/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

>first story in hyperion was the only good one

Second for fantasy being an incredibly shallow genre.

>>9535567
Yeah, not enough artistic stories of arab taxi drivers blowing each other mid-ride. Go get hit with a rocket, Jew.

>>9535562
Nah, that one was the best but the one about aging in reverse was good too (if a bit maudlin). As for the rest, though, I agree.

Womemes
Female warriors ruin books

>>9535587
No need to be upset, sunshine.
Contemporary fantasy is completely devoid of any deeper meaning or symbolism.

>>9535562
I loved Kassad's section, if nothing but for the goddam zero-g combat section. That was incredible.

The rest were okay, but the Priest's tale was really great

Best examples of fantasy westerns other than Dark Tower?

>>9535616
Read Blood Meridian. It's probably the best thing I've read.

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>>9535616
Deadman's Road by Joe R. Lansdale

>>9535598
>symbolism
This is what stupid people think makes something interesting.

>>9535669
Fantasy today is written equivalent of Hollywood action flicks.

>decided to load up what I've absolutely finished to far and see how many words are there
>23.881
>tfw not even counting all the unfinished / unedited chapters
>tfw not even at the half of the book
>tfw barely finished with introductory shit
I guess it's a good thing that I write so much but as a literal nobody, what would the publishers say if I attempt to publish this shit?
Also how many words is a good number for a typical fantasy book? I always expected it to be some 30k but seeing I'm at 23k and I'm barely some 1/3 done, what should I do?

I'm looking for books that capture atmosphere & tension form first hour of Alien - any suggestions? You know, space exploration, dark but not edgy, slow, realistic. Maybe something like Rendezvous with Rama (like it) and Solaris (love it).

>>9535772
>Also how many words is a good number for a typical fantasy book?

80-90k or so.

>>9535772
are you cheese sandwich anon? if not I'd love to have a read ~(no offence cheese anon but come on i read yours already)
>>9535778
Blindsight nigga

>>9535691
How is that relevant to what I said? Symbolism is vacuous garbage. People just assign arbitrary meanings to things and then wank about how deep it is that they've constructed this whole tapestry of meaning by claiming one thing "obviously" stands for another. It's the same kind of bunk that got psychoanalysis discredited decades ago.

>>9535842
>fantasy
I retract my offer to read what you've got, no offence but only read lotr so i'd be a poor audience

>>9535772
Nigga 30k isn't even full length for a normal novel and fantasy novels tend to be much, much longer. 40k is the bare minimum to be classified as a novel and not a novella in fiction. Fantasy books tend to be like double that at least. It's not uncommon for them to be over 100k words though. For example, every single book in Malazan Book of the Fallen is at least 120,000 words, and the longest are nearly 400,000. But that's kind of an extreme example of how huge a series can get.

So basically you're fine if you're not even half way done. Your novel will still probably not even be considered long by the standards of the genre.

>>9535859
>every single book in Malazan Book of the Fallen is at least 120,000 words
My mistake I just checked. The minimum word count for the series is actually 200,000 words.

I just bought Children of Hurin and Promise of Blood. Which should I read first?

Finished the first book of Three Body and i'm surprised by how easy it was to get through it, props to the translator. Honestly one of the best modern sci-fi books i've read.

>>9535915
It's because Ken Liu, a great author in his own write, did the translation.

Most tl work is done by people without any real writing experience

>>9535868
Children of Hurin.
There's even a reading of it by Christopher Lee up on youtube if you're one of those audiofags.

>>9535772
>good thing that I write so much
People write 50k in a month for that faggy NaNoWriMo thing.
Get over yourself.

>>9535616
Territory by Emma Bull

Any trannies in this thread?

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I read The Last Incantation, a short five page story by Clark Ashton Smith from 1929. It's about an old, powerful and feared magician who sits in a tower above a city, wishing to revive a former lover to rid his feelings of ennui. This is a compact piece about the problem of knowledge and memory. The necromancer's appearance, dwelling and art are depicted in fine and baroque detail.

>>9535915
read the other two nigga shit gets crazy

>>9536012
That cover art confuses the fuck out of me, Isn't the world of Zothique a desert?

>>9535956
If I was into audio books I wouldn't have bought it, but I might give it a listen after I finish the book.

>>9536038
The back of the volume says it's The Spy by Clark Ashton Smith, who did some painting and sculpting. The book has stories from several of his settings including the dying earth of Zothique - Hyperborea, Averoigne. ST Joshi writes that his paintings and sculptures were exhibited several times in the Bay area in the 30s. I think it's an interesting picture, appropriately odd, and I'm interested to see more.

>>9536038
All Penguin classics use paintings for their covers iirc

>>9536157
Except the inexplicable Morrissey autobiography

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>>9535595
>Tfw some people think I read about women warriors to be progressive
>tfw it's actually just my fetish

>>9536276
Rec some books lad.

Gandalf the Gray more like Gandalf the Gay

>>9536189
Morrissey's autobiography was pure kino

>>9536540
WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA

I have a few Audible credits and I just finished Echopraxia. I didn't like it as much as I liked Blindsight or the Three Body Problem trilogy, any other good first contact books that actually have interesting characters as opposed to cardboard cutouts that the plot uses. Blindsight at least had a really interesting protagonist, Dark Forest had a pretty anime main character but it was forgivable, Echopraxia's main character was so bad that I didn't care what happened to him.

I finished Wheel of Time a couple weeks back.

I don't know what to do with myself now. Nothing else I've picked up has been able to hold my attention, I feel like I'm always forcing my way through. Any recommendations?

>>9537072
Well, you're obviously a masochist, so Malazan?

>>9535562

Disappointingly true.

Similarly, Neuromancer is the only good book of the Sprawl trilogy.

>>9537085

I haven't tried that series yet, nor anything else by Erikson. Are you suggesting that because he writes similarly to Jordan? Strong world building? Just because it's long?

>>9537178
>>9537072
Stormlight Archives

>>9537202
This. Go buy The Way of Kings ASAP anon.

>>9537247
>>9537202

I'll give it a try, but I thought WoT took a turn for the worse when Sanderson took over. It's like that guy has ADD or something.

>>9537261
Yeah I know what you mean, but you've gotta give him some lenience for taking over one of the most complicated (and lengthy) fantasy series in recent history - and being expected to finish it strongly. I think with Stormlight Archives he was able to plan everything from the ground up, so it's much more cohesive.

>>9537178
>Strong world building
>Just because it's long
Ayyyyyyy
Also, I liked it.

I'm done with the expanse series (so far) and it was quite alright, But I don't know what to read next. More sci-fi? Fantasy? I like Wizards, but most books are either not about wizards and just have magic on the side, or are straight up shit.

How have I still not read The Unholy Consult? ARCs on Ebay when?

