What's the /tg/ recommended literature?

>>52001684
Really depends what you want.

Tolkien and Pratchett are almost invariably in there though

>>52001684
Conan short stories.

Lies of Locke lamora. The first book for sure. The second and third are kind of skippable.

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>>52001684
I was going to make a thread for this today too. Bump for interest.

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>>52001684
Lots of at least interesting stuff here.

Inheritance Cycle is an alright read if you don't want to think too hard about it.

>>52001684
well theres your OP. Wheel of time is a good read, pacing issues aside.

David Eddings and Anne McCaffery are usually good reads.

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I enjoy the Slayer series.
Proper pulp action.

>>52001842
Did it stay any good after the author switch?

>>52001684
William Gibson's Neuromancer

>david eddings, wheel of time, etc. a shit

Try something challenging, OP: The Worm Ouroboros by E R Eddison.

>>52001826

Eh. I tried Wheel of Time-got about six books in before I realized I hated all the characters' guts.

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>>52002047

This is the real answer. The Worm Ouroboros is a e s t h e t i c as fuck.

>God Tier: Glen Cook, Eddison, Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, pre-modern epic poetry
>Okay Tier: Pratchett, Tolkein, Michael Moorcock, HP Lovecraft
>Shit tier: Gurm, YA fantasy, Wheel of Time, video game/RPG tie-in novels, Pern, everything you like

>>52001684
Hardcore porn with the subtitles on counts right?
That. A lot of that.

>>52002164

Really? Cook over Pratchett?

>>52001797
No, it's not.
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Eragon
Yeah, it's 1d4chan... but then again, it's 1d4chan slamming on a series for being bland drivel so... yeah.

>>52001684
Here's the list. It's somewhat outdated, and there'll doubtless be arguments about it, but hey, it's a list.
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Approved_literature

>>52002209

Pratchett is redditcore but unlike Douglas Adams he actually made me laugh so I'll say he's fine.

The Black Company is a classic and all of his stuff is practically bursting with perfect shit to steal for a /tg/ game.

He writes the best evil sorcerers, for one.

>>52002209
Yeah, really. Pratchett is lightweight fantasy comedy.

I feel like poetry doesn't come up in these kinds of discussions, but it can be super useful as tabletop inspiration, given how evocative and visual it can be. Longer stuff likeThe Faerie Queene is pretty good, but even shorter verse is nice for capturing an aesthetic. Try Romantic poets, esp. Coleridge, Shelley and Byron. Or any culture's "great epic," for that matter.

>>52002426
Yeah, read The Story of the Stone and get back to us in 3 years.

>ctrl f
>no Sword of Truth mentioned

Shame. Shame on you all.

>>52002155
This, Wheel of Time sucks.

>>52002155
book 6 is when the pacing issues come forward, could be that.

maybe its just me but i generally didn't find most characters annoying most of the time. Mat and Perin do some cool stuff later and Rand partially gets over his whiny saviour complex later on.

>>52002512
u 'avin a giggle, m8?

>>52001749
I got a bit frustrated by the fact that their initial plans were always there as a framing for them to just get the legs cut out from under them.
It was a decent way to go for book 1, but It would have been nice for at least one of the books to have them pulling off a con and just dealing with the natural complications of it, not just getting dicked out of nowhere just as it gets interesting.
It's not a twist if you know for a fact that it's coming in some form.

>>52001797
Inheritance, Twilight and sword of truth are the holy trinity of how not to do it.
They're unironically worth a read just to see how you easily can fuck up in so many ways if you go too long without a proof reader to reel back your ego.
It can't be stressed how much this can help a story heavy campaign, or make sure you don't form an unhealthy attachment to one of your characters.

>>52002255
Tri-dubs checked

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>>52001684

Check out Stephen Donaldson's stuff, OP.

>>52001749
Good so far. Will finish soon

>>52001684
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Approved_literature

>>52002155
The guys are all bros and cool, I hate all the women.

>>52001868
Nope, or at least that's when I stopped reading.

Same problem with the Space Wolf series.

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I recommend Lawrence Watt-Ewans and his Legends of Ethshar series to everyone who wants to make settings and worlds for their games.

The stories themselves are pretty interesting, but the worldbuilding is very well done and a good example of how to build a world without going overboard. His blog also has good information on worldbuilding.

>>52002280
Black Company is indeed great, but don't forget that Cook also wrote Garret P.I., and that's, to put it mildly, not as good.

>>52002512
I'm an objectivist and I can't stand that series.

>>52002971
No kidding. And book three was barely about planning or heists at all, and more on unhealthy obsessive relationships.

>>52002164
The only thing that separates cook from Grrm is that cook was writing fantasy first and isnt widely known.

>>52002164
>no mention of Wolfe, Vance, le Guin, white, peake or Dunsany
pleb

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Asimov's production. Pic related is my favorite scifi book series.

>>52002164
>Glen fucking cook above Tolkien
2edgy4me

>>52001973
Hell yes. Gibson is really good in general, Pattern Recognition is one of my favorite books of all time.

>>52003953
I dropped it after book 2. The Mule is too retarded for me.

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>>52001684
Is this considered essential capeshit yet?

>>52001684

Elric of Melniboné

>>52001684
I don't know if I'd call it /tg/ recommended, but I've enjoyed The Dresden Files, it has problems but I enjoyed it all the same

>>52005966
No, and for a good goddamn reason.

>>52005966
I'd recommend it as long as you completely ignore most of the word of god crap that wildbow dropped, if nothing else it had some fairly interesting powers

>>52006127
It's pulp trash, and I say that as somebody who adores The Dresden Files immensely. Despite wavering between 'decent' and 'mediocre' in a technical sense, it always maintains a distinct sense of bumbling charm that makes up for a lot of it's faults.

The Codex Alera can fuck right off though.

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>ctrl f 'Malazan'
>No results

Ree

I don't think I've ever seen people on /tg/ talk about it, but Tim Powers is great if you're into Unknown Armies.

>>52002164
Cook over Wolf AND Tolkien, good God, man.

At least you've got Howard in the right place.

This thread needs more E.R. Burroughs. Thus I suggest John Carter of Mars and all of the sequels except Chessmen.

>>52006248
>being this mad
>not elaborating
Do we have to beg you, anon?

>>52006367
Oh, c'mon, you don't like Henshin Anime Romans?

As to Dresden, they are great. Pulp as ever-loving hell, but that's the charm. R.E. Howard would have approved.

>>52006367
I'd say it's better than trash, but that's about all I can say in defense of it
>>52006458
second anon, not the one you're replying too, but if you pay attention to the word of god and really look at the setting it's grimderp as fuck

>>52006367
>Codex Alera
I rather enjoyed the worldbuilding and setting of the books, though some of the characters are frequently dumb. It's still a wonderful read though.

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For the existential/horror side of things I'd recommend The Night Lands, though heavily suggest you find a modern retelling instead of the original prose.

>52006526
This. Codex Alera would be better without most characters.

Another fault with it is that they made the main enemy too strong so it doesn't feel plausible when they actually beat it.

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The Mistborn series is a fun one, though I'm still torn on if it should have ended with the first book or not.
The rest are good books, but from a story standpoint it could have just stopped right there and I'd have been fine.

>>52006496
>>52006526
Codex Alera would be better if you removed the main characters.

Actually, Amara can stay. Tavi, Isana and Kitai are all awful and need to go.

Since we're getting a decent amount of discussion about Butcher, has anyone read The Aeronaut’s Windlass?

>>52006662
You know, it's sitting not five feet away from me right now because the premise looked interesting, but I've yet to get the energy up to actually pick it up and read it.

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Gotta admit a guilty pleasure here, the book Dungeons of Madness.
I picked it up on a whim figuring it would at least be amusing, and what really sold it for me was the Warlock Davoren and the Halfling Slip. A bit of knowledge about forgotten realms helps, but it's not fully required to get the idea of what is going on.

