, and then he continued to complain after he got into wizard school, and he's fucking lazy."

What?! His parents neglect him, he probably has a psychiatric disorder, his ONLY two friends are a girl he's in love with and her boyfriend, and he studies his ass off pretty much constantly. He also basically never complains out loud.

>>8944656
>Always bothered me in potterverse what these cunts actually occupy themselves with or how their society derives any cohesion or purpose when they've not got a Voldemort on the loose.
Not to mention they have literal slavery, and when Hermione points this out all they do is make "spew" jokes.

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>>8944597
>What's your favourite 'hard' sci fi?
The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem. Classic space story from the time spaceflights were cool. From the relatively recent A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.

>>8944542
Politics and trade

>>8944713
Nah it was pants

Magicians is just "dude magic won't cure depression", that's it for thematic writing.

I like Vox Day's Arts of Dark and Light novels, what are some other fantasy books like those?

>>8944719
>tfw you want Voldemort and the Deatheaters to burn their shit to the ground.

>>8944653
Was reading control point although I might not finish it now that the protag is doing something transparently stupid.

I can't stand that shit, when an author sets something up as "this will ruin everything" and then has their character do it anyway

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>>8944710
excuse the occasional meme manga and comic. It's more a diary than anything else.

>>8944744
I think the point was more about the ways that fiction leads us to expect the world to be different than it is. So obviously "magic won't cure depression" is a part of that, but I don't think it's the entirety. Especially in the context of the trilogy.

>>8944748
Voldemort is objectively the good guy in Harry Potter. If the Dumbledore faction has its way there won't even BE any wizards left after another hundred years or so. Genetics obviously do matter since muggles almost never have magic children and wizards almost always do. Race-mixing would be outlawed by any sane government.

>>8944758
b-but muh hermione

>>8944710
I need to do one this year

I read like 150 books last year (admittedly most were 120 page long Parker novels) but didn't track it at all

>>8944758
But muggles and wizards almost always have magic children

"Race mixing" outright doubles the wizard population each generation if you have the average 2.3 kids per couple

>>8944605
>Are... are you fucking with me?
Yeah, what the fuck. Flawed characters is the best part of the Magicians. It was so fresh approach comparing to stamped 'good' and 'bad' characters inhabiting every other fantasy book. Too bad only first part of trilogy was good, everything went downhill with too much of power ups.

>>8944740
good that's up my alley

>>8944752
I liked Alan Moore's weird "school shooting, except at Hogwarts, and totally-not-Harry is both the antichrist and the bastardization of human culture, and he jizzes lightning bolts" story desu.

>>8944766
The wizarding allele is probably dominant, but that only works for a few generations though. If the mixed kids keep breeding with other muggles eventually fewer and fewer of the offspring will get at least one copy of the wizarding allele, and there's no way to de-racemix the population. Mixing with muggles would lead to a false renaissance before final decline and fall.

>>8944768
does have a way with the words though

>The air was thick with the smell of burning metal and the sweat of tired magicians. She could sense it in the room with them now, the land itself: an angry, hungry, thirsty infant thing demanding life, ready to take it from them if it had to. It cried out with an almost human voice. A spray of golden light erupted from between one of Quentin’s fingers: that must have been one of Mayakovsky’s coins going. Scenery raced past the windows, all of them now, too blurred to make out.

>Space distorted grotesquely, and for an instant the room looked stretched out of all proportion, fish-eyed, as if a bulbous blister had formed on the surface of reality itself. Plum was scared of what would happen if it burst.

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>>8944775
gonna have to take this on the chin sometime this year

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>>8944710
>>8944753
Not bad guise, here's mine.
>Memefuss is rated higher than Wilde, Eco, Borges, Blake and Melville
Their userbase makes we want to throw up sometimes.

>>8944753
What'd you think of Altered Carbon then?

>>8944798
So what, The Scar and Iron Council next? Still rate the Bas-Lag trio higher than anything else he's done but I may be in the minority on that one.

>>8944811
meant for >>8944710

>>8944710
Objectively, a few of those are okay, but you read a lot of horrible garbage.

>>8944815
Yep. I'm looking forward to Iron Council in particular, since from what I can tell it's basically the Russian Revolution with golem train engineers.

>>8944798
How'd you rate the the Baxter/Pratchett series?

>>8944656
wasn't too bad of a problem for the whimsical children's book tone of the early Potter books but the paper thin worldbuilding was glaring by the end.

>>8944788
This too, so easy to not appreciate good things but bitch about bad. Obvious comparison with Harry potter, tried to read books and i felt like i am trying to eat bucket of sawdust. *insert HP franchise joke* Magicians writing was tasty.

These food analogies... Martin's flavor... halp.