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>Based Mycroft
>Based J.E.E.D. Mason is a fucking alpha
>Bridger is /pure/
>based worldbuilding
>Japanese characters
>References to everything from Roman to Greek mythology to Caesar, to Asimov to the Iliad with /m/echa
>Marquis de Sade subplot
>grey morality fucking everywhere
>that ending
wtf I absolutely fucking love Too Like the Lightning and the sequel now

I'm anticipating that at the end of the series J.E.E.D is going to die for real, Mycroft is going to lose whatever faith he has in humanity left, lose whatever brainwashing he is that prevents him from going on another rape/murder spree become the primary antagonist and then Bridger will bring him back. I really want to see him as a villain, there's so much fucking potential for villain of the year right there holy shit. Prequel when? Sequel when?

ARC leak when?

>>9537439
Less than two months till official release

Might as well wait to official release

>>9535772
Really need to make a "this isn't your blog" macro....

>>9537202
Yes

Fucking amazing books

>>9537447
might cop this tbqh. bit off put by the hamfisted gender politics which i have heard are in it

>>9537549
Well it's on mobilism. In my opinion, it's more reverse SJW than anything but on the other hand I can definitely see where the criticisms are coming from.

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>you will never be Colonel Fedmahn Kassad and you will never engage the Shrike in single combat for the future of Humanity

>>9537664
>ywn be Aenea
>ywn post photos with the Shrike on /m/
Fuck my life

>>9537178
Its really fucking good and has the best worldbuilding... ever.

>tfw you pick up a Chinese web novel
>warlock of the magus world
>expect crap
>while derivative it's better than any western fantasy you've ever read

As a side note, does anyone know how to stop sub vocalization?
I tried reading four words in my head on a whim and can't stop doing it, completely ruins immersion.

>>9537447
Palmer said somewhere that the next book is Hobbes-influenced, and we're also going to see more of the world outside the hives.

I remember mentions of the 'Great African', Vatican, and Tibetan Reservations. Were there others? Is there a holdout of Muslims somewhere?

>>9537892
I think that it's only natural that the setting will expand due to the fact that they are moving towards war footing.

>>9535562
the first two books were great honestly

>>9535562
I liked every book in Hyperion and Sol's was the best story.

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What I want to know is - is Anonymous in Too Like the Lightning and the sequel a reference to 4chin/imageboards or something?

>>9537040
Bruks was a little dry compared to Siri, but I think Watts was trying to make a more down to earth protagonist. It's another one of the big contextual opposites between BS and EP, along with a few more he hid more well

>>9535691
>>9535598
Kinda agree, have to look far and wide as a fantasy fan for something non-generic. Current fave: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y655B9X
Not many stories do a good job of combining the elements of fantasy into a modern setting. Neil Gaiman is pretty good.

Also this: >>9535634
Blood Meridian is fucking amazing. One of the best I've read too.

>>9537664
kicking the shirke at the speed of sound was pure anime though

>>9538149
Kicking the Shrike at the speed of sound made me physically stand up, do a short walk around my room while going "ooooh! OOOOH!", then sit back down and slab my thighs repeatedly with excitement

>>9538181
Yeah but most /sffg/ posters aren't Chimpanzees.

>>9538189
Fuck you nigga. Most of Hyperion was semi-serious, and all that Kant shit kept me grounded and sensible. The sudden introduction of anime into the mix was an unexpected and badass variable.

>>9538181
Hyperion was fun as fuck, I hope that there's an anime made of it.

I need some big, dumb, action movie stuff about humans kicking alien ass. I love schlocky Military Sci Fi. Any recommendations? I've already read Undying Mercenaries and thought it was a great ride.

>>9538314
Halo books?
Starship Troopers?
Warhammer 40k books?

>>9538181
Okay, reddit

>>9538181
Getting hyped feels great.

>>9538423
>Feeling an emotion means you are from reddit.
What?

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I heard this shit is a 180 spin of Neuromancer is this true?

>>9538485
Walking around the room cheering like a spastic makes you reddit.

>>9535848
Do.. do you know where you are?

>>9537549
The gender politics aren't too bad and the books themselves are good. Gender shit is just part of the zeitgeist right now, like psi or The Atomic Age used to be. Logical outgrowth of transhumanism imo even if it does get overemphasized.

>>9538628
A lot of the Too Like the Lightning/Seven Surrenders goodread shitters are kekworthy and full of triggered SJWs. This fucking gem especially
>Maybe it's just because I'm a strongly politically biased liberal, but it almost feels like Palmer has recreated the conditions of the 2016 election -- except she's confused the stability Clinton was offering liberals (stability built on being progressive, responsive, and responsible) with the stability Trump offers conservatives (built on fear of economic and demographic uncertainty and nostalgia for a more rigid past). Merely depicting this wouldn't be the same as endorsing it, of course, except I'm finding it hard to shake the feeling that this book actually does endorse the latter. I hope that the next book proves me wrong about this.

Then there's the part where Palmer writes that they deliberately reinstituted a male dominated society and got rid of all the females in the leadership positions because it was better and that moment when a guy punches a female across the room, the only character who claims they are a tranny is a villain and one character only gets called female when they are acting retarded.

>>9538564
>Walking around the room cheering like a spastic makes you reddit
You are completely incorrect. Cheering like a spastic doesn't make you leddit, it's the word choice and exclamation mark positioning of that anon's post. Lurk for fifty more fucking years before you make such a retarded statement again.

>>9538752
>people on 4chan would admit to walking around cheering like a spastic

Both things make you reddit.

>>9538740
>In which it is illegal for three or more people to gather for the practice of religion—but ecumenical “sensayers” minister in private, one-on-one.

I don't understand this plot point, this is the literal exact opposite policy countries that try to control religion implement, learning about Singapore should be a requirement for dystopian authors.

Let's talk about books instead of le spooky boogieman
How does /sffg/ decide what to read next?
My current procedure is to paw through an unread stack until I see something that looks like a one-shot. If I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I'll begin a series.

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>>9538810
I just waddle through the themes I'd like to see. I can't read pulpy series, they're too over the top for me to care all the way through, so I search for something nice and short like pic related until I get the drive and/or time to get into a more "serious" series.

>>9538810
Any time I hear about something interesting I add it to my Amazon list (torrent queue for poorfags). I also occasionally hit up a local used book store and grab anything that looks interesting.

I have two big biases, towards old books and authors I already know. If I read one interesting book by an author, I'll usually dig into the rest of their catalogue.

I prefer old books because there's more consensus on whether they're any good or at least interesting: I'm familiar with the kind of reading some by people who back through tons of new stuff and I just can't do it. Also, older books tend to be MUCH SHORTER than the walls of text produced by modern authors. If I read something by Silverberg or van Vogt and it sucks, well it was a 150-page standalone and not a 400-page doorstopper that's also probably the start of a trilogy at least.

>>9538790
The sensayers act as a centralised spy network for highlighting suspects

>>9538826
What resources do you use that categorize books by these themes? Do you search the resource every time you need a new book, or do you create a list?
>>9538840
I feel much the same.