>>52006567
The main enemy was outrageously dangerous. Like fucking Warhammer Tyranid level of dangerous.

What are some recommended resources for first time DM's? I've only played a couple of RPG's but want to set up my own.

I'd say Lovecraft, at least if you want to run any sort of horror based game, and want it to be spooky but not obviously so

>>52006662
I started to read it a few months back, but my killer's instincts told me to stop before I'd finished the second chapter. Even the flying ships couldn't save it from being unbearably dull.

>>52007092
Well, I mean, it makes a vague amount of sense considering the implication that there is a vast planar cosmology and each of the Aleran races came from a completely different world.

>>52007217
It makes a certain amount of sense that they're strong.

What doesn't make sense is a rag-tag group of not-Romans with bows and swords and a few mages beating them back.

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>>52007267
I figured it was a combination of two things:
1) The Vord themselves are not Nid or Zerg level strong, they're just fast when it comes to spreading and infiltrating. This is also a point that they seem to try and match the ability and level of their opponents, either through evolutionary drive or some urge not to 'waste resources' and building up to curb stomp level right away.
2) The colony that Alera was fighting was intentionally crippled by a confused and tsundere queen into being far below capacity, as evidenced by how thoroughly the Canim got their asses kicked.
Now for any sort of continued story in that world, yea, things are bleak as fuck and I sure as hell don't want to see what the Vord make of the Leviathans. It's going to take a huge concentrated effort, the entire known world going onto war footing, and a few ass-pulls like the Great Furies and whatever the fuck is leftover in the Feverthorn Jungle to even stand a chance of breaking even.

>>52007267
They did have some bretty dank magic tho.

>>52002292
I keep seeing le flat world on turtle meme shared on Facebook by people who don't read books.

>>52005966
No, and it never will be. You severely overestimate the impact of this mediocre pile of misery. And I'm not talking out my ass, I followed it AS it updated.

>>52005966
To be perfectly honest, I've had more fun and more meaningful thoughts from the Worm fanfiction that I've read than from the original Worm itself.
Tried Pact, couldn't really get into it past the bit where he changelinged into a kid to break up the ritual and am just occasionally checking on Twig to see if it's finished so I can binge it, since biopunk is one of my fetishes.

>>52005930
He gets rekt and the Plan corrects course. Keep reading.

>>52007791
Question, does Worm get better? I've gotten to the part where they put Lung and Bakara away in the Birdcage but that's it. I can see that the superhero/supervillain duality isn't going to hold up for much longer, seeing as how she's not a hero.

>>52007337
The Feverthorn Jungle contains a Temple of Quetzalcoatl, some Not!Mayan remnants, and Lucoa having a long nap. King Tavi wakes her up and the ara ara dragon shenanigans begin.

>>52007870
It does, and the escalation continues nicely through the Coil Arc with Dinah with a few really good scenes and character illustration. After that though it's touch and go, but for every crappy cut ties and join the wards you get a very nice Accord being both turned on and reviled simultaneously by Skitter or similar scene that sells the moment and feel of things.
By the end I was honestly just skimming it until something caught my interest, then I'd backtrack a bit to find when that started and go from there.

>>52002541
agreed. Im just glad jordan died, otherwise it would have ended up being another 3 books not counting the prequels he planned. sanderson (love him or hate him) cleaned it up nice and proper.

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>ctrl+f
>no Way of Kings mentioned
I know, I know, >Sanderson, but it's legitimately good, I promise.

>>52003064
Inheritance is a babby's first series fit for under 13 but at least it doesnt get too preachy. Sword of truth had SO much potential but got preachy af. still interesting in parts, but overall terrible.
twilight need not be talked about.

>>52003064
As I understand it, Inheritance got better overtime.

>>52007988
I remember hearing it got worse.

>>52003064
>Inheritance
Interesting world, fuck all idiotic characters and story progression
>Twilight
How to write young adult romance and remind girls that he only hits you because he cares. Also fuck off stupid vampires, seriously just call them anything else and it would have done the world so much less damage.
>Sword Of Truth
This shit.
This shit I read as a kid and drank it down like fucking kool-aid without realizing what it was. Rereading it as an adult, it is horrible aside from a good bit of torture porn and examples of horrible people being convinced that they're good guys for realz.

Running a setting in the Discworld is so difficult when you realise you will never achieve that level of wit.

>>52006408

I read the first book and didn't care enough about any of the characters or plotlines to pick up the second. I couldn't get a good sense for about half of the characters' motivations, and while I liked the worldbuilding it seemed to pile too much of it on too quickly.

Favorite characters were Tool, Crone, and Kruppe. I don't know why I like Kruppe, since usually I hate characters like him. Edgelord Rake made me facepalm from his description alone.

>>52008057
At leas you've got the RPG supplements to help.

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>>52002280
>>52003471
>The Black Company

>>52008036
>This shit I read as a kid and drank it down like fucking kool-aid without realizing what it was.

Yeah, I know the feeling.

Besides a few good sequences I dont know what I ever saw in it.

>>52002971
Fucking this, I've only read book one. But fuck the villain of that book, it just felt so...hollow on his part that the villain just managed to have everything go his way until the end.

>>52008134
>what I ever saw in it.
It's got some decent depictions of magic and necromancy, some nice bull-headed paladin moments that can be repurposed. All the torture porn and crappy dom/sub stuff was a good jumping point for me when I ended up with a surprise sub girlfriend, though I wouldn't ever suggest anything in those books to anyone for those purposes.

>>52005966
I enjoyed the fuck out of it and still binge on Worm Fanfic but I seriously doubt it'll ever be essential as it is.

The rewrite might change that, with how Twig's been going. You can tell Wildbow has grown a damn bit.

>>52006662

I read it, and it was average overall with some really cool parts, but the cats were so dumb.

The world is very creative and I really liked the worldbuilding and the ship battles. The plot, however, is a fairly thin "enemies invade" story that strings action scenes together.

The two main girls are okay. One is green and easily frightened but learns to be brave, the other is daring but reckless and doesn't really develop much. Benedict is pretty much just there as Bridget's love interest. Captain Grimm is basically Harry Dresden with less snark, but he's more a secondary character. I really liked the etherealists, but others might find them tiresome because they're so quirky.

As I said before, the cats are dumb. They become really tiresome after like two chapters.

>>52007945
>sanderson
why do we hate him again /tg/

>>52008297
Not the guy you're responding to, but I found him to be a mediocre writer, full of very predictable plot twists and whose characters all talked, dressed, thought, and acted like middle-class modern Americans despite the fact that they lived in weird fantasy worlds.

He has great "stuff" of fantasy, cool magical systems and monsters and the like, but I always had trouble with the suspension of disbelief, especially the way he uses language.

That, and the Mistborn can-openers. I mean seriously, wtf?

>>52008316
>Check out my grimdark medieval overlord setting
>Btw we have cans and shit
>This is almost never spoken of again

I would personally recommend the Malcontents series that Privateer Press has been putting out under their Skull Island Adventures imprint. It's actually what got me into the Iron Kingdoms to begin with.

>>52008080
Tool goes from strength to strength, though is at his best in the second and third books. He's probably the character who appears most often, actually, and one of the best in the story. Kruppe is good, has the spotlight for a big chunk of the third book, but sadly fades away until waaaay later on, as does Crone.

Rake is better than he seems. He never stops being an edgelord, but it works for him, rather than against him, after the first couple of books, and he's one of the most unambiguously good characters.

You meet a far edgier character in book four, but his development from fucking asshole into something more is one of the most well written character arcs I've seen

>>52008316
>>52008406
i only read the stormlight books, and i liked those. Are the other series really that bad?

>>52008481

I'm not really sure myself. I only read Elantris, the first three Mistborns, and the stuff he did for Wheel of Time, and was deeply unimpressed. Maybe he got better, those were predominantly from his earlier works, but I lost interest in his stuff.