>>8944832
First book's excellent, but after that it starts to feel like diminishing returns on the same basic concept (probably because Pratchett's contributions got less and less as he neared the end ;--;). Lobsang's the best character, very clearly a Pratchett character, and he's mainly in the first one.

>>8944845
I like how they can all be reduced to the one simple...

>that three headed dog was sitting on a trapdoor. Guarding something.
>2nd story girls' bathroom. Guarding something.
>Whomping Willow. Guarding something.
>Hedge maze. Guarding something.
>Department of Mysteries. Guarding something.
>Cave by the sea. Guarding something.
>Pool in the Forest, Gringott's, Room of Requirement. Guarding something.

>>8944686
The High House.

Gimme a good fantasy with some good romance.

Does it bother you guys at all that the rest of /lit/ sees this as a containment thread?

>>8944768
>stamped 'good' and 'bad' characters inhabiting every other fantasy book.
this is the era of the grey friendo, what books are you talking about?

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>>8944871
Nah.

>>8944871
Not really. It means we get less pretentious "literary" anons acting like anything genre is totally worthless.
Most of it is, but /lit/ culture prevents proper discussion of good sffg outside of here

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>>8944871
No. Ivory towers don't end well.

>>8944710
How is that Guns of Empire series?

>>8944862
They're all set up as whodunits as well.

>>8944871
Outer /lit/ is a containment board.

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>>8944877
So many of these would be twice as good with a simple crop. I fixed the levitating Outer /lit/ Edgelord but I couldn't save his fedora.

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>>8944909
>"We're not contained away from them... they're contained away from us."

>>8944919
ronch ronch ronch

>>8944871
>>8944887
>have only ever lurked /sffg/
>try to lurk /lit/
>barely any of it is about actual book/novels/stories, mostly about obscure philosophy or /blog posting

>>8944871
Honestly the rest of /lit/ is a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who probably arrange their books (which they got from BooksByTheYard.com) by color.

>>8944871
I like it here :3

>>8944690
>>8944693

What are you guys talking about?

>>8944933
I will say that their snobbishness made me feel guilty about not reading more classics, probably improving my habits in the long run. But yeah there's a lot of bullshit.

The person that made that painting doesn't know much about the layout of Seattle.

>>8944942
That "Stevian Heartbound" guy keeps putting his (presumably) shitty selfpub in the OP charts

>>8944958

Oh, is the book really bad or something? Or is he just shilling?

>>8944964
Definitely the latter, probably the former - it's ten bucks on Amazon, so no one's actually read it to find out, but the odds seem poor (plus no one wants to reward his shilling).

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there was no book and the Kindle file just reads "kek, I meme'd you" or something.

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>>8944971
There is a book, and the free sample is available. It's pretty bad.

If Stevian came here in the first place he's not coming now; around that time there were several anons that came forward with self-published books, mostly self-indulgent philosophy stuff, but "To Kill a God" was just too hilarious a title to pass up. Stevian's probably just a dude that figured since he could impress his peers with his theorizing he could write a pretty sweet book. Unfortunately, all he's read is Animorphs and Pokemon or something like that. You can look him up, he did an interview-style questionnaire for some self-publishing website where he admits it.

He's just a meme perfect storm is all.
>pretentious pseudonym
>pretentious title
>wanky omphaloskeptic story
>terrible prose style
>ten whole dollars for a self-pub
>looks like pic related
I didn't put him on the chart but I bet an anon did. He's a funnier Boku no Pico than Orphans of Chaos, I'd say.

>>8944949
That's post-apocalypse Seattle so everything's different.

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lel

>>8944996

But the Space Needle is at the base of Queen Anne Hill, which is elevated but sloping toward the Sound southwestward. How could a marsh form there? There's no place for water to collect.

>>8945029
Is that our boy Stevian?

>>8945031
Post.
Apocalypse.

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>>8945029

>>8945029
>I didn't appreciate their actions

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>>8945029

>>8945029
>not an apostrophe in sight

What is this?

>>8944937
I like you ;)

>>8945058

Yes there are?

>>8945066
>"I released the mans arms and let my elbow find its way into the mans gut"

>>8945054
>expert spiral of death and destruction

lost

>>8945069

Oh, he did use it for
>didn't

This fucking guy

>>8945075
Yeah, his issue seems to be with apostrophes of possession. Surely this wasn't published?

>>8945078

Self published

>>8945044

"The Apocalypse" doesn't just completely rearrange a region's topography, especially not in a temperate climate like the Northwest. You need to fill this story out a bit more if you're going to get me to buy it.

>>8944871
Yes, it makes me very upset.

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>>8945029
>crossing my legs around his waist and holding his arms so he could not retaliate

>>8944815
>I may be in the minority on that one.
I don't think so.

>>8945108
Well, City and the City is the award-winner, and I saw some hype for Last Days of New Paris when it came out.