>>9538810
I farm books from archives, /m/, /lit/ and r/fantasy, printsf and a few other places, shitty ass goodreads if I am fucking desperate and torrent the ones I like the most. Something I've noticed is that most folks here have a higher hit %/higher correlation with my taste than other places. I double check that it isn't shit before downloading. Plot summary and cover is a really bad indicator quality. First page indicates if the author can write better than 3 years. Haven't dropped at > 10% is usually an indicator that it's a keeper. In the old library days I pulled every book sequentially of the shelves and screened based on blurb. If I liked the premise I flipped to the last couple of pages and then the last chapter and decided based on that quality. Nowadays I can download and borrow more books than I can read and it is fantastic.

>>9538870
*
In the old days it cost me almost $60 for one piece of shit fiction.

>>9538870
I should also note that I dislike onshots and feel that a trilogy is ideal. Duology is a bit short, quadrilogy also ideal, 5+ is pushing it if the author is shit.

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>>9538850
I want to preface by saying this is in no way the best way to do it and it's very random.

An example would be pic related. I think of the interesting topics that sci-fi expands upon that other genres might not (or at least, not as often). In this case, I wanted to know what was the sci-fi book set in the most ridiculously far future, mainly to see if the authors really cared about how technology advances exponentially (You pretty much need a big war or something horrible to happen to just barely be at "laser guns" level of technology in the year 1 million).

And so I discovered most of these books arrive at this egregious timelines via time dilation and other relativistic effects, which is interesting on itself too. A good consensus of the book is of course welcome (Sometimes from lit, sometimes from goodreads all with a grain of salt. Other topics to explore might be speculative evolution (All Tomorrows), time travel(End of Eternity), galactic expansion (The Foundation), alternate rules of physics, etc.

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Can we talk about pic related? I liked this book very much in my teens when I started reading as a hobby. Before you punch me in the face, please consider the only things I had read by then were a bunch of Warhammer 40k fluff books and The Circle by Ted Dekker (kinda random bookshop pick). At the time, it seemed like an "interesting version of Harry Potter", mainly because the author cared about explaining the why, when and how of his magic system, and came up with the relatively realistic exploits of such, like people just making money up, who the fuck will even question it?

As I grow older, I grow more afraid of picking it up again, or even reading the sequels. I heard somewhere that the love interest is resurrected, which pretty much takes a big fat shit on the moral of the first book, which deals with consequences. But I like Grossman's style, being succinct and direct by unapologetically using "shit" and "piss" and "whore" to describe such things with no decor.

>>9538810
I always have 10+ books backed up to read. If I downloaded it, it means I will read it sometime.
How those books are chosen? What ever yall meme here that sounds interesting (after I read the blurb), what is upped on my tracker, what ppl rec me on goodreads(if interesting), what the goodreads' algorithm recs me(if interesting), etc.

Once a book has gri, futuristic technologies, or a good story to tell I would try it.

>>9538897
Tell me... I read tunnel under the world... Tell... Is that book in your pic also about advertising???

>>9535848
It's ok anon. I write in my native language so you wouldn't even understand even if you wanted to read it.

When reading a series do you read all the books back to back or do you read books not in the series in between?

>>9538912
Read the entire trilogy, then come back to us. That book was discussed to death, and anyone here who read it completed the trilogy, so you will get spoilers.

>>9538935
Depends on the length and my mental fortitude at the time. I almost always read them back to back. In the case of Malazan, after the first 5 books I started slowing down and began to read one-shots concurrently with the remainder.

>>9538935
Always, ALWAYS. Read book series interspersed with something different between books. When you go all in, a lot of the time you get burned out. To keep the hype up, read something different. That way your boner is aching to return to the series. You don't lose interest.

If you are low iq and can't remember shit, this won't work for you.

>>9538870
What do you think your drop rate is, roughly? I usually can't bring myself to drop a book, those few that I have are waiting in a pile for another try.
>>9538923
Are you primarily a reader of ebooks?

>>9538912
The second book is much more interesting

I get that Grossman wanted to write about depression but it's just annoying to read

I really love lovecraft. Is there something similar?

>>9539065
Clark Ashton Smith.

>>9538912
There's was good book somewhere in the Magicians, Grossman just didn't gave the talent to find it.

Does anybody else find that Steris from Wax&Wayne is Sanderson's best female character (and one of is best characters overall)? I read him for the anime, so I've learned not to care so much, but most of his characters feel like caricatures - all their defining characteristics are shoved in the reader's face with no subtlety. But Steris stands out by being very realistically autistic. Strange that she's never mentioned here.

>>9538966
I only use audiobooks, the book has to be something I really want to read and can't find an audiobook for me to read an ebook. Ebooks take time, and I'm no longer the NEET I used to be. Can't be home all day reading, and when I am home got shit to do.

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>>9539147
>I read him for the anime
You don't read Sanderson for the anime. You read pic related.
Also I got a thing for older women, so when Steris's virgin cunny got wet from Wax flying all over the place I got a boner.

>>9539167
Would I be correct in assuming that your interests skew toward recent works? I don't listen to audiobooks myself, but is it easier to find them for newer stuff or about the same?

>>9539178
>You don't read Sanderson for the anime.
Why else would you read him tho?
His characters suck, his "wit" is cringe to end all cringes, his magic systems just highlight how ignorant and not very smart he is.

Anime plots and releasing books on time are the only things he's good at.

>>9539207
It must be nice to have only one hobby like Sanderson does with his writing.
Judging by his output, he never bores of it or feels like something a bit different.

>>9539217
classic autism, he is truly /ourguy/

>>9537178
If you want something with world building that will suck you in and keep you occupied, with characters you'll come to love, then Malazan will do that. It requires a significant investment of time and effort to read though, even more than WoT I would say because unlike WoT Erikson doesn't dump friendly exposition on you at every given opportunity. You're going to be confused at first because he throws shit at you without any explanation, so you have to pick it up as you go. As long as you're paying attention and actively trying to make connections between the fragments of stuff you learn you should do fine. There's way more characters in Malazan than in WoT though, and that's saying something, but every book has a Dramatis Personae section at the start that lists every named character that appears. It's helpful when you're just starting out.

Is there much fantasy out there that's grim/downtrodden without going into full edgy mode?

I like the idea of that setting but outside of black company everything is either Mark Lawrence style 'hahahah I rape everything for the lols' or abercrombie/kj parker style twists where everything is futile and the story ends in act 2.

>>9536369
Not that anon, but if you can commit to a trash Mary Sue protagonist then kingkiller gets pretty kingkinky in the second half of the second book

>>9538935
I always read books in a series back to back if they're available. The only time I'd read something in between volumes is if I'm waiting for the next book in a series to come out. I don't put my reading habit on hold just cause some guy is taking another year to finish the next installment. Though when I hear the next book is coming out, if it's been a while since I last read the series, at a few years at least, I'll reread the entire series before picking up the new book. This is especially helpful for the bigger, more complex series since there's always stuff you miss the first time when reading those books. The second read-through usually turns up a few neat things I didn't notice before. Some series I can still find stuff even after reading them 3 or 4 times.