>>52003904
Sabetha was such a let down.

>>52006127
>>52006367

Fuck yeah, love the Dresden Files. Yeah, it's got problems, but whatever. Super enjoyable.

Wizard of Earthsea all day every day.

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Is pic related /tg/ related?
My guess would be no, but... fuck they're good reads.

Do you anglos have already the Witcher series already fully translated?
If yes, then read it. Shit is good nd I'm not saying it only because I'm slav shilling for cultural product of my race. It's geniuinely awesome and inspirational, and manages that DESPITE the fact that it started as a fucking veiled parody of kitchen-sink fantasy.

Also, K.E. Wagner and Kane series. I don't know why it is not known more. It's basically one of the progenitors of dark fantasy, with really unique feel, mixing gothicism with howardian sword and sorcery and quite nihilistic viewpoint.

A while ago somebody was talking about some fantasy series. All I can remember is that the main character is some kind of sorceress and occasionally does some really weird kinky sex magic. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

>>52008619
The Witcher is good shit, even if they did butcher it in translation.

I read it with a polish buddy and he was laughing at how badly the prose and language differs between versions

>>52008714
I guess some things don't translate well.

>>52008563
Dresden files is like fantasy Pringles. They're not the best, but i would fuckin murder someone for sour cream and onion

>>52001842
>>52006367
>>52006496

Non-native speaker here, can someone explain to me what "pulp" means in this context?

>>52008818
All it really means is technically low quality. It's a reference to the shitty paper they used to print cheap-ass magazines on, and the production quality of the writing was equal to that of the book itself.

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Not OP, but is there any vampire fiction you'd recommend someone to read?

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>>52001684
I like many others I would suggest Tolkien, Howard, Moorcock and Lovecraft. They are often cited as the inspiration for so much fantasy. It's important to see how they inspired our games but I think it might be more important to see how our games differ from their works. It is very, very rare you will play a game or read a novel that is genuinely Tolkien-esque or Lovecraftian.

I find it's also helpful to read fantasy that doesn't involve castles or swords or war in the traditional sense. For me I'v recently been reading Kafka and Poe, Strindberg's Ghost Sonata and I'v been coming back to some David Lynch movies. On the topic of films, Night of the Hunter, A Field in England, The Saragossa Manuscript and Beyond the Black Rainbow. the second and fourth of that list can be a little overly "artsy" but once you get past that they have some really neat ideas.

None of the individually are essential but they make up a pool of material to draw inspiration for fantastical conflict from that is bit different from what standard RPG material offers.

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>>52006544

To anyone who might be interested, here's an .epub version of the modern retelling:

https://mega.nz/#!ZF9xCCiS!yLQTr0waj6M8rYI0WvjB_T9EBDU8f2uzLpOnwZwM_Ms

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>>52002280
desu I like the first three books, but everything after they go South kinda weakens for me. The strength of the narrative comes from seeing the perspective of the common footsoldiers, and the later books kinda shift away from that when they actually take charge.

>>52001684
>Wheel of time
10/10 taste friend.

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>>52008973
In addition to all that other LibArts bullshit Shakespeare's The Tempest is a really cool take on magic, wizards and enchanted lands. It's better watched than read but there are some adaptations floating around on the internet.

The wizard gains his power by basically enslaving spirits to do his biding, particularly an air spirit which creates powerful illusions. The titular tempest never actually happens, it's a trick by the spirit to force the wizard's enemies to abandon ship and swim to his island where he can fuck with them.

>>52008591
JDatE is Unknown Armies as hell, Spiders is at best a fun zombie novel.

>>52008993
is that.. a pizza cutter?

>>52002155
It definitely has issues but if you can push through the books around the 75% mark of the series it's a great fucking read.

>>52001684
read Overlord

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>>52009133

>The diskos is a weapon featuring a razor-sharp spinning disk on a retractable handle. When activated the disk glows and shoots out sparks. This invention may have been inspired by a hand-held children's toy that shoots sparks when a button is pressed to start a small spinning disk. It is also indicated that the diskos develops a special affinity for its owner during training and should not be handled by anyone else. Each diskos is powered from an initial charge taken from the Earth Current. When its owner dies, the Diskos and its charge are returned to the Earth Current.

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>>52002164
>I choose the books I read in order to feel a smug sense of superiority over normies

>>52003942
>no Olaf Stapledon, no Doc Smith
7/10 try harder next time

>>52005966
Some cool powers and villains, some interesting ideas but takes a huge fucking nosedive with the timeskip. Even before that had some definite issues.

>>52002280
Douglas adams didnt make you laugh, what the fuck

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Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake.

>>52009241
How would one recommend books that he hasn't read?

search results:
1 wolfe
1 vance
0 stanislaw
0 finney

you people are philistines

>>52006408
>>52008473
Speaking of Malazan, is it just set in same world as the author's GURPS setting or are the books actually based on adventures they ran?

>>52007791
>fanfic

Man, I keep hearing people say this, but I've tried a bunch of them and none hold a fucking candle to Worm. Where are you getting them from?

>>52001684
ctrl f joe abercrombie

Seriously, you guys should read Joe Abercrombie.
The First Law trilogy, Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country - all excellent. He did some young adult books, but I didn't bother with them. Kinda gritty, funny in places.

>>52001749
I liked the first book, and the second.

Third book I was less impressed, perhaps partly because of Sabetha and that it pretty much ended on a cliffhanger with more questions than answers.

>>52008297
My only experience with him is with his finishing Wheel of Time. He did an okay job, and was better than Jordan at his worst, but significantly worse than Jordan at his best.

>>52006127
>>52006367
Ah man I honestly can't read the Dresden files anymore. I just can't get past the fedora neckbeardy vibe anymore. That and plot is always so predictable

>>52008818
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine

Basically, when printed magazines were still a very common thing, long before the internet, or television, there were fiction magazines that people would submit stories for. Some of these magazines were printed on low quality paper, and were called the Pulps.

Overtime, people began to associate certain styles of fiction with the Pulps, giving rise to the term pulp fiction. That style is sort of a sensational and bawdy story.

>>52001868
The original writer King was superior to Long, but there are several other writers after they stopped using the -slayer suffix

>>52008818
It means Style over substance. More action, less plot development.
Mouthbreathing retards think it has something to do with paper quality, which was true about 100 years ago, but the meaning has changed from those times.

>>52009277
not that anon but his only funny stuff was the Hitchhikers books the gently stories were painfully unfunny much like Pratchett's very early/late work.

>>52009321
the thread started with a pic of WOT, where do you think you are /lit/?

>>52009051
>>52008973
Good posts, good stuff to chew on.

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Yeah, we all know it's cliched and unoriginal, but it never promised anything else, and the journey is still fun even if we all know where it's going.

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this series is the shit. Only specific series I would suggest that wasn't already in the thread. I hated Wheel of Time, but Tolkien and Moorecock and Howard are all great in my book.

>>52009841
Silk is best boy.

>Belgarath: Where is he?
>Silk: Last I saw, trying to learn to fly.
>*sound of a body hitting the bottom of a cliff*
>Silk: He wasn't doing it very well.
>Belgarath: Maybe it'll come to him in time.
>Silk: He doesn't really have all that much time.
>*second crash*
>Silk: Does bouncing count?
>Belgarath: I don't think so.
>Silk: Then I'd say he didn't learn in time.

>>52008959
There's this story by Bram Stoker...

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>>52009926

Other than obvious ones, anon.

I've already read Dracula and Carmilla.

I've even read Anno Dracula, which was amusing enough.

>>52001868

I thought the guy did a good job

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>>52009841
I always recommend people read The Redemption of Althaus first: If you don't like the style, you only had to read one book, if you do there's eleventy dozen more in exactly the same vein.
Also gonna be a faggot and admit I like what I like.