>>8944686
Maybe Dark Tower by King

>>8944542
A Mary Sue main character and unique magic style which is barely explored.

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>>8944917
is it not supposed to echo nighthawks or am I projecting?

What does this general think of George R. R. Martin?

>>8945139
Good. Lost a lot of interest in the books though with the delays and the TV show overtaking it.

>>8945139
Sunset found her

>>8945139
If nothing else it's hard to understate the impact he's had on the genre as a whole and even easier to forget how good the earlier books were in the context of when they were initially published.

>>8945096
maybe that's what MTV thought

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>>8945138
He could have just shopped Nighthawks if that was the case. The goal was for a cheerful party atmosphere, I'd say, not something intimate.

>>8945152
He was only ever a pale imitation of the old masters, impoverished as his time may have been.

>>8945133
Make magic drain his lifespan, easy. Or burn the rainforest or expand the Nothing, use up a childhood memory, something like that. If you want him to be able to use tremendous cosmic powers without direct backlash, you could make him afraid of himself if he starts to think he's a god. Make it a personal conflict not involving magic.

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>>8944776
Shaeönanra did nothing wrong.

>>8944292
Altered Carbon

Anyone read that Senlin Ascends meme that's getting shilled on Reddit? The concept sounds cool

>>8944345
>there are people in this thread RIGHT NOW who wouldn't free horrific rape monsters for the promise of immortality and a harem of traps

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Thoughts on this?

>>8944798
Would you recommend Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore? Is the main character too obnoxious? Are there enough fantastical elements in there?

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Hey /sffg/,

This week I'm going to a huge used bookstore with over 1 million used books. I'm looking to take a list of Fantasy novels with me and see how many I can find. The books are very cheap so I will most likely buy anything on the list that I can find. So, take a look t my meagre list so far and give comments/additions/subtractions. When i get back i'll post my purchases,may pick up some interesting editions.

Various elements I enjoy in Fantasy: >atmosphere.
>comfy settings
>mundane descriptions of characters going about day to day life
>medieval city settings
>priests, monks, holy orders
etc

The list:

>Anything by Tolkien
I've read LOTR and The Hobbit but am interested in buying them for my library. Also interested in finding the Silmarillion plus and "Peripheral" books (art books etc) related to Tolkien

>Terry Pratchett "Guards" books
Never read any Pratchett but interested in trying something out of my comfort zone. Not interested in anything too "goofy" but don't mind some humour/weirdness.

>Any Witcher books
Read "The Last Wish" and really, really loved it.

>The Chronicles of Amber
It was recommended to me and looks great.

>The Stormlight Archive books or Warbreaker by Sanderson
Haven't really read any of the modern "classics" and Sanderson seems decent.


That's all I have on my list for now but very open to suggestions.

>>8945671
>Various elements I enjoy in Fantasy
Take a look at a couple books by Guy Gavriel Kay, noticeably Lions of Al Rassan and Under Heaven.

>The Stormlight Archive books or Warbreaker by Sanderson
>Haven't really read any of the modern "classics" and Sanderson seems decent.
Stay away from Sanderson. I'd suggest The Lies of Locke Lamora instead.

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>>8945694
Nice suggestions, thank you. I have added these to my list.

>>8945699
Not them.
I liked - lightly atmospheric: Sanderson (Way of Kings, Emperor's Soul), Lynch (Locke Lamora).

These are quite atmospheric: Guy Gavriel Kay (Tigana was his best), The Long Price Quartet

Very atmospheric: Jack Vance Dying Earth, Twelve Kings of Sharakhai

As with all books flip through pages before you buy.

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>>8945773
Thank you also for your input.

Nice to see LLL and the Guy Kay mentioned twice, makes me more resolved to pick them up.

I find "flicking through" books before reading them only helpful in weeding out novels with shockingly bad prose. Otherwise I don't find myself able to discern much from a cursory glance.

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Post yfw Elantris is actually profound commentary on post-colonial African society

>>8945927
kek

>>8945927
Except the Africans never ruled the caucasians.
Or had superior magical power.
Or fell from grace due to a natural disaster, rather than superior white technology.

>>8945974
You didn't get it

>Elantrians are the white people
>Rule over and coexist with the native population
>One day they disappear
>Order breaks down without their authority figure
>Everybody starts starving
>Religious warlords threaten force if population does not convert to strict belief system
>Well-intentioned white woman tries to send them foreign aid but it doesn't help
>Overseas nation is much more egalitarian in terms of gender roles

I'm missing a few parallels that there are left to make but you get the idea

>>8944908
To tell you the truth I can even match the name of those wexler books to the books themselves (except the first). If guns of empire was the latest then it was meh. Corpse Bride politicking, the charismatic demon leading people to die for him, church starts hitting back hard, new allies are found (I'm sure they will betray them), Winter still hasn't enjoyed the bliss of a dick, new big bad comes on scene (as expected).