>>9539222
That'd also explain why the emotional stuff in his books is so bad.

>>9539344
I agree with this, but with more complex stuff I like to take a while to appreciate what I've read before moving on to the next in the series

>>9539195
Easier. Almost anything new is released as an ebook and audiobook simultaneously . Even new first time authors get one.

>>9539303
>'hahahah I rape everything for the lols'
Bleeding heart moral fags shouldn't really be reading fantasy. They get offended by shit that happens every day in the world.
You Americans think somebody isn't being raped at the exact moment you're reading this post? Fuck off.

>>9539409
But the thing is I don't have to buy/shoplift/steal/download/imagine a book to get "gritty realism". I can just take a walk down the street.

is there a chart or list somewhere with the best completed fantasy series?

>>9539409
>Bleeding heart moral fags shouldn't really be reading fantasy. They get offended by shit that happens every day in the world.
And yet this general is filled with people who get easily triggered by encountering things they don't like and who drop books when they get the least bit uncomfortable.

>>9539409
There's a difference between a story containing rape and a story being full of it for edge factor.

>>9539519
No it isn't.

>>9539546
>that guy triggered by female warriors
>people triggered by politics they don't agree with
>people triggered by gays/trannies
You can read the threads yourself and see it.

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>>9538931
Everything Pohl writes is about advertising

>>9539560
You said people drop books at the slightest hint of discomfort when in reality they drop books when they're chock-a-block filled with shit. they don't like.
I do read the threads.
I remember the guy who didn't want to read a book about trannies. He also said that he had read books with gays/trannies in before and liked them.

>>9539394
>anything new is released as an ebook and audiobook simultaneously
Not Too Like the Lightning. Still waiting on that

>>9539409
There is a difference between "lol raep" and otherwise depraved activity written in service of a good story. I thought the rape in Thomas Covenant did a good job driving home the authors portrayal of a sick and confused leper that suddenly regained use of his sexual organ.
Plenty of good non-edgy fantasy has been and continues to be written. Edgemaster dreck is merely a current literary trend. It will eventually be replaced with something different and everyone will be like "ROFL can U belive my seedonor used to read dis garbage? I cant wait to show the rest of the breeding cluster."

>>9539519
Thus...
>Bleeding heart moral fags shouldn't really be reading fantasy
Why did you think I said that? This general has gotten infiltrated with reddit normie bleeding hearts. Reddites and normies always give themselves away, always.

>>9539546
>anything I don't like is considered edge
>if someone kills someone and doesn't care it's edgy, because obviously everyone in the entire world is just like me and would react to something the exact same way I would, and would express my exact emotion
Why don't you kys you piece of shit. It's fuckers like you who is ruining grim fantasy with your "muh feel feels" and "it's muh edge". Fucking neck your self scum.

>>9539598
>talks about rape and edgy
>uses the most edgy of it's time shit book as an example
Thomas Covenant is a shit book. Your example is thus shit. Thus you yourself are shit, which enjoys consuming shit.

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>>9539609
Wtf are you even rambling on about you delusion twit?

>>9539621
Yes, yes. We all know you hate that book. I would have used a different one to avoid your reaction, but it is such an easy example.

>>9539609
To your credit, you definitely sound like you enjoy edginess.

>>9539622
Hi Mr. Reddit Normie. If you weren't a newfag trying to fit in you would know what I'm talking about. Cunts here like to call Night Angel "pssh nothing personnel kid" edgy. They read a few pages and believe they can judge a book.

Prove you're not a normie. How do you feel about lolis being raep in novels?

Jesus christ it was a reasonable request for recommendations

>>9539630
"Muh I'm a leper" ad infinitum: The Novel.
You fuckers call other books edgy and enjoy someone repeating the same shit endlessly for the entire novel to increase his word count.

>>9539644
>calls me a normie for pointing out that his ramblings were unrelated to my post

I thought it was the shota that got raped in Night Angel, not the loli? She just got her face cut up.
One of the jailbaits got raped though,
I don't mind myself some edge now and then, but it doesn't mean that I always enjoy it or like it when it's forced.

>>9539655
What are you going on about?

>>9539669
nigga read what started this autistic shitfight

>>9539666
Let it go, satan.

>just ordered too like lightning

Better be good plebs

>>9539667
>calls me a normie for pointing out that his ramblings were unrelated to my post

>>9539546
>There's a difference between a story containing rape and a story being full of it for edge factor.

>>9539609
>anything I don't like is considered edge
>if someone kills someone and doesn't care it's edgy, because obviously everyone in the entire world is just like me and would react to something the exact same way I would, and would express my exact emotion

I think they correlate evenly with your post.

>>9539667
>I don't mind myself some edge now and then, but it doesn't mean that I always enjoy it or like it when it's forced.
The whole point of rape is forced satisfaction without consent... What you on? You think little boys asked to be buggered in the fucking orphanage? These books just show that shit happens. Life is not one fucking huge domino effect. One shit doesn't always lead to something else happening. Not because a loli was raped and throat cut, means people will over throw their oppressors.

What do you think American soldiers and mercs do in the sandbox? Kneel and pray? They are shooting natives and raping their women, all for "muh oil". If that isn't edgy, I don't know what is.

>>9539217
Doesn't he write something like several thousand words each and every day?

>>9539671
Well reduit, next time use proper memes to describe a work.

>>9535616
If you like RPGs then play Deadlands with your friends, it also has the best rule system of any pen & paper RPG

>it's an sffg will argue about anything thread
I'm sure if I put a passage with an author's saying that "water is wet", you would find something to disagree on and say it's actually dry.
You just want to be contrary.

>>9539736
>>>/v/rpg
>>>/vg/rpg
>>>/tg/rpg
Wrong board sonnie

Arthur C.Clarke good or meme?

>>9539739
STFU faggot. We're most reasonable bunch of people around.

>>9539777
Read if you want interesting and satisfyingly-explored settings with occasional metaphysical themes. Do not read if you want character drama or gripping plots plot.

>>9539777
Both, the quality of his stuff oscillates like crazy, goes full fedora in a lot of shit, >bullfighting is equal to slavery, two of the worst things ever in the world!

>>9539818
Sounds right up my alley, i really don't care much about plot or characters in sci-fi.
>>9539826
What's considered his best stuff?

>>9539849
Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, and 2001: A Space Odyssey are generally considered to be Clarke's big three novels. I would also highly recommend the complete collection of his short stories- you can find it in any book shop with a decently sized sci-fi/fantasy section, and find it easily since it's the size of a phone book.

>>9539777
short stuff bangs

>>9539698
The tangents you go on would make Euclid blush, I'm not even going to bother trying to explain why you're being stupid.