>>52009939
If you keep looking for Vampire books, you're bound to run into a series called Anita Blake.

Don't even think about it. It's terrible.

You might be tempted, but seriously, don't.

>>52009939
Maybe some of the Ravenloft fiction like I, Strahd, or some of the VtM novels.

>>52001684
Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy

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>>52009976

Yeah, I already heard about Anita Blake and I was warned of the series, so no worries there.

>>52009978

VtM/VtR fiction is trash for the most part.

I have no idea how they could write all the neat fluff in the game's books, but the novels just plain out sucked ass.

>>52008036
The most amazing part of Twilight was when the author managed to make the good guys implicitly support eating babies.
When your bad guy is the one stopping that shit, you might need to step back and rethink.

>>52001684
Some of Brandon Sandersons works, The Stormlight Archives and Mistborn books especially

>>52010025
I, Strahd is meant to be pretty good.

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>>52010025

The first of "A Hunger like Fire" by Greg Stolze was really good, an excellent depiction of what happens with, "You wake up in an alleyway face-down in a pool of blood. Your neck hurts and you're starving. What do you do?"

That's likely more due to Greg Stolze being a good writer more than anything, tho.

>>52010077

Are we talking about the same book that starts off with some vampire in a club using Dominate to fool some mortal into thinking his dick is too small and it always has been?

>>52010069

Given what I know about Ravenloft, isn't that more meant to be about a solitary vampire, rather than a group of them?

>>52010087
You didn't say anything about wanting a novel about a group of vampires.

>>52010105

Yeah, I didn't think there's all that many solitary vampire novels.

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Best fantasy I've read since forever.

The Alex Verus series is pretty good for light reading.
It's initially a bit derivative, but comes into its own fairly quickly.

>>52008818
It means that the story is sort of formulaic, the characters start and can stay one dimensional for ages, don't expect much societal commentary or literary flourishes but lots of explosions and mighty thews.
It's Howard, not Joyce.

>ctrl+F Honor Harrington
>0 results

I was hoping for memes, but a real thread is even better.

>>52010029
If the author can pull it off, that's a Nabokov tier realization for the reader.
Sadly, not even he could do it, Meyers had no chance.

The Abhorsen Trilogy.
Garth Nix actually writes Dnd campagins and he did a book trilogy from a unique setting with an interesting set of world rules and mechanics.
Magic system is proximity based, if you stray to far from a charter stone your magic ebbs away. Monsters are all sustained by a force and are weak to charter mages, bell bandoliers are a unique weapon to the world etc etc.
Ignore the last book though that one is pure shite.

>>52008993
English is not my first language so the modern retelling sounds more appealing in that regard.
But at the same time i am really hesitant to try it, it seems to have many extra things that might not be necessary or needed on the original book.
What are your (or other anon) opinions on the retelling vs the original?

>>52002047
>Shiting on Eddings.
He reuse the plot a lot, the cultures tend to be to mono-thematic, but the way he writes his characters are very good, I stole from him a lot for rpgs (not-silk, not-polgara etc)

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>>52010245

>>52010246

I read both and enjoyed both.

But the modern retelling is easier on the modern readers, because Hodgson's original work is chock-full of purple prose.

So I read two "assassin" centered series recently.

The first was udderly mediocre and I wouldn't recommend it. It's called the Night Angel Trilogy. Again, I don't recommend it, but the series drastically improved when I started thinking of the MC as an eversor assassin from Warhammer 40k. The climactic endings of each book are thus: eversor assassinates a bunch of medieval soldiers and mentor-eversor; eversor assassinates a chaos lord; and lastly, two eversors together assassinate a daemon prince, and it was fucking awesome.

The second, however, is fantastic. Taltos series, featuring Vlad Taltos. I can't recommend it enough. The entire setting and characters feels like a very well-flushed and beloved pnp setting, even if the third book feels like a kick in the balls to slog through. I especially like how underpowered the mc is compared to everyone he surrounds himself with. The Lord of Castle Black and his resurrected half-sister, the lover of a king 100,000 years past, Kiira the Thief (and) Sethra Levode the Necromancer - it's like there's all these big characters, former PCs retired after their intense days of adventuring and breaking past max level, and then there's Vlad, caught in the middle of them and never really receiving enough help to get his shit done. I love the slow spiraling out of control that worsens every book and that sweet, sweet regaining between Issola and Hawk.

>>52010245
>Ignore the last book though that one is pure shite.
It was a bait and switch, and that pissed me off.
Chlorr was supposed to be a renegade Abhorsen, not a roid raging cousin that got bored being in the city

>>52009841
I liked these as well, and keep meaning to listen to the audiobook versions. Great bantz and cool worldbuilding, cliched or not. The underground people were a trip and the final trip to battle the bbeg stands out as well.

>>52006597
Oh yeah? FUCK YOU!

I bought the first book because some fag here recommended it.

You know what it was? Dogshit!

It is literally a fucking anime fanfiction written by a teenager on livejournal. Worse than most YA trash out there.

I'm still mad how bad it was.

There are ZERO redeeeming qualities of that book, the fact that it has such glowing reviews is a fucking insult to the intelligence of humankind as a whole.

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is there a /tg/-literature trove?

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>>52010336
Friendly advice, anon, you're not doing yourself any favours by writing like a teenager on LJ yourself, m8.

But if you want to see the true depths of how staggeringly off glowing reviews can be, check out Free the Darkness.
It made me consider suicide, it was that bad.

>>52001749
2nd book has the best character though

>>52010260
Is that fucking Poser art on the Abhorsen cover (and maybe the Lirael cover too)?

>>52006408
Bump for Malazan.

> Where the least powerful character is level 20.

>>52010369
Who? I was partial to Locke before the second book, which ruined him with all the sulking. Given that the author was working through some mental health issues I'm starting to think Locke is meant to be a self insert of the author.

Which would also maybe explain that fucking sabetha character. She's the authors waifu.

>>52008297
Way of Kings is a pretty good series. Sanderson is a fairly unpretentious writer, he keeps it at a very common level of language and doesn't challenge the average fantasy reader. This may be as his earlier works were targeted towards teens/late teens, his current audience is 'fantasy readers' so he has gotten better with that shift. With that said, he knows how to write plot and believable magic systems.

>>52010434
I'm talking about mom pirate

>>52010029
>the good guys implicitly support eating babies
When...was that? I read them all in high school a girl got me into them, it was right before I started being critical of fiction

>>52010549
In the dirty book, they go on about how immortal children, babies converted to vampirism, are so awesome and the Volturi are evil for stopping the practise.
In the previous books, it's explicitly stated that making a vampire is hard because the bloodlust is so difficult to keep the parent vampire from just killing the target, and that Carlisle is so impressive for creating as many as he has without killing anyone.
The implication is pretty unpleasant

>>52010524
Mom pirate was the tits. It's a shame the rest of the series couldn't be nautical hijinks, and is instead veering into twilight bad romance.

>>52010458
>he knows how to write plot and believable magic systems.
I've only read the first Mistborn book...but boy howdy, you're only half right. He can write a plot, but pacing it properly and giving me anyone to give a shit about? Strike one. Kelsier is a tryhard 2cool4u faggot and Vin is an obnoxious twat who can simultaneously understand what the villain was from a hazy past-glance and yet so balls-stupid she had no fucking plan besides burning the Eleventh and charging in.

Then sure, there's the magic system. Yes, it actually feels like a system that exists in the world and that the world has reacted to, I'll grant that. What I can't get past is the fact that a) eating metal is retarded no matter how you dress it up, b) a power system whereby someone gets either one or ALL the powers is fucking stupid, and c) the OTHER metal powers system Sazed uses is much more intuitive and cooler than anything else but of course, it's a dead art. Why use the interesting one when we can eat METALS!