Read it if you want, it didn't really get my blood up like the first one, maybe because it's falling into cliche territory.

>>8944818
It was great. I was the person shilling altered carbon the most last year. I love novels where adapting or modifying the body is possible, it gives a sense of wonderment and evokes the imagination that it might be possible.

>>8944826
I'm sure some of the ones you called okay are the ones I called hot trash. But yes a lot of them were trash and a lot were hidden gems.

>>8944993
But we aren't /b/. We actually recommend books and discuss here. We don't troll people into wasting money on a shit book(an anon did a review, it's shit). If you want shill and shit post it in the thread. Not the official OP.

I swear if I see the anon who did this... lit has a mod now so we will be one troll less.

What is some literary fantasy with some actually good romance?

>>8946135
lol

>>8946135
you're asking a lot

maybe The Princess Bride?

>>8945671
Hi Anon, where's this bookshop? Sounds promising

>>8946135
if it were 2006, i would've suggested you twilight, and then laughed and laughed and laughed.

>>8945590
It's alright, but not very fantastical - more of a mystery really

>>8946157
In the South West UK, called Book Barn. Very comfy and very highly recommended. All books are 1£

What is some /sffg/ that features an immortal ruler and the ramifications of said ruler's immortaility throughout history?

Prefferably books where the leader hasn't reigned for more than half a milennia.

>>8946175
>All books are 1£
> a huge used bookstore with over 1 million used books

Is is too late to ask Drumpf compensation for my participation in the meme war that won him the presidency?

>>8946181
Your reward was any salt harvested since his election.

Is LOTR still worth reading if you saw the movies and already know what happens?

>>8946179
Mistborn trilogy

>>8946101
>(an anon did a review, it's shit).
Dude, I told you, that was me copy-pasting an angry review of an entirely different book. Find the review, it's nothing like what TKaG is. Lighten up.

>>8946179
the latter Dune books? Can't remember how long Leto rules for

>>8946218

I only placed the "less than half a milennia" condition because I don't want a book with a poor sense or scale or that exaggerates dates for the sake of it a la GRRM and neglects what the potential impact of a single person ruling indefinitely.

The date doesn't really matter, I just want material to """'take inspiration"""" from when I want to write immortal leader myself.

>>8946179
Pretty sure this is an accurate description of much 40k

What's some good sci-fi that will blow me away with how real and flawed the characters are, without "people are complicated and often damaged" devolving into "people all suck and everything is shit all the time?"

>>8946240

>>8946226

>a book with a poor sense or scale or that exaggerates dates for the sake of it a la GRRM and neglects what the potential impact of a single person ruling indefinitely

Granted, ridiculous scale is a staple of 40k, but it's not a good guide for how an empire under continuous leadership would behave.

Plus the Emperor has been on life support for the last 10k years of the setting

>>8945984
Doesn't work, since it's literally still a colony under that religious tyrant/god/priest whatever you call him. And the female mc isn't an Elantrian.

>>8946250
>Plus the Emperor has been on life support for the last 10k years of the setting, he's not exactly had direct control over his country

tfw to smart to be coherent

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Glorious steampunk/cyberpunk space opera.

>>8946266
been threatening to read that for an age. I should just pull the trigger is what you're saying?

>>8946276
It's great. I highly recommend it. A couple twists along the way although the big twist is foreshadowed heavily so you know by the time it's relevant. Doesn't take away from the book though. It's also very noir.

>>8946276
Another anon here: it's interesting and I liked it, though I wouldn't classify it as steampunk.

>>8946266
How good is that compared his other books? I loved Revelation Space, but Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap kind sucked.

>>8946319
Imho, it's the best in the series. It's basically a prequel to Revelation Space although it's essentially a standalone novel not related to the main plot. It's also great to learn the history of both Chasm City and Sky's Edge.

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>>8944597
Tau Zero was pretty fun.

>>8946266
Prefect sequel this year HYYYYYYYYYPE

Got some new OC. Waiting for certain anons to start posting (like they usually do) to release it.

Don't worry even though the dino meme is dead doesn't mean we won't still produce fresh stocks.

>>8944877
>Gri welcomed
>bring your own little girl protagonist
>serving of Sanderson not optional
What is going on here? I only joined the general last week.

Holy shit

The book of Jhereg is interesting, it has the type of sarcastic but highly competent protag the Name of the Wind guy was trying and failing to write.

What's some good hard scifi set within the next 150 years that deals with actually conceivable (or even variations on already existing) issues?

Bonus points if it'll make me cry.

>>8946373
Gri - gay, rape and incest

Girl protagonist - a meme that ensued after somebody kept spamming a request for books with little girls as protagonists

Sanderson - People talk about >him in here and I guess somebody's upset about it

Personally from the little I've read of his work I can say it's very comfy, small-scaled and wholesome. His prose is atrocious though.