>>9539748
>getting this rectum flustered about recommendations being posted on an Uzbek whale hunting cave-painting

>>9539855
Childhood's End isn't in his big three, that's Fountains of Paradise. If it was a big four then yes.

>>9540033
Bullshit, Childhood's End is way more popular and influential than Fountains of Paradise. Even Songs of Distant Earth is bigger than Fountains of Paradise.

>>9540040
It wasn't really popular until the miniseries
>inb4 but it influenced muh Evangelion
And yet, no one philosopherizeritizing about it ever read the book.

>>9540070
Just because you never heard about it until the miniseries doesn't mean nobody else did.

>>9540080
Right back at you. Just because you think everyone read the book doesn't mean everyone has.

>>9540093
Well considering that it was popular enough to get adapted multiple times and Fountains of Paradise got jack shit, I would call it a pretty open and shut case in terms of popularity.

>>9540103
They're making movies and series or at least opting them out of the most obscure shit right now. Wouldn't be surprised if that anon who constantly shills his shit book here, what's it called again, A Contract on God? has some studio hunting him for an option already.

And if you go purely by popularity, why hasn't Rendezvous with Rama been filmed yet?

>>9540126
It's called To Kill a God you fucking pleb

Get Stevian's book right or don't fucking post here

>>9540134
Sorry, Stevian.

>>9539889
>you won but being the autist I am I can't openly admit that

>>9539855
I heard his complete collection of short stories is riddled with typos

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>been listening to discworld audiobooks
>GOAT 10/10 voice acting
>Enjoying the fuck out of them
>Start hitting the novels with Tiffany Aching in them

Jesus Christ these ones are bad. I just skipped my first discworld book because her characterisation is so god damned bland and Mary Sue. Given that it's a fucking discworld novel that's saying something. The little drunk gnome guys almost manage to pull it back on their own but not quite.

Anyway what is your favourite discworld novel? I loved The Fifth Elephant and Going Postal.

Also
>Tfw no TV series about the city watch
>Ever

Feels bad man.

>>9540174
>clutching at straws for teh internet pointz

Pretty pathetic mate.

>>9540205
I haven't read many of these (maybe a sixth... goddamn he was prolific) but remember quite liking Night Watch. Believe the Tiffany ones were written quite late into his Alzheimer's, with more help than usual from his daughter, so that might explain the difference.

>>9540205
>audiobooks

Hang yourself pleb.

At the risk of stirring up /sffg/'s autism again, I found some Harlan Ellison
commentaries that I thought addressed the old "women authors" debate really well. Some rare CJ Cherryh content in the last one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOQ0W8kyiyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x7WPBPIsJY
https://youtu.be/hYQOslFoecg

>>9540245
It's weird though, because some of the other later books are still really good.

>>9540248
>Not listening to audiobooks at work
>Not listening to audiobooks at the gym
>Not listening to audiobooks while doing household work

No mate, you are the pleb, slaved to paper pages while I can enjoy the story and get on with my day at the same time.

>>9540205
I'm pretty sure his daughter was ghostwriting everything after Making Money, Night Watch is the only Discworld novel that's legitimately deserving of the praise it receives.

>>9535778
Maybe something by Greg Egan from the Amalgam universe but I can't really point to specific books that have what you describe.

>>9540266
>>Not listening to audiobooks at the gym
>not bringing a book to the gym to read between sets.

>>9535778
Blindsight, it's pretty edgy though but a must read.

>>9540293
it's not that edgy, or if it is it's in a novel enough way that it isn't cringy at all

>>9540255
Thanks anon. Those look pretty interesting.

>>9540218
>I must have the last word
Just admit it m8

>>9540330
Yeah i agree that the books isn't edgy in the tradional sense of the words. It just has a very pessimistic view of humanity but it doesn't feel forced, everything he says about consciousness and empathy is well reasoned and researched.

>>9538966
If it's from here and from someone's review I'm interested in, maybe around one in every six, goodreads recs can be about every five in every six even if I'm screening reviews. Other forums/etc, have too much YA to exclude. My actual TBR is rarely larger than one book.

>>9539576
https://forum.mobilism.org/search.php?keywords=Ada+palmer&fid%5B%5D=0&sc=1&sr=topics&sf=titleonly

>>9540266
>not being able to be alone with your thoughts
>not giving 100% to the tasks at hand
Birdbrained peasant.

>>9540363
>ha ha its you who wants the last word not me
Smooth.

>>9540372
>just has a very pessimistic view of humanity
So this is what you cunts mean when you say edgy? So my comment here >>9539609 still stands. Just because the protagonist doesn't confirm to your sense of humanity and morality and "feelings", doesn't mean he is edgy.

If someone was raised in a bad neighborhood, grew up to be a killer who cared little for others, you would call him edgy? Just because your eyes are open, and you're a realist who doesn't spout optimistic drivel, it means you're edgy?
Jesus fuck

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>>9540398
>this post was made unironically

Anyone actually read the red rising follow up?

If so is it worth reading? I was kinda losing interest by the middle of the 3rd book of the rr trilogy.

>>9540397
>Needing 100% of your brainpower to do menial tasks

I do believe that you are the brainbird peasant.

>>9540397
Just admit you were wrong

>>9540398
there's nothing wrong with your points but when you say
>kys you piece of shit
you certainly open yourself up to criticism. just chill

>>9540416
>red rising follow up?
Is it even out yet?

>>9540398
You're sperging out way too hard if you have to pounce on posts that weren't even directed to you.

>>9540446
wait, my kindle is fucking lying to me

>Tad Williams doing a follow up to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Fuck I'd better power through the rest of it.

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>As an attendee of (and panelist at) Mr. Maynard’s much-maligned PenguiCon, I would like to draw your attention to a GoH he entirely overlooked: Ada Palmer, author of Too Like the Lightning, among other works.

>If you ever have the chance to invite her to your con or to see her speak, seize it. She is a fascinating & compelling speaker, whether on the history of information dissemination & suppression, atheism through the ages, or her own world building. She & Cory Doctrow did a great panel comparing censorship in the middle ages & the digital era. Also, she loves to talk. She decided she wanted to do an extra panel, just rambling about history and asked for a room for Saturday night. Reliable sources inform me that panel went on for 3 hours, and was great. She brought a variety of very old books for a show & tell, passing around a sample of papyrus,15th century texts, & 13th century vellum sheets through the room, while talking about the history of books. When time ran out & the audience was still interested, she packed up & found an overflow room, and continued on for another hour. She is incredibly generous with her time & expertise.

Is she /ourgirl/?

>>9540441
This "muh edgy" crowd has been around since the start of this general. It used to be used ironically, but it slowly turned into these infiltrating normies taking it serious. And I do want them to kts. Why isn't Harlan edgy? Or Deleny? Or a bunch of other authors who didn't have a socially correct "I must pretend to show outrage at kids dying", or "I wear my heart on my sleeve ", or "omg he wrote about rape, that doesn't happen, so edgy".
I fucking fed up of this shit with these bleeding heart fuckers who are trying to influence our general towards twilight gay shit.