Plus (again, having only read the first), the ending reads like a sequelgrab which keeps it from counting as a strong book in its own right by being self-contained. The entire last series of events that happens occurs so quickly yet it was all triggered by two things: them finding Kelsier's brother's supposed corpse, and the executions out of the LR's anger of the mine's destruction. YET, as we learn later, Kelsier's bro is not only alive but now the second most powerful thing second only to the LR, AND the LR didn't even know about the mines. So why the fucking public executions, then??

Christ. Well, Vin was only entertaining when she was around Bellend. Mild chemistry there, so sure.

>>52010561
>dirty
fucking autocorrect - fourth

>>52010561
Ohhh you could be confused. As I recall, the immortal babies are fucked up because you can never raise them away from that bloodlust, so they're just a hazard. They seemed kinda torn as I recall about immortal kids, BUT since their little shitling wasn't one, the Volturi were evil for coming to kill it.

I don't know why it would be difficult to control bloodlust when literally all their fluids are venom and you could just inject it like Edward ended up doing. God that series was stupid.

>>52010632
> As I recall, the immortal babies are fucked up because you can never raise them away from that bloodlust, so they're just a hazard.
That was the stated reason, yes, but the fact was that, due to Meyer forgetting what she wrote earlier, Vampires making them would have been eating them too.

>>52010590
To give Sanderson the benefit of the doubt, I want to believe Mistborn was more of an exploration of magic realism to test whether audiences would be receptive of different kinds of rulesets in worldbuilding.

I say this because he put far more effort into the magic systems, the lore of said magic, and how the gods and ethos work around those systems rather than the teenage-tier main characters.

>>52001713
Where should I start with Conan?

>>52010744

Chronologically.

>>52010744
Tower of the Elephant is the first decent size Conan story that lets you get to grips with the character.
It also starts at the beginning of his career, so thematically it's a good choice.

>>52010749
>>52010761
Okay cool, thank you kindly.

>>52001842
They're good, but you have to realise getting in that, despite the name, Felix is the main character while Gotrek is more a static WMD.
Thanquol is great too, and I hope he gets in Total war next expansion

>>52008080
>I read the first book and didn't care enough about any of the characters or plotlines to pick up the second.

Admittedly, I quit after the first 50 pages, but I'm not surprised to hear the author never gives you a reason to care about what's happening. Does the pointless namedropping continue throughout the book?

>>52008725
Some translators don't translate well.

>>52009841
I loved these and thought they were really funny and clever.

Of course, I was twelve years old at the time. I don't want to read these books again - I don't want to spoil the memories.

>>52009974
This is probably good advice.

Lies of Locke Lamora is utter shit. Save yourself the frustration.

>>52011454

>Of course, I was twelve years old at the time. I don't want to read these books again - I don't want to spoil the memories.

I feel the same about Earthsea.

>>52010719
>trying to make a baby vampire the old fashioned way, none of this new age "impregnate a mortal girl before turning her" shit.
>fucked up another try, there isn't quite enough blood in these things to do it right.
>oh shit, just made one
>150 years later and its still going fucking nuts trying to drink everything this side of the river
>lets not ever do this again guyz

>>52007993
>>52008036

to be fair, inheritance at least had a plot point occur that was big enough that he could write a dozen more books for the series. It was predictable since book one, but still managed to bring it around in a mildy believable way. still, there is a lot worse fiction out there. i don't quite get why everyone hates on it so badly. yes, its boring and predictable, but at least it isnt preachy. he could easily come back in another 5 years with a better written book and it would not only sell like hotcakes, but would actually be a decent read.

>>52011557
I didn't actually find Eragon/Inheritance 1 to be too bad a read. 100% cliche, but not that terribly executed. It's been years since I last read it, though.

>>52011557
There's no guarantee of decency. Remember, this is the author behind the "elves are superior because they're vegan atheists" trope. He is the king of fedora tipping as far as I'm concerned.

>>52003141
Why? Do you like asshole leper rapists or something?

>>52009974
Reasonable advice with Althalus.

I would fug Dweia. That her brother can probably see it happening would add to the fun.

>>52010245
Disreputable Dog is fantastic in the last book though.

>>52011557
SIX
FEET
LONG
SWORD
IN A HIP SCABBARD

>>52011454
>funny
Yes.
>clever
Lord no, but I love 'em anyway.

>>52011557
People would hate it nearly so much if it hadn't been hyped up so much, or if they hadn't told a few porkies like how he was 15 at the time of release.

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>>52011726
I think he means Clariel, not Abhorsen.
Disreputable Dog is indeed one of the best examples of foreshadowing I've seen
>I am the disreputable dog, or Disreputable bitch, if you want to get technicalare we going for a walk?
>I made him walk
>It's just another kind of walk
>We're going for a walk
>mfw something like this came every time she displayed her powers

>>52001684
I'm gonna recommend the saga of drizzt.
And /tg/ is gonna shit on me like i'm some kind of leper.

>>52011842
>the saga of drizzt.
Stopping when?

>>52001868
I liked the second author better than the first, honestly.

>>52011829
explain please

>>52009897
>the bants in these books
It's like an actual D&D party.

>>52005966
Hm, well, if this isn't, then what is essential capeshit? Watchmen?

>>52008591
Read JDatE back when it was being posted on PWOT before it got published. I borrowed heavily from it for a NWoD mortals one-shot.

I enjoyed it a lot when I was a teenager but it's hard to say it's objectively good now. Never read the sequel.

>>52011880
Book 3 reveals that The Dog is actually the last remnant of Kibeth, the third bright shiner
Also known as The Walker

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>>52001684
What does /tg/ think about Gene Wolfe? I read his collection The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, and I wasn't very impressed. While I enjoyed some of the stories, it seemed to me that he was using allusions to cover over a lack of real depth in quite a few instances.

However, I may just be too much of a brainlet to understand him. Anyway, I'm debating over whether or not I should move on to Peace.

>>52011883
Don't forget when the DM gets in on that shit.

>Belgarath: What do we do now that we've stolen the Orb?
>Prophecy of the Universe: Pick up one foot, then put it in front of the other foot, then swap and repeat. I'll let you decide which foot to start with. Don't pick up both at the same time though.

>>52011950
>that heroic sacrifice
>the gift of the mark
>"how can you do this"
>"because I am a disreputable dog"

>>52003385
I know, right?
I don't know if that's due to shitty writing or brilliant writing that accurately conveys how annoying women are.

>>52012054
WoT is a pretty accurate representation of what roasties are like IRL because it was written before SJW censorship took hold of publishing

>>52011842
The vast majority of problems people have with Drizzt are nothing to do with his source material.

>>52012054
>>52012071
Women being annoying was intentional. Think about it: Randland is a female dominated society, because 3000 years ago, men literally ruined everything for everyone, and there's a prophecy that says another man is going to come around and ruin everything for everyone, and in between those two events, men periodically show up and ruin everything for everyone, unless the women catch them first.

That society is matriarchal as fuck, from long lines of Matriarchal power (Caemlyn only had ruling queens IIRC, Kings were just ornamentation), the world leaders being all female (Tar Valon), and even on a village level, with a strong tradition of Women's Councils in most cultures, village wisdoms or their equivalent.

Men just aren't typically trusted with ruling states, without a woman supervising them (even the male rulers take on Aes Sedai as advisors). Everything in that society is conditioned to make women more dominant than men, and given Jordan's attention to detail, I think it's brilliant.

It makes it so much more satisfying when men rise up and stop taking all the female bitching.

>>52012105
Jordan was a visionary. Too bad he'd get torches and pitchforks nowadays

>>52011853
When the money stops raining all over Salvatore.