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>>8945671
I would highly recommend C. J. Cherryh's Fortress series as it covers all 5 of your criteria (though I'm not sure how to score atmosphere) and is a personal favorite besides. The priesthood is an important antagonist as they feel the existence and prominence of the MC is a threat to their orthodoxy and therefore power base. Rural priests are far less orthodox, due to the region having a strong tradition of heresy. The MC is a magical construct (human in substance) with only a few months life experience before being thrust into the royal court. He prefers (to the amusement/consternation of others) a mundane life, but sometimes rises to the occasion with instinct and magical power.

>>8944930
The meme of /lit/ has always been that nobody has read the stuff they're shitposting about.

I'd love to properly talk about literature but there's almost never three people on /lit/ who've all actually read the same book.

That's why I like this thread despite it having some awful posters. Everyone outside of the shitposters has actually read the stuff they post about

>>8946604
Thanks this looks great! Added to my list.

Some of the stuff from this list I'm going to download digitally regardless of whether I can find hardcopies from that used books tore.

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>>8946526
>small scaled

What have you read? Isn't The storm light archive like 10 books of 1k pages each?

I'm interested in him if he's comfy and wholesome though desu

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>>8946798
I got something much comfier for you anon. Check this out.

>>8946812
Please oh please stop spamming this, did your mum write it or something? Its like every other thread with this thing. No one is going to buy it.

>>8946798
there are only 2 stormlight books so far

>>8946812
kys

>>8946820
I heard it was supposed to be 10 or something by the end?

I've never read any Sanderson but I am interested, particularly if some of his works are "small scale".

>>8945139
He did a great job starting fantasy versions of "War and Peace". It stands aside with its scale and point of view. Not many knight fantasy novels show to reader point of view from inside castles. Typical fantasy hero is angsty outsider who look at castles from outside not been part of this life.

But this novel has no end and it goes nowhere and Deus Ex machinas (not one but many) became main heroes.

>>8946798
>>8946834
Read some of his short fiction if you want to get a taste. The Emperors Soul is a good read and always rreccommennddedd. I've enjoyed his Cosmere stuff very much, and the short stories set in it are mostly "small scale". Currently only Mistborn is a longer series, and Stormlight is the one that's supposed to be 10 books. Good luck keeping that promise, as he accidentally wrote a quadrilogy of not very long additional Mistborn books when he intended to write only one as an interlude.
Reading his Reckoners series is a questionable idea if you're older than, say, 19.

>>8946897
>Reading his Reckoners series is a questionable idea if you're older than, say, 14.
ftfy

>>8946897
>tfw accidentally write a quadrilogy

>>8946218
Nope. Leto III rules for 3500 years.

>>8946926
Yea, you might be right, but only 18+ are allowed to post here.

>>8944300
All the other books are much better. Give it a chance.

>>8946084
>that guns of empire ending though

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>On the worst nights he hugged himself in the blackness of his tent, screaming and sobbing. He beat the earth with his fists, stabbed holes with his knife, then fucked them.

>>8947038
Cnaiur is such a crazy kiddo

>>8947038
Imagine if Cnaiur commanded the Great Ordeal.

>from now on, we fuck Sranc
>eats Proyas
>pumps Proyas's dirty prick bumhole, but there's no surprise/revelation because he's been doing it for months
>Sorweel, you must pretend to the Nonmen to not want to be fucked by me
>but I don't-
>shh just do it

>>8947038
Guys this bakker memeing put me off reading him for ages because I actually thought it was real.

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>>8944286
What do you guys think about pic related? I really like it, but the UN and Mars are so incompetent it kinda breaks my immersion.

>>8947056
FUCK
>pick bumhole

>>8947061
>UN being incompetent
Just like real life.

>>8947038
Should I grow my hair to Bakker length again? Please reply.

Any novels with a cyborg that has the mind of a little girl?

>>8947045
>Cnaiür vaulted across the table, hammered the back of his head. The Exalt-General went down. Cnaiür unfastened his belt, snapped it free. He yanked it about the sobbing man's neck, hoisted him to his knees. He wrenched him back to the table, threw him onto his chest. He smashed his face against its own reflection — once, twice...
>He looked up, saw the slaves cringing in the shadows, their arms upraised. One of them wept.
>"I am a demon!" he cried. "A demon!”
>Then he turned back to Conphas shuddering on the table beneath him.
>Some things required literal explanation.
he's alright
>>8947056
kek

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>>8947079
this has a mechanical golem

>>8947059
Silly you

>>8946897
Thanks anon, got a pizza in the oven and I'm currently firing up "Arcanum Unbounded" on my kindle. Comfy.