>>9540470
>she
>girl

>>9540474
Jesus christ nobody cares

Stop playing thread police, it's needless and especially pointless when you never engage in an actual discussion

>>9540474
>Why isn't Harlan edgy? Or Deleny? Or a bunch of other authors who didn't have a socially correct "I must pretend to show outrage at kids dying", or "I wear my heart on my sleeve ", or "omg he wrote about rape, that doesn't happen, so edgy".
Because those authors generally USE rape, murder, etc to talk about some deeper theme, where hacks like GRRM simply revel in shock value for its own sake.

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>>9540470
She looks like she's related to Bakker.

>>9540426
>not striving for perfection in all actions
Hallmark sign of a peasant.

>>9540440
Just admit you were wrong

>>9540040
Childhood's End might be better known than Fountains, but Fountains is a better book.

>>9540193
You heard wrong.

>>9540508
>Because those authors generally USE rape, murder, etc to talk about some deeper theme
The hilarious thing is you probably believe this is less hacky than just putting it in for shock value.

>>9540470
She sounds like another Rothfuss waiting to happen.
>write one well received book
>suddenly realise everybody* is giving you the sweet, sweet attention you've always craved
>spend all your working hours dishing out Hot Takes on the internet and making the convention circuit
>crawl so far up your own ass you never release another book again

*a gaggle of pathetic, deviant losers with subclinical mental disorders whose opinions you begin to value to the detriment of your work

>>9540658
Please elaborate.

I'm doing a potentially dangerous thing by starting my own dark fantasy without outlining it at all and just winging it. I only have a beginning, middle, and part of the end in my head.

I started on May 1, and I'm at 13,000 words and overall satisfied with it so far. I just need to make sure I keep it concentrated. I hope I finish it by this time next year, but I have no clue how long it'll end up being.

>>9540663
Her first 2 novels are published, the 3rd is finished, and the 4th is in progress. And she already published a book on Lucretius in the Renaissance before she became a sf author. So I won't mind if she takes a break after Terra Ignota is finished.

Anyone has the Kvothe "known the embrace of her arms" cuck pasta? Hook me up.

What are some of the best one-shot fantasy books out there? I'm going to be in between series soon and need something that stands alone.

>>9540741
Talion: Revenant is fun action

>>9540482
>doesn't know when I in discussion
We are anonemoose for a reason. It's only when I sperg you know who I am.

>>9540757
>anonemoose
Am I on reddit?

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>>9540916
What do you think? They've taken over our general.... and seeing as you know what they say over there... You must be one of them.

>>9540924
>...
Nice damage control retard. (You)

>>9537317
we're 2000 pages in and barely anything has happened

>>9540948
I liked stormlight but it was kinda ridiculous just how long we spent with the fucking bridge prison section

He only gets away with dragging shit out that long by having multiple povs

>>9540958
>He only gets away with dragging shit out that long by having multiple povs
You only realise this now? Multiple POVs are literal cancer.

>>9540962
No, I already knew

I think the multipov rule is that you can get away with two and a stretch 3 but if you ever do more than that it's too much

>>9540975
Multiple POVs are basically a cheat so you can skip character development.

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>tfw blindsight isnt available on kindlestore

>>9540470
an anon who posted in the last thread said she was a lecturer of his and she was super arrogant or something. if that anon is here he may want to clarify if i am getting this wrong

>>9540708
Good work anon. Keep us updated.

I read another of Clark Ashton Smith's short stories, The Devotee Of Evil from 1930. A local novelist, the narrator (and apparent stand-in for CAS) is at a library when he meets a man who has bought a dilapidated house which has been the scene of a grisly murder. By conversation he learns that his new acquaintance is devising a way to manifest the pure evil. This is a macabre tale in suburbia that reminds me of Lovecraft's early-mid period stories, and indeed I learned afterwards the Lurking Fear was a direct influence. It also reminded me of The Music Of Erich Zann and Cool Air, where the protagonist meets an increasingly strange man. This is less ornately told than his fantasy stories and is all the better for it. The passages of cosmic horror are as good as anything from Lovecraft. 4/5

>>9541032
>Unknown SF author
>Adjunct
I don't even fault people in this position for being super arrogant, It's basically the only thing they've got left.

>>9540962
Multiple POVs are fine, the main problem was Shallan's was garbage, and the pointless "worldbuilding" intermissions

>>9541024
Soulseek my man.

>>9540927
>only reddit does "..."
Trying too hard

>>9540962
In some books it comes together rather nicely, but a lot of author do the "alright, cliffhanger each chapter and then something from a different characters view" and I'm almost always thinking: FUUUUUUUCK, YOUUUUUUU. Specially when the POV tends to be between "really interesting Person A. Semi interesting Person B and Fucker nobody cares about C"

>>9541227
This could really be extended to anyone who intentionally thinks about Reddit.

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Sometimes I think people don't really care about the thing sending the thread offtopic, they just want to do so in order to avoid actual discussion.

ender's game Y/N?

What should I read while I'm taking a break from fantasy? I'm thinking lots of Holmes

>>9541280
I'm halfway through Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon, and it's very good if you want to read lots of accounts of the evolution, rise and fall of various kinds of alien races.

>>9541277
Do the short story version from Unaccompanied Sonata.

>>9541227
>>only reddit does "..."
On 4chan, yep. Fuck off.

>>9541280
tfw want to read novels where a spy gets trained but no idea what would be good

r/fantasy is a pretty shit board but at least it's a vast resource.

Finding recs outside of fantasy (even in sci-fi) is way harder

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>>9531242
>A sitting man with black wraparound sunglasses and a big grin. A VCR hooked up to some speakers with a book shoved into the tape slot.

thinking about getting kindle. is it true they can only read files from the amazon store? should I just go with the kobo instead? i don't tend to pirate u less I absolutely can't find something on a storefront

>>9541436
You can also put .mobi files on, or (if it's a Fire) get the Adobe Acrobat app version and read PDFs. No idea whether Amazon can then ping your hard-drive for piracy, though; I wouldn't put it past them.

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>>9541065
Use the meme. I made it 4u anon <3

>>9540741
The Devil In A Forest

>>9541305

Try the Demon Princes series by Jack Vance. It starts as the assassin MC is beginning his career, and IIRC his backstory is established throughout the first book.

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Finished Ligotti's Grimscribe and while I at first felt it less immediate than SoaDD I've come to look at it as him reigning himself, not letting his very eloquent and idosyncratic narrative voices be what drives the stories forwards but instead redirecting his efforts towards creating a tremendous feeling of weirdness and unreality.Top notch stuff, HPL would have been all over this man.

>>9536012
i loved that one, specially the necromancer's reflections at the end about the magic of memory.