And I like the series, too. Jarlaxle is fantastic.

i will contribute. I have recently finished Prince of Thornes and dear God Almighty this book is amazing. I know the book is kinda hated as it deals with a psycho anti here... but for me that is what makes it fresh and cool. I love it. I want to continue with the rest of the books. Is the other trilogy any good ? set in the same universe. Red Queen's War ? I cannot for the life in me get past the first past of any book written by Sanderson... Bad pacing and he writes with zero passion... its like... after i put the book down i have no incentive to pick it back up. Name of the Wind is also a great book. The story is not great but Rothfuss writes like a master. Second book... not so much. I started the Lamora first book and the pacing is great... but people seem to hate the second and third book. Any opinions on the Powder Mages trilogy ? seems interesting,,,, napoleonic era magic and fun

>>52012371
this shit is why greentext was invented.

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We get these threads every week. Not that I mind but really we ought to get some kind of organization for all this.

Something like pic related I just threw together. Obviously it's a little subjective and nowhere near complete but we should work on something to get all the classic recommendations out of the way so we can just squabble over newer releases.

>>52012105
WoT women are the way they are because Jordan got the wrong impression from reading Dune

>>52005966
Is it worth reading just for the fanfic?

>>52011899
Yes it is one of the best capeshit stories.

>>52012449
Personally, I enjoyed the work itself immensely, and I haven't found a fanfic that I found to be as good. I don't know why it's so divisive on /tg/.

>>52012551
Name more, please.

>>52012002

book of the new sun is the best thing i've ever read

>>52012564
Is it pretentious? Also, I've heard that it's most similar to his story "Tracking Song," which I didn't particularly enjoy. Can anyone speak to this?

>>52012433
Do go on..

>>52012428
on the topic of Ursula K. LeGuin the Left Hand of Darkness is fantastic

>>52012433
You're probably wrong, but it's entertaining and justified in setting, so who cares?

The real reason is that Jordan's Wife is a dom, he's a sub, and his magical realm leaked.

>>52008406
There was an explanation, even if it was fucking stupid. Basically, guns and stuff used to be a thing, but the Lord Ruler destroyed any technology that could be used against him, but he invested in making canneries and shit to prepare for what happened when Ruin got out and deal with refugees needing food.

>>52001826
>>52002155
I hate wheel of time so goddamn much. After the kick ass forsaken tutor ate it I dropped the series(book 5 or 6). Everyone in it is a garbage person and rand has a fucking harem.

>>52001797
Those are also p terrible. Though I do advocate for reading trash YA books, I think they are breezy easy reads with occasionally intresting ideas, if executed badly. I think its a good critical reading exercise

>>52012689

I mean, good for him and all, but you can only read about condescending, aggressively unhelpful bitchesfor so long.

>>52012718
You totally can make it through, because when the condescending, aggressively unhelpful bitches get the sticks forcibly removed from their asses, the payoff is so sweet.

>>52012713
>I'm mad that Rand isn't a cuck like muh progressive emasculated "male" protagonists in modern fantasy

>Some of these recommendations
You'd make /lit/ weep /tg/.

>>52012763
Good.

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>>52012428

Hmm... I'm kind of torn on some of these.

>Not the best Heinlein or Phillip K Dick Books.

>Recommending the first book in WoT, Discworld, or Dark Tower.

It feels dishonest to add any of these to a "tg approved list" without disclaimers.

What do you guys think?

>>52010336
>Using reddit spacing
We know you're angry at the speshul snowflakes on reddit who actually like this shit, but you have to go back.

>>52012595
In Dune a large amount of the plot revolves around the Bene Gesserit, a pseudo-mystical secret society of women who tasked themselves with guiding the future of humanity. Becoming a fully-realized Sister in the Bene Gesserit involves decades of training and a ritual called the Spice Agony, after which the subject is transformed into a Reverend Mother with superhuman control over her own body, greatly enhanced mental skills and the memories of all her female ancestors.

To even become an acolyte you need to pass something called a test of humanity, where you put your hand into a device which recreates the feeling of agonizing pain and a poisoned needle is put to your throat. If someone is unable to stand the pain and tries to move their hand away, they're immediately stabbed with the needle, which is coated in a sci-fi bullshit poison which kills almost instantly. Males universally can't pass this test, which is why the Bene Gesserit are all women.

The conflict of the first book arises because of the indiscipline of a Reverend Mother who was supposed to give birth to a girl for the Kwisatz Haderach breeding program, which has the goal of producing a male Bene Gesserit who will be able to take over the imperial throne on the Sisterhood's stead. She chooses to make a boy instead, and throws off their plans as the Kwisatz Haderach comes several generations earlier. Then there's some hijinks on not-Middle East planet about not-oil and seeing the future which all plays as sci-fi/fantasy Lawrence of Arabia. Flash forward a couple books and you have the half-worm nigh-omniscient god-emperor of mankind turning all human civilization into strict matriarchies.

All the books have a really fucking strange air of almost-feminism, which Herbert apparently based off her wife.

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>>52012763
/tg/ doesn't look for the same things in a book that /lit/ does. A good story, deep meaning, and rich symbolism are nice but for /tg/ purposes we are usually more interested in specific character portrayals, setting details, or imaginative technology and magic.

Read the Neverending Story, OP. Just try to forget about the movie while you read it.

First half is a pretty baller adventure story if you really want to you can skip it since the plot is just the movie, but better, second half is where shit gets real.

>>52012794
>Amber
>Conan
>Princess of Mars
>Elric
>etc.
All good stuff. That's what got me going. Not a bad list

Remember that what INFORMS your imagination and gets you into gaming isn't necessarily the same as literature, which is art unto itself.

>>52010343
I know that there have been several recommended reading lists compiled from threads like this one in the past. Thought I had the image saved but since I can't find it, maybe not.

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>>52012794
>Phlebas

nooooooooo

Pick Excession, Use of Weapons or Player of Games.

>>52012875
>>52010343
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Approved_literature

It's nowhere near up to date but it's a start.

1d4chan seems mostly forgotten these days.

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>>52012890
I actually had Player of Games there and then deleted it. I keep flip-flopping on whether it's better to recommend the first book in a series or skip to the good ones...

Iain M. Banks if you want some solid sci-fi in the vein of Foundation but with things actually happening (and I loved Foundation).

Diane Duane if you want some young adult modern fantasy that's pretty creative.

Outlaws of the Marsh for some Chinese historical mythofiction, also the actual Romance of the Three Kingdoms, also Jin Yong's literally everything he wrote.

The Song of Roland, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mabinogion if you can find a good translation, pretty much any mythological text.

Roger Zelazny, especially the first five Chronicles of Amber books.

The Illuminatus Trilogy.

Wild Cards.

The Strugatasky Brothers if you can find a good copy of their works.

Fred Saberhagen.

David Eddings.

Gene Wolf.

I can basically keep going.

>>52012917
I started with Excession, and that seemed to be the right move. Phlebas isn't horrible, but it drags really badly at some parts.

I started Discworld with Colour of Magic, and that seemed to be a mistake...

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I made you a thing /tg/.

>>52012751
No, Im mad because hes a pussy and his harem is unearned, /pol/. Plus explicit choosen one naratives don't really appeal to me anymore.

Further the way everyone develops is not particularly interesting and every decision ever made is the wrong one.

I did however get super drunk one time and ran around a barnes and noble thinking i was lanfear tho so its not like nothing good came from the series.

>>52013047
>goodkind
>norman

well meme'd my friend

>>52013047
Replace Drizzt with For Honor Harrington.

>>52012590

its good. not pretentious. I've read some of his other work and was not as impressed.

BotNS is great, just be patient while reading it

>>52012803
>mankind turning all human civilization into strict matriarchies.

I must have missed this bit. I thought he was breeding an anti-prescience gene.

>>52013071

What's this Honor Harrington thing about, anyhow? I see the name pop up now again. Is it good, awful, what?

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>>52009016
>>52002280

>>52013106
TL;DR - bait and switch with a decent sounding setting that never gets properly explored due to Self Insert issues.