>>8947082
this is one of the worst books I've read in a while
the author has no clue what people mean by this 'show, not tell' thing others keep telling him
many say it's steampunk firefly, but that's a load of horse shit: the only thing it's got in common with firefly is that a group of people do illegal things with a ship

seriously, some of the worst writing, drawn-out dialog without any kind of dynamic to it, flat as fuck characters and a rushed and more importantly shitty plot

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>>8947082
Don't read this.

Start with electric sheep, if you haven't already.

>>8947130
>>8947108
heh, i like these comics

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Anyone else read this? I liked the cover and grabbed it the library.

Sadly, not about cyborgs having their human facade crumble away. Are there any good books about cyborgs hiding in society?

Read Philip K Dick

>>8947152
>At NPR, Amal El-Mohtar praised the "crucial, necessary" novel for its brutality in looking "unflinchingly into the self-replicating virus of empire", noting in particular the unexpectedly "viscerally riveting" portrayal of economic conflict.[4] Dickinson has blogged about explicitly addressing issues around gender and feminism, race and homosexuality, as well as imperialism in the world of Baru Cormorant.[5]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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>However, groundbreaking 30, 40, 50 or 100 years ago can now seem horribly out of date and shockingly offensive.

>This is seen in The Forever War, one of the rare books that portrays homosexuality. The main story centres around military recruits, sent to fight newly discovered aliens but in relativistic time-scales. As they spend most of their time travelling at relativistic speeds, time on earth slips hundreds of years into the future. However, despite the same years in combat, one of the supporting female protagonists, Marygay, only gets made an executive officer while Joe, the male protagonist becomes a major.

The Forever War is "offensive" because a male character got promoted t a higher rank than a female character.

This actually passes for journalism and someone is paid to write it.
http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/08/i-read-100-best-fantasy-and-sci-fi-novels-and-they-were-shockingly-offensive

>>8947191
and to think it's recently been shilled heavily here

>>8947211
>new statesmen

fuck you expect?

>>8947211
Not just offensive, SHOCKINGLY offensive.

>>8947211
reactionary literary movement when?

>>8947213
I thought it was going to be about cyborgs, it wasn't terrible tho despite some SJW shit

>>8947211
will trump make sff great again?

>>8947211
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/women-writers-who-deserve-to-be-forgotten/

Speccy still uncucked

>>8947223
guys
guys
guys
i think this "jacobin" magazine might be left-leaning!

>>8947258
No, he's actually going to make all our suffering significantly more drawn-out and horrible. I was hoping for Clinton to win in order to hasten whatever teleological end the modern world is heading for.

>>8947191
Sounds good, honestly.

>>8947239
SOON

>>8947308
There is no teleology to the world. Just us struggling to live as best we can according to our own desires and intuitions.

That said, Trump and Clinton are both awful.

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>>8947318
>There is no teleology to the world.

>>8947318
I honestly don't know how anyone can look at history since the French Revolution and not believe we are on some kind of teleological trajectory.

>>8947061
Does the series improve? I dropped it 3/4 through Caliban's War because it just seemed like a retread of the first book.

>>8947345
It doesn't improve, you're fine stopping where you did

>>8947345
well Cibola Burn sucked ass but I like Nemesis Games so far

How is The Handmaid's Tale?

>>8947419
patriarchal

>>8946819
>>8946825
goodreads gives it a solid 4.3/5 guys, it might be on to something

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>>8947439
>goodreads

>>8947336
Maybe they actually know history, Anon?

>>8947485
They clearly don't. I mean if de Maistre could make this observation in 1796, what excuse does anyone with access to another 200 years of supporting data have?

>>8947512
>de Maistre
This thread is for /sffg/, not /lit/'s typical philosophical BS. De Maistre is a hack and shill for the Catholic Church, the reason the "rationalism that led to the French Revolution" caused so much death was because the Church and the nobles wouldn't let go of their immoral power.

>>8947682
Look bro I'm as anti-Catholic as anyone but "they forced us to guillotine everyone" is a weak, weak argument.

>>8944292
Red Mars

>>8947729
>the only people who matter are the people who were guillotined
But really, why would you think my reference to "so much death" was people being guillotined? They were only a small fraction of the overall upheaval, and the fact that you're so fixated on them kind of shows me how little you know. Unless I'm wrong and you thought that that's all I knew, which is fair enough.

>>8944300

>tfw everyone hates Consider Phlebas

it's so good

>>8947777
nice quads

>>8947777
Checked but no. It's the worst Culture novel by far.

>>8947191

>People who love division of labor but hate empire

There isn't a single principle anti-imperialist and there never will be. Like people who hate slavery but love "life".

>>8947793

Is it because it's the most standard space opera one? I'd say it's still pretty great on that level.

>>8947777
That's the one with catgirls right? I have to keep the list in my head, otherwise I won't remember when I'm in a book store.