>>9541280
do you like ghost stories? try Ghost stories of an antiquary

>>9541253
This

>>9541024
Isn't the PDF/epub free anyway?

I never used a Kindle but I could just download PDFs to my ebook reader through the Webbrowser.

Also you really need to stop paying for ebooks it is a giant scam where you are essentially forced to pay the same for an inferior product.

>>9540668
not him but rape happens in real life for no reason at all.

>>9541758
Books are used to derive some meaning from life, if all you want to do is fap then fap or watch porn.

>>9535547
Cross posting here:

I love the classics and I love literary fiction, but I wish to explore more Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

I love:
Proust, Celie, Genet, Bataille, Dostoevsky, Musil

I've tried and hated: Stephenson, Gibson, Tolkien, Simmons, Asimov

I've read and found ok: Martin, Wolfe, Herbert, Dick, Wells, Verne

I loved: Paul Andersson - The Broken Sword
Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam - The Perfect Eve

Even though I would like something catchy and ok and a bit dark like Herbert or Martin.

Please help me!

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sci fi noob here. i just finished count zero and i'll probably go back to mona lisa overdrive at some point, but for right now, i want to move on to pkd. what's the best book for me to start with?

>>9541816
Try Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

>>9541833
okay that's what i figured considering it's his most popular. i was also thinking about the three stigmata since i'm interested in the way consciousness is affected by hallucinogenic drugs. but you're probably right. i'll start with the basics and give Do Androids Dream a shot. did you enjoy it anon?

>>9541847
I read it more than four years ago and I enjoyed it. I may or may not have enjoyed it if I read it recently.

>>9541856
*
Anyway it had great worldbuilding and the plot was great if not a little spoilered.

>>9541856
>>9541859
sweet thanks anon. i'll get on it

>>9541799
try lovecraft

>>9539571

I've read Gateway like 5 times, I'm not sure what is that image exactly refers to? the segments where he includes quotes from bulletin boards on Gateway?

>>9541799
>tried and hated gibson
what did you hate about it anon?

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>This den catered to Disease Collectors, the most hopeless of neuroticaddicts. They lay in their hospital beds, suffering mildly from illegally induced para-measles, para-flu, para-malaria; devotedly attended by nurses in starched white uniforms, and avidly enjoying their illegal illness and the attention it brought.
wtf Bester

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>>9541816

Androids is a good starter.

His novels can be hit or miss. Almost all have interesting ideas and are worth working through, but sometimes he was just too drugged out/hurried/stressed, and he rarely if ever had a proper editor.

His short stories are a good place to go after Androids. IMO that's the best length for PKD - just long enough to explore an interesting concept, with less chance of him burning out while fleshing out the story. And if a story isn't that good, it's over fast and you're onto a better one.

If you want to take a break from mindfucks and just have cool adventures in fascinating worlds, read Jack Vance. Almost all his novels are short, they're of much more consistent quality, and they're really really really fun. There isn't a writer I enjoy reading more.

Start with the Demon Princes series; the novella the Last Castle; or the Dying Earth books (actually fantasy but with some SF elements - Vance doesn't really care for the distinction between the genres). If you don't like the first Dying Earth book, skip straight to Eyes of the Overworld, which follows a single character.

>>9541968
>If you want to take a break from mindfucks and just have cool adventures in fascinating worlds, read Jack Vance
okay cool anon thanks for the recommendation. i've never heard of him before. i'm assuming that your pic is just a spanish translation and that they were written in english?

>"he made the obvious reply"
>it's not obvious

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>>9541799

>Even though I would like something catchy and ok and a bit dark like Herbert or Martin.

Continuing my Vance shilling. Ignore the Spanish book names, Vance is an American as his name suggests.

Martin (assuming you mean GRRM) is actually probably more influenced by Vance than by any other author. So he says, at least, in a preface he wrote to a collection of Vance stories. In fact I doubt I'll ever read Martin's SF, because it just sounds like bootleg Vance, and why would I read a mediocre writer like GRRM imitating the master?

Vance's stuff is definitely a bit dark, he loves exploring the horrible fucked up ways that society can go wrong. But the heroes are either from (relatively) normal interstellar culture, or rebels against those fucked up cultures, and his books don't wallow in the hopelessness of the human condition. All his books are fun, except Emphyrio, which is melancholic to the extreme but done really well.

See here >>9541968 for specific recommendations. Vance is at his best in multi-book series like the Demon Princes. Other series include The Chai cycle (4 books, about a stranded Earth spaceman on a planet of primitive humans ruled and selectively bred and brainwashed for servitude by 4 alien cultures), and the Durdane trilogy (about an ass-backwards planet with no metal, and 40 crammed cantons of the founder effect gone wrong).

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>inferior product

Mind explaining how a physical book is superior to an ebook?

>>9542001
for
>>9541674

any stories where two people who are traditionally enemies have to work together because they both realize it's in their best interest?

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The old masters didn't need complicated jargon filled vocabulary to wield words like a keen blade and Bester is no exception.

This book is wonderfully written, superbly plotted and vicariously adventurous with one of the best and strongest endings I have ever seen written in fiction that really gives the reader a sense of closure.

A great palate cleanser after Too Like the Lightning and its sequel, a great book that stands the test of time.

>>9541973

>i've never heard of him before.

Figures. Vance's novels have made me feel more than any other writer except maybe PKD, but his style and subject matter is the exact opposite of what pretentious litfags love to masturbate over. PKD's metaphysical and philosophical subject matter (and his movies) made him acceptable to mainstream pseudointellectuals, but Vance never gave them any such hooks.

Still, Vance has been hugely influential in SF and fantasy. As said in my previous post, he was a massive influence on GRRM as well as other writers, and DND blatantly ripped their magic system out of the Dying Earth books.

>and that they were written in english?

Yeah. I just like a lot of the foreign covers. Vance made most of his money off of European translations (as did PKD, I believe), so there's a bunch of material out there.

>>9542013
I'm interested in this too.

>>9540708
Follow ur dreams you magnificent cuck

>>9540205
Small Gods and Mort are my favourites. Haven't read any of the newer ones. Must give some of them a read soon actually.

>>9540286
How is that better?

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>>9541765
>>Books are used to derive some meaning from life,
Man, I remember being an undergraduate literature student and thinking this. Simpler days.

>>9542013
>>9542026
A Land Fit for Heroes is full of this, since it doesn't have clearly defined sides, and the protagonists themselves are really in the middle ground, they constantly have to work with "allies" they were fighting before or will fight later.

>>9541765
>Having such a shit life you need books, genre fiction no less, to derive meaning from it
kys, my man.

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What scifi has spooky physics like sideways boardwalk ship in arrival and that fast time water planet in interstellar, I get a kick off that stuff

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>>9541305
>novel where spy gets trained
>fantasy

If you like it then there's plenty more books to come in the series.

>>9542020
one of my favorites, going to read it again soon I guess

>>9542332
Any other recs?