>>52013060
>unearned harem

I don't really get it. Do you mean that Rand hasn't earned a harem in the sense of worthiness? Because in universe he definitely has, as the most powerful man in the world. Or that he hadn't earned it narratively? IIRC, all the girls in the harem had long flirtations that were mostly glossed over in the plot.

>>52013094
The Fish Speakers pretty much ran everything. Yes it was the anti-prescience gene that was the actual point, but I felt the fish speakers were more relevant to the post

>>52001684

Looking for some interesting biopunk that is not ribofunk.

How the heck does an anti-prescience gene actually work anyways?

Is it just the lol-randumn gene?

>>52008262
>Captain Grimm is basically Harry Dresden with less snark
I wouldn't say that.
He's a lot more responsible, cool headed and reserved.
If anything, his second is the one that's like Harry Dresden.

>>52013060
>I'm jealous

lel get fucked you cuck

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>Commissar Gaunt is Sharpe
>Colm Corbec is Harper
>Larkin is Bagman
>Both have bagpipes as their regimental music
>Both are light infantry
>Both have a Commanding Officer unwelcome by the campaign staff at large
>Both have an officer raised from non-traditional routes
>Both officers have to fight for (and eventually command great) loyalty of their men
>Both regiments are hated for their competence and ability
>More enemies found other regiments than in the actual enemy

>>52013144
He was a badass because the plot said he was, not really because of his desire to become a hero once the quest was known. By the 5th book the harem was already in its first stage but he was still a dick head and a whiny bitch.

Previously stated, I never read the entire series, the sexiest man Asmodeus, died tragically on the can after being bullied for half a book so I was p much done. Its entierly possible Rand stops being a shitter in later books. However the pacing (and lack of investment in the characters) is a large deterrant

>>52013412
>people should want to be doomed to die after destroying the world

He did what he could because he wanted to be a good man. That's about all you can expect, and it made it cooler for me.

>>52012428
I was listening to the Earthsea audio books for the first time in years the other day, and I was struck at just how sparse the writing style was. The are very few wasted words, a rarity these days when every fantasy series is a trilogy of bricks.

There is very little direct dialogue, it's usually narrated which makes the few times that we hear the characters words from their own mouth all the more significant.

Tombs of Atuan was a masterpiece in terms of tight storytelling. 95% of it takes place in a single location, inside the head of a single character who could go chapters without direct interaction with one of four other characters of any importance. It captured the mood of isolation and internal character development as the driving force of the work perfectly.

>>52009347
The world was created as a GURPS setting, but nobody knows how far it goes from there. We know that many of the battles you see in the books were actually played out using the system, but whether they were part of a cohesive campaign is a mystery.

I suspect that they were not, and the campaign that they ran was the sort of implied prequel, where Kellenvad and Co. became adventurers, claimed the Throne of Shadow, and the Throne of Bones, and conquered half the world. It makes sense because Kellenvad, Dancer, Surly and the others actually sound like a pretty reasonable party with fairly humble origins. They ran a tavern in Malaz City.

>>52001684(OP)

The Spook

>>52013510
Somebody made a detailed post describing in explicit detail that Malazan couldn't have possibly be ran in GURPs, either what's described in the books wildly differed from what they actually played or the entire story is bullshit like many of the celebrity's who claimed they played DnD "back in the day".

>>52011379
The first book is a clusterfuck. The namedrops don't mean anything at the time, yes, but by the time you get to book 3 they'll have all been expanded on.

I mean, it was adapted from a failed screenplay, which I suppose is the reason for the strange flow. If you don't feel like it's worth pushing through it for one of (in my eyes) the most original fantasy epics ever written, that's fair enough, but I believe it's worth it.

it's young adult fiction but LONE WOLF by joe dever, one of the best solo adventure style CYOA series ever.

>>52012763
Good, /lit/ is a shithole of pretentious irony. Just because it's not Gatsby doesn't mean it isn't good.

>>52003953
Those are some of the most self-indulgent book covers I've ever seen.

>>52002255
>Here's the list. It's somewhat outdated, and there'll doubtless be arguments about it, but hey, it's a list.
>https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Approved_literature
It's amazing how un-edgy that list is. Remember when we could say nice things about ASOIAF without couching it in a dozen disclaimers because we weren't paralyzed with fear that the "cool kids" would tell us we're bad for likely popular things?

>>52010087
>Are we talking about the same book that starts off with some vampire in a club using Dominate to fool some mortal into thinking his dick is too small and it always has been?
God damn I love Greg Stolze.

>>52013741
GRRM is objectively bad, reddit

>>52011583
To be fair, it was pretty much "hero's journey WITH A DRAGON"

>>52012002
Best living writer of the English language in any genre.

The world will be a poorer place when he's gone.

>>52012428
I'd recommend Malazan with good setting and characters at least
Its story is what people usually find fault with at least in my experience
Maybe not even the story itself exactly so much as the writing
Might want to consider that another thing to include with each recommendation

>>52008080
You should be thankful. The 2nd book is so much worse. It's such an awful, boring slog for so much of the book, and it has the worst ending of any fantasy novel I've ever read. Probably top 10 for any (professionally released) piece of fiction, period, regardless of genre or medium. It almost literally felt like Erikson wrote down every single thing he could have done to give the book a satisfying conclusion and did the polar opposite. The one plot arc with a decent ending was the one I found the least bearable, so it felt like adding insult to injury instead some kind of saving grace. It's not that the whole thing is a downer ending, it's that it's a pointless ending that gleefully rubs your face in how much of your own time you just wasted getting to.

I know everyone says it gets amazing after this, but I can't bring myself to come back to it after something this "you don't understand the very basics of fiction" bad.

>>52013888
>I'm too retarded to realize I'm proving his point

>>52001684
Vance, Howard, Lovecraft

>>52014010
Sunset found her squatting in the grass, groaning. Every stool was looser than the one before, and smelled fouler. By the time the moon came up she was shitting brown water. The more she drank, the more she shat, but the more she shat, the thirstier she grew, and her thirst sent her crawling to the stream to suck up more water.

>>52013447
Plus Rand doesn't actually get to enjoy the harem end except for clandestine booty calls every now and then because the world thinks he's dead. At least he gets literal God Mode to enjoy his post-game travels of the world.

>>52014048
Congrats. I see you can copypaste a few sentences.

>>52014073
was it god mode? I thought he just got a nice auto lighting pipe for some reason.

>>52009390

I just finished The Blade Itself. I really enjoyed it but my only problem was that it wasn't a self-contained story. Rather, it was clearly the prologue to a much bigger story. That's not bad, and it certainly made me want to continue reading, but it's definitely not for everyone.

>>52013999
It's really not that bad.

The characters are still good, and the setting is still good, which is why you read Malazan. That the story is a stilted mess is a given, it was like that in Gardens of the Moon as well, and it really does get better without losing characters/setting.

>>52005930
This. They were great up to that point though, is crazy how much 40k stole from it.

As for my own recommendations:
The Gone-away World by Nick Harkaway
The Broken World by Tim Etchells
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
The Wind Singer books, I forget who by
The Judge Child Quest (2000ad story), I think its by John Wagner
His Dark Materiels, gets a lot of flak but I still get a kick out of it.

>>52001684
Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser. Damn good books. Reading them right now.

>>52012794
Would recommend the wticher as well, but the english translations are kind ass

>>52014169
It's heavily implied to be god mode since it was immediately after Saidin and the Dark One's power utterly failed to respond to him, and would generally fit the reward level for having sealed Satan himself for a few Ages.

>>52009379
It's like panning for gold in a shit river. Mainly FFnet and spacebattles I'm afraid.

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>>52010245
Seconding this, that series is what bit me with the necromancy bug and it's still there in my head.

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>>52010336
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, perhaps this will be more to your liking?
It's humors and well built, while focusing mainly on the interaction between the core group of characters as they go on dnd-esque adventures with plenty of misunderstandings.

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>>52010371
Would you rather this shit?

>>52014629
Those actually look like book covers instead of fucking DnD rulebooks.