>>8947682
>immoral power
As opposed to the "moral power" which uses taxes to fund abortion and "gender reassignment therapy" for children?

>>8947777
I liked it better than Player of Games. Player was better on a technical level, but it didn't have any of the energy, imagination, or things to say of Phlebas.

>>8947871
Tax money doesn't go toward abortion. PP is forbidden from using taxes for abortions.

That said, capitalism and states are both inherently immoral.

Anybody know any good anarchist sci-fi besides LeGuin?

>>8947905
Adam Roberts, Salt and New Model Army.

>>8947905
Funding can be redistributed, so the government still funds abortion in a roundabout way even if those specific bills aren't used.

The Culture? Though I guess it's more of an oligarchy.

>>8947883

I always found Player of Games a little flat as well, still bretty gud but it's the only one I could believe had been written by someone other than Banks.

>>8944871
M8 we made this thread to keep them out, not the other way around. It is impossible to have any genuine discussion of books on outer /lit/. It's not a nice place by any stretch but the opinions here are at least mostly genuine.

>>8947967
maybe in terms of the minds pre-eminence but it's usually described as anarchist utopia

What's one setting or cliche that will automatically turn you off from a book? For me it's steampunk.

>>8948022
There are many. Divine-right monarchies without any corresponding religious foundation or even somehow coexisting with secularism (extremely common), women in the military, women as court advisors or spies, gender equality in general, gay rights, degrading and nihilistic depictions of human nature, illogical military operations or outcomes, liberal priests, "talk to the monsters" garbage, and probably many others I can't think of right this instant.

>>8948022
Orphan girl thief protagonist

Extremely tired of this shit

>>8948180
Just stop reading YA and you should be fine.

Is Name of the Wind as bad as they say it is?

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>>8944286
Are David Gemmell's standalone fantasy books worth reading?

As far as I know he only wrote four:
>Knights of Dark Renown
>Morningstar
>Dark Moon
>Echoes of the Great Song

>>8944286
Whats a good book or book series (preferably fantasy) with a cold hearted MC without being edgy/too edgy to the point of cringe and breaking immersion

>>8948247
Acts of Caine

>>8948249
this. Hari is peerless.

>>8948226
I dunno but it's definitely not as good as they say it is.

>>8948226
It's trash and Rothfuss is a creepy sexual predator who despite being married surrounds himself with nearly a dozen female "assistants" that all worship the ground he stands on and are clearly being manipulated into performing sexual services for him. I feel really bad for his wife.

>>8948247
Takeshi Kovacs worth a shout.

>>8948247
>>8948310
or Ringil Eskiath for that matter.

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Has anyone here read anything by Vernor Vinge? He seems to be an influence on a lot of authors (Mean Gene Wolfe being one of them) but I dont think I've ever seen him mentioned here. Is pic related worth a read?

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>>8947801
>Like people who hate slavery but love "life".

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>>8948308
Holy carp i didn't know he was so based.

>>8948343
Well they're all really ugly, I'm pretty sure his schtick is taking advantage of their lack of self-esteem.

>>8948330
Life is slavery to flesh.

>>8948324
He is mentioned semi-regularly, including this very thread (lrn2CTRLF). Get off 4chan and read Deepness RIGHT FRIGGIN NAOW!

>>8945422
The prose is great and the worldbuilding is great but it's hard to feel for the characters or the direction of the plot.

>>8946175
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I am jealous

>>8948405
On it famalam, just bought it for my Kindle

>>8948495
>buying ebooks

is this a good basis for a fairy tale?

>the city's greatest pickpocket is a homeless girl.
>one day she steals part of the goddess Bast's power, which is located in one of her three tails.
>Bast however, is too clever to fool, and while the girl plundered her tail, Bast stole the girl's humanity and destroyed it, turning her into a cat
>Now if the girl wants to be returned to human form, she has to steal the tail of a much more gullible god, and become a Nekomata (two tailed cats who can shapeshift)

>>8948548
No, fairy tales need to have grimm endings

>>8948548
That sound incredibly dumb.

>>8948567
>No, fairy tales need to have grimm tails
Fixed it for you.

>>8948548
Sounds like a great idea for a children's picture book.
Drop the Japanese

>>8948595
agreed, but it's better than my previous idea which was nothing.

Mind pointing out which parts are the most retarded so I can fix those? I'm satisfied with the most skeletal form

>street urchin is turned into a cat for pickpocketing a god and has to find a way to become human again

I think mythology mixing fucked it up though

>>8948671
agreeing on that, but there's no english equivalent for nekomata.

I can turn bakeneko to cheshire cat or grimmalkin or sphinx, but there are no two-tailed cats outside of japanese myth

>>8948504
>being poor

>>8946226
>that exaggerates dates for the sake of it a la GRRM
Not sure how GRRM is a good example of that - Eriksson is far, far worse.