>>9542249
The Death of Dr Island.

>>9542346
I'll check it out, thanks

>>9542249
Lots of works by Greg Egan

>>9542249
Rama maybe

>>9542001
>Mind explaining how a physical book is superior to an ebook?
Sure the problem is DRM, aside from that they are just overpriced:

You can't resell your book, if you don't want it.

You can't lend it to a friend

You have no guarantee that you can use it anywhere (e.g. at a university computer or someone else's e-reader)

With purchasing an e-reader you are binding your library to one specific kind of company, if they go bankrupt or make shit products you are fucked.

For me these are enough reasons to never purchase a DRMed ebook again.
I rather pirate the PDF and buy the physical book to support the author/publisher.

>>9541024
Blindsight is free in Peter Watt's website, just download an epub amazon pleb.

>>9535547
>the way of kings
>red knight
>the blade itself

wow

seriously?

>>9541914
Then you're a brainlet. Low iq, low understanding.

>>9541931
Bug chasers. It's what gay men do with hiv, they like to cry how someone's strain is strong.

>>9542013
I know you guys will probably say it's anime, but you should try Dragon Ball.

>>9542631
As in original Dragonball?
Definitely.

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>>9542599
Yes, seriously. Enjoy.

Vcr-anon sama, what you think of >>9541375

Treason was pretty good.

Pol anon you can safely read it without the tranny problem being overbearing. I don't know what that anon was getting at. The guy was straight, and he wasn't fucked. Ppl tried to stick him, but he ran away.

>>9542669
I thought it worked well. It is kinda hard to read the book titles, but I think it conveys the idea.

>>9542335
depends on what you're looking for. if you mean stuff from that time, check out the Library of America Science-Fiction collection, it collects
The Stars my Destination, then has
The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl
Theodore Sturgeon, More Than Human
Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow
Richard Matheson, The Shrinking Man
Robert A. Heinlein, Double Star
James Blish, A Case of Conscience
Algis Budrys, Who?
and Fritz Leiber, The Big Time

Also you may want to check The Haunted Stars by Edmond Hamilton

If you mean in roughly that style, with the same weird extra pages like in The Stars, check out The Demolished Man by Bester (which is considered his greatest work, though I prefer The Stars myself).

Greatly enjoying Perdido Street Station thus far, how is The City and The City for my next Mieville?

>>9542768
Very different. More of a Borges-inspired detective novel than the SF/Fantasy mix that PSS is. Good in its own right.

The Last Days of New Paris is the best thing he's written, imo.

>>9541923
I thought the writing was shoddy and his characters flat. Maybe he improves in later books, but stylistically it struck me as amateur hour. Besides certain good metaphors, most of his writing, especially when describing action, are on the animorphs//star wars books level.

I know style isn't everything, and his worlds are catchy, but I couldn't help myself from flinching at the page a couple of times. Same with Simmons, I almost threw the Hyperion across the room when a character "frowned" and then "frowned deeper".

Herbert on the other hand was a pretty good stylist, and so is Gene Wolfe (even though I wish he didn't try to be such a modernist and gave us the straightforward story)

>>9542772

I love the atmosphere so far in Perdido, the setting reminds me a lot of Gormenghast which is one of my favourite novels. Mieville also gets points for being imaginative and not having to rely on a Tolkien inspired template for his world building. It's incredibly refreshing to read someone like him so far.


How do his other novels connect into New Crobuzon?

>>9542020
Did you dislike Too Like the Lightning and it's sequel?

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>>9541994
>read Jack Vance. Almost all his novels are short, they're of much more consistent quality, and they're really really really fun.
What did you think of lyonesse senpai? I just finished suldrun's garden and was very impressed.

>>9542765
I didn't know that book set existed. I won't be buying it, but it's a good list of suggestions and captures the era well. A lot of 1950s fiction holds better than the New Wave twenty years later. I think it's to do with 50's writers coming from the pulp market. They had to have good ideas as well as write clearly so that the trucker, infantryman, plumber, schoolboy and genre enthusiast could all read them and be entertained.

>>9542789
Iron Council and Scar (The Scar?) take place in the same world.

>>9542765
I just want good books with breadth of characterisation I suppose. Thankyou anon

>>9542811
No I enjoyed both. They complemented each other.

>>9542828
>Want to read this
>The complete hardcover is £105 on Amazon

PDF it is.

>>9542811
To clarify
I had read the first few chapters of Stars, then finished Lightning and 7s in 1-3 days and then finished the rest of Stars. They work very well together.

>>9542900
Interesting, I own Stars and recently ordered Lightning, might do the same thing.

Just read Rendezvous with Rama. Found it to be okay. Are the sequels worth reading?

>>9542920
Some of them are, I forget when they start to get worse. I think the 2nd and maybe the third were good.

So, I just saw the First Law trilogy in paperback was being sold by a brand new Amazon seller. The price was only $6.51 with free shipping for a new copy. I said fuck it and placed the order because why not. What's the likelihood I'll actually get what I paid for?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0316361194/ref=tmm_pap_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=&sr=

Any books with a girl protag that appeals to Trump supporters?

>>9542751
If you zoom in you will be able to read all the titles.

>>9542765
>The Space Merchants
>I'm sure this has advertising in it
What is Pohl's problem? Is he anti-consumerist or something?

>>9542789
>not having to rely on a Tolkien inspired template for his world building.
Jesus fuck. No one worth their salt borrows from Tolkien anymore. China is a modern writer, so obviously he isn't going to use fucking Tolkien as a template.

>>9543044
I think there's room for nuance here, I think any writer worth their salt would at least borrow Tolkien's methods, work ethic, and what not. Just not his literal stories/aesthetics.

>>9543030
He lived through the post-ww2 consumer goods boom and propserity. It was a ripe ground for speculating on how things would be in a future contuining along this course. I read a short story of his, The Midas Plague, which is about cheap energy and overabundance meaning that people have to fulfill consumption quotas. Poor people have to fulfil more, so they own lots of meaningless trinkets and eat too much, while the better off live in minimalism. He's a good writer, definitely on the more satirical end of science fiction. He was interested in how future tech would effect families and ordinary people. He wasn't anti-consumer, he just warns against excess and boundless capitalism.

>>9542954
>new, unknown, untrusted seller tries to shill his wares to us on sffg
Seller-sama you are embarrassing yourself.

NEW THREAD

>>9543080
>>9543080
>>9543080
>>9543080

>>9543064
Tolkeinesque works are a bane. Any time I see something is similar to his works I stay far away. It has been done to death, and I fucking see red when some cunt brings his Goodkind derivative #111 and wave it in front of me.

>>9542920
They have a completely different tone.
It does explain further stuff about the setting, but it also has tons of really irritating characters.

>>9543069
Nope, I genuinely bought it. Like I said, it was six bucks and I figured if/when I get screwed over I'll just bitch to Amazon. My question was what's the likelihood the chink will actually follow through with what was advertised