>>52014252
I know my reaction was more extreme than most peoples, but I stand by it. Most of the characters who weren't in book one (which is most of the cast) are bland and unmemorable. I hardly remember anything new that was introduced to the setting either, unlike Gardens of the Moon where the worldbuilding was extremely engrossing. I got the impression he was setting the stage for the later books, so maybe it seems less pointless in context, but taken in a vacuum I still think it's an unmitigated piece of crap.

>>52014629
I've never understood this kind of shit
Surely that can't look aesthetic to fucking anybody

>>52005966
it's not watchmen but its better then everything else.

>>52014663
>I got the impression he was setting the stage for the later books
You're probably not too far off
GotM is a special thing in the series as it was originally meant to be a screenplay script and it was written like a decade before book 2
And you can tell it pretty clearly too with how much it stand out from the rest stylistically

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Has anybody else read this one? I really liked it.

I mean, it's not great, and it doesn't do anything new or groundbreaking, but it's a satisfying read with some good characters. The villain is basically a fedora-tipping neckbeard, which I found really fun. Also Cithrin is my waifu.

>>52014377
i havent finished all of them, but they are the best swords&sorcery i've read.

t.almostagrognard

>>52014803
i should add, followed by C. J. Cherryh's books. "gate of ivrel" was the first i read.

highly recommended.

>>52014663
Well, yeah. Gardens of the Moon was originally a screenplay that was adapted into a novel, Deadhouse Gates was written relatively independently, and very much was just setting the stage and establishing things. It's fairly easy to spot which characters are going to remain minor and which ones are going to be important, mind.

Deadhouse Gates is the weakest point of the series.

What's the opinion on Name of the Wind?

>>52014955
trash

>>52014955
Depends on how much you buy that the OTT nature is unreliable narration.

>>52014955
for the record, never heard of it.... but i run b/x d&d so factor that in.

>>52013447
Him manning up on Dragonmount is probably my favorite moment in the entire series.

>>52014955
Ehh

First time I read it I hated it. Second time, I liked it better, but I had to keep reminding myself that the entire thing is Kvothe spitting bullshit to avoid it being overly cheesy.

>>52014955
>fake deep
>prose so purple it might as well be prune juice
>also similar to prune juice in that it makes you wanna shit real bad
>main character is "ironic wiz kid" taken way too far and not written well enough to be reliably read as ironic
>sex ninjas who don't know how human reproduction works and who ALL go nuts for some unwashed 16 year old gypsy dick

>>52015107
>sex ninjas who don't know how human reproduction works and who ALL go nuts for some unwashed 16 year old gypsy dick
That sounds hilarious. How far into it? I'm dealing with an extended training montage right now.

>>52015101
thing is, knowing that its supposed to be an unreliable narrator bullshitting you with tales of awe and wonder doesnt make it better cuz it still has 800 pages of "FUCK I NEED ME SOME MONEY" in book one AND two, and the actual bullshit isnt even that unbelievable, just badly written in an amateurish sense.

>>52015126
start of act 2 in the second book, when they reach the ninja village. its very Magical Realm and afterwards he gets abducted by a sex fairy who kills people with sex, but hes so good at sex that she lets him live

>>52015107
Which all makes sense as long as you remember that the entire thing is a lie Kvothe is telling to make himself look good.

>>52015281
That doesn't make it okay to be poorly written

>>52015281
>lie to make yourself look good
>dedicates literal hundreds of pages to money troubles that add nothing to the plot

also this >>52015293, a good author couldve easily turned NotW's plot into something that humans would be able to enjoy

>>52015281
That sort of story is only fine if you get to hear the truth behind it eventually. . .

Also, every section where kvothe isn't telling the story (the third person sections), are also wankfests.

>His gorgeous hair
>His dark, powerful eyes
>His young but aged face

you can practically feel the author swooning.

>>52001684
Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, definitely

>>52006608
What problem did you have with them? I thought Tavi was great.

>>52009445
Few are even close to Jordan at his best imo

>>52015433
>Thomas Covenant
My nigga.

Also, no one has mentioned Guy Gavriel Kay?

>>52014795
I've read the first three, I liked it
Should get to reading the newer ones some time too

Does /tg/ use goodreads? If most of you do I could make a /tg/-approved book list that everyone could vote on. Any interest in the idea?

>>52015487
He's a ridiculous mary sue, which is impressive, because you aren't supposed to be able to be a mary sue when you actually are the antagonist of the story.

Like, it's not so much him as how the world reacts to him. Everyone who likes him is a good guy. Everyone who dislikes him is a bad guy. The world bends over backwards for him, no matter what he does or how nonsensical. Everybody else is a complete idiot when it comes to Tavi - Reasonable plans suddenly become things of glistening genius that nobody but he could possibly have come up with, and then every other character fawns over him for it. The roman wanking is a symptom of this, interesting enough on it's own, but because all the caricature bad guys dislike it and Tavi likes it, the plot dictates that it has to be a revolutionary idea, and all the mean ol' bullies will see how amazing Tavi really is. His romance subplot is treated in that way that all mary sue romances are treated, like it's some transcendental thing that is deeper and more profound than any other love.

Kitai is more or less an extension of that, but she's just not that great a character. She's defined almost entirely by how she is in a relationship with Tavi. She's okay, but by default you need to remove her if you remove Tavi.

Isana, oh christ, don't even get me started. Her entire character arc is one long sob story, and then suddenly she turns out to be one of the most powerful characters who has such a profound understanding of the underlying mechanics of the world that nobody else could possibly operate on the same level, and starts doing the Tavi thing where the world bends over backwards to point out how amazing she is and she starts running down the list of admirable traits like she's ticking off fucking checkboxes.

They're shit. Max was a good character. Doroga was a good character. Amara was a good character. Butcher did a lot of things in the Codex Alera right. Tavi, Kitai and Isana were unfiltered garbage, though/

>>52015731
Sure

>>52015799
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/109337._tg_approved_reading_list#top

Haven't added any yet, feel free to add your own.

>>52014896
I actually preferred Deadhouse Gates to GotM, but the ending was completely unsatisfying, as another anon pointed out

favorite for me might be either Midnight's Tide or Memories of Ice

I still don't understand what the Deck of Dragons is and at this point I'm too afraid to ask

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>>52009939

Let The Right One In (pic related, disregard the Swedish title all the English google results were for the movie) is an excellent little piece of vampire literature. The story centers around a little boy and the neighbor girl that moves in next door who is, as the title and cover suggest, a vampire. The boy himself is troubled, bullied and welcomes the idea of a friend, and the girl has motivations that might be loneliness or might be entirely alien to a normal human, or maybe a little of both.

Lindqvist gets pretty dark with it. Despite the young characters, it's not a kid's book. Pedophilia is a major theme (considering the 12-year-old looking vampire), and it gets pretty fucking real if you've got a weak stomach for that kind of thing. Being a vampire isn't depicted as glamorous or a power fantasy, and generally once she shows up life just starts to get horrible for everyone around.

If I had to describe it as briefly as I could, I would call it an "ugly" vampire novel. The genre fits squarely into horror. No one is having a good time. Shit, actually just look at this Wikipedia quote:

>"The book focuses on the darker side of humanity, dealing with thematically heavy issues such as existential anxiety, social isolation, fatherlessness, divorce, alcoholism, school bullying, pedophilia, genital mutilation, self-mutilation, and murder."

In short: Vampires are fucking awful horrible creatures, you don't want to meet one and you certainly don't want to be one, but don't forget that being a regular person is almost as bad: the book.

There's also been two movie adaptations. The Swedish one was a pretty solid adaptation. It dropped a lot of stuff, but the core story remained the same and the feel was very similar. I never saw the American one.

>>52015895
>>52015731

Okay, I added all the books I could find on this page and on 1d4chan. If you have an account, you can vote and affect the ranking.