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So this is a prequel right? Should I read New Spring first or just start with The Eye of the World?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1001544.New_Spring

>>8948548
Well memed sir.

>>8948770
Eye of the World

>>8947312
It actually is. It helps that it's well written unlike most SJW shit.

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>>8948674
>>8948548
>he did it, he actually posted it. The mad man
I was waiting all day for one of your ilk to post so I could release my new OC.

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>>8948788
So New Spring is suppose to be read last?

>>8948308
the man somehow turned 10 years spent as a beta orbiter at a college campus parroting feminist classes in a hope for some pussy into his own harem

gotta give him some credit

Who ever makes the new thread remember to replace this https://i.imgur.com/qkz73sR.jpg in selected fantasy with this https://i.imgur.com/r688cPe.jpg

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>>8948938

>>8948247
Red Rising.

>>8948308
post M'Lady Rothfuss

Is song of fire going to be considered modern classic series if GRRM ever finish its?

>>8948548
A cat is fine too, yes.

>>8948952
Why would you ever read a series not in publication order? Would you watch the prequels before the original Star Wars? It's like the dipshits who try to read magicians nephew before the lion the witch and the wardrobe. Just don't.

>>8948938
>another first page of GIS meme
just stop

>>8948684
just call her a two-tailed catgirl

>>8949060

Definitely

>>8949111
Maybe I just won't give that kind of creature a name. I'll just say that with a second tail she can gain the power to take a human form

>>8948548
Needs more main characters. Neco grill obviously needs trusted friend.

>>8949108
>GIS
?????

>>8949129
If I were you I'd either give it a specific name, or mention that that kind of creature was called different things by different cultures which lets you reference nekomata without going full weeb.

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>>8948106
>women in the military

*blocks your path*

>>8949299
maybe I can call them saturnians or saturnalians in reference to lovecraft's cats of saturn?

>>8949139
The original idea was that it would be told from the perspective of a minor demigod she's trying to steal from who is working as a busboy, but now that I think of it the story needs a clear direction, and I don't have that yet

>>8949534
don't lie to me:
how much of your story is directly inspired by DanMachi

>>8949561
I can't even remember what anime danmachi is. Was it that one where the devil worked at mcdonalds?

>>8949586
No, danmachi is the one where hestia gets a kid to dive her dungeon

>>8949586
It was one where the gods were in this fantasy city and some of them owned businesses and sponsored hero guilds. Notable for jaunty toothbrushing, beloved of Estonians.

Looking for fantasy recommendations where a main character Goes Native. Anyone got anything?

>>8949611
Hmm...not sure if it will fit but you might like West of Eden.

>>8949593
>>8949600
Oh, that. I got up to the minotaur fight and said fuck it.

actually, my inspiration was homestuck. the girl is nepeta but changed to make her compatible with an actual character arc and the busboy is a solid karkat ripoff

>>8949638
You poor soul, I remember you.

Do you take in any good media? Maybe you can inspiration from that.

https://www.wired.com/2014/10/magicians-trilogy/

What a shitty article. The Magicians trilogy isn't even ABOUT Brakebills or Fillory or talking bears and rabbits. It's about Quentin, Alice, Janet, Eliot, Julia... people. The other stuff is there to contribute to the books' theme and because it's fucking cool.

I hate this bullshit idea that fantasy should be 100% all about world building and if you didn't make a big coherent world that's totally original you didn't do shit.

NEW THREAD

>>8949727
>>8949727
>>8949727

>>8949682
In terms of fiction nothing worth mentioning recently. I'm insatiably picky so I've had to choose between crappy sequels and re-reading things I've already read.

In terms of science however I've been expanding my mathematic understanding of number and function spaces, which is kind of important when you're writing hard science fantasy. From it I got inspiration that helped inspire my main character's plot arc

>>8949714
It's a 3 book series about how magic doesn't stop you from being a whiny, entitled, depressed cocksucker with literal homosexual tendencies.

Couldn't be more subtle with that idea if the Grossman came to every reader and beat them to death while screaming it. More surprised that people consider this "good"

>>8944286
Little upset R Scott Bakker isn't on any of these charts

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>>8947905
>>8947967

Taxes fund the existence of PP. PP uses its funds to perform abortions, the profits of which make up over half of its income.

I'll agree with you on your capitalism point.

Read Tolkien for some anarcho-monarchist fantasy.

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>>8948106
We have similar turn-offs, lad. Recommend me some good Fantasy?

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>>8948308
He's also an insufferable progressive. I just visited his twitter for the first time and within the top few tweets he was moaning about PP being defunded, moaning about "the wall" and him wearing a marxist-feminist t-shirt.

In summary: exactly as I suspected.